Nic Harcourt
Encyclopedia
Nic Harcourt was, most recently, the Music Director for Santa Monica
Santa Mônica
Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

-based radio station KCRW
KCRW
KCRW is a public radio station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, carrying a mix of National Public Radio news, talk radio and freeform music format. The general manager of KCRW is Jennifer Ferro...

. Before joining KCRW, Harcourt worked for eight years as a news director and music director at radio station WDST
WDST
WDST is a radio station licensed to Woodstock, New York. The station is owned by CHET-5 Broadcasting and broadcasts with 3 kW ERP from a tower in the Town of Kingston.WDST also broadcasts one translator:...

 in Woodstock, New York
Woodstock, New York
Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 at the 2000 census.The Town of Woodstock is in the northern part of the county...

. Harcourt is currently at KCSN
KCSN
KCSN is an FM radio station licensed to Northridge, Los Angeles, California, and a service of California State University, Northridge. Broadcasting at 88.5 MHz, KCSN previously featured classical music, AAA and Americana music, and in-house news broadcasts by the CSUN broadcast journalism students...

 in Northridge
Northridge
Northridge is the name of some places in the United States of America:*Northridge, Los Angeles, California, a community in California's San Fernando Valley** California State University, Northridge** The Northridge earthquake of 1994...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

Early life

Born in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, Harcourt lived in Lichfield
Lichfield
Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...

, England and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 before coming to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Career

Upon joining KCRW in 1998, Harcourt hosted and edited the daily radio show Morning Becomes Eclectic
Morning Becomes Eclectic
Morning Becomes Eclectic is a three-hour adult album alternative radio program first aired in 1977 and broadcast live every weekday from KCRW in Santa Monica, California. The show's name is a play on the Eugene O'Neill trilogy of plays, Mourning Becomes Electra.The show is hosted by Jason Bentley,...

. A weekly version of the show called Sounds Eclectic
Sounds Eclectic
Sounds Eclectic, no longer being broadcast on radio, is a weekly syndicated public radio program hosted by Nic Harcourt that plays a variety of music, often by emerging artists. A trademark of the program is recordings of live sessions from artists both established and new, taken from the archives...

, launched in 2000, was broadcast on several other stations in cooperation with PRI
Public Radio International
Public Radio International is a Minneapolis-based American public radio organization, with locations in Boston, New York, London and Beijing. PRI's tagline is "Hear a different voice." PRI is a major public media content creator and also distributes programs from many sources...

. The shows, recorded from The Village Studios in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 often featured live performances by artists, both popular and obscure.

Artists including Dido
Dido (singer)
Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong , known as Dido, is an English singer-songwriter.Dido shot to worldwide success with her debut album, No Angel...

 and Travis
Travis (band)
Travis are a post-Britpop band from Glasgow, Scotland, comprising Fran Healy , Dougie Payne , Andy Dunlop and Neil Primrose...

 have credited Harcourt for recognizing them early in their career. Harcourt was also credited with helping to launch Coldplay's
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...

 career as well as those of Norah Jones
Norah Jones
Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies...

, Pete Yorn
Pete Yorn
Peter Joseph Yorn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist who first gained international recognition after his debut record, Musicforthemorningafter, was released to critical acclaim in 2001.-Early history:Yorn's father is a dentist and his mother is a former concert pianist who worked as a...

, and David Gray
David Gray (musician)
David Gray is an English singer-songwriter. He released his first studio album in 1993 and received worldwide attention after the release of White Ladder six years later...

. He played a demo CD by Jem
Jem (singer)
Jemma Griffiths , better known as Jem, is a Welsh singer-songwriter. Her debut album, Finally Woken, includes elements of rock, new wave-styled electronica and trip-hop...

 which launched her singing career, and was the first DJ in America to play Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand (band)
Franz Ferdinand are a Scottish post-punk revival band formed in Glasgow in 2002. The band is composed of Alex Kapranos , Bob Hardy , Nick McCarthy , and Paul Thomson .The band first experienced chart success when their second single, "Take Me Out", reached #3 in...

. He has been described by music writer Mark Weingarten
Mark Weingarten
Mark Weingarten is an American sound engineer. He has been nominated for two Academy Awards in the category Best Sound. He has worked on over 80 films since 1987.-Selected filmography:* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button...

 as "the most influential DJ in America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

."

Harcourt recently published Music Lust
Music Lust
Music Lust: Recommended Listening for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason is a book written by Nic Harcourt, the music director for the Santa Monica, California, radio station KCRW....

, a book of "recommended listening for every mood, moment and reason." He has also worked as music consultant/supervisor for several television shows and movies, including: Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...

's Gone Baby Gone
Gone Baby Gone
Gone Baby Gone is a 2007 American crime drama-mystery film directed by Ben Affleck and starring his brother Casey Affleck. The screenplay by Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard is based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River and Shutter Island...

(2007), Love Monkey
Love Monkey
Love Monkey is a television series created by Michael Rauch and based on a book of the same name, by Kyle Smith. It starred Tom Cavanagh as a 30-something, single, record executive who navigated the tumultuous and highly amusing waters of work and dating in New York City.Its first episode aired on...

, The Dukes of Hazzard, Life As We Know It, Igby Goes Down
Igby Goes Down
Igby Goes Down is a 2002 comedy-drama film that follows the life of Igby Slocumb, a rebellious and sardonic New York City teenager who attempts to break free of his familial ties and wealthy, overbearing mother...

, and most recently the new teen drama 90210 (TV series)
90210 (TV series)
90210 is an American teen drama television series developed by Rob Thomas, Jeff Judah and Gabe Sachs, and the fourth series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise created by Darren Star. 90210 is the first series produced by CBS Productions under the company's re-launch, but is now produced by CBS...

. Harcourt is also the American national voice of the current Land Rover
Land Rover
Land Rover is a British car manufacturer with its headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire, United Kingdom which specialises in four-wheel-drive vehicles. It is owned by the Indian company Tata Motors, forming part of their Jaguar Land Rover group...

 advertising campaign.

On November 10, 2008, Harcourt announced that he would leave his role with Morning Becomes Eclectic and resign as music director for KCRW as of November 30, 2008, while offering a new show on Sundays. Jason Bentley
Jason Bentley
Jason Bentley is a radio disc jockey of electronic music in Los Angeles, California. On December 1, 2008, Bentley replaced Nic Harcourt as the host of Morning Becomes Eclectic and as Music Director for KCRW...

 was selected by KCRW management to replace Harcourt on both Morning Becomes Eclectic and as music director.

Upon stepping down from the music director position at KCRW, Harcourt founded his own company, SamLuna Media Inc., to develop TV and movie projects. Harcourt continued to do his Sunday show at KCRW until June 2011, when he left KCRW for deciding to do a new show on KCSN
KCSN
KCSN is an FM radio station licensed to Northridge, Los Angeles, California, and a service of California State University, Northridge. Broadcasting at 88.5 MHz, KCSN previously featured classical music, AAA and Americana music, and in-house news broadcasts by the CSUN broadcast journalism students...

 called Connections with Nic Harcourt
Harcourt was hoping that he could have done his shows on both stations as he was not getting paid by KCSN. Harcourt also became Music Supervisor in residence for MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

 in March 2011 and many thought he left KCRW for this reason due to a press release from KCRW mentioning his new job. Harcourt denied this in an interview with the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

 and said the real reason he had to leave KCRW was because of his new show on KCSN and that KCRW management would not let him do shows on both stations. Harcourt's new show, Connections with Nic Harcourt, airs on Saturday afternoons from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on KCSN.

Harcourt is also currently Editor at Large: Music and Culture for LA: The Los Angeles Times Magazine
Los Angeles Times Magazine
The Los Angeles Times Magazine is a monthly magazine which supplements the Sunday edition of the Los Angeles Times newspaper on the first Sunday of the month...

, and is the host and interviewer for DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...

's Guitar Center Sessions

External links

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