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His first official paid on-air gig was at Channel 93.3 in Denver, his hometown, and he’s been there ever since. For Nerf, that was 25 years ago. But overall, it didn’t start there. After college, he lived in Los Angeles and got a gig driving the promo van at KROQ. That doesn’t suck. “That’s where I fell in love with radio and knew I wanted to be an air-personality. Starting out as a PT board-op/DJ/promo guy, I’ve always had more slashes than Freddy Kruger. At one point, I was Afternoon DJ/Promotions Director/Music Director/APD; at that time, we didn’t have an acting PD. I got my PD stripes in 2005 or 2006.”
As of right now, Nerf’s current title is VP of Events and Strategic Partnerships/Program Director KTCL and Punk Tacos (KTCL-HD2)/Afternoon Personality. “More slashes than Guns and Roses to this day,” he says. “I also just joined the Board of Directors for a non-profit called Youth On Record. Awesome music programs for underserved youth.”
“KTCL is a hyper-local, music-focused tastemaker with personality,” explains Nerf. “It’s all about the music, but we find ways to deliver the music that makes us more than just a jukebox. We champion up-and-coming and local artists while balancing that with some big names to keep the mainstream audience engaged.”
“Right now, we’re just starting our ‘Hometown For The Holidays’ process. We’ve been doing it for 18 or so years, and it’s incredibly complicated (to put on) while being much simpler to the audience. But the devil is in the details. To the audience, they hear ten local bands in rotation for a week (during the holiday book) and give us their opinion of each in music surveys (same ones we use all year for new music). Then, they can see the top three at a free show before Christmas. All Ten bands really win with the exposure.”
“Crazy as this sounds… we ‘invented’ a holiday! March 3rd (3/03) is 303 Day in Colorado. We have local shows and local comedians on the air, play a bunch of local music, encourage people to post about Colorado, and wear local sports/music swag, but we never tried to make it OURS. It’s for the state to enjoy, regardless of where it comes from. Now, local businesses offer 303 Day specials, TV News stations do local pieces about 303 Day, and even our radio competitors celebrate it on the air. I’m really proud to have helped Colorado show off its state pride once a year!”
“And my personal favorite passion project is Punk Tacos KTCL-HD2… I love that filthy little monster… I wish I could spend more time on it.”
“It’s amazing to me how insatiable this town (Denver) is for live music,” says Nerf. “With the exception of this year, which is ending pretty soft almost everywhere, it sounds like Coloradans spend ridiculous amounts of money on concerts. I guess when you have Red Rocks in your back yard, you want to use it. I think Rock and Alt music come along for the ride. In our cluster, we have Active, Triple-A, and Classic Rock, along with KTCL. Somehow, the rock stations all do well, and we’ve always struggled to make a pop station work. I guess Denver just Rocks!”
“I think the reason we’ve struggled a bit lately is first and foremost…well, what’s missing is…most of the people we used to work with for one. I miss you all! Let’s get a beer!” says Nerf. “On top of that, I think this format used to like to ‘taste-make’ more than it does now. I get it; we’re all just trying to keep our jobs, but I think the conservative game makes for boring radio. I include myself in that assessment.”
“When thinking about what we could do to improve our chances, I think a lot about the concept of the ‘Event Record.’ It’s possible that always playing a record, no matter what it sounds like, simply because the artist has had successful records in the past is turning Alternative from a concept to an era. If we want to just say Alternative is GenX’s thing and go for 44-54 appeal, with artists from the 90s still making new songs… OK. But that’s never been what I listened to Alternative radio for, personally. Don’t get me wrong. If an act made a lot of hits off their last album, SURE this first single’s release is an EVENT. But we need to judge all the songs by the audio, not the history at the end of the day. Otherwise, we ignore the next generation of hitmakers, playing stiffs from the founding fathers.”
Linkin Park seems to be an exception to the rule for Nerf, but again, it’s about the quality, not the band name. “Colin Brittain, the new drummer, is great! The guy has tons of chops and great studio skills. Nice of you to ask… drummers never get enough cred.…OK, and Emily Armstrong is an absolute ass-kicker too! If you can sing Crawling and not barf up your vocal cords… you’re a legend. We’ve had times where our station played NO Linkin Park. Not an automatic hit for our audience, but they really seem to like the new song thus far. Can’t wait for the shows!”
One of the biggest challenges of the format is the repetition and sharing of a large gold category among both Rock & Alt records. Historically, the same artists and songs come back as the most familiar and are played over and over again on multiple stations in markets. How do we find a content balance and keep the music and formats sounding fresh? “They say culture happens in 30-year cycles. Up until now, Alternative has really been in its first cycle. I think it’s time for us to think about what we can let go of,” explains Nerf.
“Our classic rock station isn’t playing the same music it did 20 years ago, why are we? I think there’s a survey bias with the way radio tests music. If you like Alternative Rock, are you going to say you don’t like Nirvana? No, they are sacred. When you reduce songs to numbers, the oldest is going to be the best. Does that mean that’s all we should play, though? No. That may work in the short term but then crash when you burn out your gold.”
“Here’s where a programmer’s savvy and experience should come into play. A healthy balance of Gold, Recurrent, and Current are (in my opinion) what can give you longevity in the Alternative format. This is an argument that I don’t always win with the powers that be, but we’ve seen our best ratings when we followed that philosophy.”
“And the good news is, Yes! 100% there is enough new music out there to keep the format alive! We may have to go out and find it, though. The promotions community in records is pretty small these days. We can’t afford to wait for hits to be dropped on our desks anymore. We also need to make room for new artists like I mentioned previously.”
Some of the most exciting experiences for me over the years have been seeing local bands like The Fray, Single File, Meese, Tickle Me Pink, 3oh!3, Churchill, Air Dubai, 888, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Nightsweats and Illenium blow up. Putting on great events like Big Gig, Rave On The Rocks, and Keggs and Eggs are always a blast for me, too.”
“And lately, my own personal favorites have me on a Frenzal Rhomb kick. Also, Iguana Death Cult is my new favorite thing. I listen to an unhealthy amount of Pissed Jeans. IDLES is my go-to for the past six years. …I should have prefaced this with ‘most people find my taste unlistenable.’ Too late. Sorry.”
“As far as getting Women more involved in what is historically a male-dominated format, we pack our music meetings with extra female artists and people of color. Every weekly survey we send out, we try to make sure there’s at least one act with one or more women in it. As far as staff goes, thankfully, we haven’t had much turnover with the airstaff. In promotions, though, our last six hires were women, and our next two prospects are, too. We tend to train promotions staff to be jocks, so HOPEFULLY these women fall in love with radio like I did and hang in long enough to take my job.”
Follow Nerf on social media: “Before Twitter went to shit, it was my fav. Now, I go primarily with Instagram. @NERF933.”
