Sex, Drugs, and Disappointment
Navigating Radio, Television, and Podcasting with Jeremy Powell
Are you a sexy, indulgent musician suffering from consistent long hours, crippling self-doubt, and constant disappointment? Well, do we have a show for you? Welcome to Sex Drugs and Disappointment, a bi-weekly deep dive into what it takes to be a healthy and successful musician in the modern industry. My name is Melody Kaiser, and I'm Dustin Williams, and we are both professional musicians and full-time entrepreneurs. And today we are speaking with Jeremy Powell, the one and only Atlanta radio legend. Who now? That's, that's a whole lot right there. Now it's the host of Georgia Public Broadcasting's Peach Jam podcast. Jeremy, welcome. Thank you. No, I'm, I'm glad to be here. So I don't know if I'd say I'm a legend, uh, in any kind of, no, but I have, I, so my history is all in radio. Um, it's weird. We're all sitting on the couch and me turning to, is it here? Yeah. Is that better? I don't know. Uh, so, but anyways, my, my history is all in radio. I, uh, I started in radio pushing buttons when I was 16 years old. Um, and then I produced morning radio in Atlanta for a long time. I've also hosted, uh, my own shifts and shows and things like that around. And then yeah, I'm a Georgia public broadcasting now and our music show is Peach Jam. It's a TV show and it's a podcast and you can just Google Peach Jam podcast. You'll find it the first episode of this last season. This latest season is an amazing band called Hey Dreamer. Ah, thank you. They are awesome. You should really look, uh, you know, look for them and find them everywhere that you can. Uh, but yeah, no, Peach Jam has been awesome. I really enjoy it. It's a hell of a production. It is amazing. Well, so the story behind how it worked, uh, how it came about is that I, when I first got hired at GPP, they asked me for some, I run the podcast department at GPP. And so they asked me for some ideas for podcast and having a music show is not, you know, it's not a wild idea. It's like, Hey, we're going to bring in bands. We're going to talk to them like people have heard of doing that. But we needed something like that and they liked the idea on my bosses are music fans. So they were like, yeah, let's do this. And my direct boss, who's the executive producer of the podcast, her name is Sandy. Sandy says, you know, everybody wants to do like a tiny desk thing, but we have these giant TV studios. Let's show off. And so that's what we do. Yeah. So that's what we do. So the podcast obviously is just audio, uh, but the video podcast has recorded for YouTube and then the music, the, like many concerts that's on YouTube and the TV show, like it's all shot down there. We do it all in the giant TV studios and it looks so good. Like it looks great. Five cameras and like four camera operators. And we got a director of photography. We got a lighting guy. We got a, we got a dude just running a smoke machine. It's awesome. Yeah. It's a lot of fun. Yeah, that's super cool. So, um, growing up, like how did you get into music or, or radio? Like, were you musically inclined as a kid? Did you like, were you, did you play instruments or anything like that? So no, I'm not musically inclined. Um, my mom was, she was a musician at the church. So she played the organ and played the piano. Uh, I can play Mary had a little lamb on a piano. That's it. That's all I, that's all I've ever learned. Um, but I was a music fan. So I lived outside of Nashville, Tennessee, when I was a kid. And my parents are a huge country music fan. So I listened to the radio and listened to music a lot. Um, and then that's where I fell in love with radio. I fell in love with, with morning radio. Um, and it was that way all the way throughout my childhood. Um, in middle school for me, we moved to central Florida and middle school sucks. Especially when the. Yeah, when you're fat and you talk funny, I hate you. So I mean, I was this fat little kid from Murfreesboro, Tennessee. So yeah. And, and so my comfort zone, like what, what really brought me comfort was 90s country music. Cause this was, you know, 92, 93. You're talking like Brooks and Don? Yes. Exactly. Like Garth Brooks, Brooks and Don, uh, all of that stuff. Right. And so I listened to that and it reminded me a home because I was from outside Nashville and that it really just reiterated in my brain that, you know, music makes you feel good, makes you feel better, reminds you a home, reminds you of good things, blah, blah, blah. And then that's how I just loved music and radio. Um, and then when, when we moved up to Rome, Georgia, just before high school, I fell in love with the radio stations here in Atlanta. So I would listen to Mr. Moby on a kicks one on one five and I'd listen to Barnes Leslie and Jimmy. I'm 99 X and I wanted to do radio. And one day my junior year in high school, he was junior year. Um, the general manager for the local radio station spoke at career day. And like she was cool. She was excited. She was like big energy, right? And she is telling us all this cool stuff about radio. And that day I went to the radio station was like, is, can, can I have a job? Like, is there anything I can do? And she said, yeah, let me find out. And she set up a time for me to meet with the program director and I was pushing buttons the very next weekend. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. They taught me they, they trained me for an hour on the board and then I was pushing buttons for country gold Saturday night on South 107 in Rome, Georgia. That's amazing. Yeah. And then from there, it's like radios all I've ever wanted to do. Um, and it's a natural progression with, I don't know if you know this, um, radio is not in a good place right now. No, it's a natural progression to podcasting and so producing podcasts and hosting podcasts and all of those things. Like there's a lot of different parts for podcasts, um, that a professional who's been doing it for a long time can help out with or do or nose without the learning curve. And so that was a natural progression for me. Okay. In the podcast. And, uh, how long, how long now did you say that you've been doing the podcast? So I, I left terrestrial radio. My last terrestrial radio job was, I was the executive morning show producer. Kicks one on one five in Atlanta. And I left there in June of 2017, I left there. You know, like when they told me to leave, like you're fired, like it was on your let go. It's like we're, we're changing the morning show. So sorry, you were great. You know, let's see you later. So it was one of those things. Um, and then I went to a private company that does, uh, they make radio shows for financial advisors to make them sound like they're paid for play radio shows, but they try to make them sound like real radio shows. So they hire real radio people to host them. And I went there and they had a podcast stuff associated with that. And I started getting into some of the podcasting stuff. And then I went to a private company that does branded podcast. Okay. I worked for them, making branded podcasts for schools and universities and different types of things like tourism departments and things like that. And then I got the job at GPP. Okay. So, yeah, that's the history of me without telling all of the fun stories. Oh, we're going to ask you about some of those. So I'm wondering, did you get into radio, like pre telecommunications acts or like posts? Hosts. So, so I was in radio, uh, 90, the end of 97. Uh, so you were right there. Yeah. So I, I never had an FCC license, uh, but you, but when I was there, like, I remember everybody's FCC license being tacked up on the wall. So used to be back in the old days, back in the late 1900s. Um, yeah, I know right. But that's such a great way to refer to the late 1900s. Um, you had to pass a test from the FCC, federal communications commission and to get your radio operators license just to be in the, in the studio to push a button. You had to have a license. Wow. And so everybody had to have it tacked up on the wall and it, it had ended when the deregulation and stuff happened with, uh, Clinton is when that ended. I don't remember exactly. Okay. So, um, I was going to ask, uh, earlier you said, you mentioned you're from Murphy's borough, right? Yeah. Okay. Okay. So how, how long were you in Tennessee before you moved down here? So we were in Tennessee until I was born up in Tennessee and I was in Tennessee until, uh, halfway through fifth grade. Okay. So what's that 11? Okay. So you've been in Georgia. Well, then we went to, uh, Florida, Florida, Florida for the rest half rest of fifth grade and then six, seven, eight. And then we moved up to Georgia, July, it was fourth of July, weekend, 95. Uh, yeah, 95. And then so I went to high school in Rome, Georgia at Darlington school. Big shout out to the Tigers. I actually like, I do like them. Like, yeah, so I like Rome. Yeah. Oh, no, no, no, no. Now, I mean, Rome is a, Rome is a wonderful place to visit for a lot of people. Yeah. I have a lot of ex in laws there. And I spent a lot of time in Rome. Also, when I worked at 99 X, I was a stunt guy on a, on a, on the morning show. Well, so yeah, I was a, I did like, like Jackass style style. Yes. Okay. Hold on. Wait, hold on. This is great. And so I did a lot of stuff in Rome. So there's a lot of people who don't like me. Oh, okay. And there's a lot of people that I just, yeah, I'm, I'm done with seeing them too. So it's fine. That's amazing. So what, what was included in your stock? Yeah. So yeah, we will talk about that. I mean, it was, so what's beautiful about it is it was 2003, four and five, right? Um, and so history of, if you are a fan of Atlanta radio at all, and you know about 99 X, and you know that 99 X had the morning X, just the historic morning X barns, Leslie and Jimmy, at one point they got rid of barns and a guy named Fred Toucher took over the morning show. And when Fred Toucher took over the morning show, he was very much more stern, ask in his approach, he's like a nice guy in person, but he's a rough guy on the air and like a very opinionated and he was really like trying to, I don't know, push the envelope, right? And so he wanted a stunt guy that he could call fat kid. He had already decided that's what he was going to call his stunt guy. Wow. Okay. And they found me, I fit the bill. I became the stunt guy. What? Yes, so you were like the captain, what's the stern Captain underpants or something like that? Um, no, I don't know. I'm not like Boba Booi or anything like that. Yeah. It wasn't stuff like that. Okay. But I did do like, I did do like wacky stuff. I did do like a bunch of hidden mic stuff. So what's crazy is like now, this is the stuff that you're seeing on Instagram and TikTok of people pulling pranks and like hidden hidden, hidden camera stuff. I was doing it 20 years ago with a hidden microphone that, you know, I went to, I went to a VFW hall in Rome where they were playing bingo and then that I'm yelling out bingo like every couple of times and people are getting mad and they're yelling at me and telling me, I don't know. And then I'm screaming as they're kicking me out, things of that nature. Wow. Um, I went to, uh, all you could eat buffet and lay claimed a part of the buffet and yell that people were trying to eat the fried chicken that I was trying to eat and I thrown out of there. That was, had a Ryan's and Carter's though, um, so like things like that, the very first time I was ever drunk in my life was live on the air on 99 X. What? Yes. Yes. So I mean, oh, it went amazing. Really? Yes. Can we find this somewhere? So that's the thing. It's like, it's at that point where the internet existed, but it's not what it is now. Sure. So like now, if you do something stupid like that, it is never going away. Yeah. But I was on the air in that magical time where you could put it on the internet and then it would disappear. It would go away. Like YouTube wasn't anything what it is now. Yeah. Even if it didn't even exist. 2006, I think. Okay. So YouTube didn't exist. Yeah. Podcast where the, I don't even think the word podcast that it had even come out because I think it did. Yeah. It didn't come out yet, or if they had, they were still super new. So is this weird time where I could do these things and I have these stories, but you can't find them anywhere. Unless it was somebody who worked in the building who saved some audio. Like I have some, I think maybe on a drive somewhere, but for the most part, they're all gone. Like they're just out in the ether, which is beautiful. That's going to say. Now I can work at Georgia public broadcasting. Yeah. Yeah. It's amazing. Amazon still sold books. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like seriously, it was a weird, weird time because yeah, like people were still trying to figure out like what to do with the internet and like how it's involved and, you know, how it worked. Yeah. It was, yeah. I mean, seriously for the mainstream of people, yeah, like it, it wasn't something you use every day. Like, I mean, I had a flip phone, you know? So yeah, I had to wear a, the hidden mic. It was a microphone. It was a, it was a lapel mic hidden in a pin and the cord ran out of the pin so you put it in your pocket and then it would go into a DAT recorder. Oh, wow. This DAT recorder was ginormous, but the DAT recorder had the best fidelity, right? But it was this ginormous DAT recorder that I'd have to carry in my back pocket. I was going to ask where you, where you put it. Yeah. It's a mini-disc recorder and that's like Google that. What the hell's a mini-disc recorder, right? So we moved to a mini-disc recorder, but it was an issue because mini-disc suck and they don't last long enough and like there's a reason they don't exist anymore, right? Right. Right. And so yeah, it was a weird, weird time, but it was fun. Yeah. It was fun. I did a lot of crazy stuff, but on the flip side, like I worked at the coolest station in town, so it got to see like all the great shows, got to go to all the cool events and things like that. Right. Yeah. So obviously this podcast is, well, maybe not obviously, but it's geared towards musicians, right? Yes. And radio is such a like gate kept, pay to play kind of thing. It's really unattainable for like your average working musician. So how would you say like, what are, what should musicians know about radio? Okay. Yeah. And because I knew you were going to go there when we talked about the fact that they wanted to come on with you, you were like, oh, we can talk about radio and how, yes, so your right is so difficult, like it's so difficult for anybody who's not on a, on a major label to get on the radio. What I would suggest as a musician, as a working musician, as somebody who's doing their own thing is you can find hopefully maybe the radio station that's in your town has a local show. If so, become friends with the person who hosted because a person who hosts that show is most likely the one who's programming it. That means they're the ones picking the music and they're not playing your music because they don't know who you are and they don't have a copy of it. And so you want to make friends with that guy. Those are few and far between and they, they're going away. I'm so, I'm talks to host one here and then it hasn't happened yet and that's we've been talking for a while. So hopefully it'll happen here again, but there are small towns dotted across the United States who do that. Second in the same vein is to find nonprofit radio stations. So like here in Atlanta, we have a WREK and stuff like that. No. What's the other one? We have REK and we have RFT. I'm not sure. Yeah. It's, but it's a, it's a nonprofit that has like different types of shows and stuff. Right. Again, the people who host those are going to be the ones that are programming it. So you're going to give them your music to get in a little more than that. So let's say that you don't have a local show on your radio station, befriend the people who work at the radio station, become a fan of the station. So like for Hey Dreamer, for instance, you guys would want to become friends with your rock station or your alternative station or something like that. You would become friends with like go to the events that they're at, speak to them, shake their hand, get to know them because they bring in shows and they know the promoters that they can help you, they can help put you in touch with the promoter to open the show. They also will host events where they need music and they'll call, if they know that you've been around and know that you've come around and talked to them, then they'll maybe call you and be like, Oh, Hey, we're, we're doing a St. Patrick's Day event. Will y'all play? Right. That type of thing. That's how you get into radio. You're still probably not going to get played on the air. You're just not. Yeah. That's, that's the hard part about it. That's what sucks. So. But that's also not the fault of the host. It's not. No, it's not the fault of the host. It's the fault of corporate radio. Right. It's cumulus. And yeah, it's, it's, yes, it's, it's these big giant companies have snatched up all these little radio stations and, you know, they're playing corporate playlists. I personally believe that we're going to come back to a day where we have locally programmed radio stations where you have local jocks, like hosting and programming and discovering music. I mean, that's how Elvis got discovered is so many found that they heard it and they played it on the radio. It was just one DJ in Memphis who did that. And so it's going to come back to that, but it's going to take a while. So these giant companies that are filing for bankruptcy at some point, they're going to have to sell. And when they have to sell, they're going to get bought by local companies or local people who the people who buy them will be fans of radio or X radio people. And so that circle will come back. It's just moving real slow. Yeah, it's just super centralized right now. It is. It very much is and there's, I mean, there's no way around it, like there's really not now. That's not to say that's everywhere. So there are small mom and pop radio stations in the middle of nowhere, Kansas, Oklahoma and stuff like that, that are people who've owned a radio station in a small town for 40 years or like their, their families owned it for 100 years or whatever. And they're usually run by a couple few people. But those are the ones that you can, if you live near them, you can find those people and you can really become a part of their ecosystem. It's just, it's difficult to do and you've got to be lucky. Right. So it's kind of like most things in the music industry. It sounds like it's just networking. It really is. It's kind of a, it's such a cliche of like it's who you know, but like it kind of is. So it, it, it truly is and life is that way. Yeah. It sucks that it is, but it's a lot about who you know. Right. So, yeah. Yeah. Especially since musicians are usually introverts and a boy talking to people. You gotta, you gotta force yourself to, to be more social, I think sometimes as a, as a musician. And actually Jeremy, I was going to ask two on the, on this note. You mentioned that you have, you have this feeling that it's going to come back around to the smaller stations. What are you seeing right now? That's making you feel that way. And what do you think this is a two-parter here? So, second part is, what do you think the benefits and the drawbacks are of each? Okay. So what do I see like as evidence of things coming back around? A couple of things, one, during COVID, I got laid off from that financial radio job. And a friend of mine and I tried to sell a syndicated radio show. And so what we were going to do is we were going to record these radio segments and sell them to these small radio stations that don't have talent. And I talked to a bunch of these small radio stations. So that's why I literally know that they're in Kansas and Oklahoma and Colorado and all over the place because I was Googling to find them. Okay. And that's what I'm seeing. I'm seeing more and more people buying up a signal and owning a signal and then not having any staff. So, you don't have anybody to run it, but they're still, they're starting to bite up and be their own little local radio station again and not be just basically a repeater for some other city, right? So that's happening, two, I see what's coming back in, and so I run the PIGA has department at GPP, but I don't listen to a ton of PIGAs. But the ones that I'm attracted to are the ones that are the fully immersive productions. So Marvel does it, DC does it. There's some like really great Batman ones, but like Audible does it. I just listened to 1984 and it was a full production with a big cast and everything. So it's like a radio drama. That's exactly it. It's a 1930s, 1940s style radio drama. And so that's how the Lone Ranger started and Little War Fanani and all that stuff. That's like that stuff that's in a Christmas story, like it's real, like those, it's real. It was these real full cast performances that were played in episodes, right? Those are coming back. And with those coming back, I just see that as starting the process again. And so from there, you're going to get stars and then from there, you're going to get people who become influencers for lack of a better word. I mean, what was the radio DJ? He was an influencer. Totally. So that's what I see coming back around. Again, these are my own theories. So I hope this is what's happening. Amazon tried to do something with radio DJs. It was called AMP Radio. I think it was Amazon. I think I remember. That was Pandora. Was it Pandora AMP? Okay. Maybe it was somebody. It may be Amazon. So, but it was this AMP radio thing where you could host a radio show and like you had a pick from what was in their catalog, but they had a bunch of stuff and then you could record tracks of, you know, introing and outroing and everything. And it was meant to be like influencers showing you the music that they know and like whatever. That's what a radio DJ is. That's what you do. And so that's why I see it coming back because it is you have signals out there, these radio signals out there that can reach literally millions of people, they're never going to go away. They're too profitable. They're too it's too it's not that it's too profitable. It's too ripe for profitability. Okay. So like it's not being profitable right now, but maybe that's because it got ruined, you know, I don't know. But I don't think they're ever going to go away. You're always going to have radio signals. And when you always have radio signals, you're always going to have somebody broadcasting something. And so why not go back to where they were making a lot of money? Totally. It makes sense. And I, for one, am also a fan of those types of podcasts too, like, I'm sure you've maybe heard of Welcome to Night Vale. Like, what is another really popular one that I have heard of? They're not none of them are coming to my mind right now, but it's okay. But they're like radio dramas? Yeah. Yeah. That's like immensely popular on like Reddit and like tumbler probably, I'm sure they talk about it on there too. But yeah, it's kind of like a weird like Twilight Zone style podcast. I listen to a ton of podcasts are kind of like that D&D podcasts. I'm a huge like D&D fan. And there's one that I listen to all the time and it's like very immersive. There's music and sound effects and character voices and and I love it. So I totally see where you're coming from as far as like why or that's the evidence is there. Yeah. It's here. But it's interesting too, because you know, most of these for me are like, I'm listening to them on like Spotify or something, right? But we're talking terrestrial radio still. Could be. Okay. So yes, probably because those radio signals exist and you've got these massive towers and you've got, you know, you can just, I mean, you broadcast, right? So I mean, it's these huge signals that can reach so many people. That's why I don't think they're ever going to go away. It's just because the infrastructure is already there. Yes, you can do it on Spotify. Yes, you can do it as a podcast or through Audible or whatever it is, right? But you just terrestrial radio, I think will still live in some way. And my theory and my hope is that it lives in the way that it used to in like the fifties and sixties where it truly is a local guy or lady, but a local person sitting in the studio and sharing with you the songs that they've discovered because that's what it was. And now with the music industry as so fractured as it is, like we would, it's perfect for that. It's perfect to have somebody come in and say, here's 12 songs I found that you'll probably never have never heard of. You don't know who these people are, but I want to share them with you because I think you'll like them. Right. And that's what radio used to be, and I think it totally could come back to that. Well, and on that note, like, at least for me, I know when I'm checking out new music, it's almost always because it's recommended by a friend or, you know, a musician I follow or something, you know, like, I like to discover stuff on my own, but it's so overwhelming. Now we know that just having somebody who knows what I like, or I guess in the case of like a DJ, if you're tuning into their station, you, they, as a DJ, almost kind of know what you like as a listener because you're tuning in, that makes sense. So like, I'm more, I'm more likely as a listener to check something out that I've been recommended. And it's very much like the influencer, so the economy that we have right now, right? So whether or not you want to admit it, like, we all have people that we listen to or trust, right? And they're, they influence her life. And so when somebody you listen to and trust suggests something, it makes you want to look at it again. Well, if you like a DJ on the radio and you trust his opinion, you trust, when he has played you a song in the past and you like it, then you'll think, oh, well, if he suggests it out, then it's pretty good. So it's, it's just the same type of thing. It's just going to come back with a different name. Yeah. Okay. I love it. The number of terrestrial radios also in like its accessibility, very much, because you don't have to have like a specific app, like literally any class within like poverty or rent, like you can have access to radio stations. And I don't think that that could be undermined at all. Like the power that it could could hold whether used for bad or good. Yeah. But it's the issue with just the overall corporate, greeviness, that it's, it's turned it into a bad thing for now. Yeah. And I mean, I'm honestly, I love that you're optimistic about it because I haven't been so much. I've been more on the side of like, Oh, the next thing, they'll just fire all the DJs and we'll just have AI DJs and I go, I definitely hate that. Yeah. I do hate that. I don't have the great radio voice, but not a great radio voice, but I've always wanted to be on the radio. I've always wanted to do it. And like, I've been turned down for jobs and at rock stations where they're like, we love everything you do and everything you say, you just don't sound rock enough. And I'm like, that's the point, more on like nobody's ever going to confuse me with somebody else. Yeah. That's the point. Right. Thing or whatever, um, now I forgot where I was going with that point. Crap. What did you say? Sorry. AI. Yeah. So we're going to get like a rash of AI voices and stuff and then it's going to backfire and then it's going to people are going to revolt against it and we're going to get back to regular people. I mean, we're, you're already seeing that in different points of technology that people want to get back to real stuff and not AI stuff. So yeah, it's just another art form that's going to come back. Right. Well, that's awesome. Heck yeah. I just don't know when. I did. That's a problem. I don't know when. Right. But it could be with a really old. So give us some, give us some of your fun stories and radio other than your jackass antics. Yeah. Unless you want to tell us those? Yeah. Well, so I mean, I told you a couple. Yeah. The first time I was drunk ever was live on the radio and then I was, then they did it to me two more times. Dang. All right. They did it to me two more. So what were you two? Like, did they make? I'm assuming you had a mission. No. No. Actually, it was, it was St. Patrick's Day the first time. Okay. And so they would say a covert. I don't remember what it was. And I had to take a shot and then I'd taken 17 shots of vodka between six and eight 30. The first time you ever got drunk. First time I was ever drunk. Yeah. In two and a half hours. Yeah. I was 23 years old. Oh my God. Yes. I know it was. How was the next morning? Oh boy. This is between six a.m. and eight 30. Oh, a.m. Yeah. On morning radio. So it wasn't the next morning that was the rest of the day. Did they have a bed or anything? Yeah. I just, I passed out and I think I woke up at like eight, I woke up at like five o'clock in the afternoon or something. So yeah, I was still an intern at the station. Like I wasn't even paid. I think the most impressive part of the story is you first got drunk at 23. Yeah. Yeah, right. Right. I grew up a little sheltered. Yeah. So I was born and raised Southern Baptist. Me too. Okay. Yeah. So yeah. So it was just a touch sheltered in that aspect. So yeah, I didn't party in high school because I worked at the radio station every week. Right. So I didn't go to the parties. Some of the best experiences though from radio have been like getting to see shows and in sequel experiences. So do you remember, you may not be old enough, but underneath the tabernacle, you know what at the tabernacle where they sell the merch downstairs? Yep. They used to be called the cotton club. Yeah. It's a separate venue. Yep. I saw 311 down there. Really? Completely sold out, full of smoke. Yeah. Three. It was awesome. Oh my God. It was cool. Um, I saw garbage at Kenny's alley. There used to be where masquerade is now at underground Atlanta. There used to be like a little restaurant or something right there and they played a live ex for us. That was cool. I saw James addiction. They did. So James addiction played our Christmas show. The very first year I worked at 99 X and was at the Fox, but they did a three song set in a dressing room backstage for 50 people beforehand. Oh, cool. Perry Farrell standing on top of the drum because the room's so packed. And this was when Dave Navarro was their guitarist. Oh, yeah. So cool to be in that room. Yeah. And then I got to walk out on stage and do a stage announcement and got a huge pop and like that was cool. Like that's a mate. You know what it's like. Yeah. Like. Holy crap. I mean, I don't, but like I can imagine. But it's cool. It's cool. Um, velvet revolver. Do you know who they are? Oh, yeah. Velvet revolver. Scott Wyland from Stone Temple Pilots joined the guys from Guns N' Roses and they became velvet revolver. He was clean at the time and had this thing called a vibrum backstage and we were at what's the one in Duluth, the Gwynette arena in Duluth, gas south now, I guess. Anyways, I was backstage and burst into their vibrum and got drug out of the Gwynette arena. They actually banned me from the Gwynette arena. Wait, for what reason? Oh, well, because I was. Oh, you ruined the vibe. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Scott Wyland was very unhappy with me. It's like the embers new cream. Yeah. You threw off my cream. Yeah. So that was, you know, but it was cool that I got to do, you know, that it was there that I got to do it. Um, so yeah. Are you still dead? Yeah. They never enforced it. Oh, yeah. They never enforced. But the security guard who got me, he was not happy again. This is like 2004. I mean, did you know you weren't supposed to go on the vibrum? Oh, yeah. Yeah. That was the whole point. Yeah. I said I was like, I'm all miked up, like trying to get in there and everything. Oh, this was fine. Yes. Exactly. Yes. This is all part of the. I thought this was just like, I'm just going to do this. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. So going into those, were you ever like super nervous? All the time. Yeah. I would be to you. Yes. Yes. You never know how it's going to end up going. Yes. Especially when you're all alone. What are the ones when I worked at 99X? I, it's not as funny now, but it was funny then that I went door to door and told people that after the last election, that guns have been banned and I was here to pick up your guns. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And I was in a trailer park in U Harley, Georgia with a dude who was already half drunk. And yeah, he, he went and got a rifle and, but he's yelling at me about it. It was woof. Oh boy. It was, it was rough. Yeah. That's terrifying. Yeah. It's me in a trailer park. Like it's a million wonders. I didn't get shot. A million wonders. Yeah. Whose idea was that one? Yeah. It was not mine. It was not my idea. Oh, yeah. So, but then like, when I worked, I worked in Chattanooga, Tennessee at a station called 965 the mountain. It was alternative station and I got to host the nineties at nine, which like now it's like, it's a little cliche or whatever, but it's like, I had this really fun time that for an hour every night, because I worked seven to midnight, for an hour every night, I got to program the station and I got to take requests and I got to, you know, find these really obscure songs and find all this obscure facts and blah, blah, blah. And I would have people call from the jail and you know, how if you, if you call collect from a jail, like you have a chance to like say your name in it, they would yell their request and say their names. Oh, wow. So I'd play that on the air. Well, then the people started calling me from the jail all the time. That's awesome. I got in trouble for taking too many phone calls from the taking collect phone calls from the jail. That's so cool. But it was great. It was great. You know, it was great content. Yeah. I was going to say that's just good TV. But you know what I mean? It was good radio. It was good radio. It was a lot of fun. Yeah. It's amazing. I wish this shows like that still existed. Yeah. And I had a good time. I got to do a lot of cool stuff. So like, I'm just, I'm thinking about it like different times on the air. I work at a rock station in Mankato, Minnesota, which is about an hour south of Minneapolis. So it's very cold. Minnesota State University is there. Okay. And so it's college town, right? And, and they love their white, red rock and roll in Minnesota. Holy crap. Like we were playing a Vincemifold and Slipknot at eight o'clock in the morning. Wow. Like it was, it was heavy all day. But then I got to meet, you know, clown and Corey from Slipknot. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. I got to do that. We, we would take a limo to the cities and take listeners with us to go see shows because we were close enough to where some of the big artists, you know, they would come up to Minneapolis or they would go to Rochester, Minnesota. And so we would give away these limo rides and do that. But then also in that little town, like people would come there and play, um, seven dust was coming through town. Seven dust had played, they had played in South Dakota and they were going to the cities. And so they had to come right by us and there was this bar in town that we teamed up with all the time and the bar was owned by like a 24 year old dude whose parents had given him this bar. Oh, wow. And so he told seven dust said, Hey, you got a day off. You're coming right here. You want to play seven dust played in a bar with like 250 people. Wow. It was awesome. Like I was as far from me to you to the stage and like, you know, seven dust, like they played really low. Like it rattled my insides is the greatest thing ever. It was so cool. So that was, yeah, that was cool experience. He also hosted a KY Kelly wrestling up there one time. Oh my God. Kid was brilliant. Okay. So kids brilliant in a KY Kelly wrestling. So I work at a rock station, right? Like we were hardcore rock and roll. Of course I'm hosting it. It's pretty girls doing these. So do you just like rub yourself in a loop? Okay. Hold on. All right. Oh, so it was like this giant inflatable pool and he had bought like truly five gallon buckets full of KY jelly and dumped it in this pool and it's up on the stage. And so there's seats all around it, right? Well, in an event like this, there's going to be some ladies who who's tops might fall off, right? I mean, chances are, chances are like it might happen, right? This kid was a genius though. So all the seats, they were the quote unquote VIP seats that were up on the stage around there. He had given them to off duty sheriff's deputies. So every photo of this event that had women in compromising positions where, you know, it would technically be illegal, also had a sheriff's deputy in it. Wow. And they didn't say anything. They couldn't do anything. They didn't want to do. Yeah. Out themselves. All right. This kid was a genius. It just shows them in the background. Like, exactly. That's exactly it. Yes. That's exactly. That's amazing. And I hosted that. I got paid $500 to do that. What? Yeah. I say $500. That's so all sorts of my life. I'll be like, oh, next is Susie and Cassidy. That's incredible. So I love that you have such a diverse musical taste. Yes. Has it always been that way? You grew up with country, but like, did it change when you worked for radio? Um, yeah, it did. So my comfort zone is like, even now is a Americana, a folky country, yes, something or other, not radio country, but definitely more of the country side of singer-songwriter type thing. Sure. That's my comfort zone. But I enjoy all kinds of music. I love to see all kinds of music. And it's been that way for a long time. I mean, I grew up going to Opryland outside of Nashville, Tennessee and watching Southern gospel stuff with my parents. Right. It's not that I love that, but it's like I can appreciate it. Yeah. You know? Absolutely. But then like working at a rock station, like when I worked at 99x, like there was a million different things that came through town that I got to see and especially when you meet the people and they're really nice and then you want to listen to them and yada, yada, yada. And then going to work, I liked some of the heavier stuff, but then going to work for an active rock radio station, like really turned me on to some of the heavier stuff. And then not to mention like when I was a little kid, my brother listened to hip hop. And so we're talking like late 80s, early 90s hip hop. Right. So I love that stuff. High school, like I graduated in 99, like you couldn't get away from that late 90s hip hop sound. Right. Yeah. Or like new metal, like a blend of hip hop and metal. Limp biscuit was like the soundtrack of my high school. And it's a limited, Limp biscuit and Dave Matthews were the soundtrack of my high school. There you go. Yeah. So like it's yeah, I did buy tickets to see Limp biscuit when they're coming in the fall. Oh, really? Yeah. It's like 25 bucks to see them in the lawn at Lakewood or Ameris Bank, wherever they are. Yeah. So I'm like 25 bucks. Yeah, this will be sure. Why not? This is for $25. Yeah. All day long. Yeah. It's cheaper than Ace Fraley. Oh man. Yeah. That's crazy. Did you hear about that? No. He's doing a show at Madlife in Woodstock and tickets were like $200. What? Like a seat or just general admission. I was like, nobody's going to pay that. No, that's crazy. I know. So Madlife's not a big venue. It's not. But still. And the people running are super nice. They're very nice. They are. And they have some fun bands that come to town. But why in the world is Ace Fraley? I don't know. They started at like 200 and I've been obsessed with it. Have I not? Yeah. I have been like following this. That is wild. So carefully because I was like, this is show is going to sell like three tickets. Oh wow. So like it was like 200 and then it was 160 and then like it slowly dropping as it comes closer. Oh, it's dropping. It's just been. I've been obsessed. So into it. I'm that way with with the black keys and the black keys having to cancel the big giant tour. So do you know about this? No, no. So the black keys, they just released music and they had announced this giant stadium tour and they had sold like 13% or something of it. They were selling it like get in price I think was close to $200 like get in. Yeah. And so people just people aren't buying it anymore. Yeah. They're voting with their wallet and they're not paying these just outrageous prices for everybody at least. And so the black keys had to cancel their show and then they're going to rebook it at smaller medium venues, which is where they need to be. Yeah. Right. Right. They're a band that you want to see at the Tabernacle. Totally. You don't want to see them, you know, that's. Mercedes or something. Yeah. Yeah. 100%. Yeah. I saw them at State Farm a couple of years ago. It was okay. Yeah. You know, they're much better on a smaller venue. Honestly, I feel that way about most people. That's just a me thing, but like I really don't enjoy arena stadium shows. Not not in general. Like we went and saw Coldplay and that was cool because you get the whole light show with the audience and stuff, but the sound is not great. Where did you see them? Mercedes. Okay. I've yet to be. I haven't been to Mercedes period. Oh, really? And I haven't seen a show there. I've heard mixed reviews on a show at Mercedes Ben Stadium. State Farm doesn't bother me when it was Phillips. It was my understanding is it was designed specifically for live shows. But then, you know, and then also to host sports and stuff. The acoustics in there are pretty good, like, but it's still a big room. Yeah. You got to be. You got to be somebody big. I think the last show I saw there was the cure just a couple of years ago in or last year. It was good. Really good. I do love the cure. Yeah. I mean, it's the cure. Yeah. Good for him for Robert Smith to get to play these arenas now, you know, like, because for so many years, he didn't. Right. So I thought that was cool. But yeah, you got to be somebody really special. Yeah. Yeah. Larger than life to fill that room. Yeah. Like you got to be like, like in sync or somebody who has salt. Yeah. Oh, did you really? Yes. Did you get to meet them? Okay. But I did see. I've seen in sync twice. I saw the Backstreet Boys twice, like in their heyday. Yeah. Oh, in sync. Yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah. Bar better. Okay. Stage show was better. Also, I saw Backstreet Boys at the dome, at the George dome, and it sounded terrible. Nelly opened. It was terrible. Too open. Nelly. Oh, yeah. That's the name I haven't heard. I mean, yeah. Good show, but it wasn't. Yeah. Wow. Did they perform either Backstreet or and Tic? Did they perform with the live band, or were they playing the tracks? They were playing with light bands. Okay. Nice. Awesome. I thought I knew I had seen articles before, like about in sync's backing musicians, like bass players in particular, because I used to get a bass player magazine when I was a teenager and I would see him. Sure. Thanks. Yeah. But yeah, I know like, you know, some arena shows, especially with like solo artists, they just have like the track, you know, but it's cool to hear that they're still hiring musicians. Yeah. Yeah. Again, this was 20 somebody years ago. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think I've ever been to an arena show though. Really? Yeah. Now I'm trying to rack my brain and I'm like, I'm pretty sure the biggest shows that I've seen have always either been like outdoor festival stuff or like, you know, Tabernacle sized venues. Yeah. So yeah. He's played all the biggest shows. He's been there. Is that what it is? No. Oh man. I feel like as a musician though, like unless, like there's no way you could do an arena show nowadays without like an in-ear system and all that because it just feel like the reverberation and everything would just be crazy. I don't know. Probably. Yeah. Yeah. I would imagine. I have no idea. That's so far. Right. Yeah. I mean, like it's hard to even imagine. Yeah. But maybe. I'm just used to just playing loud enough to get over the drunk people in the front. Yeah. That's kind of like, that's my level right now. True. So I don't know. So Jeremy, where do you see? You're self in the future. Do you see keeping with the Peach Jam podcast? So I like what I'm doing. It'll be very cliché to say, but like this is truly my dream job. Like it really is. So like I have to, I have to deal with some other stuff with the different podcasts that we have there and, and you know, some of the things are more office type work or whatever, but it's almost like my reward is I get to do Peach Jam. And so I love, I'm a music nerd in the sense that I love discovering new music and love sharing that music with people. And so it's fun to find a band from middle of nowhere, you know, somebody who's playing these small gigs and find that they're super talented and get to share that with people. And that's, that's the way I see it. Is that I get to basically be like, Hey, look who, look who I found. This is awesome. Listen to this. Yeah, like that's what I get to do for a job and it's when we film it, it's a, it's a marathon recording session, like we filmed this last time it was 15 episodes in nine days. Yeah. So we did just two weeks where it was two shoots mainly and then a couple days had one in there and like there was a setup day and stuff. So yeah, it ended up being nine days of 15 different bands. Wow. I have a question on that note really quick. So like, do you find that it's really hard to like lead your team when there's that much pressure to get something that massive done in nine days? So no, because the people I work with are great. So my director Chris is, he's a perfectionist in all the, the greatest of ways in that he's, so he's, he's a video guy and he knows the way things should look and he knows how he wants them to look and he knows what will make it look better. And so I trust him with that everybody else. Trust him with that. That's his, that's his job. That's what he does. And he does it very well. And so it's the same with everybody else. The guys running the cameras, like everybody who does that. Everybody sets up sound, the sound company is called sounds good. And the people who mix it, Victoria and David who mix them, like they're all really good at their jobs. So actually, like everybody's told me that it's a lot of fun, that is, I mean, we're getting to record bands. Right. It's cool. So the pressure, I feel there's pressure on me to make sure that who I selected and invited in, because I do all that I book everybody. So who I selected and invited in is good enough in that they're going to be able to perform. And two, that I can carry on a conversation enough to get enough content out of it. So in so far, it's been pretty good. So I'm sure I'll hit a bump in the road or whatever, but probably, yeah, I mean, it's whatever, there's going to be a bad one. Yeah. But yeah, it's been really good to do that. So I foresee myself getting to do it for a long time, I hope so. But yeah, it's, it's awesome. So what would you tell it, Georgia musicians who are interested in the podcast, how best can they prepare to come onto the show? Like what should they make sure that they do to ensure the best product for themselves? So yeah, if you want to be a part of Peach Jam, first of all, you can email me. It's peashjam@gpp.org, but second is that I like to have people in who, if somebody hears you, they can Google your name and they can find your stuff. So I know there's a lot of people who they're starting and they want to come on or they have a handful of songs on Spotify and that's it and they, or they never play shows out or something. It's like, if you're going to be on this show, like I want somebody to be able to find more about you. So it needs to be more than your hobby or it has to be a hobby that you are really dedicated to. You know what I mean? Like, there's a lot of people who come in for the show that they have full-time jobs, be in a musician is, or be in a band is their secondary stuff, whatever. But like, there's a difference between like, oh, I do it every now and then, or I recorded a couple of things and like, no, I really love this. This is my art that I make. And that's what I want. I want somebody who is making art and putting it out there and they want people to find it and they have something to say or they have something to give. They have, you know, they care about it. And there's more to you than just the three songs you're going to play for me. Right. So almost like, if I could have a product to promote through the show. Yeah. I mean, that's very much it that I mean, the musicians that are coming on, you're promoting yourself. Right. So in on the flip side of it, something that I really like about what we do there at GPP is that, yes, I get to introduce the GPP audience to musicians they may never have heard of. But on the flip side, the musicians get professional recordings, they get professional videos, they get professional photos, they get all this stuff that they can then use to go better themselves and go get more gigs or go try to get a deal or whatever it is. And so that's kind of like, that's another service that GPP is providing is providing that for musicians. So I want to just point out to one thing that I really appreciate about you, Jeremy, in this conversation and what I noticed at, you know, the studio is your passion. And it sounds like that's what you are hoping to find with the musicians that come into is a passion, whether or not they can do it for a living yet. But if they have that passion, if they're driven, and if they're really like, you know, behind what they're doing, because you bring a lot to the table, I feel like, like your energy is one of dedication and interest. So it makes sense that, you know, you're looking for the same thing for an artist because you kind of need to have that if you're going to sell yourself and your art and, you know, so that makes sense. Well, I appreciate that very much. And yeah, and that's, I care and I care about the people who come on the show and the giant list of people who haven't been able to be on the show yet, that I've gotten to find that just haven't found a place for schedules didn't work or things like that. I care about that stuff. And then also, like at the very end of the day, like, I just want to share good music with people. And one of the things is for a long time in my life, I've never, I didn't have anybody to share good music, I couldn't like discover a song and be like, Oh my God, you got to hear this. Now, my fiance is very much on board with that. And now I get to do it also with anybody who finds this product too, like it's, it's exciting to be like, Hey, you may not normally like rap music, but this guy's really cool. Listen to this. Or you may not normally like, you know, country music, but this guy's really smart and writes good songs. Listen to this. You know, and that's what's, that's what's a lot of fun is to share that stuff with everybody. I love it. And I appreciate it as a, as a musician. I really appreciate that. Yeah, definitely. We really need more people in the world, like, like you, for sure. Well, no, we need more Jeremy's, no, we need more. So on, on that note, like if someone wanted to, you know, we asked earlier about, you know, if someone wanted to get on the radio or if they wanted to be a part of the Peach Jam, but what if someone wants to do what you do, like how, how could they get involved in that? I mean, it's, I, I honestly have no idea. Work on the radio for 20 years. Yeah. Right. I mean, seriously, it's one of those things that, uh, so I've gotten fired from multiple radio stations with like, like I got fired from 99 X when Susquehanna got sold to Cumulus and they just cut people. I got fired from Dave FM in Atlanta when they switched it to a sports station. So I got fired from Kix when they, uh, how we say fired my girlfriends, like you were laid off and say, well, whatever, but I got laid off from Kix when they blew up the morning show and they were bringing in something new, um, making it worse. Yeah. Exactly. And so, like I, uh, I've, radio is a tough business and so I, I'm never going to tell somebody like, get into radio and yeah, because I got to have really terrible part time jobs in between. Right. Um, so, but also, um, I don't know, like, I, I don't know how to get into this. Podcasting is something that everybody has accessible with. If you have a handful of dollars, you can get a podcast on, right? You can record a podcast, but it's a saturated market. It's really hard to stick out. I know I'm not telling you anything you don't know, um, but there's something about learning to be comfortable talking to people, being comfortable in front of a camera, being comfortable with coming up and creating content, uh, being engaging and things like that. Like those are soft skills that are really hard to, to teach. Um, and those are skills that would help you get into this sort of business. Um, I didn't go to college for, for anything that I'm doing. Um, so yeah, that, that's the only advice I really have is to get out there, put yourself out there, make yourself uncomfortable and learn what you can and shut up and listen to people who've been around, you know, that doesn't mean that the ride was shut up and listen. So, and because you can glean something from just about everybody, and that's how I like to do interviews, I can't remember, Melody, if it was you that said it or not, but, um, when I ask questions and do interviews for peace jam, like, I'll ask something or I'll throw something out there. And then I just sit back and I wait because people don't like silence and they'll fill the space. So if you can learn how to be quiet, people will talk and they'll tell you about them, especially if you're asking them about themselves, what they like and what they know, they'll fill that space. Um, and you just got to shut up and listen. And then that's where your next question comes from and say, you listen. I'm afraid to talk. Right. Cool. Uh, I'll fill the space here, so, um, that's really interesting because, um, you know, I think a lot of musicians would say that's what makes a great musician is someone who knows when not to play, um, you know, especially if you're jamming with people you've never played with before, you know, sometimes playing less and seeing what somebody else does is how you really get the conversation going. So it's interesting, which, you know, I mean, music in a lot of ways is just a conversation, but with an instrument or, you know, a different application of your voice or a, you know, whatever. But, um, I think that it tracks that, um, you know, like that, that would be, uh, a great way to get somebody to open up more and, um, you know, as you said, fill that space. Um, yeah, that's just interesting how there's like this parallels between that. Yeah. I've never thought about that. So I'm, like I said earlier, I'm not a musician, um, so I love music and I like musicians, but I, I don't know what you do or how you think like I'm still fascinated by all of it. And no matter how many bands that we see that I see, how many shows I go to, how many people I get to talk to, I'm still fascinated by you getting, you know, making the sounds that you're making and how you did it and like what you're doing and how much fun you're having and blah, blah, blah, like all of that is, is so exciting for me. And so that leads to like, you know, stay curious, stay, stay excited about what you're doing. You know, have fun. Like that's, we're not, you know, saving lives. This isn't brain surgery. It's music. Right. You know, and so, so yeah, if you can keep yourself curious and always asking questions and always interested, um, I think you can go far. I agree. Do you have anything to add? No, that was amazing. Yeah. That was it. Well, why are you. Somebody should write to him. Yeah. I, I stay curious. Sounds like that would be good on too. Well, why are you still listening to this podcast? Go listen to Peach Jam podcast, which is available now. When are you guys starting the next season? All right, so we're, we're still in the middle of this season. As we record this episode, hold on, either nine or ten of this season comes out on Friday. And then we'll record the next season, the fourth season we'll record in November in an old air, probably in January, so most likely. So, but like the TV show will be out on GPP, Georgia Public Broadcasting is famous for showing high school football. Everybody loves high school football on Friday nights all across Georgia. After the football game, they replay the game, but there's a 30 minute window to be able to replay it, to turn it around. And so Peach Jam plays after the football game. And so there's a, the season two TV of Peach Jam will play the first five weeks. And then season three of Peach Jam will play the next five weeks. You guys are, I'd have to look, but I think it's sometime in September. I'll let you know. Awesome. Can't wait. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for listening to this episode of Sex, Drugs and Disappointment. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to leave us a review and connect with us more on Instagram and TikTok at sddpodcast and don't forget. Have fun. Don't do too much. And it's going to happen. [MUSIC] (rock music) [BLANK_AUDIO]