In conversation with: Sound Parade

‘Sound Parade’ is the newest, and potentially most mysterious, broadcaster to the Blast Radio airwaves. While a solo broadcaster, his shows are presented in the style of an internal dialogue with the host switching back and forth between two microphones and having a conversation with… himself. 

As described in his Blast Radio profile bio, Sound Parade is an intrepid host trying desperately to navigate the stream of consciousness conversations while presenting a “Parade of Sound” featuring personal recordings, vinyl selections, and modular synths.

He set himself a goal to do at least 100 broadcasts, however long that takes, and so far he's done 7. You've got 93 more to tune into.  

We recently reached out for an interview… In true Sound Parade style, the responses we received were written as an internal conversation. 

Make sure to follow Sound Parade (https://blastradio.com/soundparade or ‘soundparade’ in the app) to catch his weekly talk radio show. 

___

Yes, I love talking about myself.

Well, it's not all about you, personally, it's about the show too right? 

Yes, I suppose you are correct. 

Ok then don’t get so bent out of shape about it. It’s nice to be asked, isn’t it?

Yes absolutely. and I am humbled that there is any interest, so I don’t mean to be disrespectful, so I will try to muster up some enthusiasm. 

There you go! So what are these super hard questions they asked?

Oh, things like - who I am and what is this broadcast about, stuff like that.

Ok, so?

So what?

Who the heck are you?!

Ugh, my favorite question. I’d like to think the answer to that is in the broadcasts. Is that vague enough? Or deep enough? The short answer is: I’m a visual artist who enjoys sound as well. 

Ok, fascinating. Thanks for the effort. So what is the “Sound Parade” broadcast about?

Oh, it's not really about anything. It’s whatever I feel like doing at the moment.

Like what?

Well, right now it is mostly me having a conversation with myself - which seems to be what I am gravitating towards - but I have hours of audio recordings, stretching back decades, in various mediums, that I thought would be interesting to share. I am still figuring out, what works and whatnot, but I’ve got some other ideas I'd like to explore as well.

What are the audio recordings?

Mostly they are from various music projects, bands, etc. But some stuff is recordings of stories/sketches with my brothers and childhood friends. There are also “letter tapes” and “songs” from my teens (ouch). More recently I have been composing with modular synths, but I have not subjected anyone to that whole thing. But in general, a lifetime of recordings along with some choice cuts from our vintage/lounge/cocktail LP collection.  

Why Blast Radio?

Well, I mostly do visual art, as you know, and I don’t have an outlet for the audio stuff, so Blast Radio seemed like a cool platform to explore. I have audio stuff, and Blast Radio is an audio platform. Makes sense to me! 

You said you are still figuring it out, are you enjoying the broadcasting thing so far?

Well, I’m just playing at this point but yes, so far so good. I’ve just started, like five shows?

I gave myself a goal to do 100 broadcasts, however long that takes, hoping I will have worked out the technical and artistic parts by then. Right now I’m not focused on creating anything or making a big deal out of it. I’m not overthinking it. I like the freedom of having an idea and being able to fire up the Blast Box and go live.

How do you like using the Blast Box?

It's great. I like hardware solutions the best and the Blast Box has been super easy to use.

Are you doing any support for the show,  like Instagram? 

Well, yes, there is an IG account, @sound_parade.radio but I’m not pushing that other than to provide post “show notes” for each broadcast. I’m adding images to go along with the things I talk about or play on the broadcast. The posts have become a bit of a production, so I need to be careful I don’t burn out on that. It’s supposed to be there if you wanted to follow up or follow along as you listen.

Well good. Ok is there anything you would like to say to someone who might be interested in listening?

Well just drop in and see if anything catches your ear, and if not, that is perfectly fine, I appreciate anyone who happens to stop by for a listen. It’s not going to be for everyone, every time, it is a little free-form, but just like a Parade, just wait until a section passes, and maybe you’ll like the next bit.

There, was that so bad?

No, not so bad, I guess.