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10 Questions with ... Nick Taylor
September 10, 2013
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
By the time I was a teenager, I was DJ-ing in three different clubs in the Detroit area, so majoring in broadcasting was a no-brainer for me. I got my degree from Western Michigan University I interned at local classic rocker WRKR, then slid over to do nights at sister Top 40/Mainstream WKFR/Kalamazoo, MI. I left Michigan for middays at WNVZ and a month later, I moved to mornings.
1. What got you into radio?
I was always so into music, but more than just "it has a great beat and you can dance to it". I was so interested in what made a song a hit. The production, the value of great songwriting. The aritsts, and their stories. The problem is I never learned how to play an instrument! I can't even read music! So what does a guy who loves music but can't play do? It was a pretty natural fit.
2. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I was pretty convinced was going to be in advertising, thinking up that hot new creative slogan that takes the country by storm. My dad was an ad man. He was a media buyer in Detroit and he got to visit radio stations all the time. He took me to my very first radio station, WHYT, which was Power 96, in the Fisher Building in Detroit. I thought his job was fascinating.
3. You're a newlywed. What has your new status brought to you as host of the morning show?
Actually a challenge. I was the last single member of our show. We are on a format with an audience that is mostly single, dating, catfishing (lol). Hearing about 3 old married people isn't exactly captivating. So our challenge is to stay on topics like first dates, cheating boyfriends, and cheesy pick up lines. Not "does YOUR wife steal all the covers in bed?"
4. You've been at WNVZ for many years. How have you evolved as an air personality in that time?
Well you said the key word: evolution. That would be my number one piece of advice for any radio talent: learn to evolve. I remember what my very first year on Z104 was like, and if the ME of today, heard that show, I think I would roll my eyes and say, "we've got a lot of work to do..." I think specifically I've learned to key in to what my audience cares about, to start breaks with the important stuff, and that nobody really cares which celebrity is having a birthday today.
5. When you go back to Detroit, after seeing family, where's the first place you want to go or first thing you want to do?
Depends what season it is. If it's hockey season I'm already calling people asking if they have tickets for the Wings game that night. Other times of the year I still love to head downtown. I love the foxtown square area. The Fox theater, Comerica Park, Hockeytown Cafe, the Hard Rock, MGM Grand. Detroit is such an exciting, beautiful city. It hurts my heart that the majority of people only hear about the worst part.
6. How about a fill-in-the-blank question? As I watched the MTV Music Awards and Miley Cyrus' performance with Robin Thicke, I was __________.
Excited. As a radio host, it's so funny. You watch moments like this and you NEVER think of your OWN opinion, because you're so excited thinking, "I've got my 7:30 phone topic now!!" We hope for controversy. We love it when a celebrity gives us something for our audience to talk about. Here's a great side story: the day before my first day ever at Z104 (I was scheduled to do middays then) it was a Sunday. But not just ANY Sunday-Super Bowl Sunday. I'll never forget being nervous about my first day on a new station, in a new market that I knew NOTHING about. I remember saying to God, "I sure hope there's something interesting to talk about tomorrow..." and then Janet Jackson showed the world her boob. Thanks God! (and Janet)
7. The morning team at WNVZ has been together for quite some time. If you were each animals, what animals would you be? (Sorry...I just watched We Bought A Zoo the other day.)
Tricia would DEFINITELY be a Lioness, no doubt.
Shaggy would be a monkey, but not even a normal one. Like, a "special" monkey.
And I guess I would be a grumpy old elephant, WITHOUT the excellent memory skills.
8. What do you like to do in your spare time?
Play softball, hit the driving range, root for my Red Wings, and whatever my wife tells me to do.
9. If you could be on any TV reality show or game show, which would you want to be on?
Probably the Real World, because those kids have it so good. The only problem is I would be SO BORING, because I'd never complain about ANYTHING. Every night I would be the one saying, "yeah, but guys!! We live RENT-FREE!! And we have a freakin HOT TUB!! And MTV actually PAYS for all our alcohol!!" I'm serious, after 2 weeks the producers would be like, "you're boring. Go home."
10. What are the most annoying posts you see on Facebook?
We actually have a name for it: HATEbook. There's just so much HATRED and ignorance out there, and now we gave it a platform. So the ones I hate the most are the ignorant, hateful posts. Example: I think it was Malia Obama's birthday, so we put a picture of her up and wished her a happy birthday. The comments that followed below were so rude and scathing we had to remove the entire post. I remember thinking, "what has the world come to?"
Bonus Questions
Norfolk doesn't have a major league sports franchise. In general, who do locals root for?
It's kind of weird, it changes by sports. In football it's the Redskins. In baseball, the Nationals AND the Orioles. We also have a minor league hockey team, the Admirals, and some great college teams at Virginia Tech, UVA and Old Dominion.
If you were a pitcher and your boss, WNVZ PD Mike Klein was your manager, what would he probably say to you when he walks out to the mound to take you out of the game?
He would ask if I wanted to come out, but in a way that was actually telling me he's taking me out. So it would sort of be like, "hey, I guess you maybe wanna come out now? I can tell you wanna come out." Then he would tell me it was all Arbitron's fault and buy me an ice cream.
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