Senior Sign-Off: Steeze Nasty

How did you first hear about or get involved with KVRX?

I was at orientation over the summer and I contacted one of my friends that was attending UT, Cynthia. She happened to be in KVRX and told me that she's helping with filming an in-studio session and told me to come out to it. So I left in the middle of orientation to go check it out and the rest is history. But I didn't feel like I really got involved until I joined the intramural team. It was like the day after I got added to the Facebook group and Gab posted about starting up an intramural soccer team. I was completely new at the time so I didn't know very many people but I just decided to sign up. I felt like that paved the way to getting more involved with KVRX since it helped me meet more people.

Which shows have you had on KVRX?

The first show I had was Game of Throw-ins during Spring 2018, it was a soccer talk show with Aaron. Afterwards, I started up Lords of Boptown from Summer 2018 to Spring 2020. It was music from skateboard videos, since I grew up skateboarding and I have found a lot of music from skateboarding. Abby co-hosted it with me during Fall 2019, it was wonderful. I also had Cowboy Bebops during Spring 2020 with Jane, the theme of that show was music from animes. I think the idea behind it started off as a joke but then we were both like, "wait, that's actually hilarious if it was a thing."

How has KVRX affected your interaction with music?

KVRX has expanded my music horizons. After being a part of KVRX, I started listening to Frank Ocean. I also learned about a lot of cool artists from Asia. So that's something.

This playlist would've been my last playlist for my show, Lords of Boptown, a show where I play music from skateboard videos. What makes this playlist special is that all of the artists in the playlist are some of my friends' favorite artists that have been in skateboard videos that I've watched growing up. The songs are also in order of when I met that person in KVRX so it creates a nice timeline. Some songs weren't able to be in the playlist because I couldn't think of a skateboard video with the song in it, but just know I thought of you. Here are some short paragraphs about each song and the friend associated with them. I'm terrible with words and conveying my thoughts so bare with me.

Cop Killer by John Maus - Cynthia

Cynthia was the one that invited me to KVRX in-studio session. Since then, I joined KVRX and used to sit in during her radio shows. We've known each other since middle school so we go way back. We also use each other as a buffer to feel more confident about going to socials lol.

Superstar by Sonic Youth - Mindy

Though Sonic Youth isn't Mindy's favorite band, she really likes Sonic Youth and one of her favorite bands is the Carpenters. She found it as a good chance for me to talk about both of the artists. This song gives me goosebumps every single time I hear it because I used to watch Jerry Hsu's video parts all the time as a kid. The original version by the Carpenters is just as good; Jane actually showed me the Carpenters because I didn't even realize it was a cover. Anyways, I met Mindy at the in-studio session during summer orientation. She also was also one of the programming directors that trained me to become a DJ. After I joined KVRX, I would stop by the station to hang out since I noticed other people did too. Mindy was so inviting and was almost always the first person to start talking to me. I was also introduced to Don, a Japanese food truck, because of Mindy. Which meant a lot to me considering that I got the "Always Down for Don Award" one year at KVRX haha.

The World Has Turned And Left Me Here by Weezer - Jane

Where do I start. We've built so many memories together that it's honestly hard to pinpoint a favorite memory. Jane and I first got to know each other at a KVRX friendsgiving. I got cut off mid-sentence and Jane asked me to finish what I was saying. That meant a lot because it made me feel like I was invited. We got to know each other more when we had chemistry class together and we would both make fun of the professor. Jane says that I messaged her one day saying, "yo, where you sitting?" I don't remember it going like that but I guess I did haha. Since then we've done so many various things. Ate a lot of food, having terrible barbecue, showing me that eating limes like oranges is an accepted thing, looked at each other with horror as Jane's grandma gave us a third of a tub of whip cream, watched a bunch of terrible TV shows, and many more to list. We've definitely taught each other a lot and helped each other feel more invited in KVRX. One time I had to list of my top ten friends and I was like, "who do I put as number one?" Jane was like, "me, bitch." Hope you're doing well Jane.

Ramshackle by Beck - Evan

Evan was another one of the programming directors that trained me. There was a heavy stacked squad that trained me, Evan, Mindy, Aaron, and Kai, who are all such great people. We bonded through being on the KVRX intramural soccer team together as well as being hungry after my radio show so we would always grab food together. Evan helped me navigate through being on KVRX staff when I was struggling.

Keep It Moving by Turnstile - Sam

It's funny I met Sam through Kat because Kat was giving rides to a social after we had training together. I feel like I wasn't much of a talker then. Over time Sam and I got to know each other better from being in French class together and writing, "j’adore boire de la bière," on like every single assignment we had. We do a lot of dumb things together, haha. One time we went to Ramen Tatsu-Ya with some friends but some of us had to be in class within like 40 minutes. The entire trip from campus and back took at most 25-30 minutes. When we got to Ramen Tatsu-Ya, we ordered and scarfed the ramen down in like seven minutes. I remember once we got back to campus, I had to sprint across campus to turn in my ramen-broth-covered homework that I have been working in the entire trip.

Townie by Mitski - Gab

Gab started the KVRX intramural team and really helped me get to know others at KVRX. She was so endearing and definitely contributed to me enjoying my time with KVRX.

Come Together by The Beatles - Reno

Reno and I also met a KVRX social. I remember at one function, he learned that I was ticklish and got everyone in a circle to start tickling me. It's not really a time that I'm too fond of, but it's funny. We bonded afterwards by just working out, doing sports, eating a lot more food than our bodies look like they can handle, and just hanging out. I definitely use his In-N-Out order whenever I go now.

Jigsaw Falling Into Place by Radiohead - Anurag

Anurag also did a similar thing and would hang out at the station to meet people. We would just talk to each other and it made both of us feel invited in KVRX. We also had classes together and would always grab food together after class. Food means a lot to me and to be able to eat with someone means so much more. Anurag also keeps trying to get me into Radiohead but it hasn't really worked out, haha. I think Radiohead is good though.

All These Things That I've Done by The Killers - Ariel

Ariel is so friendly and knowledgeable about a large variety of topics that you wouldn't expect. She was the first person that I was able to have a conversation with about Cambodia and their music scene. We would also scour through the blacklisted albums that KVRX would receive and joke about how someone is going to go through our collection and see that we have a lot of good artists' not so great albums.

Dancing In The Dark by Bruce Springsteen - Alicja

I met Alicja through being on the KVRX intramural team in Spring 2018. Then when summer rolled around, that's when we got to know each other more. She introduced me to bouldering and Fleabag. We also both loved participating in sports and now we had someone to do sports with. Hope you're enjoying your time in Poland!

The King of Rock 'N' Roll by Prefab Sprout - Grant

Whenever I first joined KVRX staff in Summer 2018, I was in the process of moving places and the place that I was moving to didn't have any internet. So the two places that I went to gain access to internet was McDonald's and KVRX. Grant would be doing librarian things while I would be doing website things at the same time. Occasionally I would take breaks and walk over to the KVRX library to start talking to Grant. That's how we got to know each other haha.

Wishes by Beach House - Taylor

Over the same summer, both of us was on staff and we got to know each other. We both shared a love for Beach House and tacos. There were a lot of adventures and a lot of taco runs definitely. We used to go to almost every single TC Superstar concert and that was always fun.

Paper Thin Walls by Modest Mouse - Lydia

Snow (Hey Oh) by Red Hot Chili Peppers - Maddy

I decided to group these two together because I met them around the same time and with a similar reason actually. I would talk to both of them about the KVRX website and bounce ideas and opinions with them. We also became the "South Carolina 3" and built memories off of that.

I Don't Smoke by Mitski - Katie

One time Aaron and I were at the station considering going to Don. We invited Katie to go with us. I remember it was a cold, rainy day (in Stokes City) and Katie was wearing like summer clothes. So we had to make this trip to Don fast, but the thing was we only had one umbrella to keep all of us dry. Katie was the tallest of us so Katie was holding the umbrella. Eventually we would pass umbrella duty and since the rest of us were shorter than Katie, we would accidentally hit Katie's head with the umbrella. Glad that she ended up liking Don instead of having it ruined by the experience of getting Don haha.

3000 Flowers by Destroyer - Beth

It's funny, I used to think Beth was annoying because she used to try talking to me while I was working on an assignment at KVRX. Then we became really close friends after I gave her a bag at a party once. We got to meet Michelle Zauner and talk to her twice, get free merch from Fender, picked up a cat, and do sports together. She also introduced me to chai lattes. Oh yeah, one time we tried doing a celebratory birthday shot with someone and we soon realized that we did not do a birthday shot with the birthday boy. We definitely have a bunch memories, some of them dumb and most of them fun.

Miserlou by Agent Orange - Emma

I met Emma while she was a freshmen and we built a lot of fun memories with Reno.

m.A.A.d city by Kendrick Lamar - Michael

Michael taught me how to lift weights because I have never lifted weights prior to meeting Michael. That meant so much to me because now I try to include working out into my weekly routine and I try to teach other people how to lift weights safely as well.

Little Bird by The Beach Boys - Eric

When Eric was a freshmen, he also would show up to KVRX and just hang out. It was sort of nice to see new freshmen do the same thing that I did when I first joined KVRX. Since then, we've had numerous conversations about a bunch of things. Hey Eric, let's skate when the coronavirus ordeal blows over.

Bowl of Oranges by Bright Eyes - Abby

During the Summer 2019, I was once again on KVRX staff as a web developer. My office hours would be during Abby's radio show. I would talk to Abby before her radio show. One day, I brought a bag of Doritos from Mexico which are so amazingly good. They're like the Doritos found here, but spicier sort of. It's hard to explain. It happened to be my last bag and I offered it to Abby. Since then we built memories like also sharing a love for Beach House, multiple Thursday Trudy's trips, Snarf's sandwiches, and listening to Hey, Space Cadet in my car haha. Thank you for co-hosting Lords of Boptown with me!

Cowboy Dan by Modest Mouse - Ellianni

I initially met Ellianni through Abby, we didn't talk much until we both learned that we both really love pho and Beach House. Since then we've gotten to know each other a lot more. Ellianni definitely helps me understand more about neuroscience because my brain doesn't understand other brains.

Sometimes by My Bloody Valentine - Clayton

I met Clayton during one of the weekly album rotations. He actually introduced me to My Bloody Valentine and taught me a lot more about them. We also have had numerous other conversations as well.

Peacebone by Animal Collective - Hope

We started talking to each other by just being at KVRX. I actually didn't realize we were friends until Hope invited me over to watch scary movies with some friends. Since then we started working out together, ate a lot of 7/11 2 pizza slices for $2, and a lot of other things.

Apricot Princess by Rex Orange County - Sam (a different Sam than previously mentioned)

I met Sam while she was learning more information at KVRX. Once when she showed up to the station and another time when she showed up as I was tabling. After joining, we've had numerous conversations during her radio show and played sports together. One time we tried to play tennis but couldn't find a court and one of the places we went to had a bunch of kittens outside. The kittens were so friendly but they were all around and over my car so we had to stay there for a bit longer haha. Have fun in Colorado!

The skateboard videos, the food places, Beach House, and the people will always have a special place in my heart. Thanks for the memories and thanks for treating me well KVRX. Excited to hear what's next.

— Alexander Sothearo Houy