DJ, Wizzy's Brew (On Air Wednesdays, 10AM–12PM)

Q: How long have you been here at WUSB, and what shows have you hosted?

A: I’ve been involved with the station since 2001. Mainly, I’ve done Wizzy’s Brew, which is my show presently. I did a classical program, called Classical Time.

Q: Who are some favorite composers whose music you played on Classical Time?

A: I like Rachmaninoff, because he played like he had three hands. I was really fascinated by his left-hand technique. I played a lot of Mozart and some Chopin, as well. Then I tried to get into more of the modern composers, like Philip Glass.

Q: And for Wizzy’s Brew?

A: Wizzy’s Brew is a show that consists of a few genres that I play: it’s Soul, jazz, some Reggae, funk, and some Afrobeat. I feel music is a universal language, and so I try to mix the music so that if you hear it, the styles all mesh together. They blend together. I try to express that within those genres. So “brew” is like a mixture. It’s my special mixture.

Q: Do you have a favorite type of record: Vinyl, cassette, CD, etc.?

A: Vinyl. Vinyl is where you get the whole package: depth, width, the whole panorama. MP3’s don’t give you that fullness of the music, you know? I think it cuts short the dynamic range of the music. It sounds very mid-rangy, so you don’t get that punch – that warmth – that you would usually get from Vinyl.

CDs have improved over the years. At the time when they came out, you were getting a thinned-out version of the vinyl, you know? But I remember when they came out in the early eighties, it was a big deal. You could play a CD over and over and it wouldn’t wear out. The quality would still remain, and that was a big seller for that at the time. Plus, you could put a number of songs on this little disc. That’s why the dynamic range was cut down: to fit in all those songs.

Q: When you listen to new releases in various genres, do you feel that the change in recording mediums – from Vinyl to modern digital files – has shifted how music is being produced and recorded nowadays, versus when vinyl was “the thing”?

A: Yes, and you had analogue recording. It has changed, because even when [producers are] mixing albums now, they’re mixing them according to how an MP3 would sound. [If] kids are listening in these headphones, they’re not listening to the stereo, where you’re getting the real depth of the stereo and you’re getting delay. You’re not getting that warmth—you’re missing a lot of that. So the production technique has changed, too. They don’t use tape anymore. People are making records on their laptops now—that technique.

But digital has improved and it has gotten closer to analogue. Digital was trying to emulate analogue, you see, and the thing is that with digital technology with music— the advantage was that it was designed for people who wanted to do music but weren't [necessarily trained in] audio and how to record. So it was easy for someone to record some music and get a good sound. You can press a button,and get some nice reverb, stereo, and you’re at it—you do your recording. It’s user-friendly. That’s how it’s designed—that’s how the business is going.

You still need knowledgeable people to really get a good record. So the production has gone in that direction as far as the technology, but I see it’s coming back. Vinyl is having a revival.

Q: As a musician yourself, what instruments do you play? How did you get started in music?

A: I’m a singer. I would say that’s my main instrument. I also play piano and I’m also a drummer. I started doing gigs when I was in high school, back in the late seventies. I did my first recording at 17 or so.

Q: What styles or genres of music do you focus on?

A: I play mainly Reggae, jazz, Soul, rock—more contemporary genres. And I work as a singer. I used to freelance with a lot of groups in the New York City area. I also have my own little group called Quadralove. It started out as a quartet. It was myself on drums and vocals; Claudia CC Nostrand was the vocalist, keyboardist, and flautist; and then we had bass and guitar. But we were basically the nucleus of that group. We had just finished an EP before she had passed.

Now I’m getting ready to release some singles. She did a recording, an instrumental piece. I’m trying to release it right now. The song is called “Fluteful.” It’s a flute instrumental, by Claudia CC Nostrand. Claudia was a DJ here at the station. She’s playing the lead instrument—it has flute, bass guitar, and it has the Reggae rhythm underneath it. I arranged the song. She co-produced it and wrote the solo. I did the rhythm arrangement.

Q: How long has Wizzy’s Brew been on air?

A: I’ve had it on for a while. It started as an overnight shift, I would say in 2002 or 2003, a little after I had gotten here.

Q: What’s your favorite aspect of working in radio?

A: Talking to the people, and also, I like looking through the different music that comes in—the new releases. I try to get those together and make sure that if I don’t play them, that some other DJs are playing them.

Q: What’s an example of some music you’ve recently played on the show?

A: There was a show a couple of weeks ago where I was playing a group called KOKOROKO. I was trying to turn people on to the diaspora – African diaspora – and Afrobeat is pretty popular now, so I was trying to show some Afro-jazz and some of the groups that are coming up, like this group called KOKOROKO, which I’m really into. They’re out of London. They’re based there. The group consists of people from the African diaspora. They come from Nigeria, some come from, England, Europe. So they all come together.

I was also playing Fela Kuti, out of Nigeria. I like to play his music, too, and people like him on that level, because he tells it like it is. I also mix that with Reggae. It’s popular in Africa, but also here, too, in America—in Suffolk County, too. There are people on the East End who are really into the Reggae vibe, so I try to also play Reggae from a more sociopolitical angle, because Reggae is known for that. I mean you’ve heard of Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer. He’s known for the message. So I try to play Reggae that is consistent with that. When I play records on my show, you can walk away from that, and you heard something cool, you know? You heard something you could meditate on.

I try to play music that helps make people think. I try to play songs that are more on a sociopolitical level. It’s not just the flavor of the day that I’m concentrating on—something current, but something with a message. That’s why I try to put forth in the genres that I play. It has a message in the music.

When you hear me on the air, sometimes I’ll say “Message in the music.” I’m telling you, “Check the lyric. Check this out.” I try to encourage that and show the universality of music. The “brew” is like saying it’s coming together. It’s a mixture. Music is like this. A guy in Africa who lives in the highlands, and a guy here, plays some jazz and hears it at the same time, he can pick up on what he’s feeling. He can pick up on the meaning of that. Music will do that. You haven’t met the person before, but when they hear that music you’re playing, they can feel that. They can feel what you’re doing. Technology allows us now to do that, where we can simultaneously record one person in another country and you can vibe out. That’s really cool.

Q: Given the pandemic and related changes affecting live music, from your perspective, how has the music industry been affected? What has that experience been like in the music world?

A: It can be quite discouraging. It has slowed down quite a bit. It is tough on a lot of musicians who solely make a living off of music, which I am one of them. I noticed, too, that a lot of music hasn’t been released. A lot of artists depend on touring, and the CD market is not like it used to be 20 years ago. It used to be that you would do a show to promote a CD. Now, it’s the other way around.

Being as CDs don’t sell millions of copies, you’re not going to get that anymore. And so a lot of the artists depend on live shows. So when a pandemic hits like this, it’s rough. It’s rough on quite a few artists. There are some artists that can get by on royalties, but streaming cut right in. So you’ve got artists from maybe the Islands, Reggae artists, they depend a lot on touring. That’s how they make the bulk of their money. So, that has really put a damper on a lot of them.

Q: We were talking earlier about music with a message—can we also discuss the importance of cultural diversity and representation in the radio industry?

A: We’re at a university, which does and is supposed to show and express diversity. I believe that’s important. I believe a non-commercial radio station such as this, especially a station like WUSB, it’s like an oasis. Community power, I call it.

I believe that the more we see this corporate pressure, people are waking up a little more and are wanting a difference. So at a station like this where we try to reach the community and the programming, we have talk shows that touch on community issues and issues that deal with the country, and the people on a whole. I encourage that strongly. And the same way with the music. I encourage that. Diversity needs to be encouraged.

I believe diversity brings about a better unity among the people. I’m all for community radio. We’re a 3,600 watt full power FM station, and thanks to the internet, we can reach a wider – a worldwide – audience. I’m glad to be involved with something like this.

That’s why I say, music shall teach them a lesson, because it touches. We use that power. Those of us who can see, we see music can bring together. So, I try to use it in that manner, too—to bring it together.

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