Peak Time: Sonár Festival with Clark and Lena Willikens [June 16, 2017]

Peak Time with Kelly Lee Owens [July 12, 2017]

Peak Time with Bbymutha and Kill Alters [July 19, 2017]

Peak Time with Donita Sparks of L7 and Stuart Swezey of Desolation Center

Peak Time: Los Angeles with Dean Hurley and Brian Reitzell

Peak Time with Tim Hecker and Guadalupe Rosales of Map Pointz

Peak Time with John Twells and Miles Bowe of FACT

Peak Time Best of 2017: Kam Tambini and Antoinette Isama of OkayPlayer + OkayAfrica

Peak Time with Rico Nasty

Peak Time with Boy Harsher and The Soft Moon

Peak Time with Oneohtrix Point Never

Best Of Peak Time 13: Detroit

Peak Time Live from NYC: DJ Stingray, Errorsmith and Volvox

Vivian Host puts together a special on the birth of L.A. raves in the early 1990s with Pasquale Rotella from Insomniac/EDC, Gary Richards from HARD/Friendship and DJ Doc Martin, among others. Plus lots of great old rave tunes. 

Originally aired live on The Vortex on RBMA Radio. Hosted, produced and edited by Vivian Host. Engineered by Ryan Woodhall.

The Vortex Vol. 17 – L.A. Rave Special with Insomniac, HARD & Doc Martin

Peak Time with Ama Lou

Peak Time with Venetian Snares

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Lauryn Hill’s classic album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Her first solo release away from The Fugees  saw the singer and rapper flexing her vocal range and incisive lyrical talents and winning a ton of awards in the process. To celebrate the anniversary of this monumental release, guest host Marcus J. Moore has invited music critic Kathy Iandoli on the show to discuss Hill's career and the album's lasting impact.

Peak Time: The 20th Anniversary of Lauryn Hill's Debut with Kathy Iandoli

Arguably one of modern hip-hop's most important, game-changing producers, Zaytoven's credits read like a who's who of rap gods: Gucci Mane, Future, Migos, Lil Uzi Vert. He is truly Atlanta's trap production godfather (and an amazing piano player). Tune in to hear what you can expect at this year's Red Bull Culture Clash 2018 from his Zaytoven Global crew which includes DJ Scream, Lacrae, OJ da Juiceman, DJ Baby Drew, DJ Roots Queen and more.

Peak Time with Zaytoven

Vivian talks to hip-hop veteran Frauenarzt, the rap gynecologist of the Bassboxxx crew. The brash,Berlin-Tempelhof-bred rapper rose to fame in the early '00s alongside likeminded producer and rapper Manny Marc as the Atzen; the two were leaders in introducing a German audience to the sounds of Miami bass, ghettotech and Memphis rap. Despite some controversies, Frauenarzt's storied career is dappled with chart successes and high-profile collaborations that have secured him a place in Berlin's modern-day rap scene. In the second hour, we're joined by music journalists (and erstwhile Juice Mag correspondents) Ralf Theil and Julian Brimmers to discuss and play German rap from 1998 until now.

Peak Time Berlin: German Rap Special with Frauenarzt

Peak Time Berlin: Manuel Gottsching and Christian Rich

We devote this episode of Peak Time to talking about the foundational years of raving in Berlin and how techno became a part of pop culture. Joining Vivian are two longtime figureheads of the scene: Jürgen Laarmann and Mijk van Dijk. Laarmann moved to Berlin from Frankfurt in 1989 and is a longtime editor of rave zine _Frontpage_, an early partner in the Love Parade and Mayday and an ertswhile hitmaker; van Dijk is a DJ and producer since the early '90s who pioneered the early trance sound and runs the Microglobe label. Expect lots of classics and classic stories about the German Summer of Love.

Peak Time Berlin: 30 Years of Berlin Techno with Jürgen Laarmann and Mijk van Dijk

Ellen Allien started DJing in 1992, in the Wild West rave scene of Berlin immediately after the Wall fell. A native of West Berlin, she was a fixture at clubs like Tresor, E-Werk and WMF, and channels that spirit of unity and the revolutionary promise of the early rave scene in her music and DJ sets to the present day. In 1999, she started the Bpitch Control label, a home for a wide variety of electronic music flavors from the likes of Modeselektor, Paul Kalkbrenner, Ben Klock, Kiki and Dillon. We'll be talking to her about all that – plus her first release in years on someone else's label (the Take A Stand EP on Boddika's Nonplus Records). In hour two, Vivian catches up with Turkish sound sculptor Ipek Gorgun (an alumni of RBMA Tokyo 2014), who evolved from a background making her own radio-wave tapes and playing in experimental bands to making enigmatic and grand sound pieces where she carves space and dimension out of an otherworldly sonic palette.

Peak Time Berlin: BPitch Control with Ellen Allien & Ipek Gorgun

Patric Catani's work is synonymous with surprises – over the course of the last 25 years, he's been a gabber star, a breakcore figurehead, a videogame scorer, a Puppetmasta, an 8-bit champion and a director and musical supervisor on plays and dance productions under aliases including (but not limited to) Candie Hank, Flex Busterman, E-De-Cologne and EC80R (with Gina D'Orio). Vivian journeys with Patric from the days of Amiga and Commodore 64 production to the virtual reality sounds he's creating for the game Pit People and everywhere in between. Plus we'll hear from PAN artist Pan Daijing from the _Berlin Zwanzig_ series and a bit of Oneohtrix Point Never's Fireside Chat.

Peak Time Berlin: Patric Catani

Live from Berlin's Funkhaus, we welcome German percussionist George Kranz in to discuss his sensational, chart-topping 1983 single "Din Daa Daa," which became a backbone of house music, hip-hop and breakdance culture. We'll talk to Kranz about how he pieced together simple elements to create such a contagious tune, working with Christopher Franke of Tangerine Dream and starring in movies. We also call up Balearic beat godfather DJ Alfredo, resident at Ibiza’s iconic Amnesia in the 1980s, to talk about what the track did to the dancefloor.

Peak Time Berlin: Dissecting "Din Daa Daa" with George Kranz

This episode features two producers who embrace their Latin roots. At the top of the show, we’ll hear a conversation between guest host Harley Brown and Argentine producer and multi-instrumentalist Luis Maurette (aka UJI), who got his start as one half of the pioneering folk-electronic duo Lulacruza. His solo debut, Alborada, is centered around field recordings and a vast array of instruments: balafon, charango, bombo leguero, sonajas, synthesizers and samplers. Harley then rings up Ouri, the Montreal-based producer and multi-instrumentalist who uses her background in piano, harp and cello to add a softness to her bold, shape-shifting style

Peak Time with UJI and Ouri

First up on today’s show is Canadian experimental composer, musician and ambient producer Kara-Lis Coverdale. From her classical training in piano to creating vocal reverb with metal sheets in her father’s tool shed, the rural Ontario native's foray into music production and sonic experimentations began at a young age. Coverdale speaks to Vivian about playing church organ, her journey and her collaborations with the likes of Tim Hecker and LXV. She's then joined by Daniel Brandt, cofounder of electro-acoustic German ensemble Brandt Brauer Frick.

Peak Time Berlin: Kara-Lis Coverdale and Daniel Brandt

Peak Time with Anja Huwe of X-Mal Deutschland

English electronic musician, producer and sound artist Mark Fell has spent his career eschewing the traditional standards of club music in favor for something a little more discordant. Whether it's glitchy techno as SND (his project with Mat Steel), his mangled version of house under the Sensate Focus moniker or experiments in FM synthesis under his own name, he makes dance music on his own terms. Similarly minded, composer and cellist Okkyung Lee draws influence from noise, western classical, jazz, improvisational and Korean traditional music in her solo and collaborative releases. The two recently joined forces again to premiere a generative, multichannel piece based on Indian rhythmic structures at New York's Issue Project Room. Today's episode is helmed again by The Creative Independent's T.Cole Rachel, but we'll listen back to a conversation Vivian had with Fell and Lee ahead of the premiere.

Originally broadcast on Peak Time on Red Bull Radio on March 28, 2019. Hosted by T. Cole Rachel and Vivian Host. Edited by Vivian Host. Engineered by Ryan Woodhall. Produced by Sara Casella.

Peak Time with Mark Fell and Okkyung Lee

On this special Best of Peak Time episode, we put together some of our favorite interviews with those behind the scenes of music production. Studio engineers Heba Kadry, Martin Bisi, Josh Bonati and Craig Leon weigh in on album production, mixing, mastering, cutting dubplates and more.

Originally broadcast on Peak Time on Red Bull Radio on June 4, 2019. Hosted and edited by Vivian Host. Engineered by Ryan Woodhall. Produced by Sara Casella.

Best of Peak Time: Studio Time with Heba Kadry, Martin Bisi, Josh Bonati

This Best of Peak Time episode is dedicated to forward-thinking club music. From the UK, we talk to Bok Bok and L-Vis 1990 of Night Slugs, g Mumdance, Kahn & Neek, Kaizen's Madam X and Glasgow-based raver Nightwave. London journalist Dan Hancox speaks with Lauren Martin about his history of London grime, Newark’s DJ Uniiqu3 talks about her unique brand of New Jersey club and MC Carol and Leo Justi join us from Brazil to talk about the new wave of dirty funk music from the Southern hemisphere. Also, from right here in New York City, we’ll revisit interviews with LSDXOXO, Bearcat, Venus X and Asmara and flex dance music dons Hitmaker Chinx and Epic B.

Originally broadcast on Peak Time on Red Bull Radio on June 14, 2019. Hosted and edited by Vivian Host. Engineered by Ryan Woodhall. Produced by Sara Casella.

Best of Peak Time: It Ain't Too Loud with LSDXOXO, Nightwave, Bok Bok, Kahn

From Sactown to the City of Angels, Peak Time cruises down the Cali coast to revisit some of our favorite conversations with the artists who keep the West Coast banging. Appearing on this show: Sacramento street rapper Mozzy; Bay Area young rap royalty Nef the Pharaoh; LA gangster funk outfit G Perico and Jay Worthy of G-Worthy; Kool Keith, Dan the Automator and DJ Qbert of Dr. Octagon; and Marq Hawkins aka DJ Cli-N-Tel, a member of legendary LA DJ and promotion crew Uncle Jamm's Army, talking about the roots of the West Coast G-Funk sound.

Originally broadcast on Peak Time on Red Bull Radio on June 17, 2019. Hosted and edited by Vivian Host. Engineered by Ryan Woodhall. Produced by Sara Casella.

Best of Peak Time: California Love with Mozzy, Nef the Pharaoh, Dr. Octagon

On this episode, we salute the masterminds behind some of rap’s hottest beats. We revisit interviews with super producer Mike Dean, Zaytoven, Sonny Digital, Kenny Beats, Harry Fraud, The Heatmakerz, Knox Fortune and engineer Kesha Lee, best known for her work with Lil Uzi Vert. 

Originally broadcast on Peak Time on Red Bull Radio on June 18, 2019. Hosted and edited by Vivian Host. Engineered by Ryan Woodhall. Produced by Sara Casella.

Best of Peak Time: Makin Slaps with Zaytoven, Harry Fraud, Kenny Beats, Sonny Digital

On this Best of Peak Time, we revisit our favorite interviews with young, wild and restless rappers including Rico Nasty, Jpegmafia, Chynna, Bali Baby, Molly Brazy, Joey Purp and H09909. Buckle up.

Originally broadcast on Peak Time on Red Bull Radio on June 19, 2019. Hosted and edited by Vivian Host. Engineered by Ryan Woodhall. Produced by Sara Casella.

Best of Peak Time: The Young And The Restless with Rico Nasty, Jpegmafia

On this episode, we hear from some of the best-loved and rawest rappers and producers in the South. From Miami, it’s ”da baddest bitch” Trina, followed by her successors and collaborators, the brash and brazen duo City Girls. Coming in hot from Palm Beach, Florida is wifisfuneral, followed by Memphis trap god Young Dolph, Chattanooga’s “underground rap mom” Bbymutha and Baton Rouge's trillest Lil Boosie. And course, no visit to the South would be complete without some words from Jermaine Dupri, one of Atlanta’s all-time greatest hitmakers, founder of So So Def and the man behind Mariah Carey, Usher, Lil Kim, Destiny's Child and so many more.

Originally broadcast on Peak Time on Red Bull Radio on June 20, 2019. Hosted and edited by Vivian Host. Engineered by Ryan Woodhall. Produced by Sara Casella.

Best of Peak Time: Sounds of the South with Trina, City Girls, Boosie, Young Dolph

NYC Rap! Revisiting our favorite interviews with New York rappers of all styles, including Desiigner, Wiki, Chuck Strangers of Pro Era, Junglepussy, A$AP Twelvyy, World's Fair, MIKE, Quelle Chris and Elucid of Nostrum Grocers and Armand Hammer.

Originally broadcast on Peak Time on Red Bull Radio on June 21, 2019. Hosted and edited by Vivian Host. Engineered by Ryan Woodhall. Produced by Sara Casella.

Best of Peak Time: NYC Rap! with Desiigner, Wiki, Junglepussy, A$AP Twelvyy, MIKE

On this episode, we celebrate the people thinking deeply about the sound that we hear in our favorite films. We revisit favorite interviews with legendary director Werner Herzog, Belgian-born cinematographer Danny Hiele (who has worked with Kendrick Lamar and Flying Lotus), plus Dean Hurley, Thomas Golubiç and more.

Originally broadcast on Peak Time on Red Bull Radio on June 25, 2019. Hosted and edited by Vivian Host. Engineered by Ryan Woodhall. Produced by Sara Casella.

Best of Peak Time: Music in Film

This Best of Peak Time episode reveals the wealth of exciting styles coming out of African right now. We revisit interviews with Afrobeats stars Afro B and Mr. Eazi, gqom king DJ Lag, Ugandan DJ Kampire, Nairobi producer Blinky Bill, Nigeria's Ekiti Soundsystem and folk star Nneka. From South Africa, art-pop star Nakhane and rapper Yugen Blakrok chime in, as does journalist Helen Herimbi, who gives us a primer on kwaito music.

Originally broadcast on Peak Time on Red Bull Radio on June 26, 2019. Hosted and edited by Vivian Host. Engineered by Ryan Woodhall. Produced by Sara Casella.

Best of Peak Time: African Pulse with Afro B, Mr Eazi, DJ Lag, Nakhane

This special episode of Peak Time curates our favorite interviews with artists who are exploring the possibilities and permutations of pop. We revisit favorite interviews with Robyn, Panda Bear of Animal Collective, DAWN and Rostam, a former member of Vampire Weekend who now produces for HAIM and Carly Rae Jepsen. We're also joined by the poetic Perfume Genius, bedroom pop queen Japanese Breakfast, NYC crooner Amen Dunes, Canada's US Girls and the always unpredictable John Maus.

Originally broadcast on Peak Time on Red Bull Radio on June 27, 2019. Hosted and edited by Vivian Host. Engineered by Ryan Woodhall. Produced by Sara Casella.

Best of Peak Time: Avant-Pop with Robyn, Panda Bear, Perfume Genius, John Maus

Peak Time Live from Chicago featuring some of the Windy City's funniest and most notable chefs talking about the intersection of cooking and music. Includes interviews with Diana Davila of Mi Tocaya Antojeria and Won Kim of Kimski plus musician Brian Edward Case, who is also a bartender at Chicago restaurant Marisol.

Originally broadcast on Peak Time on Red Bull Radio on November 26, 2018. Hosted and edited by Vivian Host. Engineered by Ryan Woodhall. Produced by Sara Casella.

Peak Time Live: Chicago Chefs

Radio shows & audio interviews of your fav musicians by Vivian Host, a music journalist and DJ. Archives of Peak Time (a daily radio show I hosted on Red Bull Radio) as well as The Vortex, The Slice and more. Check out my DJ mixes & original tracks on Soundcloud here > @stareyes

Popular tracks by Vivian Host