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Since 1995, St. John has been presenting his pumped-up, high-intensity afternoon radio show to the San Francisco Bay area. His personality-intensive afternoon show can be heard from 2 to 7 pm on KMVQ Bonneville’s “99.7 Now,” a Top 40 station.
He appreciates the role he plays in people’s daily lives and says his connection to the audience is incredibly rare.
He’s also got a prolific voice-tracking career and dabbles in DJing, especially EDM and underground house music and LGBTQ-inspired dance mixes.
At the Forefront of House Music and EDM
“I play at raves, festivals (like the How Weird Street Faire after party), and clubs as support for talent, including Tiesto, Afrojack, and the late Avicii. I gear more towards EDM, but every now and then, I play open format gigs (including a friend’s recent wedding.)”
He’s really proud of his groundbreaking late-night radio show, “House Nation,” which ran for almost twenty years in the 1 to 6 am time slot.
“We put a show with underground dance music…underground house music on the air. Putting the music I love front and center and representing that underground culture is really cool.
“We put stuff on the air that was not in daily rotation. Biggest and best of what you would hear at the clubs. That was really important for the dance community.”
He released a dozen well-received mix CDs and, more recently, online downloadable. St. John has also created numerous LGBTQ-themed dance mixes to represent that vital community.
Afternoon Antics
St. John’s afternoon show is known for its high-energy delivery, positive attitude, and dedication to dance music. His irreverent bits on the “All the Hits” station include “St. John’s Confession Mondays,” “What’s in My Mouth Wednesday?” and “Fierce Fridays.”
The station and St. John give back to the community through partnering with local organizations and spreading the word about numerous charitable events like the recent “Jackets and Jams” where they collect warm coats for the needy. St. John says station owner Bonneville encourages community connection.
Early Influences
His first radio experience was in high school. He spent his free period at the nearby college radio station at Virginia Wesleyan University in Virginia Beach, spinning Top 40 tunes and learning how to announce.
His first professional radio gig was weekend on-air talent at Top 40 “Z 94” WZOU Boston (now WJMN). He’s been hooked ever since. He developed his unique hosting style by immersing himself in the airchecks of some of the best radio hosts in the country.
“Growing up, I was listening to some legendary Top 40 radio stations through older airchecks of WRKO in Boston, KRFC in San Francisco, and John Landecker on WLS in Chicago.”
As for voiceover influences, he cites varied talents. (Voice actor) “Chuck Riley had an amazing voice; he could bring the copy to life. Jim Cutler, who I’ve worked with in Boston, really puts attitude and spin on the copy and makes things pop off the page with a little bit of sarcasm and delivers a line where it really just sticks,” he explains.
By observing talent like the late Mark Driscoll, St. John learned to have a sense of playfulness in order to get into a zone.
“Watching sessions and listening to a lot of radio promos and getting the feel was super important.”
He incorporates the aspects of others’ work that click with him but doesn’t imitate them or overthink his work. He believes that talking to colleagues about their approaches to announcing can help spark inspiration. He found working with a voice coach valuable. “Being challenged and encouraged to see things differently can give you a new edge and a serious advantage,” he says.
Theater of the Mind
St. John, who got into radio because he loves music and the art of communication, also really responds to the actual nuts-and-bolts work of voice tracking and has had a successful voice-over business for twenty years.
While working in Boston at KISS108 as a fill-in for the creative director, St. John felt like he was struck by lightning by the creative process of imaging and hearing his work on air defining the station.
“I enjoy not just doing voice-over but the interactive process, whether it’s coaching or getting input. I love the immediate feedback and being with people who want to be hands-on.”
He fell in love with what he calls “the theatre of the mind: the ever-present ‘phantom personality’ the imaging announcer,” and says, “The voiceover artist conveys more in three seconds about a station than many personalities do in an hour.”
He works with Program Directors to create something completely unique. He explains that his sound and energy level are more over-the-top and intense than a lot of other voice talents feel comfortable with. His goal: engagement. “With station imaging,” he says, “that’s the whole point.”
He likes a challenge, and he’s got one. St. John does voice-overs in foreign languages he does not speak, like Portuguese, Spanish, and Mandarin. These stations must really want his unique sound.
“It’s sort of like the ABBA records back in the 70s where they didn’t speak English, and they did it phonetically. I do that,” he explains.
Engineer’s Worst Nightmare
St. John is a technophile.
“I tend to geek out on the electronic aspect of stuff. I’m super specific and searching for the holy grail of microphones and processors. I’m an engineer’s worst nightmare. Joking, or maybe not.”
Childhood: New England to the Middle East
“I grew up all over the place,” says St. John. “Initially Boston. I was in Saudi Arabia for my early teenage years. My dad worked for a defense contractor. Not a ton of fun, but interesting.” He graduated from high school in Virginia, then Brandeis University just outside of Boston.
He says his adventurousness and love of travel probably stem from his extensive early travel experiences.
Armenian Ancestry
“My grandmothers were born here, but both of my grandfathers were born in Turkey,” he says.
“I traveled to Armenia in 2015 for the hundred-year anniversary of the genocide. Pretty heavy but a really cool trip. I’ve been back several times since. It really resonates.”
He is a visible part of the Bay Area’s Armenian community and appreciates the diversity and inclusiveness in Northern California. San Francisco showed its commitment to the Armenian community by lighting City Hall in red, blue, and orange in memory of the murders of 1.5 million.
Homefront
St. John is pretty content on the personal front.
He and his partner of twenty years, Bernie, live south of San Francisco in Pacifica, a one-minute drive from the ocean, in a home with a water view. Bernie is in the celebrated San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, and St. John says Bernie’s career skills are the polar opposite of St. John’s strengths.
“Bernie works in a senior memory care unit. I could never do that. He’s the most patient person in the world,” he says of his partner.
As a Bay Area staple, St. John often gets recognized in public, though he says he’s “not so much of a grocery store person. We tend to eat out a lot.”
He’s an avid foodie, a shoe person, and a taxpayer. His iconic voice recently recognized him while paying his property taxes.
New Sound
That recognizable voice, though, may sound a bit different soon, sometimes. St. John has been working with Kelly Doherty on “a new demo taking me into a new kind of zone. It’s in a lower register for different intonation. The intention is to take me out of my comfort zone to see where I could go.”
It’s a sound that could be suitable for classic rock and other formats he’s not currently voicing.
He’s hoping to win over new audiences. “I love making real connections with people through radio and voice-over. Engagement drives everything I do.”
Advice to Aspiring Radio Stars
St. John says the climate looks great for aspiring radio pros these days.
“Anybody who is young or who wants to break in now’s a really good time. So many younger people want to be content creators. I feel like hard work right now really stands out. I’m not saying it’s easy. It’s no secret that budgets are shrinking, and people are doing multiple jobs. But that said, if somebody ‘gets it’ and really just shines and wants to jump out of the radio, I feel like the sky’s the limit. If somebody can make a significant difference that will not go unseen.”
Amy Snider is a music features reporter for Barrett Media specializing on stories involving radio professionals working in Adult Contemporary/CHR/Top 40 formats. She brings over twenty-five years of media experience to the outlet. Based in St. Petersburg, FL, Amy works for iHeartMedia and the Total Traffic and Weather Network as an on-air reporter, appearing on dozens of radio stations including 98 Rock, Mix 100.7, 95.3 WDAE, and Newsradio WFLA. She has also reported and anchored in the Tampa market at Fox 13, News Channel 8, WMNF Community Radio and WUSF-FM, the NPR affiliate.
Amy is a music fanatic. She hosted a drive-time rock and roll radio show for 20 years on WMNF-FM and is known as a tastemaker in the music and arts community. She booked, hosted, emceed and promoted a wildly popular weekly live music event in Tampa’s Ybor City featuring original music with performers from all over the world. Her free time is often spent at concerts and music festivals. To get in touch, find her on X @AmySnider4.
