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10 Questions with ... Shiv (aka Matt Shiverdecker)
September 1, 2009
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TITLE:MD/AfternoonsSTATION:WOXY.comMARKET:WorldwideCOMPANY:Future SoundsBORN:12/24/75, Dayton, OhioRAISED:Dayton, Ohio
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
Started as an intern at WOXY in 1996. Was hired full-time after graduating college in 1998. The station has gone through several shifts since then, but I've been here for all of them.
LAST NON-INDUSTRY JOB:
Worked part-time in an indie video store for 10 years.
FIRST RECORD EVER PURCHASED:
I saved up to buy Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and Bryan Adams' "Reckless" on the same trip.
FIRST CONCERT:
With my parents: YES (in the round!) for WTUE's 15th Anniversary show. On my own: Lollapalooza '92.
FAVORITE BAND OF ALL-TIME:
The person who has put me into the biggest amount of debt over the years is Bjork. I have damn near every import single, album, 12", DVD, etc...
1. Why is the station relocating to Austin?
Honestly, this has been floating around as an idea since our first visit to SXSW years ago. It became a reality when we were purchased by Larry Little and John Mascarenhas of Future Sounds earlier this year. It's just another chapter in the now 26-year-old history of this station.
We are leaving here on August 31st and the station will be reairing our 20th Annual Modern Rock 500 Countdown for the week of travel and setup. We will resume broadcasting live in Austin from the new studios on Tuesday, September 8th.
2. Will the station continue to broadcast on WVXU/Cincinnati's HD-2 channel and how important is that to the station?
We are going to continue our partnership with Cincinnati Public Radio. They will continue to simulcast our stream on 91.7 WVXU HD-2 radio in the Cincinnati area. It is something that is very important to us. Our local listeners who were crushed when the FM station was sold, the HD-2 broadcast has allowed fans in the area to listen in their cars again.
3. What do you look forward to the most about living in Austin?
My entire life revolves around music and movies, so the opportunity to live in a city that also revolves around those two things has me pretty geeked. The music will be a part of my daily gig, but the rabid film culture there is what I am probably most excited about.
4. After a dozen years at WOXY, what makes you still excited to come to work every day?
I never have lost sight of how fortunate I am for this to still be my job. I get paid to turn a worldwide listening audience on to my favorite new music and host amazing bands live in the studio every week. Even with the ownership changes over the last few years, we've never lost our freedom & individuality. Nobody tells us what to do or what to play. Music gets on the air because we're passionate about it (collectively or individually in some cases). End of story. I can count on one hand how many other places I could work in this industry where I would have that freedom and, because of that, I'll be here until they push me out the door!
5. Give us a rundown of the WOXY staff and day-to-day duties?
Bryan Jay Miller is our General Manager. He works on all of the technical aspects of the station including the streaming and website backend.
Mike Taylor is our Program Director and hosts 9a-1p. I am the Music Director and host 1p-5p. Mike & I work closely with Joe Long, who is our evening DJ and editor of our station blog The Futurist, on the weekly additions and changes to the station playlist. With such a small staff, we all wear a lot of hats including the booking and hosting of our Lounge Act series and producing weekly specialty shows. We've hosted over 400 live sessions since going internet-only and when we get to Austin those performances will also be filmed in HD video.
Our sound engineer Brian Niesz is making the move with us and we've recently hired Paige Maguire down in Austin (formerly of KUT and currently a music editor for Austinist.com) to take on Marketing and Promotions duties for us.
6. I love listening to New Tunes Tuesday every week. Talk about all the great programming WOXY offers?
We've expanded over the last year to include some great exclusive specialty shows from all over. We air ARTROCKER RADIO and THE WAITING ROOM from the UK, John Davis brought his 1-2-3-4 MORE MORE MORE show to us after the XM/Sirius merger, Dave Allen (from Gang Of Four) recently brought his weekly PAMPELMOOSE NEW MUSIC HOUR to our airwaves and our new owners serve up their own 2-hour show, aptly titled FUTURE SOUNDS, to our airwaves each week.
I like being able to bring those different perspectives to the air and offer compelling programming to our listeners that expands what we can do as three on-air hosts.
7. Why is the station successful?
We have a connection with our audience that is unparalleled. We answer their e-mails, we respond to them on the station message boards, and we play their requests. We don't bullshit them. If I play something and don't like it, I'm probably going to say something about it. We don't hide who we are. We craft a compelling handpicked mix of up-and-coming artists with listener favorites and vintage tracks every day and we are very thankful that people respond to it the way they do. They're definitely not shy about offering their feedback but the difference is that we actually listen.
8. What are you most passionate about?
RA RA RIOT is a band that we played when they sent us their demos while still at college. They played live at WOXY three times before even being signed to a label. They've now sold 50,000 copies with MINIMAL support from radio at large. They're going to be even bigger the next time around, but we fell in love with them three years ago.
Being able to champion a band from infancy to fame is an exciting part of this job. We were one of the first stations in the country to support Silversun Pickups and they played live in our studio a year before most commercial stations ever gave them a spin. We don't wait for anybody to tell us what to play; we throw stuff on the air we like. Some of those bands take off, some of them don't, but they're all making interesting music.
9. What are you most proud of since joining the station?
Honestly, that we're still here! I've always believed in this station and what we do, even when it has been challenging and a struggle. The fact that I will get to continue my dream job and get the opportunity to make a big change and live in a different city is pretty exciting to me.
10. What stands out the most about your first few days at WOXY?
I had listened to WOXY for about six years before I started interning. It was one of the most surreal moments of my life to walk through the halls of the station and hear all of these voices that were such a part of my life before I ever met them.
Bonus Questions
What are your hobbies?
Rabidly collecting DVD's and vinyl. Of course, the process of starting to pack all this shit up is starting to make me reconsider it all...
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