THE ACCASALYS RADIO SHOW (CKUT 90.3 FM) - 1994 to 1997

I co-hosted the Accasalys radio show on CKUT from 1994 to 1997. Without a doubt, I attribute much of my performance artist personality to the experiences I cultivated as a radio host during those years. This show and what we did with it was beyond what I could ever allow myself to do, responsibly, now as an adult. Seriously, it was totally insane, I still can't believe all the things we did...

There are more than enough stories from my time at CKUT to fill an entire chapter of my auto-biography. The station's security cameras captured the events of our legendary last show, the one we did before being fired... rumour has it that there is still a copy of that tape floating around somewhere. I don't know if I'll ever find it, though...

Accasalys was CKUT's most dangerous show. It reached extremes both musical and social, had an edge of menace, and caused more than a little hand-wringing for a series of programming directors.

There were many Saturdays nights, when I probably should have been out of the house, that I was home alone, with the radio on in the background. But the tone changed when Accasalys came on. It was impossible to ignore.

I never knew any of the bands they played. But it didn't matter, and ultimately Accasalys turned out to be a show less about music and more about ideas. They even played less and less music toward the end of their run. But rather than slowing down and losing my interest, it got that much more extreme, until finally Accasalys was more of a social experiment than a radio show. Which perhaps explains why it's no longer on the air.

- Gordon Krieger / researcher for CBC's Brave New Waves