Celebrating one year of 'Carbon Sound'

INTERVIEWER: The music stream Carbon Sound has reached its first anniversary. That's one year of celebrating the depth, breadth, and beauty of Black musical expression. Carbon Sound, I should add, is supported by NPR and the current in partnership with KMOJ.

To look back on this first year and look ahead to the future, we're checking in with Julian Green. He's the content director for Carbon Sound. He joins us right now. Congratulations, my friend. What an accomplishment.

JULIAN GREEN: Thanks, Cathy. Thanks for having me.

INTERVIEWER: Big project to launch a new music stream. So you're looking back on one whole year of music. Do you feel like you've accomplished what you set out to do?

JULIAN GREEN: Well, I don't think there will ever be a definitive moment. Which is honestly a good thing, because we can always look forward and strive for more. But I'm really proud of what myself and Sanni and Andre have been able to accomplish in the first year. And also, I hope that we've given the community and our audience, lived up to our mission statement and hopefully given them something new that maybe they haven't thought of yet. And we're just honestly excited to do more in this next year and the ones to come.

INTERVIEWER: I love the innovative work that you've done with local musicians, over the past year. You have had some residencies that I thought were really great. Tell us about them.

JULIAN GREEN: Yeah. So back in March, we decided-- we worked with First Avenue to have two shows at 7th Street Entry, the smaller room at First Avenue, spread across two weeks. And we wanted to be really intentional with the lineups too, to show the diversity of expression in local music, here in the Twin Cities, and the kind of music we play in Carbon Sound. And to hopefully bring out a really young, diverse group of people to the venue that might not mingle in like other circumstances.

So our first night featured Huhroon, who's like a more indie/alternative artist; sahn, who is more of a hip-hop artist, but can do a lot of different things; and then a DJ called DJ Narcos, who plays a lot of different like Afrobeats and hip hop and stuff like that too.

Then, the second night, we had Craishon, who's a local musician, who makes really beautiful R&B music. And then SYM1 who goes really hard with like her electronic music. And then we had Yasmeenah, who's just an excellent overall local DJ too. So all of these people are like young, Black, and bringing out these different crowds, and we were able to curate two really intentional nights, which was a really cool thing we were proud of this year.

INTERVIEWER: I know you're also really proud of the work that you've done with local freelancers.

JULIAN GREEN: Yeah, definitely. A big part of Carbon Sound, a huge part of Carbon Sound is just the website and our digital presence as well. And that shows up a lot through articles that we publish about local artists, like interviews and profiles. Also, previews of events and reviews of shows and things like that, and all of those get done thanks to a network of freelancers that we have that are doing this work and being compensated for it. So it's really cool to be able to create these opportunities for people to get what they need to live, and then also be able to get more experience, so that they can go on and do more things and be introduced to the Minnesota Public Radio ecosystem.

A lot of the people that we worked with, we had to do a lot of W-9s for, because they had never worked for Minnesota Public Radio before. So we were able to get a really young, diverse group of people into doing this kind of work officially for the first time, which was really cool.

INTERVIEWER: Yeah. I love that. That's terrific. I also thought it was great. I loved seeing the pictures and the video.

Carbon Sound, for folks who didn't know this, won an Anthem Award, back in March, and that celebrates folks, organizations doing mission-driven work worldwide. You're in good companies. Some of the past winners have been the 1619 Project, the Sesame Street Workshop. I know you went to New York City to accept the honor. That must have been amazing.

JULIAN GREEN: Yeah. It honestly didn't feel real, until we were in the room for the reception. I was like, OK, this has got to be some kind of joke, or they maybe just give it to everybody. But no, seriously, it was such an honor to be in a room with all those people, doing all that super important work, from all across the country. It's just such an inspiring space to be in, and it's really-- I don't know. I don't know the word for it-- humbling or an honor, even though that seems like an oxymoron. But I guess it can be both, but just to be recognized like that really is galvanizing to continue to do more and see what more can come, if we can do that, and what was back then less than a year of existing.

INTERVIEWER: In your acceptance speech you talked about how music is a universal language, and that's so true, and I really like that. Tell us more about that.

JULIAN GREEN: Yeah. Well, I grew up hearing math is the universal language, but I was never good at math, so that never really resonated with me. But I really do think music and just sound, rhythm, we all have a heartbeat. At the end of the day, we can all feel that pulse, that rhythm, and music is the same thing. We don't need to know the language of a song to enjoy it. All you need to do is hear the melody or even just feel the beat.

And then also, like all those different sound waves, all those different vibrations, like our bodies are mostly water. And if you look at what a speaker does to water, like it moves it, a lot, in like all these different cool patterns and stuff like that. And that's what's going on inside of us, when we're in a group of people, listening to music on loudspeakers. So it's cool to be able to have this thing that pervades through so much and can connect all of us, despite all these different barriers.

INTERVIEWER: You've had great success in this past year, but nothing is totally easy. Right? I mean there are challenges. So what were the biggest challenges to overcome?

JULIAN GREEN: The biggest challenges were just finding a rhythm that works for us to do all the things that we want to do and to give what we want to give to our audience. Carbon Sound is a pretty small team. There's myself, There's Sanni, who is our on-air host and then, there's Andre, who's our community engagement specialist. We do get a lot of help from just Minnesota Public Radio as a whole, but at the end of the day, us three, we're the core team.

So we have to find out just ways that we can get into a rhythm to give people what they need, what they want, or maybe things they haven't thought of yet, but also stay sane ourselves and also not overwork ourselves. So at first, that was hard to find that rhythm, but just through doing and through conversations, through just honesty too, we've been able to find a rhythm of like event sponsorships, adding music to the library. Other things that need to get done to serve our audience, we've been able to find ways to do that and ways that work for us too, and I think that was probably the biggest challenge.

INTERVIEWER: So you can't have a first birthday without a party. You got to throw a birthday party.

JULIAN GREEN: Exactly.

INTERVIEWER: This is tonight, June 19, at the Fine Line. So tell us about that.

JULIAN GREEN: Yeah. So we wanted to celebrate our birthday and celebrate Juneteenth as well with a night of brilliant local DJs and a local band, all young, all from different backgrounds, here in the Twin Cities. We wanted to really just celebrate the community, celebrate young, diverse artists in the Twin Cities, Twin Cities music as a whole, and celebrate Juneteenth as well. So we couldn't think of a better way to do that than having a birthday party with this really stellar lineup.

I'm really excited to see DJ McShellen's set. She can do every genre pretty much, but when she gets really into her Afrobeats and amapiano bag, it's really special. Fluid Tranquility plays excellent techno, and so does [? Bizarra ?] as well. Although, [? Bizarra ?] can do a lot of different things as well, and then I'll be DJing as well. I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing yet, but it will be something good, hopefully.

INTERVIEWER: Of course.

JULIAN GREEN: And we'll have some special items, some photographers there. We just want everybody to just dance and have a good time, because at the end of the day, Juneteenth is really a celebration of freedom and, now, a celebration of Twin Cities music, hopefully.

INTERVIEWER: Well, speaking of music, I want to go out on some music right now. We're going to play the song Music by Eric Sherman,-- featuring Marvin Gaye, who I adore. Now, this song has special significance.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

JULIAN GREEN: Yes. Yes. This was the first song we ever played on Carbon Sound. It was really intentional. It's almost like a thesis statement for the whole project, especially Marvin Gaye's final part on the song. So I'll let you hear it for yourself.

INTERVIEWER: All right. Julian, thank you. Congratulations. Talk to you soon.

JULIAN GREEN: Thanks, Cathy.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

(SINGING) Just like music. They keep me slowing, they going to keep me going, they keep me growing, the keep me the E from knowing what happens out there is not my concern. You want to die, it's not my turn. Just like music. To do something to me like jump number.

INTERVIEWER: We've been talking to Julian Green, content director for Carbon Sound. You can listen to the stream at carbonsound.fm or find it in your app store.

(SINGING) Make me call my homie on the phone like there's something new out that got me in the zone. Just that feeling got me.

INTERVIEWER: I And you can come to Carbon Sound's birthday bash tonight at the fine line in Minneapolis. Doors open at 7:00.

NARRATOR: Programming is supported by Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota. Last year, LSS provided safety to 6,300 youth and families while supporting increased stability and healthy transitions to adulthood. Learn more at lssmn.org.

INTERVIEWER: In the Twin Cities, of course, you can attend a couple of big Juneteenth parties. The Juneteenth Minnesota block party is going on right now on West Broadway Avenue in Minneapolis. They started with a parade. And the main event, lots of live music, some really good food, and an exhibition about the history of enslaved people. That, again, is in North Minneapolis.

Soul of the South Side Juneteenth festival at the Hook and Ladder Theater and Lounge. That's on Minnehaha Avenue, 30th and Minnehaha. Festival has live music, dance, art exhibits, yoga, and food trucks. So there are a couple of big events happening in Minneapolis today for Juneteenth, which is the first state holiday recognized today as the first Juneteenth celebration that is now a state holiday. And of course, it is a federal holiday.