Mark Gilmore, DJ
Imagine a boy playing with his best friends in a large and beautiful landscaped backyard, perfect for grand scenarios involving their various Star Wars and GI Joe action figures. Adjacent to the yard is a patio turned space station nightclub and bar. This is where the young Mark Gilmore, DJ in training, got his start on destiny.
“We set it up with one of our boom boxes as the wall of the club and we built this little stage. We would cut out paper guitars for our GI Joe figures and I would create tapes to play as if I was the radio DJ setting up the songs. It was me pretending to be Pat Martin who is my boss now. I would listen to what he did and we’d play Def Leppard, Motley Crue and Ratt. That was my first DJ job. I though it was fun but I went through my later childhood thinking I had no shot at ever being anything. I took the most common jobs. I was kind of a shy person.” He’s not shy now. What he is now is an on-air radio personality at 98 Rock as host of Local Lick’s, Sacramento’s longest running local music showcase broadcast live Sunday nights from 9-10 pm on 98 Rock. The whole hour is dedicated to unsigned local bands. He is also the manager for popular local band Brand X Savior.
As the door to the radio station swings open the first thing you notice is his bare feet. Of course, it’s radio, who can see you? Later on he’ll joke that he has a face for radio. It’s not true. Gilmore is very tall and very handsome.
When I ask what his main job title he says “Part-time air personality, part-time producer, just all around bitch” he adds with a hearty laugh. “ I do whatever it takes to keep my day busy.” Gilmore got his start as a DJ almost by accident. While growing up he says “I didn’t have resources or anyone telling me I could do that. I though the most important thing was getting money and not doing something you love-- or building a career. It was pay your car payment, insurance have some spending money to take the girlfriend out.” But when he met former Local Licks host Kylie Brooks she suggested he could intern at 98 rock as her assistant. "I was just bs’ing with her one day. So now I’m here doing the show she was doing when I started.”
Gilmore says he really wanted to be a musician but says he “can’t play a lick. I have a bass but I can’t play it. I’m trying to get someone to teach me. I wanted to sing but I can’t sing a stitch. So those who can’t, do radio. That’s what I’ve heard”, he jokes. His ultimate goal is to be a full-time jock and contracted on-air personality. Something he’s working hard at. At 9 pm sharp the show goes out live on the radio and between songs and interviews Gilmore takes calls from listeners, some of whom are confused because the show recently moved into an earlier and longer time slot due to it's popularity. “The band I’m playing now just called me a few minutes ago hoping I would play this song and they’re all partying right now! So that’s kind of the main thing. The main audiences are the bands I’m playing but we’ll get peoples minds open to local music.”
One last thing about moonlighting in this brief record needs to be straight and Gilmore is very serious about this. “Really my first job, my first passion is being a husband and a dad. So these other two things are moonlighting from those.”
“We set it up with one of our boom boxes as the wall of the club and we built this little stage. We would cut out paper guitars for our GI Joe figures and I would create tapes to play as if I was the radio DJ setting up the songs. It was me pretending to be Pat Martin who is my boss now. I would listen to what he did and we’d play Def Leppard, Motley Crue and Ratt. That was my first DJ job. I though it was fun but I went through my later childhood thinking I had no shot at ever being anything. I took the most common jobs. I was kind of a shy person.” He’s not shy now. What he is now is an on-air radio personality at 98 Rock as host of Local Lick’s, Sacramento’s longest running local music showcase broadcast live Sunday nights from 9-10 pm on 98 Rock. The whole hour is dedicated to unsigned local bands. He is also the manager for popular local band Brand X Savior.
As the door to the radio station swings open the first thing you notice is his bare feet. Of course, it’s radio, who can see you? Later on he’ll joke that he has a face for radio. It’s not true. Gilmore is very tall and very handsome.
When I ask what his main job title he says “Part-time air personality, part-time producer, just all around bitch” he adds with a hearty laugh. “ I do whatever it takes to keep my day busy.” Gilmore got his start as a DJ almost by accident. While growing up he says “I didn’t have resources or anyone telling me I could do that. I though the most important thing was getting money and not doing something you love-- or building a career. It was pay your car payment, insurance have some spending money to take the girlfriend out.” But when he met former Local Licks host Kylie Brooks she suggested he could intern at 98 rock as her assistant. "I was just bs’ing with her one day. So now I’m here doing the show she was doing when I started.”
Gilmore says he really wanted to be a musician but says he “can’t play a lick. I have a bass but I can’t play it. I’m trying to get someone to teach me. I wanted to sing but I can’t sing a stitch. So those who can’t, do radio. That’s what I’ve heard”, he jokes. His ultimate goal is to be a full-time jock and contracted on-air personality. Something he’s working hard at. At 9 pm sharp the show goes out live on the radio and between songs and interviews Gilmore takes calls from listeners, some of whom are confused because the show recently moved into an earlier and longer time slot due to it's popularity. “The band I’m playing now just called me a few minutes ago hoping I would play this song and they’re all partying right now! So that’s kind of the main thing. The main audiences are the bands I’m playing but we’ll get peoples minds open to local music.”
One last thing about moonlighting in this brief record needs to be straight and Gilmore is very serious about this. “Really my first job, my first passion is being a husband and a dad. So these other two things are moonlighting from those.”
posted by Charr Crail at 9:48 PM
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