Metamorphosis Origin Story

Metamorphosis started on the 21st of February 2016. KSUA had only one turntable at the time (an old Technics) so I would carry my own, and a mixer, into the studio to have two. The old turntable was pretty wonky and some tracks that played ok at home would skip when played live on air.

My buddy Nathan had gifted me 4 boxes of records, mostly big band jazz and celtic but some rock and even funk were mixed in. I thought this was about 2012 but I found a photo of my first (adult) stereo set up from early 2011 so I had been collecting records for about 5 years before the show began. About once a month I started going on digs with Nathan around town. These were fun. We’d hit the local thrift, pawn, and antique stores. Once Max and his ‘Lost and Found Records’ store opened up, we were in heaven. Max’s prices were notoriously low and he and his family were such nice people. His store didn’t last long but lots of records from that store made it into my collection (some I’ve still yet to listen to in 2024!) Going on a dig was like looking for lost treasure. The prizes were rare records for few dollars that yielded banger tracks I had never heard before. Somewhere around late 2015, probably at a Halloween party, a DJ friend with a metal show on KSUA suggested I should do a show on KSUA. I hadn’t seriously thought about it until then.

I could not recall the year I started to listen to records (not counting my youth). I dug through my photos and found this evidence I had begun by early 2011.

My wife Mel and I go to antique stores every Dec 31st on our anniversary. At one of these stores, I think it was Blue Door Antiques, there was a box of 7” 45s for $5. I thought why not? And took them home. Mel suggested I do my show on KSUA based on those records and call it “What’s in the box?” (a movie reference, as rarely an evening passes between us without one or more movie quotes being used in a humorous manner).

I decided to sign up for a show and chose the name Metamorphosis because it’s about growth and change. I agree with the Zen Buddhists who point out we’re never 100% the same with our past selves - we’re always changing, always in flux. I learn something new with every show so become a slightly different person every Sunday. I chose the 11 am - noon Sunday slot because Michael Shaeffer’s show “Before you were Bjorn” was noon-1 pm and Dead Session was 1-3 pm - a wonderful line up I hoped I could contribute to. I felt our tunes worked well together to make midday Sundays in Fairbanks groovy. It was a real shame when there was a technical issue that didn’t get fixed, and Michael quit his show leaving the noon-1 slot empty.

I don’t remember much about my first show except that I was quite nervous to talk on air. I eventually chilled out. Some equipment broke that week so that the 2nd show had only 1 turntable. Thus, I played a single album (Sanremo 1971) for the second show. Between Feb 2016 and now (March 22, 2024) there have been 350+ Metamorphosis shows, some by other DJs who filled in when I was out of town, who I’m super grateful to (Steve & Ben Bridwell, Jason Fails, DJ King Libra, Phil Gowa, Tara Chrisman, DJ Jim the record guy). Also, I’m super grateful to all the friends and family who have gifted me records for the show, especially Nathan Stewart.

Word cloud of artists featured on Metamorphosis

I had been listening to a college station out of the University of Calgary, CJSW, and their Friday drivetime lineup (Grant & Kevin’s ‘Road Pops’, Sideshow Sid’s ‘Musiquarium’, Marco Primo’s ‘Fat Beat Diet’) since about 2004. Those DJs and their grooves inspired me to seek out tracks I’d never heard before but that blew my mind. They also cemented a life-long love of college radio - of and for the people!

I like records and so have built the show from them. I like that they’re 3D and I’m not using a screen. I use enough screens in my life, so I enjoy a hobby without them. I also like the serendipity of finding a record “in the wild”. You can find and buy almost anything online but I prefer to stumble across records in stores due to the seeming randomness of it all. The challenge of playing them live, where all sorts of things can go wrong, is super exciting, which keeps me hooked.

-DJ Doktor Exoskeleton