Nine years ago today, Indie 103.1 turned off the lights. Well, step back. In 2003 I was living as a
Nine years ago today, Indie 103.1 turned off the lights. Well, step back. In 2003 I was living as a nomad, flopping couch to couch & crawling the streets of L.A. all night, every night. Rock was fucking bad — Staind, Disturbd, Creed, WWE spikey-hair middle-america redbull garbage for douchebags. The best 3 hours of my week belonged to Rodney Bingenheimer, every Sunday on KROQ from midnight to 3am he was an oasis in a desert of Metallica, Puddle of Mudd, and 90s Offspring hockey anthems. Things were bleak. Then one night in December Indie 103.1 appeared with, like eight songs. On repeat. I remember The Ramones, Beastie Boys, Jem, Feist… a few others. Nobody knew what it was, but it was different, it was NEW. Within a few months, it became the most important thing to happen to music since Sub Pop picked up Kurt Cobain. It was like a secret amongst weirdos and derelicts who were dying for good music, a litmus test for kids with good taste, proof that there was a world beyond mediocrity. It was fucking amazing. And we listened every day. @jonseysjukebox, post-punk garage rock, brit-pop, mash-ups, trippy hip-hop that Top40’s stations still haven’t caught up with… Before myspace changed the music industry, before YouTube & Tumblr & streaming put the entire world at our fingertips, Indie was the one place you could go to hear DEVO deep cuts between French electro & Hieroglyphics. It was last in ratings for five years, but launched so many artists, music supervisors, and so many of my friends. It was a community, it was our social media. You’d go to Bootie LA at The Echo, then hear @djpaulv playing those tracks a week later on The Smash Mix, @brentbolthouse & @dannymasterson breaking bands on Feel My Heat that you’d hear at Cinespace or Spider Club, Henry Rollin’s spinning 7in DIY vinyl for the first time in 25 years. Now the idea of a radio station is as antiquated as a Blockbuster or fax machine, but back then, we needed it. And nine years ago when 103.1 turned to static, it hurt. I don’t know if it changed the world, but it changed my world, it’s a part of me. The @obeygiant stickers we put on our Powerbooks & bedroom doors are the only artifacts that remain. -- source link