{"id":32,"date":"2025-12-31T01:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T01:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deeptimevt.com\/mochitapes\/?p=32"},"modified":"2026-06-14T19:32:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T19:32:07","slug":"september-10th-1997-4-ik-88-5-fm-glacier-city-radio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deeptimevt.com\/mochitapes\/2025\/12\/31\/september-10th-1997-4-ik-88-5-fm-glacier-city-radio\/","title":{"rendered":"Tuesday September 2nd 1997 – 4 IK – 88.5 FM Glacier City Radio"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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At 7:44 AM on Tuesday, September 2, 1997, the airwaves of 88.5 Glacier City Radio\u2014a pirate station broadcasting from a turret on a house in the ski town of Girdwood, Alaska\u2014began to vibrate with a specific, caustic energy. The host, Mochi, opened the broadcast as the sun started its climb over the mountain peaks, grounding the morning in the astrological context of the 10th degree of Virgo. This day\u2019s glyph, characterized by two heads looking out and beyond the shadows, served as the foundational metaphor for a world struggling to transcend duality while still deeply immersed in it. As a media historian looking back at these tapes found in a cardboard box in a valley cabin, one can hear the DIY grit of the era in the technical glitches and the raw, unpolished transitions that defined the Girdwood Community Club\u2019s pirate project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The broadcast immediately confronted the global mourning of Princess Diana, utilizing the Virgoan “two heads” metaphor to analyze the fracturing duality of celebrity and the masses. Mochi argued that as humanity worships these external icons, we dissipate our own divinity, creating a modern pantheon of martyrs who are built up and torn down within a single generation. This loss represents a moment where society is running out of objective absolutes, reaching the limits of the material realm. The hunger of the paparazzi is framed not just as a tabloid pursuit but as a destructive force that has consumed the coveted, leaving the cultural source anchorless. In this 1990s paradigm shift, the host urged listeners to wake up to the “celebrity within” rather than chasing the shadow of a demigod desperately fleeing the vicarious demands of a stagnating soul. The death of Lady Di is positioned as a catalyst to stop asking how the world works and start asking what is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This transition from cultural mourning to internal seeking moved through what Mochi called the vibrational tones of the “fire,” a concept synthesized through the lyrics of Lou Reed. The archivist notes the repetitive vocal tic of “Heat” that punctuated the set, signaling a move into a space of purification. To pass through this fire, one must navigate a maze of self-doubt, moving through stages of being humble, feeling arrogance, experiencing hurt, and finally embracing self-deprecation. This fire is described as an all-consuming force where the seeker must start from zero over and over again as the smoke clears. Yet, this is not a destructive wall but a door identified as passion. One cannot remain the same after the fire licks their lips; they must instead learn to savor the magic that allows them to survive their own internal wars, acknowledging that there is always some loss to even things out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The philosophical weight of the morning was tethered to the hyper-local rhythms of the Girdwood valley. Between tracks, Mochi shared the mundane and the musical, noting that the Girdwood library was facing an unforeseen closure, which pushed the deadline for children\u2019s summer reading charts to Wednesday, September 3. Listeners were encouraged to send public service announcements to Post Office Box 29 or call 754-2489\u2014the “Ski City” line\u2014to train as DJs. The host\u2019s own voice carried the exhaustion and inspiration of a recent road trip, mentioning a four-o\u2019clock-in-the-morning piano jam captured on a Walkman at the Fairview Inn in Talkeetna. This was contrasted with a “mysterious” live recording of the Photon Band\u2019s original tune, “Mystic Traveler,” taped in Homer a couple of weeks prior. Even the human errors of the broadcast added to the archival texture, such as when Mochi had to skip an Indigo Girls track after spotting an “orange label” indicating a dirty word, pivoting instead to a different Amy Ray song to keep the morning\u2019s frequency stable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the broadcast neared 9:00 AM, the music of Roger Waters, Lou Reed, and Kurt Cobain was played as a deliberate funeral rite\u2014a sonic burial of the celebrity symbol within the collective consciousness to make way for an emerging divinity. Mochi framed these sounds as a tribute to the “martyrs of our generation,” asserting that every death is also a rebirth into a new paradigm. The final reflections of the morning emphasized that while the material world may burn or move toward a final “sunset,” there remains a bit of magic in everything. The broadcast closed with the invitation to “rock” into the unknown, leaving the Girdwood listeners to watch the sun fully crest the peaks as the pirate signal hummed with the potential for internal transformation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At 7:44 AM on Tuesday, September 2, 1997, the airwaves of 88.5 Glacier City Radio\u2014a pirate station broadcasting from a turret on a house in the ski town of Girdwood, Alaska\u2014began to vibrate with a specific, caustic energy. The host, Mochi, opened the broadcast as the sun started its climb over the mountain peaks, grounding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"https:\/\/deeptimevt.com\/mochitapes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/9.2.97_4IK_podcast.mp3","cover_image":"https:\/\/deeptimevt.com\/mochitapes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/4_IK_podcast-mp3-image-scaled.png","cover_image_id":"35","duration":"1:38:09","filesize":"133.43M","date_recorded":"2025-12-30","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"3","itunes_title":"Tuesday September 2nd 1997 - 4 IK - 88.5 FM Glacier City Radio","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"full","filesize_raw":"139913314","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"series":[3],"class_list":["post-32","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","series-the-mochi-tapes"],"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/deeptimevt.com\/mochitapes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/4_IK_podcast-mp3-image-scaled.png","download_link":"https:\/\/deeptimevt.com\/mochitapes\/podcast-download\/32\/september-10th-1997-4-ik-88-5-fm-glacier-city-radio","player_link":"https:\/\/deeptimevt.com\/mochitapes\/podcast-player\/32\/september-10th-1997-4-ik-88-5-fm-glacier-city-radio","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-mochi-tapes\/id1862516822","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/3SQEMsKS2XHM4YA1GYM6Dl","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/deeptimevt.com\/mochitapes\/feed\/podcast\/the-mochi-tapes","embedCode":"

Tuesday September 2nd 1997 – 4 IK – 88.5 FM Glacier City Radio<\/a><\/blockquote>