Peak Time on Red Bull Radio

Peak Time was a two-hour, live talk and music radio program on Red Bull Music Academy’s online radio platform, Red Bull Radio. It aired every Monday to Friday and featured breaking music and media stories, new music, and interviews with the artists and tastemakers pushing culture forward. It was hosted by veteran DJ and seasoned music journalist Vivian Host, engineered by Ryan Woodhall, and produced by me. It was on air from April 2017 to June 2019.

During my tenure as the show’s producer - February 2018 to June 2019 - I produced nearly 400 episodes (over 800 hours of content), 5 live events, and 28 pop-up episodes between Barcelona, Berlin, Atlanta, and Chicago. Guests welcomed to the studio included Oscar and Grammy-winning composers, musicians and producers, legacy artists and label-heads, award-winning journalists and writers, ground-breaking designers and visual artists, and musicians of all genres.

On this page you will find a selection of some of my favorite episodes.

The Final Peak Time

This was the final episode of Peak Time, which aired on June 28, 2019. To bid adieu we dedicated this episode to the previous two-and-a-half years of programming, broadcasting live from New York City and from cities around the globe. We welcomed no guests into the studio, instead, both Ryan Woodhall (the show’s expert engineer) and I sat in the hot seats. The two of us and Vivian waxed poetically about some of our favorite interviews, the wildest moments, the music we could not stop obsessing over, our proudest achievements, and opened a rare window into what the three of us talked about day-in and day-out. It was bittersweet farewell, but we went out at full tilt, the only way we knew how. SC

Hosted by Vivian Host
Produced by Sara Casella
Engineered by Ryan Woodhall

Erykah Badu and Joi in Conversation

In May of 2018 Phil Cox premiered They Say I’m Different, his documentary that pulled back the curtains on the life of elusive funk/R&B artist Betty Davis, as part of Red Bull Music Academy Festival NYC. A pioneer who shattered the limits of R&B, funk and feminism, Davis laid the groundwork for future generations of female creatives. Following the event, Peak Time correspondent Jessica Kariisa had the rare chance to sit down with two of today's most respected voices following in Davis' footsteps: Erykah Badu and Joi. Listen to these impactful women in conversation as they share personal anecdotes about Davis's effect on not only their careers but their senses of self, the power of the black feminine voice, the torchbearers of the new generation and so much more. SC

Hosted by Vivian Host
Interview by Jessica Kariisa
Produced by Sara Casella
Engineered by Ryan Woodhall

Junglepussy and Vagabon

In this episode guest host Jillian Mapes, senior editor at Pitchfork, will speak with two envelope-pushing women on pushing their respective genres into the future. At the top of the show, Jillian welcomes Shayna McHayle, AKA New York rapper Junglepussy. Known for her sex-positive lyrics and fiery persona, Junglepussy tips her hat to her outspoken female predecessors and has even earned praise from the likes of Erykah Badu, Nicki Minaj and Lil' Kim. Her 2013 mixtape (Satisfaction Guaranteed) and her 2015 debut album (Pregnant With Success), are both exercises in self-love and empowerment, and act as defacto guides for how to treat and satisfy women. This spring she released JP3, which is a natural continuation and elevation of her catalog. On top of it all, the spitfire rapper has lectured at Yale and stars in an Andrew Bujalski film, Support the Girls, alongside Regina Hall and Haley Lu Richardson. SC

Hosted by Jillian Mapes
Produced by Sara Casella
Engineered by Ryan Woodhall

Oneohtrix Point Never

This episode features a surprise drop in from Dan Lopatin, aka Oneohtrix Point Never, a confounding electronic musician who deploys melody, electronics and the anxiety and detritus of the digital age to stunning effect. In one of the first interviews given about his new album, Age Of (Warp), and his live show/dystopian sci-fi opera MYRIAD (which ran May 22-24 at the Park Avenue Armory as part of the Red Bull Music Festival New York, 2018), Dan and Vivian talk about epochs, Rabelais, fears both real and hyperreal, software instruments, memes as folk art, '70s Laurel Canyon pop versus PC Music pop and why James Blake told him to shut up. In hour two, we premiere a new track from Seattle-based Lucas (off his Fall in Love EP for Hush Hush) and listen to a lot of Austrian music by artists playing the Red Bull Music Festival Vienna, which took place May 3, 2018, in and around the giant Ferris wheel known as the Riesenrad. SC

Hosted by Vivian Host
Produced by Sara Casella
Engineered by Ryan Woodhall

Blood Orange and Becca McCharen-Tran

In this episode you’ll hear a conversation between Peak Time correspondent Alex Frank and R&B/pop singer, producer and composer Dev Hynes. In projects such as dance-punk band Test Icicles, Lightspeed Champion and the electronic soul and R&B-focused Blood Orange, Hynes – a Londoner who calls NYC home – has established himself as one of the avant-pop landscape's most versatile and intriguing voices. Alex talks to Dev about the process of finding his voice in a chaotic world and the two break down the deeply personal themes and motives of the new Blood Orange album, Negro Swan. Later in the show, guest host Harley Brown welcomes the NYC-based body-positive designer Becca McCharen-Tran of Chromat. SC

Hosted by Harley Brown
Produced by Sara Casella
Engineered by Ryan Woodhall

Steven Price

British film composer Steven Price got his start in the movie business like most do, in TV. For years he worked behind the scenes sound mixing and engineering for various TV programs and was a relative unknown until he was offered a gig as music editor for one of the biggest movie franchise of the early aughts: Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings. Since, Price has soundtracked worlds real and imagined, sprawling and finite. His scores evoke emotion and drama in their stillness as much as they do in their bolder moments, meriting his a reputation as a composer who can handle the magnitude of space masterfully. In fact, it was his work for 2013's Gravity that earned him an Academy Award. Vivian called up Price in London to discuss his Oscar-winning score, his work on other films like Fury, Baby Driver and Suicicde Squad, plus upcoming projects for Netflix's documentary series and Paramount Pictures. SC

Hosted by Vivian Host
Produced by Sara Casella
Engineered by Ryan Woodhall

Lydia Lunch and Sylvia Black

Hold on to your seats – in this episode we were joined by No Wave scream queen, punk poet and NYC icon Lydia Lunch and her musical collaborator Sylvia Black, who has lent her noir torch songs and deft bass playing to bands like Kudu, Kristeen Young and her own projects such as Betty Black and Black & Cullers. These two tireless warriors play us some of their new project (which may or may not be called Black Lunch) and talked to us about their musical motivations, their friendship, sex and why the war is never over. VH

Hosted by Vivian Host
Produced by Sara Casella
Engineered by Ryan Woodhall

Michèle Lamy and Trina

The artist Michéle Lamy has been described as one of the last true eccentrics in fashion. A nonconformist to her core, Lamy's natural habitat is in the counterculture; she first gained notoriety in Los Angeles in the '90's with her avant-garde performances at her cabaret/restaurants Café des Artistes and Les Deux Cafés, alongside the city's weirdest and wildest. Back in Paris since 2003 with her creative collaborator and husband, fashion freak Rick Owens, Lamy has become a go-to for some of the music world's most adventurous spirits, including Kanye West, A$AP Rocky and FKA Twigs. Today Lamy calls in from Paris to speak with Vivian about her band's newest album, the poetry of Langston Hughes, a jaw-dropping debut at Berghain with Christeene, the music that's shaped her life and so much more. Later in the show Vivian talks to Miami's queen provocateur Trina, who has blazed trails with her boundary-pushing club anthems, alongside frequent collaborator Trick Daddy. SC

Hosted Vivian Host
Produced by Sara Casella
Engineered by Ryan Woodhall

Derrick May & Juan Atkins, Stacey Hotwaxx Hale & John Collins

The legends and pioneers of Detroit house and techno took over the studio for an episode during our Detroit pop-up of May 2018. In the first hour of the show longtime friends Stacey Hotwaxx Hale - the godmother of house music - and John Collins - techno veteran of Underground Resistance and GIA - join us for a dive into the music history of Detroit. They'll discuss the work of the late gay disco DJ Ken Collier, the city's history of techno and house, the collision of these genres and how their own musical paths have interwoven into the rich history of Detroit. For the second hour we welcomed Derrick May and Juan Atkins who, alongside Kevin Saunderson, are credited for developing the Detroit techno sound. The two began their partnership as young DJs, playing at high school parties as Deep Space Soundworks, and not long after branched out out release their own music under numerous alias- Rhythim Is Rhythim (May), Model 500 (Atkins) - and as collaborative projects with like-minded artists - Cybotron and Infiniti. SC

Hosted Vivian Host
Produced by Sara Casella
Engineered by Joe Hazan

Afro B

London's huge star Afro B joined us to talk about the Afrowave sound he's helped generate with hits like "Joanna (Drogba)," "Shaku Shaku" and "Melanin." A fusion of hip-hop, dancehall and Afrobeat melodies, the infectious sound that started in the UK caught the ears of the African continent and anywhere else people like to dance, from Paris to New York City and beyond. Afro B joined Vivian in studio to talk about dancing between genres like kizomba, décalé and azonto; his massive hits and his Team Salut crew and where he's going next. We'll also be celebrating the 30 year anniversary of As Nasty As They Wanna Be, the third album by the 2 Live Crew that gave us such salacious hits as "Me So Horny" and "Cmon Babe." SC

Hosted Vivian Host
Produced by Sara Casella
Engineered by Ryan Woodhall

JPEGMAFIA

The MC and producer Barrington DeVaughn Hendricks, AKA JPEGMAFIA, is known for his sharp-tongued raps and brutal beats. Born in New York to Jamaican parents, he spent his formative years in Alabama before enlisting in the Air Force, where he was stationed in the Middle East, Germany and Japan. Upon returning stateside he moved to Baltimore, drawn by the city's thriving underground music scene, and that is where JPEGMAFIA was born. Spitting caustic verses with razor-sharp wit over an abrasive collage of glitches and beats, JPEGMAFIA targets everyone from the cops to internet trolls — thanks to a humorously dark delivery, the blow of such acerbic attacks are softened and made more accessible. In 2018 he released his debut album Veteran, a critical breakthrough by all standards. For this episode Vivian welcomed the now-LA-based rapper to the studio to discuss what he's been working on, and what to expect from his performance during Red Bull Music Festival New York 2019. SC

Hosted Vivian Host
Produced by Sara Casella
Engineered by Ryan Woodhall

Sonny Digital, Childish Major and FRKO

This episode was broadcast live from Atlanta’s legendary Patchwerk Studios, ahead of Red Bull Music Atlanta Culture Clash event 2019. We invited some of the city's hottest artists into the studio to discuss their own work, the happenings of their hometown and so much more. Kicking off the show is producer and rapper Childish Major, who originally gained notoriety for producing records for rap's biggest names including Future, Rocko, SZA, 6LACK, and most notably J. Cole.. Most recently he released his debut album _WOO$AH_. Then the artist best known for his vivid hip-hop illustrations and work on Action Bronson's Mr. Wonderful album art, and a wonderful human himself, FRKO joins us. SC

Hosted Vivian Host
Produced by Sara Casella
Engineered by Joe Hazan

A G.O.O.D. Music Special

The Red Bull Music Festival Chicago took place in November 2018 and included a show dedicated to one of the city's best-known record labels: Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music. We've got an event of our own going on in the studio, as we're joined live in the studio by NYC rapper Desiigner, the young energy god who brought you trap-influenced bangers such as the infectious "Panda" and the haunting "Timmy Turner." We'll also hear words from "coke rap's poet laureate" Pusha T, who is the current president of G.O.O.D. Music, as well as wisdom from hip-hop producer Che Pope, G.O.O.D.'s former head honcho. The show is rounded out with more new music from label affiliates like Valee, 070 Shake, Teyana Taylor and Sheck Wes. SC

Hosted Vivian Host
Produced by Sara Casella
Engineered by Ryan Woodhall

Valee

One of the mostly hotly tipped acts at the Red Bull Music Festival Chicago – which kicks off a month-long series of events this Saturday – is Valee, a Windy City rapper known for his melodic cadences and clever (and often psychedelic) turns of phrase and ad libs. Ernest Wilkins sits down with Valee in Chicago to find out more about hits like "Womp Womp," "I Got Whatever" and underground favorite "Two 16s," his DIY spirit and his extracurricular activities, which include cooking, customizing cars and carpentry. SC

Hosted Vivian Host
Produced by Sara Casella
Engineered by Ryan Woodhall

Esperanza Spalding

Since she was a teen, singer and bassist Esperanza Spalding has been intoxicating listeners with her dreamlike vocals and innate talent for playing any instrument she encounters. Berklee-educated, in 2011 she was the was the first jazz musician to earn the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Earlier this month, Spalding released a new track every day for 12 consecutive days, culminating in the album 12 Little Spells — each track (or spell) is a mini-exploration into the mysticism of the human body and the power of healing, and is accompanied by visuals highlighting specific body parts. Sonically, these studies on spirituality manifest in the form of woozy loops and layers dappled with tense bass jabs. In this episode Spalding joins Vivian to talk about spell casting, frequencies and visions. SC

Hosted Vivian Host
Produced by Sara Casella
Engineered by Ryan Woodhall

A Certain Ratio

The Manchester quintet A Certain Ratio were known for incorporating disco, funk, and dub elements into the post-punk sound of the late '70s, creating their own unique funky and industrial dance-oriented style. Formed in 1979, the band signed to Factory Records – the independent label home to post-punk and New Wave pioneers such as New Order and Joy Division – and released their debut album _To Each..._ in 1981. This year marks the band's 40th anniversary and in its honor, they've released _ACR:BOX_ (via Mute), a collection of B-sides, unreleased studio tapes (including a demo with Grace Jones), alternative recordings and covers. Today Peak Time correspondent Lauren Martin speaks with the band about the process of unearthing this archival material, tales from their Factory days and what happened with Grace Jones. SC

Hosted Vivian Host
Produced by Sara Casella
Engineered by Ryan Woodhall

Kevin Beasley

The Virginia-born, New York-based artist Kevin Beasley works in sculpture, sound and video, manipulating disparate materials of familiar sources into nearly unrecognizable forms. Beasley’s works reflect on process, the disconnect of modern culture and the socio-political and economic truths that continue to deepen the divide. The artist has already had exhibitions at the Guggenheim, MoMA, SFMOMA and the Tate Modern, among others; now he presents his latest work, _A View of a Landscape_, at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. The installation takes a look at the plagued history of race and labor in the American South through the use of a repurposed cotton gin that has been made into a playable instrument. Beasley joins Vivian in the studio today to discuss his work, the catharsis of making the ugly beautiful and the actual process of revamping a cotton gin. SC

Hosted Vivian Host
Produced by Sara Casella
Engineered by Ryan Woodhall

DJ Kampire

Much like the gqom crews of South Africa, Uganda's forward-thinking Nyege Nyege Tapes collective is promoting modern African dance music. Though based in the East, artists on the label represent a panoply of pan-Afro sounds; Egyptian electro chaabi, hipco from Liberia, balani from Mali, Angolan kuduros, Ugandan Acholi. Fusing these local sounds with Western house, bass and techno in a swirl of electrifying polyrhythms, these musicians have birthed the new generation of underground dance music. This week DJ Kampire, one of Nyege Nyege's core members, will perform as part of Red Bull Music Festival, at an event celebrating the label's forward-thinking signings. Hailed as one of _Mixmag_'s breakout DJs of 2018, DJ Kampire melds traditional Congolese rumba and the African pop she was raised on with a myriad of electronic sounds into bass-heavy, heart-pounding sets. SC

Hosted Vivian Host
Produced by Sara Casella
Engineered by Ryan Woodhall

Detroit Vinyl Mania! Archer Record Pressing and Third Man Records

It's rare for a city to have one full-scale vinyl pressing plant... Detroit has two. In February 2017, Third Man Pressing – owned by Jack White from the White Stripes – became the first record-pressing facility to open in Detroit since Archer Record Pressing in 1965. With vinyl sales on the rise for the 13th consecutive year, and more people collecting records than ever, today's Peak Time is dedicated to the people and the process of producing these beloved slabs of wax. Vivian talks to Mike Archer, who took over Archer Record Pressing from his dad Joe, onsite at their unassuming location on East Davison Avenue, where we get insight into the multi-step process by which vinyl chips become 12" discs. SC

Hosted Vivian Host
Produced by Sara Casella
Engineered by Ryan Woodhall