Know a KAOS DJ: K Punk, The Sound
/What’s your name?
My name is Karissa, I go by K.Punk on air
What’s Your Show Called?
The Sound, you can hear my show *almost* every Thursday from 8-10pm PST
What’s Your Show About?
My show began with a focus on Pacific Northwest music of all genres, and I named my
show “The Sound” after the Puget Sound. After returning to the studio from my
pandemic hiatus, The Sound has evolved to include music from beyond the PNW with
an emphasis on live in studio performances. In 2025 I will have had 11 live
performances on The Sound! When not having a live performance, I enjoy sharing
music of all genres with my listeners primarily rock, jazz, experimental, folk, funk and
punk.
When and how did you start at KAOS?
I started volunteering at KAOS in fall 2012, when I was a senior at Tumwater High
School. I’d planned on going to Evergreen since I was in 5th grade, so I wanted to get
involved at TESC and fulfill my volunteer hours for graduation requirements. I started by
processing new music with Nicki our Music Director at the time, then I did the DJ
training program, subbed a few shows, did event tabling and passed the on air training
in June 2013 when I was graduating from THS and SPSCC as a running start student.
My first official edition of The Sound was on September 12, 2013. During my 2 years as
an Evergreen student I had a work study job as the Media and Outreach Coordinator.
The only break I have taken longer than a couple weeks was my 3.5 year hiatus during
the height of COVID. I did my last pre Covid show March 5, 2020, and then I opted to
stay home the next week and didn’t get back on air until September 28, 2023.
Do you remember the first song you ever played on-air?
I don’t remember the exact first song I played on air cause it wasn’t logged on spinitron.
My first on air experience was so much fun, it definitely got me hooked on radio! When I
started at KAOS, the only class I had in high school was concert band, and Rookie
Radio show overlapped with 6th period band. On January 16, 2013 I was a few weeks
into on air training and Ruth (our Training Operations Manager at the time) asked me if I
wanted to go on air because the trainee scheduled for Rookie Radio couldn’t make it. I
said yes and called the band director and told him I wasn’t going to make it to band
today because I was going to be playing jazz on the radio! I went through the Jazz CDs
and pulled albums by Ornette Coleman, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Branford
Marsalis, John Coltrane, Hubert Laws, Charles Lloyd, Bert Wilson and Dan Blunck. It
was such a blast, I think I have the show recorded on cd somewhere. After that first day
on air, I was thinking about what kind of show I wanted to have. I have thought about a
jazz and instrumental show, if I ever wanted to do 2 shows that’s what my second show
would be. But I ultimately settled on PNW music as the focus.
What’s the most memorable moment you’ve had live on the air?
In the 12 years since the first time being on air, there’s been a lot of memorable
moments for sure! Every live performance and interview has been a blast! Sometimes I
get calls on air from listeners to let me know they are enjoying the show, that makes me
happy.
How do you prepare for a show — or do you just wing it?
I’m a mood listener and I love music from a wide range of genres; every show is based
around the vibe I’m feeling at the moment. I wing it almost every time I’m on air, but
since I’ve been doing my show for over 10 years I feel really comfortable in the studio.
When I came back to KAOS in September 2023, it felt like no time had passed even
though I hadn’t been on air for 3.5 years. I’ve done themed shows where I have a
playlist picked out. Early on I’d make playlists and load it to my iPod, because I had
people send me their songs or ask for requests that weren’t in the KAOS library. One of
my favorite themed shows was in 2014, I did Bumbershoot show of all the PNW artists
playing with my best friend who was a DJ at 89.3 FM KUGS while a student at Western!
What’s something you wish more people knew about community radio?
That we exist! I think a lot of people don’t know about community radio stations or
college radio stations. So many of us have gotten used to streaming online or listening
to the same music we have for years (I’m definitely guilty of that!) Radio used to be one
of the only ways people heard new music, but with social media and streaming services,
it’s easy and convenient to listen to the same stuff on repeat and not find new music.
Especially music recommended by a real person not just an algorithm or an AI DJ.
There’s so much music out there being put out by artists that we may never hear on the
commercial stations. That’s why we need community radio, to have human DJs with
different show themes playing music that people might not have heard before or might
not make it on commercial airwaves. That one of the things I love about KAOS is that
whether there’s a live DJ in the air studio or not, a real human picked out the music, not
an algorithm.
What’s the last song you completely fell in love with?
That’s a tough one, but I’ve been really vibing with Talking Heads lately. Artists Only has
become a mantra for me as an artist myself, the lyric “I don’t have to prove that I am
creative” really stuck with me.
What record made the biggest impact on your life?
There’s so many, but one of the most important records to me is the first album I heard
after being born. My parents are both artists, my mom is a photographer and my dad is
a saxophone player. He brought a boombox and some of his favorite jazz albums to the
delivery room and after I was born the first music I heard first was A Love Supreme by
John Coltrane. It’s one of my favorite jazz albums of all time.
What was your first concert?
I can’t remember which was first but, in middle school I saw Ornette Coleman at the
Portland Jazz Festival and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band at the Washington Center
for the Arts. Being the daughter of a jazz musician, most of my early live music
experiences were going to my dad’s gigs, he was in the band for Harlequin’s Stardust
productions in the early 2000s and some of their summer shows. First rock show was
The Briefs at Olympia Film Society in 2006 I think.
What music-related hill will you die on?
I’m not a fan of the term “guilty pleasure” in regards to music; I don’t you shouldn’t feel
guilty about enjoying music. Music is such a personal experience, and we all relate to
music differently. Just because I like something, doesn’t mean you have to like it and
vice versa. I genuinely enjoy music from pretty much every genre out there, and I don’t
think that personal aesthetics always go hand in hand with personal music taste.
What’s your favorite local music memory?
A lot of my favorite local music memories involve watching my dad (Dan Blunck) play.
He studied with the late Bert Wilson in the early 2000’s. Going to my dad’s gigs at
Studio 321 and the Stardust Christmas shows at Harlequin. He played at the Oly Free
Jazz festival a few years back too. I need to go to more shows locally, I’m such a
homebody. I enjoyed the KAOS concert at OFS in 2023 with Oh, Rose and Jack
Habegger’s Celebrity Telethon!
What’s your favorite local band or artist right now?
Some of my favorite local bands right now all performed live on The Sound in 2025!
Sunflower Season, Rosedust, Storm Boy, A-Ron Gubbe Walter and The Zips, Canyon
Drive, Ponty’s Revenge, Zailee Haze, Trash Panda Go Kart, GRRRizzly, Erina and
Etnos!
What genre do you secretly know way too much about?
Probably 2000’s Pop, Pop Punk and Free Jazz.
What artist do you like that would surprise your audience and friends the most?
It would probably surprise my audience that I like a lot of Top 40 pop, like Chappel
Roan, Charli XCX, and Sabrina Carpenter, but my friends already know that. I don’t
think I could surprise my close friends, they know I have the one of widest ranges of
music taste in our friend group haha I’m all over the place with my music taste.
What artist do you *not* like that would surprise your audience and friends the
most?
I definitely have strong opinions on music but I’m also pretty open to most music, and I
have grown to like things that I didn’t used to over time. But the main genre I don’t like is
country songs about cold beer haha
If you could interview any musician—living or dead—on your show, who would it
be?
This is a tough one! I’d have to say Chris Cornell.
What are a few of your desert island discs? (5 to 10)
I think this was one of the hardest questions to answer! I could probably pick 5-10
for every genre, but I tried to pick ones for different moods/vibes and to represent
a wide range of my favorite genres. Each album is a no skip album for me, I
couldn’t narrow down past 15. Ideally on this mythical desert Island I have access
to all the media I would want to consume (books, film, music etc) Here’s a small
slice of some my favorite albums in no particular order:
1. A Love Supreme – John Coltrane
2. Bitches Brew – Miles Davis
3. Jaco Pastorius – Jaco Pastorius
4. The Car – Arctic Monkeys
5. From Under the Cork Tree – Fall Out Boy
6. American Idiot – Green Day
7. The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess – Chappell Roan
8. Icky Thump – The White Stripes
9. Sound and Color – Alabama Shakes
10. In Rainbows – Radiohead
11. The B-52’s – The B-52’s
12. She’s So Unusual – Cyndi Lauper
13. Comfort Eagle – CAKE
14. Tragic Kingdom – No Doubt
15. Superunknown - Soundgarden
Finally, what do you imagine your show will look and sound like 5 years from
now?
I think The Sound will look and sound very similar, the main change I wanted to make
was expanding the mile radius of my show to include the whole globe rather than just
Washington and Oregon. This helped me to be able to play a lot more music that I enjoy
and still be able to have an emphasis on independent music.
I started having live performances and interviews on my show more often this year, and
I hope to increase the number of live guests! I had 11 live performances/interviews and
3 additional interviews about some local music events. So far I have 7 live
performances booked in the first 3 months of 2026! Any solo artists or bands interested
in being a guest on The Sound (preferably live, but prerecorded sets are welcome too)
can connect with me on Instagram @dj_kpunk or via email at kpunk.kaos@gmail.com
