We are featuring Travis Hildenbrand in this month’s host feature! He is a co-host and producer of Live and Local alongside Albert Salinas, our operations manager. Travis is passionate about creative expression through the arts because it can connect us to the world around us. He expresses himself through music and drumming. Travis is currently a member of Collective Dreams, a local San Antonio band. He also writes and produces for the pop duo Firefly Cartel. Travis also enjoys kicking back with “the birds, brush, and bugs” in the natural world through gardening, walking, or spending time in the hill country.
When Travis was young, he and his sisters would watch music videos together on Saturday nights. They grew up in an area that had little to no internet connection, but programs like TVU’s Ten Most Wanted and Fuse’s Oven Fresh introduced Travis to all genres of music. This music kept his attention for the years to come. Travis “will always be an early 2000’s scream/post-hardcore kid at heart,” so he is always listening to groups like At the Drive-In, Thursday, and Dance Gavin Dance. He also is “always first in line for anything released by Kodak Black or Trippie Redd.”
Travis began listening to KRTU when he started driving. “The jazz programming was always a good vibe when cruising around as a high schooler and still is to this day.” Albert Salinas asked Travis to be involved in the Live and Local show two years ago. Travis had been a big fan of the Live and Local programming for many years, so he “jumped at the opportunity.” He was excited to be involved with a show that supports Texas musicians as well as projects he and his community are involved in. Live and Local’s platform was and is very special to him.
“The Live and Local show is dedicated to listening to Texas music and talking to Texas artists. If it’s made in Texas, we play it.” Live and Local has been a part of the Indie Overnight programming for a long time, so when Travis and Albert took over, they wanted to do it justice as well as bring more variety to the overall program. They made the change from featuring only San Antonio artists to including the whole state of Texas in order to expose themselves and listeners to more voices, ideas, and music. This idea of inclusivity is found in the genres played on the show from hip-hop to punk, drone, post-rock. “The sounds are as varied as the Texas landscape from which they are birthed.” Travis and Albert keep a running Spotify playlist with the featured artists, here. Travis and Albert keep up with new releases through bandcamp, social media, and person to person interactions. In most cases, if a local musician has a song or album they want to promote, they can get in touch with Travis and Albert. The Live and Local duo love to promote new music in order to support the San Antonio and Texas music scenes.
Travis and Albert also interview the artists “in order to gain a deeper appreciation of the musical context and a stronger connection to the artists who create” the music. Generally, the interviews revolve around two questions: “What makes this artist unique and what can we learn from their uniqueness?”. Travis explains his reasoning for these questions as follows, “Each of us has a one-of-a-kind life experience and perspective on the world around us. These artists are kind enough and brave enough to share that through their music. By conducting interviews that link the person to the performance, it allows us all to further appreciate our fellow Texans, acknowledge a diversity of ideas, expose ourselves to new perspectives, and provides context for our own place in the world.” Soon, Live and Local will include panel discussions in the programming such as Drummers of Texas or Punk artists of Texas. They “look forward to expanding the spirit of unity and inclusion through diversity.”
“Independent music is such a strong uniting force. In a world where division and isolation are prevalent, supporting the unification and inclusion of all people through the power of music is something that I am very passionate about - and KRTU shares that passion.”
– Travis Hildenbrand
Live and Local airs on Thursdays and Saturdays from 10-11pm. You can submit music or music requests to liveandlocalkrtu@gmail.com – they would love to hear from you! You can also check out the music Travis, Albert, and their bandmates create by listening to Collective Dreams on Spotify, Apple Music, or bandcamp.
