Our Hunnypot Radio show got off without a hitch at The Central: SAPC in Santa Monica last week. We had an eclectic collection of music showcased from our DJs and live acts alike! Serious thank you’s to everyone who made it out, and to everyone who was a part of making it happen, it was quite a night.

Getting us started, Hot Tub Johnnie lined up some stellar tracks that included music from Smoke & Jackal, Santigold, Kyle Rapps & Diwon, Nina Dioz, E-Train, Chloe Riley and many others. All of these are impressive and very current artists that are more than worth checking out.

Our first guest DJ in the Hot Tub was Jen Malone (Music Coordinator, Metalman Media & Supervisor at Black & White) who brought us a killer set dominated mostly by female indie artists like Icona Pop, Tegan & Sara, Niki and The Dove, MNDR and more. She respects the rock, and we respect her. Kudos on a well put-together set.   

Our last guest DJ was Kii Arens (Creator, La-La Land) who brought an incredible set of tunes out for us. He started his set off with a new favorite, Tame Impala, followed by other new and stunning artists, such as, Metronomy, Beware of Darkness, Crush the Night, Melody’s Echo Chamber and Red Cross. To hear more from Kii, check out his very own La-La- Land Radio show on Moheak Radio. And make sure to check out La-La Land Prints, where Kii’s ridiculous visual talent can be showcased.

Lastly, but certainly not least, DJ Boom Shack closed out the DJ portion of the show with some hot new tunes from Retro $ushi and Jay 305, all killer beats from the streets.  10/08/2012

JEN MALONE (MUSIC SUPERVISOR INTERVIEW/DJ SET)

Jen Malone is an Emmy Nominated Music Supervisor based in West Hollywood.

Credits include: Creed II, Atlanta, Baskets, Step Up: High Water, The Resident, Are You The One?, Lady Dynamite, Shelter, Noisey, Vice Guide To Everything, Video Game High School and many more.

Jen Malone started her career in the music industry as a publicist at Formula PR, working for Nine Inch Nails, Portishead, Chemical Brothers, Crystal Method, Marilyn Manson, Prodigy and many more. While living in Boston she formed the boutique publicity agency, Black & White and represented several artists and labels including The Hellacopters, The Hives, Backyard Babies, The Wildhearts, Gearhead Records and Hydrahead Records to name a few.

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KII ARENS

Kii Monroe Arens was born in St. Paul, Minnesota to parents Robert and LaVae Arens. He has two brothers and one sister. From an early age, Arens had an affinity for morning cartoons, notably Sid and Marty Krofft. The show, coupled with his interest in fonts, colors, spacing and layout, set in motion a growing fascination with art and design. His early passion for music was also strong, augmented by growing up in a musically inclined family. By the mid to late 1980s, Arens was DJ’ing around the Twin Cities, and had a brief stint in Rap music, under the alias ‘2 Percent’, opening for Gang Starr, EPMD, DJ Quik, amongst others.

Arens’ early immersion in the Twin Cities music scene exposed him to many elements of what would become important features of his graphic art, including: album art work, package layout, photography, poster design, creative direction, music video direction, merchandise design/creation and music production. Although Arens created artwork continuously growing up, his career as an artist was substantively set in motion with a design gig for the Woodstock ’94 festival. Originally brought on as a hotel coordinator, he was invited to attend meetings about the festival’s design direction, and raised concerns with what he saw as an overly nostalgic festival look (one that recalled too closely the Woodstock ’69 festival).

After returning to the Twin Cities, he started working for Niceman Merchandising. Arens’ album design/layout career continues to this day, and has featured many projects, including: Dolly Parton’s Backwoods Barbie and latest, Blue Smoke,Eagles of Death Metal’s Heart On, Ziggy Marley’s Wild and Free , Glen Campbell’s Ghost on the Canvas, Pete Yorn’s Back and Forth, and, most recently, LA musician/producer Jonathan Wilson’s Fanfare.

In 1994, Arens joined his brother, Brynn Arens (Obsession/Fun House/Oddfathers), in the rock band Flipp, active from 1994–2003. He assumed guitar and backup vocal duties. The band had a penchant for cartoonish stage presentations and costuming, and embraced the Glam-rock genre reminiscent of the early 1970s, even amidst its decline as a result of bands such as Nirvana and Kurt Cobain. Their Hollywood Records debut, Flipp (1997), saw them opening for bands such as Oasis, The Ramones and Cheap Trick. They released two follow-up albums, Blow it out your Ass (2000) and Volume (2002). Although Flipp has never officially disbanded, they have not performed live since 2003.

A visit to Los Angeles in 2003 prompted Arens’ move to his current location on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood, California. As his work in album art and band merchandising continued, he began creating unique, non-music associated art pieces. His pieces soon appeared in many galleries around Los Angeles, notably: M Modern, Subliminal Projects, Gallery 1988, and his own gallery, La-La Land Gallery, which opened in 2004.

Arens has exhibited in many shows, notably: Happy War… It’s the bomb, the first official show at La-La Land, which featured the work of Arens and many local pop-artists, including: Shepard Fairey, Chris Reccardi, Gary Baseman, Niagara, and many others. Art in the Dark, another show, was an exhibition of Arens’ own pieces, images created using black light reactive paints and lighting rigs, which concealed hidden content that could be revealed upon the flip of a switch. In 2005, he traveled back to the Twin Cities, to exhibit a gallery show at Ox-Op gallery. The show was based around Spin-o-Paint/Paint-by-numbers/Oil paint. Later that year, lalalandgallery.com was created, an online venue for a series of customized lightboxes created by Arens. The lightboxes were also exhibited at La-La Land, and featured in a story by the Los Angeles Times. His “Hot Lunch Artshow” followed in Oct. 2005, and featured classic tin lunch boxes customized with local Pop art. By 2008, Arens found himself as curator of an art show based on the concerts at the Hollywood Bowl. It included pieces for artists such as Liza Minnelli, Grace Jones, and Femi Kuti. His first major concert poster was completed that year as well, for a Beck/Spoon/MGMT show at the Hollywood Bowl.

This has spurred a career in concert print creation that continues to present, with over 250 pieces created for artists such as Radiohead, Queens of the Stone Age, Dolly Parton, Stevie Wonder, The Weeknd, Sonic Youth, The Who, Queens of the Stone Age, Devo, Diana Ross, Divine Fits, The Pixies, Tony Bennett,Glen Campbell, Bruno Mars, Tame Impala, The Beach Boys and many others. He also created posters for various All Tomorrow’s Parties events, as well as Goldenvoice’s Coachella. In 2010, Arens created a print for Radiohead’s Haiti benefit concert in Los Aangeles. Two editions of 250 prints were sold, and helped add to a grand total of $572,754 raised by the band during the event.

Arens’ co-direction of the music video, What We Do, for the band Devo (2011), began to broaden his creative endeavors. The video centers the viewer in a full 360-degree scene, allowing them to choose to participate in many different interactive visual aspects.

In November 2011, his second co-directed video, Ghost on the Canvas, was done for country musician Glen Campbell. It features Paul Westerberg of the Replacements, who also penned the track. Arens’ admiration for Campbell lead him to co-direct two more videos for the artist. A Better Place (2012), featuring Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age,and Hey Little One (2013), a tribute to Glen’s wife, Kimberly “Kim” Woollen, who helped Campbell in his battle with Alzheimer’s. Most recently, Arens co-directed the video for Vampyre of Time and Memory, a track from Queens of the Stone Age’s sixth album, …Like Clockwork (2013). The video featured three separate rooms that the viewer can navigate, creating a unique viewing experience.

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NEW BEAT FUND

Starting off our live portion of the show were LA natives New Beat Fund, who brought some serious energy to the stage. Their bright colors and loud electro-pop guitars gave the crowd no choice but to move their feet, and they certainly did. These dudes nailed it, bringing funk, electro-pop beats and true rock together in an overall stellar performance.

VIM FUROR

Up next we had the group, Vim Furor, grace our stage. Their passionate, powerful vocals from frontman, German Briseño, enveloped us entirely. While the hard, yet psychedelic guitar, and drums played tightly behind, all with major latin flair. If you missed this set, we’re terribly sorry you did, these guys definitely aren’t messing around. Be on the look out for their new full-length album, Six Arm Beast, set to release in the near future. Keep tabs here: Facebook

DR AWKWARD

Following in the line-up was nerdcore, hip-hop/rap artist Dr. Awkward, gracing us with his presence all the way from San Diego. His set was energetic, fun, precise and innovative, really showcasing his lyrical talent.

BARBI CRASH

Last, but again certainly not least, was nerdcore, electro, hip-hop/rap artist, Barbi Crash. This guy was full of energy and confidence as he entertained us with his swagger and his killer lyrics. Stay tuned for his  forthcoming video game themed mixtape "DiSSco TetriSS". We recommend checking out "O" the 1st single off "DiSSco TetriSS"

Once again major thank you's to everyone who came out to listen to some great tunes and see some amazing live acts, you are the reason we work hard to put this show on!