{"id":11350,"date":"2016-02-11T12:39:31","date_gmt":"2016-02-11T17:39:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=11350"},"modified":"2017-03-02T09:27:25","modified_gmt":"2017-03-02T14:27:25","slug":"radio-heads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/radio-heads\/","title":{"rendered":"Radio Heads"},"content":{"rendered":"

February\/March 2016 | view this story as a .pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

We know their voices. Here are the stories & faces of the women on local airwaves.<\/span><\/h3>\n

By Olivia Gunn<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"FM16-Radio\"One year ago, I started working in radio. I had no prior radio experience. I was clueless, nervous as hell, and very intimidated. That is until I started venturing out of the mole hole of the newsroom and realized there were actually a lot of rocking women in Portland\u2019s radio scene. I wanted to meet them, talk to them, hear what they had to say off air, and ask why radio? Be it the laughs they offer or the stories they share, these women greet you every morning, pull you through each afternoon, and keep you posted on the drive home. They are the voices in your car, a neighboring cubicle, and the corner bar. They\u2019re brought to you every day and night over the rolling airwaves. Even at your loneliest hour, there is someone to keep you company on the dial. They are the voices of Portland radio, and these are their faces.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lori Voornas, WJBQ, 97.9<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

How did you get your start in radio?<\/span><\/p>\n

I have a different story than most. I got into the office end of radio in the \u201980s at WBLM by answering a newspaper ad for a traffic manager.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was 21 or 22 at the time. Eventually I asked if I could be on the radio, and they said no. Because I had no radio experience. I asked how I\u2019d get it, and they said, Don\u2019t know, don\u2019t care<\/em>. I went and worked at WMPG [at USM] and did the very enviable midnight-to-6 a.m. Sunday morning slot. Once I\u2019d been on the radio six months,\u00a0 <\/span>[BLM] gave me a weekend shift and changed my name to Paula Roque. That\u2019s when I realized working in radio sucks, because you make minimum wage and it ruins your weekends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually you moved on\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

It was \u201992 or \u201993. That\u2019s when Randi Kirshbaum called me up. I\u2019d gone to a wedding for someone at WMGX, and you know, you have a few drinks and you\u2019re funny as hell and Randi\u2019s thinking, Why not?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

She asked if I wanted to do mornings on WMGX (Coast 93.1). That was \u201993. I left there in \u201999 and have been here (the Q) ever since.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best thing about working morning radio?<\/span><\/p>\n

You have no idea what the day is going to be like. I absolutely love making people laugh. That\u2019s what\u2019s fun about working with other people. If I were doing this alone, I wouldn\u2019t know if anyone was laughing. I\u2019m laughing, but I\u2019m my best audience.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you ever worry about being liked?<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not everyone\u2019s cup of tea, and I can\u2019t try to be. Otherwise, I lose who I am.<\/span><\/p>\n

How do you deal with critics?<\/span><\/p>\n

The bottom line is, we\u2019re an entertainment show. Your opinion does matter. I\u2019ve offended many people by accident. Every once in a while you\u2019ll step in it. And radio is such a personal medium. You\u2019re talking one-on-one with somebody, so if you\u2019re saying something about something someone really cares about and you don\u2019t agree, it\u2019s going to really offend someone. <\/span><\/p>\n

Proudest moments?<\/span><\/p>\n

We do a giant charity event in October for breast cancer. I lost my mom to breast cancer, and who doesn\u2019t know someone who has cancer? It\u2019s a giant disease that affects a lot of people. I\u2019m proud of it because of the listener involvement. We raised $50,000 this past October, which is a giant chunk of money for radio. We did it a nickel at a time collecting cans. Over a million bottles and cans.<\/p>\n

Most memorable moment?<\/span><\/p>\n

The first person I ever co-hosted with was Willy Rich. I remember when he quit and I felt like my dad was leaving. That was a big moment. And I came out on the air.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was so afraid. Scared to death because I\u2019d been in the closet on air for 19 years. It was like living a double life, sort of\u2026 The reason I came out is because I got married and everyone was coming to the wedding. I guess I was expecting backlash. But I didn\u2019t hear one negative thing. And everyone knew. It was the worst-kept secret ever.<\/span><\/p>\n

How has radio changed?<\/span><\/p>\n

Technically everything is so different\u2026We used to have to\u2013<\/span><\/p>\n

Put records on?<\/span><\/p>\n

No, not records, you little shit. But CDs definitely. And to record a phone call, reel to reel? Do you know what that is? It\u2019s tape. A call comes in and you start a tape recorder that has two giant reels. You say Hey listener, congratulations<\/em>\u2013and they say Oh, hot goddam shit!<\/em> Well, you\u2019ve got to take out the profanity. You take the tape, cut it with a razor blade, tape it together, and cue it back up.<\/p>\n

What do you want for your career?<\/span><\/p>\n

I want to remain relevant and entertaining. I want people to say I was cracking up in my car<\/em>, I can\u2019t believe you said that<\/em>, I love this radio show<\/em>. I want to hear that until they wheel me out and I\u2019m talking through my little voice box.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sarah Sullivan, WPOR, 101.9 <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As a co-host of the WPOR morning show, do you feel like part of the local community?<\/span><\/p>\n

There will always be a connection with local radio because we shop at the same shops, go to the same places, eat at the same restaurants. There will always be that connection of I know her<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

When did you first connect with radio?<\/span><\/p>\n

I was about eight\u2026and I remember listening to a station in Nashua. They had some guy on who threw out the phone number, so I picked up the phone and said, Hi, can you play Andy \u2018Glibb\u2019?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

He got on the air and said, I want to say hi to Sarah\u2026<\/em>And I freaked out. I couldn\u2019t believe he actually said my name on the radio.<\/span><\/p>\n

When did you know you\u2019d work in radio?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always loved radio. I was a music major in college. My dad was a musician. We always had the radio on. I studied vocal performance. I was going to be an opera singer, but you can\u2019t make a living in New Hampshire as an opera singer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Did you have any influences?<\/span><\/p>\n

I always had the radio on behind me. Charles Laquidara was on at the time on WBCN in Boston, and he sounded like the biggest idiot. I thought, \u201cI could probably do that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There was another guy who was highly influential on Boston. His name was Dale Dorman. Uncle Dale. He would say things that were R rated if you thought of them that way, but to a little kid they were like, oh yeah.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

What was your first on-air gig?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI went to the Connecticut School of Broadcasting in Wellesley Hills, Mass. I got my first job as an intern at Rock 101 WGIR in Manchester. I interned for a little while, and then I thought I should get paid. I went to WSMN in Nashua.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>W<\/span>hen I got into FM radio, I thought it was the big time. That station really hooked me with radio. The music was cool\u2013I met my first rock star at WMDK\u2013Todd Rundgren.<\/span><\/p>\n

You were eventually at WHOB where you did the morning show with Jeff Paradise. Was it hard having this career and being a parent?<\/span><\/p>\n

I was a single mom. Did it all. Bought a house, raised a kid, worked morning radio. Woo-hoo. Where\u2019s my emblem? Where\u2019s my cape? Where\u2019s my prize?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

So it was hard?<\/span><\/p>\n

No. I jump into things before I know what the consequences are. That\u2019s kind of a characteristic of mine. It\u2019s worked to my advantage and to my disadvantage\u2026 It was never really hard. You do what you have to do because you have to do it. It was just me and my son for a long time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Were there many women working with you in radio in the beginning?<\/span><\/p>\n

When I first got into radio, it was all guys. Certainly now in morning radio there are more females, but it never used to be that way. There was a specific formula to radio. You\u2019d have room for one female on staff and that was it. That
\nwas \u2018enough.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Wasn\u2019t there a time when you couldn\u2019t play two female singers back to back?<\/span><\/p>\n

When I did the music for a Top 40 station in the \u201990s, that was the time when Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, when it broke. Because all of these blonde, young singers had hits and it was virtually impossible to create a music log without putting to females back to back.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the best part of your job today?<\/span><\/p>\n

When a listener comes up to me and tells me I listen to you every morning<\/em>. <\/span><\/p>\n

I can be talking to somebody on the other side of the radio\u2013maybe they have nobody or no one, just my voice. That\u2019s the best part about being on the radio, the listeners.<\/span><\/p>\n

Patty Wight, MPBN, 90.1<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

What drives you as a news producer?<\/span><\/p>\n

I love sound. Some people say radio is the most visual medium, and I think there is some truth to that. When a radio story is done well, it engages you in a different way.<\/span><\/p>\n

Did you always want to be in radio?<\/span><\/p>\n

I went to school for wildlife biology and I loved it, but I was not a scientist at heart. I had a National Geographic<\/em>, romantic vision of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

I got an internship at Maine Audubon, so I thought I\u2019d stay in Maine for the fall and go out West to explore. I happened to meet my now-husband, so that\u2019s why I\u2019m here, but I also started to listen to public radio\u2026 I thought, wow, this seems really fun. It\u2019s what I wanted out of the National Geographic <\/em>dream. It\u2019s an adventurous job where things are different every day, learning new things, meeting new people. <\/span><\/p>\n

You free-lanced for a while after graduating from the SALT Institute. What was the transition like from freelance to a job at MPBN?<\/span><\/p>\n

It was an adjustment to learn how to do a story in a day. You\u2019ve got to go along with your gut. But there are times when I may be more happy with the results than a longer story.<\/span><\/p>\n

When did it all click for you?<\/span><\/p>\n

Those moments come whenever you do a story you feel really good about. I covered Kaci Hickox, which was really exciting. Every day it\u2019s interesting to think, okay, what will happen?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

What was it like hearing yourself for the first time?<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a combination of excitement and that it\u2019s hard to hear yourself. <\/span><\/p>\n

Some complained I had vocal fry. It was hard to hear, but there was also some truth to it. I think this issue is very focused on women, but men can do it, too. I wanted to improve my voice on air and that led to it. <\/span><\/p>\n

When a big story isn\u2019t breaking, how do you keep the job interesting?<\/span><\/p>\n

Whenever you look into something, even things that may not be initially that exciting, there\u2019s always something. It\u2019s trying to find a different angle or a new development. <\/span><\/p>\n

Radio seems to be regaining popularity, especially shows like This American Life<\/em> and podcasts. What do you hope happens in the industry?<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s great that so many people love radio, and I want that excitement to continue because when other people are interested, either as listeners or by doing it, it will push radio forward and keep it evolving.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heidi Knight, FRANK FM, 107.5<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

How did you get your start?<\/span><\/p>\n

I was working at a dentist\u2019s office, and I actually knew the host of the show, Bill Fox, because I sold Mary Kay cosmetics with his wife. He called me one day and said, \u201cWe\u2019re looking for someone to be my morning show partner. Would you be interested?\u201d Well, I was in line to order at Dairy Queen, and I said, Are you kidding me<\/em>? Just as I screamed, Oh my God<\/em>, the lady at the drive-thru opened the window.<\/span><\/p>\n

What was it like go straight to the morning show? <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u00a0 <\/span>think when people listen, they think it\u2019s easy. I was one of those people. But they don\u2019t realize everything that goes into what we do behind the microphone. How everything is timed, how you have to be ready to jump in. If someone forgets what they\u2019re saying or doing, you\u2019ve got to be ready to pick up that ball and run. <\/span><\/p>\n

How did you deal with criticism?<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had people say to me, You\u2019re annoying. I hate your laugh<\/em>. Other people tell me, I love your laugh<\/em>. It can get in your head, because people can be mean. But you\u2019re getting paid to do a job. It wouldn\u2019t be an interesting show if everyone agreed.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are some days when I swear I could say it\u2019s raining oranges outside, and everybody listening would say, Yeah, she\u2019s right. I\u2019m seein\u2019 it over here in Poland. I got a few in Westbrook<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

There have to be good days and bad days when you\u2019re on air every day.<\/span><\/p>\n

Radio, local morning radio in particular, sometimes feels like one of the most human mediums. It\u2019s real.<\/span><\/p>\n

We talk about ourselves and what happens in our lives. When I first started, I was in a relationship that went south very quickly, and I tried to keep that from my job, but eventually I had to put it out there. I had to share. As a listener, you can tell if somebody is not their normal self. Listeners went through my daughter\u2019s wedding with me; they went through my divorce with me. I found a man. Thought he was great. He was having an affair. I shared all of that. I live my life through that microphone.<\/span><\/p>\n

How do you deal on air with real-life tragedies\u2013for example, the Paris attacks?<\/span><\/p>\n

You have to address it. You have to talk about it. It\u2019s on everyone\u2019s minds; it\u2019s on television. To not acknowledge it would be foolish. <\/span><\/p>\n

In something like the Paris attacks or\u00a0 <\/span>shootings at schools, you have to do it in a very human way. You address it, and you move on. They\u2019re getting it everywhere else. We\u2019ve got to give them what they\u2019re used to hearing, and we\u2019ve got to make them laugh.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it\u2019s hard. You have to come up with something to distract them. It\u2019s what we\u2019re paid to do.<\/span><\/p>\n

What are some of your best moments on air?<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019d say my proudest moments at\u00a0 <\/span>Frank have happened working with the Barbara Bush Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/span><\/p>\n

We meet these kids\u2013you really take them with you. We\u2019re there for three days and the next Monday you come back to work, drive by the hospital, and you think, Oh, surgery today, I hope it\u2019s okay<\/em>. Or, Oh, they get to go home today<\/em>. It\u2019s difficult, but it\u2019s the highlight of my job.<\/p>\n

Where do you see yourself in five years?<\/span><\/p>\n

Radio is volatile. Nobody gets into radio thinking they\u2019re going to not<\/em> be doing radio. It all goes by. Your ratings. They could say tomorrow they\u2019re changing to a country station.<\/span><\/p>\n

We all know that coming in, so you ride that wave as long as you can. I hope I don\u2019t get too old and become irrelevant. <\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know how relevant I\u2019d be going back to the workforce. It\u2019s frightening. I couldn\u2019t do nine-to-five again. I\u2019m up at 2:30 in the morning ready to go.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eva Matteson, Coast 93.1<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve been at Coast, now as co-host of the morning show with Blake and Eva, for 11 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

I can honestly say I love my job. That\u2019s not to say I haven\u2019t had periods when I felt stuck, out of gas, or unfocused. When Blake joined the show two years ago, he brought an intensity of passion and ideas that recharged me and made me realize if I lose that desire to learn, grow, or improve, I\u2019m probably done.<\/span><\/p>\n

How did you get into radio?<\/span><\/p>\n

I fell into this ass backwards. I always dealt with radio peripherally. I did pop-promotion in Los Angeles, where I grew up, and then I moved to Nashville to oversee a country music chart, which involved me compiling charts based on country radio airplay [for the music industry trade magazine Gavin Report<\/em>]. <\/span><\/p>\n

When the magazine closed in 2002, I got a call from a radio station in Oklahoma City and they said, \u201cYou know everybody in town and you go to all the stuff, and you know what\u2019s going on\u2026 Can you be our [on-air] Eva the Country Diva?\u2019 I called in to the station every day [during a live show] and did a country music report for them.<\/span> I hadn\u2019t realized what my life had been like as a music magazine editor in Nashville. I mean, I went to parties at Reba\u2019s house. I was in the studio with Shania\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Another station called and asked about the Country Diva reports, so I ended up with five or six stations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then one of my mentors got a job at WSM FM [in Nashville], which are legendary call letters. He said he had a guy coming to do afternoons, and If you can stand to be in the same room as him, you could do an amazing show<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, I lasted about nine months and I got fired. Which, everyone in radio can attest, you gotta get fired. And I did. You know, they were going in a different direction\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

I remember lying in bed, thinking, I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m going to do. So I got out a book, Creative Visualization<\/em>\u2013it\u2019s about visualizing what you want. I wanted a radio partner I liked, a company that valued me, and I wanted to live back near the water. Within five days, I got a call from Randi Kirshbaum at WMGX. Six days later, I drove up here and arrived January 21st, 2005, right before a huge blizzard.<\/p>\n

Do you think radio found you? It\u2019s a place\u00a0 <\/span>where you\u2019re able to have this big personality\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Especially when you\u2019re allowed to. I can\u2019t speak for other companies, but from the day I got here I\u2019ve been allowed to be myself \u2013I\u2019ve never been told to tone it down or dial it back. It\u2019s better to get in trouble than to not do something because you\u2019re worried about getting in trouble.<\/span><\/p>\n

How does it feel to have people consider you a friend just from hearing you on air?<\/span><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t get hired because I have a great voice or production skills. I got hired because I have a personality, and for whatever reason, I engage people. God gives everyone their gifts, and I got the engagement gift. I think people kind of relate to me. I\u2019ll ask a question that might not be the smartest\u2026but someone in their car is going, I didn\u2019t know that.<\/em> I know I\u2019m not dumb\u2013I can be ditzy, it\u2019s part of my charm. I\u2019m never embarrassed to say I don\u2019t know something. <\/span><\/p>\n

Proudest moment on air?<\/span><\/p>\n

In October of my first year, I had a mammogram, went back for more imaging, had to have a biopsy. [Matteson was diagnosed with breast cancer and shared all of this with her listeners.] Luckily, all my doctors came on air and talked about it.<\/span><\/p>\n

A lot of people went on that journey with me. That was maybe my one chance I got to do something of real value. That was something you can\u2019t manipulate. <\/span><\/p>\n

When do you feel you\u2019re where you\u2019re meant to be?<\/span><\/p>\n

My validation comes when I meet people and they say, I love listening to your laugh<\/em>, or, I love you and Blake<\/em>, or How\u2019s your sister?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

These are people who have very busy lives, but for some reason, they\u2019ve connected with us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Who Is Randi Kirshbaum?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Nearly all the women interviewed for this story mention her influence on their way up in radio. Presently the brand manager and listener advocate for 98.9 WCLZ and Coast 93.1, Kirshbaum was a pioneer.<\/span><\/p>\n

She was 16 when she walked into KQRS, her favorite station in Minneapolis\u2013where they played Hendrix, Joplin, and the Doors\u2013and said, \u201cYou bill yourselves as a progressive radio station but have no women on air. Why don\u2019t you hire me?\u201d She got the job as the first female disc jockey in the Twin Cities, even though her program director at the time told her not to expect to make a career out of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

That was 46 years ago. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was very persistent. I didn\u2019t think then I wanted to get into radio and do it the rest of my life. I just knew I wanted to be on that particular radio station, and I worked hard to get hired\u2026 I had the radio bug; I was one of the nerdy kids who\u2019d go to bed with a transistor radio under my pillow and listen to WLS out of Chicago. I\u2019ve loved radio my whole life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Randi took jobs in Baltimore and D.C. for several years before reaching WBCN, then Boston\u2019s Classic Rock station. \u201cThat was the pinnacle as far as I was concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy hero at WBCN was a woman named Maxanne, and she was the only woman in Boston. There was another one in San Francisco. Then other cities starting having one or two.\u201d There was an overall belief then that men didn\u2019t want to listen to women and women didn\u2019t want to listen to women. And if men did have to listen to a woman, she had to be someone they envisioned as sexy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was 16\u2013petite, short curly hair\u2013and when men would meet me they\u2019d say, \u2018Oh, I thought you were tall and blonde.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After spending summers in Maine, she decided she\u2019d make the move to a smaller market for a better quality of life. \u201cI took a giant pay cut, but it was for the lifestyle.\u201d Kirshbaum has been at Portland Radio Group for 35 years. In 2006, she was inducted into the Maine Radio Hall of Fame. <\/span><\/p>\n

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