Kerem Gokmen

Kerem Gokmen
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Born	(1976-12-30) December 30, 1976 Istanbul, Türkiye
Occupation	Radio Producer, Radio Personality, Disc Jockey & Promoter; also Canvass Director & Senior Manager
Years active	1993-Present (Radio); 2001-Present (Environmental Protection)

Kerem Gokmen is an on-air radio personality and DJ for the listener supported independent public radio station WYEP-FM (91.3 MHz), located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He has single-handedly produced and hosted the long running over-night music show, Dubmission, for a quarter of a century.

He is an avid collector of music in all it's myriad forms, from vinyl records and cds to audio cassettes and more, often frequenting the top record stores in Pittsburgh, including Jerry's Records, The Attic, Eide's Entertainment and The Government Center.

His other work, since 2001, has been with Clean Water Action, a nonprofit environmental lobby, where he is a Senior Manager and Canvass Director, working to protect the environment for clean water and it's sustainable use.

He's also a self-professed Galatasaray "loyalist".

Early life

Born in Istanbul. His parents moved to Los Angeles when Kerem was an infant and then to Ohio when he was a young boy. At age 11 he returned to Turkey. In 1993, at the age of 15, he began his radio career as DJ for one of the first popular Commercial broadcasting|commercial radio stations in Turkey, Power FM Istanbul, becoming the youngest commercial DJ in Turkey's history. This, as well as his father's hopes of one day owning his own radio station, afforded Kerem with a unique hands on radio experience. (His father was a top DJ and shock jock on Turkish radio, both in the 1970's and again in the 1990's.) In addition to DJing on the radio, Kerem also began to perform live at parties, in and around Istanbul, during this time.

Education

Kerem left Turkey and returned to the United States in the late 90's to attend The Art Institute of Pittsburgh from 1995 to 1997, where he graduated, earning an Associate degree|Associate's Degree; with a Major in "Music and Video Business" and a Minor in "Multimedia".

Broadcast career

From 1993 - 1995, Kerem was a DJ & Producer for Power FM, Istanbul, Turkey, earning him the designation of being the country's youngest commercial DJ. His first radio show had a rock format, and was sponsored by Winston (cigarette), titled "The Winston Way".

In the Spring of 1997, while attending college in Pittsburgh, PA, Kerem began hosting a mix show for WYEP-FM, over-nights mid-week, with a modern rock format, for their "Modern Times" weeknight variety show. This was quickly followed up by an internship as assistant to the Music Director.

In early 1998, Kerem moved from mid-week to Saturday nights, and in the Autumn of 1998, changed his show's format to focus more on electronic music, since "there were no other show's doing so". The change in format came with a change in name, which is how "Dubmission" was born.

Dubmission

Dubmission debuted November 8th, 1998, on WYEP-FM, bringing sounds to Pittsburgh radio rarely heard there before. Two and a half decades later, on November 5th, 2023, the show marked 25 years of being on the air, with 1,282 unique shows, around 5,200* hours of broadcasts, and a staggering 50,000 - 60,000+* tracks played. *(estimate as of 11/05/23)

It's origins, though, came 5 years earlier and over 5000 miles away; when a teenager from Istanbul, Turkey, began his journey into radio broadcasting. Then and there, Kerem Gokmen began to develop the foundation for, what would become a ground breaking variety music show with a multi-cultural and heavily rhythmic form.

From show #1, Dubmission began as a predominately electronic music based show which eventually morphed into more of a variety show. It has always been a great way to discover uncommon music, especially in it's early days, before the internet was so ubiquitous.

Being in such a cultural and diversified market as Pittsburgh, with it's young and vibrant college crowd; ('There are 14 ranked colleges within the Pittsburgh city limits and 48 colleges within a 50 mile radius.'), as well as it's many cultures and heritages that form it's historically international population, would prove to be an excellent place for the young man from half way around the world to share his "(Dub) mission".

"I see a strong potential for a developing scene for the music and I want to be one of its pioneers on radio." - Kerem Gokmen

The music he plays is predominantly what you'd never hear on mainstream Commercial broadcasting|commercial radio stations. The show has a unique opportunity to introduce relatively unknown music forms and artists to it's listeners. While promoting innumerable producers and musical acts from around the world. Those that typically would find it difficult to get any sort of exposure, let alone actual radio play.

Since it's early days, Dubmission has had the same time slot for over two decades. Airing every Saturday after-hours, that is early Sunday morning, for four hours every week with a start time of 1:00 a.m. and ending at 5:00 a.m. (aside from an occasional three hour "spring-ahead" show or five hour "fall back" show, due to daylight saving time). However, on October 1st, 2023, the show's start time shifted backwards one hour, thus beginning at midnight 12:00 a.m. and ending at 4:00 a.m..

Dubmission's 25th Year Anniversary Show, #1282, which aired on November 5th, 2023, happened to broadcast on the night of daylight saving time; as such, it was a "5 Hour Fall Back Special", as well as a "Rewind Show" (which typically air annually on the final Sunday of each year to highlight the best tracks of that given year). The 25th Anniversary Fall Back Rewind Show featured some of Kerem's favorite tracks from two and a half decades of broadcasts.

Musical Genres Regularly Featured (In Alphabetical Order)

2-step garage · acid jazz · ambient · beats · boogie · brasil · broken beat · chamber jazz · dance · disco · downtempo · dream pop · drum and bass · dub · dubstep · electro · electro pop · electronic · experimental · free jazz · funk · garage · glitch · grooves · hip-hop · house · Indie folk · idm · jazz · jazz funk · jungle · leftfield · nu jazz · offbeat · neo soul · prog rock · psych · rare groove · reggae · roots · soul · synth pop · techno · trance · uk street soul

Notable Guests

• Alice Russell - Show #537
• BeatCaffeine - Show #1108
• Bob Sinclar - Show #475
• Bonobo - Show #?
• Booka Shade - Show #464 and #475
• Boo Lean - Show #1008
• Buscrates 16-Bit Ensemble - Show #972
• Byron the Aquarius - Show #?
• Cyclonix - Show #1064
• DJ Vadim - Show #591
• Dorothy Moskowitz - Show #1253
• Eric Justin - Show #870 and #1273
• Gustavo Nobio - Show #1202
• J Rawls - Show #645
• Jneiro Jarel - Show #560
• Krts - Show #621 and #704
• Marissa Mele - Show #1276
• Me Raabenstein - Show #616 and #692
• Michael Mereborg - Show #879

• Mike Masai - Show #1021
• Osunlade - Show #731
• Piotr Kurek - Show #1276
• Preslav Lefterov - Show #982
• Pursuit Grooves - Show #1143
• Rebecca Goldberg - Show #1278
• RJD2 - Show #588
• Robin Hannibal of Boom Clap Bachelors - Show #649
• Scuba - Show #610
• Sebastian Reynolds - Show #1139
• Shawn Rudiman - Show #982
• Slowe - Show #1277
• sUb_modU - Show #1105
• The Foreign Exchange - Show #644
• Thomas Cox - Show #1017, #1210 and #1268
• TOKiMONSTA - Show #616
• Umut Kahya - Show #1052
• Waajeed - Show #534 and #873

Renown

Due to his extensive experience in radio and the music industry in general, with one of the top rated shows in Pittsburgh, as well as live DJ sets in clubs and other venues, Kerem has garnered attention from around the world and has become well known among the underground and indie music scenes. He has been featured on various radio shows (other than his own), and has had interviews published for various blogs and other music related websites, often providing a guest mix as well.

With a dedication to his craft rarely seen these days and near perfect attendance, hardly ever missing a show, Kerem and Dubmission have been mainstays in Pittsburgh for so long, they have certainly achieved "Legendary" status by now.

See also

Gilles Peterson · Wolfman Jack · John Peel · Pete Tong · Carl Cox · Charlie Tuna · DJ Shadow · Jim Pewter · Charlie Gillett · King Britt · Charles Delaunay

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