10 Questions with ... Dino

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

CHR KRQQ/Tucson 1991-94, 1995-1999: intern, nights, MD, Promotions Manager. AOR KLPX/Tucson 1994-1995: weekend on-air talent. Mediabase 24/7 1999-2010: Music Research Specialist. Urban AC KGMG & AC KMXZ/Tucson 2008-2011: weekend on-air talent. Alternative KFMA/Tucson 2014-present: weekend on-air talent and now afternoon drive host.

1. How did you become interested in radio?

I was always a big fan of all types of music growing up. As a child, I lived in upstate NY and used to listen to the big Top 40 AM stations from NYC like WNBC & WABC in the late 70's. I'll always remember Howard Hoffman doing nights on WABC. Moving to Tucson in the early 80's, in junior high & high school, my musical tastes shifted to hard rock like Van Halen & AC/DC plus other 80's metal. In the 90's, I was in college when Alternative became the new rock. During my brief college career, I somehow managed to get a radio station internship & I was able to parlay my knowledge of current rock and Top 40 and fill the void of "Rocker Dude" at a CHR station. I loved to go to concerts and I soon found out that working in radio was the best way to get free tickets. Honestly, free concert tickets was my primary motivation for getting back into radio in 2014 after being out of it for several years!

2. What was your biggest challenge moving up from part-time to PM-drive in 2016?

I try to do as much phone interaction with the audience as possible. On the weekends, it was easy because all I had to do was talk about having a good time on the phone with listeners and wait for them to say something crazy that they were doing while listening to the radio or how excited they were for a ticket giveaway. Now with the afternoon show, while talking with listeners about something exciting that's going on with the station, I'm also incorporating entertaining topical bits with listeners calling in their opinions or contributions to some off the wall social media story or trend. The trick is trying to balance the funny conversation & topics with pushing the station business and music while being time efficient with my talk break opportunities.

3. Tell us about The Dino Radio Show.

I want it to be a dude's show. I talk about dude stuff with the listeners...sex, beer, movies, sports, music, pot, the ridiculousness of living in the online world. I try to stay out of political humor because it's so polarizing. But I am not above a good "Trump Peeing On Russian Hookers" joke. I got a complaint after doing a joke about that and the Republican guy on the phone said, "You wouldn't make a joke if it was a Democrat involved in a sex scandal" and I said to the guy, "Don't you remember all of the Anthony Weiner jokes or the President Clinton/Monica Lewinsky sex jokes...They're Democrats." It doesn't matter which party you're in. Sex stuff is funny. Politics is not...usually, it's depressing. I just started a new request feature at 5 o'clock for those getting off work. It's called the "Happy Ending" and listeners call in to request their song on the air and let all of Tucson know that Dino (3rd person - yep, that just happened!) is giving them a Happy Ending! Also at 4 O'clock, I recently started the music-centric "4 On The Floor" feature with 4 tunes in a row of hard, up-tempo, rockin' tunes.

4. How would you describe your on-air style?

Conversationally sarcastic with plenty of phone calls. Vox Pro is my friend.

5. What is your favorite part of your show?

Cutting up and editing phone calls on the Vox Pro. Especially if those calls are responses to a bit or topic that I show prepped or wrote material for. I love getting the best parts of the phone call on the air & getting to the payoff or the punchline of the bit with a caller.

6. What is your show prep routine?

I usually spend a good part of my morning looking for stories on fark.com or Facebook. Basically, anywhere that has some outrageous story that I can tell my listeners about. Then, I try to come up with my own take on the story while also leaving room for the listeners to comment with a call. I'll re-post the actual story to my Facebook page with a funny introduction line by me to get some online audience engagement & response. But honestly, I'd rather the people call with their take. I don't think it's to fun for me to read listener comments. I'd rather they call and said it themselves so I can respond along with them.

7. How did you get the nickname Dino?

When I started as an intern in 1991 at a Top 40 station, I had some super long hair in a quasi-mullet! My real name is Dan, so I became Dan The Hairy Man at KRQQ thanks to the night guy at the time James "The Manic Hispanic" Rivas, afternoon guy Mojo. and the PD John Peake. When I went to the local rock station KLPX for a year, I shortened it to Dan The Man. When I came back to KRQQ, I decided I needed a new name and we kicked around a couple of choices (Danny Savage did not make the cut!). My PD, Mark Todd, came up with Dino. I rationalized that it took two letters from my first name and 2 letters from my last name in order to come to terms that it wasn't my original idea. Back then, listeners would send me or give me pictures of Dino, the dog from the Flintstones cartoon, or pictures or action figures of dinosaurs. I still have some of those after all these years. I've been Dino since 1995...almost half my life.

8. Who is your favorite on-air personality not on your staff and why do you like them?

I always listen/watch three guys do their breaks on the internet. They're totally different from each other and all totally original. First, it's Fitz from KUPD in Phoenix. His takes on the topics of the day with his hilarious and honest delivery are totally conversational and real. Plus, his interaction with listeners is totally genuine. And second, NY radio legend "Broadway" Bill Lee is the shit. His rhyming breaks over intros are a lost art. Some might say that his style is passé, but I think its genius. There's no one like him. Finally, I also love sports talk radio and I think Ryen Russillo on ESPN Radio is awesome at mixing sports & pop culture with heavy sarcasm.

9. What would surprise people most about you?

I keep a weekend job at a local resort for a company hotel discount when I travel.

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

Feeling lucky that I'm doing the job I'm doing now at this point in my life. I'm thankful for the love and support of my wife, family, and friends.

What are your hobbies?

It's been a while, but I play basketball (poorly!) in a recreational league. I'm all defense and zero offense. I watch a ton of sports...NBA, NFL. I only watch baseball when it's the playoffs. I'm a huge ESPN viewer.

What are weekends like for you?

Busy with my wife. The "Honey Do" list is long AF!

First record ever purchased?

When I was a young kid, I had records from the Bee Gees, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Michael Jackson, Queen, and Elvis Presley. When I was in 6th grade, my friend introduced me to Van Halen. I bought Van Halen I and that pretty much defined my musical identity.

First concert?

With my parents: Beatle-Mania 1981? at the Tucson Convention Center

With my friends: Scorpions 1984-Love At First Sting Tour at the Tucson Convention Center. Second concert: Van Halen-1984 Tour at Veterans' Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

Favorite band of all-time?

Van Halen. My oldest son's middle name is Halen. I met Van Halen in 1998 and Eddie & Alex Van Halen autographed his birth certificate. It's ironic that I work in the Alternative format now because when Nirvana came out, I hated them. Still do. I was more of a Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains fan when it came to 90's music from Seattle.