Off the Mic
Name: Carlos Calderon
DJ Name: DJ Carlos
Position: Arts & Culture Staff, DJ Staff
DJ Shift: Rotation (Thursdays, 12-3PM)
Year: Junior
Major: Film and Media Studies, sociology minor
Favorite Color: Green
Hobbies: Playing guitar
From: Leavenworth, KS
Chad Onianwa: How did you first get involved with KJHK?
Carlos Calderon: Do you know Doug Bybee? He and I lived in McCollum Hall together. He got involved with KJ and as I became better friends with him, I became more interested in the station. I watched all of the different tabling events happening. I am really into music and KJ is really into music so I just figured that we would meld really well together.
CO: Who are some of your favorite musicians right now and in general?
CC: Right now, I have been getting a lot into jazz-hop. My favorite band of all time is Tame Impala. I absolutely love them. I saw them live at Austin Psychfest and I saw them again when they came to Kansas City at The Uptown. Another one of my favorites would be Flying Lotus and in the past year I have really gotten into this band called Dungen. They are Swedish and are sort of a psychedelic prog-like band. Honestly, they just sound like Tame Impala but Swedish. I also really like Jimi Hendrix. I am in into psychedelia in general.
CO: What got you into that music?
CC: I started playing guitar when I was fourteen. I was always into guitar-oriented music but never into heavy metal or anything super technical. I was listening to a lot of Radiohead and Modest Mouse my senior year of high school. Then I came to college and I was introduced to Tame Impala. I have not looked back. It was just a style that stuck with me. I just loved how expressive it could be, with love for all the effects and way they could be used.
CO: You also said that you are a film major. How did you choose that?
CC: I always liked film and watching award shows with my mom growing up. I was involved in my video broadcasting class in high school and I became an executive producer. I found that I was really good at it, so I decided, “Why not do for a living?”
CO: Did you have any childhood obsessions?
CC: I did and it is still an obsession of mine. Nothing to do with movies, but I love the Legend of Zelda. My favorite color is green just because of the Legend of Zelda. I think it is just the idea of fantasy, you know? It is about how creative and conceptual that world was, and how it really influenced how I look at things. I am really proactive when it comes to ideas. I think that being introduced to such a whimsical world kind of got my gears going.
CO: And you chose to KU for…?
CC: It was the closest school, plus, I love Lawrence! I saw a Matt and Kim show my junior year in Lawrence and I was like, “Man, this place is the best.” I was just really into it. Honestly, there is a type of person I am and what I am into. Nobody else in Leavenworth is into that, so I wanted to go to a place where I could find a lot of people like me. That is also another reason I joined KJ. I was just sort of floating around at KU, not really dedicated to anything. Finally, I found an organization that reflected a lot of what I thought.
CO: So you made a good decision?
CC: Yes, definitely. I think going to KU was probably one of the best decisions I have ever made. I have really awoken in a lot of different ways, especially socially and consciously. It really just expanded how I view a lot of different things for the better. I am woke.