10 Questions with ... Tone Hollywood

E-MAIL: hollywood@hot981.com
WEBSITE: http://www.hot981.com/

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

I started doing weekends and board op for WJMZ (107.3 Jamz)/Greenville.  I worked full time in promotions a year later while doing overnights for WJMZ.  I did that for 4 ½ years then got the job as night host on WHZT (Hot 98-1). 

I started tracking nights in Richmond at Hot 100.9. I made the switch to afternoons at WHZT in March 2012 and was given a shot at mornings in September of 2012.

1) Why radio?

I love music and love to talk. I can’t sing or rap so there was only one other option. I grew up listening and just thought working as a jock was the coolest job ever.

2) What did you dream of becoming when you were a kid?

An Olympic Gold Medalist and then working as a TV analyst.

3) How did you get from Hampton, VA to Clemson University?

A track scholarship gave me the opportunity to get to Clemson. I had the national record in the 200 meters indoor at that time and I chose the home of the Tigers to get my degree.

4) Anything big happen for your alma mater this year?

We may have won THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP OVER ALABAMA!!! C-L-E-M-S-OOOHHHHH-N! FIGHT TIGERS FIGHT TIGERS FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!!!!

5) What would probably surprise most people about Greenville?

If you are a foodie you will overdose on the restaurants here and there are more coming! Great place for wining and dining or grillin and chillin!

6) What's probably your favorite song on the station right now?

Bruno Mars - That’s What I Like. Smooth but dancy at the same time. I can twerk,,breakdance, and do the waltz to that song at the same time!

7) If you weren't in radio, what do you think you'd be doing professionally?

I would either be a teacher or work in social worker. I love working with kids and helping out.

8) We know your radio job keeps you very busy but what do you like to do in spare time you have?

I am a sports nut so watching something on TV or working out. I enjoy sweating out all the built up aggressions from my aircheck sessions with my OM! *love you Mike Klein*

9) What's your favorite part of hosting the morning show at Hot?

Oh, the people!!! I have a great mix of kids, adults of all ages that comment for our question of the day that give me life with their responses.

10) Who are some of your mentors?

Rob Laidback and my guy Murph Dawg! Great guys to learn from. Steve Crumbley, Tony Fields and Elroy Smith really helped me develop my personality from the hallway to on air and I came up listening to the early days of the Boodah Brothers RIP DJ Law, Lorenzo Ice T, Rick Party, and KJ Holiday...RIP.

Who in the entertainment business would you most want to interview on your morning show?

Kanye West. Since I miss the Old Kanye I would have the realest interview from a (barely) current Ye fan that has been greatly disappointed by a few things from the last few years. Then we can talk Kardashian booties the rest of the interview. Hee hee hee!

If you had to eat one type of meal every day for a month, what would it be?

Anything Caribbean! Jerk chicken, plantains, black beans and rice and cabbage!

Uchiko - Asian fusion
Eddie Vs - steak & seafood
Huts - several decades of great burgers on W Sixth. Iconic here.
Maudie's - Tex Mex chain store that I probably hit 2x weekly
La Barbecue - the greatness of Franklin's brisket, sans the lines.

Final question, what is your favorite Austin venue to see a concert and why?

Ask any Austinite that question, and he'll tell you it's some place that's closed -- the Armadillo, Liberty Lunch, Raul's, etc. Today, I like the Moody Theatre at ACL Live for its sound and sight lines. It's a venue for regular gigs, but also the home of PBS' Austin City Limits TV show. It serves its purpose well, but I do miss the old Studio 6A on the UT campus. It's about a tenth the size of the new taping venue, so getting one's hands on exclusive passes was really special. Patrons were welcome to a couple of complimentary pints of Shiner Bock on the way into a performance; the same pair of pints are less tasty at twenty bucks in the new venue. But again, great sound & sight lines...and taping tickets are usually get-able.