DJ Knix of WERU's The Knix Mix Q&A

I've done a few Q&A profiles of artists and other WERU programmers along the way, and I thought it would be a bit of fun to answer a few questions myself.  Of course, you know I spin electronic music on The Knix Mix every Friday night from 10 p.m. to midnight. If you don't, you can listen by going to weru.org and live stream or listen to a previously recorded show.  I'd always been aware of WERU being from this part of Maine. I graduated from Brewer High School in 1988, which happens to be the same year WERU was getting underway at the Hen House in Blue Hill. When I returned to Maine after a decade in Massachusetts I moved just down the road from the station. There's a great sense of community at the station, and it doesn't hurt that I get to play the kind of music I wanted to hear. I've been at the helm of The Knix Mix for over two years and counting.  Which is, come to think of it, one of the reasons I coined "Knix Picks." So I could keep track of all the new music in that span of time that I love, love, love!

1. Favorite genre of music? My heart belongs to electronic music, which encompasses a range of styles. Basically, I’m a total child of the 80s. British New Wave was the soundtrack of my youth, and I subsequently love anything that has synthpop origins. Ah, nostalgia!  Electropop, electro house, electro clash, French house, club/dance...Sensing a theme here? Really, I adore anything you can dance to.
2. Favorite band? It’s hard to name just one, but there is exceptional music to dance to coming out of Europe. Artists like Röyksopp, Etienne de Crécy, Autokratz, Vitalic, The Bloody Beetroots, Yuksek, Simian Mobile Disco and Soulwax. I also love music to brood to. Bands that have that angst-ridden post-punk influence like Motorama, The Juan MacLean and White Lies.
3. Favorite song? I’m really crushing on Etienne de Crécy generally, but “Someone Like You” on Essentials (Best of) is amazing. It also appears on Super Discount 2 as “Fast Track.” Other tracks that I adore are Vitalic’s “Poison Lips,” “On a Train” by Yuksek and Simian Mobile Disco’s “I Believe.”
4. What was the first LP or CD you bought? The first album that I picked out on my own was Shaun Cassidy’s second studio album Born Late. I was kind of obsessed with Shaun Cassidy in elementary school. I swooned over him as little brother Joe in The Hardy Boys. I remember bringing the album to my 3rd-grade class’s show and tell. I sat up front and held the album cover open while the teacher played the record for the class. I couldn’t have been prouder.
5. What hobbies and interests do you have outside of music? I love hiking and snowshoeing, which I get to do a lot of living in Orland. Besides conveniently living very close to the station, I also live very close to the Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust trail system and a short drive from Acadia National Park. I love nature photography, and I take a lot of photos on my hikes. I have two rescue dogs who are my hiking partners and frequent subjects of my photography. This doesn't mean I'm especially outdoorsy. I'm not the person you want with you on a mountaineering expedition.  I wouldn't last a hot minute. I have a romantic notion of nature and am fascinated with natural history and anthropology. I’m a voracious reader, and I love to browse the library or used bookstores on Saturdays. I love all things vintage, so flea markets and antiquing are fun for me too. I value learning new things. I’ve dabbled in acting and working with clay, and I’ve continued to take writing classes over the years.
6. If you could hang out with anyone, alive or dead, who would you pick and why? I would love to meet Gary Numan, who is one of the pioneers of electronic music. I’ve seen him in concert a couple of times, which was great fun. He smiled at me when I yelled for him to sing “Down in the Park.” I’d especially love it though if I could hang out with Josh Gates for an Expedition Unknown adventure or two. He’s kind of cute (and very married), true, but I’m also exceedingly envious of his job. Something that combines travel, adventure, history, archeology, and anthropology? Sign me up! Just don’t sign me up for a spelunking adventure because the movie The Descent scarred me for life.
7. If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why? I would want to be an owl. Owls symbolize intuition and have highly evolved senses - seeing what other can’t. They seem wise and cerebral, but they are also stealthy and can use those talons pretty effectively when they need to.
8. Favorite food? I could probably live a long, long time on pizza and cheesecake. I won’t. But I could.
9. Favorite book? Honestly, I could probably expound more on books than on music. Music I like specifically. Books I like generally. Though I’ve come to prefer reading nonfiction. I think everyone has a story to tell, and real life is often more interesting than fiction. Devil in the White City is a great example of compelling historical nonfiction. I read a lot of adventure books where people overcome – or don’t – seemingly insurmountable obstacles like Touching the Void, Into Thin Air and Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage. I love satirical memoirists like Augusten Burroughs and David Sedaris too. Laugh out loud hysterical!
10. Favorite movie? Henry and June, 1984, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Little Children, The Shining, and Out of the Blue.
11. If you could have any super power, what would it be? To know the unknowable and solve life’s mysteries. Like where did the settlers from the Roanoke Colony go? What happened to Amelia Earhart? What’s up with the Bermuda Triangle? That kind of omniscient knowing.
12. If you could visit any place in the world, where would it be? New Zealand is at the very top of my bucket list. Amazing flora and fauna sans large land predators or snakes. Perfect! Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to summit Everest, was a Kiwi!
13. What would people be surprised to know about you? I have two teenage sons who are amazing. They spend their school year in Massachusetts. They’ve co hosted The Knix Mix a few times. Keston, my youngest, has a boy band aesthetic, plays piano and prefers dance pop. Keegan, my oldest, looks like he could have been a Seattle rocker circa 1990, plays guitar and is into progressive rock.  They both love WERU but neither are into electronic music, and they are spectacularly unimpressed that their mom has a radio show.
14. What three words would best describe you? Complicated, introspective, sentimental.
15. What three words would your friends use to describe you? Honest, loyal, intelligent.

Q&A with GOBI's Chuco Phil

GOBI is an indie electronic trio based in Austin, Texas who create their own brand of electronic dance music by adding the dimension of rap delivered by vocalist Chuco Phil.  GOBI's debut release Gold on Black Ice (Deluxe) LP adds new depths to their signature style; the bass and beats still bring fans to the dance floor while Justin Dillon contributes analog synths and digital plug-ins for a little nod to electronic music of the past.  Drummer Matthew Kevin Dunn adds a live element to the production.

GOBI describes their music as a direct fusion of their interests and love for artists they have been influenced by.  GOBI is very inspired by the early house music often played in the clubs in Juarez, Mexico when they were growing up.  Chuco Phil explains, "We all grew up loving the Deftones and although our music is not rock and does not include heavy guitar, the keys we use and the darkness that some of our beats have in them was definitely influenced by their music."  GOBI also listened to gangsta rap, hi-hop and turntablists as they were growing up.  "Naturally we negotiated ways to create a sound and vibe that we hope touches on all of our influences and loves," says Chuco Phil.

In a city known for music, the band's energy fueled live show garnered them Austin Music Foundation's "Artist of the Month."  Last summer the mayor of Austin even declared June 6th as "GOBI Day!"  GOBI has shared the stage with some artists know to Knix Mix fans such as MSRTKRFT, Paper Diamond, and Big Gigantic.  GOBI has performed at numerous festivals including Insomniac's Nocturnal Fest, Neon Desert Music Fest, and the Pachanga Music Festival.  GOBI's re-release of their debut LP Gold on Black Ice with five previously unreleased songs became available on February 10, 2015.

  

Ten Questions and Answers with Chuco Phil of GOBI!

1. Favorite band?  Deftones
2. What is your earliest music memory?  My earliest memory of first really “feeling” music is when I was about 3yrs old.  My mom took me to a nearby Indian reservation in New Mexico.  There was a ceremony going on where they had built a fire, and there were dancers in traditional garb.  Most of the music was simply made from a group of men humming and singing a simple melody, but the drums…the drums seemed to possess my body.  Before I knew it, I was dancing around the fire with the men.  My mom told me to stop, but one of the dancers said that it was fine.  That was probably the first memory I have of truly being inspired by music beyond logic and comprehension.  It was also the first time I learned how you can meet new and interesting people through music; how communal and nurturing the whole music culture should and can be.
3. What was the first band you saw in concert?  My dad took me to see Alan Jackson when I was five, but my first concert that I chose - rather begged - to go to was Pearl Jam.  The Ramones was the opening band.  Pure rock amazement!
4. What hobbies and interests do you have?  We love to get out of the city and get into nature - mainly because we are obsessed with space.  When we tour through the Midwest, we often stop at our drummer’s dad’s house out in Clay Center, Kansas.  We love to drive out to the fields, have some smoke and some cold ones and just look up in awe.  When you can see the belt of the Milky Way, you can really put a lot of things in perspective.  Suddenly problems seem to dissipate and inspiration grows.  If you follow us on Twitter, we are always tweeting about new discoveries in our galaxy and the infinite galaxies beyond.
5. Do you have a nickname?  I go by “Chuco Phil,” Justin goes by “Dillon,” and Matt goes by “Dunny.”  So, yeah, I guess we all have nicknames.
6. Favorite food?  We love Mexican food.  Growing up on the border, you could never have Christmas without tamales.  We’ve come to the conclusion that the best gorditas come from a small spot in Canutillo, Texas named - quite appropriately - The Little Diner.
7. Favorite book?  Right now, our favorite book is Ready Player One.  We have read it a few times and have listened to the audible version on the road multiple times.  My favorite book of all time would have to be The Fountainhead.  I’ve read it over four times but not because of the political themes or rhetoric.  I love the idea of Howard Roark and how uncompromising, unique, groundbreaking, and individualized he is with respect to his craft of architecture, which is his art.
8. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?  This one is tough because we read a bunch of comics.  I was always fascinated by telepathy, but after a while my own thoughts drive me nuts, so this would end up most likely being a curse.  I once read a comic about Gambit and in the comic they noted that one of his highest powers was his charm.  I thought that was hilarious, but as an adult I realize how powerful that can be.  Just ask George Clooney or Bill Clinton.
9. Best compliment ever received?  When the crowd instantly begins to dance is not only the greatest immediate feedback, but also the best compliment we can receive.  Quite simply - dancing is like being on a jet ski, and you can’t be mad when you’re on a jet ski.
10. Biggest misconception about you?  A lot of people think since we play electronic music that all we do is DJ, go to clubs and listen to music that goes “oonce, oonce, oonce” all day and night.  But being born in Texas and being classically trained in different instruments, we love to check out jazz artists, bluegrass, rock, and classical.  We like to switch instruments when we practice and just jam out; to reach that point of spontaneity and get back to improvisation.

Follow GOBI on Twitter and Instagram using @GOBIband  

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Visit GOBI's website for tour dates and more information!