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Interview with the legendary Tim Pyles

We are incredibly honored to be joined today by Tim Pyles. Tim has over twenty five years experience in broadcast media, both radio and television. He has written, produced and hosted thousands of segments for radio and many for television. In addition, he has written for many local publications in San Diego during that time. As a long time supporter of the local music community, he has assisted thousands of bands throughout the years. We proudly recognize Tim as our Mayor of Local Music and consider him a huge inspiration for us here at ListenSD.

ListenSD: Thank you so much for taking time to do this interview! Talk to us a bit about Stomping Grounds.

Tim Pyles:  Stomping Grounds, a show about local music from Orange County to Tijuana, but let’s be honest it’s mostly San Diego artists. Orange County is included because the show originates on KXFM out of Laguna Beach, a regional FM station heard in the immediate area, but can be streamed from anywhere in the world!  It recently began airing on KNSJ in San Diego as well.  It has a small signal with a transmitter in Descanso, but can be streamed worldwide.

LSD: What inspired you to create Stomping Grounds and how did you decide to cover OC, SD, TJ?
TP: When I Hosted Loudspeaker or The Local 94/9 in San Diego I always included Tijuana artists, especially on 91X since it transmits from Mexico and is what they call a Border Blaster.  As for Stomping Grounds, as I said it airs on a Orange County signal, so I included artists from the area.
LSD: We love emerging artists and we go to a lot of shows, but there are only so many hours in the day and there never seem to be enough to listen to everything out there. On average how much new music do you listen to on a daily basis and how do you discover new bands, or do they always discover you?
TP: I pay attention to the scene, so it’s mutual, sometimes I find them, sometimes they find me.  Music is life and I can’t stop consuming it, I listen to as much music as possible.  I prefer not to stream music on something like Spotify, so I ask bands for WAV files.  For new music outside of San Diego that I love I do listen to the BBC6 daily as I am an avid anglophile.
LSD: What’s your process for deciding which songs and bands will be featured on your show?
TP: The show is very diverse and I try to support as many bands as possible from many different genres.  Production is key, a professionally recorded sounding song with a hook.  I just listen and if I like it, I play it!
LSD: You’ve been in the business for quite a while, if you were to talk to someone new to San Diego, what bands would make your essential top five to learn about our local music scene?
TP: Our scene is diverse, I would try not to focus on one scene and here’s ten…
LSD: On the same note, what are the five local bands we should be paying attention to right now?
LSD: Your show Stomping Grounds includes the TJ area; so how’s your Spanish? Do you have a favorite Spanish-speaking band, current or past? And perhpas most importantly, what’s your favorite Mexican Restaurant in San Diego?
TP: I am a gringo, with limited knowledge of the Spanish language.  Uno Mas Cerveza!  Growing up in Southern California you’d think I would have paid attention in Spanish class, I probably would be fluent by now considering my love of the culture and food.
Favorite bands from TJ are Los Kung Fu Monkeys, DFMK, Tijuana No!, but when the Nortec Collective broke internationally with their mix of electronic and traditional sounds of their culture my mind was blown!
Favorite restaurant would be Las Cuatro Milpas on Logan Avenue in Logan Heights.
LSD: Thank you so much again for your time, this has been such an honor!

Be sure to tune in to Stomping Grounds and Tim’s new music show FTP, here:

STOMPING GROUNDS

Thursday 11pm – 12am on KXFM 104.7 FM – Laguna Beach, CA (kxfmradio.org)
Monday 9pm to 10pm on KNSJ 89.1 FM – Descanso, CA (knsj.org)
FTP NEW MUSIC SHOW
Thursday 7pm on Indie X FM – Los Angeles, CA (indiexfm.com)
Thursday 10pm on KXFM 104.7 FM – Laguna Beach, CA (kxfmradio.org)
Interview by Narda Crossley
ListenSD