DJ: Mariah Maru
What shows do you host on KGNU and how long have you been with the station?
Let’s see. I’ve been hosting Musica Mundi (fave gig), African Roots, and Corriente (less so lately) since 2011 (with some occasional breaks while working overseas and filling in on some other shows now and again). My passion is the universality of international music. No need to speak or understand all the languages to feel the rhythm and joy of tracks from anywhere!
Side note: My first radio show, TransGlobal, was at Juneau, Alaska-based NPR-affiliate KRNN (part of KTOO) in 2007.
Who is your favorite artist and/or album of all time?
Tom Waits. But, wait! Didn’t I just say my passion is international music?! Well . . . I make an exception for an artist with a voice like the rusted out beached hull of a cargo ship full of poetry and discordance and glitter and doom. iykyk Top 3 favorite vocalists of all time? Aretha Franklin, Tom Waits, Rachid Taha.
What is your Zodiac sign and what (if anything) does it say about you?
Copernicus. It means that I look to the stars to both feel awe and stay grounded here on Earth.
If you could have any musician’s record collection, whose would it be?
Tough question. Living or dead? Reel-to-reel or digital masters? How about the songs a musician carried in their head? I’d like to sit down with a good pair of headphones that could channel Robert Johnson’s musical memory.
What song do you never get tired of playing on air?
Rock el Casbah, by Rachid Taha. SO cool when a listener hears it for the first time and assumes it was just recorded, not an almost 20-year-old cover he dueted with Joe Strummer.
What is something most people would be surprised to learn about you?
Despite living in Japan for 4 of the last 10 years, my Japanese language skills are like a toddler jabbering! And . . . my other musical passion beyond international sounds ? Blues from the Mississippi Hill Country.
