Want to know what KJHK DJs are like when they are off air? Off the Mic is a weekly interview that occurs between Mason Kilpatrick and a random DJ at the station.
Off the Mic
Julie Thephachan
DJ Shift: Thursdays, 3pm to 6pm
Major: Film and Media Studies
Minor: Anthropology
Notable KJHK Contributions: Hosted At the Movies in Spring 2015, 2014-2015 Multimedia Producer, Live @ KJHK Videographer
Current Favorite Color: Emerald Green (varies, sometimes is a “lilac-y,” milky purple)
Favorite Actor: Richard Dreyfuss, Gary Oldman, and Daniel Day-Lewis (Three-Way Tie)
Favorite Band: The Zombies
Hobbies: Cut Paper Illustration
Mason Kilpatrick: What is your favorite color and why?
Julie Thephachan: I don’t have a favorite color. … I think right now it’s emerald green.
MK: What do you mean right now, like do you have phases of favorite colors?
JT: I think I go through phases, and then I also like a lilac-y milky purple, sometimes. I don’t even know what that exact color is.
MK: I dig it, I dig it. When did you realize that you really liked music, or began to listen to music with the intent of finding of what you liked?
JT: I think middle school. I liked a lot of music but I think it shifted and I started finding a lot of music I liked after watching “The O.C.”
MK: How did “The O.C. (the show)” influence your musical taste?
JT: I think I was watching it and I really liked the theme song that was by Phantom Planet. And then there was one episode where Rooney came on and they played ‘”’m Shakin.” I even remember the scene. There was one snobby, preppy guy singing to it but he was being goofy. It was when the character turned from being awful to kind of loveable.
MK: Character development. Very cool.
JT: And they would put out mixes for every season and I was obsessed with it. I think I also started watching Fuse around that time and I really followed music from that point on.
MK: I remember Fuse TV. Do you remember the first ever album that you bought?
JT: Do you want the first album that my parents bought me or the one I bought myself?
MK: Something you bought on your own.
JT: I didn’t buy CDs for a very long time. But I think my first one was Interpol. “Antics.”
MK: Oh, very cool. I like that album.
JT: I don’t remember liking it the first time I got it.
MK: Why so? And do you still listen to it now?
JT: Yeah, I still listen to it now. It is my favorite Interpol album. I had to listen to it constantly because I bought it with my own money and my dad put it in the CD player of the car. He had picked me up from the mall. We were listening to it awkwardly because neither of us liked it at first a
nd I felt bad. He gave me money to buy it and took me to the mall. So he wanted to see what I bought with the money. But then I made sure I listened to it because I felt so bad that I spent money on it–but I really love it now. I think it had to grow on me.
MK: Since you were a DJ for At the Movies so long, music is a big part of your interest in film. Is there one soundtrack that sticks out to you? A soundtrack or album that has an emotional connection with you or a memory?
JT: Connects?
MK: A connection that you connected emotionally, such as something you cry to, or laugh to. And you always carry that emotion or memory with that soundtrack for the rest of your life.
JT: Hmmm…
MK: I guess an example for me, while not a soundtrack from a film, would be Tobias Jesso Jr.’s “Goon.” I really bonded with that album when going through a break up phase. So I will always hold that album close to me because it helped me through a tough time of transitioning in my life.
JT: I don’t actually listen break up stuff. I remember listening to Purity Ring a lot and now I can’t anymore. Even though I used to listen to it all the time, I can’t hear it now and listen to it.
MK: I see.
JT: I really like the score to “The Tenant,” one of Roman Polanski’s films. It is a really creepy score. I also really like that “Gonna Fly Now“ song..
MK: From Rocky?
JT: Yeah, I don’t know. That song makes sad and happy at the same time. I find it motivating.
MK: I guess this is where we are different with music because when I listen to an album, or anything really, I attach it to a specific memory, emotion, or image. And when I think of an image or memory, I attach a song to it. Do you do that at all?
JT: I mean, it might not be a specific Beach Boys album but top hits from The Beach Boys remind me of Lord of the Flies.
MK: Really?!
JT: I was reading that book when listening to an album at the same time. And I read the book a few times. So when I read that book, I think of The Beach Boys. And whenever I think of The Beach Boys I think of Lord of the Flies, especially with the song, “Good Vibrations.” Such a happy song for such a depressing book.
MK: How does that affect the narrative of the book for you?
JT: I feel like it makes it more real. Like it actually happened…
MK: Like it actually happened to the sound of The Beach Boys…
JT: Yeah! And it is kinda weird because I am not a “beachy” person. I am also not a boy on an island. So it gives me room to imagine this whole thing in my head that comes up with every song.
Check back every week for interesting articles of Off the Mic. Make sure you tune in on Thursdays from 3pm to 6pm, this summer, to listen Julie Thephachan.