Exhausted. That was my state after just a week of hanging with KROQ’s Kat Corbett. A resilient journeywoman of music industry goings on—experience earned through a decade of touring and playing in working rock bands—I consider myself a stalwart competitor in the athleticism of the rock life. Yet, between a whirlwind of shows—including a recent Silversun Pickups gig at the Wiltern—a battery of after-show schmooze fests that courted the dawn hour, and after-hour interview conversations over coffee and garden burgers, I could have slept for a week straight. While the festivities that accompany gig and green room meet n’ greets moved along at a conscientious level, it was the straight out job of it all that wasted me—the seemingly nonstop energy Corbett had for connecting with hardworking musicians; swapping work talk and artist finds with industry cohorts; tolerating with effervescent grace the foppish entourages, icky scenesters, and industry teat suckers; and all the while laughing vigorously at my cynical jests until, as she responded appreciatively, her “face fell off.” 

 

For Corbett, work as a radio dj doesn’t stop when she signs off the air. Schooled at WFNX on the indie and alternative scenes in 90s Boston, at the helm of which were bands like Buffalo Tom, Dinosaur Jr., Lemonheads, and Letters to Cleo, Corbett’s approach to big radio and big music reads much more indie rebel than it does corporate shill, a surprising find when considering she works for CBS Radio, a division of mega media CBS Corporation. One part optimist and one part realist, Corbett understands the fine line bands walk between starving for art and riding the line for a career break without feeling the need to shower with lye.

 

While it’s no news that KROQ’s programming is label-driven and generous with corporate advertising, Corbett infiltrates the mainstream by promoting unsigned and up-and-coming bands in a variety of ways, including her documentary of the 2007 SXSW Music and Media Conference and her Locals Only show, which airs weekly on Sunday evening in addition to her daily 10am – 1pm show. Not only does Corbett offer unsigned bands big air interview slots, she works with them to host Locals Only shows at respected rock venues, including a recent Airborne Toxic Event show at the Echoplex and the phenomenal hidden gem Light FM at the Silverlake Lounge.

 

A hit on her myspace page and one realizes that the petite blonde’s wicked clever wit, no bullshit attitude, and love for and knowledge of music has earned her quite a fan base. It is equally no surprise that Corbett’s refusal to pimp herself as a vacuous pin-up, quirky sidekick to a male dj, or demure smoky-voiced chanteuse would attract much less desirable attention. A female rock audiophile that knows her shit and on the air in a commercial, prime time weekday slot is a rarity in the L.A. rock radio market. Amidst a phalanx of male djs with sweet weekday slots, local public station KCRW manages to squeeze in Anne Litt and Liza Richardson, who spin brilliant alt, melodic pop, and eclectic hybrid formats on thin weekend evening slots.  Surprisingly, Corbett not only found the time to work on her first novel, The Darcy Effect, and short fiction, but also wedge me into her hefty social life for an interview on the secret life of a prime time female dj.

 

TL: So, first off, give me the quick and dirty bio stuff. How did you get into radio and why?

 

KC: I started doing college radio in Massachusetts.  Eventually, I got an internship at WFNX in Boston and then was hired for on-air. Growing up, music was my savior, my escape.  I know it sounds corny, but songs are little reminders that we are not alone—that someone else has felt the same joy and pain.  I’m fascinated that music can dictate the mood of a room or/and a situation with just a few notes or great lyrics.

Kat with coworker Rodney Bingenheimer at Canters