Getting to Know Your Local D.J. with:

1. What was your motivation to become a deejay? Were you a fan of legendary broadcasters such as Casey Kasem or Rick Dees? Or, were you just a big fan of music and couldn’t stand the idea of working in a cubicle surrounded by ‘suits’?
   
   We do it for one reason: to meet chicks….
   
   Seriously, growing up I was a fan of “Casey Kasem’s Top 40” and would try to listen every weekend to at least hear what the Top 10 songs were for the week. I also remember listening to some Nashville DJs like Coyote McCloud, Rick Marino, and Beth Donahue and thinking that must be a great life/job to have. But at the time I didn’t think that was something that I could do. How could some kid from B.F.E. Tennessee make it on-air?
   
   But it was in college that I had decided to do something other than the typical 9-to-5 office job. I originally went to school to work in television and film. But a friend invited me to sit in on his college radio show and it really opened my eyes to the fact that I could be getting paid to play music, talk about things I know, and not have to worry about lighting or shot frames. So I jumped in with two feet and before long I had my own morning radio show on WMTS-FM. And that was how it all began…
   
   As for Rick Dees…he still is the only radio personality that makes me change the station as soon as he opens the mike. Just something about him is so unfunny and cheesy that I roll my eyes and wonder how he still gets work. I hated his material when he filled in for Casey Kasem way back in the day and can’t stand it anymore today…

WHAT YOU TALKIN' ABOUT DOOGIE?!

2. Being the “graveyard shift” deejay must provide for some “interesting” phone calls from listeners. Feel free to share some of the most memorable calls that you’ve received from our ‘sobriety-impaired’ friends.

Ah yes, the late-late night crowd…ya gotta love their…uniqueness…

I can only think of two really great ones of the top of my head. One guy decided to thank me for playing his request to his girlfriend by calling my up during the song while he was getting his ‘thank you blowjob’. I didn’t hear if he finished with a happy ending….The other great moment was I got a collect call from the Williamson County Jail from a guy I had never heard of, so I declined the charges and hung up. A few moments later I got the collect call operator again, but in place of where you say your name, this clever jailbird instead went “Tool…Lateralus”, thus getting his request thru. It would have been that much more fitting if he had requested “Prison Sex” from Tool instead, but still it was a classic moment.

3. You’re originally from Michigan, as well as Doogie. What’s up with you Michigan people winding up working in Nashville radio?

Haha. You know, I never really thought about that. Unlike Doogie, I moved to Tennessee when I was 5. So I really don’t think of Michigan as being ‘home’, just a place where the rest of my family lives. Tennessee will always be my home.

4. Are you happy with the new harder-edged format that the Buzz is taking on these days? Is there a band that isn’t getting airplay on the station that you wish would?

You know I really am happy with the change. With before we were almost trying too hard to make everyone happy by playing just about everything. We would go from System of a Down to Jack Johnson to the Green Day. All great bands in their own rights, but it was just too broad in terms of taste to keep people listening for more than a couple songs. So we fixed that problem. The..1 complaint I used to always get from listeners was that they wished we were harder. With this format we’ve wiped that complaint off the list as well.

On the other side, I will miss that feeling that we were on the cutting edge of what’s big. It’s always cool to know that you were the first station to start playing bands that later break it big. In just this past year The Buzz was one of the first stations to play bands like Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, and 10 Years to name a couple, back when nobody had heard of them. Now everyone knows them and either likes them or hates them. I’m not saying that this can’t happen with the format we have now, it’s just less likely to happen, mostly because we are playing more ‘80s and ‘90s rock.

1.21 JIGGAWATTS!!!

5. What song would you like to throw into a bin entitled “Songs That Suck Ass” but have to play on the air anyway?

Anything from Creed (and their spawns Alter Bridge and Scott Stapp’s solo) and anything from Limp Bizkit (expect Wes Borland). But I think all of the above are complete asshats and I roll my eyes every time I have them on my play list. But sometimes you gotta do things you don’t like at work…

6. What album do you consider to be the biggest crime released onto the general public?

The greatest hits albums from Creed and Limp Bizkit…please…I’d wipe my ass with them if I thought it wouldn’t offend toilet paper.

I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT TO SAY HERE: CREATE YOUR OWN CAPTION!

7. You seem to be a big supporter of our local rock scene. Who are some of your favorite local groups and do you believe that Nashville is on the rise in the nation’s eyes for rock music?

I love the local scene here in Nashville. It’s not every city that on ANY given night you can find a venue with great music. Unfortunately, with the time that I have to be in at work and the typical times that local bands tend to actually play, I don’t get to check out too many bands during the week. But with that said, some of the ones that I enjoy seeing whenever I can: Beauty School Dropouts, Return to Self, Page 80, The Everafters, Ligion, Stuck Lucky, and BooBooBunny just to name a few off the top of my head. I’m sure there are more that will come to mind after this interview…

As for Nashville being on the rise; it’s got to happen eventually. There is just too much talent in this city for it not to. I’ve heard the homeless guys downtown with more talent than your average pop star. But I don’t think we will ever see another Seattle boom. We already acts like Kings of Leon and 10 Years (granted they are from Knoxville) who are really building a name association with non-country music in Tennessee. Remember, Nashville is called “Music City USA”, not “Country Music USA.”

8. Rate-a-Band. Rate the following bands on a scale of 1 to 10; 10 being essential listening and 1 being a group of no-talent asshats that deserve to be pelted with eggs on stage.

a. Slayer-7…they are Masters of Metal
b. Foo Fighters-9…they played one of my Top 5 all time favorite shows
c. KISS-7…their isn’t anyone who doesn’t know who they are
d. Air Supply-1…I’ve got nothing…
e. Red Hot Chili Peppers-7…I’ve noticed that the Peppers are a lot like STP, there seems to be a connections to how many drugs they did to how good the album is
f. Pantera-6…they rock, just don’t let them get on that soapbox…
g. Starland Vocal Band-5…”Skyrockets in flight, Afternoon Delight!”
h. New York Dolls-8…Kings of Punk