BURNT by Whitney Engelmann

HINDS E XC LUSI VE I NT ERIE W W I T H MADRIDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S F I R ST GARAGE BAND

WINTER 2017

KCPR MAGAZINE

1 ARTS FOR LIVING

A VIRGINITY STORY

PARTY OF ONE

HINDS + AUTHENTICITY

SUGE KNIGHT + KCPR

LEFT TO MY OWN DEVICES

HIP-HOP + FEMINISM

SLO RECORD REVIEWS

SPRING SHOW SCHEDULE

FOUR SIX

EIGHT

TEN

ELEVEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

EIGHTEEN

TWENTY

WHAT IS

BURNT? GREAT QUESTION.

We’re the nearly 100 Cal Poly students who moonlight as radio DJs at 91.3 FM KCPR San Luis Obispo. With the same natural vanity that drives us to the microphone, we thought we should try out building a magazine.

RADIO IS LIVE. IT’S EPHEMERAL. Burnt is permanent. It’s anchored in the dimensions and folds of these pages. Within them are features, an interview, a photo series and also (if you weren’t captivated already) a story of a DJ's lost virginity. If we’ve done it right, you’ll walk away from reading this with a strong sense of our collective voice, reintroduced. Maybe you even won’t throw it away.

SO, HERE’S THAT ATTEMPT.

GENERAL MANAGER Steven Pardo EDITOR Will Peischel ART DIRECTION + LAYOUT Whitney Engelmann CONTRIBUTORS Everett Fitzpatrick, Barbara Levin, Pamela Moidel, Georgie De Mattos, Ella Worley, Melissa Nuñez, Kelly Chiu, Ryan Hutson, Ian Ridsdale, Finn Warfield, Annie Vainshtein, Taylor Mohrhardt DISTRIBUTION Finn Warfield.

A THERAPEUTIC

APPROACH TO MUSIC:

ARTS FOR LIVING

ate presses his face against a paper with lyrics of “Impossible” from “Cinderella” as the rest of the room sings out loud with excitement. The song continues and Nate knows exactly when it’s time to flip the page. As he brushes his cheeks along each line, he closes his eyes, sings and smiles along to the lyrics.

In an interview conducted by brain-training website, BrainHQ, music therapist Kimberly Sena Moore said that the impact of music on the human experience is quickly overlooked because the brain naturally responds to rhythmic patterns which can increase our heart rate and motor system.

Nate is visually impaired with developmental disabilities. Although he may not see lyrics, he can hear the music and feel the vibrations of the room. This allows him to join his fellow members of the Arts for Living Glee Club.

Music input enters the central nervous system through the auditory nerve, thereby reaching the brain for processing. This allows us to live to the beat of a sound and use music as a motivator to finish a hard run or relax after an exhausting day. We don’t just listen to music; we feel it. It’s structured into our everyday lives in such an automatic sense that we sometimes take it for granted. We turn on the radio or listen to music while conducting our most monotonous daily activities.

APPROACHING MUSIC WITH A THERAPEUTIC PERSPECTIVE.

rts for Living is an affiliate of United Cerebral Palsy of San Luis Obispo County. It engages adults with developmental disabilities through the inclusion of arts. Laura Deloye and Rich Smucker are board-certified music therapists, working with people with social and expressive needs. They came to San Luis Obispo and founded the organization in 2012 after sensing a communal need for a social and therapeutic space for adults with disabilities. In a homogenous community like San Luis Obispo, it’s easy to forget that people are different and some need more support than others. Deloye and Smucker guide participants in Arts for Living to use rhythmic sound as a creative outlet. 4

By BARBARA LEVIN

Music is also a therapeutic complement for people who face physical or mental challenges. Since music has a steady beat with an organized verse-chorus structure, it allows people with disabilities to express themselves more naturally through a song they enjoy. At Arts for Living, music provides an open space for emotional and verbal expression. People with a variety of challenges gather around with one unifying factor: a passion for music.

Illustrations By PAMELA MOIDEL

NATE LIVES BY A SIMPLE PHILOSOPHY.

“If it’s just one tap, that’s ok. Just allow them to express themselves however they want in the moment,” Deloye said. Using music as a therapeutic tool sets Arts for Living apart from using music strictly for educational purposes.

ood songs are like good food. Share them with your friends and family,” Nate said. “We can teach a specific rhythm or technique but “And if they like the song, keep it near your heart.” we don’t go through a routine,” she said. “Listening to each other and hear what is being said is Nate doesn’t need his vision to feel the impact the more therapeutic part.” of music. Sounds and rhythmic melodies have become his source of connection to others that bridge the gap between people with dysfunc- MUSIC AS AN INTEGRATED ELEMENT OF HISTORY.. tionalities and those without. Deloye said music therapy is always different, depending on who she works with and whether it is an individual or a group. She constantly assesses the environment she's using as a musical space. In an environment like Arts for Living, a space to make participants feel comfortable to open up is crucial.

ccording to Deloye, music taps into our memory and triggers emotions, whether you hear a song that your mom sang to you as a child or an old couple hears their first dance song. It’s such a powerful tool, memorable songs

are often used in music therapy for people with dementia. Songs can stimulate memories and help people reminisce about special moments in their lives. Through the course of humanity, the power of music has remained prominent in our lives that connects us to our past, present and future. Songs, stories and dances are a keystone of humanity’s culture. Our ancestors bonded through rhythmic beats. From simplistic traditional dances in overlooked corners of the world to technology-based modern concerts, music has always been a reason for people to come together. It is an underestimated link that could bridge a gap within certain societal aspects. Arts for Living is a prime example of finding a common interest and using that passion to gather people with incredible talents that otherwise wouldn’t be recognized.

THE LESS

devotion to US garage-rock bands like The Black Lips, Mac Demarco, and The Growlers, were what pushed Hinds to a minimalism of sound.

FAMOUS

They fell in love with garage music. “It communicates feelings and enriches your heart and it works exactly the same as super high quality pop music production. We were like, ‘Let’s choose the music of poor people!” Cosials said.

YOU FEEL,

THE BETTER HINDS on authenticity in the era of spectacle.

By ANNIE VAINSHTEIN

s many origin stories do, the genesis of Madrid-based garage outfit Hinds began—though now has little to do—with ex-boyfriends. Carlotta Cosials (vocals, guitar) and Ana Garcia Perotte (vocals, guitar) knew each other through nights spent watching their ex-boyfriends play together in a band. As time passed, though, the seams binding the interconnected web of love and friendship in Madrid started to unwind and stitch something entirely new.

Authenticity is what they care about, not perfection. When speaking, Cosials doesn’t obsessively self-correct. English isn’t her first language, but she expresses herself without neuroticism; she’s calm, while still retaining and transporting a sense of energy, of passionate zest that links the sparseness of her speech to its feeling.

I spoke to Cosials by phone one late afternoon. It was about 11 p.m. in her native Madrid. At the end, she told me she was taking our call in a quiet room at her friend’s party. After I apologized for taking her away from friends, she laughed warmly, in a way many critics who interview the “Our destiny is to stay real,” Cosials said. “We girls of Hinds note almost immediately. It was don’t want to reach perfection — not in the deno problem at all, she said—it actually made sign of the front or back cover of the vinyl, or her feel cool—like she had “an important call to the merchandise, or anything. We want to reach exactly what we feel we are.” attend to.” While they are to many, the girls of Hinds don’t think of themselves as celebrities. To them, that is a loss of freedom. “The less famous you feel, the better,” Cosials said. “I think that fame is a bad thing.” That being said, Hinds is certainly one of the shining jewels in a city where garage-rock bands, especially all girl garage-rock bands, are few and far between. But they acknowledge they’re still fresh; bass guitarist Ade Martin and drummer Amber Grimbergen only joined in 2014.

Hinds really began in 2009, when it was still called Deers. It started with an idea made on vacation, when Cosials and Perotte took a trip to the coast of Spain. The two took the trip to get away from heartbreak; Cosials was coping with “I think we’ve broken this border,” Cosials said. a breakup she now laughs about. They took gui- “It really feels like we’re creating history.” tars. In 2009, Cosials and Perotte knew enough about guitar to piece together a Bob Dylan cover—not much more. So, the prospect of an accomplished band, now a four-piecer, which would go on to tour across the world and play for more than 20,000 people (to come this year, at Coachella) was a future they could not have conceptualized. They never imagined they’d even make it to the UK or to America. It was not even a dream on their radar. 6

“I THINK WE'VE BROKEN THIS BORDER. IT REALLY FEELS LIKE WE’RE CREATING HISTORY.”

he glamour and fuss of the music industry wasn’t something the girls knew a lot about, or wanted anything to do with. The possibility of recording a song without being rich was new to them, Cosials said. That, coupled with a deep

That means every little detail of Hinds is Hindsmade, Hinds - grown, Hinds-approved. Cosials designs everything and makes all of their videos, too. It’s the only way of being unique and genuine, she said.

EVERY LITTLE DETAIL OF HINDS IS HINDS-MADE, HINDS-GROWN, HINDS-APPROVED. The videos are deeply endearing: colorful montages of the girls in the inimitable embrace of true female friendship, and it’s wholly understated. They’re not epic, or trying to follow the currency of 21st century trends; they’re just real. Like cutting vegetables together, smoking inside, jumping around in the desert, singing like silly rock stars the way we did in between snapshots of Chatroulette. They prefer to fly free. The labels, Cosials said, like Hinds just the way they are—in their totality— and don’t have any plans to change them. That’s something they’re really grateful for.

“They don’t see us like a dollar walking,” she said. “They see us like artists who are creating something.” “They don’t want to contaminate us. Because if they do, maybe we don’t do it that well.” Hinds, though just novices in their own conceptions, are describing a new musical milieu available only to this day and age—a space where artists can really make it all the while staying genuine and doing things exactly as they set out to. In the contemporary space of collaboration, artists and humans can admit their shortcomings and honest beginnings, and listen to each other. Most importantly, they acknowledge that success and happiness can happen with little anxiety and a whole lot of humility.

LAST YEAR, HINDS RELEASED THEIR FIRST FULL-LENGTH ALBUM, LEAVE ME ALONE.

THEY’RE NOT EPIC, OR TRYING TO FOLLOW THE CURRENCY OF 21ST CENTURY TRENDS ; THEY’RE JUST REAL.

COACHELLA WEEKEND 2 TICKET GIVEAWAY Fill in this riddle at 11am when we give you the four keywords on air.

If you’re looking for an ________ next weekend go and ____ ____ by the ______ . HINT: 5lcy990 7

HOW TO RECONCILE I

HIP-HOP AND

FEMINISM I

attended church every Sunday until I was 18. So really, this wasn’t a new routine. But right around legality, I started to become more aware of myself and, in extension, the voices that dominated my life: priests, poets and politicians. On Ventura Boulevard, it finally struck that there was great irony in driving to Sunday Mass with hip-hop music to soundtrack the scene.

I didn’t believe in Catholicism, I didn’t agree with Rick Ross, Lil Wayne and Drake’s degrading collaboration, and I especially didn’t agree with how these ideologies both conflicted with my rights as a woman. Something had to change for me. So I listened to myself a little more and, with education, started identifying with feminism, mostly because I didn’t know what feminism was beforehand.

’m riding down Ventura Boulevard in Los Angeles. Biggie’s “Juicy” is playing from my 1991 Lexus sedan’s new-school tape deck. Where am I headed? St. Mel Catholic Church in Woodland Hills for Sunday Mass.

THIS WAS HIGH SCHOOL FOR ME. By GEORGIE DE MATTOS

tified and agreed with the aggression and anger behind institutions I didn’t necessarily trust. Moreso, hip-hop taught me to question them. I believe you can be a feminist (as the intersectional definition of equality for all sexes and genders regardless of race or socioeconomic status) and support hip-hop music for its cultural movement and artistic activism. And while I do not share the same experiences as rappers, graffiti artist and b-boys, I am a biracial, feminist-identifying ally who supports the art form they founded.

Moments later, I’d pretend to know the hymns amongst a white congregation of devout Ro- The clarity, cynicism and disillusionment clashed man Catholics. It all felt wrong. Not to mention as I became more aware and intimate with my my identity as a valued, confident woman felt feminist identity. I found this to be true once I cut Hip-hop is an art form founded on activism. It is challenged by new-wave hip-hop music. I’d find ties with Catholicism and enrolled in Women’s liberation, a way for people to attain represenmyself singing or dancing along to lyrics like and Gender Studies courses at Cal Poly. While tation in communities that made them feel less “Pop that pussy, bitch.” my appetite and support for hip-hop didn’t than—or even invisible. change, I knew I had to think more about where My cognition would digest the words and To give you an idea of how little these supposmy values aligned with the music. respond with a resounding, edly trustworthy institutions treated people of Rap was the polar opposite of what I was hear- color, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a dem“WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING?” ing from strong institutions in my life, like school ocrat from N.Y., responded to the protest of the and church. Of course, I absolutely did not share burning of South Bronx projects by sending a the same explicit experiences of racism and memo to President Nixon. It stated, prejudice experienced by communities that produce the king’s sum of hip-hop. That said, I iden- “THE TIME MAY HAVE COME

WHEN THE ISSUE OF RACE COULD BENEFIT FROM A PERIOD OF BENIGN NEGLECT.”

Illustrations By ELLA WORLEY

It is a culture that formed within communities of color as a way of coping and battling racism, prejudice and police brutality. It began in the South Bronx, far from the world’s focus. Back in the 1980s, rappers went to record labels with music about their experiences living in the South Bronx. They wrote about social issues

As a feminist, I have have to ask myself questions when consuming and supporting current hip-hop music that is clearly misogynistic and demeaning to women without regard to consciousness and awareness. Do current artists like Future, Rick Ross and Drake, for example, deviate from original hip-hop culture? To me, they are not hip-hop artists in the original sense of the term. These artists use women’s bodies for content explicitly, instead of using their voice and platform for activism and liberation. “Conscious rap,” on the other hand, is a positive movement I see in artists like Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper, Childish Gambino, Noname and Frank Ocean, to name a few.

and politics, movements and injustice. Some record labels wouldn’t accept their work unless they rapped about violence and misogyny. So in some cases, misogyny was used as a way to sell art that wasn’t misogynistic in the first place. In other cases, if rappers did include misogyny in their lyrics, it was because that was a part of theirculture. They were writing about what they knew. During something we now call the “Aesthetics of Excess,” rappers did write about women in degrading ways, in excessive ways. However, hiphop is a microcosm of a larger society. We cannot point the finger at individual artists because they did not institute patriarchy. That was done years ago.

Many women, for example, were involved in the development of hip-hop culture. Rock Steady Crew, the first break-dancing crew to form, oversaw women battling with other crews in clubs and on the streets of South Bronx. Lady Pink was one of the first contemporary graffiti artists, known to tag subway trains with her enigmatic “Pink.” Anotter important figure in the days of old-school hip-hop was Roxanne Shante, a battling MC from the age of 13, known for her song “Have A Nice Day.”

‘CAUSE I'M THE SUPER FEMALE THAT'S CALLED SHANTI AND LIKE HURRICANE ANNIE I'LL BLOW YOU AWAY WHENEVER I'M IN A BATTLE, YO, I DON'T PLAY SO YOU BEST GO ABOUT YOUR WAY AND HAVE A NICE DAY…

These artists write about liberation and their conscious experiences as people existing in queer communities, black communities and poor communities. My suggestion to any feminist questioning their relationship with hip-hop music is to ask questions and do research. Study where artists come from and how their ideology reconciles hip-hop and feminism. We, as feminists, walk a fine line between admiring hip-hop holistically and scrutinizing its shortfalls in misogyny. But I think part of it lies in understanding the context of hip-hop and what the art form is based on.

There are current hip-hop artists continuing the foundational ideas. The album, To Pimp A Butterfly, is my favorite example of this. Kendrick Lamar continually uses his voice to rap about oppression and racism happening within his If your problem with supporting both hip-hop mucommunity. I wouldn’t pretend to have all the sic and feminism is because you believe these answers, but my approach comes from studyartists have created a misogynistic culture, one ing the foundation of hip-hop culture and which that really existed before hip-hop music came Joan Morgan, an award-winning author and jourartists represent those same characteristics of into the picture, than you are mistaken. How- nalist born in Jamaica and raised in the South activism through art—representation and liberaever, I do think it is important to note whether Bronx writes about her decision to consume tion through poetry. they are rapping about conscious experiences current hip-hop music: “My decision to expose that contain misogyny or abusing the issue for myself to the sexism of Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Snoop There are artists today who represent the creative purposes. If “pussy poppin’” is all you Dogg or the Notorious B.I.G. is really my plea to genre’s culture as it was in the 1980s, and at can write about, I may have a problem with you my brothers to tell me who they are. I need to the same time, make it relevant to this centuas an artist contributing to a creative platform. A know why they are so angry at me… As a black ry. These artists do not degrade women or use crucial point for me is to look at the foundation woman and a feminist I listen to the music with misogyny for content. They take what they see of hip-hop. What is hip-hop about and who rep- a willingness to see past the machismo in order in their communities and create music that will grab society’s attention for the sake of liberation. to be clear about what I’m really dealing with.” resents the culture in its truest form? 9

A VIRGINITY

STORY By ANNIE VAINSHTEIN and WILL PEISCHEL

ased on our experiences, we feel some religious texts, fork-on-the-left family reunions and the general contemporary have bestowed on us The Great Importance of Your First Time. It’s been stigmatized throughout every layer of adolescent sex dialogue.

There’s nothing particularly earth-shattering about giving or receiving a dandelion—at least not in the traditional sense, we think. Don’t get us wrong; it’s not that we think first times aren’t special. But sometimes (usually), the more interesting element is in the unintended stain, the awkward interaction. Losing your virginity is funny. Nobody knows what they’re doing. Where do you put your arm? What if you mom walks in? Maybe it’s something we take too much pride in. In an attempt to normalize this dialogue, we give you “A Virginity Story.”

We carried on canoodling in the shadows and had an otherwise normal relationship. A few months in, we decided to lose our virginities to each other. In a rare occurrence, both her parents and brother planned to be gone that weekend. We set our minds to it. That night, after some nervous conversation and good clean rumble and tumble, we went to her bed and miraculously, without issue, started having sex. After about a minute, feeling a hesitant relief that I hadn't finished yet, I heard a bang and the door swung open. Her very large poodle, similar in appearance to the dog van from the movie “Dumb and Dumber,” ran in and planted himself by my side, barking loudly in my ear. It was rough trying to stay aroused with this dog tyrant drooling on me. His bark was the physical manifestation of all the anxiety I felt about losing my virginity. My girlfriend’s exasperated cries did nothing to deter the dog and we just kept at it, hoping the rude interruption would end and sexiness could be brought back into our lives.

A few weeks later, my best friend saw us driving together and texted me suspiciously, asking why he hadn't been invited to hang out. At this point, many months into our secret trot, I figured our time in secrecy was running out. I texted my friend back and told him we needed to talk and that he should meet me at the CVS in 30 minutes. I chose the CVS just in case the encounter went very poorly and I needed help from the public. He was standing in the parking lot when I arrived and I asked if he wanted to sit on the display furniture. He declined and instead we did laps among the aisles as I explained my treachery. He was angry—reasonably so—and explained that he didn't really mind that we were going out. He just wished I had never told him about it.

This went on for a few more minutes and finally, in order to calm him down, she invited the dog into the bed and let him lick her face. Thankfully this worked and she turned back to kiss me, her lips lingering with dog odor.

Without further adieu, here is a tale of blossom from our staff member, Jack Brown.

By JACK BROWN

uring my junior year of high school, I started secretly dating the twin sister of my best guy friend. I had originally intended to tell him about us, but I kept pushing it off and became increasingly convinced such a talk would ruin our friendship.

Illustration By ELLA WORLEY

Illustrations By RYAN HUTSON

THE

SUGE KNIGHT

CONNECTION

By WILL PEISCHEL

ike Yanez discovered hip-hop by acci- “In my young kid head I’m like, ‘Shit. My mom has Like any resourceful eight year old would do, he dent. It was the mid-1980’s. He was eight a bunch of needles in the hallway cabinet,’ he hid the evidence. But now Yanez couldn’t play years-old and trying to hide a mistake. said. “I took a sewing needle, jammed it into the records and he didn’t have any tapes. However, cartridge, wrapped it in tape... he did have the radio tuner. He scanned through Yanez had a record player, complete with a tape every FM station, unsatisfied. player and radio. It was a gift from his parents. I’M BACK IN THE GAME.” He had two records to accompany his stereo When he tried to play a record, unsurprisingly, “So, what’s this AM? I flip the switch. It’s nothing system, Journey’s Escape, and Survivor’s single but static and talk and maybe some Spanish statragedy struck. “Eye of the Tiger.” tions or whatever. I hardly even speak Spanish. “I turned it on and next, there’s ribbons of vinyl ‘There’s garbage on this AM thing. This sounds One day, while the record player was still new coming out,” Yanez said. “With every spin of the like noise. I kept moving the dial all the way to to Yanez, the needle fell out of the cartridge. He record I’m watching it and going, ‘Oh my god. the end. Then, I happened upon 1580 KDAY, the was afraid he’d lose it all as quick as he’d got it. What did I do?” first hip-hop station in Los Angeles.” 11

they took over the show from another DJ, named Mike Pratt.

Yanez didn’t know it then, but his love for hiphop would take him, among other places, to Cal Poly’s KCPR San Luis Obispo. There, he would make up one-third of a hip-hop mix show that not only marks an important cultural chapter for the station, but also made an uncanny relationship with the hip-hop mogul, producer and founder of Death Row Records, Suge Knight.

n 1997, Yanez was a freshman at Cal Poly. He had heard about KCPR. Hundreds of miles from East Los Angeles, it was the only radio station around that played hip-hop. On the lawn outside building 26, a staff member dashed his notions of joining.

“He basically killed all of my hopes and dreams in like ten minutes,” Yanez said. “He made it sound like it would be damn near impossible to get a show. He said, ‘You gotta get X amount of classes, grades, gotta get a lottery, overnights, organize the CDs.’ I’m going to be here 20 years before I get a show. There’s got to be a way.” Later that year, Yanez got lucky – at the downtown Barnes and Nobles. Tom McCauley, one half of KCPR’s foremost hip-hop show, the “Nappy Dugout,” noticed him. “He was upstairs in the cafe,” McCauley said. “And I could tell that he was writing a rap. You see somebody mouthing their words, then going down and writing it then looking back up.” McCauley, (known as “MC JON?DOE” on air), had worked with Cory Rhodes (known as “DJ Raphiki”) at KCPR since the early 1990’s, when 12

Additionally, some of the station’s naysayers argued that mainstream hip-hop, while still rejected by much of contemporary culture, was becoming popular enough that it didn’t belong on KCPR, which devoted itself to the avant-garde.

Hip-hop existed on KCPR before McCauley and Rhodes, but their format was something entirely different. Rhodes mixed records live while McCauley brought the on-air personality. That “There was a concerted effort to avoid anything meant various voices, characters and constant that’s popular,” McCauley said. “They wanted to poise. People were entertained but McCauley give the listeners something totally different. ‘If was exhausted. McCauley and Rhodes hadn’t you can hear it elsewhere on the radio, than you changed the format about half a decade. shouldn’t be able to hear it on KCPR’ was sort of the concerted effort. When somebody tunes “You just made it up as you went,” McCauley said. into KCPR, they should not hear the same thing. “But I was starting to get a little tired. People call You’re there to educate them music-wise. Hipin and request their favorite character. It was hop was not the same thing. As the genre of hipthis character roulette.” hop became popular, they tried to steer away McCauley invited Yanez onto the Nappy Dug- from that.” out, which regularly invited locals and listeners Even when a Music Director did add hip-hop, it to freestyle over the airwaves. McCauley attriwas obscure. What might satisfy the purist could butes the community culture of the “Nappy Dugbe considered lame to a hip-hop head. out” to hip-hop music. Regardless of the internal struggles over the Yanez fit perfectly with the show’s format. He “Nappy Dugout’s” role within the radio station, became “MC Rocwel,” and the duo became a its popularity continued to grow, as did its protriumvirate. portion of programming. At its peak, a listener “When Rocwel came, it sort of refreshed that could tune to KCPR and hear McCauley, Rhodes sense of humor, spontaneity, the fun,” McCau- and Yanez every day of the week. Between Satley said. “He’s the kind of guy where you’re at urday and Sunday, the “Nappy Dugout” was ona barbecue and you want him to be telling the air for seven hours. story. He brought a lot as far as reenergizing the Among the “Nappy Dugout’s” most loyal listenshow. It was now Raphiki, Rocwel and I.” ers were inmates at the California Men’s Colony, hile KCPR prided itself on being differ- a state prison within San Luis Obispo city limits. ent from other San Luis Obispo County “The Men’s Colony listened to our show,” McCauradio stations, “Nappy Dugout” prided itself on ley said. “We would get letters from the Men’s being different from all other KCPR programColony from inmates saying, ‘We are listening to ming. It was a counter-culture within a countyour show. Give us a shout out.’” er-culture. The “Nappy Dugout” was, after all, the only KCPR show that used a pejorative When a friend of the “Nappy Dugout” went on name for “vagina” as its title. air and gave a shout out to a “Marion ‘Suge’ Knight,” McCauley was confused, then astoundThe Nappy Dugout’s distinction from other ed. One of hip-hop’s most prominent producers shows and stations made it popular with lisof was a regular listener. teners, to the ambivalence of the rest of KCPR. While most KCPR programming received new Moreso, he would never have predicted that music through the station’s Music Director, Suge Knight would respond to the shout out. KCPR’s Hip-hop shows had their own Hip-hop In February of 1997, Knight was sent to the prisDirector, who dealt directly with promoters. This on for his involvement in a beating the year befueled the cultural divide. fore. Despite being barred from doing so, he

found ways from behind bars to maintain con- “These are the songs that they’re talking about Vibe Recordings, where he helped promote trol of the decisions of his record label, Death releasing, so that Suge could hear them,” he said. Slum Village, of which renowned rapper J Dilla Row Records. was a member. Rhodes moved onto Rawkus ReYanez remembers the purple-painted, wincords and mixed on Power 106. “Literally I get a call from Death Row,” McCau- dow-tinted, big-rimmed, BMW limousine Death ley said. “They say, ‘Yeah. We heard you giving Row representatives arrived in. It probably Yanez went on to work for Death Row Records, Suge shout outs. He appreciates it. He wants to needed three blocks to make a left turn, he said. thanks to the Suge Knight connection. speak to you.’” “It was crazy having them come into the build- McCauley often travelled back to San Luis Obising, the station because the dudes were like 6’5, po and continued his relationship with KCPR. He 280 pounds, in suits,” Yanez said. “How many retitled the program to “The Family Show” (by guns do they have in those jackets, right?” his wife’s wishes), which ran until 2014. The relationship continued for several months. The trio live their lives separately, but they keep McCauley and Yanez concede that none of the in contact, and they’re quick to commiserate label’s best known artists or hits arose from the over their bizarre years at the “Nappy Dugout.” relationship. Still, three silly dudes found them- Suge Knight was only one chapter. selves in this bizarre connection with one of hiphop’s most infamous characters.

McCauley never did speak to Suge Knight. But In March of 1998, Knight was transferred to the phone call did establish a bizarre, if unMule Creek State Prison, outside Sacramento, belivable relationship. Representatives from California. Death Row gave the “Nappy Dugout” new music. Knight would listen over the airwaves, then The Nappy Dugout continued for a short time relay to his representatives which music would before Rhodes, McCauley and Yanez moved to ultimately be released by the label. Los Angeles. McCauley went on to work at Good

WATCH. KCPR.ORG/WATCH INTERVIEWS LIVE PERFORMANCES OPEN MIC NIGHT ORIGINAL COMEDY & MORE 13

LOCAL RECORD REVIEWS A review of the latest from San Luis Obispo’s local music featuring Shoot the Mariner’s ANCESTRAL PRAYERS, Joel Alexander's CORTEOUS SPECTOR, and .paperman’s FIGS

Shoot The Mariner ANCESTRAL PRAYERS

In many tracks, the band takes the background noises and instrumental warmups picked up during recording and incorporates them as part of the songs. As composers such as John Cage and Roland Kirk incorporated the elements of raw noise into their music, Shoot the Mariner similarly pushes the boundaries of their music, mixing the math rock of the Dismemberment Plan and Drive Like Jehu with the open-mindedness of Charles Mingus and Albert Ayler.

the listener from its dreamy sound. Then, within seconds, the next track starts and another dream begins, lulled by the complex chord progressions and spaced out production.

.paperman FIGS

Joel Alexander CORTEOUS SPECTOR

By IAN RIDSDALE

hoot the Mariner’s Ancestral Prayers is a forty-five minute dive into raw math rock. Described as an “album of improvisation” on the group’s bandcamp, Ancestral Prayers explores the unrefined emotion of the band’s sound. The group leaps into a crevasse most bands avoid by recording the songs of the album live with few takes. The severe limitations and uninhabitability of the recording process force the band to produce a freer and more experimental sound, creating a collection of music unlike anything they’ve exhibaited in the past. The freedom from constraints of traditional recording is reflected in each track. Their stream of consciousness evokes memories of artists ranging from Ornette Coleman to Captain Beefheart. 14

By FINN WARFIELD

his record is oozing with sadness and sentiment. Each track begins with one instrument accompanied by a lamentful melody, then builds upon itself until its listener is fully enveloped in a full chorus of sonic fortitude. Each song ends like a snap of fingers, waking

rtist .paperman lives and makes music in Morro Bay. He’s well ingrained in San Luis Obispo County’s music scene, which reaches up and down the coast. Typically his live setup consists of a multitude of synthesizers and MIDI controllers atop the bass, running through a ton of pedals. Figs is a collection of ambient soundscapes lush with dreams. You can almost see every sound heard on this record, dripping with new colors only available in the sonic format. Though you might hear some drones and repetition on this record, each bit is so pleasing that you’ll want to hear it forever and ever.

PARTY

OF ONE

By MELISSA NUÑEZ

“EVENTUALLY, EVERYONE DIES ALONE,” MANY PEOPLE THROUGH TIME HAVE SAID.

Growing up, if I didn’t have other kids to be with, I was with my parents. If I didn’t have a friend who wanted to see the same movie as me, I’d go with my mom or my cousin. In high school, I strived to have a group of friends and did. Besides sleeping, I was in a near constant state of adjacency with another human.

I’ve become comfortable with being by myself and I use this skill when needed or when I simply want to use it. Despite the benefits, being alone is something we stigmatize and avoid.

As humans, we crave companionship, but being alone does not mean you need to cut ties with every single person in your life. We The truth is that people aren’t always going to should be allowed to create and to have those be there and having to be alone carries the connections, but we should be comfortable in same inevitability as dying. But, unlike death, solitude with only our thoughts. It’s as handy we can get used to being alone. I go to din- as learning how to swim. ner, concerts, department stores and trails by Like everything else, our learning experience myself. I’ve even gone on a solo retreat in the is different from those around us, so I decidmiddle of the Santa Cruz wilderness. ed to find some people who also like their alone time—and asked them about the role it plays in their lives.

Illustration By KELLY CHIU

AMBER CLARK 4th year anthropology and geography

“I intentionally chose to go to community college in another county after high school so that I could have some control over my own life. For the first time, I felt an overwhelming and empowering sense of freedom. I sometimes had long three-hour breaks between classes that I'd spend exploring Napa alone. I'd go hiking, window shopping or go out to eat. During this time, I really got to know myself. I felt like a human being for the first time. It was as if I just had begun my life and learned to love myself. It was the most amazing feeling. Before I transferred to Cal Poly, I traveled to Italy to meet a friend. I spent the first few days of travel on my own. My flight was cancelled, I had to sleep in a hotel, and I flew into a city that was hundreds of miles away from my expected destination. I had to hop on two trains and meet my friend, all without cell service, and all with a knowledge of only very basic Italian. This expe-

rience was a pivotal moment of growth in my life, because I only had myself to rely on.

I always took my little case with joints and my journal. The case is still a thing, but right now I’m also trying to bring a disposable camera into the picture.

When I got to Cal Poly, I was recently single and I wanted to use this time alone to be the person I wanted to be. Self-love can be amazing in ways I lived in Tarzana, so the drive was between that romantic love cannot. Now, I feel very confi- 40 and 70 minutes. It was far, and I would go dent going out alone. Sometimes I bring a book alone, but I interacted with more people if I'm eating alone. It feels nice doing things for because, since I didn’t know anyone, I was like, myself again. ‘You know what? I don’t have any impressions to make, so why not?’ I feel that if I want to be truly happy, I need time to myself. It is a beautiful thing to open yourself I met this one dude who was travelling the up to another, but so painful. I told myself this world by bicycle. He started in San Francisco, the first time that I took myself out alone in pub- went down to Los Angeles, met this one chick lic. Even though I had grown up an only child, that went to USC and just spent a month in I realized in my second year of college that I LA hanging out. We hung out a few days before didn’t know what it really meant to be alone. I he left to Mexico, and from there he went across was floating around friend groups and figuring the Amazon. out how to adult without parental assistance. I was able to meet him and some other really I’m mostly introverted, but I have a very social amazing people by just being alone and thinkjob. I like to go out most days. I enjoy being with ing out alternate ways to start all over again. Befriends. But, I also make plans with myself. I get cause of that experience, I feel like if I go to any excited about them, and I think some people other city, I’ll know the go-to’s and how-to’s for find this very strange. Maybe I sound like a so- networking with people and making friends.” ciopath, but I find it’s what's healthy for me. The relationship that matters the most is the one you have with yourself.”

MICHELLE NAZIRI 3rd year liberal arts and engineering studies

“I started to spend more time alone around my medical leave. I had to spend a lot of time going back home and figuring out doctor stuff. I didn’t have everyone from Cal Poly, my social group. Everyone from back home that I knew wasn’t really there anymore. The way that I coped with it was through Tinder. When I was alone, I didn’t really know how to go about socializing and figuring out my groups. I went on Tinder and met some of the coolest people.

Photo By EVERETT FITZPATRICK 16

I would go to these really cool house shows in Photo By at the University of Southern California; I found EVERETT FITZPATRICK out about them through these people on the internet. I would go alone, which was really fun.

There I realized, I’m here alone and I am okay with being alone.

MARIELLE CONCEJO

He jumped to another girl after me because he told me himself, before, that he can't stand to be alone. It’s weird hearing that. Even though I felt offended by his nasty stare, I’m doing better than him because I’m here enjoying this movie alone, loving myself. Meanwhile, he’s the one being salty.

2nd year anthropology and geography

“I was back at home, in San Francisco, and went to the movies alone, because I said, “Fuck yeah, I’m going to go on a date by myself.” I got all dressed up and I watched Suicide Squad because I was ready to see Harley beat some ass. The movie is starting and I tell myself, ‘I’m totally ready, I’m ready to watch this movie. This is the premiere too.’

I remember that my high school implemented meditation twice a day for 15 minutes at a time. Having that made me feel better about being alone everywhere else. When I came to college, I would meditate. It felt like I was used to the alone part of coming to college. The benefits of it were that, even if I got little sleep, I would feel energized and I could go throughout my day.

I go to the bathroom and of course, on my way back, I see my ex-boyfriend. I walked up the stairs, back into the theater from the bathroom. He jumps off from the stairs and almost hits me. I said, ‘Oh my god. I’m sorry.’ I hadn’t noticed it was him. We looked at each other dead in the face. He shook his hand away and gave me a nasty look. I didn’t understand.

Photo From MARIELLE CONCEJO

I have no regrets about that movie theater thing. I took time for myself. I’m proud of coming out of that relationship and picking school over my ex-boyfriend. You never know what life is gonna throw at you.

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LEFT TO

MY OWN DEVICES YEAH, OK — I’m often guilty of volunteering as a main course to be swallowed and digested by the small screen of my iPhone. SO ARE YOU.

he smartphone has become a black hole, a bottomless pit of info and stimuli, the Mary Poppins bag of devices. So what do we make of this? There are countless advantages to having an intelligent gadget in our back pocket… mostly when it’s in our back pocket. ONE TIME, MY PHONE DIED — FOR GOOD.

THERE I WAS, LEFT TO MY OWN DEVICES. I had my Audio Ice clip-on FM radio, Fujifilm disposable camera and my hot pink Etch-ASketch. In my back pocket hung the decomposing corpse of my white Apple iPhone, AND THIS IS WHAT I LEARNED...

My IV of beats and lyrics dried up. I couldn’t take an extremely zoomed -in video of my friend’s mouth wrestling an entire donut, set it to slow-mo, and share it with all of my other friends. I couldn’t pass the time by scrolling through a feed of perfect picture portals.

y blue Audio Ice came from a small and dusty crevice in Morro Bay’s Treasures Antique Mall. I tuned the chrome knob to 91.3 FM and surrendered to a hand-crafted thread of music; each new song invited a new meaning to each of the usual sightedsuspects on my walk to school. The included headphones were the kind that you can peel apart down to the headphone jack; I hope you’ve had the luxury of feeling the wires split—it's just one of those things. These premium earbuds don’t cancel out 100% of surounding noise. Suddenly, I was no longer that asshole that didn’t say “hi” back.

ince there are a limited number of exposures on a roll of film — and a limited number of dollars to my name–capturing the world around me became much more valuable with my trusty Fujifilm disposable. A moment to keep had to be chosen carefully, and also remained a complete mystery for a month while metamorphosing into a swarm of intricate prints. You can forget about retaking that picture with your leg in a different position and hair fluffed up a bit, moments are not disposable. It turns out, photos on a phone screen get stale. A roll of film gets much tastier with age.

e’ll probably all grow old with hunched backs and arthritic fingers, but I hope to at least have a different toy to take me there. While most of my classmates sat slumped at their desks swiping a screen left and right, up and down, I twisted two white knobs in the same manner. A line turned into a box, turned into another box, and soon enough I had created a monochromatic Piet Mondrian masterpiece. If you are seeking to overcome perfectionist tendencies, exercise your patience, and learn the art of letting go, put down your phone and pick up an EtchA-Sketch. The mistake really does become the detail. By WHITNEY ENGELMANN

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