Bay Area alt-rock radio icon Axelsen dropped by Alt 105.3
Aaron Axelsen, a longtime fixture on Bay Area airwaves and an icon in the altrock radio world, has finally parted ways with Alt 105.3 radio station.
“Well my friends, after 23 years of annoying you on the Bay Area airwaves, my time has finally come to an end,” he said in a statement posted on social media Thursday. “Had an incredible ride tho!”
Axelsen had been the station’s music director/assistant program director, as well as one of its most wellknown on-air personalities. He was one of the holdovers from the legendary Live 105, which was the center of all things modern rock in the Bay Area for decades. But the station lost the Live and adopted the more-generic Alt brand in 2018, operating under the Entercom umbrella.
“It was quite simply a dream come true to work at my hometown station, one that I grew up listening to as a young new waver in Livermore, and my life was forever changed the day Live 105 was born back in October of 1986,” said the East Bay native, who is known to thousands of fans as DJ Aaron Axelsen.
Axelsen was involved in more than just what was played on air. He also helped organize the station’s two long-running music events — BFD, which was held annually at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View for years, and the ongoing holiday-time Not So Silent Night shows, which most recently took place at the SAP Center in San Jose.
The details about the parting of ways are unclear at this point. Attempts to reach Axelsen directly were unsuccessful, but it seems likely that Axelsen was part of companywide layoffs reportedly announced by Entercom CEO David Field on Thursday. “The amount of layoffs is extensive,” according to insideradio.com.
The Entercom layoffs also included the departure of longtime KCBS sports anchor Joe Salvatore and station reporter Bruce Macgowan.
“Entercom is the fourth major radio company to make extensive cuts this week in the wake of the COVID-19-fueled economic shutdown,” according to insideradio.com.
Still, Axelsen is exhibiting nothing but gratitude in what he’s posting online about leaving the station.
“From Live 105 to Alt 1053; from Subsonic to Soundcheck; from BFD to Not So Silent Night and everything in between, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a part of this magical journey with me,” he said. “And to all the extraordinarily talented radio minds I was lucky to work with throughout my career to this point — too many to name here — I thank you as well.
“But special love goes out to Richard Sands for taking a big gamble and chance on a young kid in 1997 by making him Music Director of a market No. 4 alternative juggernaut, Steve Masters for inspiring me to wanna become a radio DJ and Michael Martin for his invaluable tutelage and leadership.”
Beyond working at Alt 105.3, Axelsen is also a popular club/concert DJ, organizes regular live music shows through his Popscene events in San Francisco and maintains a busy schedule on local softball fields in the Bay Area. So, in other words, expect to see him around.
“What’s next?” he says. “Lots of family time for now with Olivia and baby Max and once this nightmare pandemic is over, back to Popscene, throwing parties, DJing and of course, lots and lots of softball (and then looking for my next gig, that actually might be a good idea as well).”