2008 Woodie Awards
Life as a late night DJ isn't what you think
Steven Martin
Issue date: 3/1/06 Section: Features
- Page 1 of 2 next >
I start off every radio break by saying 106.1 KRAB radio, the new rock station, and I always end it with KRAB radio, K-R-A-B, but what I say in between is where the magic of my job occurs.
As a radio DJ, there are many different aspects to my job. I'm a news provider, a salesman, an amateur psychologist and an entertainer. To be in radio is to be an amalgam of various traits and skills.
I have been working for KRAB Radio for about a year, after initially starting off as a weekend station babysitter, which basically means I monitored the station to ensure it stays on the air at all times. Sounds glamorous doesn't it? After about five or six months of coming into work at 6 a.m. on Sundays, I was finally able to wear down my boss to the point where he gave me a shot at living my dream of being on the radio.
In order to apply for the job I had to make a demo tape. It's an odd thing making a demo tape for the first time; your head is filled with all these grand ideas of how you are going to make the greatest demo tape in the history of radio, but in actuality what you end up with is a collection of stuttering, tripping over your own words and awkward pauses.
After making the demo tape, I spent the longest two minutes of my life sitting in my boss's office while he listened to it. After he heard the tape, my boss gave me some constructive criticism, a few words of advice and to my surprise, the job.
The 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. Saturday shift was mine, now what the heck was I going to do with it?
I think a lot of people don't fully understand what a DJ does. I know before I started working at a radio station I thought all DJs did was stagger into the radio booth right before their shift, talk into the microphone every few minutes, collect massive-sized paychecks and have beautiful-looking people throw themselves at them on a daily basis. For the most part, I have found this not to be true.
There is a lot of preparation that goes into being a DJ. Before I even get to the radio station, I am constantly trying to figure out what I'm going to say on the air and how I'm going to say it. I have come to realize that the reason most people listen to the radio is not to hear someone in a booth prattle on, except for a few exceptions.
As a radio DJ, there are many different aspects to my job. I'm a news provider, a salesman, an amateur psychologist and an entertainer. To be in radio is to be an amalgam of various traits and skills.
I have been working for KRAB Radio for about a year, after initially starting off as a weekend station babysitter, which basically means I monitored the station to ensure it stays on the air at all times. Sounds glamorous doesn't it? After about five or six months of coming into work at 6 a.m. on Sundays, I was finally able to wear down my boss to the point where he gave me a shot at living my dream of being on the radio.
In order to apply for the job I had to make a demo tape. It's an odd thing making a demo tape for the first time; your head is filled with all these grand ideas of how you are going to make the greatest demo tape in the history of radio, but in actuality what you end up with is a collection of stuttering, tripping over your own words and awkward pauses.
After making the demo tape, I spent the longest two minutes of my life sitting in my boss's office while he listened to it. After he heard the tape, my boss gave me some constructive criticism, a few words of advice and to my surprise, the job.
The 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. Saturday shift was mine, now what the heck was I going to do with it?
I think a lot of people don't fully understand what a DJ does. I know before I started working at a radio station I thought all DJs did was stagger into the radio booth right before their shift, talk into the microphone every few minutes, collect massive-sized paychecks and have beautiful-looking people throw themselves at them on a daily basis. For the most part, I have found this not to be true.
There is a lot of preparation that goes into being a DJ. Before I even get to the radio station, I am constantly trying to figure out what I'm going to say on the air and how I'm going to say it. I have come to realize that the reason most people listen to the radio is not to hear someone in a booth prattle on, except for a few exceptions.