10 Questions with ... Brandon 'Gooch' Hahn

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

Brandon "Gooch" Hahn started his radio journey in 2000 where he somehow managed to score an internship without accruing insane amounts of debt thanks to being too dumb for college. Eighteen years later, he's in the same exact building he started, holding down the afternoon shift for KOMP "The Rock Station." The jokes and personal philosophies he unleashes on his audience have been known to bring about either laughter or confusion, depending on the listener's sobriety level at the time. Brandon is also an accomplished standup comedian who performs mainly in the southwest and all over the Vegas strip.

His hobbies include playing guitar, Madden, and anger management.

1) What was your first job in radio and early influences?

My first job in radio ended up being my only job in radio. I started my "internship" in 2000, but it wasn't a real internship. It was more me having fun in the studio with my mentor/early influence, Cara West ... ee broke a lot of stuff.

2) What led you to a career in radio? Was there a defining moment that made you realize "this is it"?

I was, as behavior therapists put it. "an a**hole" when I was in high school. Loud, brazen, opinionated ... and everything had a chance to be funny. After countless times in the principal's office, My mom, who was a fan of Stern in the '90's, suggested that maybe radio was a career that someone like me to do well in ... and she was right.

3) How long have you been at KOMP and what makes this station so unique?

I have been a paid employee at KOMP for 16 years. The reason why we're so unique is because we're a Rock station that has been a Rock station with no format flips since 1981. There are people who were conceived with my voice in the background after I started that are probably listening to me now making the same mistake their GED-having parents made all those years ago. I mean, it's crazy

4) I asked this question to KOMP MD/middays Carlota before. Being that KOMP is in such a tourist-based market like Las Vegas, how much does the Strip mentality play into the type of music you play on KOMP, or is the radio station primarily programmed for the rockers in the suburbs?

The tourists come to Vegas to hang at the resorts and maybe bang a stranger, so they're not the market we're aiming for. We program our music based off data from music research and listener interaction. I believe we juggle new music with established music very well. I like being at a station that offers you the chance to hear something new while still getting the rock you came here for.

5) Do you do any special features (music or otherwise) in afternoons on KOMP?

No features. I just try to sprinkle in some silliness mixed with music education.

6) What's your take on current Rock music and the Active Rock format as a whole?

The tone of rock, as a whole, has gotten a little goth in some ways. More bands are writing songs about internal struggles with drugs and depression and less songs about the rock basics like drinking, fighting, or hiring a hitmen to take out your boss and/or ex- girlfriend.

7) Now let's talk about Kilpop. First of all, what IS Kilpop and how long have you been associated with it?

Kilpop was started in April 2016 by Carlota who then asked me to join two days later and I've been with them ever since. We started out as just content providers, then we became Award Show producers, then we became radio convention organizers, and now we're getting into the syndicated radio game. We wear a ton of hats and we wear them well.

8) You just launched the nationally syndicated Kilpop Radio Show. Tell us what the show is about?

The Kilpop Radio Network is a weekly show, hosted by myself, that focuses solely on new rock from new and established artists. We also pepper in Tina Smash who takes care of our two segments, 'The Kilpop Minute' and 'The Kilpop Feature Artist of the Week.' We're only featured on a few stations right now, but we're steadily growing. You can also hear it on kilpop.com

9) If you were to pitch the show to a prospective programmer, what would you say and how would you sell it?

I would say, "Hello sir, you have very kind eyes and a strong jawline. I believe it would behoove you to allow Kilpop radio to be featured on your station for an array of reasons like a carefully produced show that "flys by" when you're listening, a way to gauge how the new music might fit into your Rock station, and ... I'm the sh**."

10) Finally, did your parents really name you "Gooch" and if so, why?

No, I got this nickname from Cara West. After two days of 'interning,' she just looked at me and said, "You remind me of my friend 'Gooch' back in Wisconsin. He was funny ... He got an aneurism and died. You're now 'Gooch'."