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'Jackie and Bender' KBKS- KISS 106.1 (Seattle, WA)
September 26, 2005
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Monday, September 26, 2005
Seattle has always been competitive, how has that made your show better?
Bender: Make it better? Please. A good day for us is Jackie sober. Thank you for humoring us. This market is made up of heritage morning shows on almost every station. You could be here for 5 to 10 years and still be considered "the new show".
Was it the competition that helped grow the show, or just plain hard work, or both?
Bender: Everything factors in. The morning show is programmed as if it were a station onto itself; the imaging, the clocks that we don't follow, the logs that are ignored and so on. Truthfully, a ton of work goes into each show. It takes a lot of preparation to sound like we have no idea what the hell we're doing.
If someone wanted to take you guys on, what warning would you give them?
Bender: Our producer Jubal will find them... and hunt them down. Threats, slashed tires, stalking... you know the drill.
THE SHOW:'Jackie and Bender'THE STATION:KBKS- KISS 106.1THE CITY:Seattle, WATHE FORMAT:Top 40THE CAST:Jackie, Bender, Sammi, Jubal, and Janel!Resume Time
Give us brief rundown on each of you, your personal history, your radio bio, and what brought you together.
Bender: The show is made up of 5 of the sorriest bunch of people in the business. Jackie is a respected journalist with master interviewing skills. She's the true star of the show. She's paid her dues at WZPT Pittsburgh, WROV Roanoke and WILK Wilkes-Barre. The show used to be called "Bender. Mornings", years ago... that's until we realized that the audience liked Jackie better. What a shock.
I've put in my time with some of the best stations in the country such as WHTZ, WBZZ, KKRZ and WKRZ, with programming stints at WMXB and WXLK. All that history, and I still can't seem to go an hour without dead air. Dumbass.
Sammi does traffic as well as blogging for the website. She was found wasting away at KZZU in Spokane. Well, in the alley BEHIND KZZU, but she fits the role. Of course... there's Jubal Flagg. Ballflagg came to us from Los Angeles where, I think, he was bussing tables. He's awesome. He does all your basic producer things like booking all of those high profile authors and other crap from that Radio Interview pamphlet thing we all get.
Finally, there's Janel. She's our assistant producer who specializes in covering Jubal's ass.
What's It All About?
Briefly describe your show your personalities and the "premise" listeners wake up to every morning.
Bender: It's a cliche I know, but the show really is REAL. Not much is left to the imagination as far as what's "behind the curtain" anymore. The Premise: To get to the end of the show and go home.
Prep 101
Segue to the show planning, how much of it is prepared before you walk into the studio? How much left to spontaneity?
Bender: Jubal, myself and Janel usually get in by 3. Ok, Janel is there by 3... me by 3:30 and Jubal by 4... ish. As far as prep goes, we cover all the usual bases and walk in with a ton of stuff. A majority of it is never touched, which I think is a good thing. Being prepared and being spontaneous goes hand in hand.
I once heard Scott Shannon say he'd always walk in with a mountain of prep, but only go to if they needed it. It's worked for me.
Who do you VIBE with, in terms of the creative brain trust?
Bender: We've got a homeless guy that we befriended a while back. We get an ok from him and it's ratings gold.
Most Memorable
Name your most memorable radio moment. (Good or bad!)
Bender: Being on the air as 9/11 unfolded. On the west coast, it began just before 6. What an unbelievable experience. This may sound strange, but it didn't really hit all of us until AFTER we got off the air at around 2 that afternoon. Things were happening so quickly, we were too busy delivering the information, we never had to time soak it all in.
Celebs 'N' Stuff
CELEB Interviews ... do you do 'em? Love 'em? Hate 'em?
Bender: Depends. We've found that the some stars on the way up are jerks. Stars on the way down are bitter they can't act like jerks anymore. The biggest stars are normally... normal and cool to talk to.
Example... we've talked to likes of Tom Cruise, Jennifer Lopez, Will Smith, Sean Penn, Bruce Willis, Mariah Carey and so on... they don't give you "boundaries" in regards to questions. American Idol Kelly Clarkson's people? "No personal questions." Oh, shut up.
Name your most memorable CELEB interview. (Good or bad!)
Bender: Dave Matthews. Not many rock stars can work "whale penis" into a conversation. (Didn't see that on Storytellers, did you?)
Quick Word Association
Seattle?
Bender: Greatest city in the world. What the hell did you think we were going to say?
Katrina?
Bender: "George Bush doesn't like black people" - Kanye West!
Morning Radio, in general?
Bender: Beats workin' for a living.
Survivor?
Bender: Rigged!
Britney?
Bender: That poor baby.
Mark That Bench
Tell us about your best weekly or daily on-air Benchmarks? Give us their names and a brief description of how they are executed?
Bender: It wouldn't do any good. What's the old line? You steal from something we've done here... you've stolen it twice. Would you believe me if I told you that we don't have any Benchmarks? No? Screw you. Ok, fine. News at the top of each hour.
List for us your favorite games or trivia you like to play with or on your audience?
Bender: "Are you really that stupid?" is always fun. Current events that a 4th grader should know, but grown adults always seem to have problems.
Of course, there's always "Will this bit make Jubal quit?" A tattoo on his inner-lower lip; nipple rings... eating expired food out of the sales fridge, etc.
What in your mind is your favorite on-air promotion, contest or giveaway?
Bender: See below under the word "gerbil".
And stunts?
Bender: During the final legs of the Tour de France, we did our "Tour de Flagg". Jubal had to swim a half mile in Elliott Bay, followed by a 6 mile bike ride to SafeCo. Field on a 5 year girl's pink bike, followed by a 3 and a half mile run back to the radio station. He did it in 1 hour and 38 minutes. The audience ate it up. There were people lined up along the way cheering him on.
We also did "Live like a Gerbil". This was Jackie's brainchild. The promotion department came in one morning and asked if we had an idea on how to give away $5,000. Jackie said jokingly, "Why don't we just have 16 people live like gerbils in a giant cage." 2 weeks later it was on the air. 16 people in a corner, glass empty store in a mall. Shredded paper up to their knees, big water bottles on the wall, a giant running wheel, and only fruits, grain and vegetables to eat.
It lasted 28 days. The promotions department outdid themselves on that one.
X-tra Pointers
How would you describe the feeling a listener gets after 20 minutes of your fine radio extravaganza?
Bender: Realizing that's 20 minutes they can't get back, how would you feel?
How do you motivate your producer?
Bender: A kilo a month usually does the trick.
Staff interaction: are you a "mixer" or an island unto your own bloated ego?
Bender: We always mean well, but we always wind up on the island. Every morning show will say the same thing... if not, they're lying.
How do you handle a Sales person or manager who walks into the studio, in the middle of your show?
Bender: They go on the air. It's fun because normally they have that hung over, half-baked, hazy look in their eyes. I think the listeners can actually smell the booze.
If your PD suggests something lame and insists on you executing it, how do you react?
Bender: Sure we'll do it. He'll get on air credit if it bombs. The audience and Mike Preston are on a first name basis.
If there was one facet of radio you'd like to see change, what would it be... and what kind of change?
Bender: This will be completely random, but it's one of my biggest annoyances. I'd like to see jocks run a real board. With all of the automation the way it is, most jocks only touch their mic pot. Remote broadcasts, sweepers, etc. Ever pay attention to a majority of it? Most of it sounds like a train wreck.
Parting Thoughts on anything, from the radio industry to the world we live in, marriage to this painful interview.
Bender: To Dave Marino, my program director at WLAN Lancaster back in 1989. You told me that I wouldn't amount to anything and that my dad, whose been in the radio/TV business for 40+ years, would be disappointed in me. Thanks for the inspiration for the last 15 years, you prick.
LOL! A BIG BitXChange THANKS to Bender for his time!
You can find out more about Bender and his partners, by clicking HERE: www.jackieandbender.com.
AND: You can EMAIL Bender here: morningshow@jackieandbender.com. -
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