An Interview: Shades of Cool Radio and Beyond from IAN WAGNER

An Interview: Shades of Cool Radio and Beyond from IAN WAGNER

By Nancy Neon / FFanzeen, 2022
mages curtesy of Ian Wagner
www.facebook.com/shadesofcoolshow/

 

Nancy Neon: What made you get into radio, Ian? Did you start with one show and grow? Or did you always intend to build a full fledged 24/7 network?
Ian Wagner: I have always loved the concept of radio, even when I stopped actively listening. I had a local college radio show for several years named Shades of Cool, which was curtailed when the pandemic happened. That jump-started my long-dormant plan to start an Internet station. Shades Radio started and continued as the home of the flagship. Shades series featuring my wife/co-programmer Becky and me. Everything else was built around that over the course of the two years that we have been online.

NANCY: Congratulations to Becky and you and all your DJs for your second anniversary of Shades of Cool Radio Network. Are you planning anything new and different for the coming year?
IAN: The station is constantly evolving, and all the series that we air hopefully will as well, and I hope to add more this year. The station is also a vehicle for a book project that will hopefully be finished in 2023.

NANCY: Tell me about your current line-up.
IAN: The station is on 24/7, always serving up some great music. Currently we have 16 series including:

• Shades Of Cool on Wednesdays, 7-9 PM EST, featuring Becky and me, playing a diverse range of coolness from all eras;
• Blitzkrieg Pop every other Thursday, 2-4 PM EST, featuring Danielle Tort, [with a] diverse playlist, detailed discussions.
• Cookin' in the Soulful Dimension on Thursday 8-9 PM EST, featuring me delivering an hour of the best in sampledelic soul/funk/jazz/library/score grooves;
• Good Times in Studio 55, on Fridays 9-10 PM EST, featuring Becky and me and an hour of the best in rare vintage disco gems;
• Mondo Radio a Go- Go, on Fridays 10 PM- 1 AM. EST, with John Rippey and me. Three hours of psychotronic madness from the worlds of movies, TV, and music.
• Uncle Bob's Record Store-on Saturdays 12 noon to 6 PM EST, featuring Bob Stewart [with] vinyl spins from the vast collection of a vinyl guru., featuring detailed chats on vinyl collecting
• Kandy Says-on Saturdays, 7-9 PM EST, featuring Kandy Kabot (aka Nancy Neon), [with] 2 hours of great themed sets, and sometimes Kandy recites verse as Urban Boho and Kandy Warhol. Both her selections and her verse define cool;
•  Flying in the Stereo Dimension on Saturdays, 9-10 PM EST, featuring me, an hour of swirling, reverbed, psychedelic muzak and sunshine pop from the mid-‘60s to the mid-‘70s;
•  Formless-Saturdays, 10 PM. to 1 AM EST, with Cral Skinner. [which is] three hours of artful ear damage in a diverse field of sound, the genres liquid, but red hot!
• Afternoon Tea with Lovely Becky-on Sundays, 3-4 PM EST, an hour of mellow vibes to drink your tea by, from the Queen of Cool;
• Soundtrack Sunday, Sundays, 5 PM 12 midnight EST, featuring Mookie Shapiro, Heather Matthewson, and me [for] seven hours of the best in film and TV scores and soundtracks;
• The Day After the Sabbath, on Sundays, noon to 1:30 PM EST, featuring Kevin Solomon Stevens, each week a devastating set of hard rock, deep psych, heavy, obscure gems from the ‘60s and the ‘70s;
• Jazz Sides on Mondays, 7 -9 PM EST, featuring Bob Bowser, each week a chill listen through classic jazz LP sides, with much chat and context provided;
• Wax Victim on every other Monday, 9 PM to midnight EST, featuring Jason Loftin with a listen to and detailed chat about rare vinyl, painstakingly transcribed and restored from the collection of the host;
• Gage Against the Machine, on Tuesdays, 7-10 PM EST, featuring Gage Winslow, who delivers a mindbending and unbound set of music every week; and
• Tiki Tuesday: most beautiful island, exotica, and mod jazz sounds to grace your week.

NANCY: What radio stations did you listen to growing up? Who were your fave DJs and why?
IAN: In Los Angeles, where I grew up in the ‘70s and ‘80s, there were many great stations, DJs, and formats still active. My folks were music heads, collectors, and musicians. So, the dial was consistently spun from AOR, Classic Rock, to ‘50s/’60s oldies, to New Wave, to college stations and beyond. Rodney Bingenheimer's show on KROQ was an influence on me as anyone living in that area at that time period. I have always preferred DJs that combine relatively unfamiliar music with recontextualized hits and favorites. My goal is to follow that path.

NANCY: I don't know a lot about your background except you were in a band contemporary with my fiancé, Jeff Kabot's band, The SuperKools, and that you seem to be equally as knowledgeable about films as you do about music. Did you ever have a public access show?
IAN: I grew up suffused in art and pop through having parents who were already into everything cool, and took me to movie theaters several times a week, including revival houses. As soon as I could, I began making music and playing in bands, mostly in the '90s and ‘00s. In Los Angeles, I have been on public access stations, but I was performing as a member of groups

 NANCY: Tell me about your brushes with greatness, like meeting [Quentin] Tarantino. What do you think about the way QT uses music in his films, almost like the music is a character of its own? Do you think Kenneth Anger was the first to have such a focus on music?
IAN: Growing up around and in the music/film industries, you just meet famous people and artists as a matter of course. I have many cherished memories of those times including hang outs and chats with many folks I admire, including Quentin. I think that while Quentin is influenced by Scorsese, the greatest of them all in terms of recontextualizing music in the context of films, Quentin has his own gift for uncovering lost gems and utilizing them expertly. Anger was certainly among the very first to use "found" music and familiar music in this way. The Graduate (1967) and Easy Rider (1969) were the first big bang in terms for this style.

NANCY: Who are some of the musical artists that you thought you'd never see, but did?
IAN: I saw Zappa, KISS, The Clash, The Who, and others before the age of ten. A few that come to mind are The Raspberries reunion, and small shows by Prince and Laura Nyro.

NANCY: What are some artists you regret not having seen?
IAN: I wish I had been a few years older so I could have seen Elvis. I think I have seen everyone that I could have possibly seen from the late ‘70s on.

NANCY: If you could cohost a radio show with anyone, who would it be and what format would you have?
IAN: It would be my partner, Becky, doing exactly what we do on the Shades of Cool series. But for fun, I'd pick Bob Dylan, just spinning and discussing whatever came into our minds.

NANCY: What is your proudest moment of having created such a great network?
IAN: Any time that I hear that someone has been moved to check out or buy anything I have spun on the station, and any time I am moved to do the same by something one of my series' hists have spun. That makes it a worthwhile endeavor. Also, Becky's moving musical memorial to her late mother was a proud moment.

NANCY: For people who don't know you, you grew up in Los Angeles, and now live in Greensboro, North Carolina. What kind of culture shock did you experience?
IAN: Intense culture shock, like waking up on the moon! It took years to establish a base of friends and activities here, but Greensboro and the outlying cities definitely have a charm of their own. Certainly, a friendlier and less hectic environment overall, though it does remind me how spoiled I was in Los Angeles, having a choice of a wide range of interesting activities. I had a record store for several years and since then have worked on creative endeavors at home. But my favorite escape is heading to Durham to see classic films at the Carolina Theatre and checking out records in Soul Relief in Greensboro.

NANCY: Any parting comments, Ian?
IAN: If you feel the call, and have an hour or two to spare, please check out Shades Radio Network. It is a small community of likeminded people and openminded music freaks to which everyone is invited to participate in. Hope to see you there! We can be found on Facebook and Instagram as well.