The Brain behind Local Live: An Interview with Jordan Pannell | Free ...

Pictured above is Jordan Pannell. Photo taken by Alana Settles during Dirty Dub Radio, hosted by Buda Love & Rob Bass.

By: Erin Dyer

Free Press Houston spoke with Jordan Pannell, a young, influential Houstonian making advancements in discovering, representing, and promoting local arts and music by means of Local Live (including Local Live Media, L.L.C, LocalLiveMedia.com, LocalLiveHouston.com, and LocalLiveRadio.com). If you are unfamiliar with Local Live, do yourself a favor and check it out. Like, right now. After all, awareness and involvement in our city will ultimately emanate continuous growth of Houston as a prominent art community as we reinvest in ourselves and our cumulative, raw talent.

FPH:?So, you are the founder of Local Live? tell us a little about the different projects currently involved with that.

Jordan Pannell:?Yes ma?am, I am the founder and brainchild of Local Live, which includes Local Live Media, L.L.C., LocalLiveMedia.com, LocalLiveHouston.com, and LocalLiveRadio.com. Local Live Media, L.L.C. is our multimedia company which works with clients looking for videography, TV/Film production, audio engineering, events planning, promotions, and community organization. LocalLiveHouston.com and LocalLiveMedia.com currently both link you to our website?s front page, which, from there, you can choose one of our three 24/7 streaming online community radio stations from around the nation, along with access to our archives, and more soon to come. LocalLiveRadio.com is a direct link to our Local Houston community radio station, Local Live Houston Radio, which is our main and most active station.

(LocalLiveMusic.com is not a URL we use at all, though I am considering buying now!)

FPH: Have you always had an affinity for local music, and local art in general?

JP: Mainly music in my early years. When I was younger, my brother, Brad, played in two different Ska bands, named ?The Refried Beans? and ?Car 54?. They played at places like Fitzgerald?s (2706 White Oak), house parties, and even our community church. This led me to grow an ear and love for local music and venues on every spectrum. Later on, in the early 2000?s, a pal, David Lanning, started an online radio station with friends, which he named HHPRadio. I mp3-DJ?d local hip hop and rock, while the main focus of the station was drum and bass.

I began to love and appreciate local art about 7-8 years back, when I met and became inspired by local artists, such as my buddy Skeez, Dune-Micheli Patten (whose art was always around me as a teen), and of course, both of my grandmothers, who are craftwork artists, and whose work I began to appreciate in a different light.

FPH: Why did you create LocalLiveHouston.com? What effect did you hope it would have on the community? Did you expect the impact to expand beyond the city of Houston?

JP: Local Live was created because we recognized need for social justice, a voice for the city, and more expansive exposure for the music, media, arts and entertainment community. We want to return radio and media to the roots of the community. This means developing programs that originate in Houston, and includes people who are active in the communities. By broadcasting on the internet, the hope is to reach other communities outside of Houston, and draw attention to the diverse culture and interesting people that make up our city. The idea is to get other motivated people in other cities to join up with similar efforts? to create locally-based programming for their community? and to spread the love that naturally breeds itself as a result. We have already expanded the Local Live Radio format to Portland, Oregon and Dallas, TX. The sister 24/7 online community radio stations are ?Portland Oregon Tunes & More Radio,? or ?P.O.T. Radio?, managed by musician/activist Justin James Bridges, which highlights folk, blues, Americana, rock, Cannabis culture, and local news coverage. Now I know how Houstonians have a passionate dislike for Dallas, yet my cousin, Diamond Dave, runs ?Entertainment Network Dallas,? or ?E.N.D. Radio? online, which focuses on country, rock, talk radio, and news coverage. And yes, I admit? Dallas sucks.

FPH: Concerning LocalLiveHouston.com, what do your day-to-day duties look like?

JP: Presently, the staff of LocalLiveHouston.com is mostly voluntary? and big ups to Chris Shannon, my co-pilot. Aside from administrative tasks involved in coordinating that staff, most of the duties center around programming, podcasting, networking, public relations, audio engineering, community planning, and much more. Production duties make up most of the day. We have live broadcasts 12pm-2am Tues-Fri, and on weekends we do remote broadcasts from concerts, conferences, and events. Each of those shows require personal time and attention, along with promotion and networking via social media. Between 2am and 12pm, and on weekends without events, you can catch an amazing rotation of Houston?s finest musicians, along with other independent musicians from around the globe? and truly get to know your local music! Development of new programming and opportunities in other multimedia mediums are also a daily task. ?The fun around here is nonstop.

We are constantly working on expanding our programming and adding new content to the station. Also, we work with LoveSun TheDon, Urban Circus, Houston Media Source, and have many new TV, film, and movie projects in the works to keep our followers entertained and connected to their community? so keep an eye out for that!

FPH: Everyone working with LocalLiveHouston.com is clearly active and enthusiastic about the whole idea, but it seems that you haven?t had a lot of media coverage. My question is? how do we get a broader audience in Houston to get involved with this platform?

JP: So far, LocalLiveHouston.com has had to garner its own coverage in the Houston media. It was an honor being awarded winner at the 2012 Houston Press Music Awards for Best Radio Station without having to get politically involved. We won this because we are one of the only broadcast media groups that supports the Houston music scene as much as we do, other than 90.1 KPFT. That room during the awards was full of musicians who we have been honored to build relationships with, and who have played live on Local Live Radio airwaves. We all know Musical artists and fans recognize the importance of a local broadcast platform. Unfortunately, business models and trends keep many media outlets focused on music that comes from big-money production companies that can manipulate the system they have created. Aside from Free Press Houston, most of the media outlets are owned by people who do not live in Houston and have no interest in promoting the community in which their airwaves or press reach. The broadcast media companies save money by using the same formats and promote the same music across the country, leaving a HUGE void on the local scene. Recognition of local acts is few and far between, and LocalLiveHouston.com fills this void because our main focus is featuring local talent and community groups over the internet. Much of our culture over the last few decades has led a great segment of the population to believe that nothing worth their entertainment dollar comes from their local community? yet, those that get out into their community know about thriving cultural opportunities, and support it strongly. We aim to share those opportunities, and shift that thinking into a robust perspective to help support and sustain our own local music, media, arts, and entertainment community scene.

Continued presence in the community, along with expanding our programming to reach diverse segments of listeners, is the best strategy to reach a broader audience. Also, we hope to get in on the LPFM (Low Power FM) radio market with the help of Austin Airwaves and Prometheus Radio when the window opens this coming year? or at least assist them. We want to work with as many nonprofit and community organizations as we can, to establish a pure mission in ensuring this city has a media outlet for social justice. Grassroots is a slow-build, and unless a controversy arises, local media does not see a story; however, it is the effort that those at?locallivehouston.com?are making that should garner local media attention. The people who work for media companies owned by people outside of Houston should want success for musicians, entertainers, and people that live in their city; and they should take it upon themselves to promote local musicians and artists. One way they can do this is by supporting our grassroots media source because we work hard to do just that. People need to know thy neighbor.

FPH: What are your biggest challenges within LocalLiveHouston.com?

JP: Streaming internet programming is very much a niche market. Continuing to develop local programming and involving a wide variety of locals will meet this challenge. Locallivehouston.com also faces the challenge of creating a new model for how ?radio? programming creates revenue. Staying away from arbitron earnings is a given. Creating ways to gain sponsors and expand to different media production which will support the musicians, artists, entertainers and events will also meet this challenge. The key is to remain pure in our efforts, and persevere.

FPH:?Any personal stories or memories you?d like to share with our readers?

JP: If you see Bob Lane of local band, Another Run, playing trumpet on stage? well, that happens to be the trumpet I grew up playing in Jazz band that I passed on to Bob so that it could travel every stage and get put to good use! Devil Killing Moth and Bury the Crown both released albums in 2012 which they put a thanks and shout out to LocalLiveHouston.com, Stiletto Radio show and Free Thinker Radio inside the CDs? that was pretty rad! Providing audio and music for the US Vets Fun Run and Homeless In Memoriam the past couple years has always been an honor to be involved with. An amazing memory was taking part in coordinating and co-curating the 1st Annual Summer Street Art Festival with the lovely and talented Skeez and Aimee Jones. There were vendors, music, art, drinks, and an amazing fashion show on the industrial rooftop catwalk overlooking the president heads sculptures and the Houston skyline. What was even cooler is one of our Local Live Radio show hosts, Jimmy BL!TZ of the Alter Audio radio show, saved the night as EmCee of the Fashion show when we received word that our scheduled EmCee couldn?t make it! The BL!TZ owned it for being a virgin of fashion show catwalkin?. Honestly I have tons of funny stories and random personal accounts that I?d love for Free Press Houston readers to ask me about if they catch me around town at a local event, or at the newly reopened Moon Tower Inn? which, might I add, has damn good food and cold ass beer: a perfect combo for tellin? memorable stories.
If you want to get involved with the station, now is the time as we are expanding our programming in order to better serve every bit of Houston. We need volunteers who want to help out as production engineers, street team & more which you can find out by emailing?staff@locallivehouston.com?with your info. I would personally like to thank every musician, entertainer, artist, earthling, extraterrestrial & person who has come through our many studio doors to entertain the listeners along with sharing your very important messages. We have so much more entertainment planned for Houston this year, we are excited & know its going to be a blast!

LocalLiveMedia.com
LocalLiveRadio.com
LocalLiveHouston.com
Facebook.com/LocalLiveMedia
Twitter: @LocalLiveMedia

Source: http://www.freepresshouston.com/music/the-brain-behind-local-live-an-interview-with-jordan-pannell/

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