Bay Area Radio: After 23-Years, Aaron Axelson Is Off-Air

Aaron Axelsen, a longtime fixture on Bay Area airwaves as the music director and an on-air personality for KITS Alt 105.3, was dropped from the station’s roster after 23 years  on Thursday, April 2, as part of a wave of layoffs at the station amid the economic slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic, The Chronicle reports.

“What a blessing and thrill it was to share my ultimate passion in life with you — music — for over two decades” Axelsen, a native of Livermore, said in a statement posted on social media. “It was quite simply a dream come true to work at my hometown station, one that I grew up listening to as a young new waver in Livermore.”

Love you Bay Area, thank for 23 amazing years together.

Signing off... 🎤💔 pic.twitter.com/tWwId0cXey

— aaron axelsen 🎧 (@AaronAxelsen) April 3, 2020

Axelsen was one of the holdovers from the original Live 105, where he also worked as assistant program director. The Bay Area modern rock powerhouse station, born in 1986, switched over to the Alt brand in 2018, under the Entercom umbrella.

Axelsen developed and hosted off-peak specialty radio shows, including “Soundcheck,” which featured local and breaking bands, and “Subsonic,” which promoted new electronic music.

He also helped curate the lineups for Alt 105.3’s signature live music events — BFD, which was held annually at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View for years, and the holiday Not So Silent Night shows.

He had been hosting his radio show from his Oakland home during the coronavirus shelter-in-place order.