Making Acquaintances: Karissa A. Kelly; New Resident Contributor to The Wavy’s- a Fresh Face in Radio and Music Journalism
Photo Credit: Ella Anderson @ella.and.photos
I’m Karissa Kelly, and it’s an honor and privilege to be writing to you from my little corner of Los Angeles. My journey into the music world has been more by happenstance than focused manifestation, but I believe I’ve found myself here for a reason.
Music has always been my lifeblood; in fact I don’t think I’ve gone a day in my life without playing a CD, firing up an iPod, laying a record or tuning my radio. (Oh, and streaming too, I guess.) From my inheritance of Dolly Parton, Fleetwood Mac, Heart, or Scorpions from my parents, to the emergence of my rebellious gravitation towards the likes of Siouxsie and The Banshees, The Damned, Blondie, L7, Hole, Sisters of Mercy, and whatever weird, eclectic odds and ends of punk, darkwave, gothic, industrial, or new wave records I could get my mits on, the subversive and the offensive has been my guiding light and roadmap as a young woman today.
Throughout my college years, I spent time in plenty of bars, dives and holes-in-the-wall for no other reason than to hear the music, and to practice my camerawork with a 1990’s camcorder. It wasn’t much, but I look back at those early sets I shot and sit back in awe at the raw energy of the medium, and the room. Taking my findings, I applied my observations to various startup music and culture publications, where I cultivated my discernment and my voice through the written word. The hunger only grew. I knew I had to combine by love for documentation and music, somehow.
As fate would have it, my senior year, I became an intern at 88.5 The SoCal Sound, or KCSN for the O.G’s out there, right on campus at California State University Northridge. What I thought would be days spent running to and fro, supplying everyone in the joint with their caffeine fix and making copies couldn’t be more wrong. I was quickly offered the opportunity to strut my stuff on-air on our HD3 channel, and have since made appearances on the main-station’s airwaves.
I didn’t stop there, you see. After a successful run of my Thursday night slot, aptly named “Kickin’ It With Karissa,” I launched a second show that has quickly become a sensational launchpad for smaller artists, called “Support Your Local Scene.” Since then, my discernment of the wheat from the chaff has grown sharper, my tastes have expanded, and I’ve had the honor and pleasure of hosting stripped-down live sessions with nothing but a voice and a guitar (and in one case, an accordion!) I’ve brought two people who have never played together before and witnessed magic happen before my eyes and ears. Radio has taught me the importance of improvisation, how to ask questions and get real answers, and how to cut to the core of why an artist walks this path. Typically, the answer is much like my own attitude: unwavering passion.
Happening upon The Wavy’s was surreal. After watching my dear friend, Michaela D. Jordan give a moving speech and award presentation, I knew I had to know more. I’ve come to find that Rebecca Sansom, founder and powerhouse of this incredible movement, and I have very similar goals. We want to bring the best of the best to the forefront, that wouldn’t have been noticed otherwise through the squeaky-clean finish of major-label tripe. We want to give the underdog a fighting chance. You can bet your bottom dollar that whether it’s on-air, or through the words I type out to you from my little corner of the world, I refuse to waste your time on something I don’t believe in, and I’ll be speaking loud and clear for your best interest.
