KCRW announces new limited on-air series Freeform Fridays featuring special guests
Cut Chemist, Reggie Watts, TOKiMONSTA, Ceci Bastida, and a Surprise Guest TBA
KCRW DJs Aaron Byrd, Dan Wilcox, Novena Carmel, Mathieu Schreyer, and Jeremy Sole Back on Air for Opening Set
Anchored by Garth Trinidad and Travis Holcombe
Fridays starting May 15
8 – 11 PM PDT
Santa Monica (May 11, 2020) – KCRW has announced a new limited on-air series, “Freeform Fridays” featuring KCRW DJs and special guests Cut Chemist, Reggie Watts, TOKiMONSTA, Ceci Bastida, and a surprise guest TBA, starting on May 15, from 8PM – 11PM PDT, and continuing for five consecutive Fridays. Each evening opens with a set by one of the KCRW DJs – Aaron Byrd, Dan Wilcox, Novena Carmel, Mathieu Schreyer, or Jeremy Sole – back on-air for the first time since the safer-at-home order was implemented. Then, our special guest DJ takes over the airwaves with an hour of freeform radio, combining music, personal anecdotes, reflections on the current times, and plenty of surprises. Freeform Fridays will be anchored by KCRW DJs Garth Trinidad and Travis Holcombe who will close the evening with their own killer DJ set.
Freeform Fridays can be heard live on-air, at KCRW 89.9, online at KCRW.com, and via the KCRW app.
KCRW’s Freeform Fridays Schedule:
May 15
8pm Aaron Byrd
9pm Cut Chemist
10pm Garth Trinidad
May 22
8pm Dan Wilcox
9pm Reggie Watts
10pm Travis Holcombe
May 29
8pm Novena Carmel
9pm TOKiMONSTA
10pm Travis Holcombe
June 5
8pm Mathieu Schreyer
9pm Ceci Bastida
10pm Garth Trinidad
June 12
8pm Jeremy Sole
9pm SURPRISE GUEST TBA
10pm Garth Trinidad
More about Freeform Friday special guests:
As well as being one of the ablest solo turntablists on the globe, American DJ and producer Cut Chemist (born Lucas MacFadden) was also a member of two highly rated crews: underground rap kings Jurassic 5 and the Los Angeles Latin funk band Ozomatli. With J5, he contributed “Lesson 6” to the group’s eponymous EP and produced the entire record. In mid-1997 Cut Chemist recorded his album debut, Live at the Future Primitive Sound Session, with Shortkut of Invisibl Skratch Piklz. Two years later, he teamed up with DJ Shadow for Brainfreeze, and in 2001 the duo followed with Product Placement. In 2004 he issued Litmus Test, a remixed collection of his previous work. It was followed in 2006 by an album of his own productions, The Audience’s Listening (Warner Bros. Records). The next year, he released another collaboration with DJ Shadow, The Hard Sell, recorded live at the Hollywood Bowl. A more concise mix, The Hard Sell (Encore), arrived in 2008. In 2010 he released the mix album Sound of the Police, which featured Ethiopian and Afro-Brazilian recordings. He returned in 2017 with the singles “Work My Mind” (with Chali 2na and Hymnal) and “Madman.” His long awaited follow up artist album, DIE CUT, was released in March of 2019 and featured Tune Yards, Biz Markie, Deantoni Parks, Myka 9 and more!
Reggie Watts is an internationally renowned Musician/Comedian/Writer/Actor who currently stars as the bandleader on CBS’s The Late Late Show with James Corden. Using his formidable voice, looping pedals, and his vast imagination, Watts blends and blurs the lines between music and comedy, wowing audiences with performances that are 100% improvised. Watts’ first Netflix special Spatial released to massive critical acclaim, with the New York Times calling it “a giddy rush of escapist nonsense” and dubbing Watts “the most influential absurdist in comedy today.” As a solo performer, Watts brand of musical/comedy fusion has led to sold out headlining tours in the U.S. and Europe, including festivals such as Bonnaroo, SXSW, Bumbershoot, Just For Laughs, Pemberton and more. This year, Watts released his own content app called “WattsApp,” a techno-savvy look into his life, work, and techno junk drawer. WattsApp has all original content including a show called, Droneversations where he interviews guests while it’s filmed by drones along with other fun content.
Born and raised in Tijuana and now living in Los Angeles, Ceci Bastida was just 15 when she joined the iconic Mexican ska-punk band Tijuana NO and became one of the first women to rise in the ranks of contemporary Latin rock. In 2000 she spent eight years as part of the touring band of acclaimed singer Julieta Venegas, including a featured role in her 2008 MTV Unplugged special. Bastida embarked on her solo career in 2006 with the ep Front BC, and in 2010 released Veo La Marea (I See the Tide), a mix of electronica, rock, and hip-hop that The Fader dubbed “bodacious, clicky, and gongy” and the Los Angeles Times described as “a marching-band traipsing through the Amazon rainforest.” The album, which included hot-button songs about immigration and the drug war, featured guest spots by Diplo, Rye Rye, and Tim Armstrong. It earned her a Latin Grammy nomination, appearances on NPR’s Weekend Edition and KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic, and a spot on the 2011 Lollapalooza bill. Her solo album, La Edad de la Violencia (The Age of Violence) was produced by Luke Top (Fool’s Gold) & XXXChange (Spank Rock) and includes songs inspired by the rise of everyday violence in the US and Mexico—from the drug war to the Sandy Hook shooting and the Boston Marathon bombing—and by Haruki Murakami’s novel Kafka on the Shore. Her latest album, an EP featuring collaborations with Aloe Blacc, Mexican Institute of Sound, Spoek Mathambo, and Mariel Mariel “Sueño” is out with Nacional Records. Bastida is also a member of the all-star band Mexrrissey, a Mexican homage to the songs of Morrissey and The Smiths. She is currently finishing her fourth album.
Over the last decade, the Los Angeles producer and Young Art label boss, TOKiMONSTA has helped define the sound of modern dance and beat music. In the process, she has received the co-signs of the biggest names in electronic and repped for the West Coast underground at the Grammys — all without sacrificing the purity of her vision or relying on exploding glowstick bombast. The secret is that there is no secret, other than the compositional genius and futuristic melodies embedded into the gleaming, technicolor mandalas of hip-hop instrumentalism, pop, R&B-soul, house, and IDM that encompass the TOKiMONSTA sound.
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For more information about KCRW please contact:
Laura Cohen, LC Media, lcmediapr@gmail.com
About KCRW
KCRW creates and curates a unique mix of content centered around music discovery, NPR news, cultural exploration and informed public affairs. We are driven by the spirit of LA and deliver in innovative ways—on the radio, digitally and in person—to diverse, curious communities around the corner and around the world. A community service of Santa Monica College, KCRW can be found on the air in LA, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Mojave, Palm Springs, San Luis Obispo, Berlin, Germany, and worldwide via the KCRW-developed smart phone app, or online at kcrw.com.
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