BY Cody Bradford
Staff Reporter
It is 6:30 a.m., and with the sun still rising, Crazy Catt Tayler and DJ DIRTY SNOWBALL have already been entertaining their listeners for half an hour. LED lights around the studio flash, hip-hop music fills the air and the two DJs dance with an infectious energy.
Then, donning a pair of head phones the duo gives morning greetings and let listeners know what songs and segments to expect next before unleashing an upbeat song.
The duo is made up of sophomore broadcasting majors Tayler Shaindlin and Nick Oliver: Crazy Catt Tayler and DJ DIRTY SNOWBALL, respectively. They started volunteering for the radio station last school year.
Crazy Catt said her decision to join radio started when she heard the station at an event. She found it so cool that soon enough, she was volunteering as well.
However, SNOWBALL said he came to Central specifically to pursue his interest in radio. He even had previous experience working for the “BJ Shea Morning Experience” at 99.9 KISW in Seattle.
The pair have put in so many volunteer hours for the radio, and they amassed the largest number in fall quarter. In addition to working events, some of these hours can be heard from the radio shows they work on in addition to “The Wakeup Call.” For instance, Crazy Catt delivers the news every Monday through Friday at noon, while SNOWBALL helps run “Dyslexic Grunge” and Saturday retro rock.
Crazy Catt gets her DJ name from being known as the crazy cat lady of the station, supported by the many cat shirts she wears. SNOWBALL’s name however, originated in middle school where comets were described to him as dirty snowballs and he decided the description would become his hip-hop name.
“The Wakeup Call,” while only having been around a little over a quarter, has quickly become an incredibly popular radio show for 88.1 the Burg. The hosts provide an expertly blended mixture of music, news, talk and original content segments within a two hour block. On Thursdays hip-hop music is set loose from the speakers, while Friday unloads the top electronica songs so that everything heard on air has a strong beat and keeps everyone energized.
In between music, the original segments are revealed such as “The Dirty Edit” where a song is twisted with properly timed censorship edits. Both DJs say this is their favorite segment of the show. Another is “Florida and Russia” where the crazy news stories of these two locations, such as arrests involving food assaults, grace the airwaves for a hearty chuckle. All of this is delivered by a pair of DJs who can best be described as having a vast quantity of zeal for radio performance.
The idea for the pair to co-host a morning show was introduced by general manager Travis Box, despite Crazy Catt and SNOWBALL both being unsure about the idea of tackling such an early time slot. After being prodded a few more times the duo agreed to host “The Wakeup Call.”
Crazy Catt and SNOWBALL are now plotting out a show with plenty of improvisation or as Crazy Catt said, “controlled chaos.”
As for their Thursday and Friday mornings, they crawl out of their beds around 5:30 a.m. but truly wake up once the mic is in front of them and they hit the air waves. Once in the studio, the pair feeds off the energy of each other like a renewable resource, which can be heard in the chemistry which flows freely.
“Morning shows are the most important time slot in radio,” general manager Travis Box said, adding that the DJs have “incredible natural chemistry and energy made for morning radio,” when referring to them.
Both DJs have simple wants and wishes for both themselves and the station itself. SNOWBALL constantly asks for $5 dollars and a glass of milk, and both have mentioned the desire to receive a call from a fan who is dialing from the shower. For 88.1 the Burg, they send out an invite for people to not only join as DJs but also to just swing by the station and say hello.
As for words of wisdom from the two DJs, Crazy Catt said, “When you stop singing there is no sound,” and SNOWBALL said “A wise man once said, ‘forgiveness is divine, but never pay for a late pizza.’”
