Today we’d like to introduce you to Austin Young.
Hi Austin, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
Originally, I started in the film industry as a production and camera assistant for reality and documentary series. I moved to Dallas in 2011. As fate would have it the first day I moved here, I met my wife (Veronica Young) and got involved in the online radio station she was at. From there, I worked with her on all her creative projects. After years and years of working on other people’s TV shows and passion projects, I thought it was time to do my own thing.
I’ve always had a completely different music taste than my friends and family, and I’ve always advocated for local music wherever I was in the world. At the time, I was listening to local radio shows and got upset by the lack of good, fast-paced music. It felt like punk and ska were always overlooked by every radio station and publication in Dallas. I made it my mission to start the show in order to boost the profiles of alternative musicians and finally make some friends with similar music tastes. To be honest, I just wanted the scene to grow and have fun without trying to monetize. I’m definitely not doing this to make a career out of it.
I sat on my hands for a while, thinking of what I could do. Luckily, my wife has always been my biggest fan and gave me the opportunity to do an online radio show on a station she was running in 2022/23, and thus The Austin Young Show was born.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Fuck no! It’s not been a smooth road. Right after I launched the show, I got hit by a drunk driver in February. My wife and me should have been dead but somehow miraculously survived. In retrospect, though, I’m not a religious man, but the music community support through that traumatic period touched me to my soul. I’ll never be able to pay back their kindness and generosity.
When I first started the show, it was for an online station. Unfortunately, that came with a whole set of rules and headaches. I had to decide if having a station produce my show was helping or hurting me. I finally decided it was the latter and needed to make a move to be more independent and less reliant on a platform I had no control or say over.
Unfortunately, when I left the station that meant I didn’t have a blanket music clearance. This meant I had to go band by band and get them to sign music releases so streaming platforms didn’t remove my show for copyright infringement. Some bands thought that by me asking them to sign a waiver I was somehow stealing their music. Which is bat shit crazy because all I wanted to do was promote and play the music I love.
Luckily for me, the DFW punk and ska scene is the most inclusive and loving scene I’ve ever been a part of. Most of the musicians and entertainers I’ve dealt with have made life easy and have helped me every step of the way.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Now I’m known for being a host or podcaster, but before the show, I hated being in front of the camera or microphone. Most people just knew me as “Veronica’s husband.” I always loved producing content for other people, and now it’s weird to think I’m on the other side.
I now specialize in promoting and showcasing the best music (in my opinion) from around my neighborhood in Deep Ellum and surrounding areas. I also help push brand-new music from the area to listeners from around the world. I have almost the same number of listeners in Europe as I do in DFW.
I think what sets me apart from others is my background in the media world. I’ve worked for MTV, Discovery, History, the BBC, and countless others. I’ve done everything from news to god-awful reality housewife shows. It set me up to bring a professionalism and finesse that are nonexistent in Dallas Punk and Ska media. I bring a slightly polished show to what is one of the most unpolished genres. I think it helps bring in new listeners who would have just labeled the genres beforehand as unattainable and gatekeeping. I’m simply trying to bring the music to the people if that’s not the most corniest answer ever!
What I’m most proud of is giving a lot of bands their first interviews or chance to showcase their art to the world. It’s so cool to be able to give bands a shot that the traditional Dallas media would completely write off before giving them a chance. The music these artists create is what energizes me and keeps me going.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
The Austin Young Show is one giant risk. The music I play is not known for being the most trendy or popular, but it’s what I fucking love! I could have played it straight and just played local country or whatever three-piece band the “local” radio station was salivating over at the time, but that would, in my mind, be the most boring and pointless thing I could have done. There are hundreds of people already doing that in Dallas alone.
I make sure to bring on guests that say and do things that might not go over well with others. But that’s the fun of this show. I’m not going to bring on a mindless drone promoting the same top pop songs over and over again. Although if Taylor Swift makes an SKA album, I’m here for it!
At the end of the day, making the show is a risk, and sometimes I’m scared to do it, and that feeling lets me know I must be doing something right.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.austinyoungshow.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theaustinyoungshow
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087660668783&mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/show/2jxdmNO7EYfr1A6Z5AKpEa?si=Q53gcReoRA6uJXhyWkcLzA
Image Credits
Veronica Young Fiesta Filmworks
