Here's what Radio K Volunteers have to say about the sessions that make up SOAM 5...

"Soooo, I have no idea how to 'engineer' a band in Studio K. But when Saxon Shore visited the Radio K studios, I started hovering hardcore. When they started sound checking, I only semi-reluctantly took control of the board at the suggestion of my good friend Amy (the real engineer). I mean, this is one of the key bands that influenced my friend Joe and I to start an entire show on Radio K dedicated to epic instrumental music ­ Now Like Photographs. I never engineered a band before them and probably will never again, but I think it's better that way. It makes the memory that much more EPIC."

-Chris Polley
Radio K Music Director

"Trampled by Turtles were the first band to appear live on Radio K's Grain Elevator. The Minnesota bluegrass scene is pretty hot, and TbT were among the best new acts around. I contacted the band after reviewing their cd Blue Sky and the Devil and asked them to play on the show during Powersurge. It worked out to be a good arrangement. They played four tunes, including their Top 7 song (Burn for Free). Codeine is one of the most up-tempo songs on the album, but the band played it even faster for us. Their performance is one of my favorite mixes by the Radio K engineers. The individual instruments are heard clearly, especially the mandolin high notes. The banjo line is like a roller coaster and the vocals blend sweetly. After the performance, the band chatted with the Grain Elevator and some very happy Powersurge listeners received the band's CD."

-Paul Robinson
former and founding host of Radio K's Grain Elevator

"On the first Friday of each year, we celebrate Local Music Day, where we have one performance from Studio K… every hour, for 7 hours! It's quite hectic. The final artist of LMD 2005, Cloud Cult, was scheduled to play at 4pm. Expected and unexpected delays throughout the day added up, so that as the band played, we were getting dangerously close to the 5pm AM signoff, and we feared that we’d have to cut the band off in the middle of their set. Their final song, All Together Alone, finished up literally seconds past 4:59pm. The band ran down the hall for their interview, and I started breathing again."

"Metric came in to Studio K for a morning performance. How any rock band is willing or able to play a full-band set at such an hour, on a touring schedule, I'll never know. But they were in good spirits, putting up with a headphone system that didn't get along with the band's synthesizers. I hosted the morning show at the time, and was also the only engineer in the building. So at 9am, after signing off in Studio 4, I rushed down the hall, and recorded my all-time favorite Studio K session. SOAM 4 had just been finalized, and would be released in just a few weeks, I clearly remember saying, some two and a half years ago to anyone who would listen: 'Mark my words, Dead Disco is going on volume 5.'"

-Mark LaCroix
Engineer and SOAM 5 Project Coordinator

More to come...