WFNX DJ Julie Kramer weighs in on the ’90s

Julie Kramer is the reigning queen of alternative rock on Boston’s 92.1 FNX Radio. She has been a DJ for 20 years (the last four on FNX). She currently hosts the ‘Leftover Lunch’ program from 12 to 1 p.m. daily during the week, which features a delicious variety of angst-ridden, flannel-clad rockers from Veruca Salt and early Offspring to the more obscure Breeders and Superdrag.

MUSE had the opportunity to chat with Kramer during her show last Friday. With strains of Dishwalla and Reel Big Fish in the background, Kramer chomped her lunch, and offered her thoughts on Chris Cornell (‘He was so cute, I couldn’t even talk to him during the interview’), her favorite bands of the early-to-mid 1990s (‘I made a list, but now I can’t find it-I can find a fn shopping list from two weeks ago but not a simple list that I agonized over’) and Courtney Love (‘Don’t even get me started on that b’). No bitterness here, folks.

MUSE: What has been your most incredible experience working for FNX?

Julie Kramer: Hanging out with David Bowie, for sure. I grew up listening to him, my mom used to take me to his shows in the 1970s. When I entered his hotel, my knees were literally shaking. But we just hung out, drank coffee, smoked cigarettes.

MUSE: Bowie?! Were you nervous?

JK: Well, I had interviewed him by phone before, and I had prepped minimally for the in-person. He was so cool about it. I mean, what is he going to say to a fan who went to his show in 1974 with her mom? I tried not to gush or foam at the mouth.

MUSE: Have you chilled with anyone comparable to Bowie?

JK: Oh sure. I’ve met lots of famous people-Joe Strummer, Iggy Pop, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins.

MUSE: Why are you a suitable poster child for early `90s alternative music?

JK: I love music in general. New stuff, `80s, early `90s-you name it. Music always reminds me of other things. Like punk reminds me of college [at UMASS Dartmouth, originally called SMU]. Of seeing the Cramps at the Channel, of my mohawk stage. Of what I did in my life then, you know?

MUSE: What do you think about the current music scene?

JK: I think that there are some good bands out there, but they are harder to find. I mean, Guided by Voices is one of my favorite bands-why can’t they get any radio play? I’m probably shooting myself in the foot, but radio has changed so much since I’ve been a DJ, and not necessarily for the best.

MUSE: How do grunge and early 90s alternative manifest themselves in today’s music?

JK: Grunge is coming back in the form of garage rock-the Hives, the Vines, the White Stripes are all forms of grunge. But then, everything’s cyclical. Do I think long-haired, flannel grunge rock is coming back? In some ways it never left. I recently saw Jerry Cantrell, and he still has the long hair thing going on. New wave is coming back. The singer-songwriter is coming back. Everything’s cyclical-styles come back, but filtered with other things. Grunge can still be grunge with the addition of a turntable or rapped lyrics.

MUSE: What is the best early `90s fashion statement?

JK: Well, I always found it ironic that Sacks and Bloomie’s tried to sell $3 flannel shirts for $400. Who would buy that? I always got mine at the local craft store. I don’t know if that’s necessarily a trend, but it’s a good example of music altering fashion.

MUSE: If Kurt Cobain were alive today, what would he be doing?

JK: Hopefully, fn killing Courtney Love. I hate her. But do I think he’d still be making music? Evolving? Still with Nirvana? I don’t know. Maybe he’d be living on an island with his kid. His death was one of the saddest things of the 1990s.

MUSE: So will you be buying his journal?

JK: Definitely not. I just read a review by [music critic at The Boston Globe] Steve Morse, and he said not to buy it, not to read it. I agree. It’s so disrespectful. Courtney doesn’t need the money, why publish these private thoughts and drawings that say negative things about Eddie Vedder and Pete Townsend? What’s the point? If she wanted to do something tasteful, she could have released his artwork. She is such a b. Did I say that? Don’t get me started…

MUSE: Do you eventually want to leave radio and do something else?

JK: I love my gig, but I am always open to new things. After you’ve been doing radio for 20 years, you get used to it. But I used to be a freelance rock photographer, and I could see myself doing that again.

Julie Kramer’s Early `90s Six Picks (in no order, as specified by Kramer herself) – Nirvana – Sonic Youth – Sebadoh – Pixies – Dinosaur Jr. – Beastie Boys