Marion Hodges

Host of 'The Lab'

If you see live music in Los Angeles, you've probably seen Marion Hodges (The Lab, Sundays, 3-6am) -- either in her role as a blogger, a show promoter, or just a die-hard music fan, she is a ubiquitous presence at venues throughout the city.

Born in Atlanta and raised in a small suburban town called Jonesboro, Marion gravitated towards the arts at an early age.

“My mom was very committed to making sure that I was well rounded. I performed with the local children's choir, did several years of ballet, had a brief stint as an ice skater, an even more brief (and far more ill-fated) stint with soccer, musical theater, and finally more straightforward acting lessons. I moved to Los Angeles with my mom when I was 14 to pursue an acting career.”

Marion Hodges began her life at KCRW as a front desk volunteer in 2005. After a brief detour to New York, she returned the following year to a volunteer shift in the Music Library.

“Believe it or not, I thought that re-filing the CD's in the overflowing drawers, and keeping an eye on what all the DJ's were playing by tallying the playlists was what Heaven must be like. Needless to say, I loved it,” said Hodges.

In fact, a good portion of her Thanksgiving morning in 2006 was spent alone in the library tallying playlists, and listening to Pavement EP's, Pastels albums, and all manner of other records that she had yet to track down for her own collection. Eventually, she began to volunteer for various music programs, often coming into the studio as many as five nights on any given week to fill in for other volunteers at the last minute. In an even greater show of her dedication to the station, she decided to work off her volunteer hours to graduate from massage therapy school by easing the neck pains of the staff.

“I thought it would be a profession that I could maintain part time while pursuing other interests such as DJ-ing, and writing. That was a misguided judgment on my part.”

However, she did find time to put together a demo, with help from Anne Litt, and a new KCRW DJ was born. Marion is the current Monday morning production assistant for Morning Becomes Eclectic, a position she's held off and on for almost three years now, and one that she plans to hold onto until sleep deprivation inevitably forces her into retirement.

Her latest venture is a collaboration with several local DJ friends including members of Part Time Punks called Hungry Beat!, a monthly indie-pop/Northern Soul dance party that takes place on the third Saturday of the month at La Cita in Downtown Los Angeles. If you haven't seen her yet, now you know where to find her.