I Knew It Was Time for a Change | Blaze | The Corie Sheppard Podcast

Blaze has been one of Trinidad and Tobago's most recognizable radio personalities for decades, but after 12 years at Slam 100.5, he made a career move that surprised listeners across the country.

In this episode of The Corie Sheppard Podcast, Blaze shares the story behind his journey from sound systems and radio clashes to becoming one of the most influential voices in local broadcasting.

He reflects on growing up around music, learning from pioneers like Tony Lee, George Gonzales, Starchild and Master Mike, building his career in radio, and the sacrifices required to stay relevant in a constantly changing media landscape.

Blaze also opens up about walking away from a secure career path in accountancy to pursue his passion for music and broadcasting, the lessons he learned from success and failure, and why he ultimately decided it was time for a new chapter.

In a special addendum recorded after the original interview, Blaze discusses his departure from Slam 100.5, his move to Scorch Radio, the emotions surrounding his final day, and what listeners can expect next.

Topics include:

• Leaving Slam 100.5 after 12 years
• Joining Scorch Radio
• The future of radio in Trinidad & Tobago
• Sound system culture and radio clashes
• Tony Lee, George Gonzales and radio mentorship
• Building a career in broadcasting
• Choosing passion over security
• Success, failure and reinvention
• Drama Wednesday and audience connection
• The evolution of Trinidad and Tobago media

#coriesheppardpodcast #Blaze #Radio #TrinidadAndTobago #ScorchRadio

Transcript

Rumours, Radio War, And The Move

Corie 0:00

Blaze Friday Walkboy. Hoppy say he makes it. Hoppy say I see Blaze and I see JW. And I put them two fellas together. We see obviously said he did it, but I didn't know of it.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

But no, he could claim that he makes it. Well, he could claim that Blaze has added so much to Scotch. Blaze did Scotch into a real radio station. I had to give him that. Drama is me and I am drama. You can't take the drama out of me and you can't take me out of the drama. There's nobody can do drama like me. Today radio war's been going on. When this thing starts, I was like, what going on here, boy? I want to make my move and wall it doing.

Corie 0:33

JW and Blazing again, friends, to the very end.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

To the very end.

Corie 0:36

Don't go on the end.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

You know, calling step and core, step and calling, step and calling, step and call it.

Corie 0:51

Don't let this stop. It's gonna be sexy. Please find anyone.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

But when you when you see when when money involved with ND and all kinds of things, I ain't playing with that. You see when court involved? Yeah. I good. You keep it thinking about it.

Corie 1:25

You know what I mean? I have men in the background asking me, How you gonna bring Blaze here and you ain't gonna ask him about moving. I say, Blaze, what? I said, What is happening?

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Yeah, boy. Well, you know what I mean? You know, you know, listen, at the end of the day, the only thing concerned in this whole world is change. Uh uh, and they always say a Rolling Stone gathers no more. You know, all these nice things you just conjure up in the head when you're moving now. Instead of that, stay putting, you know, because you don't know, you don't know what's happening next time. 100%. You know what I mean? So I uh you know, you you reach a phase where you're saying, you know, what's next? You know, you you you wanna you yes, I still have it, I still have it, you know what's going on. Yeah, and you know, you get opportunities and you got opportunities. Well, I got opportunities in the past, and then I say, you know what, you know what? I want to take this opportunity.

SPEAKER_02 2:08

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

You know what I mean? Chris and I, we we spoke again and again and again. Um, and he was like, You bored boy blaze, boy. You know what I mean? So I say, well, cool. I like let's see what let's see what can happen. Gotcha, scorch it is, scorch it is, yeah.

Corie 2:22

Scorch it, I saw the I saw the resignation. Yeah, yeah. We are kind of a post that we ain't sure where it is, but we kind of show yeah, the phone button, yeah, the the reset button, you know.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

Because I I don't know, I don't know how to, I didn't know what to do, I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to seem we in that area too. Yeah, that's like I don't want to seem too watery, I don't want to seem cry, cry. Yeah, I don't wanna make, I don't want to, you know, injure the station. Right. You know what I mean? Because that was that was my concern too. Because it's not it's not slash and burn. I'm I'm not that type of guy now.

Corie 2:53

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

I I still have respect, I still uh love what was done on Slam. I love how they treated me, um, how we operate. I spoke with the managing director, we spoke at length, and it had no animosity there, and and you know, we still good, you know, Jared. Um, so at the end of the day, I didn't want it to be well, you know, I I make this major announcement to make them lose. Of course, or or damage them in any way. That's that's not my intention. My intention is just to move on. Yeah, so you handle it in a delicate way. Yeah, I handle it in a delicate way until it it hit. Yeah, I saw that.

Corie 3:25

Yeah, but you see, we manual is anything you do is talking about it.

SPEAKER_01 3:30

That's what went on, yeah. So I just sat up with a little thing so people didn't really take it on another, like I had cool, please. Maybe a t-shirt or something.

Corie 3:39

But boy, when the rumors when the rumors start, they fly, they fly, they fly. Like my experience with radio is where you see, and we talk about some of that. We talk about and hoppy talk about it here, moving radio stations and things. It's a big thing to us as radio fans. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Something real sad.

SPEAKER_01 3:57

Apologize to him for me. Tell apologize to him, tell him uncle didn't mean it. I ain't telling me that you're going to tell us.

Corie 4:02

I tell me, just off radio. Sometimes you have to keep them on the toast. He's very sad right now. But we've recovered from a world where when somebody leaves a radio station under whatever terms, good or bad, yeah, you don't hear, you're just tuning in next Monday and you just hear somebody else, and nobody explains it to you. Yeah. And it's a world where it didn't have social media neither. Nobody couldn't come and say something to people and those kind of things. But yeah, I was real um. I feel good when I saw um Slam and the group put out something.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

Yeah, yeah, yeah. They did. And and and that's why I say, you know, I don't want to damage everything with the GML network. This I still have a lot of friends there. Um, you know, and I I just didn't want to do it. It was just my I had to move on.

Corie 4:41

Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:41

You know what I mean? I got the opportunity, I got the chance, and I had to move on because it was my time to move on. I I found that, right? You know, I felt that way, sorry.

Corie 4:49

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Um, you know, and and in terms of you don't want to say another thing is that you know, people might say, Well, you didn't even tell we was going. But remember when you're going to a competitor, you can't say it on a station. I can't say on slam, well, tune in next two weeks and scorch for Blaze. You know, that that's what I think. You're damn you're full of that damaging. So so people might say, Well, you didn't even say it was going, but you can't. Right. You know, that's just how it is. Yeah, you know what I mean?

Corie 5:20

Um I wonder for you how it is on that last day, but how long you were there? That's that's 12 years.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

Wow, yeah, it was the um we we 2014, yeah. Wow, so in our 2014, last time the first week of January. Gotcha.

Corie 5:33

So you're cracking the mic and you're going on there knowing that this is gonna be a last. What's it like emotionally?

SPEAKER_01 5:37

But still, it it wasn't easy, you know. And and and thank God that day, that Friday was real busy. Yeah, I didn't have time at interviews here, segment that so I didn't have time to yeah, I was it was I was like, they know I go in or something, yeah. So they're trying to squeeze in everything into the show. Yeah, I was like, they know I go in or I started second guess myself because it the show was so now the show is always busy, yeah, but it was real busy, and I was like, they know I'm going, they try to squeeze in everything, hilarious, you know what I mean? Hilarious, so it kept me busy, and I I wanted to say something, but I couldn't. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, I didn't want to damage anyone.

Corie 6:15

That makes sense, that makes sense. I think it was well handled, it's one of the better ones we've seen recent times. Like you said, the radio war's been going on. We see real movement, you know.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

And listen, Corey, when this thing starts, I was like, what going on here, boy? Oh, you still thinking that yeah, because I want to make my move, and while you're doing what were you doing, and and you know, we were in negotiations and it kept on going and going and going. And I was like, Why are you guys resigning and going all over the place?

Corie 6:43

It's one of them things like Street Fighter. You remember going in the arcade? Yeah, we play game, game, game. No, it's the biggest boss move because that is the biggest move in your radio was for me. Oh my biggest boy. So we can look forward to at Scorch, boy, because we know Scotch to be a different type of place in some formats.

SPEAKER_01 6:59

It's a different type of place, it's a place, it's uh it's it's very progressive. Um, you know, you know, Quissy and Daddy have a lot of young people in, which I love. You know what I mean? Uh it's a different way to do radio. That's that's what we're looking at. Right. Um, you know, it's a different way we sat and we say, well, you know, you can't just go back and do the same thing you were doing. Sure, sure. You could do the same thing, but obviously there must be improvements and advancements. And um, it's just we we figuring it out. Gotcha. Um, we have some figure out, figured out, sorry, but we will figure out as we go along, just as anything else. Of course, of course. Um, in the program I do now, all the things that I do, um, it was done over time. Yeah, it makes sense. It makes sense. It just it's just it's so compact now and it's so part of people's routine that they didn't even know when it was established. No, yeah, just feel like. There was a time when it had no drama Wednesday.

Corie 7:45

Well, there was a you know talking about that co-creation thing is you and the callers, everybody make it into their day, yeah. You know, you know what I mean? But when we listen to squad now, we don't hear nobody talking, you go and talk and sing, right? You never just go on the. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'm going home. Yeah, I was very nervous at all. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

We're gonna talk full, full, full morning show. Full full thing, nice six to nine. We're doing uh, we have some extra plans too. So we we exploring a lot. Was that any TV? Yes, yes, yeah. You know, they have a they have an ecosystem, right? So obviously, you will be it could be all over.

Corie 8:19

Well, you see ours, right? When we record the episode, I keep saying runway instead of run now. Maybe that is what coming, you know me.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

Who knows? Walking on the runway and all that.

Corie 8:28

Yeah, who working on the runway? We had a fine our fan questions before we before we get into the real episode. Yeah, yeah, fans go on to know what go happen when they come in. Um, well, with me or with the station? Yeah, because when we we accustomed to you have our drama Wednesday in the morning, no, so what well the thing is uh drama is me and I am drama.

SPEAKER_01 8:48

Yeah, and I mean that is what it is. You can't take the drama out of me, yeah, and you can't take me out of the drama. You know what I mean? Yeah, and I'll say it unapologetically. There's nobody can do drama like me. I want to second that. Come on, I mean good. I invented the thing for crying out loud, so there will be drama. There has to be, as a matter of fact, there might be more drama. Who knows?

Corie 9:13

Yeah, hope scotch rules loose, you know what I mean? So then we're gonna do it. We'll loose, we know we cool. Listen, the drama done happened already, you know. Because you ask you what you're doing in your downtime now because you're home. I expect you listening to radio and say you're getting your late sleep, right? So you're feeling on what happened over the last two weeks while you're gone, right? Yeah, please. People asking Miles what he's doing. My social media person tells me, Blaze, take out slam out of his bio. Them youth's different now, huh? I did. I don't know. That's what she said. She did. I didn't well I don't think so. I don't know. Well, maybe it was never there.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

Probably he probably probably was never there, in all honesty. I didn't take it so far. The only thing I changed was a reset picture. And that was that's as far as I went.

Corie 9:55

Well, okay, tell you she watched Miles One and she said Miles Own still there. So only in talks or what's the plan? Yeah, I know we go ask Miles when he comes here, but yeah, yeah, yeah. If if if we want, if we if in other words, I know Miles still on slam. Yeah, Miles is Miles is still on slam. Um I just smaller negotiators are units when I hear yes and miles, I think it's one thing, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

But you know, sometimes you know your car move as you want, of course. You know, it happens and and it it might happen in the future. You don't know. I don't wanna I don't want to script down your man. Sure. Um, but uh uh anything is possible, yeah.

Corie 10:25

But miles can handle himself over the last two weeks because we're hanging up on people. I man call and say we're blaze, right?

SPEAKER_01 10:31

Back to yeah, yeah, while I will talk. You don't know.

Corie 10:34

Yeah, them callers real they're vicious, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:37

Yeah, they're very vicious human beings.

Corie 10:40

I'll appreciate it. I want to wish it best as you move forward to it as well. Thank you for that, man. But before we go, I had to tell you that Hoppy say he makes you the food. When Hoppy was here, Hoppy say I see Blaze and I see JW. Yeah, and I put them two fellas together and I created like Siskel and Ebert or like um Stan Buckwell. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

No, he could claim that he makes now he could he could claim he well, he could claim that Blaze has added so much to Scotch. He could say he said, boy, Blaze doesn't scorch into a real radio station. I didn't give him that. I didn't give him that one. He turns into a real radio station now, boy.

Corie 11:16

Well, congrats in advance. Number one, how the game, how the game. So we could get to the real thing we record now for people. Yes. Let me do that. Should we? Yeah, we should. We should. Welcome to the Corey Shepherd Podcast. Thank you for everybody who's been tuning in. Thank you for all the new viewers and listeners that have been

Leaving With Respect And No Damage

Corie 11:30

here. So they have our guests. So long we waited. No, we wait. Problems on his end, problems on my end, but we're here. We are the mayor Sour City Road Match winner radio announcers. Blaze Mogul, how are you going? How are you going? How are you going, Corey? Thanks for having me. I really appreciate it. Sorry for the I had to apologize to you.

SPEAKER_01 11:46

Yeah, I thought people say no, it's not Corey's fault. It's just that we we didn't mesh, you know. But I appreciate you saying that.

Corie 11:54

It's my fault. Listen, we had to start this episode in a strange place, right? Yeah. First with some thanks. Because I appreciate you always going on the radio and talking about them parking by Sunday and they see that by the president, house it. Man, by botanical gardens.

SPEAKER_01 12:09

Right. I just you see, you see, I look at at it where all right, it's a little inconvenient, but I also look at the danger of it. Because people is be opening cars. I say, Oh my god, baby the other day, she in the lane, you know, and and children coming out. And so it's it's like, yo, yeah, I appreciate you making that call.

Corie 12:26

I go in living cascade now, so we passing there all the time. Dangerous. Because when Bravo was here, we're talking about the there's a woman's rugby team training there. Yeah, there's a few track clubs, track clubs, yeah. And to me, these are all future heroes. We can't have them risking their life running across that savannah like that when people park on that side. You guys be worried. Yeah, yeah, it'll be nice. But the next thing we had to start with is our apology. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a Brandon Stryker. Yeah, you really that was rough, Blaze. That was that was that night, it was a strange night, huh?

SPEAKER_01 13:00

It was a strange night. It's like we we, you know, myself, Johan, and and Lynx, you know, we come together. We we liked Songclash, you know. I mean, from ever since. Uh it was Diamond D. I mean, he's he um he lives in the US now. He's a pastor, by the way. Oh, seriously. Yeah, he's still pastor. So Diamond D, Lynx, Johan, myself, and um, we would always come together when the songclash died. We we like it.

Corie 13:28

Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_01 13:29

You know, so Diamond's not with us. So we come together and we said, well, you know, we go in, it's an exhibition. Right, yeah, yeah. We ain't really going to harass anybody. No, that was the plan. Yeah, that was the plan. We cool, you and say, Yeah, no problem. I mean, we have things here in case anything happened, we're good to go. You know, so I I did uh I did a uh I came from a uh a function, right? You know, a formal function in in San Fernando and I come up the road, you know. Quase you're saying that, yeah, where is I say I'm coming up the road, I'm coming up the road now, give me a thing, think, think. So while I coming up the road now, uh you and ways, think, think, think, think, think. So Sarah Light, cool. So I reach now, and by the time I reach, I park in, everybody was inside already. I heard I heard uh jugglers playing. Yeah, mighty jugglers. Right, you know well, yeah. Well, I say, well, you know, people know that's that's us, you know. We we you know we have these little 100% things, you know.

Corie 14:25

People know that cell construction, how they move and looking forward to hearing Cell play that after some years, yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_01 14:30

So I say, well, all right, you know, I went there now and then I sat down. I I sat down and and and and and and he was talking and he was saying this and that and so I I take a seat now and I sit down right behind him because I like to hear what people say. So Lynx come tell him, I said, nah, just give hold on, give me five seconds. I just want to hear because I need to know my rebuttal. That's that's how I just look at it though. I hear I don't go in wild. I hear you. I like to hear. So then when I went in now and I said, you know what, we really didn't come for this. I didn't come for this. I come to just have a good time and thing. But you know what? You're going and get it.

Corie 15:14

I feel away now, watching the crowd. And for people who went through, is um what was this? Fully loaded, reloaded, what's the name of it? Hoppy Bring the Radioactive Tutti. That's right. Yeah, radioactive at the anniversary. It was supposed to be a fun thing, you know. I mean, no big competition, no class. No, it was just to be cool. But as fans, yeah, you want to see what you want to see better canal.

SPEAKER_01 15:32

They want to see.

Corie 15:38

Yeah, boy, that is a shot. Everybody watching.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

I realize it's a shot because I'm saying, oh, so you wanna, you know, you're kinda you want you up over one foot then?

Corie 15:45

Yeah, nah, taking that. They come out real calm to any line. You have it still though. Uh huh. Yeah, you come out calm and cool, walking slow. I say, All right, it's nothing like if it's like Brandon. Here we're going, you know. That was the worst. And this time they're right behind me, and it's saying, I ain't even wanted to wrong. Let's say this and this and looking good. But how would it feel, boy? Being back on stage itself, real good, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:07

Just you know, is we love it because we come from a place. I mean, people come from different places now in media, and we have to accept that some people come from different spaces, but we came from music, and and most of my generation we love music, and that's how we became what we became because of the love of music. So, with the soundclash culture, is is about you know, it's first and foremost about music, about building these things, uh, scenery action is is music. So it felt like, but it feels real good.

Corie 16:36

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:36

It feels real good, and two more, and I would be sharp. Seriously, I wasn't sharp then, I was real done.

Corie 16:43

You say two more Korean are sharp. I believe that sharp, sharp, sharp. Let me tell you something. It looks sharp to me. Uh yeah, I think I haven't seen a I haven't seen a clash audience with um that amount of people in our long time, yeah. You know what I mean? Because when they do events, and maybe it's we don't used to call young songs now who doing more of that than than the songs we know. Yeah, boy, when you go in Songforge, you're parking right in front of Songforge. For this one now, I see all Fatima full people.

SPEAKER_01 17:08

Yeah, down the road all by Mukrapo and things full.

Corie 17:10

Yeah, I was wondering if that is when the bug bite men and men sort of say, well, it's gotta be a war. Yeah, I feel so.

SPEAKER_01 17:16

And and and you know what? The what I like is that the rivalry, what I realize is that the rivalry never, yeah, it never came down. Because it have the radioactive fans, it have the jugglers fans, it had the cell construction fans, and well, excalibur, you know, different Max Emilia, and people came and people were wearing their little t-shirt and things, so it felt like back in Harvard's days. Yeah, boy, remember them days in the old days. That was that was when it was real roadway.

Corie 17:43

Yeah, it was sharp, it was sharp. It had no fronting and laughing thing. Oh boy, and the youth know them never know them Harvard's days. But I think if at looking at Clash, your day when you was in top four was was it Harvard boy or was it Dongny West Boy? Yeah, it was it was Dongny West. So that day you catch on boo boy as a maximum.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

Yeah, as a Maximella fan, that night still, still, still, still, still. That was that was 45 shop lock. It was shop luck. Yeah, that was Shop. It was honestly. Yeah, it was a mob 2. Right. Was it Mob Sue? We had on some some some army green t-shirts with cell construction and thing, and and boy that night, here what happened, huh? That time Maximilia was the biggest because Max Emilia would just they were just out of Wheel Clash. Umba and Curtis just came out of Will Clash like two weeks before. So when you go to Wheel Clash, you have all these things built for Wheel Clash. Am I bearis? They had Johnny Osbourne, they had all the things that we love, that we dream of now. It was they they had huge dubs, and they did well in Wheel Clash, you know what I mean? But say you come to it, but you came to the Yeah, but they have no toothplace. I always say that, right? And and I told them that, but they were fresh out of that, so they had everything going into it. We, however, we didn't really have all those all those things. We had a few, so we decided now that local is best. So we started to cut dubs local because there was a soccer, there was a soaker session. You know what I mean? So we say, well, in that soaker session, if we could start to deal with people in that soccer session, we will make it. We will be alright. You know what I mean? And we started to cut, we cut Feyon, um Iowa, KMC, um, we cut Calypso Rose, we cut Sonny Man, um Bill Truckman.

Corie 19:29

That was our problem.

SPEAKER_01 19:30

Yeah, Bill Truckman, we cut all those things, and we cut some from Jamaica too, but you know, those things are expensive.

Corie 19:36

Yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_01 19:37

The local ones we didn't pay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Seriously, just work with men. Yeah, we just asked them, and they say, you know, as the first Sonny Man was like, you know, wait, wait, wait, this, you know. Seriously, I tell you. Yeah, they didn't know we had to explain it. Tim, we had to explain to Bill Truckman, we had to explain to Calypso. She sat down and depleted for us.

Corie 19:51

She didn't want shot somebody. Tell me, Stalin used to do peace come back the next day and take this in. Stalin. She didn't want shot. Tell me the first time you got black man films a party, Stalin lay a voice and say, All right, well, I'll come back tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01 20:05

No, we and we never got the opportunity to cut him. I mean, it would have been an honor to cut him, but but everybody did it one time, yeah, yeah, yeah. One time, and we we decided, well, this is this is our strategy because we love strategy, you know.

Corie 20:18

Yeah, and I think the thing that we miss is that I think at that point in time everybody was on radio. So when everybody was on radio on their own shows, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:26

It was war going left, right? Yeah, that was 98.9, 96.1. It is true. So the war was going back and forth, back and forth.

Corie 20:34

You was at 98 still, then yeah, we were at 98. We were at 98. You know, when I realized things was going bad, it was early, yeah, and I'll come back to that so called wrong. But no, there is a to the place in World Clash. They don't study blaze. So we come to it, that's the best we've got in World Clash. But when you're open, man, if one of the first things you say is, Umba, it is red, white, and black, not red, black, not red, white, not red. I just started seeing.

SPEAKER_01 20:55

Yeah, so that's what I tell you. I had to study it because he said that in he said it in World Clash, yeah, yeah, and red, black, and white.

Corie 21:02

It's not that. Yeah, it's red, white, and black. So I guess all in the early's day, you know what I'm gonna come in that soaker wrong. You have no worries about that. Yeah, no worries. What was the fan song again? Huh? What was the fan? You remember which fan? It was only cut. Yeah, uh, focus.

SPEAKER_01 21:14

It was focus and that was overdoing this. Yeah, boy, yeah. But it was bad. It was we were we wanted to cut it the worst way that we could, yeah, and we figured out the worst way that would not be obscene, and that's what we went with. Focus multi mility, homosexual ass.

Corie 21:31

That wasn't too obscene.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

No, just obscene language, you mean. Okay, obscene language. It was obscene, right? Yeah, but and boy, that was that was that was a clash,

Last Day Emotions And Listener Expectations

SPEAKER_01 21:40

boy. I mean, I I really didn't have um a lot of experience on a big, big stage like that. But I made it happen, you know, that that was just it. You are and all of us come together and say we had to do this, you know.

Corie 21:51

Yeah, it was in a zone like I would say Umban Curtis, Barry, and well, Shal at the time, Charlotte Barry first throat and Barry, yeah, in terms of how they used to click. Yeah, but you and Joan had something. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, well, it had something there, but it's the energy. And then that Bill Truckman, which to our year is such a big song. Yeah. You can't hear that song in the plate form no how. Yeah, boy. I consider myself a songman. Yeah. But if I remember, I did say Umba like a mat on cut's face post because it's in like a rat. That's Diamond D writing. Seriously, Diamond D stuck down.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

Nah, boy, that's a pastor, boy. Diamond used to write the most dangerous plates ever. He would sit down and he would write it, and then everybody would be like, Ah, okay, nah, boy, Diamond Boy. But here the men go get real vexed for this one. So let me ease up on this one. Yeah, Diamond was a master. That he still is. He still is. You know, and and that that he and he used to look at people and deal with them. I'm glad he used any words for good now. Yeah. He would watch people and say, all right, different. Oh, he had like this or he teeth like this. I'm gonna I'm gonna deal with him with that.

Corie 22:51

Yeah, from there I feel like everybody just started getting fades of black files, fades of black files, and then in the end of things, which to me is still the biggest dub we have in Trinidad.

SPEAKER_01 23:01

Oh yes. We we know that's we know that it's in Uclair. Right. That is that I am personally, that's one of my favorite plates. That Everton blender. I I personally love that plate, and I know it was coming, and we know he would have saved it for last. So we it was just timing. Yeah, boy. It was just timing, and and really and truly, we didn't really have a big answer to it. And he got the last say. We played second to last, and he he played last. So remember, if you play second to last, you had to advance you at a disadvantage, especially in Dubford Up. In Dubford Up, the man could sort you out last. So I decided when I when when we play the the sizzler now, I say, well, all right, come with your boring everton blender, and he gets mad, and people said that and when he played, oh my goodness, and people sat up.

Corie 23:49

It's the only time I ever see that song any other reaction than what we've seen song first. Yeah, everywhere he played. I see that song feels salty big, go everywhere. Everywhere, everywhere, that's only do some damage, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:59

And and it's about chats too, huh? Because remember, if you depend on dubs wholly and slowly, you ain't go get our chats, especially not Trinidad and Song Clash. We men, we talk as we like Pecong, we like Pecong, we like Pecong, so I'm bringing it for you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Corie 24:12

I'm bringing it for you. Well, I appreciate you opening some for G where you open it. And all the talk, yeah, I find that was good. Picong, yeah, bring life to the thing. So bring it is something you will do again if them things come back up anniversaries, whatever it's incorporated.

SPEAKER_01 24:23

Of course, of course, I have no problem. Once, you know, once Johanna and Link's up for it, which I know they're up for it. Um, you know, selective in in what we do, but but I am up for it.

Corie 24:32

Yeah, and you're a fan of the thing too, because I think I bounced you up in Mighty Kron. I don't know if you play, but you want to see if it's not Mighty Kong, it's Matter Runner one of them in Songforge to us.

SPEAKER_01 24:40

Yeah, Mighty Mighty Krong, what happened is that we came as a surprise in Mighty Kron. Right. So, you know, we we we came as a surprise and it we kind of wet the appetite a little bit. Yeah, so that's why this one was a little more elevated.

Corie 24:52

Well, I like how you say our sharpness to get still. I mean, the next one it could be it could be dangerous. Warning to everybody else, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on, man. But it's funny when you say you leave a formal event to come to that clash thing, right? But knowing you all all all my life, partying and outside and thing is something that I was always curious about. Yeah, how a way of straddling several different areas, right? Because look at the wholesome clash fraternity and look at what people went on to do. People are jewelry store, people controlling biggest money show. You know what I mean? We we are nobody biggest. That that that that fraternity needs to be studied because of my documentation before people went on to be big, big soak artists and things like that, yeah, yeah. But you play in a lot of different sandboxes. So maybe let me talk about morning radio first.

SPEAKER_01 25:31

How long have you doing morning radio? Um, I started morning radio in 2005.

Corie 25:37

Serious, so you're 20-something years now, 21, 22 years. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:40

Doing morning radio. Um, well, of course, Jason and I started um morning radio.

Corie 25:45

So y'all started together initially?

SPEAKER_01 25:47

Yeah, we started we started morning radio initially, but we were colleagues at 98.9. Jason did morning radio, I think with Avi St. Hill. He did a little he had a he had a little stint there. I never did morning radio, I did afternoon and night and weekend. So 98, it was night and 98.9. I used to do um afternoon drive. Right. Um, and then we would do nighttime with cell construction. And then I used to do afternoon drive with Redolit, and we you know, nighttime with cell-construction, weekend with cell construction. Right. And where that started for you? Like what year was that in 98 year old? Well, I started I started 98 in like 1999, you know. Yeah, that's when I started radio. Yeah, yeah, doing overnights, and that's that's where where we came from, right? You know, and that's something you always want to do, radio and that kind of thing. But I couldn't think of nothing else. Seriously, the only thing I the only thing I could have thought of to do, honestly, like I want to do, would have been to play in the NBA.

Corie 26:45

Can you see the NBA the National Basketball Association?

SPEAKER_01 26:48

I had we love I had loved basketball so much, right? What's up, Corey? I used to play real basketball, I'd add Jordan thing and thing. I remember my aunt sent a video tape for my I believe I can fly, right? I had that on video, the original in the box. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I used to watch that before I go and play basketball. And I used to go and I that you that was my inspiration. So I say, you know what? In form three, form four, everybody like, where you know where you want to be? And I like, I'll go and play basketball. Seriously. No, I don't know nothing about scholarship, you know, nothing. I don't know how I went and reached there. But clearly, I'd never reach. We had time. I wanted to play in the NBA. So it was good. I was I was I was good enough for people by me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'm not a team at the sour. Um, used to play by the uh by the police station there by the basketball court. Yeah, I make the team. Right? So I say, well, yeah. So then you know, uh it was fading a little bit, man. Position I was playing. I was um I was forward, I was a power forward. Yeah, I was a power forward. And in if it if it if the other team short, I might play center.

Corie 27:54

Okay, okay. You know, yeah, being a big man.

SPEAKER_01 27:56

Those were my thing. Gods were a little shorter and more. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, quick. Um, so so that that but before that I want I went to play foot, I was playing football with jabblity and things. I I play all kinds of sports now. Sports man, yeah, yeah. Like sports. I play for jabblity under under under 10, under 12, under 14, under 16. Yeah, and then we could make it. I was I was vice captain and saying me and a partner named Stone, Marvin. We control any back. We've foot a last topper. Uh and he can come in the back there, clean up. Yeah, badly wounded. Me and Stone in the back day this well, yeah. You know what I mean? So, so I I play plenty of sports and I hooked on to basketball and I say, well, boy, and then it started to fail. And I say, you know what, I'm gonna become a pilot. Serious. So, what school you guys go in at the time, playing? I went to I went to February government school and then started playing football there as a little boy, and then I went to Sour Government SAC. Sour SAC, which is the one in Sour, not Book. Gotcha. Book was a senior comprehensive in those days. Yeah, I was at five years. So I went there and then I went to Polly to do A levels for two years. Right. So I decided, boy, I want to become a pilot. So I had a cousin. You wouldn't want to be a few. I can't fly any quote. Right? So Bam now, every everything arranged, and I had a cousin who's a pilot in the US. So he was flying with Pan Am. So he said, Well, you know what? Um, that's my dad's cousin, first cousin. So you say, you know what? Um, your son wants to be a pilot, I'll take him. You know, he could come by me, wherever, whatever. I'll send him to pilot school. Blah blah blah. I was all ready to go. And then Panham closed down. Panam closed down. Dream for spoken. Yeah, Ralph Call and say, Hey, boy, he's a boy. I know I say how to take your son and thing, but um Panam Closed down, boy. So I say, Well, boy, all right, that's gone. Look for something else, you know. Um, and I as I I went into accountancy. Right. Yeah, so my uncle now, my uncle, as on my mom's side, uh, Anthony Pear, he was uh uh accountant, and she said, you know, she called Anthony my son thing, you know. Um and I'm going to be an accountant. So I worked at his auditing for me. Became very good at it, actually, doing auditing and you know what I used to call mom Wonder Boy, yeah, yeah, Wonder Boy, yeah, all the clients wanted me, and I didn't really know much. Well, auditing is where everybody starts in accounting. I didn't really know much, but somehow they wanted me to come by them. I was just cool and you know, so I I decided to become a accountant, so I started A80 back in those days, and then I was about to start ACCA. Um, that's in our way. I really and I went and worked somewhere else, and he stopped, he'd stopped talking to me for a little while. Because he he he had real big dreams for me now. Yeah, boy, now he had uh Uncle Anthony. He's a good, good one. He had real big dreams. He was like, yo, you see this film, this is gonna be your film. I see. You know what I mean? Because how he how I used to do stuff and he so come a wonder boy. Anything he sent me to do, I doing. So what me just get bored or you didn't like it? Yeah, just I don't know. I just I I I wanted to do music, right? But but somehow, like, you know, people like that, you know, in in those those careers, they they don't see music, you can't see music, especially back then.

Corie 31:24

Yeah, back then, you know, we not see music as viable.

SPEAKER_01 31:29

Yeah, he's saying like accountancy is a career, but that's a hobby. He used to say, but that's you know, junior does a hobby, and sell that's a hobby. You can't, you know, you cannot thing and bill house and things with that. You have a viable career and you're good at it, and yeah, I'm gonna pay for you to do everything. You don't spend a cent. You know, and um he was he was he was mad about it, yeah. You know, and I I decided, well, boy, I want to go and do music. So I went to work somewhere else and then doing accounting. Okay, okay. Yeah, I went to work in a in a in a place doing accounting, a battery place, selling battery, selling batteries and thing. And I went and do an accounting there, and then I said, Boy, uh, I like this music so much. I went to my mom. I said, Boy, mommy, I want to go and do a broadcast and course you know. And she was like, Well, all right, you know, my mom is the kind of mom will support you once you're doing the right thing, my which you have to do by her because she she don't play. Strict, right? Yes, she's strict. She said, if it's that you want to do, you know it's that. Right, yeah. You know what I mean? So I went in and I found um Edison Carr. Right. Found his number in the phone book and I called him a few times, and when I got him and and he answered the phone, and I was I was like,

What Changes At Scorch Next

SPEAKER_01 32:40

I couldn't believe he answered the phone now. Because you know he hearing this voice. And he answered, God rest his soul. He died recently, and he answered the phone, hello. You know, like Edison Carner. So I stopped. I said, Hello, yeah, yes, hello. I said, uh, Mr. Carr, he said, yes. Uh, what do you need? I said, well, you know, I'm I'm hearing you have a you know your school of voice culture. Used to call it school of voice culture, and I wanted a thing, and he said, Well, okay, um, you know, call me back to so and I will put you inside the next court, you know, that that sort of thing. It was $800. Right, yeah. You know what I mean? So mommy said, she said, you know what, I'm gonna give it the first $400. Mommy said, I'm gonna give it $400 and he'll pay the rest. Right, yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah, you know, you want to do it, you work in. But I'm gonna help you out. I'm gonna and my mom, that was the best $400 my mother ever spent. Imagine that, boy. Look at that film, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the best $400 my mother ever spent. She gave back $2400 now.

Corie 33:37

Salute to mommy, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:40

And and you know, from there I I I went and and it was just man, it was a real journey because I was like music, and and and the first superstar DJ I knew was Star Child. Star Oh man, yeah, Star Child was he was a superstar, and it just so happened that when I was in form one or form two, he came and he lived opposite us now. So everybody was like, We star child living there, think it. That time he's a real, you know, he's a dude, man. And um, sometimes you might see Dr. Hyde Pass or Teddy Mohammed, you know. He apartment was the place. So I I drummed up some some some courage. It doesn't form one and uh form one and two, so used to have disco, yeah, Mafia and things. So I said, Well, if Star Child was playing with in with disco boy, so I went over by him. I say, uh, went over in form one, and he had a big heavy voice. Yeah, you know. I say, you know, um Sir, I wanted to find out, yeah. No, I'm not Sir. All right, I'm not a teacher, I'm Star Child. I say, all right, Star Child. I wanted to find out if it's possible if you can play in our Mafia, you know, at this school. And he was like, Well, I don't know what school you're going to. So I said, I go in school right there, right on the hill there. He said, All right, you know. Um, I say, but you know, you may have to come and talk to the teachers and thing. He said, well, all right, when to come? I say, well, let me let me talk to my principal and I'll I'll get back to you. So when I talk to the principal, the principal say, Well, you know, you can come, like you say Tuesday. So I say, Well, you can come Tuesday. He said, Well, what time? So I say, Well, you know what, boy? I want everybody in school to know I know Star Child now. So I say, come lunchtime. Lunchtime. Everybody outside now. Right? And when it comes by the security, ask for me. As a matter of fact, tell me when you come in, so I will be by the gate. I want to walk in and thing. So Star Child, he ended up coming the lunchtime now. So I walk in him in. So it had a part where you could have walk on his side in his shade. Right. But I walk him through the courtyard now. I had my plan. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? So thing, and everybody else after us like, but you know Star Child, yeah. So he agreed to play, and and from there, you know, we developed a friendship. Right. And um, he was my he was my idol in terms of he was I wanted to be a DJ actually playing. And then he actually gave me my first song clash cassette. I see. He gave me it. I think it was in form two, and it was a 90 minutes Maxel and never forget. Yeah, 90 minutes. Yeah, and one side was was King Addi's, and the other side was Stone Love. That's the first time I ever heard of those. And I was like, who's you know, who are those people? And he said, Go ahead and listen to it. Right. You know, that's what that's big in New York now, and whatever, whatever, but giving back my cassette, right? Well, needless to say, you never get back in cassette. That's how cassette is. And that was my first intro to song, song man thing now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But but in those days, I didn't have visuals. So at you're listening to it and you're using the imagination. Big difference, huh? Big difference now. Big difference, big difference. So I used to wonder how it is the DJ is moving so fast. Because back in those days with Star Child, Dr. High, Teddy Mohammed, Howie T, that generation, we used to listen to Chinese Laundry to a certain extent, was a one-man show. Yeah, playing. With Mike and Lee. But I was hearing the person saying low and he calling under the names. Oh, in your mind is a one-man thing. In my mind, I think it's a one-man thing, but I hearing like somebody Billy Slow to somebody calling somebody else and they're telling them low, and I was like, How come? And then I realized it's two people. So I realized it have a mic man and it have a DJ. But the person who in front is the Mike Manner, he controlling the show. So then I say, Well, I want to be no DJ no more.

Corie 37:53

Oh, you get to like the mic thing.

SPEAKER_01 37:54

Yeah, and I say, I want to be a Mike Manor. Makes sense. I control any show. Right. You know what I mean? So that's how I started to go to Wazander. I had plenty of chats and things already. From then.

Corie 38:04

But he had to chat, you know. That's Star Child plan immaculate. So you pull off that, you have mine on the bitch. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:10

You know, so he he was my first person like that, and and you know, and then I met Master Mike through him, and I met Johan through Master Mike. So you start Mike in with Star Child, he started getting to talk and take. No, no, no. He was bigger. He was sometimes I go on Totty Records somewhere. Right, right. I can't do nothing. So Master Mike was more my lead. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was he was a bit younger and so on. And then Master Mike after Master Mike, now I went Johan and them and the whole song system thing started to really, really blossom. And I went with you and so these I just call them my my musical Trinity now. Star Child, Master Mike, and Yoan. Right, right. They're the people who I really who bring in. Bring me in in this music thing and taught me and say this and that and give me the experience and all of that. You know, so so these is but it's all kind of thing in a query. We can talk for a million hours. We will.

Corie 39:06

We shall we shall do that. But it's interesting because I remember I think the first time I ever saw you was could have been by myself in intensity though, when he had the shop. Everybody just kind of passed, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I I thought like I heard about self-construction was already formed when you meet Johan. Yes, right. Yeah, it had a cell construction. So they were playing, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:25

So cell was um uh Johan Sean, who died, um Timkey, who he passed away as well. Um, it had um Stefan, there was no background men, Stefan Marlon. Um, yeah, I think guys in Miami, brown eyes, and it had the micman at that point in time was um crush. He passed away too. Initially, yeah, initially when I think Slaughter was in cell construction for a brief one.

Corie 39:50

He was Dovey then Dovy.

SPEAKER_01 39:52

And and Slaughter and I are actually we're actually cousins. Family. Family, yeah, on my dad's side. I see. And when I met Johan and they, you know, crush was kind of he was kind of coming out of it. And they were kind of looking to see, well, you know, what's next? Who's next? Yeah, yeah. And I came along and I say, Joan, you know, so so and he was like, Yeah, let me let me make it happen. And I remember I went for uh audition by Johan. Because we knew each other, we knew each other. We wanted to see what you could do, what I could do, and after that, that was it. He was like, All right, cool, come back and start to learn these plates, yeah. Come back and start to learn these plates. That time I work in in account still, yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? Because when I say about shoot and pants, yeah, shoot and pants, shoot and tie, you know what I mean? So I work in there still. I you know, and he say, yo, come back, saddle in these plates, let me saddle the guy out, let me saddle go. And I always remember Johan telling me, he say, you know what, boy, he say when you go out on the stage, he says, you don't sell nobody. He said you sell construction, so yeah, we bad. Yeah, I guess that was a spectal. Yeah, yeah, we bad. Go out there and deal with it. And I felt like I felt like I felt like a like Hulk. You know, you just wanted a little endorsement now.

Corie 41:15

I with you, yeah. Yeah, I think like in the early days, and maybe Harvard is the first place. I never see you. I saw people well, when they ever establish sound, right? Yeah, and a man move on for whatever reason, and somebody else to come, they crash, the clash crowd, no, we vex it. We already want to see that man, we don't want to hear nothing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I feel as though from the first time I see you done other kind of command on people already. Yeah, you felt that? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:38

At first, no, um, but eventually, yes, when you got into it, and men start to see, well, you know, we and it's men started quite a hot mouth now. So men started fear, like what why we're going on with he boy? You understand?

Corie 41:55

So when you start to get and you start to build your reputation, you get more comfortable and you just yeah, even when you're talking about them days, it had a it had a sense of I want to say camaraderie almost in the clash thing before you come in, yeah. To be honest with you, my memory, yeah. Because usually man used to tell men anything, right? Yes, more or less, apologies. It had the clash thing, and it was always it always used to seem a little more like yes, it's clash, and we we're kind of like you say the Addies and the Stone Love. We have your own version of that now, which for our fan is a big thing, but yeah, you sort of take it now to Firelin's and Ricky Trooper level. Yeah, yeah. In my mind, yeah, yeah, where you're coming at men. Yeah, yeah. So at this point, you're fulfilling your dream in music, and you're already seeing yourself as wanting to do this for life. This is what you're gonna do. For life, for life.

SPEAKER_01 42:38

I mean, I used to I used to listen to I mean, Ian D Goose Elegore and Edison Carr and all these great men. Um, and I used to listen to these men and really listen to them. And I would go in my bathroom and I would go in the corner of the bathroom and talk. Like I would put the radio somewhere around that I could hear it, and while the music playing, I talking around. Right. Like if I on radio. And I think somebody tell me to my statures, I'm gonna go in the corner of the bathroom and talk in the way. Yeah, the essence of your voice now. So I go in and I'm there talking, and my mother like she studied now for me. Junior, yeah, we do maybe 4400. Maybe 4400, yeah. So she like, who you talking to in the back there? Because she said, I hope you don't know girl not me back me back. I was like, nah, mommy, I practicing, she said, practicing what? I said, I practicing how to talk, she said, but you can talk already. Mommy, I practicing how to talk already. And she see me like done, hurry up and big and thing and come out. Right? So, all them things, you know. I mean, I really migre, and and I would tell anybody that my dream was to. Be on radio when I started to really love music and I was introduced to music for from Eli. My dad, um, he was he was a soldier, but he liked plenty Rasta man music. I had two uncles, I have two uncles, they're still alive. One on my mom's side, my mom has one brother. My dad has one brother, both of them is raster. So he liked a line with them, and is Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, uh Bunny Wheeler, Burning Spear, all these men in your from there. I listened to them, and my mother on the other side now, she was musical too. So she was Curtis Mayfield, and and you know, these artists, um, the tops and and the stylistics, and so I grew up getting the two kind of like two sides. So sometimes when I call a song for somebody, they'll be like, Oh, you know about that? Yeah,

Apology And The Brandon Striker Night

SPEAKER_01 44:50

yeah, yeah, yeah. How you know about them? You understand? Because the music was there, and then with me now, well, we time with so can dance hole, right? So, yeah, so you're gonna know that through you. So I I know that we we our generation know that it was more dancehall, yeah. You know what I mean? But we get the edge of calypso coming into so of course, of course, of course.

Corie 45:07

And we'd know dance through Edison Carr, to be honest with you, was the first person I really hear playing dancehall like that. I mean, Ian the goose elegant.

SPEAKER_01 45:14

Ian the goose, and and I remember Tony Lee had a program on a Saturday night. It was a Kong Dong, a reggae countdown. Right. He I I used to listen to that religiously every Saturday night. That time was UB40. It was palatable, yeah, yeah. You know, you might hear uh uh uh um pull-up selector inside there, calmics or something, but you know, but Tony to me, he he had he and Edison Carr were men who used to play that type of music, yeah.

Corie 45:39

And the gay abroad sent some music too, yeah. So yeah, the genesis of this what we know as the song clash era, golden era clash thing, if you ask me, yeah. And then 98.9 was also I think talking to younger people now. I don't think they understand what it was like with radio. What you describing there, maybe Johnny Q described it the best when he was here, yeah, because radio at one point in time wasn't even really mixing, is it song and talk and song and songs? Yes, yes, and then the Johnny Q and the Mira bringing the mixing and bringing the mix in and thing. But 98 with radio brought in a kind of urban. It was us, it was youths, it was for us and designed by. So when that started, you apply or or no.

SPEAKER_01 46:14

I when 98.9 started, I remember we'd launch a 98.9. Well, that uh I don't know if people know, but but I'll just remind them that was the brainchild of Louis Lee Sing. Right. Um, he he watched it and said, you know, something is happening here and we need to capture this. And to me, Louie Lee Sing is the father of Urban Radio. Uh, he brought it to, I guess, whatever, the board or whatever. And they say, well, all right, cool, we'll do a frequency and let's see how it goes. Um, but but when 98.9 launched, I was in school. I remember they launched an afternoon and we had a little radio to hear when he launched man. You know, it I was in secondary school, and then well, everybody wanted to be 96.1 launched a little while after because I think laundry was a 98.9 initially. Yeah, he was there first. Everybody was there, that was the only one, and then of course 96.1 was born a few years after or whatever. And um everybody wanted to be an either one. I wanted to be on 98.9, yeah, you know what I mean? And I got the opportunity to be with Cell, and then Johan said, you know, well, hey, I you should come and work with me on radio. I'll talk to Obi. O'Brien Haynes was the program director, then and you know, you know, you know these things, yeah. You'll run around, you think I'll call in nobody now. And then one night I remember in Center of Excellence, it had Sizzler. Right and 98.9 was going live. This is a long time. And Yohan told me, say, um, we're gonna play there, and you had a you had a mic. You had a mic. Now, normally what would happen is that with radio things, live broadcast, an announcer from the radio will have to mic with a DJ, not an outsider, right? Yeah, and Johan was like, yeah, the mic who you know. So somebody mic for them. I can't remember who it was, and then he he gave me a space, like about 15 minutes now on the live broadcast. And I remember I mash up the place and O'Brien was like, What? Yeah, come and check my Monday, and that was it. When I check him Monday, he put me on overnights one time, he was like, uh, you can do overnight, and I like, yeah. Yeah, yeah. No, I don't go to work, you know. Oh, yeah, I don't go to work any morning for eight o'clock. Corey had to go to work for eight o'clock. Overnights wasn't now. Overnight's finishing six. Yeah, the whole night. Overnight finishing is 12 to 6 or 12 to 5. Right. According to when the morning person coming. And I remember going like it used to be on a I think uh Thursday, uh Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, I think, something like that. And I remember, no, I think it was Tuesday, Wednesday, Tuesday was weeknights. Right, right. And I remember doing the overnight, going home, leaving 98 by 9 in Newtown, going home in sour, bed, and go to work. Three days a week. And by the time lunchtime, you're you're you're going in on like your car. You're right, and a six for nine. Yeah, you're right. Yeah, we need focus and the concentrate, the calculator, you know, you're using it upside down. And you know, it is a lot. Yeah, you went you went through a lot for your dream. You know, people from my era, we earned it, you know. It was hard work now to become who you want to become.

Corie 49:53

Yeah, you know, it's an important message for me, you know, because as it's real easy. So people who see what you achieve, right? Let me give you an example. You get through. There's a get-through culture we have to like get through, he's get through and everything. Yeah, everybody knows, yeah, you that's getting eaten. Yeah, well, coincidentally, I one of the first interviews I ever did was with you in 98.9. You remember that a long time ago. Yeah, we had a website called trinysounds.com. Okay. Salute Osman and Hinks. And so we was in all them clash, we taking pictures and doing our rights up. Them days you came and recorded the interview, you know. Yeah, the 98.9 was loud. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I never hear nothing so long. It might be loud, but it might have been one of them same overnights. I can't remember who was the DJ. I don't know if Lynx was around then. I can't remember. Probably sell can draw. Oh, I see. Yeah, well, then it's probably that. Yeah, and we get into talk now when you play music and then they have a break. The studio gets quite a bit too fast at the interview.

SPEAKER_01 50:47

So people might remember that is a long, long time ago.

Corie 50:49

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 50:51

So you see, Corey not here overnight.

Corie 50:53

Yeah, overnight it's take years, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 50:55

Overnight, overnight it's take years and a lot of work. 100%. And now you could have internet radio, I could have my own radio station at home. Yeah, it doesn't matter, of course. You know what I mean? So, and then social media now is a is a next place now where yeah, you could do it, you could do it.

Corie 51:11

You could do anything, yeah. And it's the thing about people from our era is used to you end up straddling like all you pastrolling. Our era is the best era, you know.

SPEAKER_01 51:19

Yeah, let me let me tell you why our era, Corey is the best era, right? Because we as children had no cell phones. We used to go to places and our parents would hope that we reach safely, right? We traveling and we traveling along the way, and it's only when we reach our destination by somebody or somewhere we would make a call, or they would make our call. Hey, Cory, um, girl, Cory reach by yet. I ain't seen me yet. All right, cool, buddy. How come this now? Now we were that generation. Then we were the generations where the same generation, cell phone kind of started to come in in primary school, secondary school, cell phone started coming, and then internet started to come in on our generation. So we live without it, and we live with it. Yeah, and we straddle the two of them, and we kind of good with yeah now. It's our real golden time because you know we're working with that now. Look at that now. We're experiencing it where hundred percent our our our kids were born into cell phone and internet, yeah.

Corie 52:19

They don't know the world like the stadium clock for some of them same show, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 52:24

They don't know if you're meeting somebody by KFC and they give you a description, yeah.

Corie 52:28

It's true, but you just gotta wait, and you're waiting sometimes, but telling you when you meet girls with a little meeting by KFC Dom go a city gate. See, you just have a KFC dumb tongue.

SPEAKER_01 52:39

I remember I you know you're talking long time now, excuse me, talking and thing, and yeah, meeting no suso. And I remember time I say where she I wear and I will be wearing a sususo, and uh when I reach, I I wasn't too impressed. I wasn't too impressed, you understand and I went back up the road, so you see the girl I'm gone. Yeah, I was I was too impressed.

Corie 53:09

It used to happen, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 53:10

And I I went back up the road. I don't know if you still golden zone, golden era, golden era. Hey, we time us a different time, man.

Corie 53:20

The mutants and them gonna say different time, but we gonna let them say that.

SPEAKER_01 53:23

No, but we time I we had I went get juicy all kind of thing. I remember time we had Pepsi. Remember Pepsi? Pepsi used to have these big things that I marched. Right, right. This is just before that. And Pepsi had a big thing on the promenade, but I never forget. Boy, I remember. I was on this committee, and Pepsi was Pepsi was the sponsor. And I remember I moved with two partners from by me and they said, Well, we going and gain backstage. Let me go. I said, No, I said, What go backstage? Yeah, who you gain backstage? Say, all right, wear my Pepsi jersey. Pepsi was a big Pepsi thing. I wear my Pepsi jersey. And when I reach by the tiny gate, man, watch me. Yeah, where you going? And I just turn my back so you oh, go ahead now. Well, what's now? That Pepsi jersey, I cherish that Pepsi jersey, you know.

Corie 54:14

I ain't like you have a real shots, you know.

SPEAKER_01 54:16

Hell stories I just do the man so like if uh, like if uh we really have to do so. You say, Oh, go ahead and say, and them two fellas with me and thing. Well, boy, my partner's like nah, but you see man, buddy.

Sound Clash Culture And Strategy

Corie 54:32

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So somewhere along the line from 98.9, you start to do mornings in 98 too. No, oh so you're left. Bye bye. That's it. No, we started to do mornings in on red. So what what what eventually made you switch? You stayed at 98 until red was formed? Well, 98.9 closed down. Oh, it had closed down.

SPEAKER_01 54:49

Remember, yeah, 98.9 closed down.

Corie 54:51

That was a war was long before.

SPEAKER_01 54:52

Yeah, that was a whole that was a whole fiasco. People crying at midnight, everything was shut down. I know, I remember. Um, TV, radio, everything was shut down. I think I don't know because it changed under the government. I'm not sure what it was, but they ended it. And after that, well, you know, we had we had no job. So what you was doing at that point?

Corie 55:11

Because so you're coming down now, you're fired our work.

SPEAKER_01 55:15

I was, I'll tell you, yeah, I'd fired our work. And I'll I'll I'll give the story how I fired our work, yeah. Right. Remind me to get that story. Um, we were playing in party and thing still. So you're still making a living. Right. Uh, you're playing in party and thing, and then um 90 and then 96.7, which is red, and boom, they were fighting to see who had open first. Oh, seriously, because um Louis Lee Sing got a uh a license, and then probably I think they got they got a license. And then O'Brien, he he was with 94.1, that time was Red M City, right? That was the first name before boom. So he was there, and then Louis had red. So it was like who going where? Because remember, we so people calling you here, they calling you here, like and you you don't know, you know, you're you're trying to make up your mind, everybody's everybody thinks something good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? So I do so now, and Corey, I tell you, I didn't know where to go. I didn't know where to go. Brian calling so, Red Calling, so so and I my brother is in the Coast Guard, and uh, went to pick him up at something, he wasn't driving yet. And I remember I studying that so much, I had to pick him up in Piako. That time, the hotel in Piako, round the back. I can't remember the name of it. But and I studying that so much, I study and studying, I reach a remain, you know. I reach a remainder driving, and I say, wait now, who I'm not remaining, come back down the road and say, What we know with you, bye. Eventually, eventually, I decided I go in red. Right. You know what I mean? And then I think Quasey gave the story with Jason and I, and he gave his depiction of it, which is obviously his picture, a car city man like. I can only say what I experienced. And Jason and I were we were we were Brigins, you know what I mean? But we weren't we weren't on the same shift, we were just on the same station. So we did work with Lisa Wickham, um, and we used to do work together. So at time we went, uh, we went to to do a uh a big thing, a big function award show in in Nevis. So we were there, myself, Jason, Tamara Williams was there as well. I went to do work there, and we was by the pool real kicks in there, and we was real kicks in off. We were real kicks in. And I see Jason boy, I was Jason, I said Jason, I see if we get a show together, it could be real madness and all. And he was like, Yeah, boy, no, we had no idea of what going on and happened. Yeah, and he was like, Yeah, boy, and then after that, you know, a few months after, and I remember Tony Lee calling me into his office and he said, you know, if you had to play on the morning, I said the morning. I said, I I never work morning in all that's really I saw his work night, you know, and he was like, No, if I had to play any morning, who you would who you'd work with any morning? And I say, Well, if I had a chance to work with somebody, to pay up with somebody, it would be Jason. And he asked Jason the same thing, unknowing to me, and Jason said, Blaze, right? Now Tony said, Well, all right, and that was it. You know what I mean? Now, Crazy obviously said he did it, but probably any background. Right? I didn't know of it, of course, right? So, and we started, and when we started, we really didn't know what to do. Yeah, figuring this out. We had to figure it out. The first person I saw was George Gonzalez. That time Mix Nuts. Yeah, gone. Yeah, they run the place. So I said, George, I say, Oh, you know, you just do a morning show, boy.

Corie 58:53

Days after you start already, you just probably a weekend head.

SPEAKER_01 58:56

Already, you know, we really trying to sort out ourselves, and I say, How you just do our morning show? And he said, Well, here we go. You say do our morning show, people must know what they're getting. They must know what they're not getting, but they must know what they're getting. And he he gave me uh uh a blueprint, and I'm always I always cherish that moment with George because he didn't gatekeep at that point in time, which a lot of people do, sure. And he said, you know, you know, have Mondays for this, and we started to to use that format up until today, right? You know what I mean? Obviously, I improved on it in in certain ways, but George Gonzales is one of the men he never gatekeeped. George told me off the bat so so so so so so so so so so.

Corie 59:40

Right, that's it, yeah. Important, hold on to that, though. Look where you turn up, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 59:45

You know what I mean? So so these are these are people that I will always cherish in terms of my career part, and I will always give them total respect.

Corie 59:53

Sure, sure. And those are the names you're called too, because what I know as more than radio, it has some names like Dale and Tony go be one George and Errol and them with huge, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:02

Dale and Tony, they had they had a they had a different formula because their formula was more political, yeah.

Corie 1:00:06

Sure, sure. They had but you know, they had a a style between two of them. Yeah, I don't think I saw that style, not not the same, but in terms of our meshing and our working together, yeah, boy, they're all they had a working relationship that that that could could match us. When people talk about modern radio, no, you and Jason in that conversation as the great. And I'm happy for that. And it's funny as they say mixing out because I always used to wonder about like when my parents told me about radio, they used to tell me about this thing with almost like an act. So when it's about radio programs, it's like TV programs, yeah, yeah. And I was so damn vexed by Nigel there. Nigel bring her a man who's teaching we all to act, and you have to ask, Well, we act in for the act, it's about what is this for? Yeah, but you all bring that into the modern era radio. I've never seen anybody do that before with the callers with the characters or something. It's celebrating. Well, I I don't think so.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:53

I mean, I I think that we um we put there, we put the the the the what do they call it, the the the easel. Right, we put it there, and it's up to you to to paint it. So I accommodating you, you know. And and that's how our characters started to grow. Right. Where we would accommodate them. Now you point them in a certain direction, you know. Not there's a little tap. Yeah, yeah. There's a little, that's all people need. A little tap is this way we go in. Right. And and they they they go that way. Um, but in terms of forming characters, no, I I don't form characters, the characters are on the phone, I just give them leeway. I understand. I give them I gave the space to run. Yeah, but you have to know how to interact with people. And once you once you know how to interact with people, you're cool.

Corie 1:01:40

I guess so. You're right. Because you used to listen to news radio going back to Dale Antonio, and you'll hear Mr. Mova or Mr. You know, they had names and they had a piece of names, yeah. And you know when Mr. Mova calls, he against the PNM. So you say, PM, there's a you know, but you'll end up with people like that somebody fall all year wrong, too. That's that's what it is, and and you're just yeah, you're you're comfort. So, how long in you realize that you're all starting to head towards number one radio program and all that?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:09

Boy, I think um I think the time there was a survey and we had beat Paula Nikki in the survey. Right, it's true, Paula and Nicki. Because Paula Nikki was, yeah, they were they were they were huge, they you know, and and when when we realized, wait now, JWM Blaze beat Paula Nikki, I think we they say, Well, yeah, boy. Yeah, yeah, but they they were, I mean, they were huge, yeah? Yeah, you know, I I look up to them, to Paula Nikki in terms of the way they did radio and that sort of thing. And when we realized that we was like, wow, yeah, and that's when people started to say, okay, well, these guys really are something. There was something, there was something, there was something.

Corie 1:02:49

Or Tony Lee. Yeah, one of them. One of them, one of them, or both of them. Yeah, of course, of course. Yeah, how much of an adjustment it was the early morning thing? Because morning radio, I feel to be a difficult thing, and I talk about it here all the time. And maybe y'all who do morning radio, all the names you call might be the reason I try to stay so consistent. We as a team, we ain't care what goes wrong. Yeah, that episode is gonna come out every week. Yeah, I know why this feel. I hate it when all you go on vacation, but they used to be just that much more sour than men on vacation and things.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:18

So, how much of an adjustment was it for you to get up so early, start to do morning shit on the was a massive adjustment because I was a party man, we playing and party and thing. And and at that point in time, I was doing morning radio and still straddling with cell construction, still doing what to do because I used to work Monday to Friday on the morning and then work Friday, come back Friday afternoon, work with sell this on red, right? Work with sell and then Saturday morning with sell. Oh, seriously, yeah. So I was working seven shift. Oh you know, I work anymore, you know. So it was it was a little hard, and then remember you're playing in party still, you're still active, right? You know, so it it was a major adjustment until well, you know, decided to go into more corporate and parties started to get less and less, and that that kind of faded. And then I went strictly morning, you know. Um and it was a it was a massive adjustment because remember, we was nightmen in school. We playing party roaming, yeah. When thing uh you had a by half past eight, nine, you had a clock in. Right.

Corie 1:04:22

And what time you had to reach the start your shift because by quarter past six, I expect him to hear a voice enough.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:26

Yeah, but you're supposed to be there at 5:30. Yeah, you're supposed to be there half an hour before your shift, right? Um, but you know, you go skating some most times. Well, he's number one, he's number one in the other shooting accordingly. So, I mean, honestly, you try to be in there at least by 10 to 6 to at least get yourself ready, watch your logs, see what's going on, measure up. And then um Jason and I now in the in those days because we started off with Jason with JW Blaze Perry. Oh, Perry wasn't the original show. Perry was your original morning show, right? Was myself, Jason, and Perry, Mary Perry. Um, Perry went to another station, which was in the group, and then Miles came. Miles came with us, right? And then while Jason left, and it's just Miles and I. So that was that was the whole thing. Um, but what I was talking about again, it was just talking about that the adjustment for mornings again. It was it was a massive adjustment. Yeah, so you had to go in your bed, you had to reach, and then after each show, like how we how we would do it after each show, you know, we want to find out. We do a little a little postmark. I'm serious, yeah.

Corie 1:05:31

When you when you now start, you know, you want to catch your legs. Yeah, but that's something I see y'all do over the years. Improve your adjustment. The other thing I can't remember all we used to call this segment. Now we used to call and vote for the two songs, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:41

We used to call it Parliament, Parliament, Parliament Friday, right? Every Friday, yeah, you mean to trail in some. Well, it used to be sometimes it used to be bad enough. Sometimes trailer we leave in the studio and we not we vex enough.

Corie 1:05:53

But telling me we used to be particularly when you see Perry started a ball frustrated and then we start to flip for.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:00

Who going last? I don't know what I don't know if like we started to get too vexed with one another. So we started teaching. No, no, no, we're getting too vexed.

Corie 1:06:09

Bolia evolved. That's what I mean. Yeah, different shows, different evolution was there. Yeah, that's anybody what when you decided to part with cell construction, but somebody accounting first. How you end up leaving that one? Well,

From Sports Dreams To Radio Calling

Corie 1:06:20

it happened in a way where um I was working in a battery place, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:06:26

Telling batteries and so on. And O'Brien called me. I think it was Saturday or the Sunday. And he said, Hey, here we're going on Franco. No Franco. Franco leaving. Franco used to do afternoon drive. He said, I willing to put you on the afternoon drive. Do you do you want it? So I say, Well, I don't know. I work in. Like I work in on a job now. Afternoon drive started. I think it was three o'clock, it started. I don't know. I say, I know that management. So I say, Well, I say, well, we here going on. Yeah, alright. You have until Wednesday. Because we wanna we'll fill it for now with somebody, and then I'll look it with somebody the following week. So my deadline was Wednesday. So I say, Wait, boy, that's a hard one, boy. So you know you're going your mommy, you know, your parents, hey, you know, yeah. Yeah, that's something solid. Of course. Because you know they still love the thing that yeah, that's something solid, you know. Because next thing, okay, you can work out for you on that chef, and somebody else go there. You just work in two, three days a week. Of course, yeah. What going on with you? Are you had to still give my market money? You know, it don't matter. You eat in here. 100%. You're eating here, you know. My money and cutting down. So uh I started to study it again. I said, boy, what to do? I'm not sure, I'm not sure, I'm not sure, I'm not sure. So we got a call the Wednesday. The same Wednesday was the answer. We got a call and say they say they want to meet Thursday. We're gonna have a staff meeting Tuesday. And in the staff meeting, and and this is this is this is no lie, this is true. The staff meeting Thursday, they say we're gonna wind up the company because apparently uh there were tariffs on imported batteries and they could not make with those tariffs, they would make no money. Um, so they decided to wind up and shut down the company the Thursday. I was to give the answer the Wednesday. So when I walked out of that meeting, everybody was crying, you don't know what we're gonna do, think, tink, tink, with long tears. I went and pulled out my cell phone one time, and I thought all right, hello.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:49

Ready?

SPEAKER_01 1:08:50

I am ready for Monday. So everybody, like, how come you not how come you don't care? You don't care? I said, Well, I has I have something, you understand, and that's how I got I went fully into radio, you know.

Corie 1:09:01

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:02

It's almost like God, the creator put me into radio.

Corie 1:09:06

Yeah, he created a space for you.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:07

He just said, you know what? Come out of this, as in this will be no more. You need to go straight into there, and after that, I never turned back.

Corie 1:09:16

Yeah, after that, I never know more corporate work on themselves. That was it, yeah. Corporate work, they say blaze pain by the hours and cheap to get blazed to corporate.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:24

That was it, you know what I mean? So I I think you know, all through my career and all through life, I mean, I am a God-fearing person. I I believe in the creator. I mom grew us up like that. See, I'm a pause raising. I believe in that. My mom grew us up like that, my dad grew us up like that, and up to this day, it's miraculous. Things happen. Things happen, you know, and and we can't, we can't. Men might say, well, it's not really trendy to talk about God, and it's not the trending thing to do. But I made that part of my mantra. God force and mankind after everybody know that is me.

Corie 1:09:59

Yeah, every day we hear it.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:01

Every day we hear it. I'm not afraid to say it. It's not like I'm uh on Widow or a gospel station, but that's what I believe in. That that's my spirituality. I believe in that, you know.

Corie 1:10:09

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I want to come back to that where family is concerned, because it's one of the things I see with you over the years. I know it's important to you. Yeah, yeah. Uh, self-construction. That was a kind of family to one where I break up. But what's on the oh yeah, well, um boy, we had a what happened?

SPEAKER_01 1:10:22

I had breakup and then come back. Right. You know, we had a we had a Joan and I we had a misunderstanding. Um, and I decided I say, you know what, boy, Joan, here you go. I cool. And he was like, all right, cool. No set of cussing and whatever, whatever, whatever. And then after that, uh, I started to go more into corporate. Um, and then one time I remember we were playing, well, they were playing, Johanna Lynx was playing up in a place on um, you know, any you know, queer coats is St. James. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh I remember the other place upstairs. Upstairs, there the DJ Kevin and them used to have something on a Sunday, it was real big. Yeah, yeah, I remember. You remember when they used to be 90%.

Corie 1:11:11

The last thing on Wednesday they had a 45. You had to play the actual records and things, I think. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:16

And um, I remember Johan Lynx was playing, and boy, I was just looking at them, boy. We wasn't really talking, you know. And oh sorry. Yeah. And and um I was just looking at them and men say, boy, why don't go boy? Why why don't you go? But them do, like them do, I say, but well, they don't know what's going on. Oh, they don't understand what's going on, yeah. We don't really on that dog. Yeah, we're not really on that. Say, boy, go ahead now, boy, think, thing. And I remember you and was Mike in your mic and links was playing, and then you watch one. You was like, one blaze thing, and I just went on his stage and it just had a whole roar, and I took the mic, and we had a good time, and after that, we kind of get got back into you know, us, and we got back in, and and from there, you know, it would it it was it was like that. And then uh when things happened, self-construction and believing red. Right, and you and went fully into production, right? You know, but that at that point in time it was kind of fizzing out a little bit. Everybody kind of wanted the fashion. Yeah, it was a and and it became a little expensive for us. Remember, everybody started to grow up now, huh? You had different responsibilities. So to play to pay 800 US for a bounty, it's a little hard for us.

Corie 1:12:37

If you get for 800,000, if you get for 800 might be a thousand. Yeah, and when the clash crowd that was 2500 strong at one point started fading.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:45

Dwindle, and people had started to make kids, and people had other things to do to started to run the little business and thing like yo, them then coming out, yeah.

Corie 1:12:53

Yeah, yeah. Maybe I should talk about this now, right? Because we talk about adulthood, right? Yeah, for you and everybody else in clashing. Please stop starting them things ten and a lot mini night. Yo, I'm you right out as soon as you done play that's no umba. I hear um, and then I was boy, my I feeling. I said, What is this? David Frightened my sleeping, it was it's too late. I went there to clash brunch now. It's with start 10 a.m. Yeah, and finished by about four come on when late fizz out 340 morning, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:22

I can't do that again.

Corie 1:13:23

Every one of my it is started aka back.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:28

Well, after I jump over the stage, I I had I had ice knees next day, you know. After all that after I brand and strike, I think Brandon Striker woke over your man like that as a right fellation. Oh, because your jump, your walk, your take it.

Corie 1:13:47

No, no, I guess I hear all they're going through that too because that is too late.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:50

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Corie 1:13:55

That's why it's take two years to have an ex event because men not trying to get it.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:58

Your bounce back just be long. When they do when they do something Saturday or Tuesday, you're still sleeping, you know.

Corie 1:14:02

Yeah, and you're doing it for the love too, because it's not it's not a big set of money you're going to hope.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:07

No, we just we just out there for sure, for sure. You know what I mean? You feel good, yeah. It's like a reunion.

Corie 1:14:11

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I with you, I wait too. Now, one of the things that we talk about family is going back to Nigel class again and not understanding broadcasting, right? I went in as a student, right? So I don't think before then I knew why I like the people who are like on radio. It's not like they just took it. Yeah, you know what I mean? And your name came up because you were saying that you had to decide up front if you're going on be a public persona, how much of it is a persona, how much of it is your real life, and how much you're going to give.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:38

Yeah.

Corie 1:14:39

So he used an example of somebody else who remained unnamed. And he said, Well, that person don't really say much of the thing. But you say, if you look at Blaze, he said, Well, where's Blaze's favorite football team? I say, Well, Chelsea. Yeah. He said, Well, where's Blaze from? I said, I said, Blaze are trying. I say, Yeah, you have a daughter. And I don't know you like that. I mean, so then I realized I said, But wait, I wonder for you if there's a difference between that personal and how much you give. Because you give a lot of yourself. You talk about your real life. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:05

Well, I mean, you talk about everything with limits. Two daughters have. Um, yeah, I have now. And and at the end of the day, I mean, I am a private guy. I I I like my like my privacy. Right. Um, but you give people enough to learn about you. You know, that's what people want to do. They want to know, they wanna know, they wanna associate themselves with you, they wanna say, Well, I from Sour 2, you know? Yeah, of course. He from Sour, I from Sour 2. He's we he's we sour thing. I I like Chelsea too. If Blaze like Chelsea, Chelsea going nearly going through now. Yeah, I still holding on to Chelsea. All of us, right? But that's all right, you know. So I think you give enough. Some people to me, I don't overshare.

Corie 1:15:49

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:49

I don't, I don't really overshare. I'm cool, you know. And then how much people want to hear about you?

Corie 1:15:54

I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:55

When you're so you're so yeah, people so interested in you, I guess. You know what I mean? On radio, I don't really talk too much about myself because people want to hear about other things. Yeah, they want to hear what's happening in your country, they want to hear your opinion on this, they want to hear that. Some people, when they go on on a radio or TV or whatever, they just speak about themselves all the time. People don't care, yeah. People don't care at the end of the day. People really don't care, you know.

Corie 1:16:18

Especially problems, you're gripes, you can play for but you don't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:22

They hear about it for a little thing and then move on to something else.

Corie 1:16:25

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:25

So I'm ready, they call that masturbation. Yeah, verbal masturbation. Yeah, you just talk about yourself, yourself, yourself, yourself, yourself. What yourself you talk, yeah, 100% of it, yeah. You get bored after a while, and then people know everything about you, they reach your man. I'm gonna see dress a man because you're so sweet. I don't know, Susan. You're like, Oh, we know that, but you talk about that already, but you forget, yeah, you will forget.

Corie 1:16:52

You forget, you will forget, you will forget. So you're finding that balance between personal because when they get it, I don't know where it came from. The mayor sour city.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:58

What has that become because I name myself that because yeah, why not? I name myself that Louis Lee Sing became mayor now. When Uncle Louis became mayor, it's the mayor bonus. Well, then I'm the mayor sour, and that's how I started that, you know. And Jason needs to be like that, and you're not the mayor sour, you know, today, and you know, just evolve from there. I just I just find well if he's a mayor and I work in for him, well, then I'm a mayor too. So the president of the bandits association again sell that too. That's you know, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I I don't know that that's the bandit association, but yeah, bandit association of Trinidad. I I don't know them, and the SJS came and that was a day we were just talking, shipping us, and saying if you had a team, and I was saying if you had a football team, we are saying if you had a football team, and I say if I had a football team, I would have named them the sour shooters, right? Like shooting the ball to a goal, but it involves, and then people that say, Well, so only once at the abandoned thing, the normal thing, normal thing with it is tell me now, and they say, Well, it can't

Mentors, First Gigs, And Getting On 98.9

SPEAKER_01 1:18:10

be that being who shoot people because there were some shootings in sour. We know this. As you may you go clean up that thing, these guys just came over the person who realized they bow us and but I don't know them, right?

Corie 1:18:21

I don't know them. So they never set up no character and think all that was organic all over the organic, organic. Who shall you see worse? That I would why would I set up that character? At one point, I said nah boy. You know who I feel only set up, beige. We don't know beige. So how come every time now only say women only you tell me that?

SPEAKER_01 1:18:40

You tell me that people somebody up to this morning, up to this morning, somebody say this show had to be pre-recorded. This car be live and by chance, right? But it is I don't have time to do all that. I don't, I don't have a producer, it's just me saying down here, you know, yeah.

Corie 1:19:02

I mean that that and people people like I say on a morning, first thing from the time I get up, blazing them from home getting ready straight on the car.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:10

Yeah, just you become and I'm so happy to be that because Dave Elcock was that to me. You know, as a child, my mom, as soon as you get up, Dave Elcock, and he would be playing different songs that they like, and he would be doing granny voice, and some days he would have John Agitation pre-recorded and Dale, uh mean not Dale. Uh Dave Elcock. Dave Elcock. Dave Elcock was he was that to me. Yeah, a show show. Yeah, he was that to me.

Corie 1:19:39

We didn't have a choice no reparents. Used to play more than I guess.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:42

Dave Elcock, Dave Elcock was the man, you know what I mean? Yeah, and after that, you know, Tony and Dale and Paula Nikki. I used to listen to them every morning, you know, that sort of thing. And because and I'm I am not somebody who's afraid to give people their clues. Yeah, I appreciate that. I appreciate that. You know what I mean? Uh, Glenn Antwine, God rest his soul, was to me, he was the best radio announcer, as in the act of radio announcing, where Glenn Antoine you was very he was exact, so he would know what ad coming up, and he would refer to the ad and he would say, Well, coming up, I'm so thirsty, let's have an orchard. Boom, Arch orchard starts. So these are things smooth coming out, and he would laugh. Everything was just coordinated, correct. He was the neatest. And I line the tell here 98.9 afternoon drive used to start four o'clock when I started using to do the afternoon drive. Right. When I go into work, he used to start three o'clock. I listened to him going to work. I listened again. And when I go on the thing, I trying to do what he you know. I mean, he was he would to me, he was perfect.

Corie 1:20:54

Gotcha, gotcha. And really, really good. Yeah. Some of them names you call never really sing no soak and thing. How come up for you and JW? But when did reach Oligan and sing? How old is this side? Ole go and do that. That's part of the character, too. I feel so. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:08

Because Jason had a song in 98.9 named Oyo. He started to sing before me. He explored his singing side before me. Well, you know, it was just a song. I think he did with chassis, whatever, whatever. And then um we decided, well, the boy, let me sing a song now. We had a we had a slang. Well, it it had a slang called Eater Food. And we decided, boy, let me sing a song and we will call it Eater Food. So we went. Um the producer name is boy. I figure his name. Young Marcell. Um, daddy had a studio. And Julio, Julio's the producer, was there. And he said, Well, you know, you can come by we and do the song. And we decided, well, all right, cool, we come in and do the song, and we came up with eater food and thing, thing, thing. And it was kicks. Honestly, it was kicks. It was supposed to be part of the whole morning show kicks. Right. And we say, Well, we're going and submit it for soccer monarch. Then we say, But wait now, that time they used to judge soccer monarch by CD. Okay, okay. Right? The preliminary CD. Yeah. We see, we name any list for semi-finals. So we like, what? We get you to semi-finals? So yeah, no. Well, there we go. So semi-finals was in the stadium and the side outside in the side there with the party and thing. Yeah. Boy, we went and we gave it all. I remember all and we mash up the place, and we come up, we come off saying, How done people like that song, boy? Serious? That's why they come out of fridge and thing. That was the finals. Or the finals was the finals. That was the finals. And then when we when we check it, we say we reach finals and so come on a kid. Nah. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. Well, we call Lewis appliances Derek Lewis. We call Derek Lewis. And then Lewis, hey, we have an idea. Jason can fit in a fridge. I can fit in a fridge. I go fit in a freezer. Right? And we want to. Jason will bust out the fridge. And I go bust out a freezer. So it comes to come on at night now. They wheel me in and in our freezer. Lie down, Jason in that fridge. Here we didn't study. How we go and communicate with one another. When one another win and bust out, mate. We in fridge and freezer. So we saw the ball and mic. Oh, they ready? Open the next person here. They ready? I'm like, chilling for now. I bust out the freezer, he bust out the fridge. And then we know we had a good time. So results time come now. So people, you know, people hampsing up in the back boilers real good. Yeah, yeah. So we started saying, hmm. This gonna be real good. So anyway, they start a call from fifth. So they call fifth. We ain't here, we name. We say, What? Like we come fourth. Yeah. We are fourth. We can come we name here we nah. Don't tell me we come third here. We are third. Second. First. We come last. We said what we get second here. We nah. Don't tell no we win no. Don't tell no we win, so come on. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We done said the plan for the little million already. Next thing we get somebody else now let come last boy.

Corie 1:24:34

What is that one? But good mileage for those appliances. First and foremost, it was excellent. And they and we always indebted to them. But core memories for it too, because you ain't expecting nothing like that at that point in time.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:49

I mean, and we had fun. We really had fun, and we and we we had uh another song. Uh can't remember, and then we say, well, boy, I say, Jason, let we let we do this, let me try and see if we could do something now. So we had this slang, I had this slang, I used to say palance now on radio. The first person to use palance was Kess. Kess used to listen to our show. I don't know if he said listen, but he used to listen. And he used palance in his song, right? And we used to say palance all the time. And I remember I was by mileage mark, I was changing tires, and I said down there, and Kunel now, Kunell come to change tires same time. This was in 2009. And um I say, Kunal, boy, I say, Kitchboy, you wanna sing a song you know? Serious. I say, yeah, yeah. If I write a song for you, only how to be serious, eh? I say, Kitch, we'll be serious. I promise. What's a write it on? Now, all this happening one time. What what topic to write is on? I say, well, we had this thing called Palance, yeah. Palance is way where is that? I said, Well, balance is to have a good time, you're palancing all over the place, you're having a good time. And you say, Well, all right, cool. Well, I would try and do something for you. Kitch meaning, take me on. All this is in mileage, man. The whole conversation. Yeah, we go on, he goes, I go on to catch my meaning, take me on. So that probably wasn't, that was just after carnival. Or probably during carnival. And I started to call Kitch saying he answered whatever when I keep on calling them, catch me and boy, saying the thing, and then I always remember August. Because my my first daughter was was just she was probably two, three weeks old. She was born in August and she was a baby. I was going somewhere with her. And kitsch called me. At that time, I was living in Diamondville. Kitch calling. He said, Hey, I something boy, uh, something. I say, serious? He said, Yeah, I'll dum, I bring in it. I'm coming out. And when he came and he played the parlance, I said, boy, kitsch boy. So I called Jason one time. I said, Jason, so we ended up going and recorded now, but it didn't have parlance in when we were on the road. It didn't have that. It just started jump up, jump up, jump, and record it, and everything was good. And then bam, they lose the recording.

Corie 1:27:12

The original recording.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:13

Yeah, they lose the recording, they lose all the instruments, everything, everything, everything, every everything. And kids say, Well, I'll come and record this over, you know. I said, seriously, yeah, I had to do over everything, whatever, whatever, whatever. And he put in some more little things and then recorded parlance. And Jason had to go to synergy. Right, of course. Because yeah, he said, cool how to go to synergy. And myself, Kitch, Garrett, we sit down there and it was like it's missing something, you know. It's missing something. And he said, put Garrett say, sing this. Palance in when we on the road. And I say, Alright, he said, Blaze, go in the booth and sing it. And I sing it, ting, thing, ting, thing, thing. And I say, Alright, cool. That is it. And Patrice end up coming, Patrice does background vocals for us, Patrice Robots. Um And all of that, and then the song came out, and we released the song, and we didn't think anything of it.

Corie 1:28:06

What was the reaction when he released it? People, people liking it. Not really.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:09

Yeah, seriously. No, nobody didn't really take it on. I mean, we on radio, but but Jason and I were always of the opinion that we should not overdo it. Okay. Because we believed that people would say, them fellas just pressing their own tune and all. That was the debate. That's unfair. Yeah, and and that was unfair. So whenever we played once a chef, if men choose to play, they play it. And it started to play by us on Red First, and then men started to say, Hey, we you sing the palace. So yeah, we hear it. But we hear on point one. So serious.

Corie 1:28:41

Yeah, because before then, the songs you're all singing. Like I see all the performing B squares, not like all they wasn't performing all there was outside. Yeah, but it wasn't really big. Nah, that was just other stations wasn't right now.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:51

The stations ain't taking me on. You know what I mean? No one taking me on. So you say, Who can point one playing it? Okay, no point one. You know, it's hard. Yeah, they went playing thing just so. So you see, yeah, serious, and then we got like a booking tribe ice. We're like, What? Tribe Ice? All right, tell them X amount of thousands. Yeah. And we performed it, and that was like one of the first places we performed it, Tribe Ice. And the when we saw the reaction, it just mushroomed from there. It just mushroomed from there, and it was like it was like like we couldn't control it. Jason and I didn't we didn't know how to control our song, you know. We was just performing and having a good time and thing, and then we was all over the place with buckings and thing, and then we say, Well, Miles, you're going on. You kind of more manage it. Yeah, you kind of more thing than we. We kind of scatter now. He more organized, yeah, organized. So we say, Miles, you're going on. You will take all the buckings, your thing, your manage, whatever, whatever, whatever. And that was it. So when all they had it initially, they had the dance and thing to go with it, or no, how did it come up? Um, I think it was Pablo, you know. I think it was Pablo. Between Pablo and Destro, they were saying that y'all had to have something with it. It just can't be only just run over the stage like two madmen, which we were doing at that time. You understand? All they had a you know, they they kind of taught us because they were in Pablo, used to be Marshall and them, and Destro. Well, Destra is Queen Destro. And they say only had a thing, and they say, Why though? And we was like, serious, and we started to tell people what to do, and it developed into that.

Red FM Beginnings And Building A Morning Show

SPEAKER_01 1:30:40

So the crowd started responding to the city. The crowd started to respond, because the tune was it was it was done big already. So people started to respond to it, and that was it.

Corie 1:30:49

And at what point the video came about because the video is one of them iconic things too.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:53

Yeah, that video dies Jason. Jason, he yeah, he he he liked visuals now. Ice audio, and he he like and he came up with the thing, and he was like, um, well, like poor cookie, man.

Corie 1:31:04

Just yeah, just random.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:05

Yeah, so why? Because if you notice in the video, like the first um first scenes and thing, I not there, yeah. I come in on the scene up, but we did it up chancellor and that that sort of thing. So he he pushed for that now. He wasn't even there. Yeah, it's serious. Because a Sunday, and he was like, Hey, we're gonna do it and say, All right, cooler, yeah, where now and I home. You understand? He was more the visuals, man. So he that was his concept, which was a real real brilliant concept at that time. And um, we had some guys, some synergy, and you know, synergy had the only men who know to do videos, and so we we had that team, and it was just it was fun.

Corie 1:31:44

Yeah, well, that but well, it was fun. That was only brand, you know what I mean? Yeah, but when the amount of paper fly in that video, it's almost like the video just keep billing and billing and again, wearing and weird. It's not no conference, it's just pop this paper in there.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:54

That was Toyota, you know. That was Toyota office, yeah. Andre Batiste lends us the office, and export again, yeah. And he was like, Yeah, just clean up after. Jason, at the sweep it up. I wasn't there, I tell you, I wasn't there.

Corie 1:32:12

Well, I really yeah, you're saying with my judah. So Judah in ZFM thing. I was hearing you're saying that when you all do it, so you have no idea where it will go. You have no plans like that. No idea, man. Yeah, so where we went on to win with it for people who wouldn't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:23

Boy, we we didn't even know we would have win that night. We we just did the best that we could, and we said, listen, we know how this thing does go. Right. You have experience. This is so common. Don't get too excited, don't get too excited. And that night, that night, when we you know when we realized that you'll win and beat people, Iowa George didn't show up at all. That's the only time I was George never show up. Iowa was in the final, and I was never killed. And make sure I was how come you never you never come? And he was like, I know beat me. He said that, yeah. He said, Yeah, I was saying I wasn't lying all the beat me. He said, Because I know that night Mike Cutters was book for sure with that tune. Yeah, he said, I don't learn all the beat me.

Corie 1:33:13

So I was never showed up. Yeah, so what's your reaction this time when they do the Kong Dong? You know, you have a chance, you know you're you're up there with the way, yeah. But I know, come on, come on, different to eat of food.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:24

Yeah, the eater food was and we sing a tune in Bamsiology. It was was real terrible, real terrible. We sing some terrible songs too, you know.

Corie 1:33:33

But I remember Ole coming on the radio and say somebody tell you shouldn't put Bamsi or something.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:38

We went too hard. It should have been we went too hard, it should have been softer. Yeah, Pumperology or something. We should have softened it.

Corie 1:33:46

I guess, I guess, I guess. It was too rough. Yeah, I remember seeing Ole coming out in could have been Lara Fett at that point in time. That year, Lara. Laro inclusive was still the thing all inclusive and Ole when they adapt time, you're going as soccer monarch winners. Yeah, it's like performing as a soccer monarch winner after that.

SPEAKER_01 1:34:04

Boy, that was real surreal, you know. Because I mean, we you looking at people like your icons, super blue, you know, you're looking at Marshall, you're gonna destroy Faye, you're looking at Bungie. These these people passed through before us now. And it's like, remember, this is really not our core job, you know. Yeah, so to come and do this and beat some of those people was real surreal. Because when we won the Friday, we went to Girl Power one time. Girl power thing was in Jenny's, and when they introduced us, we was like, We boy, we really win, so come on that way. You serious? We well, we need to start a plan. You know what I mean? We need to start a plan for next year because this it this thing looking serious, you know, and then when it happened, everybody was saying that well, kitsch too, kitsch rail guide us, yeah. Colonel, Colonel Rail know his stuff. And Colonel told us, he said, let me show you something. He said, You know, you know you win road match. He said kiddies. He said kiddies, he Saturday and the Sunday will tell you if you win road match. Totally see it. And well, I watch kiddies, I make sure we went kiddies, we watched, and all them children wanted was palance, all they wanted. And we was like, Wow, yeah, it looking it looking good, you know what I mean? And when it came out and we heard it, we broke a record that was even it was even bigger. It was like we be we break record super blue and kitchen kitchen on kitchen on thing. We we break their record 417. Wow, you know, and they used to call us to know where they said I'm stunning because them come from nowhere, they have no soccer pedigree. They go and clear going on everything, so you know, and then well, the next year it was a disaster, you know. The next year we came, we came plummeting back to earth. Yeah, you're calling promoters again, you know. Yeah, I'll call it back. That next year was that was a rude awakening, boy. What that next and I I mean, listen, I could say it, you know. The people saw about soccer mafia and whatever. We passed through that, and I would tell you if your song ain't good, it ain't good. Yeah, that's just what it is. In 2011, our song wasn't good, so we got the wasn't good treatment. So yeah, and we vexed with nobody because that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Corie 1:36:43

Yeah, well, I mean, that's your spirit too. You use that man is 10 to um you say what you say and you move on. From what I know, yeah, you move on. You know what I mean? So even after the road match and winning in the way you win, because it really just feels soaker artists who could say they sweep like all this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're thinking that this song is gonna go down as one of the greatest songs in history because no, it's a no soaker argument without Palance up there. In its up, yeah, yeah, yeah. We do we didn't think that. Yeah, you do have that in my face.

SPEAKER_01 1:37:06

Yeah, we didn't think that because I mean you you in you in the realm of dollar wine, you in the realm of Rupee Jump, you're in the realm of um it's carnival. Yeah, I mean, who thought we would have been in that realm? Those those realms, that that realm is for seasoned people.

Corie 1:37:20

Gotcha. Well, the seasoned man Marshall certainly didn't think so because he seemed to think every time I see all, and again, we'll talk about your interview and too. As you have done as one of the greatest interviews, right? Because I lucky to talk to people who like you who could talk, but you just interview random people and he recording stories that is insane. Yeah, but one of Marshall's best interviews was with you all, and I remember his reaction that morning like he kept saying, Yeah, all in come from nowhere. Almost like if he was disappointed in the rest of soaker fertility for like I live only one year.

SPEAKER_01 1:37:48

Yeah, let's take care of this thing and all that two nowhere and come and take it from all here. I leave only once in a pay attention to any of that's why though no no. I mean, no, I don't think you don't study those things because I mean, at the end of the day, boy Corey, let me tell you something. In this life, in this world, in this in this career, everybody have opinions, everybody have opinions, and you can't let everybody's opinion affect you or misdirect you or throw you off of your part. You say it, you say it, and you move on. And you don't hold nobody enemies. Yeah, a man say that well, all right. Yeah, that's your opinion as well. Yeah, a man said that. I mean, you tell him, you tell him one your mind and you move on. Right. I remember when CJ calling Jackman CJ, he went on an article and called Resoka Rapist. He called me and Jason Soka Rapist. Hey, mean liar. That was so different because we are happening. We on radio and we was like, we read the article. We on the morning on our morning show, and we was like, yo, this man called we soaker rapist. And we, you know, we we weren't happy about it. Um leaving the radio, going downstairs, leaving red, and Ben in the corner, who I can see coming up the road, CJ.

Corie 1:39:05

I shouldn't tell him nothing, you just let slider.

SPEAKER_01 1:39:08

I let him have it. What's that? Jason Jason C CJ CJ is up here for five, and Jason gave him a five. I said, how you can get me a five I said CJ come from my neighbor, but go from you.

Corie 1:39:30

Yeah, that's a that's a household.

SPEAKER_01 1:39:34

And I let CJ have it right on the hand. What is the name of that street that you read? Got a car, but light up got a car. Cr crossing road. And I said, Jason, you sell. What do you think? It was just a reaction. I said you sell.

Corie 1:39:55

Yeah, Jason just going along. Yeah, Jason, yeah, Jason, like that pool fella. He he don't want no trouble. Yeah, of course, of course.

SPEAKER_01 1:40:01

But you might have yeah, one time, one time, one time.

Corie 1:40:04

No, that that comrade between two of y'all. Yeah, we time. The first thing we time says, GW and Blazer again, friends to the very end of the very end. We end come off. But the end came prematurely.

SPEAKER_01 1:40:17

But the end, the the the end came and it came back, you know. Because um, that was a whole thing with the politics, and it's not that I was I was backing any particular party, right? It was just that we took pride in our brand not interfering politically. Um, in 2010, we had parlance. In 2010, a particular party asked us to use parlance um for for their thing, and we told them no. Yeah, because we didn't want to be involved. Of course, I got you. You know what I mean? And on our morning show, we never really picked no side, nobody. Yeah, we cool. We hitting both sides, we say what we had to say. Um, and everybody has a choice, right? You know, and Jason made his choice, and that was that was cool. As when he decided to run, right? To run. And I tell him, well, well, cool, you know, that that's fine. But I don't want to be drawn into that because remember, I still on radio, I still have to maintain my objectivity, and I am doing a show called Rundown, where I have to be objective. Yeah, any side could get it. Come on, you know what I mean? So I have to stay away from that, you

From Radio Hosts To Soca Monarch Winners

SPEAKER_01 1:41:30

know what I mean? So for me, it wasn't personal, it was just business where I have to I have to stay away from this, you know what I mean? And well, you know, Jason, he he lost. I mean, you know, he did a good job, but things happen, that's how the cookie crumbles, and then remember, if you come back now, with people would stamp it. People stamp and say, Well, we always know both of them as PNM, or we always know both of them as UNC. So it would have damaged my brand too, because I work hard to stay away from that. And I'm still working hard to kind of be in the middle, right? You know, so it it was a business decision where you it can't work. I understand, it just can't come back like that because it it would damage. Yeah, and when I stayed there to rebuild it, it would damage why I rebuild. So there had to be had to have it had to happen. I understand. You know, I mean it it wasn't a personal thing, it was business.

Corie 1:42:26

So let's treat it as business personally or it's good or or personally, we good. Okay, that's good.

SPEAKER_01 1:42:30

We good now. We we will we you know we were strange for a while, of course. Yeah, you know, but but now we cool. We I re because we be big men. And both only controlling the mornings in the country, no TV and radio. What we good, yeah. What we were we tinging one another for when I in primary school here, yeah, yeah.

Corie 1:42:50

Watch him. Your callers would like it to be so your callers is called and see.

SPEAKER_01 1:42:54

Yeah, they squalled the thing, the man and show up, nobody protect him. You know what I mean?

Corie 1:42:59

Sometimes, more or less, more or less. So before, I mean, yeah, two shows we had to up, we had to ball random and they would kill me if I didn't bring up drama Wednesday, right? But politics is not something you would do at all because I remember randomly seeing you again. This straddling, the two things come up all the time. Because somewhere along the line, I see you in Gong and sing at MBA. How you end up going back to school and what happened? Why was that?

SPEAKER_01 1:43:21

I always, you know, I I am I oh I like education, I I like to study to a certain extent. Right. Right? And I always wanted to go back to school. And um, my wife, uh Gamali, she she was going to her MBA. Locke so no, um Sam. Okay, so I was like, I better come and do an MBA. That's what it's working. Yeah, I said I better come and say, and she was like, Well, yeah, I think it's something good for you to do because it will show you theory. She's more studied, she's brighter than me. Right? And I ended up going and do my MBA, went through whatever, two years or whatever, and graduated. And you know, I just and it showed me a different part where it you know, you have this thing in your brain, and you know about branding, you know about X, Y, and Z, but it showed you the theory behind it, of course, which I think is very important to know where it comes from and the theory behind it, and this low and that low, and this affect this and that affect that. So I decided, well, hey, Molly, say, let's go. And I say, All right, let's go. And I remember um the night uh to pay, you know, yeah, a hefty sum, yeah. And the night before we had to go and pay, boy. I say, I say, girl, me, I mean feel like go and do the MBA again, and she like, you better come and do it. Watching our money saying, Bo, I could buy X and Y with that, yes, and you say better come and do it, of course. You know what I mean? So I I just I just went and do it, and it it it proved well, you know what I mean?

Corie 1:44:54

Yeah, for sure, for sure. Congrats on that. Because I remember, I remember, I guess, as a final the show, yeah, you kind of see the split, and then you wonder, okay, what's going to happen when it's you alone? I I up to today, I shocked that they never brought in another co-host. I said, Blaze go and do this by yourself, boy, because you're also good at playing that persona that sometimes Jason go be the serious man and you go be the clung on the show, and you're reverse it. You're great at playing that. And I do remember somewhere close to the end. I mean, I'm Jason from St. James, yeah, yeah, yeah. Being around St. James for years. So when I hear you running for politics, I mean, apart from my happy too. I feel more of us need to do that. Of course, of course. I know I kind of like you, I don't want to stay in the middle. But yeah. When I see that, I say, all right, well, I know his, I feel like I know him, I know his mind. I feel we could be in good hands if he win. Yeah. And someone wanted a new mayor. If he was the mayor for long enough, Jason. Yeah, try our thing. Yeah, I mean, but um when when when closer to the end before he announced that, I started seeing, especially when you weren't there, yeah, the way he would his persona in drama Wednesday for me started to change. I could talk to him about it when he came here, right? But he started seeming like he fed up it. Like he wants to be more serious. And when I look back at it in the background, I say, I feel he must dunge the calling. So he knows he changing his mind. But I wondered now how one man is gonna play that role. Yeah, because so if you decide to be serious, you have no counterpart to make the to make the jokes. Yeah, if you started being a comedian this morning, you're no serious counterpart. So, yeah, how difficult was that?

SPEAKER_01 1:46:19

Well, um, it was difficult at first because remember, you work with this person, so you know you play off of them, you bounce off of them, and we did so many things together. We were like husband and wife. All right, we have that clip, right? Or we were like in a marriage, yeah. You know what I mean? It was like that. And when when when Jason the Friday when he left, I cry on A. Because I lose in my this is my right hand, I see left hand, whatever the case may be. And I I was in a state where I didn't know how this would be. You know how appetizers would look at this, how how how this would happen, you know what I mean? What's what's happening here? Is I alone, I had to stand up here alone. And then I say, Well, you know, I I spoke to my say, Miles, well, you're going on you gotta, you know, talk a little more, come as a quiet fella. Right, yeah, man. You know what I mean? You're a quiet, cool, calm fella. He's good at music, good at organization, but he's a cool, calm guy. I say, well, you know, you gotta talk a little bit more. You gotta talk plenty. I go handle 99%, but you gotta come in a little 1%, and then obviously our callers can hold their own. Yeah, I suppose. They can hold their own. So just move with it, just move. Yeah, boy. Just move with it, and it will move. Yeah, well, it moved, it moved, you know, and and it thank God has been successful since, you know.

Corie 1:47:43

Congrats, like now when you hear it. Miles is a big part of the show, but it's talking, you know, and percent like it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Percentage going up, yeah. Of course, of course, and you all have trying to balance between each other. And I always felt like you see, when you do the MBAs, I do MBA too, and I feel like it helps me a lot with um just broad general knowledge, like you know, so you end up adjusting so fast that you can direction.

SPEAKER_01 1:48:05

It shows you a differentiation, this, that, that, the other, all those nice big words.

Corie 1:48:09

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:48:10

What it really meant.

Corie 1:48:10

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I guess you can handle anything from that standpoint. Yeah, so let me talk about runway first, and your closer drive. Run down, yeah, yeah, yeah. I say runway the first time. Yeah, yeah. All right, runway. The hotel. My wife, I must have no runway. That ain't gonna be good. So, rundown, what's the origins of it? What the concept came about?

SPEAKER_01 1:48:29

Um, Rundown was developed by uh Golder. It was a newsroom development, the CNC3 newsroom. Right. Um, so I think Golda, Rhea, Chester Sambrano, they were spearheading it. Um, but they didn't have a host because none of them could have hosted it because they're journalists and they need to remain, they need to be seen as journalists. And they called me for audition. And I was like, calling me for audition. Ice Blaze. Yeah, you can get audition. You audition me. You don't know where you're gonna get this. Yeah, you audition me. So I was like, you know what, boy, Blaze, humble yourself. Yeah and go on your go the audition, right? And I went to the audition and they they played a few clips and just uh they put the teleprompter and thing just to see how you bounce off of it, and then I did it. And it was like, all right, cool. Well, we'll start. Let's start. And I say, well, you start with it. So we start with you. Let's go. And we started to do it, and that was it.

SPEAKER_02 1:49:35

Yeah, from there.

SPEAKER_01 1:49:36

I mean, I mean, that's plenty of my story. Like, that was it. Yeah, just get into it. Yeah, just got into it, and you know, it had a few hurdles along the way where a few politicians got mad at you. Yeah, I was wondering that because he's going, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. A few politicians mad at you. But most, I must say that most so-called politicians, they cool. So they take it in good stride, yeah. And we don't, we are not disrespectful. And I always tell people that show is not a show of fiction, it is a show of fact because you actually did it. I just analyze why you did it, or probably how you did it. You know, so but the show is fact because you did do it.

Corie 1:50:17

Yeah, boy, but only have some angles on random way, only some bellies. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:50:23

Yeah, we had Ian Allen, we had Gary, we had plenty of people.

Corie 1:50:26

Okay, so people still come, men, men taking the people.

SPEAKER_01 1:50:31

You know, a lot of people, a lot of people come come by us because really and truly, I think and and I remember doing a function at that time. Um

Politics Boundaries, Personal Brand, And Rundown

SPEAKER_01 1:50:40

uh Mr. Al Wari, he was the AG at that time, and we was in Hyatt and I hosted the function, and he was like, you know, he said it in his speech, and he said, Run down made him feel how to put it, made him laugh at himself. Where he probably was taking himself a little too seriously, and he said, at first I didn't really like it. He said, But after a while I realized, hey, you had a laugh at yourself, and he took it in stride, and he always liked it. He was always, hey, what when was the season, you know, this and that and the other? Yeah, people when then people started out to watch it to see if they end up on it. I guess, yeah, yeah. You understand? So people watching it not because think they want to end see who end up on it and if they end up on it, yeah, yeah, yeah. So we started to get clips with people saying, Um, no, I don't want to end up on your rundown. We started to actually get clips of people saying that.

Corie 1:51:33

Yeah, like before we started, we were talking about that, like how important shows like that are for our local, well, just documentation, own energy, all youths must see us, you know. I mean, or see themselves, true in ways in ways as we do it. True. How much is the backlash for drama Wednesday now? That's backlash. Is it people really frightened? Like, like I hear artists talk all the time when they bring them for interviews, like they're trying to avoid the Wednesday. Is a real thing? It's a real thing.

SPEAKER_01 1:51:56

Seriously, men will be like, I'll come any other day except Wednesday. I'll come in Wednesday. So Wednesday is like a no-no for many people. Artists, anybody who, you know, public. Right. Most people don't come. Most people don't come. I remember time Talbri, Talbury come. Talbury did oh well, drama Wednesday. Oh god, don't do my dad. That's Talbury and Talbury come and it's like Talbri. Hey, they're just passing through the stations now. You're like, Talbri, today's drama, you know, your car. I don't know if you want to come and you're like, yeah, I can take the drama. I can take the drama. Good with that man thing. And Talbury come and uh a man called, hi Talbri. So Talbury, who is that? So here, him, Talbury, but you left the bed without saying goodbye. And Talbury said, Who is that? Talbury leave one time, you know. That was it. Talbury said, No, no, no, no, no, I gone. I gone, and I not coming back here on a Wednesday. But yeah, some people who brave it. Yeah, there are people who brave it, and most people is brave it because they are some songs to release, and they know a lot of people listening. Well, yeah, I guess it's always up, and they they want to do it, but most of the time, most people would leave drama with the shoulders down, really, yeah. Because them callers is hit them, it's hit them real hard, you know.

Corie 1:53:21

But it's I'll be braking for no, but you do a good job. It's our man named Queens Flip, right? I see sometimes part fight, but then he demand to blow. Yeah, yeah. I find you do that sometimes too, you know. But farmer, when farmer comes there, farmer them a customer farmer. Listen, farmer is funny. Yeah, that one particularly I like a lot with um blink foxy and something, you know. He's leaving his show, he's live good. Yeah, blink fox leave good. All right, good, good. But blink fox had nothing to lose, you know. But he'd go. Yeah, blink fox.

SPEAKER_01 1:53:56

I was at time at I'd study to manage blink fox, you know. But Devon, God rest his soul, Devon Matthews. Devon says, Blaze, just leave blink fox alone sin now. I want to manage. I bring blink fox so when you saw red run and thing. Blink Fox mash up the place with washing machine dance and thing.

Corie 1:54:12

Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. Yeah, bad blink fox. Look, you remember blink fox? Yeah, 100% from all the show. From all the show privacy as well. Dear boy. How hard that's a good thing. You don't care, boy. Real hard boy. You don't care because selfish question we wonder if to book him, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:54:28

How hard is this? You see, here he he, I don't think he understands radio parameters now. Yeah, so you bring in somebody who don't really understand and who don't care. So I remember somebody told Trevor Say this thing, and he just tell him about him mother one time, and I was like, Trevor, no, you can't you can't tell him that. You can't you can't tell, you know, you can't say that. And he was like, Why? Well, you tell me what's so so, and and somebody tell him um something, and he said, Well, someone tell him something, and he said, Well, push it up on yourself. Yeah, and and I like yo, you can't you can't say that. And he was like, Well, I tell him, yeah. So if you're bringing him, brother, you had to manage. So your reaction to something real, what we see in this video. Yeah, yeah, that's real. I was like, Traveler can't say that. Yeah, you can't say you can't tell people that, yeah, but he don't tell me. So I tell him, yeah.

Corie 1:55:19

So it's no official backlash, like letter and them kind of thing. People are just taking us. Nah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:55:24

Not too much at all. Yeah, yeah, not too much. I I've we've never, I don't know. I don't know. Every management gate and they hide it. I don't know, but I have never gotten. Oh, I just got scot eye and them kind of thing that they can public.

Corie 1:55:37

But I wonder how long drama was there. Because to me, it's one of the longest lasting, at least segments. And like I always remember Gladiator on the radio, and gladiator whole show was a drama boy. He goes, It was chaotic.

SPEAKER_01 1:55:48

Yeah, but only management.

Corie 1:55:50

Yeah, it going but only have that energy now in that space, and there's something that's been going on. Your caller's still asking for it, it's something that you all just continue to still ask for it. You ever try to stop it?

SPEAKER_01 1:56:00

I never try to stop it because I like it. Yeah, you I never try to stop it. I like it. I I don't want to stop it. So you in it? Yeah, I in it to win it.

Corie 1:56:10

I got you, I got you. Well, I appreciate it. I appreciate showing up every day and doing it. I in it to win it. If you had to see where your future is like radio and things, still love it, still going to continue. Still love it, 100%.

SPEAKER_01 1:56:19

Um, because radio has given me everything thing I have. I mean, all the TV, all this, that, that. It came from radio. So I believe that's my source of strength in media. So I will never turn my back on radio. And I genuinely love radio. I my dream was to be on radio, so I am on radio now, so I'm not letting go of the dream. And I feel like every day is the first day. I go out there 100%. 100%. Yeah, you know what I mean? Women might be, well, I tired of this and I fed up. And no, I go in out because something will happen. That's how I that's look at my show. Something wanna happen. Something happened. Some laugh win and take place, somebody wanna say something off, it's going to be real good, or you get some piece of information they never knew before, or you're giving some piece of information, or you could help somebody that needs help. I remember we spoke to a guy, and the guy he he was he wanted to he wanted to commit suicide.

Drama Wednesday Heat And Why Radio Matters

SPEAKER_01 1:57:20

And we talk him down. Yeah, you know, and I remember meeting a guy, and and this is no thing. The man, I met him, I was lining somewhere. Liming a bar or something. And he said, Um, you're going, Blaze, your blaze? I say, Yeah, you say, you know, I want to tell you thanks, thanks a lot. I say, Where is that? He and boy, I listen to you every morning. He said, and I ain't lying to tell you. He say, I was working somewhere and he was with his girl. He said, and boy, the girl ended up with like one of his supervisors now. He say, and it was real hard now because he railed, he was relling to the girl, he gave her everything, whatever. He said, and Blaze me like to tell you. He said I leave home with a big knife. He said, and I was going and he said I was going kill her, you know. He said I was going for her. He said, and I listen to all you. He said and only make me laugh. He said, and I just I just take the next thing and I turn back and I I went back home. He said, only make me laugh and he said, only save she life.

SPEAKER_02 1:58:21

He said only save my life.

SPEAKER_01 1:58:23

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He said, and I just tell you, he was dressed in coveralls. He said, and I just telling you that. He said, only don't know what you always do for people any morning. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? He said, and he said, I would have been in jail. Imagine that.

Corie 1:58:34

Imagine that. Well, I want to echo that sentiment, brother. I want to thank you personally because you see, me and my son usually listening thing every morning because we just waiting for Shirley to call all the characters. Yeah, yeah. Thanks for making the space for that. And uh wait is putty B. Putty B, boy. Wait, wait, Puddy B.

SPEAKER_01 1:58:49

Oh my god. Putty B. I don't know what putty we have with point one, man. But point B know always happening 96.1 and just bring it by us, and I'll be like, Yeah, I just wonder why it's happening. I don't want to know what's going on in point one.

Corie 1:59:02

Tweets both Charles and Goofy. I wonder how them things is go.

SPEAKER_01 1:59:05

Well, Goofy, Goofy this pass for straight sometimes. You could say, Charles, cool, you know, Charles. At the time I see Tweez Boy, you know, me and Tweez from way back, yeah. Right, right. Me and Tweez are real good. And I see Tweez Boy, and I say, Boy, this just come for tweez all the time. I don't mean twelve and tweets. So I say, like, let me pass by tweezer just see his reaction. And he was like, hey, believe I said twice on the guy. Twee school, twice cool, twist school. Tweet schools, that's that's true.

Corie 1:59:36

That's a million dollars.

SPEAKER_01 1:59:38

Of course, my bro, thank you very much, my appreciated.