When I was in college I worked for 88.1 KTXT-FM, a 30,000 watt station controlled by Texas Tech University. I started off as a beginner DJ, taking every shift I could get in the summer of 2006, then graduated to a 7 am shift in the Fall semester. I was excited to walk through the snow and 50 mph winds to play the best music you could find within a five-hour radius (and one DJ choice per hour!).
Luckily, my work paid off and I got my first official show, co-hosting Indie On the Rocks. Then program director Burgers was gracious enough to give me the opportunity to expand my mind and skill set by taking on my rookie ass and training me in the ways of an effective musical liason to the public. We played the best in new music, most of it unheard of and some of it arguably unlistenable. This was probably the period in my life when I was most aware of what was going on in all areas of music, especially the "alternative" and "indie" scenes, as well as those scenes yet to be discovered and artists that would, in the years to come, "blow the f#*k up".
Eventually, Burgers and I (and especially Burgers' brother Sammi) brought many of these bands to Lubbock. The reward being the manifestation of the music and artists we had been so passionate about for so long in front of our faces, whether it be at favorite venues (aka all we had to work with), our own backyards, kitchens or spare rooms. To say this was an exciting time simplifies the entire experience, but to list emotions is boring. There was a lot of hard work and poverty involved, but to hang out with your own personal musical icons and see kids go nuts at these shows was sanctifiable.
What I have left out are the thousands of moments Ali "Burgers" Rana, Salmon "Sammi" Rana and I shared together through these years and how they have enriched my life so. These wonderful brothers and dear friends of mine are now moving on, leaving Sunday for NYC, where they will no doubt thrive and enrich those they meet there.
From the moment I met these guys, I knew they were my kind of people. They could then (and still can) make me laugh at the drop of a hat. Their work ethic is amazing as well. Whether they are organizing folks for an event, booking and promoting a show or putting together an outstanding and impressive three-week tour for their own band, The Numerators, the Rana brothers are passionate and creative thinkers with the ability to make extraordinary things happen.
Sammi and Burgers, I love you guys and am thankful to know you and to have shared the last four years with you. I wish you all the best and hope you continue to blow my mind with the music you find and the music you create. All the best you dirty Pecuadorians.
The Numerators
Psychic Flowers
Rubbing shoulders with celebs... ...and The Diamond Center
From the moment I met these guys, I knew they were my kind of people. They could then (and still can) make me laugh at the drop of a hat. Their work ethic is amazing as well. Whether they are organizing folks for an event, booking and promoting a show or putting together an outstanding and impressive three-week tour for their own band, The Numerators, the Rana brothers are passionate and creative thinkers with the ability to make extraordinary things happen.
The Numerators brought acid rock to Lubbock
The single event that really brought us closer together was the Texas tour we embarked on in the summer of 2007. Six dudes, crammed in an extended cab Ford with no ac, playing all over Texas. From booty dancing with old hippies, to a dance party between bands with a stuffed centipede, sorority girls wanting The Numerators' sweaty underwear and frat guys wanting to kick our asses, hurricane rains descending upon us as we rush to the covering of a parking garage to dry our gear that was in the back of the truck, walking in the pouring rain to a cafe, smelling like feet and death and still having girls come on to us and playing the most exciting sets of our lives to that date, we got what we paid for and paid for what we got. These things either make people realize they hate each or, in our case, how much they love each other. I can only be so sappy about guys who will pretend to make-out with me around a group of strangers.
Psychic Flowers