Award-Winning CJSR-FM DJ: Monday's Edmonton Pedestrian Death

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Award-Winning CJSR-FM DJ: Monday's Edmonton Pedestrian Death

Postby jon » Tue Jan 28, 2014 8:17 pm

Man killed in Whyte Avenue crosswalk remembered as passionate punk musician
By Cailynn Klingbeil, Edmonton Journal
January 28, 2014 8:02 PM

EDMONTON - A musician who played guitar and trumpet in a local band and hosted a weekly punk radio show was killed Monday afternoon when a car hit him in a marked crosswalk on Whyte Avenue.

David Finkelman played his last show Sunday night with post-punk band Energetic Action.

“Music connected him with so many people,” said Richard Liukko, a longtime friend of Finkelman’s who was at Sunday night’s show at Oliver Hall. “He was always on a quest for knowledge about music, and liked finding challenging pieces and sharing them with others.”

Police responded to a collision around 12:20 p.m. Monday at Whyte Avenue and 101st Street, where a Chevy Colbalt turning left on the avenue hit Finkelman, in his mid-20s, as he crossed the street. Police said Tuesday they continue to interview witnesses and look at video surveillance.

Liukko met Finkelman when Finkelman was a high school student spending his lunch hours inside Liukko’s nearby record store, Freecloud Records.

“He used to come hang out here every lunch hour, asking me for suggestions,” Liukko said. “I watched him go from when he first came in the store and was just getting into music, to playing his own shows.”

Shawn Petsche, festival manager for Sled Island, heard Energetic Action when the band applied to be part of the Calgary music festival.

“Their submission completely stood out from everything else that came in. We were really excited,” Petsche said. “It sounded really primal and in a weird way really thoughtful at the same time.”

Energetic Action went on to play at Sled Island last summer, and Petsche saw Finkelman again when they played at the same show in Edmonton Jan. 11.

Finkelman’s passion for music also informed his role as a DJ. He hosted a punk show every Saturday for CJSR FM, called ‘Big A, Little a.’

In high school, Finkelman was involved with VicRadio, a student-programmed radio station at Victoria School of the Arts. In a 2002 Edmonton Journal story about VicRadio, Finkelman’s show was described as a social commentary on prejudice, with topics ranging from vegetarianism to major corporation domination and McDonald’s.

“We try to put out positive messages,” hosts Tara Anley and Finkelman told the Journal. “It’s a political show with a different theme every week.”

Matt Cuvilier first met Finkelman in high school when Finkelman interviewed him for VicRadio. Cuvilier, a musician and promoter, later booked Energetic Action and played in the same shows as Finkelman.

“He was a really honest and stand up kind of guy. There can be a lot of ego in the music scene, but he was there for the right reasons, really dedicated to it,” Cuvilier said. “He was doing it because that was what he loved.”

Finkelman had been hosting a CJSR FM radio show about punk music since 2005.

“We used to do volunteer awards for best show, and he won three years in a row, but no one could get mad at him because he truly deserved it. He put so much thought and effort into his shows,” said Sarah Edwards, executive director at CJSR.

Chad Brunet, CJSR’s music director, said Finkelman was an “adventurous DJ” who looked at all music as having the potential of being punk.

While some DJs wrote disparaging notes on certain records they didn’t like, Finkelman would always counter it with “something really good.”

“He was a really smart, funny guy,” Brunet said. “Dave was passionate about music and was passionate about sharing music with people.”
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Re: Award-Winning CJSR-FM DJ: Monday's Edmonton Pedestrian D

Postby mccrady » Tue Jan 28, 2014 10:17 pm

The story doesn't mention that Finkelman is the son of retired CBC Edmonton Radio journalist Steve Finkelman.
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