10 Questions with ... Bruce Rave

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

Ten years at Capitol Records, split evenly between A&R and promotion. Artist development and creative input consulting, and Music Supervisor on new indie film "Go West Happy Cow."

1. How did you become interested in radio?

Began as a fan growing up, did it in college, and then loved working closely with stations while in promotion and A&R.

2. What was your favorite station to listen to when you were a kid?

The legendary WLS and WCFL, both in Chicago. They had so many great songs to play, and the amazing DJs made me want to get into radio or the music business. Even as high school kids, we were keenly aware of the intense level of competition between the stations.

3. Why did you decide to launch Go Deep With Bruce Rave?

There are great songs emerging from the "indie" world that will work with a mainstream audience if given the exposure. Lots of first-stage filters exist in media, but not enough people are here to cull that initial list down to what has a real chance of succeeding on a larger scale.

4. How would you describe your show and who are you targeting?

I take the best deeper tracks from successful airplay artists who've emerged from the indie world, and combine them with the best of the most deserving/accessible songs that have hit the national tastemaker radar. Familiar, compatible, not-overly-played older tracks are added for audience retention. The unstated theme is that it's music for the Coachella/ACL/Lolla crowd, but it targets all fans of alternative.

Each show features "As Seen On the Screens," where I play entire versions of two great songs included in commercials, TV shows, or movies. "Rave's Fave" of the Week features a stand-out baby artist track or a stellar deeper track from a major new release. "Going Deep Under the Covers" continues the time-honored tradition of playing a new cover version back to back with the original. "Import of the Week" is exactly what it sounds like, and will feature artists generating a buzz back home, who are either unreleased or newly released in the U.S. "Deep Roots" plays a current artist back to back with someone who influenced them greatly. "Deep Clubbing" will hit on a fairly mainstream remix or mashup. This segment will be contributed by DJ Paul V. who hosted the "Neon Noise" program on LA's Indie 103.1.

5. How do you stay on top of all the new music and decide what songs to play each week?

It's a never-ending process and a labor of love. I combine tastemaker radio, press, and blogs with a worldwide network of people who tip me off on newer artists they're excited about. I watch England and Australia closely, as those market dynamics make it easier to break cool artists not smack in the middle of the mainstream. Mumford & Sons is a great example of a UK band that also had a #1 album in Australia before blowing up over here.

6. What is your show prep routine each week?

I update my daily iPod playlist with new tracks, and that narrows the field. Music meetings include my music director Tyler and we do it well into the evening following some TV and a couple of beers. It's interesting how at that time of night with a fresh perspective, the best musical fits become obvious very quickly. We seek songs that hit us pretty much out of the box, as I fear many multi-talking younger listeners no longer hang around over a minute to see if the chorus hits them. Weekly playlists have been compiled for over a year, and we've been way ahead on tracks by bands such as Muse, The Black Keys, Mumford, Vampire Weekend, Phoenix, Cage the Elephant, and others. The Import of the Week feature has allowed us to expose artists such as Florence + The Machine and The xx before they graduated to higher rotations on our show.

7. What does your show offer that is unique and makes it most attractive for an Alternative station?

This is the only national show of its type, and it has the feel of rock music featured on TV. Anyone can play certain songs, but it's the overall mix that makes the show unique compared to anything else I've recently heard on radio. The music is immediately hooky and upbeat, designed to retain listeners in the PPM world. I've been able to continue my pattern from A&R days, where I've had a pretty good crystal ball. The program reflects the future, which makes it a strong image show that will create word of mouth among active listeners. It can also be an effective testing ground for programmers.

8. What new bands are you most excited about?

Both The Thermals and Cut Copy have hooky singles and are great live. Matt & Kim set themselves up beautifully the last time around, and they'll break fully if the new album is several songs deep.

9. What's one thing that would surprise many people to learn about you?

I lived in Seattle a few years and wound up on the steering committee to get Safeco Field approved. I've since had a change of heart, where I no longer believe public funding should be used for sports venues. It was my foray into politics and we often talked about how sports is one thing that can bring Democrats and Republicans together.

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

a cardio workout accompanied by music.

What are your hobbies?

Fitness, sports, politics, and of course music.

Last non-industry job?

I became a corporate headhunter, where I went from recruiting rock bands to recruiting sales and marketing execs. Both roles involved counseling people on career development.

First record ever purchased?

The oldie "Telstar" by The Tornadoes. It turns out that their guitarist George Bellamy was the father of Muse's Matt Bellamy. The guitar sound on "Knights Of Cydonia" was influenced by the lead on "Telstar."

First concert?

The Rolling Stones in Chicago.

Favorite band of all-time?

This is very tough and not exactly objective, but The Knack's music brought me great joy. They were underrated musicians, and also my first signing. As they say, a guy always remembers his first one.