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Kurt St. Thomas

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Kurt St. Thomas
Born (1963-08-05) August 5, 1963 (age 61)
Virginia, United States
EducationBA, Ashland University (1985)
Occupation(s)Filmmaker, author, radio DJ
Employers

Kurt St. Thomas is an American filmmaker, author and radio DJ who has worked in the radio and music industry since 1985. During his time at the radio station WFNX in Boston he became acquainted with the band Nirvana, and was the first person to play the album Nevermind on the radio. St. Thomas later interviewed the band for Nevermind It's an Interview and co-authored the book Nirvana: The Chosen Rejects.[1]

Early life

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St. Thomas was born in Virginia and raised in Pennsylvania. He attended Ashland University, graduating with a BA in radio and television in 1985.[2]

Radio career

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After college, St. Thomas worked at Syracuse radio station WAQX-FM in 1985, then moved to work at WGIR-FM in Manchester, New Hampshire, in 1986.[2]

From 1987–1995, St. Thomas worked at WFNX in Boston, serving as the station's program, music, and production director.[1][3]

In 2005, St. Thomas started working at KROQ as a disc jockey, but left at the end of 2008 to join Indie 103.1 KDLD in Los Angeles.[4] Following Indie 103.1's format change to Spanish in January 2009, he launched Houndstooth Radio, an internet radio station broadcasting from the garage of his house; the station featured mostly new independent artists.[5][4] He later returned to KROQ and produced a show called Jonesy's Jukebox with Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols; he then spent seven years doing weekends and fill-in at KROQ.[2][5]

On August 17, 2012, WFNX, now an internet-only station, re-hired St. Thomas as its executive music producer. He worked there until the station was shut down five months later.[1]

Relationship with Nirvana

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St. Thomas became interested in the band Nirvana after their 1989 debut album Bleach and meeting the band backstage after a concert in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the same year. At 7 pm on August 29, 1991, St. Thomas over the WFNX airwaves gave Nirvana's album Nevermind its world premiere by playing the album from start to finish.[6] He invited the band to play at the WFNX's anniversary party the night before the album was released.[1]

In 1992 he was asked to record with Nirvana the band's official interview album: Nevermind It's an Interview.[7][1]

In 2004, he also co-authored a book about the band Nirvana: The Chosen Rejects with Troy Smith.[8][9]

Film career

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Captive Audience

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In 1996, St. Thomas began collaborating with Mike Gioscia in making what would become the feature film Captive Audience. The black and white film focused on a strange bond between an overnight disc-jockey and a gun-toting intruder.[10] The film won seven international Film Festival awards including Board Of Directors Award Nashville Film Festival 1999,[11] three at the 1999 Planet Indie Film Festival in Toronto, Best Feature Editing Rhode Island International Film Festival 2000[12] and Best Feature Magnolia Independent Film Festival 2000.[13]

The Red Right Hand

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The Red Right Hand is a horror film that takes place in 1978, and centers around five friends who reunite for their 15th high-school reunion. The film, starred John Doe, Edmund Lyndeck and Jeena Stern, was shot over 27 days and was primarily filmed in the old Metropolitan State Hospital in Waltham, Massachusetts. Its name was derived from the lyrics of a Nick Cave song.[14]

D.O.A.

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St. Thomas directed the 2022 film noir titled D.O.A., a loose remake of the 1950 noir of the same name. Set in 1949 St. Augustine and shot in black and white, the film follows a private detective who discovers he has been fatally poisoned and must solve the mystery of his own murder. It starred John Doe, Lucinda Jenney, John Byner, Jake La Botz, and Matt Pinfield.[15] It won awards at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, Montreal Independent Film Festival, Vegas Movie Awards, Magnolia Independent Film Festival, and Flagler Film Festival, among others.[16][17][18]

Other projects

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After leaving WFNX, St. Thomas went on to work for Clive Davis at Arista Records in 1995.[19][5]

In 2001, he began working as an executive for the indie record label Tommy Boy Music.[5] While at Tommy Boy, he directed music videos for the label's artists, Rustic Overtones.[20]

Filmography

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  • (1999) Captive Audience[21]
  • (2004) The Red Right Hand[22]
  • (2020) The Last[23]
  • (2022) D.O.A.

Discography

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Music videos

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Year Song Artist[24][25]
1999 "I Wanna Make You" Orbit
2000 "Hit the Ground" 6Gig
2001 "C'mon" Rustic Overtones[26]
"Combustible"
2002 "Everybody Lets Me Down" J Mascis + The Fog
"Monkey Man" Reel Big Fish
"At the Party" Northern State[27]
"Frustrated Unnoticed" Damone
"The Bell" Stephan Said
2003 "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows" Brand New[28]
"Hey Driver" Lucky Boys Confusion[29]
2004 "Save You" Hot Rod Circuit
2005 "Back to Me" Kathleen Edwards[30]
2006 "Signing Emo" MC Lars[31]
2012 "Hyperactive" The Dollyrots
2020 "See The Light" Orbit

Interview CDs

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Legendary program director Kurt St. Thomas returns as executive produ…". archive.li. 2012-12-16. Archived from the original on 2012-12-16. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  2. ^ a b c "10 Questions with ... Kurt St. Thomas". All Access. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  3. ^ Anderson, Heather (March 5, 1995). "FNX is a winner again". North Shore Sunday.
  4. ^ a b "Angie C- Get Your Daily Dose of This Radio Host Q&A". That's It LA. 1 April 2010. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d "Phoenix Media launches WFNX.com | Radio & Television Business Report". www.rbr.com. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  6. ^ Bainbridge, Luke (2007-08-29). "This Day In Music - 29 August". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  7. ^ Shuster, Fred (April 8, 1995). "Nirvana lives on after Cobain". Los Angeles Daily News. p. 6.
  8. ^ Crazy Horse, Kandia (22 May 2004). "Come As You Are: The crash and burn of a high-flying band". Washington Post. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  9. ^ Smith, Troy (2004-04-22). Nirvana: The Chosen Rejects (1st ed.). New York: St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 9780312206635.
  10. ^ Koehler, Robert (1999-08-09). "Captive Audience". Variety. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  11. ^ "Nashville Film Festival (1999)". IMDb. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  12. ^ "Awards at RIIFF". www.film-festival.org. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  13. ^ "Magnolia Independent Film Festival (2000)". IMDb. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  14. ^ "The Red Right Hand - NewEnglandFilm.com". NewEnglandFilm.com. 2002-02-01. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  15. ^ Gardner, Sheldon (30 May 2021). "St. Augustine to be featured in independent film 'D.O.A'". The St. Augustine Record. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  16. ^ Bhatnagar, Sheifalika (13 November 2023). "Award-winning 1950s Film Noir remake shot in St. Augustine comes to streaming". News 104.5 WOKV. Archived from the original on 21 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  17. ^ Anderson, Danielle (25 January 2023). "John Gotti, Psychotic Breaks, and D.O.A. Rule the Roost at Flagler Film Festival". Flagler News Weekly. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  18. ^ "Magnolia Film Festival". Starkville. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  19. ^ "New York, here he comes!". The Boston Globe. June 22, 1996.
  20. ^ "Rustic Overtones | Info". Rustic Overtones. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  21. ^ Gioscia, Mike; Thomas, Kurt St (1999), Captive Audience, Mike Gioscia, Kat Corbett, Michael Kevin Walker, retrieved 2018-07-10
  22. ^ Gioscia, Mike; Thomas, Kurt St (2001), The Red Right Hand, Abigail Morgan, Marc Ardito, Michael Kevin Walker, retrieved 2018-07-10
  23. ^ "The Last - Directed by Mike Gioscia & Kurt St. Thomas".
  24. ^ "Get to know... Kurt St. Thomas". Narrow Magazine. p. 29. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  25. ^ "Kurt St. Thomas". Discogs. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  26. ^ "The Gamble of Making Videos". Billboard. p. 94. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  27. ^ "Various – Attack Of The Killer Rock Sound". Discogs. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  28. ^ "Already Heard Of Underground Upstarts Brand New? Consider Yourself Lucky". MTV. Archived from the original on June 18, 2024. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  29. ^ Sanneh, Kelefa (23 May 2003). "Fashion Tip in Rap For Brooklyn Girls". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  30. ^ "Kathleen Edwards – In State". Discogs. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  31. ^ "MC Lars Sends Up Emo On New Single, Which Stars Fake Band Hearts That Hate". MTV. Archived from the original on October 6, 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  32. ^ Nevermind It's An Interview, DGC, retrieved 2018-07-16
  33. ^ "The Breeders - The Secret History Of The Breeders". Discogs (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-07-16.
  34. ^ "Frank Black - Conversation And Music With Frank Black". Discogs. Retrieved 2018-07-16.
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