Matt Bonner is known in many circles as the “NBA Indie Ambassador,” and his recent visit to KRTU’s studios confirmed this moniker. Music For Listeners host, Michael Thomas, tracked down the Red Mamba at a Low Country show a few months ago and booked him for a guest hosting session. Bonner showed up with a long playlist of tunes and a lot of thought put into each selection, providing a salient, personal backstory for each track on the playlist.
Matt Bonner reviewing production notes with the KRTU staff.
One of the themes of this broadcast is the increase in accessibility of music over the years and the various avenues Bonner used to discover new artists. Bonner speaks about going to the CD store and tuning into the radio to find new music while growing up in New Hampshire. After the session, he asked Constantine and me to text him recommendations via Spotify or Apple Music links.
KRTU Student Manager and Host, Constantine Kouldukis with DJ Red Mamba aka Matt Bonner
Addressing the digitally-driven explosion in his ability to find new music, Bonner also spoke extensively about attending live shows and interacting with artists. While playing for the Raptors in Toronto, Bonner experienced a personal renaissance in his music taste when he began seeing artists play live. Since then, Bonner’s charity, the Rock On Foundation, has hosted numerous benefit concerts with a variety of indie artists, with proceeds going to the Boy’s and Girl’s Club - a charity highly important to Bonner.
After leaving Toronto to become San Antonio’s most famous redhead, Bonner continued attending live shows and shared a particularly funny story about an Arcade Fire show in Memphis he attended with teammate Richard Jefferson during the infamous 2011 playoff series against the Grizzlies. Tune in to 91.7 FM on Thursday, June 7th, at 10 p.m. to hear the full story!
The three hour session features lots of witty banter, deeply personal stories, and a lot of great music only heard here on KRTU, Music for Independent Listeners.
Matt Bonner and the KRTU team.