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The Drop with Danno Interview by William Urbanski
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
February 2021
COMMUNITY
In furthering the Gwangju News’ collaboration with the Gwangju Foreign Language Network (GFN) to keep our community well informed, this issue of the Gwangju News offers an interview with the host of the station’s nightly music show, Daniel J. Springer, who brings “The Drop with Danno” nightly to the southern-most reaches of the peninsula between 8 and 10 p.m. Here is our interview.
William Urbanski (William): With so much content online (podcasts, webcasts, etc.), what do you think radio broadcasts offer that other types of media cannot? Daniel J. Springer (Danno): That’s a good question, but kind of misleading, because most radio shows, including mine, offer their shows online after broadcast for ondemand listening. But yes, being in any medium of entertainment nowadays is extremely competitive, no doubt. In terms of what I do, radio programming can offer a level of expertise and guidance to the uninitiated or even music enthusiasts to make for an exciting mix of music and a bit of history or education thrown in to make it truly entertaining. Additionally, the music market today versus, say, 30 years ago is exponentially larger and more specialized, as everything becomes far more targeted with platform algorithms along with the ease with which artists can produce new tunes. So nobody has time to wade through all the new stuff, and I’ve found that most people on their own tend to just listen to the same thing over and over or randomly run into stuff they like. The guy on the radio does have time to wade and is an absolute audio addict, so he’s a good guide for new stuff if he’s given the freedom to choose, which luckily is a freedom I have producing the show’s content. Additionally, you won’t hear
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anything on the FM radio waves here in Korea that’s quite like “The Drop,” with our emphasis on promoting good music no matter its source, looking at history in context, and just having fun with a very wide variety of sounds over a week’s time, with each night’s focus being different. William: Growing up, did you listen to the radio a lot? What were some stations or DJs you liked to listen to? Danno: Well, as a guy who came of age in the 1980s and 1990s, yeah, I listened to a lot of radio growing up, but as a kid it was mostly talk and sports. It wasn’t like now, obviously. You’d wait around for your favorite programs on TV or sometimes radio, even back then. My parents were always listening to the very early shock jocks like Steve Dahl and Gary Matthews in Chicago when I was a little kid. I later discovered house music from some taped shows of the Hot Mix 5 on WBMX, which was like nothing else on radio even into the 1990s, and God bless the people with the tapes and the internet for preserving those mixes, which is a huge inspiration for what I do with “The Drop.” William: When I was growing up, certain radio personalities in Toronto were very popular because of the way they spoke or because of the energy and humor they projected. Are there any special ways you try to develop your radio personality? Danno: A bit, maybe. I don’t try to
put on a “persona” so much as clarify and sharpen my delivery, which is always an ongoing process, but everybody in any form of media does have a bit of character development to do. Humor is definitely something I try to use in a rather deadpan or salty kind of way, especially during our Under the Radar indie shows on Tuesdays because it’s a great comedy counterpoint to Prince Paolo, whose bubbly persona is always sunny and positive. William: What are some ways you try to connect to your audience here in Gwangju and in Yeosu? Danno: I prefer giving away concert tickets, but obviously that’s been out of the question due to COVID-19 for a good while now. I do have guest artists from all over the world on the show every Friday to take over the playlist and give an exclusive interview, and often get sweet little promos from them or their label to give away to our listeners here in Korea. I also like to support the artists and do buy a good amount from them independently from my own funds as well, especially during COVID-19, because they are definitely in dire need due to that. Mostly since the pandemic started, we’ve been giving away T-shirts and LPs monthly to our listeners. A great way to support your favorite artists is to buy music on Bandcamp. On certain Fridays, they have what they call Bandcamp Fridays, where all money spent goes 100% to the artists,
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