You all know and love WMEB, but you may not know much about the DJs behind the mic. There are currently over 50 DJs working for the station, keeping 91.9 fm spinning around. This week I had the privilege to sit down with Mazy Karuzis, host of ‘Yesterdays and Nowadays.’
You may be asking, who is Mazy Karuzis? Interestingly, that is not an easy question to answer. On the surface she is a fourth year ecology and environmental sciences student at the University of Maine. Outside of DJing, Karuzis is vice president of the club swim team, social media chair for Waste Minimizers, a roommate to five fellow students and a friend to all; except those who hate the Bee Gees. In fact, when asked what she wants people to know about her she said “I wish they knew how much I love the Bee Gees,” so either stay away or stay alive.
If we look deeper, we discover someone far more complex, someone who was greatly shaped by her parents whom she is very close to. “We used to play this game in the car where they would ask ‘who’s playing this song on the radio?’ and I remember a point in time where I would always guess, like, Led Zeppelin for whatever reason, because I couldn’t remember that many bands,” said Karuzis. This not only influenced her music taste but was the beginning of her love for trivia and, in her words, ‘made her cooler.’
What remains is how she became a DJ. The logical jump from music trivia with her parents to sharing her songs with the public is not obvious unless you’ve watched ‘Pitch Perfect.’ The movie begins with the main protagonist wandering around the club fair at her university. Later in the movie she interned for their radio station; a parallel to Karuzis’ introduction to UMaine. At the Org Fair Karuzis was walking around thinking “It’s gorgina out. And I was like, this is just like Pitch Perfect. And we walked past the WMEB table, and I was like, this could be kind of fun and awesome.” Fast forward a year, and she is nothing less than a seasoned disc jockey. A real modern day Anna Kendrick.
You may also recognize Karuzis from the front row if you ever have been to a Radon house show. And if you have in fact been to one, you may catch where some of Karuzis’ song inspiration comes from, such as artists AZV and Gunshot Glitter: two frequenters of the Old Town stage.
Karuzis takes inspiration from many times, places and people. Played during her shows is everything from the oldies to the newbies, hence the name. Her show also transcends genres, playing anything from anywhere (as long as it has under two million streams on Spotify, of course). This is what sets her show apart from the others. Despite the requirement from the station to play at least two new songs an hour, Yesterdays and Nowadays manages to cut deep into history for some underground classics.
Unsurprisingly, music runs in this DJ’s blood. “I always forget this, like I do come from a very musical family. My mom was in a band, she has an amazing voice. Her mom was a working musician in New York City in the 70s, Sharon Nagel,” said Karuzis.
So, if you’re looking for some new music inspiration and you’re into anything and everything grunge rock from all times and places, check out ‘Yesterdays and Nowadays’ with Mazy Karuzis on Thursdays at 4 p.m. You may just be put onto your next favorite artist.
