10 Questions with ... Scott "dXn" Dixon

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

WWDG (Rock 105 The Dog)/Syracuse
Feb 2003-Sept 2006
PD
Midday Host
Host of The Backyard (local music show)
Host of Bareknuckle Radio (Hardcore/Metal/Post Rock specialty show)

WAQX (95X)
Jan 2012-present
MD
PM Drive Host (Afternoons with dXn)
Event Execution Specialist

1. How did you become interested in radio?

I grew up a latchkey kid that was far more interested in music than anything else. Most kids collected baseball cards or action figures. I collected records. I was a huge fan of WOLF as a kid in Syracuse. They played a healthy dose of Motown, Stax Records stuff and the vibe was addictive to me. I couldn't get enough. I had radios ranging from pocket sized transistor radios, to boomboxes of various sizes and by age 8 or 9 had my own component stereo set up and exterior antenna. The idea that there was all this music floating through the air and that it was free was something that really got me as a kid.

2. Tell us about Afternoons with dXn Weekdays 2-6?

I try very hard to do a lot of the things that make me stay tuned in to a specific jock or show. A good amount of information on the artist's we play, what's going on in and around town, food trends and a solid dose of things from my own life. I try to be as relatable as possible while also being a respected source for information. If I can throw in a laugh every once in a while I will.

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

I like to think I have a bit of a throwback feel to the "golden days" from a formatics standpoint, but I am also very opinionated and not shy, so I have a tendency to put myself out there in a way I think a lot of modern day jocks won't do. In this day and age, I would rather just respect radio by having great formatics, but content wise I have no problem talking about things most people think but are too conservative or shy to say out loud.

4. What is it like working with Joe D?

Joe is a monster. Dude works harder than anyone I know. I would definitely not be back in radio if he hadn't stayed on me and solicited me to come back, back in 2012 after all my health issues. In the 5 years we have worked together I feel like we have grown into a perfect ying and yang, one two punch. We are good at filling in each other's gaps and collaborating on ideation for events and everything else station related. I genuinely think, in fact I know, that without Joe, 95X wouldn't be half of what it is today and I would most certainly not be in radio.

5. What are music meetings like at the station?

Easy. We both come to the table with ideas of what we would like to do. While Joe is very research oriented and I am very emotionally oriented. Like I said, we balance each other out well and we rarely if ever disagree. At the root of it we both absolutely love music and when it comes to music meetings it never feels like work.

6. Tell us about your 95X specialty shows, On The Fringe and Locals Only and how you put these shows together?

Locals Only celebrated 5 years this year and is a 2 hour show Sundays from 10p-Midnight that features the top acts in Upstate NY. The show also spawned a daily feature every day at 5pm where we have a band in the 95X Locals Only Spotlight. The music scene here is so talented and so diverse, that there really is a demand for it. The Fringe was a concept that started when were still an Active Rocker. Intended to give a look into the Alt world, when we became Alternative station, I took the opportunity to really delve into playing a lot of up and coming acts and a lot of high level Alt acts that don't typically look for airplay. The show has been met with a warm reception after just about 2 years on the air and is a great way to test some of the newer alternative music that is not yet charted or has just begun its ascension.

7. You hosted the 4th Annual 95X Locals Only X-Fest happened on August 12th. Who are some of the biggest local talent from the 315?

The Stacy White Suite is our headliner this year and are one of those bands that just has "it" IMO. There is this young kid named NATE that does this ensemble style of "band," but at the root of it would be akin to a Milky Chance or early Matt & Kim, Mattydale Music Collective are the truest thing to the roots of alternative music. Comparisons to Alt-J, Tom Waits and MGMT are frequent and they put on a killer show. There's a cool project from Oswego NY called EThernauts that exists in a space somewhere between Manchester Orchestra and Explosions In The Sky that gets an insane response every time they play live. The bands NOT on the fest that deserve some attention would be Barroom Philosophers (RIYL Dirty Heads/Sublime/Blues Traveler), The Black River featuring former SU Lacrosse Star Mike Powell (RIYL Wilco/Jayhawks/Old 97's) and a band from Utica NY called Endless Circles (not really alt, but female fronted and somewhere between NIN and Lacuna Coil).

8. What is your favorite part of your job?

The music. I've always loved turning people on to new music and this gives me the opportunity to do it on a mass platform.

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

A gallon of iced tea, 2 gallons of water and "Swoon" by Silversun Pickups

10. Why is dXn the guy you don't want to sit next to on the bus?

I grew up in a not so great neighborhood in Syracuse, so I have a little bit of a "hood vibe" and I look like a retired hardcore kid, so I think in most instances people think I may mug them. LOL

What are your hobbies?

Cooking, singing, booking local showcases

What are weekends like for you?

I manage a local music venue, so it's just more work 90Z% of weekends!

First record ever purchased?

"Mothership Connection" by Parliment

First concert?

RHCP at The Lost Horizon Feb of 1986 on the Freaky Styley tour (I snuck in as a 13 year old).

Favorite band of all-time?

This is hard. Teenage me would say Fugazi, me in my 20's would say RATM, but truthfully right now it's a tie between Silversun Pickups and Manchester Orchestra.