Mix 93.3 personalities and diehard Kansas City Royals fans Dave O and Nathan Graham (center) pose with James Shields (left) and Jeremy Guthrie (right) at the 2014 Royals Fan Fest. (Photo courtesy of Nathan Graham)
By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com
One of the best duos in Midwest radio is KMXV-FM Mix 93.3’s Dave O and Nathan Graham!
If listeners had the chance to meet this dynamic duo in person, you would realize that this is not just a buddy act…but it is a genuine friendship that has conquered both social media and listeners’ attention.
Unfortunately, this edition marks the first (and sadly the last) time that the duo exclusively down for an interview with Jake’s Take. Nathan Graham will be leaving Mix 93.3 (for now) to take over the night shift at Power 96.5 in Springfield, Missouri.
The duo reminisced about how they met and their personal views on the state of radio in this edition of The Five Question Challenge.
Jacob Elyachar: How did you two meet? What are the most important aspects to your friendship?
Nathan Graham: I’ll tell the story!
Dave O: No. I will tell the story! (Points at Nathan) He was my intern!
NG: There’s more to that story.
DO: Then, you tell it!
NG: I started out as an intern for the station a couple of years ago. On my first day there, our Promotions Director introduced me to him and told me to go hang out with Dave O for a few hours. I watched him prep his broadcast and we also talked about the Kansas City Royals and pretty much…the rest is history!
DO: I think a lot of our friendship is based on the Royals and radio. We also have the same interests such as going to the casinos.
JE: What are your most memorable memories?
DO: Can we throw out a couple of them? (JE: Yes!) One of our most memorable memories would be our Los Angeles trip!
NG: (Nods in approval) that trip was memorable!
DO: The trip was two years ago and we were out there for the world premiere of Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. We have another friend, Dan, who also planned to go out there anyways. Then, we also added our friend, Jake, who also went out there with us. It was four of us out in LA with a rental car. We drove around, raised some heck and had some interesting nighttime experiences.
NG: We also enjoyed going to the Royals games as well. During one of the games, we bet on a player.
DO: Alex Gordon was at the plate.
NG: There was also a 3-0 count and I told Dave-O: “I bet you a dollar to see if that he swings!” and he hits a triple down the line and the Royals end up taking the lead. The camera pans to us…and we are on TV and everyone saw me handing a dollar to him.
DO: When we got home, we discovered that social media picked up on it. Some of the comments were: “Look at these two men…betting on the Royals at their game!”
NG: A lot of them did not know who we were and they stated: “Oh my god! They got exchanging money on TV!”
DO: It was a one-dollar bill and it was the only time that we handed money over during a baseball game/
JE: Who are your favorite artists that you like to play on the radio? Do you have least favorite artists that you hate playing? Why?
DO: I am a huge Katy Perry fan! I like pretty much everything that she puts out! There was a stretch where I was getting sick of playing Rihanna’s songs, but I am over that! There are not a lot of artists that I am tired of hearing on the radio. I love JT too.
NG: I love anything Justin Timberlake puts out for the most part! I did not like “Mirrors” but I still listen to “Suit & Tie.”
DO: “Take Back the Night” should have been a hit…it is a great song!
NG: Besides Justin, I also love anything Lady Gaga puts out! However, there are two artists that I like but I am tired of hearing. Eminem is maybe my favorite rapper of all-time…but his radio singles suck! “The Monster” is a horrible song and that has go because I am tired of hearing it every 45 minutes! Also, Rihanna is super-talented but she constantly releases new material and it is getting annoying!
JE: How do you see radio evolving?
NG: I think radio is heading more towards an Internet-based platform. I think you are going to hear more streaming. But, there is still going to be a Mix 93.3 and other radio stations that will be more accessible via streaming. I think there is not going to be a dial in cars, I think you are going to just hit an app and a radio station is going to pop up! As radio personalities and programmers, we need to change with the times. Radio is reactive to whatever happened already and it is not proactive when it comes to preparing for the future. We do not want to die off like newspapers.
DO: I agree with what Nathan just said. He talked about how everyone is going to get radio…the way I see your question is that content is going to be important more than ever before. If we are being real, most people listen to the radio for the most part in their car. They have so many more options. I have Pandora on my phone, satellite radio in my car and both CDs and my iPod. It is more important than ever that we give listeners something that they cannot get from their iPod.
In the listener’s point of view, they can turn off the radio if they have nothing on but commercials! They could buy Mix’s playlists for $50 to $70 and not have commercials. If I am listening to my iPod for an hour or two, I feel like I separated myself from the world. You want that voice to tell you what is going on in the world and make you laugh.
What plays to Mix’s strength is that we still connect with Kansas City because we are Kansas City. We still do radio the way it should be done with content and personality. What radio stations are doing nationwide is that they are taking that quality away and they are running it (points downward) straight to the ground. They are going the cheap route by either hiring inexperienced people or picking up nationally syndicated shows. But listening to the local radio personalities beats listening to syndicated shows any day of the week.
JE: What can listeners look forward to when it comes to listening to your shows this year?
DO: Listeners can expect the same stuff that they have been getting…off the cuff humor and my thoughts about my love for Kansas City, the Royals, animals and anything about pop culture. I also have a 90s music show called Round Trip with Dave O that airs across the country. In addition to my artist interviews, I will also be interviewing actors from 90s movies and television shows. We are always trying to evolve, brand and rebrand ourselves constantly.
NG: I am still brand new to the radio field. I am still trying to figure out how to brand myself and how to be a radio personality. I am always trying new segments on the air and if it fails, it fails and I am just going to keep segments like “Phone Topics” and staying cool about pop culture and connect with the listeners.
To learn more about Mix 93.3, visit their website: http://www.mix93.com/
You can also connect with Dave O on Twitter & Nathan Graham on Twitter & Instagram.
