Boilen still composes and performs music and posts it for free on his website. He also put out two albums with his psychedelic band, Tiny Desk Unit, during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

In 1997, he started producing an online show called Science Live for the Discovery Channel. He produced several projects, including a music video show. Commission on the Arts and Humanities to work on electronic music and performance.Īfter Impossible Theater, Boilen worked as a producer for a television station in Washington, D.C. In 1985, the Washington City Paper voted Boilen 'Performance Artist of the Year.' An electronic musician, he received a grant from the Washington D.C. He was interviewed about Whiz Bang by Susan Stamberg on All Things Considered. In it, Boilen became one of the first composers to use audio sampling - in this case, sounds from nature and the industrial revolution. Boilen became part of music history in 1983 with the Impossible Theater production Whiz Bang, a History of Sound. From 1982 to 1986 he worked for Baltimore's Impossible Theater, where he held many posts, including composer, technician, and recording engineer. 'It was obvious to me that listeners of NPR were also lovers of music, but what also became obvious by 1999 was that the web was going to be the place to discover new music and that we wanted to be the premiere site for music discovery.' The show launched in 2000, with Boilen as its host.īefore coming to NPR, Boilen found many ways to share his passion for music. Significant listener interest in the music being played on All Things Considered, along with his and NPR's vast music collections, gave Boilen the idea to start All Songs Considered.

Less than a year later, Boilen was directing the show and continued to do so for the next 18 years. His persistence paid off, and within a few weeks he was hired, on a temporary basis, to work for All Things Considered. In 1988, a determined Bob Boilen started showing up on NPR's doorstep every day, looking for a way to contribute his skills in music and broadcasting to the network.

Big thief npr tiny desk