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NOW PLAYING: THE BONUS FEATURES
These are the artists that are featured in regular daily rotation during Neo Retro's Bonus Features.
The growing number of featured artists on The Groove Zone programs is actually impressive.
Season One of the Neo Retro radio project is a good example of what happens when persistence pays off.
In just the first six months of its existence, Neo Retro played host to Jason Sechrist (drummer, Portugal.The Man), Carole Pope (Rough Trade), Dub FX, Ted Ottaviano (Book Of Love, The Myrmidons), Drew Arnott (Strange Advance), Corey Pryor (Newsboys, Sozo, TeneT), Jordi Davieson (San Cisco), and Carl Stephenson, Ed Tailorpatch (Forest For The Trees/Martian Forest Service), among others.
Who can say what the future has in store for our heroes?!
MTR PROJECT
It's funny how fate works sometimes. A random choice in friend requests on a social network is what led to the resident DJ meeting MTR frontman Martin Reed in the summer of 2020.
The two seemed to hit it off immediately, citing common interests in music and life. Within a short period of time, MTR Project was added to the station's rotation. Because the season was already in motion, with its inaugural class of featured artists in place, it wouldn't be until the beginning of Season 2 that the Seattle-based band would be one of the featured showcase acts, now on heavy rotation daily!
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WHEN IN ROME
As is the case with most of the special guest artists that appear on the show, some of WIR's tracks were in rotation on the network prior to their guest appearance in January 2021. After the interview took place, the entirety of not only their catalogue, but also that of singer Clive Farrington's and their first band, Beau Leisure, are all now on heavy rotation.
NOW PLAYING:
These are the artists that are featured in regular daily rotation during Neo Retro's Bonus Features.
The inaugural class of NEO RETRO included some of the Pacific Northwest's best and brightest rising music stars.
Neo Retro promotes its "associated" acts; those are artists who have achieved worldwide acclaim, are award winners, or are rising artists in their own countries.
Meet the new class now...
SAN CISCO
9 AM EST
Since the station launched in June 2020, there has been a streak of luck in obtaining talk time with a handful of both Australian and Canadian artists on the programs.
One of the most successful bands to come from the land down under in the past decade is San Cisco. They're still as nearly fresh-faced today as they were when they debuted in 2009 under the band's first incarnation King George.
Founder/lead singer Jordi Davieson was able to set some time aside prior to the Thanksgiving holiday to chat with the resident DJ.
You'll hear the full range of material from "Awkward" to "Messages" and "On The Line" daily on Neo Retro's rotation
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DUB FX
9 AM EST
Dub FX is an Australian musician and worldwide street performer.
Born in St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia, at the start of his career he was singing in a local alternative rock and rapcore band initially known as Twitch, which would later change its name to N.O.N (Never or Now).
In 2004 they released a debut and the only album Exeunt Omnes. Soon after he moved to Italy and began a solo career. His trademark is creating rich live music using only his own performance aided by LIVE looping and effects pedals combined with his voice.
He creates intricate hip hop, reggae, and drum and bass rhythms.
Dub FX currently resides in Victoria, Australia with his wife, and two kids.
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FEE WAYBILL/THE TUBES
Saturday March 6th @ 7 pm Pacific
Fee Waybill's guest appearance on The Sessions was a fun re-introduction to one of rock's madcap frontmen. He reveals some very cool and interesting facts about John Candy, Mr. Hate and more. Fee's solo work, as well as a large portion of Tubes material were added into the rotation about the time of the interview.
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UTAH SAINTS : JEZ UTAH
Saturday February 27th 6 pm
An upbeat feelgood conversation between musicians, DJs and fans is what this episode of THE SESSIONS amounted to. JEZ WILLIS of UTAH SAINTS spends a bit of time with NEO RETRO's DJ DUCKIE (Seattle, WA) and resident DJ D-PHOENIX (Olympia, WA).
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THE BONUS FEATURES HIGHLIGHTS
It took a bit longer than expected for the project's THE BONUS FEATURES to get going but once it did it took off like a bottle-rocket!
Neo Retro's Season 2 became known as The Bonus Features, partly due to the season's rocky start, staff and show misfires, and only enough resources to make 1/3 of a regular season's shows.
The staff was really trying to take the high road approach, complete with a cheery, resilient attitude regarding the behind-the-scenes drama that had been taking place for the better part of a month.
The Bonus Features covers the timespan between December 1, 2020 through March 7, 2021.
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THE NEXT SEASON
Some things happen for a reason. Reason rhymes with season, too.
The Groove Zone DJ Crew had a lot to be proud of. They finished a successful first season, running nearly six months, with numbers that increased each week.
The listening audience count was at the highest that they'd had so far, and the hope was that the upcoming hiatus wouldn't cause momentum to be lost.
However, it's speculated that the combination of the holidays, a lull in the constant presence, and a million other reasons all played into a hiccup in numbers between the holidays.
The final official program on the new platform before the new year arrived was a New Year's Eve show, hosted by the resident DJ and station manager DJ Deinosaur. Serving up music, laughs and surprises, the session was the round-robin match between the two.
When the clock struck Midnight, the closing crew floated in and began disassembling the structures that would need to be temporarily stored somewhere until a new, permanent home could be found to operate as Neo Retro HQ.
How many challenges does it take to get to the place where they want to be?
The world may never know.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE BONUS FEATURES
Special Guest Artists, Hook Line & Thinker podcast, Returning DJ Crew, New DJ Crew and New Shows
The project's The Bonus Features (aka mini season two)Â got underway on January 9th with the season premiere of the podcast started by DUB FX and D-Phoenix back in October of 2020.
The podcast's first episode featured DUB FX, the co-host of the series, in his last appearance for a period of time. One thing about hitching your wagon to a rising star is that they're on their way up, and you have to cherish the time you have with them as they climb their way to super-stardom.
Same can be said for the bulk of talent in the Neo Retro stable of featured artists. There's such a wide range of talent and levels of achievement that it's difficult to gauge at times the length of time that any of the station's regular rotation artists are going to be available before their career journeys take them elsewhere.Â
DJ D-Phoenix and the crew enjoy the time they have to spend with any of them;  D-Phoenix loves the fact that he is able to provide a platform for both the new artists on the rise, and the established bands from the past who are enjoying resurgences in their popularity.
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WHEN IN ROME
Saturday January 16th
When In Rome broke the Billboard charts with a couple of major hits ("The Promise", "Heaven Knows") in the late 1980s, and even though that was the peak of their initial popularity with worldwide audiences, they never quit making music.
Clive Farrington and Andrew Mann appeared on an episode of The Sessions w/ DJ D-Phoenix in mid-January of 2021, and had a fun time of conversation of laughs with the resident DJ.
The music of When In Rome, Clive Farrington and Beau Leisure (their first incarnation) can all be heard on the regular rotation daily!
For more information, please visit https://www.farrington-mann.com/
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HOOK, LINE & THINKER: SASQUATCH
Saturday January 23rd 5 pm Pacific (PST)
The show that started in Season One with co-host DUB FX is back in Season 2! It kicked off with the premiere episode on January 9th, which was also the last official episode with both Dub FX and D-Phoenix as co-hosts.
The following episode proved to be just as exciting as any of the previous installments, if not moreso. The best part of having a casual roundtable discussion every couple of weeks on intriguing topics such as elitists, depopulation, flat earth, and cryptids is opening up the discussions to involve listeners and other interested people.
The Sasquatch episode featured first-hand eyewitness accounts of encounters with what can only be described as "large humanoid beings" in separate incidents across the Pacific Northwest.
This is an episode you don't want to miss!
COLOURBOX: DEBBION CURRIE
Saturday January 20, 2021
It wasn't a dare that was made between the resident DJ and his longtime friend, Chad (aka Rory Borealis); it was a suggestion in a phone conversation one night.
Rory Borealis brought up the legendary 4AD band COLOURBOX during their talk, and said that might be an artist worth contacting.
One of the original founders of the band (Steve Young) had passed away in 2016, and there wasn't much information available online about the remaining members. However, it took only a bit of research before D-Phoenix had tracked down the original singer (Currie), as well as one of the band's former collaborators, who was one of the five members of the studio group M/A/R/R/S ("Pump Up The Volume").
An interview in the Spring had been discussed between the man who was part of the collective and the staff of Neo Retro, but that was still a couple of months away.
What resulted was an extremely rare and exclusive interview with DEBBION CURRIE, the first singer that had been brought in to do vocals on the first two releases by Colourbox ("Tarantula" and "Breakdown").
It was mid-January 2021 that the DJ, along with Borealis, was able to talk with the former vocalist about her days with the band, and the associations that came with the exciting gig, nearly 40 years prior.
DEBBION CURRIE's interview aired on Saturday January 30th on the network. It was not only one of the best conversations with a recording artist to date, but it was possibly the interview that solidified D-Phoenix's role as a legitimate player in the realm of podcast talk shows.
Currie, along with her husband and family, resides near London, England, and enjoys watching her kids' careers take off like bottle-rockets.
A STAR-STUDDED SEQUEL SEASON
The interviews with Clive and Andrew of When In Rome, and Debbion of Colourbox, were just the beginning of a powerful lineup of musical guests...
Unsure of the exact percentage of yeas to nays or no answers at all, DJ D-Phoenix would guess it's nearly 1 in 3 recording artists that respond with an agreement to talk in a brief online meeting, via Zoom usually. Realistically, that is a pretty good percentage as far as success rates go.
The following trio of artists all appeared as guests on "The Sessions w/ DJ D-Phoenix" program in just the first 2 months alone.
BILLY CURRIE - VISAGE / ULTRAVOX
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 13, 2021
There are some artists and/or bands that move us in ways we can't quite verbalize. The day that word returned from the management for BILLY CURRIE agreeing to an interview was the first time the resident DJ got a little "tingly"; the day the interview came, and the moment that Billy was connected and in sight at their video meeting, there was an "electric buzz" of sorts that washed over him.
The reason for this was because BILLY CURRIE was a member of two of the most powerful and influential groups to come out of alternative music, VISAGE and ULTRAVOX.
The hour-long discussion between the two men worlds apart would prove to be a certified "bucket list" event for Darren (DJ D-Phoenix).
For the DJ, to be able to have the time and attention of an artist of Currie's caliber was more than he could ever hope for. He had contacted Billy's bandmate from both bands as well, Midge Ure, a number of months prior but without any response as of this writing. The interview is one not to miss.
DAVID STERRY : REAL LIFE
February 20th, 2021 7 pm Pacific
There wasn't enough time for the fun that was being had in this conversation with REAL LIFE frontman DAVID STERRY, from his home in Melbourne, Australia.
This interview sees the DJ's longtime friend (as well as former high school girlfriend) Sherry "Mother Nature" Wynn sitting in as a guest on this one. It was more or less Sherry who had introduced him to the music of REAL LIFE back in 1983.
To have the opportunity to actually tell someone whose music has changed the world for the better, and for the fun of it, is a feeling like no other, says D-Phoenix.
David was an incredibly fun guest, even though the same could be said for most of the station's guests.
We're telling you, there's just something about the luck with hanging with both Australian and Canadian recording artists for interviews.
THE TUBES' FEE WAYBILL
Saturday, March 6th 2021Â Â 7 pm Pacific
The DJ has been a fan of The Tubes since he heard them for the first time in 1980, and saw them perform LIVE on a couple of late-night TV shows in 1981.Â
The album that introduced the world to the San Francisco-based band wasn't "The Completion Backwards Principle", but the motion picture soundtrack for "Xanadu" a year earlier.
The Tubes had a cameo appearance in the movie as the rock & roll band nearing the finale; "Dancin'"  is the band's collaboration with the film's star Olivia Newton-John.
With it's hits "Talk To Ya Later", "Sushi Girl" and "Don't Want To Wait Anymore", the album made it to #36 on the Billboard charts in 1981, solidifying them as more of a legitimate group than when they formed six years prior to its release.
In mid-February, lead singer FEE WAYBILL set aside about an hour to speak with D-Phoenix for the show.
This was an interview the DJ was looking forward to.
IN MEMORIAM :
QUASAR STAR (Dominic Travers)
Oct. 3, 1989 - Feb. 6, 2021
The rapper's unexpected passing brings the online radio project to a close.
Within just a few hours of hearing that one of the station's artists had died tragically earlier that day, the staff of Neo Retro knew that ending the online radio project was the right thing to do.
It was a rough transition from first to second season for the crew, and with the additional news that Quasar Star was dead, that was all that was needed to call it a day with the current season.
Dominic wasn't just another artist on the station's rotation; he and the resident DJ had struck up a good friendship on their first meeting the summer before.
Dominic had traveled down to Olympia from Arlington WA just three weeks before his death to work on some promotional items and projects with D-Phoenix. It was beginning to look as though the trip would be in vain as a couple weeks had passed, and nothing to show for it.
That is until Quasar agreed to a brief interview roughly a week before he died. That interview is the last Official one recorded prior to the sad event.
The rapper and the DJ had a really good friendship that was beginning to cast some sunrays of hope and excitement into the rapper's future.
That would all be cut short with the news of Dominic's death.
Quasar Star's music will be in cyberspace as long as it exists. You can check out some of his music in the videos below.
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THE HEADSTASH/QUASAR STAR SHOW
Season 2 brings Rap/Hip-Hop/Trip-Hop/Dub to the Forefront with a new local/regional showcase for the genres.
NEO RETRO is promoted as an alternative/indie online radio project. It is one of several projects and productions of the Groove Zone collective. Since its creation in 1989, its core resume was centered mostly around the team's early productions in the night clubs in the South Puget Sound area of Washington State.
With the steadily growing popularity of the music forms rap and the hip-hop counterpart, the mixture of the two main genres (alternative and rap) proves to be a good blend that can complement the other's style and sound. That's the reason behind the offering up of the network's first legitimate "urban-influenced" program.
Currently, it is airing the early part of Season 2 on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday nights at 10 pm Pacific (PST).
"The HeadStash/Quasar Star Show" is a good cross-section of regional artists in the genre, ranging from Leviticuss and Coaster, two rappers from Selah, WA, to the gritty street-smart feel of Quasar Star; from the dub artist from Aberdeen, WA HeadStash to the emo rap of Callux, the network's newest addition to the featured artist lineup.
HEAD STASH
Aberdeen, WA Dubstep Artist
HEADSTASH definitely has a fanbase already. He also has a unique style to his mixes.
Having spent some time with different dub and electro artists at past events, HeadStash began creating his sound within the past few years.
Each release nearly surpasses the one before. This is an artist to watch for!
CALLUX
Callux can be heard regularly on Tu, Wed, Fri & Sun nights @ 10 pm Pacific
Callux is a rapper/singer from Olympia, WA. Hoping to connect and relate to his fans who have gone through similar struggles such as poverty, mental illness, and abuse Callux often tries to cut deep and get straight to the point with emotional lyrics and somber tone. His influences stem from many different places, from old school hip hop to new style emo rap.
QUASAR STARR
(Florida)
Quasar Starr initially came into the lineup on Neo Retro a couple of months after its June 2020 launch. The project's managing teams opted to limit the bulk of Starr's available catalogue to later time slots, due to the explicit content.
Most of the tracks still hadn't been accessible in family-friendly form as of this writing, but the decision was made to give the handful of rap artists that were in a sort of limbo their own showcase program to bring their talent front and center.
Originally, the show's working title was "The Quasar Starr Show", but with the addition of more material from dub artist HeadStash, it made sense to bill the program with both artists as co-headliners.
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ROCK & ROLL SLUMBER PARTY
12 MIDNIGHT
This isn't like any other slumber party you've been to before! This is what it sounds like when you have your musician friends over for the night. This late-night program is a local showcase featuring MTR Project