10 Questions with ... Chase Daniels

NAME:Chase Daniels POSITION:APD/MD/Afternoon Drive STATION:WAPE 95.1 MARKET:Jacksonville OWNER:Cox Radio

Please outline your radio career so far:

WMXQ 2001-2003 Weekends/Swing
WKQL 2002-2003 Weekends Swing
WAPE 2003-2005 Afternoon Drive
WAPE 2005-Current Afternoon Drive/APD
WAPE 2007- Current Afternoon Drive/APD/MD

1) What led you to a career in radio?

Growing up on Long Island, NY I got the best of Long Island radio and New York City radip. I'd listen non-stop to Z100, WALK, WPLJ and WBLI. I would get yelled at by my parents to go to bed (it would be 2am ... and I'd be 11 years old). I guess they weren't wrong.

2) What makes your station unique? How would you compare it to other stations you've worked at?

WAPE stands out from the rest of Jacksonville radio. From the music and the sweepers to the jocks, everything is always upbeat, and we always play the hits ... no misses. We're also lucky enough to be the only 24-hour local and live radio station in the market.

3) Are you wearing more "hats" than you have in the past?

Yep. I got the afternoon gig at WAPE in 2003 and that's all I did. Cat Thomas (then-PD) knew that I got into radio to be in programming. I love being on the air, but my heart is with scheduling music and looking at a format clock. I love knowing. "Okay, there's going be a sweeper next and then a power." Yes ...I'm that weird guy. I love programming, and Cat knew it. I was basically his assistant since day one. He made it official in 2005. Cat and Jay Styles (then MD) left in 2007. JR Ammons came in as PD and made me his Music Director a few months later after I paid him several hundred dollars.

4) What is your favorite part of the job?

I have A.D.D. Big time! I LOVE LOVE LOVE having to do 300 things when I walk in the door ... music, helping JR and doing an air shift ... it's never the same day twice.

5) What's one thing that would surprise many people to learn about you?

I can't turn anything off. I'm always working. My ex-girlfriends are ex-girlfriends for a reason; they've always come second. I schedule music on my laptop on my bed. I write sweepers on airplanes. I check e-mail while eating lunch. I'm a workaholic.

6) What was your favorite station to listen to when you were a kid?

Was and still is Z100. (Big shocker, I know...) The station was ahead of its time when I was growing up. No joke; if you took out the music of a 1993 aircheck of Z100 and put in today's music ... it would not miss a beat.

7) Do you have a favorite hobby outside of radio?

I'm a tech freak. I have everything I don't need. Blackberrys, Apple MacBooks, Tivos... I'm on CNet.com at least once a day.

8) What music do you listen to when you're not working?

Top 40. Music doesn't get old to me ... ever. Sure, there are a few songs out there that I'd change the station on ... but I eat, live and breathe Top 40 radio. Even when it's the weekend.

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

Work hard and it will pay off. I haven't been with the same company for seven years because I'm a good ass kisser. I work my butt off, and great companies like Cox Radio see that in their employees and they give you what they know you can handle.

10) What advice you would give people new to the business?

Never be afraid to ask questions. I learned everything I know from Mark Bell (former APD of WMXQ), Cat Thomas, JR Ammons and at the very start ... JOEL DENVER! All were AMAZING TEACHERS, but no one is going to bang on your head and tell you how to run a radio station or how to be a good jock. You have to ask. You can never ask enough.

What's the best sweeper/liner you've ever heard?

You'll hear this ... (Music hook) "Please forgive me ...I know not what I do" in 60 seconds ... on Z100.