Show Spotlight: On the Spin with DJ Beebo

Show Spotlight: On the Spin with DJ Beebo

April 12, 2021 in Features

by Doug Soundheiser


I am DJ Beebo and I cohost On the Spin, a 2-hour freeform show, with my good friend Sam, otherwise known as DJ Cardigan.

How did you hear about KVRX and what made you want to do your show?

I've known about KVRX since before I attended UT and always wanted to have a show. I actually have had two shows before this one. Vibration Voyage was a freeform show that I did last spring (in the booth, no less!) and Bullet Train to Tokyo was a specialty show about Japanese indie music. I like to do something different every semester so this time around I thought partnering up with my friend to put together a longer show would be really cool. I think Sam has really good taste in music and the combination of what he brings and the music I like to play really grooves sometimes.

What kind of music do you play on your show and what is its overall theme?

I like to say that On the Spin is "two hours of madness" and "a variety show like no other." As a freeform show, we're not limited to any specific theme although both Sam and I do have recurring genres of music that we like to play. Another big part of the show is our two weekly segments, The Vault and The Bargain Bin. I've got a mid-size vinyl collection so I like to select an older record that you might not have heard of (most likely something handed down to me from my dad) and play a good track off of that for The Vault. That can end up sounding like anything; we've played classic punk, reggae, polka, and other interesting stuff. For The Bargain Bin, I go to one of the local record stores and browse the clearance and sale bins for cheap albums with cool-looking covers. I try to spend as little money as possible to show that building a good vinyl collection is possible without breaking the bank if you're willing to risk a little here and there. During the segment, we listen to the first song off one of these cheap albums and decide if it was worth however little amount of money I spent on it. After eight episodes, we've only had one Bargain Bin pick that was not worth the money. For the other 80% of the show, DJ Cardigan and I play a really wide variety of stuff, mostly out of our own music tastes. In a normal show, we'll have some grooving indie rock, maybe some jazz, and lots of international music (I'm really into Eastern European stuff right now, and Sam always brings something cool out of Japan). We also like to just hang out and chat, and we are constantly asking listeners to submit questions to the show's Twitter account, @onthespin. I've got to note that we are supremely helped out by my other friend Peter, lovingly called Big P, who live mixes the show while we record. One of the best things about On the Spin is that we record the entire 2-hour episode together in my apartment trying to emulate the booth experience as much as possible. The little flubs and weird things I say are all a part of that, and I love it.

What is your favorite part of being a DJ?

I love discovering new types of music and figuring out how to program interesting sets. I also think just talking on-air is super fun and I get a lot of joy just saying mildly absurd things while recording. Call it theater for one.

Who are your favorite artists and what are your favorite albums?

I'm a huge fan of the German acoustic techno group MEUTE. I picked up their latest album Puls on vinyl and it sounds great. LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER is my go-to singalong artist. I'm sure to listen to basically anything that the Japanese label Call and Response Records puts out. Chelmico is awesome Japanese Rap that I wish I could understand better. Oh yeah, I almost forgot: New Wave. I LOVE New Wave. Ultravox's Vienna is my favorite although XTC's Drums and Wires, New Order's Substance 1987 all pump me up like crazy.


Listen to On the Spin every Saturday from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

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