How One's Love for Music Leads to a Career Written by Jacqueline Moore May 20, 2017

Aaron Axelsen, Live 105's Music Director/Assistant Program Director, had plenty to share when it came to making music his career. As I sat in Axelsen's office, waiting for his arrival, I took this opportunity to look fixedly at his extensively decorated office which seemed to be an extension of himself. From his latest additions of new music by Bon Iver and Green Day, to the classic Smashing Pumpkins and Radiohead, hundreds of albums stacked in floating racks behind me. I studied the dozens of photos of him with big-league bands, the multitude of posters from his beloved Popscene, BFD, Not So Silent Night and dozens of small Post-it notes entitled "To Do" while I thought to myself: he made it. Axelsen started his musical profession where I am today—Promotions Assistant/Intern/Action Teamer extraordinaire at Live 105—The Bay Area's Alternative Radio Station. A few weeks prior of our scheduled meeting, Aaron came by one of the Action Team's tri-annual meetings before big events like Outside Lands and BottleRock. He recognized us for our handwork and explained how valuable we are to Live 105. As an Action Team member, we are the frontline to our listeners and working in the trenches of Live 105. For that, Axelsen's appreciation reminded us how we too, can be where he is now with some handwork, strive and an unhealthy obsession with music. For the past twenty-two years, Live 105 has been

his life. He climbed his way up by maintaining long hours working at a record store by day and board operating by night. From talent booking to artist curating, Axelsen now makes the executive decisions for programming, marketing, promotions and producing Live 105's most iconic Bay Area radio festivals—BFD and Not So Silent Night. Both festivals sell out at alarming rates that headlines some of the biggest names in Alternative Rock like Blink 182, Weezer, Modest Mouse and Twenty One Pilots. These festivals are held at the Bay Area's biggest concert venues like Shoreline Amphitheater and Oracle Arena that can hold up to twenty-thousand people. Along wi th lead ing th is extens ive opportunity, Axelsen is Co-Founder, Manager, Talent Buyer and Resident DJ of San Francisco's indie club night, Popscene at Rickshaw Stop. Popscene is considered venerable to emerging artists across the country. Axelsen takes pride that he's responsible for booking some of the biggest artists in the world when they were just starting out. From Muse, The Killers, Amy Winehouse, to Mumford & Sons— Axelsen's keen ear for music, genuine respect and appreciation for the struggling artist, and his highly competitive spirit has made him the one man that is necessary to meet if you want to make it musically. "We wanted a place where we could spin our favorite, new, and classic indie tunes in a fun and vibe-y club atmosphere, all while providing a platform to expose our favorite new bands on our stage," Axelsen describes on Popscene's splash page. But it's much more than than. Because of Popscene, Aaron has also created weekly shows on Live 105—Sunday Night Soundcheck and Subsonic which plays local or emerging music from across the world and underground electronic mixes. All this and more was flowing through my head as Axelsen walks into his office. His computer monitor filled with unread emails, mysterious buttons blinking on his office telephone, and his newest side project—Indie 105—playing in the background, I can tell Axelsen's time was valuable. He sits back down in his chair and asks me, "So what can I do for ya?" It took everything inside me to stop myself from spilling the one thing many older generations detest hearing from the self-entitled Millennial Generation: "Please, hire me. Let

me work for you. You may not know my work ethic, my own personal love for music, or genuine interest to pick your brain and learn from you… but regardless, hire me." But I know it's not that easy. "Well first off, great office. I've been scanning through your CD's and —" "Oh yeah I've got everything. Lots of demos and getting ready for this week's Popscene. I just booked Geographer for May." Right off the bat, I realized just how valuable this thirty minute opportunity I had with him. There was no time for wooing him over similar music taste or the perfect chance to hand him my resumé. He was in the mood to talk about music, but not exactly. There's a time and place for analyzing music. For now, he was interested in explaining how one's love for music can lead to a career. "Let me start by saying you need to be competitive. You need to give up sleep. Stay motivated. That dream job you want at Pitchfork or Another Planet is something thousands your age across the country are applying for. You need something that's going to make yourself stand out from those thousands of people. A music blog, Youtube Channel. Anything to distinct yourself from others that shows you actually role your sleeves up and get to work than just listening to music." Needless to say, as an amateur music journalist, my nerves were at a steady high. He was relaxed and approachable, but I was still finicky. "So, no real questions. I want to see where our conversation leads us. But to start I am really interested to hear about your background from the very beginning. Even before being an Intern at Live 105?" "I'm a Bay Area native and grew up working at record stores in the East Bay like Tower and Mod Lang Records. This is where my love for music grew. I looked up to the people I worked with because they were a lot older than me, some of them already graduated college." He continues, "And before all that, I was only a kid when I first learned about Live 105. But back then, to really learn about music, you would actually have to pick up a record and read eve ry s ing le p iece i n the acknowledgement section… the people behind he music. I started to understand at a very younger age that it isn't just about the artist, but about the production behind what makes a record. That's when I heard of Steve Masters— Live 105's first Music Director." As we talked, I tried to understand where his brain was going. Why did his conscious thoughts seem so dispersed?

Can I some how put all these thoughts together in a cohesive train of thought to really understand? Probably not, he's got so much to do he's probably thinking of so many things at once. Funny how everyone's brains work..my brain might be going one thousand miles per hour, but on the outside, I nodded as if everything made sense. "The Internet is a double edged sword," Axelsen said, "you've got even way more information than I had back then. All I could do to learn to more about bands was behind the CD case or in the Vinyl's sleeve. But, as awesome as it is to have everything at your finger tips, so does everyone else," He paused and started to digress, "You've got to be competitive." He pointed up at his latest Popscene flyer on the wall and said to me: "That's why I made Popscene. Not only am I Co-Founder, but I'm a resident DJ ever Friday and spin at other San Francisco events like Mezzanine and The Fillmore." My eyes widened when I realized that no matter how much I love music, I had nothing to prove that like Axelsen did. And neither does thousands of other aspiring music writers applying for the same jobs. "If there's anything you can take away from this, it's that I am probably the most competitive person you will ever meet in your life. This stemmed from my absolute love for sports. I'm a Raiders and Warriors fan 'till the day I die. I took that competitive nature, and harnessed this into my very own side project that separated me from the rest of all the music lovers out there." He was right. While he was chatting along, I thought of everyone here at the office. Every single

DJ, Board Operator, Promotions and Marketing Directors all had their own side-project to be proud of. Whether it was bands, blogs, weekly concert planning, band managing, or even having their very own radio show. "Popscene; that's my baby. She turned twenty-one years old this year. And I am damn proud of that. You have no idea how accomplished I feel with how damn competitive I am to say I've had people like Radiohead when they were first starting out," he repeated one more time, but with more feeling, "Amy Winehouse, Muse, Flume.. It's been a crazy ride. And it's just getting started." Could I do that? Could just anyone start something like Popscene at this day in age? As a millennial, it is assumed we do not work hard for a lot. Including our careers. And to think, I am getting advice from someone who truly worked hard. That's when a lightbulb lit inside me. That hard work ethic doesn't come naturally. It's talks like these with people who you look up to that inspire you to work hard. To someday be in a position like them. Right then, I realized the potential of my age and the energy that I have to put into side projects like curating a music blog or hosting open mic nights at a local coffee shop. "San Jose right? That's where you live? Call Caffe Frascati, ask to host some local mic nights. The Ritz is up and coming—ask for help. I doubt they will say no. And in the meantime, follow as many music blogs as you possibly can. I love seeing some of my friends making big music blogs like I Heart Moosiq and Beautiful Buzzz. Keep up with where music is heading and I promise that with hard work, you'll separate yourself from the crowd of music lovers, too. Anyways, I got to get back to this. Email me if you have anymore questions." Just like that, it's over. I was starstruck by this guy's edge in life. And the countless ideas he has for those who want to talk to him. As I head out, I walked next door to my boss's office and thought to myself—"Even my very own boss, has a project of her own to be proud of, Showbams." I sat next to Molly, feeling the classic symptoms of information overload and let out a hard laugh. A laugh of nerves, a laugh of motivation and inspiration. A laugh that spoke to myself: it's only the beginning. And it's time to get to work.

To find out more about what Live 105's up to, visit live105.cbslocal.com

Check out a Popscene Presents show every Friday at Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco.

Calendar at popscenepresents.com/new-events/

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