{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Todd Kurnat, aka Ink Letterman, aka DJ Circuit 73, Part 2 (S8E22)","description":"In Part 2, we begin with Todd and me rapping about how much digital technology has changed just in our lifetimes. Even when he was in school in Colorado, San Francisco had been a goal for Todd, a destination. He got his impression of The City from skateboarding magazines and TV shows. But before moving here, Todd went to Europe, as he puts it, \u201cchasing a girl.\u201d He even tried living overseas. When that didn\u2019t work out, he moved back to Grand Rapids to save money. In 2001, he made the big move west. When Todd arrived, he had a job already lined up for him. He just needed to find a place to live. He\u2019d respond to Craigslist ads for apartments, but when he showed up to look at one of them, a roommate situation, it had turned into a party. He got the place, his first San Francisco apartment, at Waller and Masonic. Todd takes a moment to reminisce about living in that area, which he\u2019s continued to do in the many years since he moved to San Francisco. His walk down memory lane leads us to the Lower Haight. Todd met a lot of cool people at that first SF job, a dotcom, naturally. One of those coworkers had a separate office space in the Lower Haight that served as an auxiliary pressing plant for a record-pressing company based in the Czech Republic. That coworker was bailing on their job and handed the space and the gig over to Todd. It put him face-to-face with musicians in need of vinyl to be pressed. He handled album art as well. His worlds of art and music were colliding in meaningful ways. He quit his dotcom job to do this new gig full-time under the name Circuit 73. More on that later. In addition to the record-pressing gig, Todd was doing flyer art for a friend\u2019s monthly zine as well as other various flyer work. He also did album artwork. Two friends who were new at the time were looking for a space to open a music gear store. They ended up in the same space in the Lower Haight where Todd based himself. Todd\u2019s graphic design work really started to take off around this time, the early 2000s. He\u2019d only been in San Francisco a couple of years, but Todd felt like he was where he needed to be. I ask Todd whether, all those years ago, he had a plan for how long he would try his new city out. He says he didn\u2019t, but back then, he felt like he wouldn\u2019t be here the rest of his life. And yet, more than 20 years later, here we are. Then we turn to one of Todd\u2019s alter egos\/pseudonyms\/whatever you wanna call its\u2014Ink Letterman. That persona was born when Todd got his first Instagram account, around 2014 or so. He wanted an alias, and landed on that. It took off around 2020, when he started doing mural work in the early days of the pandemic. Rewinding a bit, Todd started DJing under the name Circuit 73 (another alias) around 2005 or so. He eventually took a lot of time off from music, though. His growing collection of physical media started to make him anxious, so he stopped buying records. He also started a family in this time. Eventually, digital music platforms more or less solidified, so that helped. He also started listening to KUSF\/90.3 FM. Being in an office, sitting in front of a computer, it all led to burnout as well. His son was born in 2015 and he semi-retired from graphic design to focus on being a parent and leaning in more to his art (and away from design). Todd\u2019s art is part of a group show curated by Known SF and 415 Zine that\u2019s up now through August 24 at Mini Bar. Eventually, DJing came back into Todd\u2019s life. He\u2019s quick to give credit to KEXP\/92.7 FM for roping him back in. Another source of inspiration is his son, Oscar. He loves music as much as his dad does, and the two listen together quite a lot. Todd points to both the quantity and the quality of new music in the recent past. He\u2019s excited about a surge in old music being reissued as well. He\u2019s got a monthly gig, last Friday of every month, as DJ Circuit 73 at 540 Bar on Clement. And his radio show, Directions in Stereo, is on KXSF\/102.5 FM every Monday from 10 p.m. to midnight. We end the episode with Todd plugging himself. Follow him on Instagram @inkletterman. Find him on Soundcloud @circuit73. Photography by Dan Hernandez ","author_name":"Storied: San Francisco","author_url":"http:\/\/www.storiedsf.com\/","html":"