On Air Experience

The microphone to Cebu.

Last night, I met up with two friends who are DJs at one of the Cebu's largest radio station - Monster Radio BT 105.9 FM. They invited my friends Jonna, Rob and I to be guests on their radio show the next day (today). We agreed to go.

I woke up late from partying a little too hard the night before. I got a text from my friend who was taking a taxi somewhere:

"Do you guys know someone on the radio - we just randomly heard a guy on the taxi radio talking about jason, jonna and rob and about a girl who stole your tooth brush - wtf?" - Ryan

Jonna and I couldn't stop laughing after receiving the text from Ryan. "I guess we have to go to the radio station" I said. Rob needed to work and decided not to go. Jonna and I ate breakfast at 4:30 pm just before Jonna and I were to go on as guests to my friends radio show. Across the street from where we ate was the radio station. Guided by text message directions from my DJ friend "Ricky" (on-air name), Jonna and I eventually found the radio station.

For such a large and popular radio station, I was surprised by how small and simple the place was. You can see the DJs talk on the radio from the hallway outside. No receptionist, security guard or anything, anyone can just walk right in and go into the sound studio. Jonna and I walked straight into the studio and greeted my friend. After plugging in some headphones for Jonna and I to use, we were setup to talk on the air.
The radio show we were guests on is hosted by Ricky and his co-host "Dame on Fire". The theme of the show revolves around love and relationships and in-between they play music. This evening, Ricky was playing songs from movies and the topic we discussed was on what is flirting. It's a little like the radio show "Love Line" in Los Angeles, but there isn't any doctor that gives medical advice.

Jonna and I on air.

I was nervous at first being on the air but I quickly got used to it because it felt like I was just casually chatting with friends. This type of "public appearance" isn't as bad as others - standing in front of people and giving a speech or something like that - because you don't see or hear your audience's reaction to what you're saying. As long as you don't say anything too horribly wrong, there aren't any immediate consequences - nobody talks back or laughs at you or gives you a dirty look. It's an interesting thing to be able to broadcast your opinion and thoughts to so many people with almost no reaction. There were times when I forgot I was talking into a microphone.

"Dame on Fire" and "Ricky" goof off while on air.

My two hour experience on the air was extremely fun and exciting; too bad the time went by quickly. We listened to music, talked about flirting and about anything that came to mind. It was like hanging out with friends at a cafe (I had instant coffee) but with a microphone in front of you. The whole thing was very casual and easy going. It can be a little too casual though, especially when asked about one's personal life. By the end of the show, my DJ friend asked Jonna and I if we wanted our own show. Uh, really? We have only a couple hours experience on the air!

Jonna agreed to host a show featuring House music. I agreed to just hang out and co-host a couple shows since I'm only going to be in Cebu a couple weeks. Jonna is going to start her show next week and will need to bring in some of her music to play on the radio. The best radio station is your own music! I kind of want to play some of my own music (non-House) to show Cebuanos more creatively interesting music than the popular "Top 40" corporate American Pop/R&B junk everyone listens to here.

- jason