STARK REALITY with James Dier aka $mall ¢hange JASONCHARLES.NET PODCAST NETWORK

For Episode 67 of STARK REALITY, Host James Dier aka DJ $mall ¢hange rolls out the tattered red carpet to the East Village to talk to DANIEL EFRAM, a multifaceted NYC-based photographer, journalist, producer, curator, and art publisher focusing on culture and social justice. With a robust background in music, film and TV production, Efram has recently produced projects as "The Elephant 6 Recording Co." doc film (Greenwich Entertainment; 2023) and "The Steve Keene Art Book” (Tractor Beam / Hat & Beard Press; 2023).  Jim and Daniel talk about both those projects quite a bit, getting into some history of Steve Keene's work and his creative process, and how the book came together. Also the doc, with some of the bands associated with the Elephant 6 label, The Apples In Stereo, Olivia Tremor Control etc. And Daniel's own photography, how after managing and working with artists for many years to how he started putting together his own work and photography book. And his recent shots of various protests going around NYC, around migrants and Palestine and the ongoing genocide happening.

Daniel gives us some good insights, and also an excellent playlist of psyche, rock, dub, groove and experimental sounds, featuring tracks from Can, Tinariwen, Butch Cassidy Sound System, Stereolab, Gary Numan and more, available on Episode 68 of STARK REALITY PLAYLISTS.

For more information about Daniel Efram, go to www.danielefram.com and follow him @danielefram on Instagram

Subscribe to STARK REALITY and STARK REALITY PLAYLISTS on Apple Podcasts, Mixcloud or live & direct on jasoncharles.net Podcast Network Music Chanel's STARK REALITY Series Page
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On Episode 65 of Stark Reality, Host James Dier aka DJ $mall ¢hange rolls the red carpet out to middle Jersey and talks to DJ COMRADE, an excellent DJ and producer and a great dude who shares a lot of his politics, especially on apartheid Israel. While Jim looks at this podcast as a collection of interviews with like minded friends and artists, and not necessarily a time sensitive/breaking news sort of thing, the ongoing genocide in Gaza now in its 3rd month has been horrific, and Comrade was the perfect person to talk to about this. His roots go back spinning 45s and dubplates in reggae soundsystems, playing alongside legends like Stone Love, doing stuff in NYC and Boulder CO, and then later getting into tropical bass sounds and Baile Funk and working alongside many Brazilian heavyweights in that scene. Jim first met Comrade virtually because 10-15 years ago he was one of the very few ppl online that was speaking out against Israeli apartheid and oppression. The bulk of the talk is about Gaza and he will be back to have a more proper music discussion. Comrade has been fighting this fight for a long time, he is the man. This is not a 'professional' news podcast but we hope you enjoy two friends talking proper shit on the racist genocidal shit that is Zionism.

Some side notes, Dr. CBS is Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly and her recent book is called Black Scare, Red Scare. and the Sluggy Ranks record that Jim couldn't remember the title is called Ghetto Youth Bust. The background intro music is the Far East riddim just fyi.

We'll get a music mix or playlist from Comrade down the road but wanted to get this interview out asap since we are talking about events going on right now. Recorded 12/30/23. Happy new yawn everyone!

DJ COMRADE's exclusive Stark Reality Playlist will be coming soon on Episode 66 of STARK REALITY PLAYLISTS.

Subscribe to STARK REALITY and STARK REALITY PLAYLISTS on Apple Podcasts, Mixcloud or live & direct on jasoncharles.net Podcast Network Music Chanel's STARK REALITY Series Page
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For this episode of STARK REALITY, Host James Dier aka DJ $mall ¢hange rolls the red carpet out to Berlin and talk to CANDICE HOLMES. She is a native New Yorker in exile, living in Germany since 2015 and based in the Peter Pan capital of Europe for the past 6.5 years. She spends her days working in Marketing and nights out and about in the Berlin club and bar scene. She has plenty of opinions about German life and culture and is looking forward to the day she can be a German-American, if the Berlin citizenship backlog and German language test results permit.We get into a number of topics related to Germany, racism, their issues with Palestine and BDS, club culture, how Berlin is changing, culture shock when renting apartments there, etc etc. Also this was recorded Sept 20th 2023, well before the horrific genocide going on in Gaza, in terms of us talking about issues with Germany and Palestine. Candice is top ppls and after talking about this for a min (several years) it was nice to finally talk to her for Stark Reality.

To hear Candice’s exclusive Stark Reality Playlist, featuring soul, new wave, world and German Electronic sounds from The Isley Brothers, Fatima Al Qadiri, Whirlpool Productions, Talking Heads, Scooter and more, go to Episode 64 of Stark Reality

Subscribe to STARK REALITY and STARK REALITY PLAYLISTS on Apple Podcasts, Mixcloud or live & direct on jasoncharles.net Podcast Network Music Chanel's STARK REALITY Series Page
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For Episode 61 of STARK REALITY, we roll the red carpet out to Harlem and chat with Logan Grendel. A dog guru, photographer, activist, urban gardener, magick practitioner, artist, musician, and Nonbinary Black leftist rabblerouser, Logan Grendel describes himself accurately as seven people all at once. His podcast Focused on Infinity covers 'everything from politics to sex and religion, always with an eye on honesty and authenticity.' We get into a number of topics in this extended conversation, from dog walking and gardening, fire spinning, his music background, and a lot of politics ofc, within the party community, trans rights, how Zionism weaponizes anti-semitism, prison conditions and modern day slavery, the Montgomery mollywop, individualism vs community, debating online, trolls and boundaries, basic empathy, both side-ism, and video games.

Check his podcast and TikTok vids - he's on point.

To hear Logan's very eclectic exclusive Stark Reality playlist of rock, hip hop, soul, electronic, metal and more - to reflect his diverse tastes - featuring tracks by Paramore, Run The Jewels, Marvin Gaye, Tuxedo, God Lives Underwater, Basement Jaxx and much more, go to Episode 62 of STARK REALITY.

Subscribe to STARK REALITY and STARK REALITY PLAYLISTS on Apple Podcasts, Mixcloud or live & direct on jasoncharles.net Podcast Network Music Chanel's STARK REALITY Series Page
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For Episode 59 of STARK REALITY, Host James Dier aka $mall ¢hange welcomes veteran New York City DJ, radio producer and party promoter REGGIE JOHNSON.

Reggie Johnson is an audio engineer, radio show host, party promoter and all around good ppls. He's been working as an engineer behind the boards at WBAI Pacifica for a few decades, and co-hosting Jeanie Hopper's Liquid Sound Lounge since '98. His own radio show From the Soundboard has been running since 2007, a 'program that usually focuses on concerts regardless of genre. This is where the artist and (or) group perfects the art of the "call and response" with its audience.' He does great deep dives on all kinds of artists and groups like Gal Costa, Link Wray, Yusef Lateef, Paul Robeson, Ramsey Lewis and many others. He's also helped promote parties since 1998 and has a longtime summer thing called Beats & BBQ. In his own words, he's 'just an average individual who believes in Socialist principles through music, arts and action. Everything is connected to everything.'

Reggie is a humble and real dude which isn't always the case in these music and party scenes haha. We start out talking about classic parties and DJs like the Loft, David Mancuso, Paradise Garage, Nicky Siano, Turntables on the Hudson, and Liquid Sound Lounge, where Reggie got his start promoting and getting involved with WBAI and doing his own show. We also get into a lot about politics, Palestine, Ukraine, our disappointment with Bernie, critical thinking, and his own journey coming out of his shell as an introvert into promoting and throwing parties. We ended up rapping for over two hours so a longer convo. Enjoy!

Reggie also gives us a tasty mix of vintage African funk to accompany. To hear this exclusive 90-plus minute Stark Reality Playlist, go to Episode 60 of STARK REALITY PLAYLISTS.

For the latest news and updates on Reggie's radio show and events, follow him @deepdancenyc on Instagram.

Subscribe to STARK REALITY and STARK REALITY PLAYLISTS on Apple Podcasts, Mixcloud or live & direct on jasoncharles.net Podcast Network Music Chanel's STARK REALITY Series Page
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For Episode 57 of STARK REALITY, Host James Dier aka DJ $mall ¢hange rolls the red carpet out to Queens and rapps with Stephen Barr aka DJ HUGGY BEAR. Stephen is a native NYer who grew up in South Ozone Park, when NYC was a slightly different place then it is today. Besides music of course we talk about his collection of vintage toys from cartoons he grew up on in the '80s, working as a bouncer for a decade before DJing at hot spots like Marquee, the organization aspect of being a DJ, handling requests, playing to your audience in pro gigs, dealing with very fickle / short attention span crowds, going to see other DJs, clubs and parties like APT and Mobile Mondaze, how the current rents in NYC are changing the crowds and the vibe, throwing your own parties, and how to keep from getting burnt out on DJing. Stephen is top ppls, one of the nicest dudes in the biz.

To hear DJ Huggy Bear's exclusive Stark Reality masterfully mixed playlist of disco, edits and classics to accompany the interview, go to Episode 58 of Stark Reality.

To check out more of Huggy Bear's dynamite mixes, check out his Soundcloud page and follow him @djhuggybear on Instagram

Subscribe to STARK REALITY and STARK REALITY PLAYLISTS on Apple Podcasts, Mixcloud or live & direct on jasoncharles.net Podcast Network Music Chanel's STARK REALITY Series Page
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.