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10 Questions with ... Dan Carlisle
October 16, 2007
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NAME:Dan CarlisleLAST WITH:KLOS/Los AngelesPHONE:(415) 264-5095EMAIL:abxairace@aol.com
Please begin by giving us a brief career history ...
As a young and tender lad I worked at a couple of Drake format Top 40 stations in Michigan and Green Bay, Wisconsin. I then stumbled into WABX-FM/Detroit, one of the first FM Underground Rockers. I was one of three founders of the station, which was owned by Century Broadcasting. I moved along to Chicago and WLS-FM, which became WDAI, and then headed back to Detroit and WRIF, plus the forgotten WWWW-FM (W4). It was at that time that I was asked to emcee a Bob Seger concert, which became his million-selling "Live Bullet" LP, and my voice lives on forever as the out-of-control emcee. In the late '70s, I moved to Los Angeles and K-WEST, then KLOS, and then I was part of the first staff at KROQ. Onward to Miami, and then Philly at WMMR, and back west to KSAN and ... somehow to WNEW/New York. Mixed into all of this is television news as a reporter and writing and producing for NBC and KFOG, and back to New York and Sirius, and a short stint at EYADA.COM doing Talk, and then back to San Francisco and flying to L.A. every week to work at KLOS, and now ... just sitting here in Northern California, wishing I was doing music radio for some genius PD.
1) How are you occupying your time, besides looking for a job?
I always make sure I find some kind of work, related or not.
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.
There are always slick, fad formats which are manned by jive-asses, but the big change is the lack of commercial rebels. There was usually a station or two that had dismal ratings and a poor signal, and the outcasts would find employment at these outposts. I don't hear them anymore. True, there are college stations, but I'm not talking about the world of the amateur. The rebel movement gave us the FM Underground Rocker. Where will it happen again?
3) What has been your best resource for finding out about job openings?
Friends.
4) How are you finding the "courtesy level" at places you've applied? (Callbacks, e-mails, rejection letters, etc.)
Thank you for this question. Mostly I find the courtesy level non-existent. I get very few responses or thanks, etc.
5) What's the most unbelievable question you've ever been asked in an interview?
I was once asked if I was a "FAG." I thought it best to say, "Yes."
6) Are you spending as much time listening to radio as you used to?
Actually, as despondent as I get about the quality of radio, I listen every day all over the dial. I think it keeps me current.
7) What have you learned about yourself, others, or life in general in your downtime?
I have worked in the biggest markets and at some of the most wonderful and legendary stations. I have learned to separate myself from the medium in my personal life. When I was younger, it was hard not to get caught up in celebrity.
8) Is there anything specific that you regret doing while you were still working?
In earlier years I might have thought I was too good to prepare ... you know that kind of ego-out-of-control crap.
9) Having been through all you have dealt with in this biz, what advice would you give people trying to break in?
I would recommend they have a second option. I mean to say, train for a fall-back career.
10) Where do you see yourself in five years? Ten years?
I see myself finding the great station, piloted by the genius PD, and ending my
career there.
Bonus Questions
Uh oh ... now you're on your own for getting new music. If applicable, name your three most recent purchases since leaving the biz.
The new Shins, In-Grid (which is French club music) and a Charlie Parker best-of.
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