No Static This Time: 'DNA in the DNA' Festival

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THERE AREN'T MANY PEOPLE who can make you run out and buy the latest Silverchair record, particularly if you've heard the first Silverchair record.

But Sean Gray is a persuasive evangelist for music he loves.

In a world increasingly given over to niche radio — from WPGC's "American Badonkadonk" to WAMU's "Car Bomb Update" — "DNA in the DNA," the show Gray hosts with Nicholas Szczepanik from 6 to 8 p.m. on Fridays, is all about the big ears.

It helps that WMUC 88.1 FM, the University of Maryland's student-run station, isn't exactly a 50,000-watt flamethrower. With only 10 watts at their disposal, the DNA guys are free to play what they please.

"We're trying to get away from the Pitchfork-Media-blog mid-2000/late-2000 aesthetic and way of thinking. Because it's very one-dimensional to me," Gray says. "They have such power over everything," Szczepanik adds. "It's kind of irritating."

"I know a lot of people that ... don't even read the review; they just read the number," Gray protests. "We just throw that standard out the window," says Szczepanik.

And so it is that DNA's Muxtape juxtaposes the avant-jazz of Albert Ayler, the power pop of The Shivvers and the noise rock of Cherubs.

"I don't want you to get the idea that we play this stuff just because it's completely different," Gray says. "I think if you look at our record collections, it's just what we're into."

Like Muxtape, "DNA in the DNA" hopes to introduce listeners to music they never knew they liked. This weekend, Gray and Szczepanik bring their broadcast to meatspace with the first-ever DNA Test Fest, two nights of live concerts with 20 acts you'll wish you'd heard sooner.

The Fest roster can be found on the radio show's MySpace page. Friday's Philly-heavy lineup features FNU Ronnies, Satanized and Kurt Vile, as well as Brooklyn's Tall Firs and D.C.'s True Womanhood, which the guys characterize as "no-wave shoegaze." Homostupids, Violet and Locrian are among the Saturday players.

"Even if nobody shows up," says Gray, "there's gonna be a lot of bands there, so the bands will actually fill up the place."

» WMUC, 3130 S. Campus Dining Hall, College Park; Fri. & Sat., 6 p.m., free; 301-314-8800. (College Park)

Written by Express contributor Glenn Dixon

Photos courtesy Sean Gray