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10 Questions with ... THE DREW SHOW
June 30, 2020
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. - "I have nothing to hide when it comes to my life, so I share pretty much everything. I don’t see how I can truly connect with listeners if I don’t treat them like they’ve known me for years. Everything is on the table. I share stories about my life and my marriage, sobriety and parenting woes, and I feel like people can relate to it. We strive to have fun and find the funny things about life’s real problems." - Drew Hyatt
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
Drew I started off as a stunt boy in the early 2000’s for 103.7 KRZR on the afternoon Drive show with Rick Roddam. I worked my way up to my own weekend shifts and was the go-to fill in guy. After almost four years I took a two-year break from radio and absolutely hated not having the mic in front of me. I worked at another local rock station in the mornings with Jennifer Lipp for three years. Then came to New Rock 104.1 where I did nights for about six years. Three years ago, I was awarded the opportunity to co-host “The Morning After” with Skip Echeveria. I took over Mornings on New Rock on January 6th of this year.
Failliott I started working as an intern at One Putt Broadcasting and New Rock in May of 2017. I first came on once a week to do stunt work and gradually got more and more time with the former morning show. After about a year I was brought on as a part of the promotions team where I helped set up events for all the stations at One Putt. While in promotions I continued to work on my passion for radio until I was told I would be the new co-host of The Drew Show. I have been a co-host for the new morning show for the past six months.
1. How did you first become interested in radio?
Drew I always had a deep and sincere love of music, so at a young age I was ALWAYS listening to the radio. I was that kid that was constantly calling the request line to request songs in hopes to hear myself on-air. I truly fell in love with the medium when I discovered Loveline. We moved to Oregon briefly in my 6th grade year. For a person born and raised in the Central Valley of California, upending to a suburb of Portland was complete culture shock. I didn’t fit in that well, I didn’t have many friends, it was a hard adjustment to say the least. I found solace in Loveline. I would stay up late in my room with my Walkman on and listen to Adam Carolina, Ricky Rachtman, and Dr. Drew. It was funny, and edgy, and like nothing I have ever heard before. I was amazed by the things they got away with saying on-air and it really was the first time I had a “Show” on the radio I loved and planned to listen to every night. I remember my 11-year old self thinking, “This is what I want to do one day.” Somehow, through dumb luck and the willingness to get paid very little money, I was able to make that happen.
Failliott I’m not particularly sure became interested in radio. I had always listened to the radio growing up. My parents would pick me up from school and would put on the smooth jazz station. But I was always more into the rock stations. I’ve listened to New Rock for as long as I can remember. I’ve always done goofy voices and created characters, but I never thought I would be doing that on-air. But if I had to say when I first became interested in being in radio, I would say 2016. At the time I had just switched my major to journalism and broadcast at Fresno State. My brother was working with a friend of the former morning show host Skip Echeveria. He told me I should try to watch and see how radio works. On my first day job shadowing she put a mic in front of me at 6AM on the dot and said, “Well, let’s see what you got?” I still remember how nervous and awkward I felt at the time. I remember stuttering on my first break and after she gave me some encouragement. Later that show I met Drew and managed to impress them with enough lame one-liners and dad jokes to get another trip back in studio. That was four years ago, and I’ve been here ever since.
2. The Drew Show launched in January. How well did you guys know each other and what has been your biggest challenge building a new morning show during a pandemic?
Drew I met Failliott on the previous morning show when he came in for some intern work. At that point I had been in radio roughly 14 years and for the first time ever I saw the same “certain something” in an intern that someone saw in me early on in my radio career. I knew Failliott had the ability to not only do this job but be successful at it. I took it upon myself to groom him and with the aid of Jason Squires our PD and Skip Echeveria, we were able to get him on track professionally. Since then we have grown close and he is truly one of my best friends. Although it’s more of an older brother/younger brother Dynamic, Failliott has been trusted with one of the most important things to me in this world: Our Morning Show.
Starting the show was probably the most nerve-wracking thing I have ever done. We had to wait six weeks before we even announced it, and then wait another 10 days after that until we had our first show. The personal stress of build-up was almost too much to handle. At first it was a series of throwing things against the wall to see what stuck and what didn’t, and gauging listener feedback on what they liked. Right when we got into a decent groove COVID hit. And it hit hard. People were losing their jobs, concerts getting canceled, restaurants were closing. Those last two things alone effected our prize pools. The unemployment effected our listener feed-back because there were significantly less people on the road in their car. As a new morning show, it’s crucial that we have live listener feedback so we can shape the show to something that our audience wants. We no longer had it.
So, we had to pivot our content, delivery, and our way of connecting with listeners. We made more emphasis on social media feedback rather than callers hearing us on their way to work. We made care packages of essential items that were hard to get your hands on for listeners that were struggling as giveaways (We did that anonymously). We safely practiced social distancing and wore masks and gloves to do charity “Drew Thru” to raise money for charitable causes by selling corn dogs and donating all the proceeds. That allowed us, although brief, to get some face time with our listeners. We also started doing a live video game stream on Saturdays via Twitch.tv, where we play games with our listeners. We kept our content on-air more streamlined in a way that allowed us to have a conversation amongst ourselves and then open it to our listeners via social media. I honestly feel like overcoming these obstacles made our show better for it. It made us a better show because it forced us to re-think what works and think more about what CAN work.
Failliott Since my first day at New Rock, Drew and I clicked right off the get go. I’m still not sure exactly what it was, maybe our love of nerd and video game culture, but we have been friends since the day we met. Over the years of doing intern work for the previous morning show, whether it was being the Taco Fairy, or taking shots of maple syrup, Drew has been in my corner. I owe a lot of my success in radio to him as well as Jason Squires and Skip Echeveria. Those three helped guide and shape me to be where I am today. Drew was there every day for months, an hour early to help me do practice takes and help me on my delivery. You could call it mentoring, but it feels more of a brotherly bond than anything.
As for the biggest challenge with the new show, I would have to say adjusting to bigger role. I wasn’t necessarily too nervous, maybe because my name isn’t on the show…. looking at you Drew. I remember Drew being nervous so maybe I felt the need to be confident in our abilities. Plus, we were coming into the studio pitching ideas, constantly trying to make sure what we put on air is the best on air in Fresno morning radio. COVID hit right in the swing of our momentum, but I don’t think it has slowed us down as much as we initially thought. We have adapted well with how we do our show, get listeners to participate, and to still make an impact in our community. An example would be our “Drew-Threws” where we would serve corndogs to people while following all the precautions of the pandemic. All the proceeds then went to charities. We have worked hard to make sure we are constantly evolving to keep up with the craziness of the world, while maintaining what makes the show so great.
3. How would you describe your on-air style?
Drew Self-deprecative, humorous, and relatable. I have nothing to hide when it comes to my life, so I share pretty much everything. I don’t see how I can truly connect with listeners if I don’t treat them like they’ve known me for years. Everything is on the table. I share stories about my life and my marriage, sobriety and parenting woes, and I feel like people can relate to it. We strive to have fun and find the funny things about life’s real problems.
When it comes to social issues or entertainment, I try to find the middle ground in as much as I can. I truly believe that the loudest, most negative people amongst us are the minority, and the more balanced, optimistic people of this world are the majority. People are nuanced and have depth. Nobody is just one thing. There for I like opposing views and hot-takes and discussions. That way no one is left out. The only things we don’t condone on our show is Bigotry, Misogyny, or Racism. If you’re about that life then kick rocks, we don’t have time for you.
Failliott I want to say “Bro-y.” At least that’s how I feel I sound. I try to be as open as possible because I feel it helps make me more relatable with the listeners. I talk about my low self-esteem, my almost failed college experience, my blunders in dating, as well as my success however far apart they are. I also feel that it helps not only connect with listeners, but it helps me become more comfortable with myself. Self-deprecating humor is a staple in my style, as well as very cheesy jokes that I hope get you to crack a smile while you roll your eyes. Mostly I would hope that I come off as genuine as possible, because I do feel incredibly lucky to be where I am in radio right now. I never thought I would be a co-host for a morning show this fast. I’m incredibly humbled to be where I am, and to be learning not just from Drew, but other incredible on-air talents like Hammer and Christoper Gabriel from ESPN 940AM.
4. Describe a typical morning show for you guys. a) What is the process? b) How much show prep do you do and what are some of the key benchmarks of your show?
Drew I wake up sleep deprived but excited every morning. We start off with a hello and give bullet points to what we are going to talk about during the show. We often recap our night or tell stories about interesting encounters or situations we get ourselves in to during the 6am hour. At the end of the 6, we front sell our main focus and start to get into the meat of the program.
Our process is largely free form. We have an idea for topics and things that we are going to talk about, but we see what works and what doesn’t live as we are doing the show. “Pivot” is our favorite word. We will start with simple topics and if we get listener involvement, we run it. Or, if we have really good banter during the break, we will allow more time on that particular topic. It’s always changing. We are EXTREMELY prepared; however, we understand that not everything is going to work. We have a live shared note section in which Failliott and me are always adding things to. And if we have a random idea, we immediately share it with the other person.
We have two Daily benchmarks: “Not-as-Fake News” and “Daily Dose of Dip-sh*t.” “Not as fake news” serves as a daily news update where we typically focus on feel-good or lighter news stories and some entertainment. “Daily Dose of Dip-Sh*t” is where we highlight celebrities doing dirt or more serious topics. Then we have Recurring Benchmarks like “Tech Drews Day” (tech news), “TV On The Radio” (we talk about the shows we are binging), “Dumb Debate Day” (we debate mundane things that proves anyone can fight about anything), “Game Day” (Fun, Quick, always changing trivia games), “Filthy Casual Corner” (where we shame people for not knowing that much about nerd culture) and a few others we rotate in or out. We just made a new one called “Pen Pals” where we read our prison mail live on the radio.
Failliott A typical morning for me starts at 4:15AM when my alarm goes off. I get to work at 5AM and look over either show prep, news stories, or ideas for the show. Although the show can seem loose and almost impromptu, I can assure you that me and Drew are incredibly organized with what each show looks like. That being said if something begins to fly, we aren’t afraid to run with it, same as if an idea flops, we aren’t afraid to admit when the idea failed and move on to the next. Constantly learning and bettering the show is what Drew and I strive for. Both Drew and I put a ton of show prep into each morning. Whether it means coming in to the studio over the weekend to work on a new idea or intro, or hours after the show to set up the next day, we are continuously working to make tomorrows show better than today’s show.
We have a number of benchmarks that we don’t only do daily, but weekly. Not as Fake News and Daily Dose of DipS**t are ones we do every day. After that we have certain days with certain staples. Tuesdays revolve around Tech Drewsday (Tech news) where Wednesdays are Dumb Debate Day. That is when we debate the gripping and controversial topics such as: “Are Cheetos a chip? Who wins between a grizzly bear or a gorilla? Arnold or Stallone?” Thursdays are our Game Days and Fridays we do sports talk with Christopher Gabriel as well as Filthy Casual Corner (Nerd News) and on certain Fridays we do what we call a “Free for All Friday.” That is when we let listeners decide what music we play, any genre, from 6-10AM.
5. What is your favorite part of the show?
Drew Dumb Debate Day. Period.
Failliott Dumb Debate Day reigns supreme…. However, Today in Bro History With Brofessor is another favorite of mine. I also enjoy a new segment we do called “Bitch Alert” where either one of us or both of us bitch about something incredibly mundane for 30 seconds. If anyone knows how to bitch about dumb things, it’s this guy. Any of those as well as getting to make funny intros for each of these segments is something I truly love about this job.
6. What do you love most about being on-air?
Drew I love the idea that I am able to bring some levity to this crazy world for other people. I know it sounds contrived or rehearsed, but the idea that my thoughts or words can affect someone positively is why I keep on doing this. My motivations are self-centered for sure. I am honest about my incessant need for attention. But it also makes me feel like I am somehow doing some good in this world with the little time I am afforded while in it. That is what I love the most.
Failliott I would have to say getting to be creative with debuting a new idea. I think the best part of my job is getting to think up ideas and see if people enjoy them. Whether it is a new game, a clever dumb debate, or even a new persona I find getting to be creative with not just colleagues, but with friends is hands down the best part of being on air.
7. How are you using social media to augment what you’re doing on-air?
Drew Social media is essential to what we do, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. We rely on this almost like a “Report Card.” It’s powerful to get live feedback and communication from your listening audience as you are doing a live, local morning show. When we share things off of our social media accounts, we also give shoutouts to the person that posted it unless they request to stay anonymous. This allows people at work, pretending to work, to participate without getting in trouble. We also use it as a platform to allow our listeners to be creative. We do a social media only bit called “Flaunt your food” where listeners post pictures of the food that they cooked and were proud enough to document it. Or “Meme Monday” where we post a collection of memes on allow listeners to post their own in the comment section. It’s just another way to connect with listeners that isn’t the typical “This is what we are talking about, call in, next” way of doing things.
Failliott Social media has been a huge help to us now more than ever. Though this pandemic has hit many of us very hard, social media has allowed us to stay connected to the listeners. We have started doing things such as “Flaunt your Food” where we ask listeners to post pictures of their cooking and recipes. “Meme Monday” is another fun thing we do to where we post our favorite memes over the week and share them, we also ask listeners to share their favorites as well. I’m not sure if Twitch counts as social media, but we have even begun playing video games with listeners and doing a live feed of us playing together calling it at the time “Quaranteam.” Social media also helps make some of our weekly benchmarks like Dumb Debate Day easier to keep track of. Drew and I know that social media right now can be difficult to look through, so we try and keep our post as fun and light-hearted as possible.
8. Tell us about your new coffee, The Drew Brew and share another proud moment from the show from the first 6 months?
Drew We had some meetings early in the show’s life on promotional ideas. My very first thought was coffee mugs. People use them all the time, it’s morning themed, and I am a complete coffee addict. Seemed like a no-brainer. The coffee itself was completely unexpected. We teamed up with Happy Grounds Coffee Co. and we had the idea of doing K-Cups with our show branding on them. Their coffee is incredible, and it was going to be our first big merchandise promotion. One of the running gags on our show is that I am so self-centered that we find a way to use Drew in everything we do. It’s hard to convince someone that this is a joke when your show is called, “The Drew Show” but give me the benefit of the doubt here please. “Drew Brew Coffee” with the “Drew Show Coffee Mug” just seemed too perfect to NOT do. We had posters made, coffee and mugs made; everything was in line and we were extremely excited. Then Covid hit. It postponed our promotion by four months.
Even though it was tough, I am still just as excited to get it out there. I know personally a lot of people want them. We have teased it here and there, and after the original announcement tons of listeners have already contacted me to get them. That validates me. People being excited for our shows merchandise makes me feel like we are doing something right. This, mixed in with the other philanthropic work we have done, makes me proud. The Drew Brew promotion is donating the proceeds to Story Land here in Fresno. It serves as a play-place for kids and helps inspire creativity at a young age.
Also, not getting fired yet. That also makes me proud.
Failliott The Drew Brew coffee is awesome though I’m still waiting for the Failliott Frappachino to drop. We have been planning this for a couple of months now so for us to finally be able to debut the coffee is a dream. We will be holding a tasting event Friday July 3, at Gazebo Gardens while being on air 6-10AM. If you like the coffee, you will be able to buy a Drew Show mug but also get three K-Cups of Drew Brew as well. All the proceeds go to Storyland, so we are extremely excited to get to share our coffee with the New Rock nation. As for another proud moment from the first six months. Between getting knighted and not being fired it’s tough to pick honestly. Winning the great Cheetos debate might also be a highlight. I think if I really had to think about it, it would be getting asked to be the co-host of the show.
9. What would surprise people most to learn about you?
Drew Music can make me cry. Classical Orchestra to Death Metal. Music can trigger emotional responses in me.
Failliott Well my radio name is Failliott, which has been a fun joke here at work that I “fail” a lot, but you’d be surprised to know I’ve graduated from Fresno State with a journalism major. I review articles that could benefit the success of the show on my free time and I enjoy writing short stories, poems etc. so as much as it seems like I “fail” I’m actually incredibly passionate about journalism, radio and writing. As well as a passion to learn and speak fluent Japanese, one of my many outlandish dreams is to become a voice actor for either a cartoon show or an anime show.
10. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without _________?
Drew Failliott
Failliott Drew……………………………………..Brew.
Bonus Questions
What are weekends like for you?
Drew My wife catches up on sleep because during the week she handles the kids -- 2 girls -- 2 years old and 10 months old – at night so I can get up at 4:30am and do the show and not be tired. So, I watch the kids a lot and try to take it easy as much as possible and also stream some games with Failliott and listeners.
Failliott My weekends usually look like a cave with an Xbox and a hot cup of coffee. When I have my time off, I enjoy decompressing and keeping to myself. Find a new anime/manga or write in a journal. If I’m lucky get a few rounds of Super Smash Bros Ultimate, I welcome any and all challengers.
If I do decide to go out and have a social life, I like sake bombs at my go to sushi spot or a nice beer at Goldstein’s.
What are your favorite places to eat in the area?
Drew Benaddiction, Robertitos, Cracked Pepper
Failliott Fresno Bagel Co; Maya Sushi -- ask for Peak as a server she’s the best; Benaddiction -- James cooks up some fire grub.
Rank your sports teams in order of passion.
Drew Team EG. TSM, Team Liquid (These are E-sports teams. I know nothing of traditional sports because I am a weak male)
FailliottThis one is tough. 1. Green Bay Packers 2. Chelsea FC 3. Golden State Warriors 4. Mighty Ducks (I know they’re technically Anaheim but come on.) 5. Oakland A’s finally as a few honorable mentions I root for England’s national rugby team (I played at Fresno State for three years) as well as the Miami Heat (Dwayne Wade was one of my favorite players while in the league.) and The U to cap it off. Also go Dogs!
Sorry I love sports.
First record ever purchased?
Drew Nirvana Unplugged on Cassette
Failliott My very first record was Linkin Park’s very first CD Hybrid Theory and is still to this day not only one of my favorite bands, but favorite albums.
First concert?
Drew Youth Brigade at the Sugar-Hill skate park in Fresno. Me and my little punk rock friends fighting the establishment and smoking cigarettes like rebels.
Failliott I can’t exactly remember the year, but my first concert was a Good Charlotte concert at the Savemart Center here in Fresno when I was a kid.
Favorite band of all-time?
Drew Radiohead… Don’t Judge Me.
Failliott Foals hands down. I have seen them three times now and have never moshed as hard as I do anywhere else. They have a perfect balance of songs that shred to songs of somber, if you haven’t heard of Foals, educate yourself.
Favorite new band over the past year?
Drew Can I cheat and Say Alt-J? They aren’t new this year, but I want more people to listen to them cuz they are brilliant.
Failliott I’m gonna say lovelytheband, there last album was in 2018 so it’s technically cheating, but the music they have released in the past year has been incredible and I look forward to seeing what’s next for them.
Anything else you would like to add?
Drew Yes, Failliott has me to thank me for his whole life and career. If he ever wins the lottery, I expect 10 percent.
Failliott Drew likes to think that all of my success is because of him. I could get a good night’s sleep and he’d find a way to take credit for it. Also, another one of my favorite things is when I jokingly ignore Drew’s calls so he text me “dead.” This happens at least 2-3 times a day, every day, 7 days a week, 365.
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