After KCRW, Travis Holcombe Is Still Championing Music Discovery Beyond the Algorithm
Categoria: Musica
The former KCRW DJ has brought his beloved "Freaks Only" show to an internet radio format dedicated to the belief that music sounds better when a human is choosing what you hear.
Por Billboard | 05/11/2026
For five years in Los Angeles, Travis Holcombe soundtracked solo living room dance parties, time spent getting ready for a night out and drives across town. His curation was so exceptional that one often hoped the light would turn red so they could Shazam whatever he was playing. As the host of Freaks Only, his 8-10 p.m. weeknight radio show on KCRW, Holcombe provided the city’s unofficial nighttime listening — until he was among those who left the station amid October 2025 layoffs. The Santa Monica-based, globally known public radio station cited federal budget cuts as the reason for letting go of 10% of its staff, including several longtime DJs. Holcombe was offered the opportunity to stay on to do Freaks Only for one night a week, a demotion he passed on. After an extended back and forth with KCRW about using the “Freaks Only” name, it was eventually determined that Holcombe could have it. “I felt like the only way for me to be able to continue doing what I was doing was to kind of carve my own lane,” he says. And so while his 14-year tenure KCRW ended — from 2014 to 2020 he hosted a 10 p.m. to midnight weeknight show under his own name, sharing the 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 slot during the pandemic and then taking it over this slot full time with Freaks Only in 2021— Freaks Only has not. In May, Holcombe launched Freaks Only FM , an online radio station that’s expanded the show into a 24-hour format. Available to stream from the site and via an app, Holcombe runs the station from his home, keeping it going through donations and a growing subscriber base. He reports that subscribers, total listeners and listening hours have all grown every month since the launch. “I know there are enough people who appreciated what I was doing that it would hopefully be enough to keep this afloat independently,” says Holcombe. He continues with a laugh that “if I don’t do this, I probably have to get some job I’m less excited about — I’m trying to avoid that.” One can understand why he’s working to maintain the position, as digging through new music and playing the best stuff for listeners is, seemingly, a dream job. It’s also a lot of work. Holcombe spends at least two hours a day listening to new music on music sites and via radio promos that are sent to him. With 24 hours a day of time to program, he typically makes four new hours of programming daily (eight hours will happen occasionally when the show just needs a polish from work done the day before.) Shows are pre-recorded, but, he says, “I approach it the way I did my live show at KCRW, and it’s often finished minutes before it airs.” From 8 a.m. to noon he plays a block called The Percolator, made of funk, indie rock, older favorites, more chill music to start the day, from noon to 8 p.m. the station plays its flagship show Freak Parade, which he says “goes anywhere genre-wise and is most similar to the old Freaks Only show on KCRW,” leaning into electronic, but also fe