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.
They listen to the radio to hear music and to find out what is going on in their community.
On top of conducting a live radio show each week, I also edit and prep two additional shows to be played later in the day. Combine that with running around to the various different other radio stations in the building and making sure that they are running at optimum efficiency, this all makes for a somewhat hectic work shift.
One word of advice: if you have trouble doing more than one thing at a time don’t get into the radio business.
It is very humbling and quite intimidating to know that hundreds, if not thousands of people can hear the sound of my voice on a weekly basis. Aside from a modest paycheck, the thing that most makes it worthwhile to drive into Bakersfield from Delano, in the early morning to do this job, is the knowledge that in some small way I am having a positive impact on the people who listen to my show.
I also have noticed that I have quite the eclectic listener base. I have everyone from long- hauling truck drivers who are just trying to stay awake at the wheel, to late night workers who are hoping their shift will go by as quickly as possible, to insomniacs and late-night partygoers calling in to give me their thoughts on life, liberty and their personal use of marijuana. I find it amusing that not a week goes by that I don’t get an offer to smoke some kind of illicit substance with someone in the greater Bakersfield area.
Such is the life of a late night DJ, and I would be hard pressed to trade it for anything.
The Logan Holmes Show can be heard each and every Saturday morning from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. on 106.1, KRAB Radio.