Local music radio show turns 35, celebrates sixth-annual … – The San Diego Union-Tribune

XETRA-FM, aka 91X, has been a staple in San Diego for a very long time. The 100,000-watt, border-bridging radio station with stateside studios and a broadcast tower in Tijuana, was already 5 years old when it suddenly switched formats in the early months of 1983.

Ditching album-oriented bands like REO Speedwagon and Journey for edgier acts like The Buzzcocks and Siouxsie and the Banshees was radical at the time, but the station (located at 91.1 on the FM dial) hasn’t looked back.

In the 40 years since, the music of 91X has donned multiple monikers, from modern to cutting-edge and alternative rock, as well as the more recent hybrid: classic alternative.

And for most of those four decades, the station has been anchored by its commitment to the local music scene. Whether playing, booking, promoting or fostering relationships with local bands and musicians, 91X has long taken its burgeoning, backyard talent seriously — even assisting a few local acts on their path to superstardom along the way.

But perhaps nothing exemplifies that commitment more than the station’s long-running, award-winning Sunday night local music show, Loudspeaker.

The show was created by Marco Collins and initially aired on San Diego State University’s college radio station KCR. When Collins brought Loudspeaker to 91X in 1988, it was little more than a segment.

“It actually started as a show within a show,” said longtime DJ and one-time 91X program director Mike Halloran. “There was a show called ‘Listen To This’ that Kevin Stapleford had on Sunday nights. Marco would submit one song and do a quick interview with a band.”

Despite its humble beginnings, Collins was on to something with Loudspeaker. Before long, the show had its own hour. Then two. And for most of its now 35 years, Loudspeaker has aired in the 7 to 10 p.m. time slot on Sunday evenings.

The logo for 91X radio station’s Loudspeaker show.

One of the show’s current hosts, Lou Niles, has also been involved from the beginning. Originally helping Collins produce the show, Niles took over hosting duties in 1990 and oversaw what is generally seen as Loudspeaker’s golden years until he left for L.A. in 1996.

During his first tenure at the helm, Niles was witness to an explosion of national interest in the local San Diego scene. He was there when Billboard Magazine and the New York Times touted America’s Finest City as “the next Seattle.” And again when major record labels Atlantic, MCA, Interscope and Geffen signed local acts Jewel, blink-182, Drive Like Jehu, Rocket From The Crypt and Three Mile Pilot.

“We’ve always wanted to highlight the best of what this scene offers,” said Niles. “We just want to lift it up.”

Loudspeaker has been fortunate enough to boast a slew of notable hosts over the years, including stints with Halloran, Jason Riggs, Rob Weiss, Al Guerra and Andrew Rowley, as well as a couple of stretches featuring the “Mayor of local music in San Diego” Tim Pyles.

In 2018, when Loudspeaker was led by the committee of Niles, Pyles, Rowley and Guerra, city councilmember David Alvarez and the city of San Diego declared every July 31 to be “91X Loudspeaker Day.”

In honor of the show hitting its 35th anniversary, along with the sixth-annual “Loudspeaker Day” on the horizon, the program is set to present an all-encompassing “Loudspeaker Week.”

91X Loudspeaker radio show hosts Lou Niles, second from left, and Timothy “TJ” Joseph, far right, with members of San Diego’s nu metal rock group P.O.D.: Marcos Curiel, far left and Sonny Sandoval, second from right.

(Courtesy of 91X)

It includes sold-out shows at the Casbah from Loudspeaker favorites Lucy’s Fur Coat on July 28 and 29, as well as a lineup of We The Commas, Aviator Stash, and SANDS and Niles at Oceanside’s Pour House a day earlier on July 27.

While even more shows are in the works, the current celebration of Loudspeaker acts both past and present does not mean that the long-running program isn’t focused on the future.

For the past nine months, Niles has partnered with Timothy “TJ” Joseph, a musician who has played with The Palace Ballroon, Buckfast Superbee and miniaturized, a studio owner and a onetime host of The Local 949 radio show on Alt94.

Not only does Joseph add the crucial perspective of decades spent in local bands to the show, he credits Loudspeaker as an inspiration. Now, with the chance to honor that third-party mentorship, he takes the program’s future very seriously.

“I never went to radio school,” said Joseph. “But I really care about the San Diego music scene, the bands that come from it and my fellow musicians. I feel a great sense of community in this city. And I want to give that back.”

91X Loudspeaker radio show hosts Lou Niles, foreground, and Timothy “TJ” Joseph.

(Courtesy of 91X.)

Halloran echoes that sentiment.

“It’s paramount,” he said. “You need to become the community. You need to become the city. It’s not easy to do. But before they become famous elsewhere, the blinks and the Jewels and the Rockets and the Jehus of the world have to start somewhere. So if you give them a place that nourishes them, it’s like Miracle-Gro. And that’s kind of what 91X is.”

Niles and Joseph have fully embraced the growth mindset, recently broadcasting extensive interviews with San Diego luminaries Jason Mraz, P.O.D., Gregory Page, and Switchfoot, a tribute to local legend Rick Froberg, the former Drive Like Jehu frontman who died June 30, and an introduction to up-and-comers Sun Room.

But more than that, the pair are confident that under their purview Loudspeaker can continue to be an inspiring cornerstone for local music in San Diego.

“Lou and I have some very specific ideas to return the show to the relevant beacon it was when it began,” said Joseph. “Loudspeaker can be a medium for people to connect firsthand with the music and arts scene. This show is for everybody. But we’re the last bastion. We’re the beacon on the hill. Growing our scene is the best way for San Diego to foster artistic development in the years to come. And the more we all participate in it, the better it is for the city.”

91X Loudspeaker 35 Years featuring We The Commas, Aviator Stash and SANDS

When: 8 p.m. Thursday (doors open at 6:30 p.m.)

Where: The Pour House, 1903 S. Coast Highway, Oceanside

Tickets: $10 at the door ($8, presale)

Online: pourhouseoceanside.com

McDonald is a freelance writer.