P-Town Press
P-Town Press is a regular series spotlighting musicians, venues, music industry topics, etc. It is produced by KZME volunteer, Meredyth Jensen. If you would like more information about the series, please contact Dennise using the form below.
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P-Town Posts – Hosted by Meredyth Jensen – Taped 1/2010
Guest: Tara Dublin – spent five years on the radio in Portland and was one of the most popular DJs in town. Now striking out on her own as a freelance writer, event host, and performer, Tara welcomes you to her world. You’ll hear podcasts of her favorite music, new and old; her thoughts on everything from pop culture to parenthood; and read her daily blog chronicling her new adventures as a single mother and all around fabulous gal-about-town.
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MJ: We were talking a little bit earlier about where we grew up, who your influences are. I listened to Don & Mike…
TD: Because you grew up in the DC area…
MJ: Right!
And Dr. Demento on (W)HFS.
TD: Oh, (W)HFS was such a great radio station! One of the premier alternative radio stations.
MJ: And it was where I really heard about The Smiths. Now they’re so pervasive but they were totally underground in 1982.
TD: Well, my radio station was WLIR out of Long Island. I could only get it on my clock radio because I grew up in New Jersey. And I couldn’t get it on my stereo for whatever reason but that station changed the way I listened to music because it introduced so much great music to my life. Regular radio at that time was all Michael Jackson and other poppy stuff. I like some of that stuff. Pat Benator.
MJ: Even Madonna was starting to get some airplay…like “Holiday” was her first hit or “Like A Virgin”.
TD: Yeah, but that just didn’t really speak to me at that time and I remember turning on WLIR because I had heard about it from a friend and I heard R.E.M. for the first time and thinking, “what is that?” That is SO different and SO new and it completely threw me for a loop because I didn’t know there were options out there for music. I just thought it was whatever was on the radio and I didn’t realize there was variety on the radio and once I discovered WLIR, I never listened to any other station because that’s where I found The Smiths, and The Cure, Depeche Mode, and any obscure band in England.
MJ: Sister of Mercy.
TD: Sure. Prefab Sprout…Feargal Sharkey.
MJ: One hit wonders of the alternative universe.
TD: Right! Now you find them on the “Totally 80’s” compilations at Target for $4. Those were my formative years in New Jersey. While everyone was listening to Bon Jovi and Ratt, I was listening to this sort of dark and ‘shoe-gazey’ kind of music but it really was kind of a saving grace for me in high school. While everyone had big hair and rocking the acid wash, there I was in my black cardigan and my black jeans listening to The Cure. And thank God!!!
MJ: So while your friends were going to Bon Jovi concerts (when they first came out) what were some of the bands you went to see…I’m sure WLIR had their own sponsored concerts…
TD: Yeah, they did. My mother was pretty cool about letting me go into the city to see concerts once I turned 16. Before that I really couldn’t go anywhere. The first concert I went into Manhattan (without my mother) to see was The Ramone at The Ritz, which doesn’t even exist anymore. I was 15 and I was with friends so she let me go. And it was amazing! It was amazing because the only other concert I think I’d ever seen before was Duran Duran at Madison Square Garden.
MJ: Well, that’s not too shabby…My first concert was Barry Manilow. (Laughter) the “Copacabana Tour” though…
TD: We had a subscription to the Garden State Art Center when I was growing up and we always got season passes. And I remember my mom taking me to see Debbie and Pat Boone…and after like four minutes she turned to me and said, “Let’s get out of here!” And yeah, that was bad, but growing up so close to the Garden State Art Center some good acts came through. I remember seeing The Go-Go’s with INXS opening…The Eurythmics with Chris Isaak opening…Robert Palmer…
MJ: It’s so sad. You’re naming people who’ve gotten really old or either have sadly passed away.
TD: I know! I know! It was sort of, you know, the mid-80’s were really a golden age for alternative music because it was all new and it was all emerging, and because we didn’t have the internet to spoil it for us it was all fresh and really, really exciting and to know that there was something out there besides the “butt rock” that was all over my high school. So WLIR was my saving grace.
MJ: Were there any DJs who you related to or you said to yourself, “I gotta listen between 4pm – 7pm because ‘so and so’ is on the air.”
TD: Oh, totally! Yeah, there were two women that were on there: Donna Donna and Malibu Sue. I loved them because they kind of sounded like me and they loved the music, were really enthusiastic and I don’t really recall any other female DJs being on the radio when I was growing up. When I was really little Don Imus was on WNBC and played music! That’s how old I am. (Laughter)…and my parents always listened to oldies in the car so I grew up listening to Fats Domino, and all the girl groups from the 60’s and I think I was the only girl in 1st grade who knew who Little Richard was. And then developing my own musical taste as I got older, you grow up in the 70’s you’re hearing a lot of disco and a lot of AM Gold and a lot of crap.
MJ: A lot of Karen Carpenter.
TD: Wow. And you know you’re nine years old and you love Olivia Newton John and then you get a little bit older and then someone plays you R.E.M. and then you go, “Oh My God!” And that’s where I feel my musical education really – and truly – began.
MJ: So listening to Malibu Sue and Donna Donna, were those women you looked up to in the sense of one day I’d love to be on the air and do what they do for a living. I’d love to know a little bit more and I’m sure other people would love to know sort of the often circuitous path people take in their career, and their passions, and how you ended up on the radio.
TD: The way I ended up on the radio is a complete fluke! I was a drama major in college. I started out at Emerson College in Boston and had to transfer to the University of Georgia after my sophomore year because my family moved from New Jersey to Georgia. So I went from this little, tiny…
MJ: Oh, wow! No culture shock there.
TD: Oh, it was totally like “My Cousin Vinny” and one of the first things I said to my mother when we moved was, “where are we getting Chinese food?” Honestly. Honestly! And everybody in the drama dept at UGA loved me to do “My Cousin Vinny” impressions because a Southerner cannot do a Northern accent but a Northerner can do a Southern accent. A Southern accent is pretty interesting. And so I thought I was going to be an actor. I really thought that what else could I possibly do? I didn’t like anything else. I liked music and I liked performing. That was it. After I graduated UGA, I moved to Augusta, Georgia because my now ex-husband was going to Medical school there. There was a little, tiny alternative radio station called Channel Z and a friend of his from Med school was roommate’s with the program director. So we were all out one night and we were just talking about music and he said to me, “you need to come and hang out with us on the air. You know a lot about music. You need to come hang out.” And it never occurred to me to pursue that. Not in Augusta. Not in the state of Georgia! I mean I thought, “oh he’ll get his residency in NYC. I’ll go pound the pavement. I’ll work in radio in NYC and it will be great.” Not.
MJ: Because there’s no competition in NYC.
<Laughter>
MJ: But Augusta…when I think of Augusta, I think of The Masters golf tournament. I didn’t even know they would consider having alternative music there.
TD: Well, yeah that was a struggle because you expect in the buckle of the Bible belt to hear Lynrd Skynrd on constant rotation. And that was there but also, alternative music – this was 1993 – Kurt Cobain was still alive. And Radiohead was a new band and that was also a really exciting time for alternative music because we had gone through that late ‘butt rock’ 80’s thing, you know, Guns N Roses was huge and Poison and all of that hair and makeup, and then Nirvana came and kind of leveled the playing field and sort of opened the door for a lot of other bands to really step up and find out about them. So Nirvana opens the door for Soundgarden and Pearl Jam and all of that, but that also opens the door to, if you didn’t know about Sonic Youth and if you didn’t know about the Pixies and you didn’t know those influences. If you didn’t know Bob Mould and Husker Du when those bands name-checked those influences, then you went back and went, “oh, yeah, now I get it.” So every time you discover a new band you find out who their influences were and you go back…and that’s all part of a musical education which I find fascinating. So to be on the radio at that time was unbelievable and I remember it was almost like I heard the click in my head, “Oh! This is what I should be doing.” It combined the love of performing with the fact that nobody could see me which is great. I mean, I never felt 100% comfortable with acting on stage.
MJ: But you’re one of those lovely, gorgeous women who defy the old saying, “you have a face for radio” because you should be in front of the camera.
TD: Well, thank you! That’s incredibly sweet…I just never could get past the fact that people were watching me. Like, I dare you to entertain me. But the radio is great because they kind of call it theater of the mind and you can create this atmosphere of ‘this is the coolest place to be.’
MJ: And it’s live, too. There’s no second takes like there is in film and TV Most of the time.
TD: Now it’s a bit different in radio. A lot of radio stations are voice tracking but that didn’t exist back then. Everything was live. We played commercials on 8-track. And if we had to edit phone calls it was on reel-to-reel. I mean, there’s no computer in there. And I pulled news from Prodigy. Remember Prodigy?
MJ: Oh yeah!
TD: In the early days of the internet. But it was so much fun! This little, small town radio station and it was a great learning experience for me. I started doing overnights so I really cut my teeth from Midnight to 6am. If you make a mistake, really no one’s listening…and it was great fun and a great education. Once I got used to overnights they moved me to morning drive. So then I was getting up at 4am and pulling news and doing that. I did that for a year and my now ex got his residency in NYC. We moved up to NYC and I could not get a job in entertainment to save my life. That was really hard.
MJ: I was thinking about…like a lot of industries but radio in particular, it’s such a male-dominated industry. From on-air all the way up to the corporate food chain.
TD: That’s true.
MJ: So, whether you were in Augusta or NY, did you find that it was a beast of burden or more like hey, I have the competitive advantage because I’m a woman…and there’s not enough women doing this so this is where I can shine.
TD: You think that going in. You know who you are and you have all this energy and creativity and talent, but if you walk into NYC with no connections, you can’t get in a door. Anywhere. And you go to temp agencies and try to get placement and they don’t, I could not get into a door at MTV – which is what I really wanted to do. I wanted to get in. I thought I’d be a really good VJ. Martha Quinn was like my idol growing up. Right? So I was like, “who doesn’t want that job?” You get to be on TV, you get to hang out with all these rock stars and you get to play music. I mean that’s the ultimate. So when I finally got the job at Channel Z, I thought this is what I was born to do. This is meant for me…and to get to NY after being the big fish in the little pond, then people are like, “I don’t know who you are. I’ve never heard of your radio station. You have almost no experience. Come back when you do.” And it’s that vicious circle of: I don’t have experience but no one is going to give me the experience to get the experience. And so I just ended up working office jobs and waiting tables and then when we moved back to Georgia, I was already pregnant with my first son, but there was this little radio station in Albany, Georgia. It was like Top 40 – and this was 1998 – and I spent a few months locked in a booth with ‘N Sync…and Spice Girls. I was like, “I’m pregnant and I’m never gonna lie around and do nothing ever again and I hate all of this music so I’m going to stop doing this.” And then when we moved out here (to Portland) in 2001, I was still doing the whole stay at home Mom thing and my second son was born in 2003…and a year after that I was going stir crazy. You know, I did the stay at home Mom thing and I gave my kids this great early learning foundation, but I also knew I needed something else for myself or I was gonna go insane. I’m just not one of these people who can sit around and do nothing.
MJ: Well, you have a passion and you know that you’re talented…and you want to affect change somewhere and be able to make a difference. I think that’s so important.
TD: That aspect of it and that I thought I was gonna lose my mind!
<Laughter>
TD: Because I think everybody needs some sort of creative outlet. And I had friends who were other doctor’s wives who were stay at home Moms and thought that was the be all and end all of existence…and that’s fine! There are women who thrive in that environment. I admire them for it! I just needed a little bit more. So, I got the job at 94.7 completely as another fluke. They were going to get away from the Korn and Limp Bizkit and Eminem and get back to the more alternative roots of radio. And I applied because I thought, “oh, well maybe I could do a weekend shift. It would be nice to get back to radio.” I had been doing some voiceover work but other than that, I really wasn’t doing anything and I managed to get an interview with the Program Director and because I had a little bit of radio experience that was great, but he wasn’t looking for just a voice but someone who was really passionate and knowledgeable about alternative music. And if you give me 15 minutes, I’ll prove to you that I am that person, and he gave me the chance. Two nights of auditions and then he hired me the next week. That’s an amazing thing in – and of – itself because someone who’s really unproven…no major market experience…threw me on the air and really entrusted me to run with it. And I did it! I think I had a really successful nearly five year run there.
MJ: Now you have that right of passage which like, every major or famous on-air personality has…where at some point they all get let go from the station where they work and…
<Laughter.>
TD: Apparently, you’re no one in radio until you get fired.
MJ: That’s right.
TD: I still believe and trust in radio – especially at the local level…and how imperative it is to be able to have that when you know, everyone can go to the internet.
MJ: Yeah, actually, I was going to ask you something I heard you say, and I’m totally paraphrasing, so tell me if I’m wrong, but you recently said, “If you have a really great DJ that has something interesting to say, plays fresh music that’s under her control, and doesn’t exist on the station’s playlist then terrestrial radio wouldn’t be in as much trouble as it is.” So, as we’re looking forward to KZME’s launch date – when they flip that switch – what do you think is going to really be the secret sauce that KZME is going to have (aside from the fact that it’s going to be a listener-supported, commercial-free station) which I think is the big obvious difference-maker, but…
TD: That’s a huge difference and also, I’m going to have some input as to what goes out onto the airwaves which back in the day when there was Wolfman Jack, the DJ’s were huge stars in the 60’s and 70’s…Management kind of shrunk and talent said, “This is how it’s gonna be.” And that did a complete reverse in the 90’s and now it’s sort of like musical people. I’m gonna put you there and if it doesn’t work I can just put another person in your place. And the problem with that is they forget how much the audience connects with the DJ. If it works really, really well, they feel a connection…to rely that person’s gonna be there every day at the same time. I mean, life is uncertain, especially in the last couple of years with the economy being the way it is. You don’t know if you’re going to have a job the next day but you can turn on the radio and say, “Oh, there’s Tara doing the 90’s at Noon.” That’s something you can rely on and count on. And that’s why DJs used to be on the air for 20 to 25 years because they were your buddy. They were! It’s not like that anymore.
MJ: And they also exposed us, to our generation to wanting to listen to more alternative things than what was on the air…where I never would have heard of the Smiths or you wouldn’t have heard of R.E.M. if it wasn’t for those women DJs.
TD: Right. And if I did find out about R.E.M., it probably would have been later when everyone else did when they were exploding. When “It’s the End of the World” came out, people were saying, “oh this new band REM.” (mispronounces name)
<Laughter>
TD: That’s hip.
<Laughter>
TD: My issue is that people are forgetting why radio is important and what radio can be. And it’s not a source for finding out about new music anymore.
MJ: No. It’s not.
TD: That ability was removed the second the internet became a legitimate thing. So, we can’t – on radio – break any news, introduce something no one has ever heard before…competing with the internet it’s a lost cause. It’s hopeless because you can’t…and so, what’s the best way to compete with something? It’s by presenting something that’s different. So you create something that’s an oasis from everything else. So, what KZME is going to do is have local people on the air who know Portland, who love Portland, and I think people want to hear people that they trust saying, “here’s a band that I think is really great.” And you’re going to pay attention to that because if you come to know and respect the DJ (the way I had built a reputation over at 94.7)…they’re going to listen to you. They may not love it the way you do, but they’re going to give it a try. They’re going to go to places that you recommend. We’re going to be able to support so many local businesses, local artisans, and local bands that otherwise don’t get heard on the airwaves here. And the thing that I’m so excited about – about KZME – is that when people come to Portland, maybe they want to find out what Portland “sounds like” – so they’ll turn on the radio. And you go across the radio dial and it doesn’t sound like Portland. It sounds like any other city because they’re playing Top 40 or huge bands that everybody knows about. And while some local bands are represented on the radio but they’re just the biggest of the big: Spoon and Modest Mouse and…
MJ: or the Postal Service…I mean, you can hear some of their more well-known songs but I think the beauty of what I know you’re going to be able to accomplish is that I may not know a certain song by The Dimes that…and you certainly can’t go on the internet and necessarily go on Pandora and they’re going to pull up a song by The Dimes for you. So, how am I going to ever know that I should listen to these guys? Or the Dandy Warhols?
TD: Exactly!
MJ: I mean, there’s maybe one song by the Dandy Warhols you can go online and listen to, I’ll use Pandora as the ongoing example…
TD: But that might not be their best song! That’s the other thing I’m really excited about…I mean, yeah, you can play Pearl Jam but why don’t you play something that is a B-side or a rarity or such a super deep cut that only a die-hard fan would know. Who needs to hear, “Jeremy” EVER AGAIN? Who needs to hear the Red Hot Chili Peppers anymore?
MJ: Never. Never!
TD: Green Day, Nirvana…they’re so overplayed and that’s the other thing about radio…is that they think, “oh if you just continue to play things that people already know, they’ll just keep listening.” But what they don’t understand is that people crave newness…as well as they crave familiarity. So the way to do it, is you play something that they’re familiar with and then you play something they’re maybe not so familiar with. And it keeps them listening. “OK. Yeah, I know this song…what’s coming up next? Oh! This is new. Oh, I like this. Wow! That’s really cool.” And that’s going to be our responsibility if KZME is to introduce all this great local music to people who may not have heard it before. Because it has not been represented on the airwaves yet. And we’re not just talking about some little obscure Portland band that has only played in your boyfriend’s garage…once. That’s NOT what we’re talking about.
MJ: Or like the opening act at Dante’s.
<Laughter>
TD: Exactly!
MJ: We love Dante’s but…
TD: Right. And we’re also not talking about just the biggest local bands, either. It’s the whole Pacific NW. A band from Idaho, if they’re really good, sure we’ll play them! A band that’s coming through Portland we can play them, as well. So, it’s not going to be rigid. It’s not going to be this playlist that you must follow because some guy in an office in Pennsylvania decided that this is what people in Portland want to hear. It’s going to be decided by people who live in Portland, who know Portland, who love Portland, and the outlying areas…and are able to be informative and show the community that there’s more out there than what you’ve been hearing.
MJ: And I think that’s really the underlying theme and I think that it’s about the community and I think that’s what makes Portland so special and so unique compared to other markets. And with the age of social media, so many ways of getting music and entertainment that isn’t on the radio, the way to get people together is through that collaboration and community. And I think that with the “think local” mentality here…what does the word “local” mean to you?…because I think it’s important for everyone to know that KZME has this tagline, “Music where you live” but to your point, that doesn’t necessarily mean they have to be based in Portland proper.
TD: No. They can be from Seattle, Eugene, Medford…I mean, you know, or Idaho, Vancouver, BC. I think if you’re from the Pacific NW and you’re brand new or up and coming, and you have a great sound we’re gonna give you a try. If you’re in a local band we would love your submissions. There are bands out there that I don’t know about…I’m not some omniscient person who knows everything and so, that’s the other great thing about radio is the continuing education part of it. There’s always going to be some new band coming from somewhere. I mean, Nirvana came out of nowhere. That’s so exciting! And you never know who the next big thing is gonna be. Maybe they’ll break right here on KZME. We don’t know that.
MJ: That actually leads me to the question of who are some of the bands you think are the ones to watch…ones you’ve maybe heard their live shows and thought they’d be great to play on KZME.
TD: Well, you mentioned The Dimes. They’re one of my absolute favorite local bands…adore, adore, adore! Derby – love them, as well. Mark Twain Indians are fantastic.
MJ: Great name.
TD: It is!
<Laughter>
TD: And their lead singer, Ted has a voice like Bono but even better. And that’s a band that needs that kind of radio recognition and radio play. Uh…Blitzentrapper, Blue Giant, Viva Voce, The Thermals…I mean, all of these bands…The Gossip! I would love to be playing The Gossip on the radio. And you know it was an exercise in frustration at times at 94.7. It was like why can’t we be playing this? We played one local song a night. And you’re saying is, “There’s something different here.” That’s not different. THIS will be different. KZME will be different! We’re not just walkin’ the walk, we’re talkin’ the talk. And we’re going to be super at serving this community in a way that it hasn’t been served before.
MJ: Well, if I’m in a band (which I’m not) but if I wanted to be played on KZME, how would I go about getting my name out?
TD: We’ll take submissions. You can go to kzme.fm and find out how to submit music. We sit and we listen and preview every CD that comes in…that’s a big part of my work here is listening…there’s some stuff that comes in and you’re just like, “Wow! This is NOT good.”
<Laughter>
TD: But, then…you get something and you’re like, “I don’t know what this is but this is awesome.” A perfect example of that is…I heard the name of the band and I thought I’m not gonna like that: Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head is the name of the band. They’re from Seattle and you think, “oh, this is a joke band and what is that?” And I put their song on and I loved it. I loved it because it was so different. You hear a band from Seattle and you’re thinking, “good…another band from Seattle wearing flannel and glasses, looking at their shoes…” Not that there’s anything wrong with that! I love the Death Cab and Postal Service but this is a pop-y, funny, dance-y collective that if they come and play live, I’m going. They’re really, really fun. And that’s another great thing about KZME is that we’re going to be able to introduce people to bands that they’ve never heard of and that they never had known they could fall in love with, if we weren’t there to play it for them. That’s exciting to me! That’s a really exciting part of the job because yeah, you can find these bands on the internet but if you don’t know they exist, that’s a great way to create the introduction.
MJ: So, this is an ultimate resource right here (at KZME).
TD: Yeah! We’re going to be your ultimate live, local resource for everything – not just music – for happenings around town, local artists, local restaurants, if there’s readings, storytelling events, we’ll have people come in and hang out with us. We’ll have bands come in and play live.
MJ: That would be great.
TD: Yes, these are all things that we’re still planning on doing. I have friends in every aspect of the local community…from actors, artisans, to painters to chefs to authors and musicians so I plan to bring everybody from all of those worlds down to talk about it because Portland isn’t just cool guys playing guitars. There’s a lot of other great stuff going on in Portland so I want to talk about that, as well.
MJ: Well, we have to wrap this up but I do have one final question for you because we’ve been talking about some really, amazing-sounding bands – which I’m going to have to look up now because I definitely hadn’t heard of Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head…
TD: I’ll make you a mixed tape.
MJ: Yeah! Mixed tape…woot!
<Laughter>
MJ: So, what can the audience be rest assured or guaranteed by Tara Dublin that they will never, ever hear on KZME?
TD: Ha, ha!!! Well, you’ll never hear Sublime.
MJ: Excellent!
TD: I’ve never liked them. You will never make me understand why they were popular with songs about drug abuse and date rape…not for me. Not for me at all! You won’t hear the Red Hot Chili Peppers. You won’t hear Green Day. You won’t hear the bigger…I mean, maybe we’ll play Pearl Jam and Nirvana but the super deep cuts…
MJ: Not “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
TD: I promise you, no overplayed, great big, you can hear it in your sleep, kind of songs. You’re going to hear something new and exciting and hopefully, stuff that you’ll absolutely love. And you’ll go out to Music Millenium or to Jackpot and you will buy local music…
MJ: That’s right…and support the local Merchants.
TD: That’s what this is all about! It’s truly music where you live but it’s also community-based, publically-driven, playing to the community radio. And that’s the essence of what terrestrial radio started as and it became this horrible mess that’s going on right now but we’re gonna take it back. We’re going to recreate it – kind of like giving radio a makeover that it desperately needs.
MJ: Well, on that note, thank you so much Tara for your time and commitment and passion and dedication. Until the launch date, where can people find out more about KZME?
TD: There’s kzme.fm and we also love people to volunteer so come on down and be a part of what we’re doing. We’d love to have you.
MJ: Thanks!
