Phaser finger

In December, Timothy Joseph took over as host of the Local 94/9, a radio show on FM94/9 that features local bands. This, following long-time show host Tim Pyles’s move to the Loudspeaker, also a locals-only broadcast on rival station 91X. “They called me one night to fill in for him,” Joseph says. “That first show was a test,” he tells the Reader by phone in the days before Christmas. “They liked it. They called me the next day and wanted me to come back. I said, ‘I’m busy.’ I run a studio. I’m recording with my own band. I’m still bartending, trying to make ends meet and pay a mortgage.” But he thought it over for a day or two and came back with an offer: “I didn’t want to be a fill-in guy. I said, if you want me for a full-time host, I’m interested.”

Joseph says he considers himself something of a mouthpiece and proponent for the local music scene. “There’s a responsibility I feel to the local music scene.” Few could argue that, considering that the singer/guitarist records and performs with a couple of local groups, one called the Palace Ballroom and the other a trio called Phasers on Stun. He also owns Phaser Control, a Grantville-area recording studio and rehearsal facility. “On any given day, 75 to 100 local musicians are in my rehearsal studios. I talk to them. I’ve got my finger on things.”

Already a known commodity to the staff and management of 94/9, Phaser Control had been a sponsor of Pyles’s old show. “And we held their listener parties and private events at my studio.” But what does Joseph bring to the Sunday night radio show? “Since I’m not a radio personality and I don’t come from a journalism background, when I talk to artists, I go direct and cover them from the inside. For example,” he says, “what’s it like to be an artist in today’s short-attention-span market?”

That, and Joseph’s broadcasts feature more range. “The first show, I had on Nena Anderson,” along with one of the members of the Locust. “It had kind of a diverse feel.” He’s played metal, had a deejay as a guest, and a hip-hop artist as well. “I want to rep all genres in San Diego. I’m gonna comb through genres I don’t know or even like, and I’m gonna find great music, and I’m gonna talk about it.” Future guests will include Casbah’s Tim Mays and the band Transfer. “The goal of my hourly program,” he says, “is to shine a light on what’s going on in this city.” Local bands can post demos for consideration to Timothy Joseph at sbmitlocal94.9@gmail.com.