Blog

Who else can say they’ve struck gold here in the Interior of Alaska? As a gold panner, born and raised in the golden state, I am here to share my techniques of finding those diamonds in the coal.

On March 13th of this year I was lucky enough to catch Spring Break festivities at Alyeska ski resort in Girdwood at the Sitzmark. It was the last night of Town League, characterized by 7 weeks of training with 1 modified super g race each week. It was not overcrowded and the bands were accented by neon ceiling art with black light and bay windows facing skiers in myriad positions as they attempted to slow themselves to a stop at the deck.

When I took a visit to UAF in the summer of 2024 I saw the radio office and knew that I wanted to be a part of it. I do my best to listen to a wide range of music, explore different popular artists catalogs, and try to keep up with what albums have been trending recently so I knew that I wanted to be a part of sharing music to people.

The Midnight Sun is shining a bright light on what’s to come this summer in the Golden Heart City. Recently, long-standing community event centers — beloved by the “golden generation” for over six decades — have been at the heart of major discussions. Joy Community Center and Mary Siah Recreation Center both faced potential closure, as proposed by the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly. Even the Carlson Center narrowly avoided the same fate. Thankfully, the summer of 2025 is still shaping up to be packed with memorable activities for residents and visitors alike.

The act of sharing music is a unique experience. Music elicits emotions, motivates fun and dancing, and connects people. To foster the sharing of music, we held two collaborations at KSUA this Spring. This included guest appearances by each other on Julia’s Cheese on Air show and Evan’s Cover to Cover show.

On March 20, DJ Manu and DJ Orange collaborated on DJ Manu's show, Absolute Vibrant Cinematics, for a special dose of chaos. In lieu of DJ Manu's usual playlist curation or album spotlight, both DJs decided to play it fast and loose. They used The Shfl, a random album generator, to determine what album they would listen to.

Viv & the Wreck has moved decisively to fill in the musical needs of the Eagle River alterna-rock audience. With the expansion of the Odd Man Rush brewery’s stage area more shows are finding the quaint JBER bedroom community to be a source of creative musical culture.

Isolation and loneliness are tropes often displayed through art, whether that be paintings or music. There are two artists that stand out in my mind when I think of isolation and loneliness portrayed through art.

In the days before internet in Goldstream Valley radio mattered and KSUA was the only source of progressive rock. It was a mismanaged commercial station with minimal oversight and the transmitter failed in 1992, but before it did Mark Beck had an “Alternative” rock show called ‘The Flip Side,’ which was popular with art kids and “wavers” (from the term “New Wave”).

We all have music and artists that are significant in terms of our musical tastes. Not necessarily one’s favorites, but the ones that most impacted how we think about and engage with music as a whole. Here’s a few of mine – they firmly and accurately out me as a middle-millennial of a nerdy disposition, but hey, what’s authenticity if not a willingness to be cringe?

As far as instrumentals go, there are a few different types. They typically fall in one of two categories, a musical replacement for white noise or music that can be enjoyed through active listening. Monster Wave's whole discography blows both categories out of the water with a beautiful ambient masterpiece that combines the easy listening of white noise and the depth and intrigue of instrumentals designed to be consumed actively.

If you like sumptuous costumes, deeply moving performances (my friend who I saw it with cried about four times,) classic toe tapping tunes, and an expertly crafted story, I highly recommend seeing Wicked, and if you can, see it on the big screen, I promise it’s worth it.