20 Sept 25th-Oct 1St, 2025 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | the U.S., the self-described “journeyman radio dude” finally found a place to stick and ultimately thrive. Today, he’s one of the longest-tenured afternoon drive-time hosts in Arizona. Madrid says he’s still “blown away” by getting to work for KUPD for two decades and counting. “I’ve been at the station now for 20 years, and this is no bullshit, I’m still the new hire,” Madrid says. “I’m the last guy who got on at the station.” Madrid has racked up many standout experiences during his time with KUPD, including memorable on-air interviews with rock gods like Marilyn Manson and Slipknot’s Corey Taylor and wild times at UFest, the station’s annual concert blowout. He even has tales of fans so devoted they inked his name into their flesh. Speaking of obsessive fandom, when Madrid’s not blasting White Zombie or Avenged Sevenfold to the masses, he’s rolling a 20-sided die for initiative. A long- time gamer and unapologetic geek, the 54-year-old dukes it out in Dungeons & Dragons on the regular, including sessions at local Bookmans and the Arizona Renaissance Festival. He’s also cosplayed at Phoenix Fan Fusion and can talk anime like a seasoned weeb. “I would say in the most obvious ways, I’m completely nerdy,” Madrid says. “I’m definitely the nerdy guy (at KUPD).” And his longtime geeky streak runs as deep as his lifelong love of metal. A portrait of the deejay as a young metalhead Madrid was first exposed to metal as a “rat- faced teen” growing up in San Diego in the ‘80s. It soon became an obsession and an annoyance to his mother, as Madrid recalls cranking Judas Priest’s “Parental Guidance” on repeat over his boombox while they were riding around in her Pontiac Firebird. “She’s got some shitty kid next to her (playing something) on loop in the way that only little kids can do with music they love. So she does what every nice parent does: tries to abide for a moment and even- tually goes, ‘That’s a little bit loud,’” Madrid says. “And I turn to my mom and I’m all, ‘What do you not like: the music or the message?’ At that point, I knew I was just going to be a moron metalhead forever.” True to his word, Madrid blasted metal 24/7/365 before also getting into the Misfits, Black Flag, Sick Of It All and “New York hardcore stuff,” as well as other flavors of punk. “In the early ‘90s, it was just the best time for SoCal punk rock, I think,” he says. That appetite for loud, chaotic tunes followed him into radio. An early gig at San Diego’s KIOZ included the day in 1995 when an Army veteran stole an M60A3 tank from a National Guard armory Rock Solid Fitz Madrid chats about 20 years at KUPD and his love of Dungeons & Dragons BY BENJAMIN LEATHERMAN F itz Madrid is humble to a fault. He’s spent the past 20 years cranking metal and hard rock through radio speakers Valleywide as the afternoon drive-time host on Phoenix’s powerhouse FM station 98KUPD. In an industry as volatile as radio, it’s the kind of run most on-air talents dream about, though Madrid merely shrugs off the accomplishment during a recent interview with Phoenix New Times. “No one has taken less talent farther than me,” he jokes. Self-deprecating jabs aside, it’s a run worth celebrating. Madrid’s called KUPD home since signing onto the Phoenix airwaves in March 2005. After spending 15 years bouncing between radio gigs across A selfie of Fitz Madrid in KUPD’s studio in Phoenix. (Provided by Fitz Madrid) >> p 22 ▼ Music
