We had the good fortune of connecting with Dave Hughes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dave, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?
There’s no finish line. Once you’ve found something you’re good at that brings you joy and helps your community, it’s essential to keep doing whatever that is as long as you’re able to. As artists, we sometimes tell ourselves that our work achieves all that, but if we’re being honest, creating and sharing music is only checking one of those boxes. Artists yearn to create; it’s self-serving, regardless of how others connect with it. Sure, the more art that’s out there, the better the world is, but that’s a kind of a copout for those unwilling or unable to do more. Maybe it’s the activist in me, but I yearn to build and foster community as much as I do to create.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Most strangers who know of me know me as the voice of The Beat of Diablo, an FM radio show that broadcasts out of the East Bay in Diablo Valley, playing exclusively local, independent music. Some know me as the guy whose penned a local music column of the same name that’s appeared in a couple small newspapers over the years. Some know me as the organizer or emcee for various community concerts held in Todos Santos Plaza in downtown Concord. I’ve come to learn people often assume this linda work is how I make a living, which is not the case. In fact, I took a 20% pay cut to explore these different platforms for local music discovery.

The truth is I have a day job like most folks. I’ve worked in facilities for a law firm in San Francisco for over 20 years. When the pandemic hit, I was furloughed, which introduced me to something I never experienced in my adult life: free time. I quickly filled that time with something very satisfying that set me on a path. I organized some hyper-local musicians – each with their own music networks – to create a virtual concert series called Concord Couch Concerts (CCC), which yielded 30 productions during the lockdown and raised thousands for local charities. A lot happened during this time. I developed production skills, project management skills, social media promotion techniques, and networking.

I also developed an addiction to the process. I took a lot of joy in working all week to create something entertaining, that was compromised entirely of the talent and creativity of an ever-growing network of local, independent artists. Eventually, things began to open back up and we had to end our glorious run.

Toward the end of the CCC run, I was approached by a local publisher to write about local music in his monthly periodical. We never discussed pay, so I was writing “The Beat of Diablo” for free for a while before deciding to take the column elsewhere for modest compensation. Around the same time, an all-volunteer FM radio station in Concord had recently reformatted and was seeking community input. I approached the station manager to gauge his interest in featuring local music, which ultimately gave way to my weekly radio show “The Beat of Diablo.”

I’ve since aired the original music of well over 500 unique Bay Area bands and artists, and continue to add to that list every week. Each new episode first airs Sunday nights at 7PM. On countless Monday morning BART commutes, I’ve been treated to social media videos of musicians emotionally reacting to being on the radio the night before. That fuels me. It’s amazing that FM radio can still get that kind of enthusiasm. It gives me hope that independent music can one day be the driving force behind a public radio renaissance.

I wasn’t furloughed forever, obviously. Once I had to return to work full-time in the office, I found myself working on the show, the paper, the website, and promotional stuff every night and all weekend. While I did enjoy the work, it was no way to live. I felt torn between commitments – one to my employer, and the other to the independent music community. The former was my livelihood and the later was my passion. As I procrastinated on the dilemma, I continued to burn the candle at both ends, with virtually no time for my family, friends, or partner. Something had to give.

Ultimately my employer agreed to let me go down to part-time (80%) allowing me one day a week to focus on everything related to my local music efforts. Fortunately for me, I could afford to absorb the impact on my income. This has been the arrangement for a few years now, and I must admit my mental well-being is vastly improved. The 9-5 commuter life didn’t allow me time to explore a passion project with any serious level of commitment. I finally found myself doing what I love, without quitting my dayjob. This is the right balance for me.

Unfortunately, the newspaper I’ve been writing for these last four years recently folded. While I’m happy to continue the column with another periodical, I don’t feel a need to shop it around. Instead, I see that closed chapter as another opening; more bandwidth to explore other platforms for local music discovery.

It’s not lost on me that my local music platforming is primarily on dead or dying media (print, radio, etc), which has certainly come with its share of challenges. Numerous times over the years my radio station was at risk of closure, and each time I organized very public campaigns to do what was needed to keep it going. Reliably, people delivered when called upon, illustrating to me that when your work is in service to your community, community has your back,

I think in the work that I do with showcasing local music on FM radio, public access television, and writing about it in community newspapers, I have demonstrated that there remains healthy ways to celebrate community and promote output “offline” that reaches audiences who’d otherwise never know about what you might be pushing out on social media only. I’m helping local musicians find audiences they weren’t considering. This is only possible because of public access to community media. Especially in today’s climate, it’s more important than ever to protect public media.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shoutout to Nic Taylor of Up the Creek Records (Walnut Creek) for embracing the local music scene; for having an extensive local music section at his record shop; for keeping skate punk culture alive; for being a business owner unwilling to shy away from progressive ethos; and for extending live music to the youth by creating the first all ages music venue in Diablo Valley in a couple generations.

Shoutout to Jacob Schmidt of Ozcat Radio (Vallejo) and Talking Schmidt Live at the Complex for doing his part to showcase the underground music scene.

Shoutout to Kevin O’Connell and Justin Griggs of Minor Chord Records (Oakland) for helping active punk, indie, and alternative bands from all over the Bay Area and beyond connect with one another, and foster an inclusive music community that believes in the philosophy of “a rising tide lifts all boats”.

Website: https://DaveHughesMusic.com

Instagram: @thebeatofdiablo

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-hughes-6974695?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app

Other: TheBeatofDiablo.com

TheBeatofDiablo.bsky.social

Image Credits
Aliah Jameson took the one of me playing bass.

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