Exit Interview: Car Stereo (Wars) tenders his resignation
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After several years of being one of the city’s most in-demand DJs, Car Stereo (Wars)—a.k.a. Chris Rose—has decided to make the highly original decision to depart for the decidedly less-green, concrete-ier pastures of New York City, leaving Austin with one giant “mash-up artist”-sized hole in its collective heart. Before his farewell show tonight at the Beauty Bar—which features frequent party guests like Astronautalis, Zeale, and Neiliyo—Rose consented to sit down with Decider for a standard “exit interview,” much like one would receive at a job you were leaving amicably. (All questions come from the suggested “exit interview” template at About.com; in this case, Rose’s “job” is rocking local nightclubs, and “the company” is Austin itself.)
Decider: What is your primary reason for leaving?
Chris Rose: I’ve always wanted to live in New York my whole life, but I hadn’t finished up school at UT until recently. So I decided to move to one of the hardest cities in the world, without a job, at the worst time in my lifetime. That seemed like a good idea.
D: Did anything trigger your decision to leave?
CR: I lived up there temporarily for two months in the spring to test the waters. And not having a place to live here helped trigger it. Also, I think most people leaving this company are transitioning to my new company. It’s a pretty common exit and reentry. There’s a high turnover there.
D: What was most satisfying about your job?
CR: Being able to occasionally travel.
D: What was least satisfying about your job?
CR: No benefits.
D: Did you receive adequate support to do your job?
CR: Absolutely, from people like you and other local news organizations and websites.
D: Did you receive sufficient feedback about your performance?
CR: Definitely. Mostly from drunk Beauty Bar frat boys.
D: How would you characterize that feedback?
CR: “Hey asshole, play 'Single Ladies!'”
D: Did this company help you to fulfill your career goals?
CR: No, it helped me delay them.
D: Were you happy with your pay and other incentives?
CR: Absolutely—especially since those incentives were usually alcohol and the occasional T-shirt.
D: Based on your experience with us, what do you think it takes to succeed at this company?
CR: You have to have a good name—Kid Indie was already taken. And having bad enough taste in music and being able to reproduce that over and over again.
D: Did any company policies or procedures (or any other obstacles) make your job more difficult?
CR: Yes. Texas Relay Weekend.
D: How do you generally feel about this company?
CR: I feel good. I’m gonna miss Austin a whole lot—mainly the food and movies.
D: What did you like most about this company?
CR: I really love everything about Austin. I’m genuinely sad about leaving. I like that it’s laid-back and easy—although I think that’s also a curse, because it’s easy to get complacent here. And I really loved Koriente.
D: What did you like least about this company?
CR: How small it is, in terms of people. And how repetitive it is. But that sounds silly. There’s not much that I dislike about it, really. I just feel like I need to get away after seven years of living here.
D: What would you improve to make our workplace better?
CR: Traffic. But as far as DJing, I feel like it’s already pretty nice. The places I would DJ are fairly unpretentious and laid-back, especially compared to a lot of cities I’ve been to, because there are more pure nightclub-type venues there—as opposed to here, where DJs are often playing at places like the Mohawk and Emo’s. Which is nice, because those are the type of places I like to go to anyway. In other cities, you’re more likely to play a place where people are checking what kind of shoes you’re wearing as soon as you walk in. As for what I’d improve, I think ACL should have a dedicated area for DJs like Fun Fun Fun Fest does. That’s the biggest draw for music besides SXSW—and SXSW is really good about that.
D: Did anyone in this company discriminate against you, harass you, or cause hostile working conditions?
CR: Drunk people at the Beauty Bar—mainly those people who only wanted to hear “Single Ladies” or MGMT. Maybe some people at the Chronicle.
D: Like who?
CR: [Pointed silence.]
D: Do you have any tips to help us find your replacement?
CR: It should be Bird Peterson because he is awesome, and he’s doing really well all around the country, but I don’t think he plays much here in Austin, which is strange.
D: Would you consider working again for this company in the future?
CR: Definitely, if I can have a promotion and some type of incentives package. And maybe a company car.
D: What does your new company offer that this company doesn't?
CR: Everything. It’s like working for Google. Whereas Austin just offers great music but lacks in some other things, New York offers a lot more in the ways of film, television, comedy—anything and everything, all the time. Food. I’m really excited about the food at my new company. I read this thing about some people in Brooklyn who are staying within the five boroughs and eating ethnic food for every single country in the world. I think that’s kinda cool.
D: Can this company do anything to encourage you to stay?
CR: I don’t think so. I think it’s too late. But they could come out and see all of the great bands playing on Friday at my last show, and maybe I’ll change my mind.
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