Why radio?
It really started with how much I’ve always loved music. In college, I realized radio gave me a way to share that passion with other people. I joined WMEB at the University of Maine, eventually became Program Director and then Station Manager, and pretty quickly knew radio was what I wanted to do.

I ended up being away from it for a long time, mostly because radio can be a hard field to break into, but I never really stopped wanting to come back. So when WCLZ gave me that chance, it honestly felt like I was finally getting back to something I’d been waiting a very long time for.

Why ’CLZ?
Because different is good. I started in college radio, where the whole idea was to offer something you couldn’t already hear everywhere else, and that really stuck with me. WCLZ feels like a place where people with a deep love and knowledge of music can come together and appreciate all kinds of different sounds. It’s not about fitting into one box, and that’s exactly what I love about it.

Music people would be surprised you love?
I really, really love hip-hop, especially alternative and underground hip-hop, but also that old-school skate-scene kind of hip-hop like The Pharcyde and Souls of Mischief. MF DOOM, Mac Miller, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, old-school OutKast, Tyler, the Creator, Childish Gambino… I could keep going.

What would people be surprised to learn about you?
I used to be a pretty serious longboard skateboarder and even had a couple of local sponsors as a teenager. I also spent a lot of my childhood growing up in the suburbs of Atlanta, started out in art school for graphic design, and somehow ended up graduating with degrees in philosophy and political science… and somehow landed in the radio world. Apparently I’ve been having an existential crisis since a very early age.

What’s your favorite place in Maine?
Probably Portland. It feels like the heart of Maine to me. I love the mix of historic cobblestone streets, the waterfront, great restaurants, cool shops, live music, and the fact that there’s always something going on. It’s diverse, welcoming, and really does have something for everyone. I thrive around people and energy, so it’s exactly my kind of place.