Radio

 Happy World Radio Day! I grew up with radio and it all started nung nag-brownout for one month due to Typhoon Rosing and there was no other form of entertainment but the transistor radio. Na-hook ako with such shows like Tiya Dely radio drama and Ernie Baron's Q&A show Knowledge Power. I woke up every 5AM to prepare for school with the radio in the background from elementary and to college. My childhood FM station was 93.9 WKC because they had child-appealing DJs, I mean they had "The Count" hosting their weekly music countdown which of course started my love for music charts that lasted for decades. I was around 10 when I really got addicted to FM radio to the point na memorize ko ang Mega Manila stations from 88.3 City Lite to NU 107 and I can switch to a station without looking at the radio dial because alam ko ang order, the type of music they play and their "mood" so to speak.  Of course, I did dream of working for a radio station but not as a DJ because I don't have the voice and the personality for it but as a programmer, conceptualizing shows and formulating the schedule 24/7. I remember I had a notebook where I wrote that fantasy radio programming schedule! In college, I was thrilled because my school was starting its own radio station during our time and we were the first ones to use the then-new radio booth and produced newscasts and radio dramas for our class. I didn't join or even tried for college radio back then they were starting back then because I'm already doing one of my dreams too which was to write for the school paper (and also I'm not a voice talent!).

 I'm not the radio caller type because I'm shy and I hate how I sound so I was glad nung na-uso na yung texting the radio stations and what a thrill it was to hear my name (or my codename "forg" ) on air! My "influencers" back then were radio DJs and when I met my favorites such Triggerman and Chico & Delamar in person, I was so happy! One thing I like about working in the dubbing industry is meeting a lot of DJs of my time (both the high-end and masa DJs!) and seriously na-starstruck ako sa iba, even if I don't really interact with them but just hearing their voices in person!  Admittedly, I spend more time these days listening to Spotify for my music and audio talk fix via podcasts but radio is still part of my life as my parents are more radio listeners than TV watchers so the radio is turned on here for like 20 hours a day (the radio is like the perfect background to fall asleep and also a good alarm clock!). And from time to time when I get bored listening to my playlists or there are no new episodes of the podcasts I listen to, I radio surf and you know there's still a different feel when you hear a song on the air. I don't know how to explain succinctly but I guess radio still has that magical effect on me.