The Giant Flop of a Radio Interview 

Every musician hopes to someday hear his voice on the radio, and I am no different. Back in 2005, I had my chance to be interviewed by a major Washington, DC radio station, WJFK. “The Giant Show” was hosted by Giant Brian, who was a producer for Ron and Fez, as well as a former intern for David Letterman. The late night show was actually co-hosted by a good friend of mine, who will remain nameless for this post!

So my band Knockout Mouse was just starting out. We had recorded a few songs at a friend’s small home studio and were excited to show it to the world. Were we very good? Probably not. Was I ready for a live radio interview? Definitely not. Did I get tricked into being the butt of a series of horrible jokes potentially broadcast to over 5 million people? You bet.

While I thought I was going to phone in to the radio station and be interviewed in a serious manner, Giant Brian had other things in mind. I thought he wanted to interview an up and coming singer-songwriter as part of a new local music portion of his show. What he actually wanted to do was make fun of a local schmuck as much as possible and had no interest what so ever in music! He is a comedian, not Ryan Seacrest. I should have done my research on this guy. He talked over my songs, he said I sound like the male version of Charro, he called us Modest Mouse, etc. He tried desperately to be funny, but failed at every turn. It wasn’t until part way through the interview that I realized this was all a big joke and I started to get a little sarcastic back at him. It’s no surprise that the short lived “Giant Show” was cancelled a few months after my interview, and Giant Brian no longer works in radio. There is a little bit of me that wishes he is now a homeless guy walking around with a sign that says he has a God-given gift of voice.

Although it was a good lesson to learn, I can finally look back at the whole experience and laugh. I was young and naïve (at least that’s what I’m telling myself). I remember thinking that I hope nobody EVER hears this interview! But here I am, almost 6 years later, writing about it and ready to share the interview in hopes you can laugh with me (or at me!).

I can’t believe I’m doing this, but here is the audio for you to listen to:

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