Pulse BEAT
TURN IT UP
Video doesn’t kill radio star Benjamin Tietgen
BY ALISON BAILIN BATZ / PHOTO BY CLAUDIA JOHNSTONE
Upon first impressions, Benjamin Tietgen seems to be the typical, mild-mannered attorney and family man you see on the streets and in the boardroom each day. “Don’t forget proud nerd, too,” says Tietgen, a partner at Quarles & Brady in Phoenix, focused on ultra-techy niches of intellectual property such as cryptocurrency and cloud computing. But, don’t let the day job fool you. When not busy as a dad or lawyer, Tietgen is part of Phoenix’s FCC-licensed, community-run nonprofit radio station, KDIF 102.9 LPFM. “The Local Community Radio Act of 2011 opened the airwaves for community platforms to wedge onto the radio dial between the commercial conglomerates,” Tietgen explains. “Licensed through the Act, KDIF is a hyper-local media outlet amplifying the voices of community members and advocates and sharing the knowledge, talent, and insight coming out of Phoenix and its arts and education communities." Tietgen is not only a board member for the station, but helped build its facilities from scratch and is now one of its disc jockeys. “I co-host Surf & Skate Saturday, which is on weekly from 1 to 3 p.m. We play the unlikely combination of surf rock – think Beach Boys – and skater music,” Tietgen says. His musical talents stretch far beyond his time on the radio. “While in law school at Arizona State University, I formed a band with some classmates, and we still play together more than 10 years later.” Called The Vanjacks and with Tietgen on the bass and vocals, the bluesy rock band is influenced by Queens of the Stone Age and the Black Crowes. They’ve played a host of local venues including Valley Bar, Last Exit Live, and Wells Fargo Arena (on the steps outside), and released an album of some of their original songs where Tietgen did the cover art. “Now, if I can just get us on KDIF,” Tietgen jokes.
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Uptown June '18