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10 Questions with ... Monika Thomas
August 16, 2005
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NAME:Monika ThomasPOSITION:Radio-Announcer, Adventurer, Former morning-show/MDSTATION:Southern Wave FM Miyako 76.5MARKET:Okinawa, JAPANCOMPANY:Southern Wave FM Miyako 76.5 (Privately Owned)BORN:1976 Anchorage, AlaskaRAISED:Anchorage, Alaska - (From the Been-There-Done-That files entry #1996-2005) "Giving it all up to live on a tropical island in the middle of the Pacific!"
1) Please outline your radio career so far:
KDBZ/ANCHORAGE, AK (THE BUZZ) 2004
KMXS/ANCHORAGE, AK (MIX 103.1) 1999-2004
KLLC/SAN FRANCISCO (ALICE @ 97.3) 19962) If you were just starting out in radio, knowing now, what you didn't then, would you still do it?
Absolutely. Even now knowing about repetition, competition, regulations, de-regulation, repetition, consolidation, promotion, consumerism, automation, and repetition! The bottom line, radio is still fun! And there are endless possibilities!
3) You're stuck on a deserted island and you only have 5 CDs with you. What are they?
Actually, I AM stuck on a wee little island, happily with 250 of my favorite CD's! I think if I had any fewer CD's I might just lose it, but my Top 5 most listened to CDs would be: "Brazilian Lounge," John Mayer "Room for Squares," Afro-Celtic Sound System "Seed," Cake "Fashion Nugget," and "Lotus."
4) How did you get your present job?
One day, after snorkeling, covered with sand, I was wondering around the nearby "Tropical Fluits Park" as per my handy Miyako Guidebook... and I noticed there was a radio station across the street. I poked my head in, asked for a tour saying that I was a radio announcer in the States, and they concluded the tour by saying if I wanted to do a show, all I had to do was write a proposal. Why, hello. Just try to get out of radio... it will always call you back no matter where you go. So you might as well go some place interesting..
5) What do you like best about your job? Least?
I LOVE it that I can play whatever I want, talk about whatever I want, and my PD STILL says that I should talk MORE. He doesn't really speak English so he doesn't even understand what I am saying... but he says my voice is "easy to listen to". I would think that I've died and gone to heaven... except that pretty much no one on Miyako understands what I am saying... and I don't understand what THEY are saying... unless they speak r e a l l y s l o w l y ... which is never. Taking requests is a nightmare.
6) What do you enjoy most about music scheduling?
The process goes something like this... I get a theme percolating, or have a few requests... then I say to myself, "What really amazing songs do I think Miyako peeps need to hear?" I play a few of my favorite songs, etc... rap about my recent "adventures as a 'gaijin' in Japan" and do the "I get to play whatever songs I like on the radio dance" in the studio.
7) What do you do in your spare time?
Snorkeling. (The best parts of Miyako are the beaches), scuba-diving, getting sandy and then trying to get un-sandy, Gleefully using my vacation time, Ikebana (Zen art of flower arranging), eating sushi for breakfast, (putting off studying Japanese,) honing my lean mean gesture and sound-effects repertoire, falling in love with Chu-hi (sake + soda water + your favorite fruit flavor = yum! {Mine is peach or "momo"... which is just one of the reasons I call my radio show Radio Momo.} (By the way, momo means "peaches", "thigh", "butt", and "pink" all at the same time. Isn't that great?)
8) What do you do with a song you don't like?
I don't play it. Gleefully... without mercy, if I don't like it... I don't play it. "Mwah ha ha ha!!!" =)
9) What's the best piece of advice anyone's ever given you?
"You can do anything." We live in a universe of infinite possibilities. When I finally figured that out (after hearing it in a few different way from several good friends), I decided to just DO WHAT I WANT. Sure, you have to let go of some things (like pretty much all of your stuff) to gain this kind of freedom, but I really think it's worth it. Just put it in storage... it will be there when you get back... and then you'll have realized that your stuff wasn't that important anyway! Wheee!
10) My job is sucking my will to live. How do I get on the radio on a tropical island?
Every situation is different, and it depends on what you want. I think it's fairly easy to get on the radio in some capacity in many an exotic locale. Believe it or not there is quite a bit of cultural cache in being an American (except for in France). American Pop has spread all over the world (replacing local music like a big gnarly, catchy weed)... but the upside for you is that you are an expert in American Pop... you have a sexy American accent, and speaking English makes you worldly, international, and cool. You could try to contact the radio stations via the Internet in advance... or you could just pick someplace that sounds interesting, go there (on vacation or whatever) and wander into a local radio station and see what happens. Teaching English is a nice way to pick up a little extra cash on the side. Volunteer at your local literacy project to get experience teaching English, learn a little bit of the local language, buy a swimsuit and a gallon of sunscreen, and tell your boss that the world is too big, and life is too short to suffer under the florescent lights listening to that infernal ________ song for one more second. (You'll probably end up hearing that infernal ________ song wherever you go in the world... but at least you'll have white sand between your toes.) Really... anything is possible.
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