Meet Hannah Levin | Radio DJ & Content Director for KXCI

We had the good fortune of connecting with Hannah Levin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Hannah, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
When I was in my 30s and 40s I didn’t really have much of a choice about that balance. Most of the time I was working as a freelancer or in a part-time capacity so it was a constant hustle to make ends meet. Now that I’m both older and salaried, I have the privilege of drawing boundaries and setting limits. There’s nothing heroic or admirable about working oneself into the ground, no matter how much you love your job. The concept that being “so busy!” means you’re knocking it out of the park professionally is both harmful and simply untrue. I firmly believe that we are at our most creative and high-achieving when we aren’t overworking ourselves.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
For the past fifteen years I’ve been working in the niche field of non-commercial radio, first at KEXP in Seattle and at KXCI in Tucson since 2015. Prior to that I was a music journalist, writing music columns for Seattle-based alt-weeklies (The Stranger and Seattle Weekly) and national publications including Rolling Stone, SPIN, and BUST.

Non-commercial radio is special for many reasons but primarily because it is independent media free of corporate oversight or influence. Non-comm DJs choose their own music and answer only to their listeners, not advertisers. We’re also expected to bring a great deal of historic musical knowledge to the microphone alongside a passion for the power of music and a commitment to intelligent, adventurous programming.

Working as a print journalist was a great training ground for broadcast work, but at the end of the day independent radio is all about leading with the listener in mind and requires a unique set of technical and creative skills very different than any other media format. The ability to roll with the unexpected is essential since you’re always live without a net and a strong voice with a comfortable cadence helps. And at the risk of stating the obvious, you need to have a very open mind about music, a nerdy love of music history, and an innate curiosity for discovering new sounds. Embracing the best of all genres from all eras is essential. That doesn’t mean I’m not entitled to critical opinions but my ears always have to stay open.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
When a music-lover comes to Tucson the first place I’ll direct them is Che’s Lounge on 4th Avenue. That’s really the heart of the local music scene for a few reasons, namely that they pay bands fairly and they also never charge a cover. That cultivates an appreciation for local music like few other entities can.

There’s no shortage of great Mexican food here but I have a soft spot for the outdoor patio at La Indita and the red chile at El Torero.

I have a huge affection for the Barrio Viejo and Santa Rosa communities and a walking tour of either almost always makes visitors fall in love with Tucson, as does a drive to Gates Pass or up Mt. Lemmon. The biodiversity of our region is an unexpected surprise for a lot of people and it’s a lovely thing to discover.

Tucson also has a very healthy relationship with death, dying, and grieving that is unique in the U.S. The All Souls Procession in November is the key cultural touchstone as it is all about honoring and celebrating the dead in whatever creative, authentic way our community believes in. As a result, it is open to all traditions—Aztec, Japanese, Irish, Iraqi, Somali, Tohono O’odham, and others. It’s also open to new traditions, to freshly created ways of honoring the dead and grieving our other losses—losses of ideas, of hopes, of dreams, of homes, of relationships. There’s also a thriving community of death doulas, grief specialists, and a refreshing embrace of the ways looking squarely at death creates an important appreciation for living.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The encouragement and support of my parents is at the core of everything I’ve been able to achieve. I also have an extraordinary collection of strong, emotionally intelligent, and deeply inspiring friends who are consistently there for me. The creative ecosystems of both Seattle and Tucson have been essential in my successes. Community is everything, really.

Website: KXCI.org

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Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/KXCIvideo

Image Credits
All photos by Julius Schlosburg