10 Questions with ... Dave Mazur

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

• WXRX/Rockford (Part Time)
• WERV/Aurora (Part Time)
• WSOY/Decatur Afternoons/Production Director
• WXSS/Milwaukee (Part Time)
• WRTS/Erie APD/nights
• WVKS/Toledo MD/nights/afternoons and eventually Program Director
• WKQI/Detroit (Part-Time)
• WJQM/Madison PD/afternoons, nights

1. If I hadn't gone into radio I would probably be...?

I worked at McDonalds for 9 years throughout high school, and college. I went through the entire burger system. I started as a basic crew member, then got promoted all the way up to management level. I even took some classes at Hamburger University. Yes, it's a real thing.

I'd probably still be there, probably not in the store but in a cubical in their corporate office. One of my roommates from college did that, and he loves his job. They treat him well, plus the McDonald's Restaurant inside the corporates office serves beer, and has the McRib all year long. So that's a plus.

2. How has it been being within driving distance of your hometown?

Being within a couple hours of Chicago is amazing. My niece and nephew are everything to me. I love the fact that I am able to drive into the suburbs on a Saturday morning, see Parker, my niece, and Cooper, my nephew, stop by my mom's, and then be back in Madison that night.

The proximity to the Chicago area was the biggest selling point when I left WVKS in Toledo, four years ago. Not that I didn't like Toledo, I actually loved it there, believe it or not. The city may not look like much, but people are great, 925 Kiss FM is a great station, but being six hours from home was rough.

3. What do you think your biggest strength is as a programmer?

I think I'm very good with keeping my station centered and targeted to our demo, and keeping the overall sonic sound of the station on point for Madison at all times.

I do not work for a big corporate radio chain. Everything we do on the air is done in house. We do radio in Madison, for Madison. In an era of voicetracking, corporate playlists, national contests, what we do here is becoming a lost art.

Jamz does a lot of stuff that may confuse people in other markets. But, it makes sense for our station, and that's all that matters. I think this makes me incredibly strong as a programmer. I think I've learned skills here at WJQM that I wouldn't have picked up if I was with another company. Midwest Family Broadcasting has allowed me to think as I program, and I'm very grateful for that.

4. What would you like to continue to improve on as a programmer?

One of the things that I feel that I am good at is the digital aspect of programming. But, like everything, you should never stop learning. I think that I could learn more about social media, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, podcasting, etc.

I feel as if a lot of radio stations have a digital presence because that's what the listeners do. I realize that a lot of programmers look at is an extension of their brand, and that is absolutely true. It is also a train of thought that I've had for much of my career. But, I think that myself and a lot of radio stations can do it a lot better and that's what I can improve on.

I think that radio talent needs to look at digital as an extension of their show. We live in an on-demand world. Why should a morning show be only available to listen to in the morning? Air talent are content creators, why not make that content available to our audience when they want to hear it. Does it matter if they heard it on the radio or a podcast? I'm going to say no.

Recently, Randy Hawke, my ops manager challenged Marco and Krista, our morning show, and myself to develop a daily podcast of their show. The podcast is available in the Google play, and Apple podcast apps. We have an encouraging growing subscriber base, and our listeners are able to experience the Jamz morning show on their time, as well as when they are in the car driving to work in the morning.

I think there is a ton of room, and new territory to explore with the digital space and it is an untapped resource by many radio stations. I believe there is so much more that radio can do with the web than just have a killer Facebook page. This is something that I am challenging myself to work on and get better at.

5. Which programmer do you think has had the biggest influence in your career?

There have been several in my career that I have worked, and a few that I have not had the opportunity to be a part of their teams.

Dan Edwards who was my PD at Star 104, for a short time, taught me how to be an on air talent. Dan worked with Tone Fly, at KDWB and on FLY's morning show at the old B96 in Minneapolis. Dan has been an incredible resource to brainstorm bits, how to execute a night and afternoon show in the CHR format. I credit Dan with a lot of my success as a former night jock at both Star 104, 92.5 Kiss Fm, and when I first came to Jamz in Madison.

Tom Cook, who was my OM in Toledo (now at the Townsquare stations in Grand Rapids), mentored me on the off air aspects of radio. Tom is a master at Selector, and music. Tom had a big hand in teaching me how to get records familiar on the air, how to pick the right records for the market that you are working in, and how to decide if a record should be yanked from the air.

Here in Madison, Randy Hawke, my current Operations Manager has taught me to take chances. If you feel you should do it, do it. He trusts his people to make a mistake every now and then as long as you learn from it. Nobody is going to die, it is only radio, it should be fun. Randy just wants it to be fun for the listeners, and the staff of the stations that he oversees.

Growing up in Chicago, I've had the opportunity to listen to some great radio. I admire people like Bill Gamble who was at Q101 back in the Day, Todd Cavanah and Eric Bradley at B96, I think that Marry Ellen at WTMX has a fantastic radio station. I thought Rick Gillette did some amazing things when he was at WKSC. The imaging the station had at the time, and the billboard campaigns they did when he was there were incendiary. I've learned so much from just listening, and studying what they are doing, and how they do it. I am fortunate to be from such a great radio town.

6. If you could get a "do over" for a particular promotion, large or small, which might you choose?

When I was the night host, and APD at Star 104, Erie, PA we did a promotion called Survive It To Drive It. It was one of those where listeners live in a car and the last one out won the ride.

A few years earlier, the station had done this, and I've been told it was a huge success. The GM wanted to repeat that success. I guess the first time the station did it, the promotion lasted a few months, got a ton of press, and was huge.

The difference between the original time WRTS did this, and the time that I was involved with it, was reality television. When the station did it the first time, I was told that everyone in the car got along, they talked smack to each other but it was not mean. I was told it was playful.

When the promotion happened again the year I was there, Survivor broke. Three people in the car formed an alliance with each other like they do on the island, and went in hard on the fourth person in the car. It was vicious, the woman the alliance went after was crying after two hours in the car, and out in less than twenty four. The alliance then regrouped and it happened again. The promotion of four people living in a car that had a vision of lasting the entire fall was down to two people in about seventy two hours.

The program director at the time, and the GM started grasping at straws to drag this thing out. The contestants were given hotel rooms, and baited with consolation prizes to remain in the car. The staff was miserable with it, the contestants were miserable.

The promotion lost 100% of its authenticity. If a station is going to do something like this, they need to be prepared for the worst. Which is what we got, and we were not prepared for this to happen. If it were my call at the time, I would have just let the thing be over in a couple of days, call it a wash, and move on.

If you are going to do something like this, you have to go into it with the attitude that this could happen. The people above my pay grade at Star were more concerned with the number of mentions the car dealership was promised, than the contest itself. Granted that is a valid concern, but we didn't have a contingency plan either.

The one thing I did learn from this entire experience is to always think about every possible scenario that may play out when you are doing something this large. Be prepared, have a plan, be ready, and execute it that way and be able to manipulate the situation to get the result that the station needs, and the listeners expect.

7. Your radio career has been spent in the Midwest. Any other area or region might interest you in the future?

While I love being close to home, and my family. Like most people who grew up in Chicago, I hate winter with a passion. It's cold, it's depressing, it's miserable. Winter is just not a fun season to deal with.

I would love to work on the West Coast. I love Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, etc. I feel that area of the country would be a new challenge for me.

Radio out there is a lot more chill than it is in the Midwest. The people on the air out west just sound relaxed. I think that has to do with a lot of the West Coast culture, people out there just like to take their time, whereas here it's always full throttle.

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

I think it's important to do something than just radio. Outside of the station, I spend a lot of time with family and friends. Like I said in one of the other questions, I enjoy going down to Chicago to check on my parents and see my sister's kids. You've got to have that.

In the summer time, I am a huge fan of just going on a long drive. I actually have a goal this summer where I get behind the wheel of my car and drive west. Where I end up, is where I end up. Just get on the highway and go.

I am into collecting classic 80's arcade games, but I've moved to a smaller apartment and just don't have the space for that, right now. Surprisingly, you can find those dirt cheap if you are willing to buy it broken and have the skill set to fix it. In my living room, I have an 80's Ms. Pac Man machine that I got for free, mainly because the guy that had it didn't want to fix it. It turned out it needed a fuse that was less than a dollar, and now it's like brand new. Thanks for the gift!

9. Do you ever think about what your career might have been like had you focused solely on your on-air work?

Do people think about this? I started working in radio full time after consolidation. I do not think that I've ever had a job where I could just focus solely on what I do on the air. I've always had another duty off the air. This is a world that I've never really seen. I've always had production, imaging, promotion, and music duties that I had to do.

I honestly would love to be able just to focus on my on-air work. I think that it's something that unfortunately gets lost by a lot of radio people. I absolutely hate thinking that I may have to walk into a studio and do something completely off the cuff, and unprepared. That's not how it's supposed to be done.

An on-air talent should bring their A-Game every day to meet the expectations of the audience. I'm fortunate at Midwest family Broadcasting. A lot of markets this size do not have the people behind the scenes and programmers have to do everything.

I love the fact that I have people like Kristi Harms, my Promotions Director, to help out immensely planning not just basic promotions for our audience, but events. We are four months into the year and we've already had two parties at bars that were success stories where listeners won trips. Our calendar is full for the rest of the year with bus trips, parties on boats, concerts on the capital square, and more. I believe that only a couple of these would happen if I did not have the help that Kristi provides Jamz. She is an unbelievable asset to the station. If it wasn't for the work that Kristi does, I would not be able to focus on my afternoon show on Jamz as much as I do.

10. What's usually the first thing you notice about a new song you're listening to?

Working at Jamz has changed my attitude towards music. When I listen to music for Jamz, the first thing I listen to is the beat and the production. I can usually tell within the first few bars of a new record if it's a fit for Jamz.

We are a rhythmic station with a particular middle of the road sound. If the record is too far to the left, or to the right, it will take a lot for me to add it out of the box.

Usually, if the first few seconds of a song sounds like it would be weird between two songs that are currently on the station, I'm going to be slow on the record.

I do not want people to think that I make a judgement call on a record based off of ten seconds of a song. I listen to the words next, the hook, just like everyone else. All of that stuff is important when adding music to Jamz.

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

Pizza. I love it. But, don't give me crappy East Coast pizza you can fold in half. I do not want to start a war with the NYC people who read this, but I'm staying tried and true to my South Side Chicago lineage. Deep Dish from Palermo's on 95th Street all day, everyday.

If I must have thin crust, that pie better be cracker thin with sausage, mushrooms, green peppers, and black olives, from Vito and Nick's at 84th and Pulaski. Serve that to me with a pitcher of Old Style, and I'll be the happiest person you've ever seen.

What's the name of your new donut discovery in Madison?

The name of the place that I obsess with on social media is Hurts Donut. Seriously, if you're in Middleton, Wisconsin it's worth the wait in line. It's always out the door.