Live365's "Featured Spotlight Station" this week is Modern Music Radio! We spoke with Steve Allen Mashburn about their setup, what listeners can expect to hear, and the station's favorite songs. Check out the interview below!
What brought you to Live365?
It is very important to me that musicians are paid for their work. I chose Live365 over other streaming services because they handle the ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and SoundExchange licenses. With Live365 covering these legal issues, it allows me to concentrate on more creative things.
What's your studio like?
As a retired music educator, I've decided to go back to my first love - composing music, especially electronic music, which has made for a very nice studio.
I started out with a Moog Mother-32 but soon fell down the rabbit hole - I now own 22 synthesizers. My Moogs are three Mother-32s, a DFAM, a Grandmother, a Matriarch, and a Sub-Phatty. My Behringers are two Model D's and an Odyssey. My Arturias are a KeyLab Essential 61, a KeyLab 21 MkII, a MicroFreak, a DrumBrute, and two MiniBrute II's. I have most of the Make Noise modules in my eurorack system. Oh, I also own an Arp 2600 clone and two experimental Nozoid noise makers. And, I invested a lot into sound treatment, so I have a great space to work with.
What can listeners expect when they tune in to your station?
Modern Music Radio is a free online radio station that will allow everyone to listen to contemporary art music at any time. While other classical online radio stations may present a couple of hours of modern music a week, we play a continuous stream of contemporary art music by recognized composers.
We also promote new music from lesser-known composers who are creating interesting music in various styles – minimalism, aleatory, atonality, serialism, musique concrète, and electronic synthesis.
Unfortunately, music educators have done very little in the public schools to promote the art music of today, so the general public typically overlooks it. We even have students majoring in music composition who have not heard enough modern music for it to be their native language.
The solution to this is to provide a medium in which students, teachers, and the general public can listen to modern music at any time and any place. Modern Music Radio seeks to provide such a medium.
What has been your favorite moment as a DJ/Station Manager so far?
I had been listening to Modern Music Radio on AutoDJ mode for about three hours. Suddenly, one of my pieces started playing and the person I was with said, "I really like that one -- who wrote it?"
What is the best concert you've ever attended, and why?
My best friend took me to a Kronos and Terry Riley concert about thirty years ago. It was a mind-blowing experience.
What artist (dead or alive) would you love to see live, but haven't had the chance to see?
A joint concert given by Henry Cowell and Harry Partch. That would have been something to see and hear.
We asked for some of the station's favorite songs. Here's what they had to say!
- In C - Terry Riley
For me, this was the start of it all. - Music with Changing Parts - Philip Glass
Anything Phillip Glass does is an easy entry into modern music. - Closed Circuit - Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith & Suzanne Ciani
They're the Wonder Kid and the Great Dame of Modular Synth. - Short Ride in a Fast Machine - John Adams
This is the bridge between Phillip Glass and hardcore contemporary art music. - Harmonic-Symmetry - Richard Devine
From sound-design to game music, Richard is maturing into a major composer. - Music for Prague 1968 - Karel Husa
A very emotional piece. Hear the machine guns. - Tuba Juba Duba - Tennessee Tech Tuba Ensemble
Heh - what can I say? Euphonium was my major instrument.
Listen to Modern Music Radio on Live365.com and join their Facebook group!
Live365 Broadcasters! Want the chance to be featured? Fill out the form at the following link: Featured Spotlight Submission Form. (Duplicate station entries will only be featured once. Must have a Live365 Broadcaster account.)
