Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaron “Fresh” Knight.
Aaron “Fresh”, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started working in music back in 2008 while attending Prairie View A&M University. I started my own music blog to promote music(Rap-HipHop and R&B specifically) in Austin, TX. I was tired of seeing everyone else in the state Texas brag and boast about who they had from their city and felt some light needed to be shined on Austin. From 2008-2014, I ran Fresh Prince of the ATX. I covered artists all over Texas and the country, traveled to festivals, interviewed some of my favorite artists like ScottyATL and Big KRIT.
During 2014, I briefly co-hosted an online radio show for Houston’s TheCore94 with my now cohost and longtime friend Confucius Jones and another host. Years following, I got into artist management, trying to see what I could offer to someone else with all that I have done and learned at that point in time. I quickly found out that artist management was not for me.
Come 2016, I had decided to step away from working in music and decided to do something different. Once again, I partnered with Confucius Jones and we began podcasting. We hosted Those Damn Comic Book Guys. for the next two years. We built a fanbase from the ground up, gaining a big online presence, touring to comic book conventions, speaking on panels, interviewing legends and big names currently in the comic book industry.
In the midst of running the podcasting, Confucius and I thought about getting back into radio. We were planning on starting our own online station, then Confucius had the bright idea to email all the radio stations in Austin, TX and see what happens. I had originally set up a meeting with a station that is an Austin staple in the black community, but things didn’t work out the way that we would’ve liked. Maybe a few days after our failed attempt with one station, the station that would become our home, KUTX contacted us about meeting and talking about our ideas for an on air show.
We were assured right from the beginning by our now Program Director, Matt Reilly that there was no room in the budget for a new show, and they weren’t going to promise us a show. We met with Mr. Reilly a few more times and he set us up for the guest DJ spot called, MyKUTX. That was a fun experience that both Confucius and myself thought would be the end all of our FM radio careers. About a week or so later, Mr. Reilly contacts us saying someone at the station is moving on and there is a spot open for us, and the rest, as they say, is history.
We began January 7th, 2017 as The Breaks. Soon thereafter, the accolades came in from being nominated four consecutive years for Best Music Radio Program in the Austin Music Awards, I’ve personally have been nominated for Best Radio Host, we’ve had features in publications like the Austin Chronicle, Austin Monthly, and being named Blacks in Public Media You Should Know, just to name a few. I’ve begun to host my own solo show, The Weekend Wake-Up on Saturday mornings, as well has being on Monday nights.
With co-hosting The Breaks, I feel like we’ve helped elevate the Austin Hip Hop and R&B scene to heights it hasn’t known before. I’ve been able to be a voice in my community and help inspire those around. With that being said, I recently began playlisting and one of the playlists Weird City Raps(now named New Fresh City) was featured in the Austin Chronicle.
It’s been a journey for me you might say, but in the end I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished and looking forward to achieving so much more.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Some struggles I had along the way were getting into management. As I stated before, I quickly found out that artist management was not for me. I felt as if the knowledge I had wasn’t helping the artists I was representing move forward. I was frustrated and feeling underappreciated. Speaking of which, while blogging I felt like artists in Austin wasn’t taking full advantage of the site I had built for them. It was tough going to school and blogging. Trying to find the time to post music, do class projects, be active on campus, find writers for the site was just hectic. Lastly, getting the run around from a radio station here in Austin that my partner Confucius and I felt an obligation to was a little hard to swallow. Having people say we didn’t do what was asked, when in fact we did, having your emails and messages ignored from people in your community is always a bit off-putting.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about KUTX 98.9?
Well, KUTX 98.9 is the Austin Music Experience. The station prides itself on giving the people the full musical experience of Austin, TX. I am an on air host as well as the social media producer at the station. I help produce the show & podcast The Breaks, in which I cohost Saturday’s at 10pm along with Confucius Jones. I also host The Weekend Wake-Up that airs Saturday mornings at 10am and can also be heard on Monday nights at 8pm. I host events held or sponsored by the station. My cohost and I produce events that showcase artists emerging out of the city of Austin, Like our annual Summer Jam show and Valentines Day show, Love Lockdown. I’m most proud of the work that my cohost and I have done showing the city of Austin that the Rap/HipHop and R&B scenes can be profitable.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Luck has played a role in my success. When it comes to being on radio, it really was a stroke of luck ending up at KUTX. As I stated before my cohost and I went to a whole other station first out of a sense of obligation. With that not working out reaching out to KUTX on a whim and someone quitting and then us being offered the spot was really some good fortune.
Contact Info:
- Email: aknight@kut.org
- Website: www.newfreshcity.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/freshxknight
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/fresh_knight
Image Credits
Lorenzo Marez Todd Wolfson Julia Reihs
