?

PRESS

Nastie's Nice
Infamous rock promoter hits the airwaves for a locals-only radio show.
Share

By Jason Handelsman
Published on December 11, 2007

If you're a local musician, or even just a dedicated showgoer, chances are that you are familiar with the man known as Notorious Nastie (www.myspace.com/notoriousnastiemusic). With his hoarse, Wolfman Jack-style voice, the infamous music promoter is taking over the airwaves with a weekly gig on the University of Miami's radio station, WVUM-FM 90.5, every Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m.

"I did a Halloween special with Otto Von Schirach on WVUM," he says. "The general manager of the radio station had some UM students that wanted to produce a local show. They needed someone with lots of knowledge about the local scene."

Notorious Nastie was born Nassie Shahoulian at Jackson Memorial Hospital, and grew up in Hialeah. His original calling, actually, was theater. "I won the Silver Knight Award for theater in 1994," Shahoulian says. "I went to a conservatory for working actors at NYU after high school, and then I dropped out because I'm a fucking loser. I came back to Miami."

In 2001 he formed a punk rock band called the Gimmicks, which led to his current field. "I didn't want to deal with dickhead promoters, so I would book my own shows," he says. "I formed a code of ethics. I always do everything that I agree to. I don't give runarounds. I make a deal that I can live with, and I stick to it."

As for his radio gig, on a recent Thursday evening at the Coral Gables station, about a dozen young minstrels are lined up outside the door to get some time on the air. Nastie takes off his shirt as he sits down, and begins babbling and gurgling into the microphone. Soon he moves on to his first interview, with a DJ who calls himself Dracula's Daughter. After the interview, Nastie plays the DJ's music, a mix of dark electronic sounds he spins at local goth-ish club nights like the Mausoleum.

"This is their chance to get exposure," Nastie says of the artists queuing up. "Bands are always welcome to come down to the station, and I will get them on the air." Local and international celebrities like Marky Ramone, Jeru the Damaja, and Dave Daniels (the owner of Churchill's) have all stopped by to chat on-air with Nastie.

"Everyone can gain something with this — the club owners, the bands, the people in the scene. That's what makes it such an exciting project," he says. "I have passed out millions of flyers in my career, promoting my shows and inevitably promoting the bands that I work with. With radio, you are blanketing the whole area, pushing the scene forward. I love getting calls and interacting with the listeners. I have also found a way to give bands exposure. I play local music that you haven't heard before. It's a breath of fresh air."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Go Ahead, Punk, Make My Movie
Local heroes and cool kids make a film!

Go Ahead, Punk, Make My Movie
Local heroes and cool kids make a film!

By John Linn
Published on January 14, 2009

Okay, here's the movie pitch: Take one part fetish vixen, Rubberdoll, and one part 600-plus-pound professional wrestler, Maximum Capacity. Top with a floater of creepy ghetto-bass purveyor Otto Von Schirach; add a splash of Miami promoter Notorious Nastie; garnish with the TM Sisters, Ted Vernon, and Sweat Records; then serve ice-cold all across the Design District, and what do you get? It's local filmmaker Aiden Dillard's magnum opus, Death Print! And a preview screening is headed to Sweat Records this Wednesday at 9 p.m. The ridiculously camp film is essentially a homage to classic, grindhouse-style action flicks such as the Death Wish series, only in this case, a grizzled Charles Bronson has been replaced by a cast of characters that could only be born out of Miami's most unique subcultures. Dillard, who recently screened his last Miami-based film, Special Angelz, at the Borscht Film Fest, wanted to create a blood-and-guts-heavy shoot-’em-up that would pay tribute to the local art and music scenes. The film ramps up when mysterious Communist photographer Arthur Basel (Nastie) murders Ted Vernon's daughter. In his quest for revenge, Vernon enlists the help of detectives Rubberdoll and Phlem (Maximum Capacity), who tangle with synchronized swimming vampires, kooky art dealers, and crazed club heads in order to find the killer. This Wednesday’s screening will showcase the first 40 minutes of the campfest, plus an additional set of scenes from throughout the film. The screening is free; just show up at Sweat Records, 5505 NE Second Ave., Miami. Visit aidendillard.com.
Wed., Jan. 21, 2009

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Have Yourself a Nastie Little Christmas
It’s the most wonderful time of the year

By Jason Handelsman
Published on December 20, 2007 at 3:00am

They say the suicide rate increases at yuletide, and you believe it as you walk the lonely streets of downtown Miami, kicking an empty soda can. Depression builds as you pass the Salvation Army lady with red cheeks who’s ringing her little bell outside Publix. A man on the dark corner is holding up a piece of cardboard that says, “Happy Holidays, Please Help.” You open your wallet and it’s empty. A dude with a Santa hat walks by singing “Jingle Bell Rock.” But wait! Isn’t that the infamous party promoter Notorious Nastie? “Follow me,” he says in his signature hoarse voice. “I’m throwing a Christmas party for scumbags like you.” He leads you into the dark club known as PS 14, and you suddenly feel good again.

At Nastie and Otto’s Christmas Extravaganza, performances will include “Jingle Bass” by Dynamix II, “Christmasouras” by Bubble Gum Octopus, “Hannukahcore” by DJ Schematico, and a duet titled “Nastie the Fatman” featuring Otto Von Schirach. Be there tonight at 9. For admission costs and more information, call 305-358-3600 or check out www.myspace.com/notoriousnastiemusic.
Sat., Dec. 22, 9 p.m., 2007