Within the last two weeks, if you are an avid KSPC listener, you may have heard a brand new show air on Tuesdays between 6 pm and 8 pm. Filled with sounds of spaceship-like noises in the background, it may have sounded different from the typical shows that have been broadcasted on the KSPC airwaves throughout this summer. If you were curious enough, you may have checked Spinitron to read the blurb behind this new show: “Mysterious member of the famous Federation star-ship, notorious time-skipper El Don Queue emerges in 2290 as the music provider aboard the USS Excelsior. Blessing all visiting space travelers and weary crew with the best temporally-sourced audible snacks, beings from across the universe flock to feast at one of his exclusive sound sessions. Transmission code: 88.7FM.”
A show, new to KSPC, EL DON QUEUE, Live from the Lounge of the USS Excelsior, has brought a wealth of creativity and diversity to the lineup of DJ shows airing weekly. The man behind this show, Donald Quintana, builds it around the lounge of the Star Trek Federation starship USS Excelsior as a home for DJ EL DON QUEUE. It’s a crossover between our real music and a fictitious space, it’s a radio play in cosplay. But why build the show around the lounge of the Star Trek Federation starship USS Excelsior? Quintana gives a few reasons. Firstly, “the USS Excelsior was the new idea of its time, supposedly bigger, beautiful, and technologically better than the famous USS Enterprise we all know.” Secondly, the buttons, beeps, and radar blips aboard these ships already display a lovely musicality and easily creates an immersive listening experience. Finally, “the lounge itself is a wonderful place where people can come to unwind and relax, have a drink, listen to music, and have personal or professional discussions with friends and colleagues” it’s one of the only places a DJ would be able to fit right in.
Quintana says that this show comes from “conversations I have with my nerdy colleagues and friends” where they theorize what it would be like to “live in the world of Firefly” or what music might a Star Wars DJ play? It’s apparent from the show itself and talking to Quintana, that he’s been having a lot of fun making it, letting his mind wander through this abstract world. The wonderful thing about EL DON QUEUE is that the show itself is constantly evolving. Quintana remarks that “everyone is a student, including me” and hopes that as the episodes move forward a fictional narrative will begin to form, with happenings aboard the USS Excelsior. He wants the USS Excelsior to not just be a space for music and talking heads, but a place where student-fans will maybe want to write and develop an episode where eventually “the titular EL DON QUEUE role will pass hands to the next Dr. Who.”
I love this new addition to the lineup of KSPC shows and am looking forward to upcoming episodes 3 and 4 that are focused on the Star Wars, Max Rebo Band. As a fellow DJ myself, the music Quintana uses is refreshing, coming from his own music library. There are some songs that I’ve heard before and some that I haven’t, but so far, every single song he’s chosen I have enjoyed. While the music follows the theme of the show, it often strays from it, however, EL DON QUEUE’s voice is always there to swiftly bring the listener back to the USS Excelsior; and on a deeper level, maybe that’s the point of it, Quintana trying to illustrate that we use music to escape our current reality only to be brought back after a song is over. I think I’m over-analyzing it, but what I do know, is that if your show can successfully go from a “Pursuit of Happiness” by Kid Cudi remix to “Shut Up and Kiss Me” by Angel Olsen all the way to “I, Monster” by Daydream in Blue, you have an excellent show on your hands.
