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10 Questions with ... Mark Williams
January 23, 2007
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NAME:Mark WilliamsLAST WITH:KFBK-A/Sacramento (August 2000-May 2006)PHONE:(916) 715-4093. FAX: (916) 543-6157EMAIL:mark@marktalk.comWEB:www.marktalk.com
Please begin by giving us a brief career history ...
Are you kidding? My history is why I don't run for political office! Forget the first 10 years; I used the job as a travel agency. Glad I did, for all the trouble I got myself into it made me an extremely well-rounded human. We yakkers do have to live outside of that bubble 21 hours a day, and weekends, but I know too many for whom that 15 hours a week is their universe -- like my old man in the factory when I was a kid. I got into radio because I did not want my entire life to be about my job. Well, that, and there was nothing heavy to lift and no killing of my own food involved.
The second half has been: two years hosting afternoon drive on heritage WGY-A; major market PD (Philly -- WWDB-A/F); nearly six years hosting evenings on KFBK-A; a busy side business as a national television pundit and freelance talker for large and major markets (DC, Atlanta, L.A., San Diego, San Francisco, Kansas City, among others) since 2004, and I write a twice-monthly newspaper column for a small-circulation (13,000 hard copies) start-up of Mark Twain's old Sacramento Union.
1) How are you occupying your time, besides looking for a job?
I work. When we built our new house in 2005 we included an ISDN radio studio. I gather, edit and run my own audio, and the studio is in my library, which is packed with resources, so I'm always in "show prep" mode. I have been an info-geek my whole life. Talk radio allows me to take my recreation (curiosity) and turn it into a useful pursuit, so I need to do the occasional show to keep my head from exploding, and to give Holly a break from the non-stop commentary so she won't hurt me (she's Italian, from New York).
These days I fly too. I cannot fly enough. That is one of those things that I was always going to get around to doing but never did. Finally, about a year ago Holly just threw me out of the house and told me to go to the airport. I earned my solo endorsement for the Cessna 172 and now happily buzz around the Northern California-Lake Tahoe areas, building up hours and experience to get my training wheels taken off, while hearing things on that particular radio that would be enough to cause the average civilian to park the airplane and take the train next time.
And housework. I actually like housework, so Holly and I split the duties. When I clean a bathroom I go in with enough chemicals to trigger a Homeland Security Alert. In fact I expect a letter any day from Washington demanding that I disarm or face sanctions. Oh yeah, and we bought a plasma wide-screen TV, with a sound system straight out of a South Central Low-Rider plus TiVo. (God bless TiVo, I worship at their feet!) OK, so it took four guys from Best Buy to program just the remote (for a $150 fee), but you ain't seen Andy & Barney deal with Ernest T until you've seen it in high def!
2) Some people get discouraged or enlightened with the business when they actually step out of it for a while. Tell us your observations from the outside.
It's a jungle out here -- move back in with your parents! (With apologies to Thornton Melon.) I can cope if I think of the normal world as a Disney thing, or an interactive museum exhibit and I've got a seat waiting on the bus back to radio. I do, however, recommend that everybody take an extended "vacation" at some point just to rejoin the rest of the party. You have no idea how insulated and pampered we are until you get out there and see what everybody else has to do to survive. Yes, I used the word "pampered" and mean it -- we've got more privileges than a champion show dog, for crying out loud!
OK, so this is a little Niles Crane-ish, so sue me, it's true: When is the last time you actually paid admission to something? When is the last time you waited on line with regular people and it was not because you were on a promotional foray? Physically exert yourself for a buck recently? Know any civilians who meet the people we meet, go the places we go and get to do the cool stuff we get to do and did all of this without the accompanying responsibility for the ultimate result?
Me neither.
3) You've appeared on TV quite a bit. Would you consider making the jump to that medium?
If somebody came along and offered me a check, I might jump at it for giggles (and the money). Radio is a love-hate affair and the bread on my table; TV is like play time. Of course, all I get now is a free ride in a Town Car and a puss full of makeup, so nobody is yelling mean things at me in my IFB. I imagine that would change in the company of dead presidents. What I love about radio, though, is that I get to paint the picture in the listeners' heads. On TV the equipment gets to do the job. I think that's why so many people on TV have really nice hair and teeth but can't construct a sentence in the absence of a Tele-Prompter to save their lives, and why they are almost always disasters as celebrity fill-in talk show hosts -- they've never had to paint a picture with nothing but words. Not all, but the exceptions really stand out and prove the rule.
4) You also do some writing. Is that something you'd like to do more of?
I have come to love writing. What was once a dreaded task destined to result in a parent-teacher conference is now the perfect complement and a natural companion to Talk radio, which, like writing, is about telling a story. As a kid I soaked up every word Gene Shepard uttered on the radio, and then I read some of his books. I loved those shows when Jerry Williams (no relation) would declare "No calls!" and launch into riveting, show-long monologues.
Over the years I have enjoyed the newspaper work of Dave Barry, Dan Ruth (Tampa Tribune); Mike Barnacle's work at the Boston Globe and Howie Carr's at the Herald; Dan Lynch (Albany Times-Union) and others. These are some of the guys I hear in my head when I'm on the air or when I'm sitting down at the keyboard.
When Gene Burns introduced me to the concept of proper grammar and usage, and then Bill Gates sweetened the pot by coughing up "Spell Check," well, all bets were off! I have a book nearly finished. No particular reason other than I got sick of seeing all those faces of people I know on book covers at the airport. So I sat down and started doing a show on PDF. It's called "Right Versus Wrong" and is the world from the point of view of a middle-class working stiff (P-1 listener and still in the demographic for a few more years) trying to deal with life and do what's right. I love research and ferreting out facts and original sources and material, so the book is like a footnote orgasm for those purists in serious publishing who think Talk radio is a bunch of blowhards with all the finesse of George "The Animal" Steele.
5) What's the best way to get your foot in the door?
What door? Radio? Damned if I know. I'm in it, and the most excruciating experience -- one that only gets worse -- is looking for work. God, I hate it. I am so intimidated by it that I actually (almost exactly a dozen years ago) lived in my car for a week -- with my cat, no less -- rather than go crawling to a PD who had a job for me but was taking his sweet time in making it happen.
6) What's the craziest thing you've ever done to get a job?
Don't try this at home: When XETRA went sports talk and replaced me with Steve Garvey (1989), I tried to land a job at crosstown KSDO (then the big talker in SD). They wouldn't really talk to me, so I hired a stripper to take my resume and aircheck in for me, during a staff meeting. They enjoyed the young lady; I did not get a job.
7) What is the next job you'd like to obtain?
Call me, we'll talk!
8) With consolidation there are definitely fewer jobs. How do you separate yourself from the pack?
What I do is unique. Nobody I've heard uses sound the way I do, and original sound at that. I frequently wade into events (sometimes angry crowds of demonstrators) and gather quotes and outbursts that light up my phones later. I run an interactive program that compels the P-1 listener to make an appointment to listen, and they do. They also respond, on the phones and for promotional events and for sponsors. I am labeled "conservative" on TV, but couldn't be farther from it -- I'm a workin' stiff, and both extremes need to be shipped to Gitmo. People walk up to me and say "you speak to me" or "you talk about things I care about." Call it "Meet The Press" meets the WWE, my aim is to entertain and gather as many listeners as is humanly possible so that the sales force may charge confiscatory rates.
Of course, some people walk up to me and say things like: "%^%$$!" or "*^&%(*$&^$," but at least they listen!
9) Are you able to slow down and enjoy free time doing things with your family and friends that you probably did not have time to do while you were working?
For the first time in my life, yes. We stashed away some dough over the past couple of years, plus I have been doing quite a bit of work out of my home studio. It has been great being able to work freelance out of the house and have my wife, Holly; Casey the Pound Dog; and Chinook the Black Cat with me. We have gotten to do some travel -- as paying tourists, for a change -- and seen lots of things minus the distortion of being there for the job. I might never leave the beach if not for the fact that our master plan for semi-retirement did rely over the long term somewhat heavily on Holly's real estate career, and that whole real estate thing is headed right now in the general direction of the Union Army, so if you've got a job for me please call. PLEASE, for the love of God, call!
10) If you were offered a similar position to what you were doing for considerably less money, would you seriously consider taking the job just to stay in the biz?
OK, everybody in the room who has not done that at least once, raise your hand. The guy over there with his hand up, there is something wrong with you -- not bad wrong, just a tad out of phase with this particular universe. Would I do it now? Not on your life. I paid that particular "due." To be sure, the business paid me back in a lot of different ways, but the bank that holds the note on my California McMansion demands a little more attention to practicality.
Bonus Questions
1) Any books you can recommend to people who need something inspirational to read?
YES! I was hoping for an author's plug at the end of the show!!! The book is: "It's Not Right Versus Left, it's Right Versus Wrong; A Moral Compass for Contentious Times," by Mark Williams, out as soon as I can figure out how to get it out. I'm a publishing virgin. Details will follow at www.marktalk.com.
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