10 Questions with ... Jeremi Smith (Big J)

1. What was your first job in radio? Early influences?

This answer makes me pretty unique in the radio industry, as I have had only one gig in my 10 years of radio! KQXR 100.3 The X! Started out as a stunt guy, then just refused to leave!

2. How do you feel terrestrial radio competes with the satellite radio and Internet these days?

Since the beginning of satellite radio I have always believed that there was on defining difference! Terrestrial radio is free and available! I enjoy listening to satellite radio ... in my dad's pickup! I can't afford it; I work in radio!

3. What is your favorite radio station outside of the market and why?

I recently had the chance to listen to KUPD in Phoenix, and I really enjoyed being out of my market listening to a station with a rich rock history! I like comparing bigger market Rock stations to our own. I come home and more often than not feel we have a very good product!

4. What's your take on current music? Is it as good as six months ago, better or about the same?

In this last year, we have seen a resurgence of good music, and is it any wonder it's coming from artists who have been around for a long, long time! The new Alice In Chains is amazing, and now the new Stone Temple Pilots with a great lead single. There are a lot of new bands emerging on the music scene that I hope get the chance to prove themselves over time, like Shaman's Harvest! I;m willing to bet there are a lot of great bands out in the world; we just aren't finding them in the diluted world of MySpace!

5) What's the best concert you've been to so far this year and why?

Alice In Chains in our 1,000-seat capacity Knitting Factory was one of the best shows I have ever seen! We knew the show would be good after seeing them at Rock On The Range last year, but they were mind-blowing good!

6) What is the one truth that has held constant throughout your career?

I have to say resoundingly it's trust your instincts. As far as on-air personality goes, I have always just been myself! I'm a big, goofy, loud-mouthed nerd! To the dismay of most PDs who have come through the KQXR doors, I was the guy who would pop on the microphone and not have any idea what I was going to say! This is counter to almost all the teaching you could imagine, but it worked for me! Trusting my instincts that I could connect with the audience has never let me down! I don't recommend everyone trying it this way!

7) What was the biggest gaffe you've made on-air?

A few years back I was doing a phone interview with Jonathan Davis of Korn. It was his birthday and I did some silly contest earlier in the day for tickets to the show! Sing "Happy Birthday" to Jonathan in the style of KORN. I played back the winner's song to Jonathan, who thought it was funny. After the interview I thought I had hung up the phone. I blurted out that was a terrible interview ... oops, he is still on the phone! I laughed and said not you, Jonathan, I was terrible. He reassured me and said I did a good job. I played back that part of the interview, too ... my screw-up and general interview insecurity turned into hillarity!

8) Please describe the best or worst promotion you've ever been part of?

We have a new policy here at The X: Go big or don't show up! Last year we took an RV and four listeners across the country to Rock On The Range in Columbus, OH. This is an annual trek for our morning show, but this was the first time we had done a road trip, doing our morning show from our home towns along the way. When Tommy Lee says you're doing something crazy, you win! It was a great promotion both for revenue and content, but the 4,600 miles round-trip on 10 days was grueling. We will return to Rock On The Range this year, but we will be flying! Thank God!

9) What was the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you at a remote?

We were broadcasting live outside of the Project Revolution Tour a few years back! I was live, a male fan came up to me, said something and then, BAM, kissed me on the damn lips! Easily there was 50 to 60 people outside watching this happen, I was in shock and live on the radio, my only response: "Some guy just stole my first man-kiss; I was saving that for Sean Connery!"

10) How do you interact with your sales staff?

We have a great relationship with our sales staff. We really look at it as a team effort. We need their help to pull off our big promotions ... oh, and we need them to keep our jobs, so we have an open door policy. Even during the morning show, the sales peeps will walk by the studio with a question and we always invite them in to discuss things! Synergy is so important in a small market. We don't have big staffs; we have to team up to make things happen!

What led to your station's recent ratings increase?

We really are focusing in on the Males 25-55 and it's paying off. Transforming from Alternative to Active Rock had some people raising eyebrows, but we have worked very hard to grab that 35-year-old dude and keep him listening!

What approach do you take after a soft book?

I cry, maybe for hours ... then I get mad! Then we just evaluate and make some slight adjustments! We are a two-book market, so you are stuck with these numbers for some time. It is important not overreact too much, but adjustments are always going to be necessary.

What is the most rewarding promotion or activity your station has ever been involved with to benefit the community or a charity?

This is going back a few years, but it was never intended to be an actual charitable event-the "Pants for People Who Don't Have Pants but Need Pants" program! Another Jacent Jackson genius moment! We carried it out as though we really wanted people to give us their pants -- and they did! Lots of pants, sometimes pants right off their body! We raised a lot of clothes, did a good thing and had a whole lot of fun!

If you could add any one full-time position to your budget with no questions asked, what would it be?

We really need a full-time massage therapist! A person who isn't afraid to get in and work on some DJ feet, too! No, currently we could really benefit from a morning show producer. PD Jeremy Nicolato and I do the morning show and program the station; that is a lot of work! That's a selfish request; with the current state of economics we just need another full time jock on the station!

Favorite artist you have met?

This is going to sound so cliché but I have always been a Shinedown fan! We've had the opportunity to do many great promotions with the band, several interviews etc. and one night after dropping Brent off at his bus, he took me aside and thanked me for the years of support for the band! It wasn't contrite in any way shape or form; it was genuine and from the heart. I was blown away; never had I had an artist be that upfront and real with me. A great moment!