Lean and mean, with staccato guitar riffs soaked in reverb and a driving backbeat built for moving body parts, the sound starts on Lea Hill and radiates throughout the Puget Sound, courtesy of KGRG 89.9 FM’s 250 watt transmitter.

So grab hold of your garters, baby, Zorch Radio’s coming for you.

Since July, Jacob “The Pope” Nuss, 25, and his merry band of cohorts have been broadcasting Zorch Radio on KGRG every Thursday from 10 p.m. to midnight. Like most of the shows on Green River Community College’s independent radio station, Zorch focuses on a sliver of a sub-genre, with Nuss focusing on garage rock and pyschobilly.

For Nuss, who balances his Starbucks’ day job with his passion for spreading the word about Zorch Radio, the chance to tap the resources of KGRG for his show is a godsend.

“It was a huge relief,” he said. “You have so much equipment you can use and you get to be a part of that legacy.”

After graduating from Green River with a broadcasting degree, Nuss said he originally hoped to find a career in the industry. Having put in hundreds of hours at the station while attending the school, he thought he was ready to jump into corporate radio. But reality soon disabused him of that notion.

“I started into my career and had these big dreams of getting into media and entertainment and being a commercial radio host,” he said. “But the more money you get paid, the less music of your own (choosing) you get to play.”

Podcast beginnings

Not willing to sell out his love for psychobilly, Nuss started Zorch Radio on his own as an Internet-only podcast, independent from KGRG.

“I knew that if I wanted to be successful, I’ve got to start my show and build it from the ground up,” he said. And according to Nuss, he did just that, broadcasting his podcast to 25,000 listeners worldwide on Real Punk Radio. Additionally, Nuss promotes both his show, as well as psychobilly and garage rock through an international Zorch fanzine.

For Nuss, who grew up listening to punk bands in the 1990s, it’s all about sharing the revelation that is garage rock and psychobilly.

Finding its voice in the Northwest in the early 1960s, garage rock was typified by such bands as The Sonics, The Wailers and The Ventures. Considered by many to be the progenitors of the punk rock movement of the 1970s, the garage rock bands, many originating in Tacoma, featured a stripped-down, rawer approach to the burgeoning rock-and-roll genre.

It was the sound of the early garage rock bands, built on the back of the more traditional Sun Studios-era rock – such as early Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash – and sprinkled with a dash of good old country and surf guitar twang, that led to the origination of psychobilly.

“It’s a really niche subgenre,” Nuss said. “It wasn’t started here in the States. It started in the UK with the Meteors. There is absolutely nothing like The Meteors. That really rare combination of that trash band that is right between garage and psychobilly. To me that is gold.”

Formed in England in 1980, The Meteors set the standard for psychobilly, Nuss said, showcasing a stripped-down rock sound built from the ground up with stand-up bass, drums and that guitar twang.

“At first it wasn’t aggressive enough for me,” he said. “I only liked punk rock music. But then I listened to it, and it was so intricate. You only had one guy playing guitar, but it sounded like you had seven.”

“It isn’t until you dig into the pure stuff from the UK that you know psychobilly,” Nuss added. “It isn’t until you hear The Meteors that you get it. If you don’t like the Meteors, you really don’t like psychobilly. They are the icons. Like Jesus is to Christianity, they are to psychobilly.”

Now, Nuss said he’s focused on building on the foundation he’s laid for Zorch Radio and on bringing back the tradition of KGRG sponsored shows at the campus.

“It used to be a pretty established venue back during the grunge days,” Nuss said.

To those ends, Nuss and Zorch will present an all-ages psychobilly concert this Thursday at the Lindbloom Student Center at Green River CC, featuring The Rocketz and Cold Blue Rebels from Los Angeles as well as local faves Hard Money Saints. The show starts at 7 p.m. with tickets running $5 for students, $10 general public.

“It’s kind of been my dream to pack the place again. We may not pack it, but at least we’ll bring some people on campus,” Nuss said. “I’m real excited.”

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Zorch Radio

The program airs on KGRG FM 89.9 every Thursday from 10 p.m. to midnight. In late March, the show will switch to a 7-10 p.m. time slot on Thursdays.

More information is available at www.kgrg.com