10 Questions with ... Paul Spagna

1) What was your first job in radio or the music business and who were some of your early influences or mentors?

My first real radio gig was an overnight board-op job at WLIR on Long Island. It was midnight - 8am Sunday morning, so it killed my Saturday nights, but I wanted a job in radio so badly that I didn't mind too much. I listened to so much awful public affairs programming! Growing up listening to 'LIR, WPLJ, and Q104 gave me a great foundation in New York music. Those DJ's were my constant companions, and I just knew they had the coolest job in the world. I wanted a piece of that!

2) Can you give us a quick thumbnail of your career background before you started working for United Stations?

I went to Hofstra University to study communications, specifically for their radio program. Was a student volunteer at the award-winning WRHU. Was a weekend board op at WLIR, news desk assistance and producer at WOR in NYC, and I've been a board-op, assistant producer, and now producer at United Stations. Spent 10 years in talk radio until I finally landed my dream gig in Rock Radio with hardDrive!

3) How long have you been at United Stations and what are your main responsibilities there as Content Producer for hardDrive?

Cumulatively, I've been at USRN for 9 years now. 4 years in my original board-op position, now 5 years for hardDrive. In addition to my previous responsibilities as Roxy's assistant, which included keeping the website updated, helming the social media channels, and doing prep-work for Lou, I now also schedule and conduct interviews, as well as produce all the guest content for HDXL. I also put together all the contest stuff for the show (I love giving away cool prizes to our listeners!)

4) Besides the host Lou Brutus, who we'll talk about in Q 7 below, who else works on the shows with you and what do they do?

Let's start at the top! Andy Denemark is our Executive Producer, I mainly check in with him to make sure I'm not screwing up. Randy Hawke is our music consultant. We work with him on our playlists for hardDrive and hardDrive XL. Zak Tranese is a long-time hardDrive engineer, and has now taken over writing duties for the show as well. Bill Powell is our Associate Producer for HDXL, he engineers the nightly show, and works closely with Lou to make sure we're putting out the best rock on the radio every night. He also puts out any technical fires, and is way better than me at Instagram. Technically, I'm still the new guy, as I've been working on the show for only 5 years.

5) hardDrive is arguably one of the most influential syndicated Rock Radio shows in America. I know it's been around since 1996. How many stations are running it now?

We have over 90 affiliates for hardDrive, and it's still amazing to see. It's a testament to the show's relevance that it still runs on so many stations across the country. We all work very hard to put out the best 2 hours of fresh, kick-ass rock music, combined with an entertaining delivery from an award winning DJ. It's a legacy I'm humbled to be a small part of.

6) In 2007, you guys started hardDrive XL, a daily weeknight version of hardDrive. How different is this show compared to the weekly syndicated hardDrive and how many stations are running this version?

Well, for starters, more time means more awesome music! The amount of work that goes into producing a nightly show is exponentially larger than the weekend show. 5 hours a night, 55 songs, interviews with featured artists weekly, special guests every night, plus Lou creates original poetry, rants, and other features for every night of the show. There's a lot of coordination and moving parts to keep going, so there are several spreadsheets dedicated to the show. We have over 30 affiliates for the weeknight show, and are picking up more every month!

7) Let's talk about the hardDrive and hardDrive XL host Lou Brutus. He obviously does a great job as a host with music info and artist interviews. Tell us how your collaboration makes the show work?

Working with Lou has been a front row seat on how to do radio right. If there's one rule to being behind a microphone, it's "Don't be boring." Lou always has a story, a joke, a music-nerdy observation, something every time the mic turns on. I don't know how he does it. A lot of the nuts and bolts work is done by me, artist birthdays, weird news stories, etc, but as I said above, Lou writes original pieces of poetry, topical rants, digs up quirky news sites, and has a different one for every night of the show! Plus, he's doing interviews and posting amazing original content on our social media feeds. The man is an entertainment machine.

Underoath visits Paul Spagna and hardDrive-L to R: Underoath's Spencer Chamberlain, Paul Spagna, and Underoath's Aaron Gillespie.

8) Now let's talk about the music on HardDrive. How do you guys decide what artists and songs to play?

Anyone who programs a rock station knows it's partly about what's hot on the charts, but it's also about what just strokes your grey matter. I have weekly music meetings with Randy Hawke, and my favorite part is when we really get into what we're listening to, what's got us excited. I love helping to break new bands, so I always push for getting the baby bands on the show. I know with the hardDrive reach, we can expose a lot of people to great new music, and give bands a shot at making a living playing music. Ultimately, we have to strike a balance. I think we do pretty well!

9) What's your take on current Active Rock music and the Rock format overall?

Well, I am biased, but so what? I think the Active Rock format has a lot of great things going for it! There's great rock music coming out every day from incredible bands, both new and old. One of the things that breaks my heart, especially living in New York, the #1 market in the country, is hearing that "there's no good new music in rock." My friends have learned not to say that around me, unless they want an hour long lesson in what's awesome right now. Look at the amazing stories that have unfolded in the last few years. Incredible bands like Starset, Avatar, and Ghost have grown from these small blips on the radar to large and passionate fan bases. I'd like to think radio plays a large part in that. With a new interest in moving back to Alternative formats, I'm hoping the pendulum continues to swing back that way, and companies start realizing the underserved audience for rock. I would also like to see a return to top 40 formats being more adventurous. Instead of sticking to pop-only music, play some of the bigger rock acts too! Give rock music a shot, and it will deliver, every time!

10) Finally, you worked as Roxy Myzal's assistant on the show for many years. Now that Roxy has retired, what did you learn from this legendary music business professional that still inspires you today?

I'm still learning from Roxy, and call her for advice at least once a month. Having worked as her assistant for ~4.5 years, my biggest takeaway was how important relationships are in this business. There was nothing Roxy couldn't do. No matter what the event, contest, release, anything, Roxy knew who to call and how to make it happen. Another important lesson was work ethic. Let's be honest, this is a fun job. Like, REALLY fun. But it is still a job. That means, you show up on time, you return phone calls and emails, and you be (mostly) professional! Establishing yourself as someone who can be relied upon will take you far. Everyone knows Roxy because she is fun and awesome, but she's also damn good at her job, and she knows what she's doing. The legacy she's created with hardDrive is important for rock music, and to have part of that legacy entrusted to me is the greatest honor I have ever received. To have the trust and confidence of legendary names like Roxy Myzal and Lou Brutus, means more to me than anything else. I look forward to the next 20 years of the world-famous hardDrive, playing the loudest rock on your radio, across the country, and across the world!