|
|
|
BANDS: Punk
& Ska INTERESTS: Venues ETC... About LOTD
|
Interview: Chris Bopst of the Bopst Show on
In this day and age, its a given that for the discerning music listener, radio is shit. Music is segregated by race and age demographics, filtered through statistics and mass marketing, and whittled away until it appeals to the lowest common denominator, leaving the thin white gruel known as commercial radio. But for the past six months, Richmond, Virginia has been home to an exciting new show that comes from the unlikeliest of sources: AM radio. Chris Bopst hosts The Bopst Show every Thursday from 2 to 5 PM and every Friday from 4 to 6 PM, broadcasting on Unforgettable 1320 AM. He plays dusty jazz, experimental punk, old school rap, and anything else he feels like playing, because this is personality-driven as opposed to market-driven radio. I sat down with Chris Bopst at his kitchen table on a beautiful Sunday morning, and he talked to me about the impetus behind his brainchild, his future plans for the show, and radio in general. People at the station have all been great, but they just look at me like Im crazy. And they should be so lucky, because I just walked in off the street, wondering how to get a show, because they had the only DJ in town, really, is this guy Floyd Henderson. Hes the only guy that plays whatever he wants. A lot of big band stuff, and then he plays some rock, you know, hes an old school professional guy. So when we were whining about radio, I just went down there and asked him. I basically just buy the time straight up, and they let me do anything I want. I spent about two months asking people, 'If I got this radio show, would you fund it?' So I did that, and I worked out a godforsaken marketing demographic. And I wanted the show to appeal to everybody. So I went to all these radio stations, FM stations, of course, I was weaned on the nipple of FM radio. And they just looked at me like I was crazy. And thats how they handle the business, and theyre making plenty of money anyway, so they dont really need to take chances. So after all of that proved horribly fruitless, I went to 1320 [AM] because of Floyd basically. And I called them up, initially I was like, 'So, does Floyd Henderson need an apprentice?' And that just sort of snowballed from there. We negotiated times after that, and that process took about a month, and it just worked out that way. Ive been lucky to get press on it and stuff. They [the radio station personnel] give me a good rate, and I pass that along to the sponsors. I try to keep it as cheap as possible, and try to make people come down and make it more of a community effort. Even though its my name and my idea, I dont want it just to be me. I want it to be representative of the community thats not heard, at least not in the media outlet. Places like Video Fan and various restaurants, music places, you know, and all the great local music that happens here. What Ill do is, you know, Ill burn a lot of songs on CD, blocks of songs, then Ill bring in a bunch of stuff. I have tons of albums, CDs, all types of shit, but I dont want to lug my entire collection out there. And I get this, because of the nature of the show: people will call in and ask for the most obscure stuff, like Im sitting there in some vast library. They dont even have libraries any more! So, its kind of funny when people ask for some B-side like Im sitting in some giant library there. But the studio is great because its right there on Broad and Madison, and then theres a window right out on the street. And its a good size. And the engineers a real mellow fifty-year-old guy, you know. Hes an old school AM radio engineer. He gets there about five in the morning, does the radio and does the news, and I show up, and we just basically sit there and listen to music. But again, there isnt anyone trying to do anything like this right now. You know, you play Mingus next to Fugazi, and people just think youre crazy. You know, airwaves arent known for theirno one takes chances. I mean, radio, TV, all those media outlets are just there to sell you products. Programming is just beside the point. Im trying to reverse that. I get a lot of calls from older people. And because its on the station that it is, Ill shy away from the Slayers, and you knowall music that I love, but I think the thing that entices me is being able to turn people on to music. I mean, theres a part of me that just wants to say, 'Fuck you,' and play Slayer. I dont know why it happens, but all of a sudden I get down there and feel like Im an ambassador, because I dont know of anybody else thats really playing any of this music. Theres no reason why a sixty-year-old man wouldnt like the Minutemen if in a proper context. I mean, to me, that music is undeniable. So I try to stick with the undeniable elements, and I love big band, old jazz, all that stuff that they play. You know, if you play someone something cold, just straight up, a lot of times theyll go, Oh, I dont like it. But if you put it in the proper context, theyll like it more. Its like when youre turning someone on to punk rock for the first time, you give them a little Clash, throw in a little Elvis Costello, the periphery of the hard stuff. And then you work it up to the Flags and the Germs and shit like that. Though Ive played Public Enemy and stuff like that, no one gets upset. I get a lot of callers that are, you know, older people. Theyre like, Oh, this is great. Whereas standard logic would be that they wouldnt be able to handle it, which just blows my mind. And that station is listened to by a lot of people. Ive only had two disparaging phone calls. One time I played Run DMC, My Adidas, which I thought was a pretty middle-of-the-road rap tune, and this old guy calls up and hes like, 'What element are you trying to get to listen to this station?' So I just imagined this guy sitting in his house, and Run DMC came on, and I just hoped three young black kids came by saying, 'Oh, man, can we hang with you? Turn the radio up!' Well, he called, and he was complaining, 'What did you just play?' and for some reason I just snapped. I dont know why, but I just refused to acknowledge that I had played it. I was like, 'Sir, I dont know what you were listening to,' because right when he called I was playing this gospel group from the 30s, and theyre singing about God, and he was so upset. And I had another guy call up last Friday, and he was like, 'You play a variety of music and that sucks!' [Laughter] He was just like, 'I think it sucks.' And I was playing this Middle Eastern oud music, so I think probably I mean its amazing what people will say. I played in bands for twenty-some years. I played in GWAR for a little while, I played in this SST band called the Alternators for almost ten years, and then I played with the Holy Rollers, a Dischord band, and Mount St. Helen was a band I had after that. Then I got a computer at one point, and I was just like, 'God, its so nice not playing in a band.' I mean, Id been playing in a band since I was 13. I literally hounded my parents for a guitar. I guess I stopped when I was 34 or 33, I mean, practicing every day. I like having my free time, and to be able to just sit there and play music is just so awesome. And I didnt want to do college radio; I dont want to do it for no one to listen. I want people to hear the music, because theres so much great music thats just so underrepresented. Or if it is represented, its in these stringent formats, like jazz in general, and shit like that. And those people do more to hurt the music than anything else, I think, because you say jazz to some people and they just immediately get this connotation in their head that they wont like it. If you ask the average Joe if he wants to go to an art exhibit, the first thing he's going to say is no. They have a negative connotation in their heads. But I love jazz. God, its phenomenal how muchwithin that little subtext theres billions of different options in there. We live in this media-saturated era where you have access to all types of shit. I remember growing up, pre-Tower, pre-internet, pre-cable, trying to find a, say, Black Flag release. There was one record store, maybe two, that you could go and get it at The record stores were like, rock, and jazz, and blues. So, I mean, in this age, when you can go into Tower and find all types of music I mean, Tower Records is a monopoly and sort of kills the little guy, but theres so much access to so much information now compared to 25 years ago. And its not representative; I think radio is so far behind the times. It was funny, there was an article in the [Washington] Post about the success of the Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, and the gist of the article was that its the number one record in the country and yet receives no radio airplay. They had all these idiot country programmers saying, Well, wed like to play it, but it doesnt fit in with our regular programming. This is the roots music of the United States, and obviously, many people love it; its still in the top hundred records. And yet, its not played. They want to shove Shania Twain and Vince Gill down your throat. That one instance alone just shows how messed up radio is as far as Im concerned. Theres such a huge market. I equate it to people who vote. Only a small percentage of the people vote. Theres such an untold mass of people that arent represented, period. And I think intelligent or interesting or eclectic radio would provide not only an invaluable service to the community, but would help the sponsors. It would just be great to be able to turn on the radio and hear George Jones next to, whatever, as opposed to, This is top 40 radio. I just want to take over the fucking media, or at least my little corner of it, you know, and be able to get all the freaks together. There is no freak radio station. I mean that in the highest honor, I dont mean that as a detrimental thing. There are a lot of freaks in the city and the surrounding counties. I get 30 or 40 calls down there a show, and I love it. Im truly humbled that people actually listen to it. My ultimate goal would be to be a station manager. Just get a bunch of people that I know to have shows. And again, that comes down to money, and Im working on proposals for big money. Im trying to get people to support it. They have a station in development down at WVNZ. They have a couple of different radio stations, but they keep toying with the idea of starting a new one and letting it be a free-form format, and thats sort of based on the small measure of success that Ive had with the show. Thats what I would love to do. Get some DJs that I trust, that arent fucking weenies, arent corporate types. I just want to work to have a station that will allow the DJ to play whatever he wants, putting the trust in the DJ. And then make it a community-based effort. I love Richmond, and there are so many great aspects to the community that just arent represented in any media outlets. And its just a bonus to play whatever I want to hear. And I think I have pretty good taste. And I love it. I dont do it to get famous or anything, I know my own intrinsic worthlessness. It [the Bopst Show] is everything. It's everything that I think is good from all time periods. The slogan I like to use is, The Bopst Show is the antidote against the scourge of corporate mandated play lists and genre-specific formatting. To me, its all my highly idealized version of punk rock. The shit I believed when I was fourteen to eighteen, the political slogans and thinking for yourself, that shit means more to me now than it did to me then. The older I get, the more Im like, Yeah, Im not fucking kidding; its not a trend to me. I made my life choice, for better or for worse. Youve got to carry on the punk rock aesthetic, you know, do it yourself and be extremely leery of large corporations. And to me, its all punk rock. I see the punk rock in Coltrane, I see it in Johnny Cash, I see it in Nina Simone, I see it in the White Stripes for that matter, theres just so much great music out there. And this is totally organic, the whole idea of the show is just based on my love of music. So, you know, Im not a whore, Im just the dude thats at the show and into seeing a good band. I go to millions of shows, and I always will, and music will always be front and center in my life. Read Chris Bopsts rants and playlists at Richmond.com Official Website for Unforgettable 1320 AM in Richmond
About LOTD Contact/Staff Advertise Home All content © LEFT OFF THE DIAL 2001-2005. All rights reserved. |
