Pink Logs - Molly, Sara - Cricket

This week the Pink Logs were spotted in Hollywood at a Cricket match with hushhush ATTACK's Molly & Little Sara...who would've guessed? Pictured here at the First Annual Hollywood Ashes Cricket Match where the elite cricket players from England and Australia came together. If you were wondering, England pulled ahead to win at the very end.

Bruce Warren

Give a brief history of your career in music and what led you to WXPN. 

I started out as a music writer in early in the 80's and made the leap to radio in 1987. I was freelancing for some "national" magazines however; I had a weekly local music column in one of the weekly Philly newspapers. I met a lot of great people, one of whom was a guy named Mike Morrison. Mike played guitar for this band called The Johnsons and we became good friends. He was a student at the University of Pennsylvania (they own the license to WXPN) and he was the Music Director there and one night we were hanging out in a bar and he casually asked me if I wanted to do a volunteer DJ shift. A couple weeks after that I did my first shift on WXPN - it was the summer of 1987. I knew after I played my first two songs on the radio that I was going to do everything I could to stay at XPN. The rest as they say is history.  

Describe the different shows that you have available on WXPN. 

WXPN is mostly a regular single format station. Our mix of Triple-A is pretty much what you get most of the time you tune in to the station. Of the specialty shows we have, they include The Blues Show with Jonny Meister (Saturday nights from 7pm-1am), the Folk Show with Gene Shay (8pm-11pm on Sunday nights), a Saturday and Sunday morning "quiet/eclectic" music show called Sleepy Hollow that's been on for 30 years. We also produce a two hour weekly jam band show called Jamnation (I started it, but no longer host it and produce it); we have this crazy overnight experimental music show on once a week called Star's End. We also produce a daily kid's call-in, educational, music, fun show called Kids Corner that is celebrating its 20 anniversary this year that we're extremely proud of. And of course, our signature two hour daily show, World Cafe is produced by an incredible staff and led by David Dye.

About a year and 1/2 ago we formed a partnership with a locally produced modern/alt-rock internet radio station so we now have a 24-7 modern/indie/alt/whatever internet station that broadcasts on XPN on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights. It's called Yrockonxpn. A couple other popular shows we have are Funky Friday (hosted by David Dye) and the Women's Music Hour hosted by our Morning Show Host, Michaela Majoun.

Give us the inside on a "typical day" for you at the station. 

I usually get to work around 8AM and work until 5:30. I then go home, hang with my kids for a few hours then spend another two-three hours a night working - answering e-mail, listening to music, downloading music, blogging, crunching data, etc. But I'm always working even when I'm not in the office. I'm a workaholic and just absolutely love my job and the people I work with. I have an easy job because the folks who work for me are just incredible at what they do. I don't get too much in to the day-to-day sausage making. I let people do their jobs because I trust them and have a lot of respect for what they do, however I'm very quick to give them feedback. When I first became the PD I was a very hands-on, micro manager kind of person. I guess in the last three to four years I have come to recognize that giving your staff the responsibilities, authority, and decision-making power and letting them do their jobs and making smart decisions and also making some mistakes and learning from them is equally important as picking the right records to play, or making the best edits you can make on some production piece. So what do I do? Well, I'm still very close to the music. 

I spend most of my time in the future creating content ideas for all of our platforms and then working with the staff to systemically implement and execute. I manage multi-platforms and I also lead many of the longer term creative initiatives for the station. The web and IT folks report to me as well so I spend time with them. And I work closely with our Membership, Sales and Marketing folks. As a senior manager at the station I have a very, very broad view of the station. I do have some specific day-to-day tasks - I program the music for the HD-2 channel we produce for NPR. I choose our daily download of the day. I handle most of the legal clearances for World Cafe performance. I talk to people on the phone. I talk regularly with the folks at NPR because they distribute and market World Cafe but also we're a partner in the new NPR Music initiative and we're very involved in providing them with content. I think a lot and come up with way to many ideas each day.

Okay - here's a log of what I did today:

8-9 - Listened to music for possible consideration at music meeting.

9-9:30 - Finished a power point presentation and did some PPM/Arbitral numbers crunching for a management meeting.

9:45-10:00 - Met with one of our web people to go over monthly stats.

10-11:30 - Sat in management meeting - presented a top line five year Arbitron and web metrics analysis. Other managers presented their six month budget projections.

11:30 - 11:45 - Had a cup of coffee and answered some e-mail. Spent 20 minutes with the two folks who do our Morning Show.

Noon - 1:30 - Went over the on-air host schedule with our membership director for upcoming fund drive; Returned three phone calls to artists who wanted to know how to get their record played on XPN; talked to Lisa Sonkin from Sony twice about an upcoming promotion; put out a quick automation system fire; talked to our traffic person about some missed spots that had to get rescheduled; made a couple calls to band managers to discuss upcoming SXSW activity; talked to three of my on-air hosts about some pending changes in our clocks and music that we're considering making and that I wanted their input on. I met with the head of our web team to go over some site changes and a change in graphics that I wanted on our home page.

2-3 - Had meetings with our Marketing Director and my Ops Manager and PD from Yrock to discuss a handful of promo initiatives that are happening over the next two months. Answered some e-mail. Talked with my mid-day host about her shift and listened to a new idea for a local music initiative she wants to start.

3-4 - Talked to my boss about some possible content partnerships that I think we should pursue

4-5:00 - Opened up my RSS feedreader and trolled through my daily list of about 80 music blogs and web sites for new music, news, and other stuff that I need to stay on top of the music world and the real world. Also spent about 20 minutes doing some creative production on some new imaging production we're thinking about doing. Had a 10 minute conversation with an A&R person about why we wouldn't play a certain single but would play a different song from his artist's new album.

5-5:30 - Went over production logistics for a live concert broadcast planned.

5:30-6:00 - Met with one of our hosts and a producer who are working on a pilot of a new show that we're thinking about rolling out and are currently prototyping.

6:00 - Left for home and told my wife I'd pick up the pizza on the way home!

Describe the relationship that the station has with their listeners and the community.

We have an extremely loyal following and I like to think we have a unique relationship with our listeners and members. I think you'll find across the board at public stations like XPN we all have crazy, committed loyalists who love us. Importantly though, they're all supporting us with a financial pledge every year.

What has been your favorite promotion you have executed to date?

Every year we have what is my favorite promotion, an event. It's our annual Xponential music festival where upwards to 20,000 people come and experience live music. It's the ultimate gathering of the XPN tribes, and it's a lot fun.

Tell us one thing you would change about radio today.

On commercial stations, I'd like to see less reliance on music research and more willingness to play more artists. That there are three Top 40 leaning stations in Philly, all pretty much playing the same music, and that there are three "rock" stations all playing pretty much the same music is not a good thing for numerous reasons, the number one being that there's hundreds of great artists who deserve to be heard on the radio. It's like this in almost every market. It would be better for the culture, the economy and the people if this was the case. But I know the realities of commercial radio - which is why I have chosen not to, and likely never will, work for commercial media. I'm all for capitalism, not for greed.

What is your favorite memory so far in your career? 

Gosh, I have so many. On the traditional programming side of things, it's being on the team that launched World Cafe with David Dye about 17 years ago. It was one of the most creative, craziest, innovative, stressful and fun things I've done.  On the web programming side of things it was the 885 Most Memorable Musical Moments countdown we did last fall. While it certainly didn't have the maximum impact we'd hope it would, it was a bold experiment in social media that we learned a lot from and once again, pointed out the strengths of great groups working on a massive project together and like the launch of the Cafe, it was a creative, crazy, innovative and stressful project.

Random Question Time...

First album purchased- Crosby, Stills and Nash (the debut) 

Favorite songs of the 90s- Tough one..."Losing My Religion"..."Jeremy"...."Killing In The Name"....."November Rain"...."Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World"....

Worst car you ever owned- never had a "worst car". 

Blue Ray or HD- HD 

Burger King or McDonald's- neither. I'm not a fast food person and haven't eaten in either of those restaurants for 25 years. 

As 2008 has begun, so has the flow of new music. There are great tunes coming across the desks of programmers, A&R executives, TV/film supervisors, bookers/promoters and all media personnel. Below is a look at some of the music that should be on your desks now. If you don't have a copy, please email joe@hushhushattack.com and we'll send you one (subject to availability).

FRANK TURNER - The Real Damage EP (Xtra Mile, UK)

"Album of the Year" - Stephen Merchant, BBC Radio 6 Music

Cites influences as Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, The Beatles, & Billy Bragg

His debut album finished in the Top 10 for Xfm's "New Music Award" in 2007

Early spins on BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, 6Music, Xfm & Indie 103.1 Los Angeles

Has toured with Biffy Clyro, The Automatic Automatic & YourCodeNameIs:Milo.

Recommended songs: "The Real Damage" and "Casanova Lament"

For more information: http://www.myspace.com/frankturner and frank-turner.com

THE SMALL HOURS - The Small Hours EP (Small Hours Music)

With captivating lyrics and luscious melodies, The Small Hours appeal to the fans of Coldplay and Muse, while retaining its own identity.

Early tastemaker support developing across Europe

Performed on MTV on New Year's Eve to bring in 2008

Recommended songs: "Owner Of My Honor" & "Something Beautiful"

For more information: http://www.myspace.com/thesmallhoursmusic and www.TheSmallHoursMusic.com

PHASE FIVE NZ MUSIC PART 09

Featuring:

Anika Moa "Dreams In My Head" Last year Anika released In Swings the Tide, where she produced her own album for the first time, working with New Zealand's Bic Runga and Anna Coddington.

Pluto "French Grave" This Auckland five-piece band has spawned two critically acclaimed albums and shows no signs of stopping. Their latest album, Sunken Water, was released in 2007 and should solidify Pluto as NZ's finest Rock & Roll band.

SJD "I Wrote This Song For You" Singer, songwriter and producer SJD, aka Sean James Donnelly, crafts a mix of electronic melodies, pop and indie rock along with his band. SJD recently released their fourth album, Songs From A Dictaphone, and have played alongside Groove Armada and Money Mark

WBER - Jeff Kurzrock

Astra Heights - The March

 Astra Heights are an L.A-based band of four brothers and one "honorary brother" who play crisp, melodic, timeless rock and roll meant to fill big spaces.  They grew up in a family of eleven kids in the rural shrimping town of Palacios, Texas, forming later when they moved two hours away to Houston for college.  The band's name blends the Latin phrase ad astra, which means "to the stars," with the Houston Heights neighborhood they liked.

"We are Hispanic," says bassist James Morales, "and Bernard, our lead guitarist, is half-Greek and half-Chinese. It's weird: four Hispanic guys from small-town Texas playing British-inspired music." The Los Angeles Times have described the band as"an amalgam of hooky rock with references ranging from the Stooges to Queen to Matthew Sweet." Astra Heights cites influences such as The Beatles, Jeff Buckley, Wilco and Stevie Wonder.

Astra Heights were featured on numerous music TV/video websites including Vimby.com, Rock n Roll TV and four mini documentary episodes featured on the much buzzed about Quarterlife.com. The band was also invited to showcase at SXSW in Austin this year. Astra Heights have toured with She Wants Revenge, Augustana and Better Than Ezra and are currently tour on the West Coast in the US. Starting the year off with a bang, the band is featured as the free download of the week (Jan. 22 - 29) for iTunes Latino. To check out more on the band, head to their MySpace page: www.myspace.com/astraheights or check out there latest single, "The March" here.

xiferittalf

It was a treat for everyone that tuned into MTV on New Year's Eve to bring in 2008. Imagine all of the festivities, celebrities, the live music and the MTV2 On The Rise Contest. One band wins the opportunity to play live on MTV and help bring in 2008. After receiving 177,863 votes from fans, The Small Hours won that contest and got to perform live on MTV. Talk about starting the new year big! Most bands have to be on a reality show to be shown on TV without a record deal these days.

The Small Hours formed in their hometown of Manchester, England, where singer Robin Goodchild, guitarist Rob Pierce and drummer Edward Shiers initially joined together with the goal of creating a band that was, in the words of Goodchild, "An English/American crossbreed... a hybrid, if you will. We're good for the environment." Seeking new opportunities, the trio moved to Los Angeles, where they met like-minded bassist John Tucker. The newly formed quartet immediately entered a rehearsal space, emerging several months later with a self-titled EP that was "alternative yet accessible, melodic and emotional, ethereal yet aggressive." The group has quickly gained airplay on some major Alternative tastemaker stations thanks to what guitarist Pierce labels their "grassroots" approach: "We're developing an organic following of dedicated music fans who love what we're doing and are encouraging and supporting us while we do it." The results are promising: The Small Hours have already been contacted by The Weather Channel, which would like use three of their songs for a trio of different episodes of the series "Epic Conditions."

If you are in the LA area, you can see The Small Hours live at Safari Sam's in Hollywood, February 15^th. If you can't make the show, check out the video "Owner of My Honour" from their New Year's Eve performance on MTV.

MGMT'S SPECTACULAR RISE: It doesn't happen that often in the wild-n-woolly realm of Specialtyland, but this week a major label lays claim to both top spots on the Mediaguide Alternative Specialty charts. Kudos to Columbia and MGMT, whose retro synth-fueled "Time to Pretend" moves 2-1 on the Song side, while full-length Oracular Spectacular jumps 3-1 on the Album end. The Brooklyn-based outfit is currently touring the U.S. through February 15, followed by a two-week Euro jaunt in late February/early March; for all the details, check out the group's "Mice Space" at www.myspace.com/mgmt. It was a big week for debuts on the Song side this week, with six of the ten slots filled by newcomers. Leading the way at #2 were the Kills with "U.R.A. Fever" (Domino), which accounted for enough airplay to also give the single a #4 showing on the Album end. Coming in at #3 on the Song chart were the Whigs with "Right Hand on My Heart," which helped full-length Mission Control (ATO) to a smashing #2 debut on the Album index. Vampire Weekend leaps to #4 on the Song chart with "A Punk" (XL/Beggars Group), helping their self-titled album rise to #7 on the Album side. The folks at Rough Trade enjoyed top debuts for a pair of their acts, as Super Furry Animals bowed at #5 with "Neo Consumer," directly followed by British Sea Power with "Waving Flags"; they didn't do too badly on the Album side, either, with the former's Hey Venus! entering that chart at #8, while the latter's Do You Like Rock Music was directly behind at #9. Rounding out the debuts are Louis XIV at #8 with "Air Traffic Control" (Atlantic), perched between a pair of former number-one songs: Nada Surf's "Whose Authority" (Barsuk) at #7 and Kate Nash's "Foundations" (Fiction/Geffen) at #9.

Want to hear two short jokes and a long joke?
Joke. Joke. Joooooooooooooooooooookkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkke.

Believe it or not, the offices of hushhush ATTACK! had to go and purchase a new fax machine because of the overwhelming response with last week's crossword puzzle. After a new fax machine, two new ink cartridges and several interns going through each and every entry, we want to congratulate Amy Brown/Internet Blogger, who was the first to turn in all the correct answers. Amy will be receiving a hushhush ATTACK! prize pack. Below are the answers for those of you that were stumped.