Chances With Wolves have brought back the magic of the radio show. Kenan, Kray and Mikey Palms are the DJ’s behind the name, recording at the East Village Radio Storefront in New York City. Unlike many radio shows, which race to play the newest releases, the weekly show occupies no specific time, genre, or marketed image. Their carefully chosen selection of rare music ranges from old soul, 90′s hip hop, 50′s throwback, to things you can’t categorize, introducing and re-introducing artists and songs to their large underground following. The tapestry of eccentric music mixed with sound effects, samples from old films and TV, and their trademark wolf howl, make your listening experience both whimsical and haunting. What struck me after listening to a few episodes of their show was how you felt after hearing it. The show leaves you with both a nostalgic and comforting feeling, derived from their old radio station vibe and the old familiar songs that they’ve dug up before they were covered by a more popular artist.. and a happy feeling, from their optimistic song selection and playful, laid back commentary. They play feel good, beautiful music. Very simply, their show is a path to your past, your heart, and your soul. We asked the DJ’s, who continue to inspire us, to show us some things in creative spaces that inspire them.
Kenan: This is the room I work in. It’s an installation full of photos and things I made and collected over the years.
This little metal wolf head actually belongs to Kray and I was supposed to do something with it but I never did. Whoops.
New York Nets Sonny Dove basketball card. I have a weakness for tragic sports figures. Sonny Dove was a star college player, and then had a brief pro career. After he retired he became a cabdriver, and died when the he lost control of his cab and drove off a bridge into the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. Sad. Also the guy in the upper right with the cigarette is my grandfather.
I dig old tools.
My (other) Grandfather collected heads like these for years, when he moved he gave me a whole bunch of them. I can’t even explain how happy I was. They are so ill. This is actually kind of a bootleg one, but I always liked the look of him.
This is a photo of a photo my wife took. Her name is Ro Agents. She is my favorite photographer, and a huge inspiration to me in everything I do… It’s a picture of the old train station in Detroit where she’s from, which has become like a second home to me. It’s crazy that a building that big and old and beautiful just sits there, abandoned. Detroit.
KRAY’S SPACE: DANCES WITH KITCHENS
Kray: My studio is in the kitchen. This offers plenty of conveniences.
I made those cookies myself. No pre-packaged cookie dough shit. Real shit.
Grand Master Flash had his shit set up in the kitchen in Wild Style, so there’s some precedent as well.
Ricky Powell Wolf Husky Headphones.
Left: Bill Cosby is a great musician. Not many people know that. This one with the Groucho mustache is so good. And then he’s got this great jazz record with Martin’s Funeral on it.
Right: Gil Scott dropped a new record last year but that article I read in the New Yorker was fucked up. He’s still got a beautiful mind though.
Left: This record is so beautiful. It was given to my dad by the dude (it’s inscribed). I can’t find any information about him (on the internet. ) I want to track this guy down. He does haunting musical arangements of Frost and Dickenson Poems and Paul Laurence Dunbar
Right: I like Sound Effect records. I like the old radio and TV stock sounds, like a dude banging on some coconuts and making you envision stampeding horses. This record of laughter is awesome. short laughs, long laughs, laughs that turn into awkward clapping, you name it. I think about how these people are all probably dead now
Left: Shel Silverstein wrote a boy Named Sue for Johnny Cash.
Right: John Zorn does Morricone.
Left: Jewish Humor is dope. Yiddesh slang is dope. Borscht Belt.
Right: Santo & Johnny are from Brooklyn (they’re brothers).
Left: I used to really like the remixes that weren’t just a different beat with the same acpella but had either new lyrics or a different performance of the original ones. (Great example)
Right: Besides having an awesome name, Dick Hyman is also known for being one of the early Moog dudes. In fact I think Minotaur was the first Moog Record to chart in the US. Command records also has the illest covers.
Left: Certain knobs and buttons do subtle things, certain knobs and buttons do blow your mind shit, some do not much at all. One must learn when to push what.
Right: I drew that of the first woman I ever loved.
Some things in the mix for CCW: Kenan recently collaborated with photographer Ricky Powell on a photography/collage piece for the new issue of Frank 151, who will also be doing a feature on the trio. In addition to continuing the show, CWW is planning out a series of more focused mixtapes/compilations that are gonna be really fresh. Oh, and there’s a Chances With Wolves T-Shirt!
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