10 Questions with ... Sully

NAME:Sully POSITION:APD STATION:WXNR MARKET:Greenville/New Bern/Jacksonville, NC (#88) COMPANY:Beasley Broadcasting BORN:11/08/74 RAISED:Asheboro, NC (not to be mistaken for Asheville, all we had in the Asheboro was the NC Zoo)

LAST NON-INDUSTRY JOB:

Record shop.

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

WKXB, WSFM, signed on Classic Rocker WBNE

FIRST RECORD EVER PURCHASED:

The Police Synchronicity

FIRST CONCERT:

Nirvana in 1991 at the Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill

FAVORITE BANDS OF ALL-TIME:

Toss up between Soul Coughing, Fugazi, Social Distortion, and Weezer (how do you narrow that down).

1. How did you become interested in radio?

I never ever expected I would end up in radio. I never even gave it a thought growing up. Most people I have met in the industry say they had it in their blood and they remember so and so jock that was on the air when they were a kid. All I knew was music and I wanted to be a rockstar. Then I realized I needed a backup plan and stumbled into radio thinking it was something to hold me over till I could land a recording studio gig. As I learned more and more about radio the more and more I became fascinated with it and here I am almost 10 years later.

2. You recently were promoted to APD. What does everyone need to know about Sully?

I tend to say whatever pops into my brain. That's a good and bad thing. Oh and I love beer and if I watch Scarface, I will talk like Tony Montana for a week.

3. What do you like best about your job?

The staff here is great, everyone from our sister stations, to the sales staff, to upper management, to everyone here at X. That is always a great situation to be in and how can you not love a job that pays you to listen to music and be an idiot in the public eye? Does it get any better?

4. How are you sorting through all the new music? What is your method to the madness?

The madness sits in a stack on my desk about 4-feet high. I try to listen to stuff as it comes in. Occasionally I'll have our midday guy, Crash, check out some of the new stuff and get the 25 year-old's opinion. Plus he always does some crazy dance to everything he hears, so it makes listening to everything more entertaining. One day I will get a video of this and expose it to the world.

5. What kind of music are you a sucker for?

I am a sucker for redheads and Native American women. Oh, hold on, I think I misunderstood the question. I am all about the Rock. Plain and simple. I love bands that are never truly in the mainstream from an industry standard like Social Distortion, Dropkick Murphys, Rancid, and Primus (Les Claypool is a god). I tend to gravitate towards them; it's like a tractor beam sucking me in.

6. What would surprise people most about the station?

It goes well with beer. I think the biggest surprise was Charlie announcing that she was leaving. We are gonna miss you Charlie.

7. Biggest career highlight?

Can I have 2? First, the chance to sign on Classic Rocker, WBNE/Wilmington, NC. For the amount of experience I had at that point, it was a big undertaking. Myself and Chris Scharf, PD of WSFM & WBNE at the time, were allowed to enact the vision we had, which was to be more album-oriented and go deep into the Classic Rock library. Hell, our most requested song was "Pigs" by Pink Floyd. It did really well, but in my opinion, our vision was too big for the market. Maybe I just tell myself that now though, but BNE is still going strong 5 ½ years later, so maybe we did something right.

My second highlight was five or six years ago I stumbled on this band called Sugardaddy Superstar out of Columbia, SC. Those guys later became Crossfade and I found out a few months ago that I was the first to ever play them on the air. It has been awesome watching them grow. They just seem to get better and better. On a personal note, I still think Starless should be a single.

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

Coffee.

9. If you could work at any radio station, which one would it be and why?

I have no clue...I love living in North Cack-a-lacki. Although Tampa or Denver would be cool. Gotta stay with the whole beach or mountain thing. I don't know if I could say a particular station, but it would have to be some kind of Rock format.

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

I would probably make the jump to a TV/Radio/Internet production company.

What do you enjoy doing for fun?

I love football season. When Sunday's roll around I completely shut off the outside world. All I do is eat Dagwoods and watch the NFL Ticket. Outside of football, it's playing my bass guitar, going to concerts when I can and heading back to my old stomping grounds of Wilmington, NC to drink some beers with some old friends. And yes, I probably will catch some flack from co-workers who always ask when I plan on moving closer to the station.