Dreamer (eBook)

Michael K Johnsen (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2021 | 1. Auflage
98 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-6678-0131-5 (ISBN)

Infos

Empowering, adventurous, and honest, Michael K Johnsen's book Dreamer will not only inspire you but give you the tools to help change your life. His candid approach to his life's journey will enlighten you on how your self-motivated personality can be your engine that will empower you to new heights. Dreamer takes you on a real-life adventure and explores how chasing dreams with hardcore passion can lead to success. Growing up surrounded by doubt and negativity Michael was motivated to prove to the world that he was somebody and could do anything he put his mind to. Make no mistake, Michael lays out a challenging path, filled with passion and desire, struggles and disappointments. But if you believe in your mind that it can be done, there is no stopping you. You need to believe in yourself, you need to be a dreamer. And the rest will come.

Textauszug

CHAPTER 5.

Around this time, the internet was starting to become a household thing. I know it’s hard to imagine life without an iPad or smartphone now, but outside of cable TV, the entertainment those days was the radio DJs. Although music was always a draw, the DJ’s personality was just as important. I had no idea how to do any of that. The best contribution I could make was making sure the T-shirts were folded and aligned perfectly. But I was learning, and every opportunity I could get watching these DJs do their routines either on the air or off the air was a free education for me.

My first time speaking on-air was nerve-wracking. I had made just enough of an impression for an afternoon show host to give me a shot on a certain topic she was discussing. The radio host took the first caller and let me talk to this listener. I was making fun of, let’s say, a certain body part she had, and I was making not only the caller laugh, but the radio host as well. My first thought was, Awesome; I did great, but then a red flash of light started going off.

A phone I had never seen before started to ring. This was my first lesson in getting “red lined” and my program director had just heard it happen over the air. He was not happy. As soon as I picked up the phone, my ear began bleeding to the tune of, “Why did you say that? It wasn’t funny. ”

“Of course, it was. Everyone laughed but you. ” The PD was still not happy. I was recording the whole phone call and begged the afternoon show host to play it on the air. I mean, how good would that sound? The idiot radio DJ making fun of the ditzy blonde and then getting yelled at by the boss--comedy gold. She ended up playing it, which resulted in a flood of callers. It turned into a very funny radio bit, and I began to have some hope that I might have what it took to be on-air.

My five minutes of glory didn’t stop me from doing my best as an intern. I spent every second and minute I had at the radio station. I did everything from cleaning out all the station vehicles to watching production directors cut tape and produce commercials. I felt like the more I knew, the harder it would be for them to get rid of me. Despite my best efforts, it looked like my days as an intern were numbered.

“It’s time for one of your interns to go! I know the one is your best friend, so get rid of the other. I can’t keep paying them both. ” I could hear the operations manager yelling from his office at the DJ host. It was right before the afternoon show started, and I knew I wasn’t the DJ’s best friend by any stretch of the imagination.

When she called me into the radio booth, I thanked her for the opportunity and let her know, “No hard feelings. It’s business. ”

She looked at me and smiled. “You’re not going anywhere. ” I was in disbelief. How could she keep me and let her best friend go? She told me I had talent, and one day with hard work I would become a solid DJ. This was a big boost to me. I had finally reached what I wanted to accomplish.

Up to that point, I was lucky to even get a part-time shift on the air, but the afternoon show was getting bigger every day. Not only did I have my mother on the air, embarrassing me every second, but after a while, even teachers that I’d had in the past were calling the show wanting to talk to me. I had to make myself known to the big bosses to get them to give me my own on-air shift. I decided to shoot for the night DJ position.

The night jock at a radio station was almost more important than morning or afternoon guys. This was the ultimate in entertainment. The night jock needed to have a crazy, outlandish, and cocky personality, so that was the image I aimed to create, and it shaped and formed my personality.

I spent as much time as possible with the guy who was running the night show. He was the number one-night jock in town, and everyone listened to him. The in thing in 2001 was a mix between cool and confident with a quick and fast delivery and watching him in his element was like watching a mad scientist in his laboratory. In between songs, he would have callers lined up on hold while coming up with his next song and winner call. When I came in, he had just enough time to tell me to sit before he started his next break. This guy was doing fifteen things at once and counting in his head how many seconds before the next break.

The night show was almost like a chess match: there had to be a strategy to ensure everything was working and it all sounded amazing. In radio, everything happens right down to the second, and a DJ has no time for mistakes or dead air. This guy did this every night, and not only that, but he would also play four phone calls and be talking six times per hour while handling a topic or giveaway at the same time. But it was worth it. This guy had every girl in the town calling. It was the dream job, and I couldn’t wait to get into it.

He told me at the beginning, “I’ll help you in any way possible. All you must do is show me you care. The minute that you stop, that’s when I stop. ” From that day on, I didn’t leave his side. I spent every day at the radio station, and even if they didn’t have money to pay me, I still showed up. He told me stories about how he had started in radio in Minneapolis and how he’d learned under some of the biggest DJs in the country. I really learned a lot from him, but it wasn’t always easy.

I would do this guy’s errands, set up all of his live broadcasts and do anything I could to get on his nice list. The hardest thing for me to do was to shut my mouth. Not only did I listen to him, but at the time I was listening to every aircheck by the top DJs in the country. I would stay up until 4 AM every night listening to different DJs and their delivery and learning what it took to be a good night jock. Sounding good is one thing but putting together a show was something completely different. I would spend hours in a production room learning how to cut tape and put together phone calls to make the listener and myself not only sound funny but polished at the same time.

Even though I was spending all my waking hours dedicated to radio or helping the night DJ, I was barely getting paid. One day the program director came up to me saying, “Sorry, we just don’t have the money right now. ” The station had more than enough part-timers and full-timers, and they didn’t have room for another hire.

“Honestly? I’m learning so much, if you keep me on even for an hour, I’ll stay and do everything for free. ” Eventually even management started to notice my drive. I mean, come on -- who would not love the kid that shows up and stocks everything that they had for a live broadcast, cleans the radio station and co-hosts an afternoon show for free?

At that point in my life, I decided money was not going to stop me from becoming a good DJ. I wanted to be the best, and nothing was going to stop that. I worked two other part-time jobs just to keep this going. At night, if I wasn’t at a club working for the radio station, I could almost always be found at the night jock’s apartment listening to airchecks and learning how to do breaks. This guy hadn’t just come from nowhere. Before moving to my state, he’d worked for one of the top radio stations in Minneapolis under one of the biggest DJs in the country.

Despite all my dedication to the radio station, I still had football aspirations in my head, so in between breaks, or when I was bored, I would go outside and kick field goals for hours in front of the radio station between two huge pine trees. This lead to some good-natured teasing, and some of the guys called me the “Rudy” of the radio station. At one point, I admit I missed a field goal and took out one of the radio antennas. I thought that would be my last day at the radio station, but the operations manager laughed, and said, “Well, we saw this coming. ”

Free labor and football weren’t the only things I did as part of the radio station. The biggest club nights of the week were obviously Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and walking into a club with an all-access pass for the biggest radio station in town not only got me perks but also attention from everyone. Just pulling up in the radio station van brought stares from a line of clubbers looking to see who would jump out.

I met one girl at the hottest club of the time. She was a club groupie, but after going on a few dates with her, and finding out she was the President’s niece, I started to feel like a big shot. Maybe my ego was getting the best of me. Being in clubs and in front of celebrities started to feel normal. Although I was only 17, it taught me a level of responsibility I never let go of. I couldn’t just show up in a radio station van carrying radio station gear and act like an idiot. My program directors would always say, “You are always representing the radio station, and we will fire your ass if you show your ass. ” This was hard sometimes.

I would be out until early morning every night of the week with the biggest DJs in town and then have to get back to the radio station on time to cover for somebody after a long night of partying. There were certainly some rough days, but my persistence made an impression on my bosses. I was working for nothing and would do everything. They could always rely on me, even when I had the worst hangovers in the world...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 25.8.2021
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
• ISBN-10: 1-6678-0131-7 / 1667801317
• ISBN-13: 978-1-6678-0131-5 / 9781667801315