Paul V. Hosts The Smash Mix and Neon Noise on Indie 103.1

by Liz Ohanesian

Several years ago, Paul V., the veteran Los Angeles club DJ best known for the long-running bash Dragstrip 66 and monthly party Bootie L.A., was flipping through his presets on the car radio.  In place of the dance jams the DJ was accustomed to hearing on the 103.1 F.M. frequency were Christmas carols. Punk rock Christmas carols.

"I wondered if the dance station had run out of Christmas songs, so they were just playing anything," he recalls.  "Then I heard the [disembodied] voice of Indie 103.1.  I kept listening and I was floored."

Something was bringing commercial alternative radio back from the nu-metal, faux punk depths to which it had sunk.  Paul had to be a part of it.  A while later, when Indie brought DJs on board, he noticed that Steve Jones was playing the occasional mash-up, including one that fused the Beatles' classic "A Day in the Life" with Radiohead's 1990s hit "Karma Police."  A fan of the bootleg singles that combine at least two well-known songs, Paul, who began his career at a Boston radio station in 1981, pitched a mash-up feature to Indie's programmers.  In December of 2004, Paul began spinning Indie's "Mashup of the Day." Two short months later, The Smash Mix, a Friday evening program featuring mash-ups, remixed indie rock tracks and other club-style goodies to get listeners through the 5:30 p.m. commute, was born.  Through The Smash Mix, radio listeners were introduced to the bands that have been driving club sound systems into the red zone-- bands like Gossip, Teddybears, Shiny Toy Guns and the Noisettes.

But, that's not all.  Since January, Paul has also been hosting Neon Noise, which runs Sunday mornings from midnight until 3 a.m.  Neon Noise expands upon what the DJ had already begun with The Smash Mix with its fluid combination of pulsating 4/4 beats and heart-piercing guitar riffs.

"My goal is to teach the indie kids how to dance and teach the club kids how to rock," Paul says simply.  Neon Noise is the place where bootleg Nirvana mixes meet the latest singles from artists like Goose, Justice and Van She.  It is, perhaps, the only mixed show on the radio that reflects L.A.'s incredibly active indie dance scene.

"L.A. is often written off," says Paul.  "Especially by New York and Europe, because there is this idea that if it comes from L.A., it's either not legitimate or it's not cutting edge."

Undoubtedly, Paul's shows are as much about enhancing the image of this city as an indie dance mecca as they are about bringing global electro-rock to Los Angeles. If that piques your interest, then tune into Indie 103.1 on Fridays at 5:30 p.m. for The Smash Mix and Sunday mornings from midnight to 3 a.m. for Neon Noise.