Captain Ambiance
photos courtesy of Captain Ambiance
source AllAboutSurf.com
by AllAboutSurf
posted 2003-05-15

The Internet has spawned thousands of independent "radio" stations worldwide. Anyone with cheap software, a fast connection, two turntables and a microphone can now broadcast to an international audience. FM radio is dead. The corporate guys were too busy golfing to realize that their stations were not only boring but also dreadfully obnoxious.

One of the better Internet stations is www.dirty.org.

A group of surfers from the sleepy North San Diego surf town Leucadia have been spinning vinyl records and broadcasting to a wide fan base for a couple of years now. DJ's Tyler Hanel and George Johnson spin and mix Electronica and Hip-Hop records masterfully. Dirty Radio has been a pure source of modern turntablism. But recently they added a new DJ to the mix, second generation surfboard builder, Jean-Paul St. Pierre who plays under the DJ moniker of Captain Ambience. Originally meant for comic relief, the captain is enjoying a growing following of wired music fans that dig his .25 cent thrift store bought record collection.

Surf: So, all your records are strictly from thrift stores?

Capt: OOOH, it's insane! When CD's came out everybody just got rid of their records so the entire history of vinyl is in those bins. I mostly seek out campy Hawaiiana stuff. You know, with a pretty girl on the cover with a ukulele and flower in her hair. I'm not a music historian so I just buy the record if I like the cover art that is so much superior to the sad little CD covers. I find all kinds of cool hipster jazzy stuff, lots of Henry Mancini records, Herb Alpert, Surf music, Mambo, Exotica stuff like Arthur Lyman and Martin Denny. All kinds of neat stuff.

Surf: And these records are playable? In good condition?

Capt: Well, the condition varies. Sometimes you score a mint never played record, but I actually like records that have been played. You know a lot of the stuff I like is my Grandmother's music. The late fifties early sixties cocktail nation thing. I like to think that these records were played at a really swanky party back when people dressed up and acted really cosmopolitan. In fact, most of the records in thrift stores and donated after someone's grandparents pass away. To the family they might seem like silly old-fashioned records that nobody wants. It's a bit of urban archaeology. People wrote their names on the cover and circled their favorite songs.

A few pops and scratches on the records aren't a problem, they actually add to the ambience of the show.

Surf: Okay, the ambience, what's this about?

Capt: I got the name Captain Ambience back at my old classic bachelor surf pad. There were four roommates in this great big rental by the beach and it had been a surf mecca for almost 15 years. Always traveling surfers in and out and lots of parties, the usual surf culture stuff. Problem is places like that can get kind of ganky so I decided to muck the place out.

I built this really cool tiki bar that was an old surf shop counter. Hung up strings of white Christmas lights, which girls love. There is no need for normal light bulbs; girls really love those white Christmas lights. Anyway, we decorated the place with tikis and beach artifacts and the place looked like some sort of 1960's lounge. It was a great success. When Tyler Hanel moved in he brought his turntables and then the place was like a swanky nightclub. Too bad that place got sold and turned into another generic yuppie home.

Surf: So you turned this place from stinky stonerville into coolsville, what about your radio show?

Capt: My show is a musical mutiny of an already pirate radio station. I interrupt the electo stuff for an hour and take over. It's a musical happy hour. I mix drinks and genres I like to say. I play mambo and jazz and surf instrumentals. Most of the music is instrumental. I like to play Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline as well. I can really play anything I want. As long as I find it in a thrift store I don't have scripted playlist. Anything goes as long as it sounds cool to me. So far people really enjoy it.

Surf: So people are actually listening?

Capt: Once people find live Internet radio they really love it. Corporate radio is no boring. People are sick of hearing Freebird. On Dirty Radio there are no screaming car commercials unless I'm doing a parody. I do a lot of parodies of FM and AM radio, a couple of corny voices. And I have listeners all over the world. It's wild when you check out whose listening. It's like, wow, New York, Switzerland, Argentina! I have regular listeners and there is live chat room, which really adds to the show. In fact I think the chats are what make Internet radio fun. There is more of a community feel. Instead of getting yelled at by some a-hole DJ the listeners can pop and say hi and interact. It's the Internet revolution man!

Thrift Store Radio is heard on http://www.dirty.org usually once week, Tuesdays or Wednesday evenings at 6 PM PST. To get on the live show announcement list email the captain at thriftstoreradio@cox.net.