Does a confused or disorderly mixture of things that are aurally gratifying for your psyche, interest you?  Now that’s got to catch your attention, right? Well this inventive show description definitely caught mine, and got me to tune in to The Hodgepodge Collective radio show with DJ Dan Durround (@DSurround on RadioFlag) Saturday nights at from 4pm-6pm PST.

The usual format of this show encompasses everything from indie rock, electronic, experimental, folk music, and an occasional live interview and jam session with an “up and coming”  band. I was lucky enough to catch wind of an especially cool live Interview with alt-indie-electro band, (an aurally gratifying hodgepodge of sound themselves), ‘Standing Shadows’.

Recently on tour, David, Dan, Mike and Michael joined us straight from the road, as they were heading to their next Live show in Tucson, Arizona.

 

Standing Shadows, a band who recognizes their awesome fan base, relayed a cool opportunity to their fans: a chance to win an iPad 2 with the submission of their own shadowy pictures. “Take a picture of your shadow and send it in, that easy!”

With an upcoming release of their next EP, “Tales from the War Garden”, the artfully creative plan is to make a collage of all these shadow pics and use them for their album cover. Talk about a band who inventively reaches out to bond with their fans in out-of-the-box and interesting ways!  Standing Shadows is a band I imagine standing tall in the face of shady days, who thereby turns a world of shadows into opportunity, by going deeper and reaching out further to connect to those who dig their tunes.

During his radio show, Dan Surround dug even deeper into the details of this new album asking them questions such as, who was  the inspiration behind the title – “Tales from the War Garden”? They replied:

“We’ve all been through a kind of war pretty much and it’s kind of telling a story shaped by these songs. You kind of get the emotions of going through it… It could be any kind of war, internal, or overcoming something…”

 

With relatable emotions we can all muster up, this band is as musically diverse as the feelings and attitudes of our daily lives. One of their songs played on The Hodgepodge Collective show, that definitely sparked my interest was “Freakshow”– a song filled with contagious guitar melodies, vintage synth tones, dynamic percussive beats, and that “slap yourself before I do” type attitude you feel you can rule the world with. Lyrics insisting, “we won’t take your orders…” make you want to throw up your fists and rock your hips, as Dan Surround adamantly suggests matching these tunes with a nice set of head phones, so you can truly absorb all the different layers of their music.

Standing Shadows music from their current EP, also titled “Freakshow”, has been featured on various TV shows and video games such as 90210 and Guitar Hero 5.

“We ended up getting the song “Get Together” on a video game (for the first time) and that got us excited, like there are actually other people out there who like our music…it must be alright.”

Lucky Cali residents caught the end of their tour as they wrapped it up in San Diego and Los Angeles. If you where not able to see them on tour and you live in Southern California, you’re still in luck. Find out about their upcoming Los Angeles and San Diego live shows and other events at www.standingshadows.com

Dan Surround proudly proclaimed in his smooth voice:

“KUCI wants to give exposure to indie bands, and if they move on to bigger and better things, right on for them,”

As a band whose members met in college, they assured Dan Surround that they will never be too popular for KUCI: “Great to hang out with you man!”

During their “on tour” interview with KUCI’s @DSurround, Standing Shadows took a sweet pic from the road, after one of their RadioFlag fans made a photo request.

There was a sincere brotherly kind of vibe that existed between Dan Surround and the members of Standing Shadows. I think it made listeners feel good to hear the easy going friendly conversation taking place between these totally legit  nice sounding dudes. From a listeners perspective DJ Dan certainly does a stellar job at surrounding his listeners in a sound vault of sincere satisfaction. On top of the aural gratification that arises from being exposed to such honest dialogue and fresh underground musical talent, Dan’s voice eases listener’s ears, lending a rare genuine gentleman like warmth that mixes disorder and chaos into a handsome harmony, that fulfills your psyche as well. His cool courage to support indie artists and professional demeanor is appealing to listeners and guests alike. He possesses a calm “cool factor”  coupled with a daring nature to “play it real”, which has proven to attract loyal “tuned-in” listeners since RadioFlag’s early days. DJ Dan Surround is a specialist in auditory contentment; a suave sound-caster of the mic, who knows how to dynamically harness the Hodgepodge in brave and satiating ways.

Be sure to tune in to The HodgePodge Collective on Saturday January 21, 2012 for another Live interview with Standing Shadows.

 

Aurally Gratify your psyche and Listen to The Hodgepodge Collective with Dan Surround (@DSurround)- Playing the music that commercial radio hasn’t discovered, yet. -Indie Rock, Alternative, Electronic, Experimental, Hip Hop, Folk, Funk and more KUCI 88.9 FM Sat 4-6 PM PST. Studio Request Line 949.824.5824 hodgepodge.kuci.org

 

 

By: Rx Queen & Air Ambrosia

@RxQueen or @AirAmbrosia  on RadioFlag