Jack Forman is a very funny guy right.
He's also a very busy guy. He already spent a lot of time as the resident bassist and chief jokester of Seattle trio Recess Monkey. But earlier this year he started a second gig, as the evening/late afternoon (depending on your time zone) host of "Live from the Monkey House" on Sirius-XM's Kids Place Live channel in the wake of Robbie Schaefer's decision to leave his show to focus on his OneVoice charity.
In spite of that busy schedule, Forman responded to questions via e-mail in less than a day, which leads me to believe the man is a robot. A funny, funny robot. Read on for Forman's (non-)drive time memories, similarities between being a DJ and a live performer, and a sneak peek into Recess Monkey's forthcoming Deep Sea Diver and Desert Island Disc albums.
Zooglobble: What are your memories of listening to the radio growing up? Did you have
any favorite radio stations?
Jack Forman: I remember, while growing up in
Bloomington, Indiana, listening to 97 WBWB all of the time - it’s where I first heard
Hall and Oates and god knows how many other great '80s bands. They had that
awesome sung call sign between songs, “Niiinety Sevvvven, Double U Beeee!!!!”
Later on, I listened to Kent and Allen on 97.3 KPLZ here in Seattle, and loved
those guys! My school bus driver would play them in the morning on the way to
school, and we’d all sing along with whatever Poison song was playing that day.
Their voices seemed so big, and remember this was way pre-internet, so there was
no way to even know what they looked like! Lately, I’m a pretty nonstop NPR
listener. I still go to the NPR website and trip myself out by matching names to
faces and think “no WAY is that Steve Inskeep! He doesn’t look like THAT!” I
wonder what kids think I look like!
How did your new gig hosting a
show on Sirius-XM's Kids Place Live ("Live from the Monkey House") come
about?
Recess Monkey had guest hosted several weekend shows on Kids
Place Live over the last few years, and it just became clearer and clearer that
we gelled with the energy that Mindy [Thomas], Kenny [Curtis] and Robbie [Schaefer] had cultivated there.
Hearing Mindy’s voicemail message after one of the shows, snorting about a bit
that we did about a cow licking a squirrel behind the ear and also just getting
a sense of the overall vibe at the DC studios made it seem like a really great
fit for us. Over time, I took over most of the radio duties as we got busier as
a band. Mindy and I were talking about it for maybe as long as a year.
The
bittersweet part about how all of it worked out is that the position that I took
was Robbie’s - I’m just bummed that I won’t get the chance to collaborate with
him the way that I’m getting to work with everyone else at SiriusXM. It really
is true that, despite being a huge, international brand, the small team that
runs Kids Place Live are some of the scrappiest, least-corporate people out
there - Kenny and Mindy run their shows very much the way that we try run our
band, with the “kids are smart... and FUNNY” attitude front and center. I’ve
already learned a lot.
You had recorded some material for
Sirius-XM ("The Tuneiversity") -- how does doing a live show
differ?
The TUNEiversity was conceived as a music education show, and
that’s really where the rubber hit the road. Each episode was themed around a
particular instrument or genre of music, and I got to interview some of the
brightest lights in the kindie world who were connected with them (Sugar Free
Allstars kicked off the first episode, FUNK 101). Our hope was that the shows
would help open kids’ ears up to the eclectic stuff that’s played on KPL. Tons
of Hip Hop or Bluegrass songs are in heavy rotation, but kids may not have
thought about what makes those songs and styles so unique. By concentrating them
all in a power-hour, with experts talking about it, the inspirational non-kindie
artists who helped define the genre or perform the instrument, and then current
kids’ songs peppered in, I think it was a really unique hour in the KPL week.
Totally planned, much like a very carefully-conceived unit in a lesson plan. I
hope to at some point make more episodes!
Doing a live radio show is much
more akin to what I do in Recess Monkey - so much of the content of the show is
guided by the kids who call in, or a daily theme that may not come together
until minutes before we go live. Unlike a live music set that my band might
play, my amazing producer Courtney and I get to regroup every five minutes and
talk about what’s coming up next, how to tweak the content or the format - but
once a segment starts and especially once kids are on the line, who KNOWS where
it’ll go? I love that feeling!
Not every segment works, but there are these
amazing moments where there’s a kid caller who says something really surprising,
and I just love following their lead. I wish you could see me celebrating
silently with my hands when I’m realizing that a particular kid on the phone has
“the goods!” Every show, there are a few calls that could probably last the full
three hours. Anyone who knows me as a teacher knows that I stick to the script
for about two seconds before moving on to something else. The school where I
learned how to be a teacher, UCDS in Seattle, is very much centered around
individualizing to each kid- and I love that I get to do that on air. The day’s
theme casts a wide net, but each call is a chance to connect with kids on a very
individualized level.
What's been the most pleasant surprise about
your DJ experience thus far? What's been more work than you
expected?
Though this is my first radio job, I’m finding that 13
years in the classroom has really prepared me for the kinds of conversations I
get to have with kids. That’s really the job, after all - sure, it’s playing
music and getting to advocate for artists that I really believe in and love. But
when it all comes down to it, the job is about making real, albeit quick,
connections with kids, and honoring them every step of the way. They’re
hysterical to talk to, especially knowing that thousands of other people are
listening in to our conversations about the hazards of lactose intolerance. The
skills of how to ask an open-ended question and how to follow a kid’s lead have
proven invaluable so far.
Does playing live music and playing
music live require the same set of skills, audience-wise, or are you using
different parts of your brain when you're on air versus on stage?
I
was nervous about starting my show on KPL because I can’t see the people
listening. That might seem like a no-brainer, duh... but it was a big perceived
obstacle for me. So much of how I read and communicate with a live crowd is by
noticing what they’re doing physically, and the chance to supplement the noise
I’m making with eye contact, smiles, shrugs, and all that. Just like playing a
Recess Monkey show where no one’s paying attention, I think I’d go crazy if I
had to do this show without kid-contact. I’m an extrovert in general, but also
thrive in contact with kids- it’s what got me into teaching to begin with, and
what made Recess Monkey such an immediate joy. Luckily, the calls come in fast
and furious and we usually can’t keep up with the kids who want to connect. How
lucky to get to kick off a radio show and already have tons of dedicated
listeners!
In a live band show, we know instantly whether what we’re doing is
working, but on Live From the Monkey House there’s always a moment after saying
something where I wonder “is that going to work? Are the phone lines going to
light up?” There’s a great early Saturday Night Live episode where Buck Henry is
doing a radio call-in show and no one’s calling in, so he has to get more and
more edgy with his topic until he starts saying “KILLING PUPPIES! Sounds good to
me- how ‘bout you?” and still the phones don’t ring. Luckily, it hasn’t come to
that!
