Please tell us a little about yourself and your company.
I’m thirty years old, I like animals, wristwatches, flowers, and the word “buttons”. I’d genuinely love to talk to you. Really. I adore conversation and the opportunity to gain your perspective. I am always one to be late because I was making friends. I work for El Dorado Broadcasters in San Luis Obispo. The company itself owns three other radio stations in this market (KSTT, KSLY, and KVEC) as well as four down in Santa Maria (KSMX, KSMY, KXFM, and KSNI) and I have worked for all of them in some capacity during my tenure with El Dorado Broadcasters.
How long have you been in the business?
Twelve years. Good-ness, I can’t believe I’m saying that. A coworker, your friend and mine Scott Taylor, who I’ve worked with for the vast majority of my career and I not only learned a great deal about the biz from but is also one of the most genuine folks you’ll ever meet told me when I first started that once you’ve worked five years in radio you’re stuck. And I vividly remember telling him that there’s no way I’d be dumb enough to stay in this crazy job as a career. Welp, here I am. I don’t know if I’m destined to be in radio forever but I will say after doing this job having to go and do a real job would suck.
What made you get into this field?
I was doing something stupid in public. Yeah really. It was WOW week at CalPoly and even though I didn’t really need orienting to the area I participated and I’m glad I did because I made some lifelong friends and memories. There is/was a dance in the middle of the week which was hosted and DJ’d by a local radio station. Maxwell (who is now on nights in New York!) and DJ Mel (the five-footed Filipino) were on a small raised stage protected by some guys in security jackets and they played the song “Where The Party At?” by Jagged Edge featuring Nelly. Oh man do I love this song. I knew ALL the words but the best part is the Nelly breakdown in the middle and I was ready for it. I walk past the security guard with a quick nod and a notion that I needed to go on stage and I assume he either thought I was with the radio dudes, maybe he knew it was my jam, or maybe he just wasn’t compensated enough to care to stop a guy of my size. I got on stage right when the Nelly part hit and performed it flawlessly with dance moves and everything. I hammed it up for everybody there and Maxwell just let me crush it. What I didn’t know at the time is that people weren’t supposed to go up there because you shouldn’t have people jumping and dancing around actual vinyl record players on a stage because it can cause them to skip or scratch, but luckily no harm no foul. After I was done he pulled me aside and congratulated me on my performance and said that he’d actually seen me around before (they had also DJ’d a few of the dances at my high school) and that he might have a job for me. I became a street teamer and have been here ever since.
What inspires you the most about this industry?
I don’t know about inspiring but one of my favorite parts is actually the music. I try as hard as I can to listen to as much new and different music, of all genres, as I can every week. I want to know where it’s going, where it’s been, what’s new. I want to hear things I’ve never heard before because there are so many amazing sounds that I could never even imagine being made right now. I want them in my ears.
Where do you live and where did you grow up?
I’m from here. I was born and live in SLO, my parents live in Morro Bay, my grandparents lived in Cayucos, my great grandparents lived in Nipomo… you get the idea.
What is the most difficult thing you have to deal with in this industry?
There’s a ton of technical stuff involved in making a radio station run so there are a lot of details to keep straight twenty four hours a day which can keep you up (and in the studio) at night or on the weekend or holidays or birthdays or when you are sick or any of the absolute worst times you can possibly think of. Yes probably that one you’re thinking of now too. But I’d say, just like any other job, the hardest part can be other people. Especially in radio there are a lot of very big egos flying around and they can smack into each other at times. It has taught me to take fault when I am wrong and that many times, regardless of age, position, or rank the only person you can rely on being the adult or the bigger person is yourself.
What High School and college did you attend?
SLO High class of 2002 (go Tigers) and I’m actually still attending CalPoly where I intend on taking every single class they offer. Or something like that.
If you’re having a bad day and feeling down; what motivates you get into the mood and get the energy to be on the radio?
Wow, this is a really good question. It’s absolutely something we deal with being on-air. In most formats you have to just suck it up. We use the phrase “smile when you’re talking”(or some variation) in the industry because it absolutely works to make you sound happy. Luckily in those formats what you’re saying is either more heavily scripted or formatted so that you can kind of hide behind the formality of “radio announcing”, keep your head down, and get to the end of your shift – but — to be honest I just use it. I preach sincerity to my jocks and try to be as real as I can be on-air because you know what? Yeah, people have crap days. If I’m not having a good day why not share that with you? It’s humanizing, relatable, and frankly somewhat therapeutic. If I’m feeding you a line or being insincere you’ll know it and you’ll tune out. Just like you should.
