To Live & Defy in Los Angeles: Interview with Felicia Anja Viator

To Live & Defy in Los Angeles:
Interview with Felicia Angeja Viator

“One of the best parts about going to college in Los Angeles was KDAY, the radio station my friends and I listened to whenever we were in a car. Their DJs played mostly hip-hop, a mix of West Coast classics and newer rappers. Each track was so good that even when they went to commercials, we stayed tuned. Switching to the sugary Top 40 was like going from a crisp, sun-ripened slice of watermelon to an artificially flavored Jolly Rancher—shocking to the taste buds. It’s been almost a decade since I lived in LA and I can’t forget that station, 93.5, cruising through the city, listening to the music that defined it.

Earlier this spring I heard about Felicia Angeja Viator’s book, To Live and Defy in LA, a history of LA hip-hop in the 1980s, and immediately added it to my reading list. The first chapter opens in 1985 with “Greg Mack” Macmillan of KDAY redefining the station by playing “freestyle” and rap. I could barely believe that someone was writing about my beloved radio station, much less weaving its influence into a larger part of history…”

Interview with Felicia Angeja Viator about hip-hop, race tension in Los Angeles,
and how history repeats itself.

Read full text at Epiphany Magazine.

Runner, Not Only: Interview

Runner, Not Only: Interview

“The narrative form in the novel addresses a “you” throughout, which functions almost as Alana’s alienated inner monologue. While the novel never purports to be autobiographical, I was curious to what extent Alana is a representation of you?

I wrote the novel over the course of five years, partially because I was working full-time when I started, partially because the story kept developing, especially Alana’s character. There are certainly aspects of her personality—namely her teenager stoner dreams—that are similar to mine. But I’ve always been more interested in creating rather than transferring my life directly onto the page…”

Interview with Satisfy Running about writing, running, and finding The High.

Read full text here.