10 Questions with ... Roger Pride

NAME:Roger Pride POSITION:APD/MD/afternoons (2-6p) STATION:KFTE "Planet Radio 96.5" MARKET:Lafayette, LA (#102) COMPANY:Regent Broadcasting BORN:Alexandria, LA RAISED:Alexandria, LA

LAST NON-INDUSTRY JOB:

Maintenance

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

I started parttime here in Fall '99 and over the last five years, worked my way through nights, middays, and afternoons. I picked up the MD thing about a year ago.

FIRST RECORD EVER PURCHASED:

I think it was "License to I'll"

FIRST CONCERT:

Pantera and Wrathchild America, in some bar in Shreveport. I was 15.

FAVORITE BANDS OF ALL-TIME:

Credence, Zeppelin or maybe Danzig. I don't really know.

1. How did you become interested in radio?

I was always interested in radio, even when I was a kid calling up and bugging the night jocks, but I never really pursued it. Hell, I was studying Physics at UL Lafayette when I met Rob Summers (the former PD) through a mutual friend. Rob and Scott Perrin (the current PD) asked me if I would be interested in helping them out with some board-op work in the evenings and on the weekends. I guess you can say that I really didn't know how much I would enjoy radio until I accidentally got the job.

2. What do you like best about your job?

When I say, "I have to go to work," I'm not hanging my head and sighing. We have great people here on both sides of the building, so it makes for a fun work environment. A sappy answer I know, but it's true … most of the time.

3. What is your biggest challenge at Planet Radio?

Trying to get more great acts to play in Lafayette. We're situated right between Houston and New Orleans, and sometimes I think that throwing those police spike strips across I-10 is the only way we can get the tour buses to stop.

4. What would surprise people most about the station?

Our tower is made entirely of hand-crafted mahogany.

5. How do you and Scott sort through all the new music each week?

I wish I could say that we schedule time on Friday, sit down with a stack of music, and just go at it. As it turns out, we just pass each other in the halls and say things like, "Listen to that 22-20's song." We then come up with idea and run it by (consultant) Alan Sneed. He trusts Scott's judgment.

6. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without _________?

Smoking ... damn it's tough.

7. How do you stay in touch with the latest music trends?

Watching the chart, checking the phones, listening to everything that ends up on my desk, and Internet research.

8. Besides your own, what is your favorite radio format?

Classic Rock.

9. Biggest career highlight?

I guess being featured on "10 Questions."

10. If you wanted to completely change careers today, what would you do?

I'd like to be a trust fund kid, but I guess my parents messed that up for me.

How did you get the nickname Whipping Boy?

It was kind of like that scene in Animal House where John Belushi is giving the pledges their Delta names: "Why Rog The Whipping Boy?" "Why not."

What do you enjoy doing for fun?

One part football, two parts beer. In the off-season, just the beer.