Just Kids

MANILA, Philippines - I never wanted to go into radio. Funny considering how big on radio I was growing up. I discovered AM in third grade and would take my grandmother’s transistor set to sleep with me. In high school I was a 99.5RT groupie. In college I mourned for weeks after losing WXB. I was one of those kids that would trawl the dial, cassette on record/pause, waiting for my favorite song. I suppose I had a head start on my 10,000 hours. But I never figured I’d ever get in front of the mic.

In a class being taught by Robin Rivera (before he started producing the Eraserheads’ albums), I had a buddy named Lee who was a DJ at a new rock station, NU 107.5. He told me they’d needed a newscaster. Despite my fears, I thought, F**k it, I’m in mass communications, here’s my chance to get over it. And so I auditioned and got the job.

I must have bluffed my way through the thing — or maybe they thought I’d get along well with the staff and the skills would come later. The thing with the NU staff back then (and probably until the end) was the camaraderie. I think we tended to size up potential announcers by how much fun they’d be to have around. And believe me, it was a great bunch to be around: Major Tom, Gerry Why, Cris Cruise, Francis Brew, Gerry Dris, John Gregory, Lee Laureano, Jet Crane, Lee Rosi and Cathy. No one ever went home after his or her shift, choosing either to hang out at Greenbelt with a P20 cup of coffee, or sneak some drinks up to the booth. There was a sleeping bag because you tended to stay way past decent commuting hours (especially if, like Francis, you lived in Batangas). Back then Ayala Avenue was deserted after 10 p.m. After hours, the only two choices for food delivery was the Wendy’s on Makati Avenue, or if you had a little cash, this great Japanese counter near Jupiter.

At that point it still it didn’t cross my mind to be a jock. Cathy, who listeners will remember as Roxy, was the reason I ended up as one. She really wanted to be a DJ, but back then you couldn’t just do that on FM. Except for a few exceptions, if you were a chick, you mostly did the news. Luckily, NU was about to go 24 hours and “we” were willing to work the extra shifts without extra pay. Pretty soon I was on the 10 p.m. slot, and Roxy was doing pinch. If I really think about it, radio was pretty much perfect for me because no matter how many people were tuned in, I would never know. I’d still be alone in the booth, spinning music.

The day it hit me that I’d been there for 13 years, I was truly surprised. I thought I was just going to hang out for a bit. But just like that, one day I was 30. You didn’t really stay at NU because it was lucrative. You did it because you loved the people, and the music. Sounds perfect, but it wasn’t all hunky dory, of course. Just like any regular family there were the usual tantrums, in-fighting, love affairs, weddings, births, deaths, embezzling accountants, and drug-induced paranoid knife-wielding attacks. Fodder for blogs and tweets now, something we didn’t have back in those dial-up days. If I was asked to do a Facebook meme listing down my top on-air memories, it might look something like this:

• I got to train under some of the best people in the business. I wish the same privilege on kids on the radio today. I really, really, really do.

• I got to do programs like “Not Radio” and “The Groove Nation Sessions.”

• I got to announce Kurt Cobain’s death — made more memorable to me because the kind folks at City Light, the jazz station upstairs, sent down the news fresh from the wire.

• I was there when Vic Valenciano personally delivered the first Eraserheads single.

• I was at the foot of the stage when Rosanna Roces announced Band of the Year at the Rock Awards in a see-through mesh shirt with nothing underneath. Wolfgang took home the trophy that year. They’d win it alternately with the ‘Heads for the first five Rock Awards.

• I awarded Best New Artist to Parokya Ni Edgar.

• I talked to Billy Corgan on the phone for a total of eight seconds (because I admitted I hadn’t heard the “Siamese Dream” album yet and he said I would just ask him about drugs so he said he couldn’t do the phoner. I know — I should’ve lied.)

• I had breakfast with Jason Newsted.

• I was there when Rivermaya started giving away their album for free. (Heck, I was there when an on-air plug looking for members for Rivermaya first aired.)

• I got to play some of the best damn music ever. Also, I can’t describe the thrill of seeing a new band play at some rank hole in the wall, hoping they’d have a demo you could play so people could hear how awesome they were.

• I met Diego Castillo through Not Radio, and proceeded to be in the Aga Muhlach Experience and Sandwich with him.

• And I met Quark Henares when he was a nine-year-old brat hacking into the playlist generator. Now he directs my bands’ videos. 

* * *

That’s just the on-air stuff. NU was a second home to me for over a decade. I lived and loved there, grew up and made life-long friends and family there. I want to tell a story for every awesome person and song, each jock, tech, staff, listener and musician I ever had the privilege work with. I’m utterly grateful for my time there.

People ask me if I’ll ever go back to radio. I don’t miss being on the air. But I do miss the people. Before last Sunday I was always secure in the thought that I could just drop by the station anytime and say hello. But that’s gone from us. It’s quite painful to say goodbye to NU. But the way everyone said farewell was pretty awesome. It tempers the sadness with optimism. There’s a little of NU in all of us. I know we’ll always be looking forward to something new.