10 Questions with ... Aaron 'Cheddar' Tyler

NAME:Aaron 'Cheddar' Tyler POSITION:AfterNites (4P-10P) STATION:WZPW (Power 92.3) MARKET:Peoria, IL COMPANY:Regent BORN:Oakland, CA RAISED:Raymond, IL (Bonus points if you can find it on a map!)

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

Since May 2001.. WDBR, WXAJ, WCZQ, WYOK, WHOT, WKST, WVZA, KSLZ, KHTT, KSLZ (again) and now WZPW

1. What was your last non-Industry job?

BEFORE I EVEN GOT INTO RADIO, I WORE THE BLUE VEST OF A WAL-Mart employee, first in Electronics, then as a Cashier. Most recently, I did a holiday season as a BEST BUY employee in YOUNGSTOWN. If you've ever wondered... yes, there is some kind of rule involving a customer being within a certain distance of an employee that they have to come ask you if you need help.

2. Why Radio?

Getting into radio was a complete accident for me, to be honest. I was a guest DJ for a nightly countdown one night during my Junior year of high school, the jock (BRIAN "FIG" FIGULA, now at WDVD/ DETROIT) thought I sounded pretty good doing my thing and asked if I'd ever thought of doing an internship at a radio station. I figured it would be something "cool" to do over the summer that I could brag about to my friends when school started again in the Fall, so I took it. I got hooked on this business my first night in-studio and have been on the roller coaster ever since! Like a lot of people, I've had more than my share of ups and downs, but I can't honestly say I wouldn't change any of the events in my career to this point because everything, no matter how seemingly small, has played a part in who and what I am today.

Besides, I dare you to find me another career choice where a guy in his early 20s can hang out in an air conditioned room for a few hours, play music that he loves, talk with the power of 20,000+ watts behind him, and truly enjoy going to work everyday working with an outstanding group of people... it's a no-brainer, right? :)

3. What do your parents think of your career choice?

LOL! Should I be honest or should I give a "rah rah!" answer?

To be honest, they weren't wild about it, at first. They felt like there were other, "more desirable" career options for me and they certainly tried to steer me toward some of those. But, eventually they realized that this is what I love doing and it makes me happy, so they've accepted radio and support my choice 100%. Although, they HAVE been on my butt lately to take some college courses at the same time and "have a backup plan," as my mother says.

4. What's the highlight of your radio career to date?

It's hard to pick one event, so I'll put a couple of them out there.

BACK 2 SKOOL BASH with HOT 104/MOBILE back in 2004 was definitely a day that I will never forget, getting to meet the artists (oh yeah, there was some famous wrestling guy there... Hulk, something?), feeling the energy of the crowd in the arena, experiencing the day-long "event" that TED STRIKER, SCOTT ADAMS, B-DUB, HEATHER BRANCH, and the rest of the HOT 104 team put together... all of that, even with me just being a voicetracked jock that had flown in for the event, not having experienced any of the hard work that led up to that day!

Cracking the mic for the first time in a Top 25 market at KISS/PITTSBURGH also ranks up there pretty high, along with my first shift on the Top 40 that I grew up listening to, Z107-7/ST. LOUIS... I occasionally have the chance to do a ST. LOUIS shift now and it's still an absolute thrill to this day.

5. Do you have interest in becoming a PD or MD?

Absolutely. While I consider myself a decent jock, I feel like my best plan for future success in our business lies in the programming department. I love looking at the MEDIABASE charts to see what stations that I admire are playing, listening to new music and trying to figure out where the "next big thing" is going to come from, etc. I've had the opportunity to be an MD twice, first under PAXTON GUY at KISS/ CARBONDALE and then under TOD TUCKER at KHTT, and really look forward to doing it again under my current PD, QUINT HAFRON, and the team here at REGENT - PEORIA, should the opportunity arise. Eventually, I believe that I could be a solid PD.

6. What's the first thing you do when you get to the station?

E-MAIL! I'm an e-mail freak and feel like my day has gotten off to a horrible start if I'm not up to date on everything that's going on in the world, from HOLLYWOOD to my ST. LOUIS CARDINALS to the goings on of the radio world to finding out how much production my Production Director (what up, Geoff Stevens!) has already dished out to me on that day. E-mail first, then I can move on with my day!

7. Who do you consider to be your mentor(s)?

There are a lot of talented people that I look up to, all over the country. KASPER, JAVA JOEL, KANE, JJ and ROMEO at Z100, JOJO in LOS ANGELES, are just a few guys that come to mind right away. But there are also quite a few of the so-called "up and coming" guys that I have a lot of respect for, including GROOVES at WIHT, JASON CAGE at ALICE in LITTLE ROCK (that guy is a marketing / self-promotion WHIZ!!), BOOMER at KISS/TOLEDO, and RAYNE at WNOU/INDIANAPOLIS. From my ST. LOUIS family, I love listening to CURT COPELAND and have tried to mold what I do somewhat in his style. HAZE at Z107-7 is also a good friend of mine and has rubbed off a little bit on me.

In terms of people that I talk to a lot and look to for advice / encouragement / the occasional "shut up, stop overthinking things, and just have fun!" chat... DAN EDWARDS at B96/MINNEAPOLIS (a former PD of mine), FIG at WDVD/DETROIT, JET BLACK at HOT 98.1/GREENVILLE (who I owe a debt of gratitude to for tipping me off about the job that I'm currently in... thanks J-E-T!), and one of my best friends, JIM PEMBERTON at WNNS and WQNA/SPRINGFIELD, IL.

8. What do you like to do in your spare time?

A lot of the typical things of a guy my age... Sports (golf, basketball, baseball), TV (Sportscenter, Family Guy, Futurama, Scrubs, Law & Order: SVU), etc. Also, as much as I say that I hate driving, I'm a travel nut and enjoy the occasional road trip. I plan on making a trip to the PENSACOLA / MOBILE / BILOXI area and then over to JACKSONVILLE to see a couple friends, at some point this summer.

9. What area of your "game" do you want to improve?

On the air, I'd love to be a little quicker on my feet, getting the best out of each caller and each bit. I'm also, as several people that have airchecked me have said, "a bit wordy," so I'm definitely trying to work on getting to the meat of my breaks faster.

Off the air, I'm trying to improve my production and imaging skills. Most of what I've done to date has been fairly basic and I feel like I've got an okay grasp of the basics. Now, I'd love to learn some of the tricks and finer points of the prod / imaging world. I'm also a big believer in communication and people skills, so I'm trying to improve that every day as well.

10. If you were to leave Radio today and you could choose any other occupation, what would it be?

I'd either try to get into the label side of the business, or if I had to completely have nothing to do with any aspect of radio, I'd go back to school to get my degree. Then, I'd teach high school history and coach basketball.

BONUS. A freak gravitational shift has added three hours to everyday. What would you do with those extra three hours?

Bust my rear in a gym! I'm trying to drop a little weight and would love to have the extra time in my day to work on that! I'd probably also try to sneak in a round of golf or, most likely, I'd probably put it toward something radio-related.

Actually, a freak gravitational shift can't be good... it would likely mean that we were being sucked toward the sun at 5,000,000 miles per hour and we all had less than 24 hours before we were sucked into the center of the Sun, so I'd probably spend it drinking large quantities of alcohol and doing some of the "extreme" things that I've always wanted to do but have been to chicken to try!

BONUS. Where did the name "CHEDDAR" come from?

HA! You can thank TED STRIKER, then the PD of WYOK (HOT 104... R.I.P.), for slapping me with that nickname and you can thank ALL ACCESS' very own JOEL DENVER for keeping it around! My given first name is COLBY, so TED thought that it was only fitting that "CHEDDAR" be added to it! I used it in MOBILE and then again at KISS/PITTSBURGH under MARK ANDERSON.