10 Questions with ... RJ Curtis

NAME:RJ Curtis TITLE:Midwest Rep COMPANY:Arista Records/Nashville BORN:Philadelphia, PA RAISED:Los Angeles, CA

Please outline your career so far:

Just completed a two and a half year run as country editor for Radio & Records. Prior to that, served as OM for KZLA/Los Angeles from 2000-2006. Was OM at KCYY/KKYX/San Antonio from Oct.1996-Feb. 2000; OM of After Midnight with Blair Garner Jan. 1996-Oct. 1996; OM at KZLA/Los Angeles 1993-1996; PD/air talent for KNIX/Phoenix 1987-1993; APD/MD/mornings, KZLA/Los Angeles 1980-1987; PD, KDUO/Riverside 1979-1980.

1) First of all, how are things going? All of us here at All Access were saddened by the closing of R&R. Are you able to enjoy the down time? That Facebook post was a classic about "Welcome to the crappiest beach on earth"- I hope that was not an indicator.

No, not at all. That essay was inspired by a note that Lance Tidwell sent me a few days after R&R closed. It was the subject line of his e-mail and literally made me laugh out loud. As soon as I read it, I knew it was the perfect headline. I had been planning on a FB posting anyway, to say goodbye and thank you to so many people for reaching out. I've enjoyed the downtime to some degree, but I've been traveling every week exploring new opportunities, so in some ways it's been busier than actually working.

2) Since we concluded this interview, things have changed. You've accepted a job at Arista Records to work the Midwest region. Congratulations! This is a career change somewhat. Are you excited about it, and is this something that you have thought about doing for a while?

Thanks for the congrats. And yes, it's a total career change as far as I'm concerned. Over the years, I've had other opportunities to do this, but passed for various reasons. When I left KZLA in 1996, I had several possible label gigs but at the time, I knew if I went into a radio station I'd wish I was working there. Radio wasn't out of my system yet. I'm not sure it will ever be completely out of my system, but during my time at R&R, I gained a much greater understanding of the record industry. That made me very curious. The Arista opportunity came out of nowhere to be honest, but once we started talking I was automatically drawn to it. When you think about this company, the leadership there and that amazing artist roster- well, it would be pretty dumb to pass this up. The word 'excited' barely scratches the surface of what I'm feeling right now; I think the word 'stoked' is more like it.

3) You had a great run at KZLA before taking the job at R&R as Country Editor. Was it an easy decision to take the R&R post?

Extremely easy. I had known and respected Erica Farber for years. I always enjoyed writing and felt I had an aptitude for it. The last 18 months at KZLA I was happy, but I was wondering what the next chapter in my career would be. R&R was the perfect gig for me and the timing just couldn't have been better.

4) How long did it take before you thought: "I really like this job?" and why?

To be honest, it took just days for me to feel that way. That job allowed me to express some of my creativity and a lot more of my personality which most people weren't familiar with. The Country Daily in particular felt like an airshift. I did it every day, it required an enormous amount of prep and I could toss a little bit of myself in there, too.

5) It's scary times out there with people being let go every day. As someone who was on the beach recently, where do you think this is all headed?

It's beyond scary. There are so many A-list, talented people out of work right now it blows my mind. But I think some of these people should try and overcome their fear of either not doing the same thing they used to in this business, or even consider not doing radio at all. So many of the skills in radio programming are easily transferrable to other areas of business. If somebody was a PD, they basically ran a small business. They can do a ton of other things, probably better than a lot of folks.

6) Since you programmed for a long time, it gives you an interesting perspective on handling your new position at Arista. There must have been things that you liked about how reps approached you and then some you didn't like, correct?

Totally. I spoke to Larry Santiago who does West Coast for Columbia and who used to work with me at KZLA. He said he's tried to be the kind of record rep he enjoyed talking to and working with when he was an MD. I always thought we accomplished more with reps when we had an honest, open and collaborative dialogue about everything and we dispensed with any schtick or hype. One rep in particular who I thought made an extremely smooth transition from radio to records was Mike Krinik of Capitol. I appreciated the fact that he knew what I did on a daily basis. I hope the guys in my region feel the same way. I have tremendous respect for what their challenges are and I realize their job keeps getting harder every day. Tom Baldrica has already given me three words of advice for this job: Honesty, Consistency and Batman. I don't know what Batman has to do with getting records played, but if Tom mentioned him, it must be important.

7) I know that when I was let go once I probably got a zillion calls the first day and then less the following day and again the next day- Is it still kind of like that?

Absolutely. The first day was just nuts. The second day was crazy and then it tailed off. But people in this business were wonderful, supportive and encouraging. I know I didn't properly thank all of them because the email was overwhelming, so let me say a big thanks here.

8) Now that you have a job, are you kicking yourself for not enjoying your down time more? That's usually what everyone says because we're so worried that we don't enjoy it.

Nah- as I may have mentioned before, I've been busy trying to focus on getting work in a timely manner during the past five weeks. I guess part of me wishes I could've sat around and done nothing for a while, but the truth is, I'm just not wired for that. I like working and love this business. Sitting on the sidelines is absolutely the worst feeling in the world. Honestly, I've had enough time off and spent a good amount of time on my bike, which always gives me an opportunity to sort things out, mentally. At the risk of sounding cocky, I wasn't worried about about working again - I was concerned with making the right choice about what to do. It's a lousy job market out there; I didn't want to make the wrong decision and go through this again, thank you very much!

9) I must say that all of us would really get a kick out of the headlines that you came up with for your stories- lots of them were very funny. That had to be a favorite part of your job.

Yup, that was a blast. As you know very well, we all have access to basically the same news stories. I approached it like two radio stations in the same market that play the same songs. The stuff between the records is what makes the difference. I wanted somebody to see the headline and feel compelled to read the entire story. I tried to think of something that summed it all up in a few words and have a little fun too. Some days were better than others!

10) Give us a good headline for this 10 Questions interview.

"Not Him Again?!"

1) You're an avid bicycle rider- how many miles do you average a week?

The goal has been to log at least 100 miles a week. Most of them come on Saturdays. The last time I was out of work, I did about 200 a week and really took a giant step in terms of improvement. I'm happy to say that upon hearing news of my latest work hiatus, my cycling pals have said more than a few times, "I hope you get a job soon, you're killin' me."

2) What was the first concert you ever attended?

I think it was Chicago at the Fabulous Forum in L.A. in 1975.

3) What new music are you listening to?

There's always a lot of different stuff playing in rotation in the car, and it's not all country. I've been infatuated with a group called Airborn Toxic Event. I think Katy Perry is a blast, and the group Chickenfoot has made a simply amazing rock record that can be played very loud. Brad Paisley's new CD is typically incredible, and I've pretty much worn out Taylor Swift's "Fearless" CD, along with Keith Urban's "Defying Gravity." Additionally, I've rediscovered the Beatles, "Let It Be," which I know isn't new, but I have decided has a lot of country music on it. The past week, I've been like a teenaged girl, playing "Two Of Us," and "One After 909" over and over. Listen to them again and tell me that ain't country!