Post 1576 – Interview With Live 105’s Floyd

 

March 10, 2011

 

I was about 30 seconds late for my lunch meeting with Floyd at (sigh!) The Pogue Fado. We sat at the same booth where Cub Carson and I had a few weeks earlier.

We ordered our food and started to talk. Patricia joined us a bit later, and we all got to know about each other as we talked about radio, Elvis Presley, and Saskatoon, which I hear is in Saskatchewan.

1. How did you get your start in radio?

Floyd: Well, I actually started at University of Kings College doing journalism. They told me I had to take radio. I didn’t want to; I thought it was stupid. I ended up taking it because it was a course requisite.

They put me behind a mic at CKDU. Then, I started doing shows outside of school at CKDU, just for fun. It was called "The Floyd Factor". It ran for two and a half years on Friday nights. I decided I loved it too much to continue studying journalism because, let’s be honest, most of the papers here have closed. The Chronicle Herald laid off a ton of its staff.

 

Bevboy: And even radio journalism isn’t nearly what it used to be.

F: No. It is, sadly, a dying industry. Everything’s moving to the web.

I loved radio, unexpectedly, so I left school, took a year off just to work and get my head around what I wanted to do, and ended up going to NSCC and taking the radio program there. The waterfront campus.

BB: I hear it’s a lovely facility over there.

F: Oh, it’s so nice. It’s beautiful. We had some of the best equipment to be found in the city. We had the best tv studio in the whole city, including the actual tv studios. It was really nice to be there.

BB: Your instructors would have been Dave Bannerman and Yvonne Colbert?

F: Yes. They were my Broadcast Journalism and Television instructors.

BB: And, they know about me! I’m just doubly thrilled here.

So, that was your studies. What year did you graduate?

F: I didn’t graduate from there.

BB: It’s a 2 year program, right?

F: It’s a 2 year program. I left in March of my last year, which seems kind of strange, but I’d missed a lot of classes because I got a part-time job doing news at Z103, which is owned by the same company as Live. I missed a ton of classes doing actual radio work. My professors weren’t too thrilled. When I got a job offer, I didn’t really have the option of early graduation. I decided, "Well, this is my shot. These don’t come very often, so I’m just going to go." I got most of the information [from the program] that I needed.

BB: Were you on the air at Z103 as Floyd?

F: Yes, doing news.

BB: You’ve never worked under an assumed name?

F: No.

BB: OK. You worked out West for a while. How did that come about?

F: I’m a terrible student. I realized early on that I wanted to get my career started. Looking at the listings every day on Milkman, I probably applied for 50 jobs. I got 16 interviews and 4 offers. I turned down the first 2 offers. Then, Andy Ross at Wired 96.3 called me. He’s the Program Director there. He offered me Afternoon Drive, partly by myself and with a co-host during the end of the day. I said yes immediately. Getting Drive right out of school is pretty good. I was ready to go. Then, I got another job offer after that, which I declined because I’d already taken this one.

I was on a plane 2 weeks later to Saskatoon. Sold everything I owned. I’d never been to Saskatoon. Never really considered Saskatchewan in general not for any other reason than I had never had a reason to go there. But, I moved to Saskatoon and was there for 8 months.

BB: Do you want to say the jobs you turned down? Were they local?

F: No. One was out in the Territories. The other 2 were in Northern Ontario. One was part on air, and part Production. It wasn’t really my thing. Once a Top 40 station offered me Drive, I was set. I was in.

BB: How did Live 105 come about?

F: I actually applied for it before it was even a station. I was working under Dan Barton at Z when I was doing part-time. I remember, before I was even talking to anyone in Saskatoon, I went into his office and asked him if there might be a place for me at the new station when it launched, before we even knew what the format was.

BB: The AAA format?

F: That was the rumour swirling around. There were rumours about a bunch of different formats. He said, "You’d be on my list. I can’t make any guarantees, but it might happen."

Of course, that wouldn’t pay the bills. So, off I went.

I heard it was launching as a Modern Rock format. I was speaking with Jeff Cogswell, who until recently was mornings at Z. He got me an "in". He talked to Rob Johnson, when Rob was PD, and then again to JD, when JD took over. They asked him to get a demo from me, so I sent it in.

I think it was 3 days later. I was on my way to work in Saskatoon, and Paul Evanov called me. I just about went off the road. Paul Evanov’s a pretty important guy in the Evanov Radio Group, obviously. I actually had my little brother up; he was visiting from here and doing an internship because he’s interested in radio as well. He got to see the dramatic side of the sudden career change up front.

I went to my PD right away. They weren’t overly happy because we were in the middle of ratings, and I was giving them 5 days’ notice. They understood.

BB: Five days’ notice? That’s unusual!

F: That’s very unusual. But, they needed me for the launch date, which was October 4th. This was the very last days of September when they called me. So, I made a very difficult last minute decision to uproot everything once again. Six days after I got that call, I was back on a plane to Halifax.

BB: I hope Evanov helped with the relocation expenses.

F: They did, yes. They were very generous to me.

P: I find a lot of radio personalities are like gypsies. They go wherever there’s a job.

BB: OK. October 4th, you’re on the air at Live 105. You had found out less than a week before that you were getting this new job.

F: Yes. I flew on a Saturday, and started work Monday morning.

BB: Cub told me his side of the story. You guys locked eyes at the airport. It’s almost romantic.

F: It kinda was. It’s the least romantic romance story ever. It was interesting. It was kinda like finding out you had a brother your whole life whom you never knew and meeting him.

With my last co-host in Saskatoon, we got along really well. We were good friends. But, with Cub, it was almost like the next level. It’s like your first love, and then your second love when you figure out it can be more. It’s crazy how much we just clicked. I saw him. He drove me back. We ended up going to the hotel bar and throwing back a few drinks and just really bonding.

BB: On the company dime, I hope.

F: No. It was on Cub’s dime. [laughs] The hotel room was on the company dime, for two and a half weeks.

P: After hearing you this morning. 67 orgasms in a week? I’m impressed.

BB: That’s why you’re so happy. Look at you. Jeepers.

F: I may have made that number up.

P: Hey, it keeps people listening.

2. What is the best piece of professional advice you have ever received and who provided it?

F: I’d say it was from Fred Kennedy at The Edge. It’s hard to pick one because there’s been so many people who have given me good advice. Dave Bannerman gave me a lot of good advice, and so did Dan Barton. Shane Wilson, when I worked under him in the News department as well.

I was in Toronto doing an internship, emailing Fred. He agrees to meet with me. In the course of a 2 hour session at a bar just like this one, he taught me more than I had learned in my 2 years at school. He introduced me to the concept of a hook, which is a technique where you tease something that’s coming up to keep people listening and interested.

BB: "Coming up at 7:40"...

F: Exactly, but more in depth. You tell someone half a story, and leave them wondering what’s going on. I’d never heard of that before, not even in school.

Like me, he had had troubles in school. He got fired from one of his first jobs. I didn’t get fired, but he’s a bit of a rebel. Just hearing about his story, and how he’s so passionate and just worked and worked and worked, and knew he could get what he wanted if he wanted it hard enough and tried hard enough. That’s how I felt it was time to kick it into the next gear and start my career in a real way.

Go for what you want. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t get that first job, because I had people tell me, "You’re not going to get Drive right out of school." But, I did. Not to sound like a jerk, but if you want something bad enough and try really hard, you can get it.

3. Cub Carson told me that your sense of humour helped make the decision to hire you as his morning co-host at Live 105. Is this sense of humour something that comes naturally to you? Do you perceive the world in an ironic context?

F: I think so. I grew up in a very strange family. A lot of kids grew up watching "Barney" and all that stuff. I grew up watching "Monty Python".

BB: I like you already!

F: I’ve always had an offbeat sense of humour. It got me in trouble when I was a kid. Everyone thought I was weird and kinda creepy. Eventually, that kind of humour became cool again. I was o.k. after that. I’m very off the wall, I think. I’ve had people tell me that, when they first meet me, I’m putting on an act of being weird. Then, they realize that’s just who I am [laughs]. I’d say I’m a bit off beat for sure.

BB: A little eccentric.

F: Yes.

BB: Nothing wrong with that.

F: Yes.

BB: Is it safe to say that you are on the air what you are off the air?

F: 100%. I know people who will change things. They don’t really want to put their whole self across, whether it’s for personal reasons or they feel they’re more capable playing a part. But, I am exactly 100% the way I am off air, on air.

BB: You’re not playing a character at all.

F: No. This is me. Which is why my boss said people will either love me or hate me. I can be annoying to some people. But, that’s just how I am in real life.

BB: Well, you talked about the skating oval and you wanted skates. You wanted to accentuate them somehow to make them girly. I thought that was really funny.

F: Oh, yes. I did. I painted them gold.

 

 

4. Tell me about a couple of on air mistakes that you have made.

F: [chuckles] I was interning at Big Dog in Truro

BB: With Morrissey Dunn, probably.

F: Yes. It would have been with Moe Dunn. I was doing over nights, actually. I was on the midnight to six am shift.

BB: They have live overnight shifts?

F: They don’t, normally, but they open that up for interns. They’re really great with interns.

So, I was doing overnights for a month, in May of 2009. I don’t know if they told me and I just missed it, or if they forgot to tell me about the off air alarm.

I went to the washroom. I thought I had it in automation, so things would automatically play one after the other. I come back, and I hear this beeping. I’m all alone in this building. It’s the middle of the night. I’m a fresh-faced intern, terrified to even be near a microphone. I’m looking around, wondering if there’s a fire here.

I go down to the front door, thinking it might be a door bell. I have no idea what it is. It’s 3:40 in the morning. I get up and realize that it’s the off air alarm. I’d been off the air for the last 3 minutes. If it goes on for, I think, more than 30 seconds or a minute, it automatically calls the program director.

Patricia; Oh, no!

F: He didn’t call back. He figured, "Stupid intern’s done something wrong!" He gave me a bit of a playful lecture in the morning. That’s probably the stupidest thing I’ve done.

I said "asshole" on the air once. But, in my defense, I was getting my legs waxed at the time.

P: Oh, I’d say something a lot worse than "asshole".

F: Those are the 2 that stick out to me.

BB: What station was this at? Out West?

F: The "asshole" comment? That was at Wired in Saskatoon.

I’ve done some questionable things. I made up a song about a dead pigeon once that I found on the street. It angered some people [chuckles].

BB: Was it an ode to the dead pigeon?

F: No. The song was about different ways in which you could eat him.

P: Oh, dear God! [laughs]

F: I’ll send you a link to the song, actually. I have the mp3. It’s a duet with my former co-host.

5. How difficult is it to be edgy without going over the edge and saying something on the air that you shouldn’t? I guess it comes down to training and professionalism, I guess. But, sometimes, you get in the moment.

F: Yes. It’s a lot of common sense. I think the difference is: We’re not trying to be edgy. We don’t go into work every day and sit there and think, "How can we piss people off? How can we make people gasp in shock and horror?

We’re not making people eat toenails. We’re not making people give their dads a rectal exam. Our edginess comes, I think, from our personalities. While I might be considered an edgy person, I also try to be a respectful person. I don’t try to offend people. I don’t like that; I don’t think it makes good radio.

So, I think part of it is just your natural way of doing things. I wouldn’t do something wild and outrageous in real life that could hurt people’s feelings or anything like that.

I have crossed the line a few times. My PD did tell me I’m no longer allowed to say the word "douchebag" on air. JD said, "No more "douchebag".

The atmosphere at Wired was definitely more of a party atmosphere. We would talk about being hung over and the wild parties last night, just because that was the life style associated with Top 40. That’s why my PD hired me; he wanted me to be the party girl. Which I kind of was in Saskatoon. And, here, we want to appeal to a more mature audience. I don’t want to come across as someone who parties every night, because I don’t. That was a bit of an adjustment: Downplay the part that I had been expected to pump up in Saskatoon.

But, other than that, I don’t think it’s ever really been an issue just because, as I mentioned before, I am myself on the air. I try not to be wildly offensive in real life because my mom would slap me.

P: [laughs] You’re from Pugwash, right? Moms from Pugwash, they slap a lot.

F: They do. They’re slap happy.

BB: You’re in a ratings period now.

F: Yes.

BB: It’s your first legitimate ratings period, because the first one didn’t really count because you came in half way through the ratings period, blah blah blah. Are you guys pretty confident about how you’ll do?

F: I think we’re pretty confident. Cub and I haven’t really changed a whole lot. We’ve spent the first few months making sure everything flows well and nailing down who’s good at doing what, and which things work and which don’t. We’re just continuing that. Obviously, the book is important, but we really don’t need it to tell us that what we’re doing is working, because we’re getting feedback every day from all listeners who really like what we’re doing. We get it on Facebook. We get it on the phones. We get it at our events. We’ve set a course, and we’re sticking to it, because it seems to be working. People are giving us really great reviews.

BB: I think people were clamouring for this kind of music. I don’t need to hear The Eagles any more.

F: It’s like that scene from "The Big Lebowski" where he gets kicked out of the cab. "The Eagles suck, man".

6. Please say something about the following people

A. Nikki Balch

F: I actually worked with her quite extensively when I started at Z, because when I started, I was hired to do technical stuff. I was a remote broadcast technician, which is a fancy term for: I set up the box at all our live to airs and turn the mic on and off, and made sure the DJ’s music is on the air. It was an awesome job, by the way. I would seriously still do it for free if they needed me to. It was fun. And, she hosted our live to air at Reflections, so I got to spend some time with her. She’s a cool chick; and, like me, she started mornings at an early age. In our early 20‘s, we started in mornings, so it was cool to see her succeeding and knowing that I could succeed, too, with Evanov, because they would give her a chance at the age of... I think she was 20 or 21 when she started. She was young.

She’s a really cool chick. We had some good times while she was here. And, I’m super happy for her that she’s now at Virgin. That’s a big step, and she deserves it. I’ll be listening to her out there.

B. Cub Carson

F: Oh, Cub Carson! Cub is the coolest 38 year old I’ve ever met. It’s funny. I remember talking to him on the phone the first time, and looking at his pictures, and thinking, "Man, this guy’s awesome. We’re going to get along really well."

My last co-host ... and, again, I can’t say enough good things about him. He was a great guy; we had a lot of fun together. We did a lot of cool stuff.

BB: What’s his name?

F: Trystan Meyers. He goes by DJ Anchor. He was awesome. Part of the reason that we worked well together is that we’re so different. He’s a family man. He’s a bit more conservative. I was the crazy party girl. That was my role.

With Cub, we’re so similar, but different enough to keep things exciting. In looking at his pictures and talking to him, I knew it would work right away. He picked me up from the airport. I immediately felt comfortable with him. I was so overwhelmed because I was back in my home, which I had missed so much. I sobbed my eyes out..

BB: You hugged him.

F: I hugged him. I started crying my last day at work; and I cried all the way until the plane took off. Then, I slept. I awoke as we were landing in Halifax. I cried again, because I was home. So, when he got to me, I was in a pretty sorry state. But, he made me feel super comfortable. He drove me back to the hotel that would be our mutual home for several weeks, and bought me a Jack Daniels. We just have a chemistry on air that I never had with anyone else. I haven’t done that much in radio, but other people have commented on it as well. It leads me to believe that there really is something special there. We feed off each other really well. We can understand where we’re going with something before anything is said. I can just look at him. If he has a certain sparkle in his eye, I know he has a funny thing so say, so I should stop talking. He plays pranks on me. I make fun of him. It’s a good time. We’re like brother and sister, but without fighting at all. It’s really good, because I know he’s had a lot of drama in past roles, and I hate that sort of conflict. We get along really well. I really appreciate his company.

BB: With all that crying, I have to wonder about your eye make up.

F: [laughs] It was still immaculate because I went and I fixed it before I went out to the baggage claim. "I can’t let this guy’s first impression of me be one without eyeliner."

BB: Cub spoke really highly of you. I know you read the interview, but did you expect him to say those things?

F: I was very flattered. I knew that he enjoyed working with me because he tells me. Sometimes he gets a little emotional when we talk about how much we like each other. But, I was surprised to read that. My mom read it. I think she cried when she read it. She got a little emotional. It’s just good to have validation: To know that he feels the same way that I do. It’s like catching your husband talking about you nicely to someone else instead of catching him whining about you.

BB: How big a talent do you think Cub Carson is?

F: Oh, he’s huge. He’s done so many things. He’ll have people that call him from Ottawa, and people that write him from Ottawa, just to tell him that they miss him and it’s not the same without him. He’ll have former co-workers that come and talk to him and tell him it’s not the same. I can just tell from the amount of love he’s getting from people he’s known in the past that he’s made a big impact on them. It takes a special personality to do that.

BB: I hope he remains in Halifax a long time.

F: Me too!

C. Megan Edwards

F: Megan is really cool. I honestly don’t see her that often because she’s getting in just as I’m leaving. But, I very much respect what she does. She’s very well known in the community; she’s consistently nominated for different awards. She’s got a tv show now. She did the Miss Nova Scotia stuff where she placed very highly. People seem to really love Megan, and she does what she does very well. She’s very social. She can be the bar club girl without being a train wreck. She’s very classy. But she connects very well with that audience, so when she’s doing club announcing stuff, she’s the perfect fit for it. She’s really talented, and she has a really solid show. I hope she’s around for a very long time, and that EastLink doesn’t steal her away from us. [laughs]

BB: I can’t imagine that EastLink pays that much.

F: Neither does radio. [laughs]

D. Neil Spence

F: He’s funny, man. We went to the same program, but we never met because he was out before I was in. The first thing I ever heard of Neil Spence was that he did the imaging for our school’s station, The Platypus. I’d heard his voice.

Then, he started following me on Twitter and told me he had a Twitter crush on me, which I thought was funny. He tweeted at me a lot. He was still working out at Cape Breton. He tweeted at me and told me he was coming to Halifax, and he wanted to take me out for dinner, just to talk and network.

We went out for dinner. It was Movember. He looked like a criminal. That was my first face-to-face impression of Neil. But, he was really nice, and he actually bought me my dinner. He brought some friends along; we had a good time, and talked radio.

When his name came up for the job, and J.D. [Desrosiers] asked me what I thought, I immediately said, "Yes." He’s got a great voice. Just from following him on twitter and facebook, I know that he’s funny and topical. I’m glad he’s part of the team.

BB: OK. I see him on Sunday. I’m looking forward to that. I’ll be interviewing him at the Live 105 studios. He finishes his shift at 5. I’ll be there at 5:01.

F: Right on.

E. Jeff Cogswell

F: I affectionately call him my radio dad. I believe the first time I ever met Jeff Cogswell was at Summer Rush 2009. I was wrangling the on air talent because I was in charge of getting them to do their cut-ins to the station. I had just started working for Z. I had just started doing broadcast technician stuff. I was only sort of familiar with the systems I was using. I was put in charge of telling the talent where to go and when to be there, which was very nerve wracking.

I knew that Jeff Cogswell was basically a legend here in Halifax. I was the most terrified to tell him that he had to be somewhere at a certain time. I saw him more and more as I did more things at the station. He is one of the most incredibly kind guys I’ve ever met in my life. He would always ask how I was doing and seemed to take a real interest in what I wanted to do with my career. When I got the offer from Saskatoon, the first person I called, even before my mom, was him.

BB: Really?

F: I texted him, and he called me. He told me what I should expect and what I should ask for, and what I should keep in mind as I was working through my first contract. I stayed in touch in Saskatoon.

When I came back, giving him a hug was one of the highlights of my return.

He’s great. He’s the reason I have this job, because, between Rob Johnson and JD, I’m sure there were thousands of applications. Maybe hundreds; this is Canada. Tons of applications, and I don’t think I would have stood out if Jeff Cogswell hadn’t vouched for me in the way he did. That was really great of him. He’s given me so much advice. I was really sad to see him go, but I’m glad he’s back behind the mic because we need him.

BB: Have you listened to him on Hal yet?

F: I haven’t yet because I’m usually sleeping when he’s on air [laughs]. But, I will be, very shortly. I’m sure he’s doing great because he’s very talented.

F. Shane Wilson

F: If Jeff Cogswell is my radio dad, then Shane Wilson is probably like my kind radio uncle. Or maybe my radio boyfriend. But, he’s married, so I can’t really say that.

He’s a great guy, too. He gave me my first on air job. I remember my broadcast journalism teacher, Yvonne Colbert, saying to be careful because he’d rip me apart. He did the exact opposite of that. He was very kind and nurturing and helped me get the feel for newscasts that weren’t CBC style. For the short time we got to work together in mornings, it was wonderful. We hung out a lot. I really miss him. I’d like to see him back on the air soon, because he’s a great talent as well.

BB: I know he has a business on the side where he rewrites documentation.

F: He’s a good guy.

 

7. The Megan Edwards question. You lose your iPod. I find it. What songs on it would surprise me the most? Cub Carson likes Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. Which crooner do you like?

F: Well, I don’t know if this is a surprise, but I’m a massive Elvis fan.

BB: Really?

F: I have a tattoo. [Pulls up her left sleeve to reveal an Elvis tattoo] I’m a massive Elvis fan.

BB: Why? He died long before you were born.

F: He did. And, you know what? It’s not even the music. The music of that time was amazing; I love his music. But, moreso, Elvis was the first person who was also a brand. I really admire the way he worked it. He carved out that market for youth before it existed. And he was the first young, young person’s superstar. He was so charismatic and amazing. Then, he did a lot of drugs. [laughs] He wasn’t the best role model in his later years.

P: Certainly, in the earlier years, he was a draw to young people.

F: Exactly. I think he was pretty incredible.

Other than that, and this is from my CHR days, which were plentiful, I have some Ke$ha, some Lady Gaga. I will admit to having one Justin Bieber song, but not more than one.

BB: Which one?

F: "One Time". And, I think I still have some Gregorian Chant on there because it helped me study in university. That’s about it.

BB: I have a Gregorian Chant music channel at home.

I love this question because I get different, eclectic answers. I wouldn’t have thought of you as an Elvis fan.

F: Oh, you should see my Elvis memorabilia collection. It’s massive.

BB: This survived your moves, right?

F: Yes. I actually shipped it to Saskatoon and back, which was silly.

BB: As long as the company paid for it, who cares?

F: Exactly.

8. How hard is it to get up at such an unGodly hour every weekday morning? What time do you have to get up?

F: I usually get up at 3:30. For the first month, I got up at 3 every day just because I was so excited. It depends on the day. It’s surprisingly not as hard as you’d think. Once I’m standing up, it’s fine. I’m all right, as long as I know there’s going to be coffee in the next half hour or so.

It’s the sleeping habits in the day that are a problem for me, because I tend to sleep 12-3:30 AM and PM. That’s not good because I end up losing a lot of time. You’re getting settled for bed. You wake up, and you stumble around groggy for half an hour.

BB: If you have to do business at a bank or something, it’s hard to do that. You’re working in the morning and napping in the afternoon.

F: Yes. And I miss out on a lot of stuff, but as young as I am, all my friends are doing fun things later in the evening that I don’t want to miss: hanging out playing music, or catching up. So, I tend to sleep a little bit too much in the day, but I’m working on it. It’s getting a bit easier, and despite what Cub Carson says, I’ve only been late for work twice. And, only once did I arrive at the station after I was supposed to be on air. [laughs]

BB: He was covering for you?

F: I missed 10 minutes. That’s all.

BB: Did the listeners realize you were late?

F: Oh, he told them. Then, he made fun of me all day.

P: By nature, are you a morning person or a night owl?

F: I was always a night owl. But, I’m ok in the mornings. I don’t want to jump off a bridge all morning long. I would like to be able to sleep in until 10 o’clock like I could in Saskatoon, but being up early is nice, too.

BB: What time do you have to go to bed at night in order to get up at 3:30.

F: I should be going to bed by 10, if I’ve had a nap. There’s been nights I’ve gone to bed at 1 and literally had a nap before going to work. It depends on when I slept the day before. I have yet to discover the perfect routine.

BB: I wonder how many jocks do find the right routine? I know that a nap in the afternoon is almost a rule.

F: It’s pretty universal, I think. Otherwise, you’re going to bed at 6. I’ll hit my stride at some point, maybe.

BB: Denyse Sibley told me she gets up at 2:30.

F: Denyse Sibley might be crazy. [laughs]

BB: I can’t imagine getting up at that hour.

F: That’s not getting up. That’s just not going to bed at that point.

9. I have to know: Why do you go by "Floyd?"

F: It’s my real name. I can show you my birth certificate if you like.

BB: Is it short for something? Floydina or something?

F: No. Straight up Floyd. That’s all it is.

P: Were your parents expecting a boy?

F: They had plenty of boys. I remain tight-lipped on the subject because I don’t know.

BB: You do not know why you have the name "Floyd"?

F: I think I was just made for that name.

BB: I was named after my uncle.

F: You know what? When I worked at CKDU, the person who was up after me in the morning, whose show I’d be teeing up, was named Bev Lamb. For probably a year, I thought Bev Lamb was a female. I’d say, "Make sure you catch Bev Lamb’s show. She does this and this." I found out a year later Bev Lamb was a male. I felt terrible because people do that to me all the time.

BB: There was one time when I was exchanging emails with a person named Sam. We arranged to have a meeting. I went to Sam’s office. I walked in. And, I did a double take. And, so did she. I was expecting to talk to a man. She was expecting to talk to a woman.

F: [laughs] That’s awesome.

BB: It is kind of funny.

All right. Your name will remain a secret.

10. Why did you agree to this interview?

F: It sounded like fun. You’re right: There are no radio host interviews anywhere in existence before this. I think we’re not used to that sort of in-depth treatment. People do pay attention; but they pay attention because they’re entertained, and after we go off the air it’s done. That’s fine. That’s what we signed up for. We’re mostly not spotlight hogs, but it’s cool to be able to give an insight to what goes on behind the scenes.

People have a lot of misconceptions about radio. They think we make a crap ton of money. We certainly don’t. They think you can just decide one day you want to get into radio, and just do it. It takes a lot of hard work. I did 3 years on CKDU. I have 4 years of formal education. No actual degree, but what do you do? And, I did multiple unpaid internships.

P: You paid your dues.

F: I paid my dues. We pay our dues. It’s cool to give people an insight into that because there’s tons of people that want to do it. That’s great. We need fresh talent all the time. If there’s some sort of way they can find out what it’s like to actually live the lifestyle and do the job, that’s better for the industry, too, because people have realistic expectations.

BB: I’m not putting down your profession, but I don’t see a lot of glamour.

F: There are very few things that are glamourous about dragging myself out of bed at 3:30 and driving my 6 year old car from my basement apartment because I’m in radio, and I’m just starting out and don’t make a whole lot of money. But, I love it, and I wouldn’t do anything else. I couldn’t do anything else. So, it’s cool to be recognized for that, too: The fact that we love [radio] and we’ll do anything for it.

Wrap Up

BB: Floyd, thank you very much for dinner, and I hope you had a good time. It’s been a pleasure meeting you. I have never had the pleasure of meeting Joan Jett, so it’s nice to meet her daughter.

F: I wish. I try. Thank you for the lunch.