10 Questions with ... Brion O'Brion

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

My radio career has taken me to St. Louis; Norfolk, VA; VA Beach; Baltimore; Greenville, SC; Charleston, SC; Savannah, GA; Atlantic City; Ocean City, MD; to name a few, and he's no stranger to Louisiana either ... having worked in Alexandria.

1) What are you up to these days?

Well, to be honest while I am not in radio, I am still working. Because of those li'l things we call bills, I do have a job; I am currently working at Home Depot. It's actually a great place to work. I am a cashier. I'm not too proud to do a so-called "normal" job. I'm only part-time, so that is why the hunt for a full-time radio job continues. I also have been watching a lot of NCIS Los Angeles, and Law & Order SVU on Ion TV. I've also been listening to a lot of radio lately. I often listen to Elvis Duran in the morning, and it is football season, so I also listen to the NFL channel on Satellite radio and I love listening to Howard Stern. That dude is awesome. I also have a whole #hirebrionobrion campaign going on all my social media sites. I learned at the Conclave recently from Terri Thomas that I was not using social media enough, so now if you type in #hirebrionobrion on any social media site, you will see my campaign from the beginning. I am hoping it leads to my next opportunity. Some may not know, but I have been a PD/MD/APD, and air talent.

2) How many formats have you worked in?

Several. I have worked in several formats since I've been in the industry. I have worked in Top 40; I love this format. It keeps me on my toes and keeps my breaks quick. I have also worked in Urban AC. This format has taught me that all listeners of this format do just want to hear slow jams. I programmed an UAC station where we also played R&B songs that also had rap in them. Grown folks like to get their boogie on, too. I have also worked Hot AC. When I was in this format I learned how to work with the PPM. I have worked Urban. In the Urban format I learned that Hip-Hop and R&B has really changed or maybe I have just gotten older.

3) Who were some of the personalities you grew up listening to?

I grew up listening to the Night Hawk Morris Baxter at WOWI/Norfolk. He was awesome on his night show. I used to like when he made the Hawk sound on the radio, because that was his moniker, the Night Hawk.

I also grew up listening to my mentor, Rick Party at WOWI; he replaced Morris Baxter when he left. I did not like him at first, because he had replaced my favorite night jock Morris Baxter, but after listening to him, I begin to love what he did at night on the radio. I used to love when he did his countdown show at night. I used to call and be one of his guest DJs and introduce songs on his show. This is when I knew that I wanted to be a radio personality.

4) What is it about radio that you love so much?

I love the fact that radio is not a job to me. I get to wake up every day and do what I enjoy and get paid for it, too. What more can I ask for?

5) If you had not done radio, what profession would you have gone into?

I used to be a nurse before I got into radio full-time as a personality. I had two very good nursing jobs, and I gave them both up to take my first radio gig in Greenville, SC at defunct WHYZ-A. My parents were like, "Are you nuts," because I took that radio job for 32 hours a week at $5 an hour. Plus, it was overnights from 2-6a. There have been times that I've had to fall back on my nursing career when I had been laid off from radio stations. I managed an Alzheimer's unit, also managed group homes for developmental disabled adults and children. I stopped nursing because I just became a bit burned out, and radio has always been my first love.

6) How did you get into radio?

As a kid in high school, I would often mimic the personalities on the radio to my classmates in school. This was when I first knew that I wanted to be in the radio business.

7) Don't you come from a radio family?

Yes, my father was in the Air Force and worked on Armed Forces Radio as well as a club and party DJ. My dad had a great chemistry with his partygoers in the clubs and he had the gift of the gab. I know that is where I got it from. When I was a kid, we lived overseas, and I used to enjoy listening to him on the radio; he had a great personality and was not a puker.

8) Would you share some of your influences and mentors in your career?

Rick Party was very influential for me. He taught me the basics of radio and help me get my first radio gig in Greenville, SC at defunct WHYZ-A. Earl Boston was another of my influences. He was my first PD and he taught me the basics of radio, aka radio 101. Wookie Man was another. He taught me Top 40 radio after starting out my career in Urban radio.

9) How important are radio internships?

I started my career as an intern. It's a great way to learn the business. I was able to have hands-on experience and I do the same for my interns when I get them. I like to teach them everything I know so that the will be ready when they get their opportunity to crack the mic. The next generation of broadcasters need to be prepared properly. I recently found out from my most recent interns that they did not even go into the radio station studio in their communications class on the campus of their college here in Norfolk. To me that is absolutely nuts! How can one learn radio without touching or entering a real radio studio? You can have all the book info you want, but that does not show your hands on how to run the board or even crack the mic.

10) Do you think you are misunderstood?

Radio folks often think that Brion O' Brion is the guy that moves around all the time. I will admit early in my career I did because it was all new to me and I enjoyed traveling to new places and facing new challenges. I had gotten used to traveling because I grew up in a military family and I loved to travel. As I got older and wiser in my career, I found out that was not the thing to do. I have made some bad luck in a few stations I have worked for. I have been downsized more than anyone I know. Heck I have worked for two companies that went bankrupt. So, when you have a family and responsibilities I bust my hump to find a new job. So, you tell me is it a bad thing to keep finding jobs when we have bills, children, etc...? I have to do what I have to do to take care of my responsibilities. I always ask people, "Am I not supposed to work and pay my bills?" I wish future employers would just ask me instead of assuming. We are in the communications business, but we don't always communicate with one another.