A Soundtrack to Life: Homegrown Noise with Sofia Giarrusso
By Nathan Hilyard
I had the opportunity to sit down with Sofia Giarrusso, the creator and host of Homegrown Noise, a radio show here on Emerson’s own WECB.fm. Homegrown Noise started airing last fall, with weekly episodes featuring a mix of nostalgic tunes from Giarrusso’s childhood and contemporary favorites.
Q: How would you describe Homegrown Noise?
Sofia Giarrusso: Growing up I feel like music was a thing that connected me and my family, specifically me and my dad. Coming to college I wanted to do a radio show, so I said wait – let me spread this influence that my Dad has bestowed upon me. I feel like a lot of my music taste comes from what he’s played for me, so I take some songs from my childhood and then I play songs related to that in each section, coming in with tidbits and anecdotes. When the song was released, how I learned about it, how it relates to my life, how it relates to the culture (culture being the indie girls), but most of the music I play is from the 2000s to now, alt-rock, indie, psychedelic. A little bit of talking, mostly music, but overall we have so much fun!
Q: How did you get into radio?
SG: My first job I ever wanted was to be a radio host, because I watched Radio Rebel with Debby Ryan, and because my parents had a SiriusXM subscription, so there were alot of radio personalities always playing around me. Infamously, my father encouraged me to have a radio show. In college he worked at a radio station for one day, he had to organize records and got bored, so he said I should actually do it. It’s just a space where I can be free and spread my influence. It’s fun, it’s something fun to do.
Q: Do you ever feature guests on the show?
SG: Not usually, I want to though. The whole thing is about what you listen to growing up and how it influences your view on music and the world, so I’d love to get some more stories in the mix. I just haven’t had the chance yet, but I’d really like it. So far it’s just me, but my friends text me in the middle of the show, so it’s like they’re really there.
Q: What is your personal music taste? How has it evolved since you were a kid?
SG: When I was a kid I would listen to whatever my dad and my brother's put onto my MP3 player. My dad has this whole thing where he makes CDs. He’ll buy music and burn it onto CDs, so basically I have this record of my whole life via CDs. Music was constantly around me in social settings, and not. From the beginning it’s very much Coldplay, Keane, Muse, that 2000s rock. That’s evolved into more, but that’s the basis of what I listened to. As I got older The Neighbourhood and Arctic Monkeys were on rotation. I was being fed. I still listen to alot of those people, but I feel like where me and my dad differ, I’ve found more of a niche in psychedelic and more experimental rock and indie music, whereas he likes a lot of, say, Silversun Pickups, the alt-rock crowd. I still love all those artists from my pasts, but now I have a wider view of the music I enjoy. But I definitely would not like what I like had my dad not shown me all of this music.
Q: Who is mother?
SG: I’ve been waiting for this question! I have three main mothers, but before my three main mothers maybe my first mother should be my actual mother, shoutout mom. But my real three mothers: MARINA, she’s when I want to listen to something the girls would like; Lily Allen, she’s my posh princess; and Amy Winehouse. All my mothers look similar, they’re also all British. Another mother, not music, but Aubrey Plaza, if I had to pick someone.
Q: How do you go about curating a weekly mix for your show?
SG: I always come up with a theme. Themes can be very broad. I’ve had music from around the world, or it can be very curated like Indie Sleaze, which you can’t really divert from that. But I always try to make sure that the theme can correlate to the songs I want to play from my childhood, so I have to work around that. I have a huge playlist of songs from my childhood which I scroll through and pick songs, and then I add in songs from my current rotation.
Q: How do you go about theming your weekly shows?
SG: Sometimes it’s seasonal, I did one about Winter Sounds, which is obviously very subjective. It’s always something that I’m currently interested in and enjoying, so the theme can't be something I don't enjoy or find interesting.
Q: What is your favorite release from the past few years?
SG: The new Unknown Mortal Orchestra Album, V, is really good. The new Broken Bells album, INTO THE BLUE as well. The Broken Bells get a song played almost every show, I really love them…and Paramore!
Q: Your show relates a lot to childhood and memories, so how does the music you’re listening to affect your memories of the past?
SG: Music is your soundtrack. People see memories through memories or stories, but I think I remember the most vividly through music, just because a lot of songs were on rotation since I was really young, so music lends itself really well to memories for me.
Q: What are some songs and artists that are formative in your memories?
SG: I have a playlist of songs I grew up with. “Clocks” by Coldplay, “What You Know” by Two Door Cinema Club, which has a lot of lore in my past. Lots of artists from the 2000s indie scene, MGMT and The Black Keys come to mind.
Q: What are some of your current favorites?
SG: “Time Is Running Out” by Muse. I’ve also been listening to a lot of “Grove is in the Heart” by Deee-Lite, which doesn’t really fit my music taste, but hey, I love it.
Homegrown Noise is a show that celebrates how much music can inform someone's life, pulling from the past and helping us understand the present. You can listen to Homegrown Noise on Mondays at 11am on WECB.fm.