Zero Hour

Moronic mayhem for energetic enthusiasts of trashy rock-n-roll, garage, punk, power pop, R&B and assorted unslick slop. Spotlight on living and dead independent record labels. Make Duh, Not War.

Get to Know Your WMSE DJ Profile

How do you spend your days and nights when not hosting your radio show?

I work in marketing and communications at a local university and teach college English. At night and on weekends, I spent lots of time with my almost 1 year-old daughter and lovely wife. And I spend plenty of time listening to music, reading about music, writing about music, buying music and searching, always searching for more music. Oh, and when I can, drinking good beer and watching forgotten movies and TV shows.

Do you remember what band, album or song took you from being a casual music listener to a passionate music lover? Is there a memory associated with that experience?

Honestly, I think it was radio more than a specific band, album or song. When I was ten years old or so in the early 80′s, one weekend I wrote down every song that a local commercial station (Norfolk/Virginia Beach area) was playing and the time it aired, figuring out quickly that they often played the same songs at the same times every day. At the time, the repetition and limited playlist didn’t bother me. I probably knew the words to every song on the radio. Certain popular songs from the time, when I hear them now, I keep waiting for one of those old station jingles to follow or I see the swimming pool where I used to spend my summer days and remember cool DJ voices coming through the loud overhead speakers.  Then as a teenager there was Carol Taylor, who did a nightly show on a classic rock station that was nothing like the rest of the music being played on the station. She played tons of alternative, garage and local music. She turned me on to a lot of great music that would have been otherwise inaccessible. I remember calling her up when I was about fourteen and requesting“Punk Rock Girl” by the Dead Milkmen, and she told me to pick something from the album that was less popular. Not too many Carol Taylors on commercial radio anymore. She went on to manage my favorite local band at the time, The Waxing Poetics, and did another radio show for a few years called Defenestration 895 on public radio. Sadly, she died of cancer in the mid-90′s when she was only 32.

What band have you heard or discovered in the past six months that reminded you why you want to continue being a WMSE DJ?

I’m gonna go with Daddy Long Legs. They are based in Brooklyn, and for me, kind of carry on the spirit of Walter Daniels and Jack ‘O Fire with their ungawdly, stompin’ take on the blues. They were great at the big Norton [Records] 25th anniversary bash (sadly missed several of their songs while buying records!), which saw Roy Loney and Cyril Jordan from the Flamin’ Groovies join them on stage. They are reportedly working on a full-length album, but their lone recorded output to date is a beautifully ugly take on the Rolling Stones’ infamous “C**ks****r Blues” for Norton’s Stones covers series.

Who is your favorite non-you WMSE DJ and why? 

I enjoy many shows but especially (and for various reasons) Buzz’s Garage, the Chicken Shack, Tom Wanderer, Marty, Jerry and Sonia. Good John is the best substitute DJ money can’t buy. Seriously, I think there are so many good shows on WMSE and not nearly enough free time in the day to listen to them!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Taller.

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