Episode 13: Josh T. Landow
I thought about having a whole post full of fake things about the show, all funny and whimsical, in honor of this day of pranks and merriment. But I've had a fairly intense day of venting my frustration regarding Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act. And that's almost entirely where my head is at. I've had some really great conversations with people today, and a ton of bullshit ones on social media. Ick. In the end, it doesn't matter how much I crank myself up and scream to the heavens, shaking my fists in the air. What matters is that there are people in Indiana who feel like their state government has left them to exist as something subhuman, and that they could use some of our help to fight the good fight. I've been debating back and forth with friends about whether or not a boycott is even the answer. Frankly, I'm done with that debate. What matters is what we can do to help.
I don't get political on my show. I don't get political in the blog. This is a show about artists and creative people and their stories and celebrating what they do. But I get really wound up about injustice, so indulge me a minute more (or scroll down, that's cool as well). Go hit up http://freedomindiana.org/ if you want to see what you can do to help. Don't leave these people to take this on on their own. Okay, end rant.
I should apologize to my guest this week, Josh T. Landow, for removing part of the focus from him. This episode is all about Josh, I promise. Josh runs YNotRadio.net, a 24/7 alternative rock web-radio station, and has been doing so for about ten years. He started it with some colleagues when they were all laid off from Y100 back in 2005, so it's been a labor of love from the start. We go over the history of YNotRadio in depth on the episode, but I just want to really make the point that Josh is nothing if not a tenacious, persevering, out-of-the-box kind of guy with a spirit and love for music that makes me glad to know him and glad to have talked to him about it.
I take something from every guest I have on, and in Josh's case, I took a lot of inspiration for what I do on the show. His crew started YNotRadio as a temporary way to keep the spirit of a popular alternative rock radio station alive while they all looked for new jobs. Ten years later, he's still at it and it still drives him. There was no ten-year plan when he and his coworkers started it. There probably wasn't even a one-year plan. It was just "one-foot-in-front-of-the-other". I identify with that when I think about 25 O'Clock. I started this show as a way to do something creative while I was no longer in a band. It was originally started as way to keep me connected to the creative spirit of all kinds of unique people, and to spend some time listening to how other people started chasing the great dragon that is Creating Art (big letters on purpose). I don't have a ten-year plan either, but talking with Josh showed me that I don't really need one. Just keep putting something out there that resonates with people, and keep striving to make it better. I feel like I'm doing that. I hope I'm doing that.
As always, I thank each and every one of you for listening and sharing and checking out my guests more after you get to know them. Check out YNotRadio, it's a great station full of great music. Josh is doing great work there, along with his seemingly endless cast of volunteers. Which means they love it as much as Josh does, and as much as a lot of the listeners who've been following it all since the Y100 days.
Be well this week. Be calm. Try not to let the seemingly bottomless pit of despair in humanity overwhelm you. Focus on helping. Focus on being the example of the kind of human you want to see in the world. Remember, we're all a unique ball of neuroses and stress and hopes and fears and all that. Everyone's got their struggle. And if it's in your power to lessen that struggle for someone, you should do it. Because all we've got is each other to help each other out. Okay, enough of all that. Enjoy Josh! Enjoy YNotRadio! Catch you all in a couple of weeks!
-DD