Noah Fence

Still in love with rock and roll. Ever since I was a child listening to top forty on the radio. Radio seemed better then, naturally eclectic, with actual local programming, local Dee-jays picking songs that became regional hits. For instance, did you know that the band John's children had a hit in the Portland Oregon area? Most people never heard of that band in the mid-sixties. That makes me sound as if I am old. I'm not that old. Born in 1963. So I do not remember the sixties as they happened. I remember it from repeated viewing of news stories or documentaries on television. The sixties I remember are from 1972 or 1973. Funny how decades bleed over into the next. So, in 1977 I was fourteen. Just the right age to be exposed to punk rock. Except I had no money to buy records then. I lived in a small town just east of Monterey California, I lived in Carmel Valley, California, with no place to go and buy records. Some how it happened though, music seemed to be the driving interest in my life, gradually I acquired records. I discovered the Record factory in Monterey. I became the person in my group of friends who made mix tapes. God bless the Sony walkman! At last a portable source of music that was also private! I could listen to whatever I wanted and not intrude or disturb others. It's a cliche now, but yes, my mixtapes became a soundtrack for my everyday life. I found a mentor. A person with an extensive record collection. He allowed me to come to his house and browse through the records, make tapes, and learn. Still in my early twenties with little direction in life, working dead end jobs at restaurants, but I discovered a world of music from rock to Tibetian hand bell music. Here also I discovered for the first time, the Fall. Eventually, in 1987 or 1988 I got a job at a great used record store in Monterey, Recycled Records (it's still there!). That job came at a fortunate time. The record industry was pushing the new technology, cds, and people sold their record collections to upgrade. I bought my first copy of Wire's "Pink Flag" in '87. It was the first time I had seen it. Two bucks used. That was a week before I started working at Recycled records. In the dollar section of the store I found the first lp by the Ruts, and "the Quality of mercy is not strength" by the Mekons. Again, this was the first time I had seen these records. Nearly the same week I started working at the record store, I amswered an ad for Dee-jays on a local community radio station, KAZU. I called my show "Blank Generation" and was on Saturday nights from midnight to three a.m. for about five and a half years. Then, due a decision by the higher ups to institute block programming, they needed a rock show for thursday afternoons from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. So I changed time slots. That was a great spot. You knew without reservation that people were listening. I had phone calls for requests! That rarely happened at night. After midnight you were generally broadcasting to the folks who worked all night at kinko's, Taxi drivers, or bakers. While this was going on, radio and working at the record store, people I worked with formed bands, Dura-delinquent & the Starlite desperation, put on shows in Monterey. Chrome cranks, Steel Pole Bathtub, and Bikini Kill really stand out for me as memorable shows. We went to san Francisco a lot for shows. Bought records all over town, and would drive back, arriving at six in the morning, and go to work at nine, no problem. Somewhere in there I found love. Moved to Portland Oregon. Worked at a couple records stores, Music Millennium and Djangos, got married, bought a house. Sold a house, got separated. Now I live in a studio apartment, just me and my music. I have been accused of being sad, fat and lonely. Some of which is true. I work for a company called Recordsbymail.com, and again (finally) I have returned to radio. I do a show entitled "It's a nice world to visit" on www.praradio.org every Saturday morning, 9:00 am to Noon PST. It's a lot of fun for me to do radio. All week long between shows it buzzes in the back of my mind. I am always thinking about my show. In some respects perhaps that's a little sad. But it is something I really enjoy.