8/30/26 New Noize on 92.9 KJEE Santa Barbara's Modern Rock
Song of the Week: Tokyo Tea Room "Hypnotised"
Album of the Week: Erykah Badu & The Alchemist *Before the World Blows*
Erykah Badu & The Alchemist "I Just Play A Part"
CHRIS STASSY (feat. Marz Fay) "U Know Me"
JENNIE "FALLEN ANGEL"
Good Neighbours "MARY JANE"
GO PUBLIC "Becoming A Stranger"
Keo "Pistol"
2nd Grade "Anywhere Girls"
Imperial Teen "All Over You"
The Jins "It’s All Over"
Tokyo Tea Room "Hypnotised"
Railcard "Flannelette"
THAO (feat. Neko Case) "Catch As Catch Can"
V.V. Lightbody "Dull Knife"
Iron & Wine "California Sober"
Nouvelle Vague "Only When I Lose Myself"
**-hour 2-**
Sirintip "Kintsugi"
Interpol "Wake Up"
Protomartyr "Feed the Sewer"
The Linda Lindas "Blood On Our Hands"
Schizophonics "Black Pleather"
Ty Segall "Running to Nowhere"
Drag Talk "Pony Up"
Entheos "Undone"
TURNSTILE "LOOK OUT FOR ME: KETTAMA VERSION"
Lex Walton "Hipster Runoff"
Angela Autumn "Heavy Tobacco"
Blurry The Explorer "Clear Blue Mind"
Asher White "White Castle sad"
Ziemba "We Implode"
Always You "Against The World"
Mike D "Thank You"
**-HOUR 3 BONUS-**
Boris "Next Saturn"
Autolux "Audience No.2"
DOOM "Cellz"
Mos Def "Workers Comp"
Knxwledge (feat. NxWorries) "itkanbe[sonice]"
Thundercat "Dragonball Durag"
Flying Lotus (feat. Kendrick Lamar) "Never Catch Me"
Run the Jewels "Run the Jewels"
M.I.A. "Fly Pirate"
Daft Punk "Derezzed"
Crystal Castles "Alice Practice"
Le Butcherettes "New York"
Japanese Breakfast "Slide Tackle"
Mitski "Fireworks"
Kanye West (feat. Rihanna & Kid Cudi) "All of the Lights"
Frank Ocean "Thinkin Bout You"
Well, that was a wild ride.
After a 22-year career in radio and almost 19 years of New Noize, this is my final write-up for 92.9 KJEE.
First, I need to give all my gratitude to my KJEE fam, and they truly are that. But I have to single out the man who made all of this possible: the coolest guy in Santa Barbara and somebody I respect both professionally and personally, Dave Hanacek.
Dave is the type of guy who takes you in because he knows you're alone for Christmas or hooks you up with wristbands so you can hang with a band in Ojai.
He also started New Noise.
Then it was Sara Lopez, and after she bounced, I took the reins. Dave let me change the name, supported my goal of turning it into the most diverse new music discovery show in the business and somehow entertained a HOST of ridiculous ideas along the way. More importantly, he always knew when to use a soft touch to make sure I didn't completely come apart.
The best way to describe our relationship is the first, last and pretty much only real meeting we ever had about New Noize.
After one of my first sets, he called me into his office, sat me down and asked:
"What's the name of the show?"
Me: "New Noise."
Dave: "So it's not Obscure Random Music That Haaris Finds on the Internet and Plays for an Hour?"
Me: "Got it."
And that was basically it.
He let me make my own mistakes, trusted me and quietly guided me toward what New Noize would eventually become in my hands.
AND I MURDERED IT.
Let me be very clear about something: New Noize is the best thing I have ever done in my life, and I was good at it.
Really fucking good.
My sets consistently contained more diversity than just about anything else I heard in new music radio. I gave a platform to artists who would go on to become legends in their own time. While other programmers played it safe, I dove deep into records and played the songs I thought were the best, not necessarily what the label, promoter or even the artist was pushing.
And over the years I watched a funny pattern happen over and over again: labels and promoters would eventually start pushing songs I had already pulled off the record and played.
I'm not saying I told you so.
Actually, fuck that.
I told you so.
What I did, and what new music DJs everywhere do, is EXTREMELY important, especially now that streaming services have become the main source of music consumption and discovery. There is so much music coming at you from every possible direction that sometimes you need a sherpa of sound.
And you're in luck because this kid from New Jersey has Pakistani blood, and we all know where the Himalayas are.
So to all the locals in Santa Barbara and everybody who has followed these Spotify playlists over the years:
YOU ARE WELCOME.
But seriously, this show would have been nothing without all the industry people I worked with, some of whom have been with me since DAY ONE.
I grew up in this business with these people.
They got me advance records, got me into shows, helped set up interviews and, most importantly, put me on game. Somewhere along the way, a bunch of these professional relationships turned into real friendships.
We shared dreams. We pushed each other toward goals. We celebrated wins and suffered some enormous losses together.
The music industry can be brutal, but with comrades like these, it has been an absolute pleasure.
Once I get a little more stable, I will be sending some personal messages. But the people reading this know EXACTLY WHO YOU ARE.
I love you for that.
So for my final New Noize on 92.9 KJEE, I went three hours.
The first two hours were a regular New Noize set because I wanted the show to remain what it always was until the very end: NEW MUSIC.
The third hour was different.
I went back through songs I broke, artists I championed and records that became part of the history of this show. Every one of those songs has a story attached to it, and over almost two decades those stories have basically become my own personal folklore.
If you were hoping for a full recap of everything I said on air, that's not happening.
The magic of radio is being there. Live. Hearing it happen and knowing that moment is disappearing as you're experiencing it.
KJEE doesn't stream, and we no longer archive the show, so I don't have some perfect recording to pull out later.
And you know what?
That's OK.
If you were there, you know.
If you weren't, that's OK too.
But you missed it.
My final New Noize Song of the Week is Tokyo Tea Room "Hypnotised."
My final New Noize Album of the Week is Erykah Badu & The Alchemist's *Before the World Blows*.
And just like that, those are the last ones.
Right now I am road-tripping across the country with no real set direction other than eventually laying my head at my parents' place for a few days.
For the first time in a LONG TIME, I genuinely don't know what comes next.
I have options. I have an incredible network of people who have been reaching out asking me what the future looks like. And I have been completely taken aback by how many people in the music industry have encouraged me to find some way to continue New Noize.
I can tell you I am seriously considering it.
But right now, I need a break.
This is the first week in almost two decades that I am not smashing through stacks of new music trying to figure out what deserves two hours of airtime on Sunday night.
Instead, I'm going back to records I love. Records I haven't spent enough time with. Records where I don't have to think about a segue, a clock, a release date, a label or whether I can say "fuck" before 10 PM.
IT'S FUCKING WEIRD.
What isn't weird is the love, gratitude and admiration I have for you.
Yes, YOU. The person actually reading this.
Not a ton of people read these write-ups. Some fans do, and somehow a bunch of industry professionals have continued taking time out of their lives to read my ramblings about whatever insane record I fell in love with that week.
Regardless of how you got here:
THANK YOU.
THANK YOU.
THANK YOU.
A thousand times over.
You let a brown kid from New Jersey live his dream.
And dare I say it?
He did a pretty damn good job.
Ever since I was countertop-high, all I wanted was to host, program and run a radio show where I could talk about music.
And I did.
I DID.
New Noize was the JOY OF MY LIFE.
It didn't matter what was happening outside that studio or what state I was in when I walked through the door. When that ON AIR button got smashed, I stepped up every single time with a full heart and a loud mouth.
Almost 19 years.
What a privilege.
Thinkin Bout You...
