-
10 Questions with ... Van Haze
July 14, 2008
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
NAME:Van HazeTITLE:SE Director PromotionsLABEL:Mercury RecordsBORN:Jackson, MSRAISED:Brandon, MS
Please outline your radio career so far:
WMSI Jackson, MS MD and on air, WTYX Jackson, MS mornings, CMT truck driver (for a minute), Universal South SW Promotions and most recently MW Promotions for Capitol Records.
1. You moved from Capitol Records to Mercury Records about four months ago. First, congrats on the new gig! How has the adjustment been? What drew you to Mercury?
Thank you! The adjustment has been great. I have more time to focus and be creative and the freedom to run with ideas. Royce and Damon tell us all the time "it's your region - you know what's best for your stations, you know your guys and the best ways to work with them to promote music with their stations - GO do it." I've been a big fan of the Universal guys for a long, long time. When I was in radio I really looked up to Chad Schultz at Mercury and Enzo DeVincenzo at MCA. They were two of my favorite reps and still to this day are both good friends. EJ Bernas and I both interviewed for the secondary job at Universal years ago. He got that job and I went over to Universal South. I guess I have really always wanted to work at Mercury, and the timing was right this time.
2. You started in radio at a young age in Jackson, MS. Tell us how it all started and when it became clear to you that a career in broadcasting/music industry was the life for you.
Good lord. I don't think anything has ever been clear for me. I was cooking in a restaurant in Clinton, MS called Penn's Fish House (bunk), and it was miserable. There was this AM Gospel station next door, WTWZ, and I used to go in there and hang out with the PD who was blind; I think his name was Terry Wood. He did everything at the station, wrote copy, cut spots, was the PD and he ran it all on carts. I was fascinated by all of it and basically wore the poor guy out every day trying to get a job. He didn't have anything but helped me a ton, and I eventually landed at Miss 103 doing part time work and just kind of fell into the job full time. I was a freshman in college and I tried to do both, but I just couldn't do overnights and go to class. So I dropped out of college for what I thought was just going to be a year and never got a chance to go back. I got bit by the radio bug and then things just started to fall into place.
3. In addition to working at a radio station as a teen, you also were quite the soccer player and then went to college on a theatre scholarship. Where did that diversity in interests come from? Do you still have that, and if so, how do you nurture it?
I have a very creative family. We were always putting on little shows at home, and I wrote a lot as a kid and would write these crazy stories about my neighbors and act them out. I played soccer as a child I think because I was so hyper my parents were trying to wear me out, but I fell in love with it and played for almost 15 years. I wish I still had time to play though I am so fat and miserable I couldn't jog down the field now. I used to do improv in Jackson twice a month at this bar called Hal and Mal's in a group I was a member of. I really wish I had time for that now but I don't, and I don't know if I will anytime soon. But, I do miss that the most.
4. After working in radio for several years, you made the move to the dark side or the record industry as some call it. How does all that time in radio affect you as a record promoter? Do you think it gives you an insight that maybe those who haven't spent any time in radio don't have?
I think it gives me a clearer picture of what is going on behind the scenes and what my programmers are up against. I mean, it's changed so much in the 5-6 years since I've been out of radio and on the "dark side" People are doing much, much more with less. You know the one thing I learned from being a music director that I have taken with me is always talking to my programmers with respect. Some people used to just yell, cuss, crawl up my ass and act like a complete child when I was doing music for WMSI. I argue and fight for my artists with my stations, but I don't think you have to be an asshole about it.
5. Life has changed quite dramatically for you in the past few years! You now have a wonderful wife, the lovely Haley McLemore, a precious two-year-old little girl, Harper, and another baby on the way (Congrats!). How has having a family changed the way you work? Has it changed the way you perceive the industry?
Thanks! I think it's calmed me down - I don't stress as much. I used to travel all the time; way too much. I still do a good amount of it. I just don't stay out for two weeks straight or something crazy like I used to. I still get my work done, and I work a lot harder when I'm in the office too so I can go home and see my family. I guess in a way I'm more motivated now than I ever was before I had kids because I want to work hard and make sure my family is taken care of.
6. You travel a good deal as a regional and Haley travels some in her job at 377 Management. How do the two of you make that work with a baby? On the rare occasion that you are both home at the same time, what do you do for fun as a family?
Thank goodness Haley has more freedom than when she was a regional. The beauty of her job managing Lee Brice is that she can work from home if she needs to, and that really takes a lot of pressure off the travel situation. Because you never know - I could have something come up and have to leave the next day. We do all kinds of fun things. We live next to a great park in Brentwood and we go on lots of bike rides and play in the park. I'm also trying to teach my little girl how to hit a golf ball (she doesn't care). Go figure.
7. My sources tell me that you and Haley may be the subject of a song that is currently on the chart; written and sung by one the artists you worked with at Capitol. Is there any truth to this? If so, give us the details.
That's a funny story. I was venting to my good pal Eric Church that every time I hear this famous artist my wife used to date on the radio it grosses me out. I was really just being a smart ass. And that was really the whole conversation. A few months later he said, "Hey, I wrote a song about ya'll called 'His Kind Of Money (My Kind of Love).'" I couldn't believe it. It still freaks me out a little but it's really, really cool.
8. Speaking of the artists at Capitol, you formed strong relationships with some of them. How hard was it to leave those relationships and to distance your self in terms of their careers?
That is always the hardest part when you change labels. You get to know artists and their families, their friends and you invest in them and their music. You work really hard for them and want them to win and be huge superstars. You always pull for them even though you don't work there anymore. It's just impossible not to.
9. You have some very diverse tastes in music and I would imagine that growing up in Jackson, MS had something to do with that. Tell us what really moves you musically?
I love the blues. BB King, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Muddy Waters, Buckwheat Zydeco. All kinds of classic jazz - Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Randy Newman, Amos Lee, Ray LaMontagne, Son Volt, Allman Bros, The Band. All kinds of country - Sugarland, Dierks, Eric Church, Jamey Johnson. I listen to so many different kinds of music.
10. One of the most unique things I have heard about you is that you make an effort to take full advantage of time you spend in each city while on the road. Instead of sitting in your room or just grabbing a beer in the hotel bar, you get out and make an effort to find the cool places. First, is that just curiosity about each city or is there something else? Second, do you think that getting to know each city and the people helps you when it comes to dealing with the specific stations?
Both, I think. Why sit in your room in Miami when you are on the road? I'm curious about everything, especially a new market I know nothing about. We are lucky in this business to travel to all these different places I want to know them. I like to meet new people, and it just helps you become stronger in the market.
Bonus Questions
1. Word on the street is that you follow your wife from region to region. Does it make it easier knowing she has done the hard work and paved the way for you? Are you averse to working in regions that Haley has not, therefore making it impossible to ride her coattails?
I'm stuck in the SE unless she gets back in promotion and goes somewhere else. I'm lazy so I let her go in for a few years do all the work and then I pop in. It's so much easier that way and plus she could kick my ass on the streets any day if I come in behind her - I don't have to fight her every Monday.
2. When you worked at Capitol, was it part of the initiation process to learn the words to Jimmy Harnen's single? Did he make the staff do sing-a-longs?
Yes, it came in my new hire packet along with a karaoke disc, a mullet wig and a bedazzled blue jean jacket from his tour. He would call us on the road and sing, "Whheerrrreee are you noooowwwww." I'm kidding of course.
3. Was there one song/album/concert that really changed your life when you were growing up?
I think the first and only time I met BB King was it for me. It was about 10 years ago backstage in Jackson after his show. My friend knew his manager and he invited me back. I sat with him and we just talked. Here is this legend who is in his 70's, played two shows that night, it's midnight and he talked to me like I was his best friend. I'll never forget how gracious he was to me. It's so amazing when you meet someone you look up to and they exceed anything you could have ever dreamed.
-
-