It’s been ten years since Lenny Diana has done an interview in print, and we’d like to start off by saying we here at FMQB are very honored, privileged, and sort of afraid. But fear not, for within these pages lay the insight, intensity and fortitude of one of today’s brightest Modern Rock programmers. Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you, Lenny…
e-QB presents excerpts from the August FMQB magazine Modern Rock Up Close with WRZX/Indianapolis PD Lenny Diana
On WRZX…
Staff-wise, we pretty much have an entirely new air staff, save for one person. I’d hate to say something as cliché as “it’s about the music” or put it into super simple terms but I don’t think my story is different than many stations out there in saying that listeners want to hear music. We aren’t zombies or drones but that’s why people listen to the radio station…Every radio station should do what’s right in the city they broadcast in first. We still have fun but we focus on music at WRZX.
On the station’s musical center and how far X103 will step out on the alternative ledge…
WRZX at its core has been and is currently a rock station. There is nothing wrong with this. I look at the active rock chart and the alternative chart and I noticed that there is a lot of crap on both charts that I’ll never play for any other reason except that they aren’t hit records and they really aren’t that good. This question though, leads to a greater issue in the music industry world today. You have a small but vocal segment of people who believe they have a working definition of what the word alternative means. This segment seems to anoint a section of bands that rarely have hit records and have very little to offer the people they are trying to sell music to, our listeners. These people who tell you that they have this answer to the, “what is alternative question” are not to be trusted, talked to or even referenced for opinion. What was alternative in 1987 was very different from 1993. 1993 was way, way different from 1998. 1998 is a hell of a lot different from 2008. You can draw lines and parallels but you can’t have a working definition of the word alternative. The biggest problem with the alternative ledge as you say is that we let too many artists jump off it because we look for the next “minister of cool” in an effort to find the next “insert big name here”. I’m really glad I stopped playing that game a long time ago. It’s a foolish endeavor. As far as the alternative ledge, I have a small list of people who can jump off the ledge. I try to do what I feel is right for Indy.
On X103’s concert festivals…
WRZX has a rich history of successful NTR events. With that being said, every time we do the big show, our numbers go down and I die a little on the inside. I can’t figure out why but it always seems to happen. I think we do shows that represent the radio station and we never sell a lie by having a band or artist that we don’t play. They are great atmospheres and sometimes don’t really resemble a concert as more it resembles a big party.
The single most important issue facing a radio programmer today…
With all the new technology and new media we have now and as great as it all is, the most important issue is to not lose sight of the fact that you are a radio station and there is no shame in being a radio station. I read articles from “industry experts” and they talk about the Internet like it’s magic and they throw around buzz words by the metric ton because I think they are saying this stuff because they never thought in a million years that radio would have the opportunity for images and movement. Well fear not, you have the chance for all that and more! Just don’t forget where you came from kid.
On Satellite radio…
I finally had a chance to listen to satellite radio and I was kind of disappointed. The big thing that satellite radio pushes and what I hear from its fans is that it’s different; it’s presenting something new and exciting. I listened to it and it sounds like… radio stations. That was kind of a bummer. By no means will it go away. It’s a lot like cable television in its early days. You added a bunch of channels and people had more choices. Ok now what? I don’t think satellite radio has it’s “Sopranos” or something on it that really turns heads just yet so it will be like that other form of media that has music, talk, sports, news and service elements like traffic and weather… radio.
** QB Content by Mike Bacon **
| Also in the August Issue: |
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Q&A with WHRL/Albany PD Tim Noble |
