Just Do It

Fun Razor

by Lori Hill

Fri., Sept. 26, 9 p.m.-2 a.m., $10, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 215-739-9684, nexusphiladelphia.org

Nick Cassway wants to kick it old-school. "I'm hoping that there will be some kind of shift back to homegrown radio where you can feel a strong connection to your broadcaster," he says. His gallery, NEXUS, will try to do just that with its next venture, a two-month "freeform experimental radio" project with the gallery as a makeshift station starting in December.

On tap so far for special programming: Matthew Pruden's on-air séance; Jeb Lewis' "requiem" for North Philly's industrial history; and William "bilwa" Costa's improvised score using transistor radios, effects pedals and the gallery's natural resonance. Other folks will be spinning records, doing call-in shows and performing theater pieces, while Maria Moller is planning a Philly-oriented takeoff on NPR's "This American Life." More than 40 people have signed on — including artist Jody Sweitzer and poets CAConrad and Frank Sherlock — and NEXUS is still looking for participants to fill any dead air.

Want to participate? E-mail Costa at bilwa@nexusphiladelphia.org. Just want to support the effort? Go to the Fun Razor at Johnny Brenda's, which will be hosted by Doogie Horner of the Ministry of Jokes and feature performances by Pink Skull, Gemini Wolf, Persona, D*Star of the Free*Stars and DJ Royal T. Additionally, from 9 to 10 p.m., Jennie Thwing, J. Makary, Cassway and others will present video art.

"We wanted to make NEXUS radio kind of like a time machine in that the radio broadcast would be very localized and made by people from the area," says Cassway. "We also wanted it to be purely analog and not have an Internet stream. You will either have to be here in the local environment, or you miss out." Stay tuned, Philly, to see where to find NEXUS radio on the dial.