THE MORNING RUSH TOP 10

JRN

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“You don’t wanna do a gimmick that some-body else is doing. I

don’t think there’s an-other show that would do a Top 10, because we’re doing the Top

10.You don’t wanna do something that some-body is already doing, or somebody already, quote unquote, ‘owns’,

diba?”—Chico Garcia

Re-defining mornings

CHICO, DELLEAND GINO:

Morning traffic per se is a monstrosity as far as the folks from Metro Manila are concerned and this is just one of the problems that commuters face everyday. Since then, morning radio shows have found great ways to enter-tain their listeners – whether stuck in traffic, or not. It is at this point that good morning radio shows are like a

whiff of fresh air that distracts the weary motorists from being “bad trip”. Most morning radio shows offer a wide range of topics everyday and play music in between. The Morning Rush hosted by DJs Chico, Del, and Gino does just that. As best described by DJ Del, “The Morn-ing Rush is all about talk and music. We try to entertain with music, talk, and silliness, with pictures. As long as the people listening are entertained.” Listeners are drawn into the show because of their interesting gim-micks like The Morning Rush Top 10, the Epic rap-off, Epic-picture, recently the “Scandal”, their good-natured jokes, and their excellent taste for good music.

It was a Wednesday morning when we came to the Monster Radio studio in Ortigas to interview DJs Chico, Del, and Gino. As expected, they were as glib as they are on air although DJ Gino looked especially tired, as if

he already had a long day. DJs Chico and Gino just got back from their Beijing trip along with the other DJs of Monster Radio.

For quite some time now, peo-ple are used to just hearing the comedic spills of this wacky trio, although they have done a few TV stints. Thanks to aca-demic require-ments, we were given a chance to see the faces be-hind these voices that people im-mediately recog-nize.

Stiff and awed at first, we just asked household ques-tions: What are the perks of being a DJ?

“Definitely not the co-hosts”, Gino jokingly answered. “Well, the hours. Like, we’re done. Most people just got to the office pero kami, [but we] we’re done”, added Chico. “It’s a fun job. Two, we get paid to watch movies, go to parties, try out products, and meet celebrities”, Del said.

Definitely, the perks of being a DJ are something any one would love to have; but let’s face it, being a DJ entails

by Laguilles, Arielle Ana G.

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Full name: Frederick Y. Lagbao

Birthday: June 17, mind your own business

Height: 5’7”

Graduated from: University of the Philippines

Course: Communication

Favorite Food: I love everyhing :(

I don’t eat: Anything malansa

Favorite Color: Red

Favorite Movie of All Time: JAWS, LOTR

Favorite Song of All Time: Moon River

CHICO GARCIA

Re-defining mornings

a lot of work and research and it is not just something one instantly becomes good at – it requires a lot of skill. When asked about whether being DJ is a profession or a hobby, all three of them agreed that it is a profession.

“Kasi [because] when you say it’s a profession it can mean two things eh. It can mean you’re paid to do it, in that case it can be a profession, it can be a hobby. But it’s a profession in a sense na [that] it takes a lot of training to do it. It’s not just something na parang [that] just be-cause you talk well or you’re very glib that you will be a good DJ”, Chico explained.

Thinking of how to make a distinguishing factor be-tween The Morning Rush and other morning shows is their ultimate goal: “You don’t wanna do a gimmick that somebody else is doing. I don’t think there’s another show that would do a Top 10, because we’re doing the Top 10.You don’t wanna do something that somebody is already doing, or somebody already, quote unquote, ‘owns’, diba? [right?]”

“Rushers”, as what avid The Morning Rush listeners are called, all know that Gino only became a permanent part of the show only last year, when he had to substi-tute for Del, who, at that time, was on maternity leave. Chico and Gino then formed a tandem called “ChiChi and GiGi”. The duo became successful and received great reviews, and so the management decided to make Gino a permanent DJ on The Morning Rush. With the addition of Gino Quillamor, the show was sort of re-born, with the addition of new portions like the Epic-rap off and the Epic-picture, but still retaining its main feature, The Top 10. The Morning Rush received awards from the OMG Yahoo! Awards and the Tag Awards last 2012. This just proves that The Morning Rush is not just any other morning show. The show’s 17-year existence is enough evidence that it is here to stay, regardless of other morning shows from rival stations.

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Beyond Her Sweet

Voice:

DJ Del talks about her life

Monster Radio’s, Morning Rush sweetheart Delamar Arias shares with us the struggles and joys of being a well-known DJ for more than a decade. The Morning Rush is the award-winning flagship week-day radio show of Monster Radio RX 93.1. It is hosted by the 3 Disc jockeys, Chico Garcia, Delamar Arias and Gino Quillamor from 6-10 am. The show made it for more than a decade form 1996 up to the present with a countless number of avid listeners.

DJ Del’s fast factsBy now, you probably know her cute voice better than your own professor’s. Delamar Arias has been known as the “better radio half ” of DJ Chico Garcia since 1996. Del and Chico have the perfect mix of humor and the chemistry is undeniable, plus Gino that now brought the maximum level of joy and kikay facts and joke that they serve the audience. Chico is the one who burst the killer punch lines, as Gino give his funny yet sophisticated com-ments and opinions, Del would gave her very infectious laugh that would catch the listen-ers’ humor box. Del doesn’t just have attrac-tive and sweet voice, but with a disarming smile, stunning beauty and an overall down-to-earth vibe, it’s no wonder this radio star made the listeners hang on to her every word for a decade and a half.

Del is a cool person with a good taste of fashion, on our interview Del is wearing a beautiful black dress, with a black chaleco and cool grey wedge hills. She’s indeed stunning. Del is already 39 years old, and will be cele-brating her 40th birthday on October 14, 2013. She took up her History course in UP Manila then transferred to UP Diliman. We asked her about her favourite color, “No, nothing I don’t have, but if I need to choose one,

Yellow, Yellow think,” she responded.

“My favourite food is pasta, but I don’t eat shrimps, I have allergy, so ayun,” she said. She is indeed a funny person that loves everything depending on her mood or situation.

Del is now a single mom with boyfriend, her baby’s name is Cooper Matteo Arias, which means “a gift from God.” She got pregnant at the age of 35. And she was not even married to her musician boyfriend, Tyler Ashby.

“I didn’t expect it, and to be honest, I didn’t want it, be-cause of the situation,” confessed the 39-year-old disc

jock on her i n t e r v i e w with Smart Parenting.

“There were just fears because of the situa-tion. But the pregnanc y itself?, I couldn’t be happier kasi

I didn’t expect it and I didn’t even, to be honest, want it.

“I have an idea of family and how kids should be brought in this world, and obviously, I didn’t follow it, so the res-ervation was coming from there.”It didn’t take long before she realized that having

by Quiamco, Jhade

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Cooper, the baby’s name, is a blessing.

“There was a dream that was shattered, kasi one thing you said you wouldn’t do happened to you.“But then when I thought about it, you weren’t supposed to get pregnant ever. But then here you are, against all odds, age, your medical condition, everything.

“Apart from the shock of it, there was fear obviously, but after a while, ‘Hey, I’ll be a mom!’“When I got used to the idea of the pregnancy, then I was quite happy about it.

“Oh my god, I’m spawning!”(Courtesy of smartparenting.com.ph)

Yes, Del is a woman of fire, spirit and dignity. She chooses not to be under the sacrament of marriage just because she’s pregnant. Though already pregnant with Tyler’s baby, she didn’t impose the idea of getting married just for the baby’s sake.

Delamar enjoys her life being a single mom who gets help and support from her boyfriend.

“Every step of the way, I need to decide what’s good for Cooper, what’s good for me.”

Delamar as a DJ Profession can neither be rou-tine nor hobby. Routine if you don’t love what you are doing, and doing your thing just for the sake of doing it. Hob-by, if yes, you’re having fun, not actually the total op-posite of routine, but something when the time you get bored you’ll just drop it for a moment.

“Ako ano eh, I just heard a plug on the radio, I was on the bus with a friend, and then there was a plug umm, that invited students to audition. Parang, you don’t need to be a Mass Comm major, you just need to have a voice and if you really want to be on radio. So, dinare lang niya ko. So sabi ko, “Okay, I bet I can do it.” And I did it, and the rest is history.”

They say being a Dj is somehow a destiny for them (chico,gino,del). They never expect that this would be

their finest break in life. Being a Dj is del’s first job. And we asked her, if she’s not a dj now, what would be her pro-fession? “I don’t k n o w , I don’t k n o w … .Maybe a t e a c h e r , but maybe not. I don’t know.” She answered.

Being a Dj is not just a job sitting on a chair while you discuss something. Delamar told us about the perks and frustrations of beina a Dj.

“Look outside. [People outside the conference room] They’re working pero they’re taking their time.”

“Yeah, they can chill. If you’re a DJ, especially on the morning show, everything is fast, everything. And you can’t not…you can’t afford to not have your attention there. So, for 4 hours, isipin mo yun, deciding what songs to play, you’re checking Twitter, you’re check-ing Facebook, you’re checking commercial load, you’re checking your co-hosts!”

“Your brain is never…you know, uh.. standing still in the 4 hours. And you do it every day.”

“You’re multitasking… It’s like you’re juggling so many balls in the air. Like a juggler. You’re doing ten thou-sand things at the same time.”

“You can do whatever…you don’t have to. Pero siyem-pre if you want to maximize your earning capacity, then that’s what you do. The hours, one it’s a fun job. I mean, for certain types of personalities. I mean, there are per-sonalities that can work behind the desk. There are per-sonalities that are better with, you know, performance like that. So that’s one, it’s a fun job. Two, we get paid to watch movies, go to parties, uhm.. try out products, meet celebritie. Yun eh. It’s a perk, for sure.”

“Apart from the shock of it, there was fear obvi-ously, but af-ter a while, ‘Hey, I’ll be a mom!’—Delle Arias

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DELAMAR ARIAS

Full name: Delamar C. Arias

Birthday:October 14, 1973

Height: 5’0”

Graduated from: University of the Philippines

Course: History

Favorite Food: Pasta

I don’t eat:Shrimp, allergies! :(

Favorite Color: Yellow

Favorite Movie of All Time: When Harry Met Sally, Matrix

Favorite Song of All Time: That’s hard!!! Lupang Hinirang.

The downside of being a Dj is the work itself. They could no celebrate some events because they have to stay late night, for the show. They don’t even have vacation, ty-phoon, or other calamities can never be an excuse.

There are times that she would want to quit their job,“I think that’s your ano eh, like, your default reaction when you’re…you’re frustrated with something. And

the first frustration comes from co-hosts. [Laughs].”“No I mean, it’s part of the job. Sometimes you get sick and tired of… let’s say, kasama talaga yun eh. Some-times there are too many commercials and you’re like, “Ahhhh I can’t handle this!” you wish you weren’t a DJ.”She also say as that having the Dj career can either be re-warding or not, because it depends on the station you’re in and the fact that Dj’s only have 4hrs working hours for the day, they would havt to get some other rockets if

they need more income.5-10 years from now, Del can’t imagine how her life would be, its just that she can’t predict what could it be on that time. “Hope fully thinner. [Laughs] You don’t…

in this job talaga, you almost don’t think about

that. You really do it like, everyday. Kasi we didn’t even think that last year, we had such a great 2012. If some-body told us that our 2012 is going to be as spectacular as it turned out, we wouldn’t believe it. In this job, you just do it every…. Every chance you get you do a good job. And then it propels you to better opportunity. Like, we started last year with the book launch, and parang, “Wow, may book.” Tapos … and then there was uhh… the OMG Yahoo! Awards, and then there was the Tag Awards, and then, parang, it kept getting better and bet-ter. We, you… I don’t think anyone can plan that. What you can do is do a good job everyday and things start to happen to you. So we try not to play the game of “Oh in 5 years ah” you’ll… you’ll probably get so frustrated. So just wing it. Wing it everyday and you’ll know naman if you’re doing a good job, or if it’s time to say goodbye, so hopefully that won’t be anytime soon.” She explained.

She’s indeed a lovely tough woman on and off air.“Being a Dj can be your destiny or not, but make sure on your everyday you enjoy your life.” She added on a

direct message on twitter.

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“It’s a profession, for sure,” Gino Quillamor answered with conviction when asked about whether being a DJ is a profession or a hobby. Seated beside him were De-lamar Arias and Chico Garcia, who originally was a tan-dem before Gino joined at the end of 2011. His serious-ness, of course, was only due to the question. But after a few Q&A warm ups, the characters of the DJs I listen to in the morning gradually transpired in front of me.

The Morning Rush Top 10, having different listeners all over the globe, a chain of trending topics and a num-ber of followers on Twitter, is one of the most popular shows on the radio. Their clever antics and witty punch lines are just one of the reasons why commuters, stu-dents and employees, choose to include them in their morning habits.

Popularity equates to pressure. And pressure is what the three DJs face now. “You’re as only good as your last show, it really is true. We may have entertained people today, but if we don’t do it tomorrow, we’re one step closer to losing them,” Delamar explained. It was either they top their last performance or at least keep it on the same level. From the very first time they went on air, it

has always been a struggle for them to keep things fun and not boring.

The effort for e n t e r t a i n -ment stirs their brain most of the time. From the outside, they may look like they’re just talking and doing commercials; but behind all of those, they juggle a lot of things while giving each and every task the same amount of focus. It’s either they de-cide on what songs to play, check Twitter and Facebook for listener responses, check commercial load, check their cohosts, and from time to time, even check their emotional control. Sometimes with a heavy workload packed in 4 hours, even bathroom breaks are post-poned. “Walang exaggeration,” exclaims Chico.

So whenever they have the chance to enjoy their day, they opt to do something relaxing like watching movies or hanging out with friends. “I don’t even talk around my friends anymore, I just listen,” admits Gino. They live up to the saying “A good speaker is a good listener.” The talkative disc jockeys are really not that chatty in real life. But chances are, what they have observed and listened to when not at work is what they input dur-ing their shows. They are like sponges absorbing every-thing that they can use as a material for the show.

A MORNINGHarmony by Leonida, Jamie E.

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“I don’t even talk around my friends anymore, I

just listen,”—Gino

Quillamor

If you think their day ends after all the non-stop talk-ing, then you’re wrong. Every now and then, they still have other things to worry about. They go to meetings with clients who explain to them the products they will have to execute during the show, they host at night, they have other jobs, and they also have their personal lives. Everything seems a routine except that businesses are different things every day.

Did they ever think of quitting? Got tired and maybe thought about doing something else? “Ask anyone who’s been doing a job for quite some time. They’ll tell you that they’ve had a time when they want to quit. I don’t think there’s anyone working who never experienced that,” Chico replies. Comments on their performances and too many demands sometimes trigger this emo-tion. And then ,there are the hitches of the job.

Non-working holidays are non-existent to them. They all have to go to work even if it is Christmas or New Year. “Typhoon, fire, whatever. Ahhhh everybody’s on

holiday and we’re here,” Gino adds. But apart from those, a lot of perks compensates on the shortcomings. On one hand, most workers just got into the office while on the other hand, they are already done for the job. They also get paid to watch movies, go to par-ties, try out products, meet celebrities and get so many freebies. And then Gino vainly said, “And you get to grate your friends. [Laughs] Diba? Parang you can go back to high school and

you’ll be like, ‘Ah what’s up? Who’s the loser now?!’””

But is a DJ career financially rewarding? Delle says that even if they only work for 4 hours, 3 hours for some DJs, they still get paid as if they’re working for 8 hours. Gino snorted then pointed out that we should check an envelope inside Chico’s pocket.

Aside from the sentiments, they also share the same story on how they landed their job—through a friend. Delle was dared to join by a friend when they heard a plug inviting students to audition. Both Chico and Gino were asked to accompany their friend and then, as they say, the rest is history. When the question about a differ-ent career was put up, both Delle and Gino can’t think of any industry they would probably be part of. But Chico expressed that, most likely, he would be part of an ad agency. But with this emerging media, the internet as a medium, it is easier to dabble on so many things, writ-ing, hosting, or what have you.

We tried asking about what is ahead of their future and they all did not want to ponder on it. It is because they

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think nothing is really sure; like they didn’t expect that 2012 will be re-markable. Launching a book, winning the Tattoo Awards plus the Tag Awards, and every day it gets surpassed. The pressure that they dread is what motivates them to do good or to be better even more.

Chico said that if there would be a bigger word for “Thank you,” it would be it—a perfect ex-planation for how grate-ful they are to the listeners throughout the years. those who bought their books, and to those who continue to support them.

And then again, after every serious question, one of them makes the mood very light… “Si Gino kasi ungrateful eh,” continues Chico.

Full name: Gino Mikhail R. Quillamor

Birthday: December 17, 1984

Height: 5’9”

Graduated from: Philippine School of Business Administration

Course: Management

Favorite Food: Lahat! Cebuano lechon!

I don’t eat: Balot and gulay. I hate vegetables.

Favorite Color: White

Favorite Movie of All Time: Star Wars, LOTR, Iron Man, Avengers

Favorite Song of All Time: Current favorite song… Swedish House Mafia‘s Don’t You Worry Child

GINO QUILLAMOR

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BIT by BITINTERVIEW WITH DEL, CHICO AND GINO FROM THE MORNING RUSHJanuary 23, 2013 Monster Radio RX 93.117th floor, Strata 2000, Ortigas, Pasig City

Some call being a DJ a profession, some call it a hobby. What’s your take on this?

G: It’s a profession, for sure.

C: No kasi you know, it is a profession. Pero some people use the profession as their hobby if they don’t use it. Pero it takes a lot skill. Kasi when you say it’s a profession it can mean two things eh. It can mean you’re paid to do it, in that case it can be a profession, it can be a hobby. But it’s a profession in a sense na it takes a lot of training to do it. It’s not just some-thing na parang just because you talk well or your’e very glib that you will be a good DJ. So uh..some people take it seri-ously, and some people don’t but definitely, it takes a lot of work and a lot of training to be DJ.

G: A lot of people, I guess, just figure that it’s parang it’s an easy thing to do kasi you just talk and whatever. But what they don’t know is what goes on behind it, and what goes on after it and before the show, when like, there’s so much that you have to take in consideration and parang, when like, ano, whenever kasi I hear the word “hobby” usually it’s like going wakeboarding, biking, or whatever. That’s a hobby, for me. But when you say profession then it’s something that entails a lot of work so this definitely entails a lot of work even if it seems like on the outside it’s just all fun and games/

C: /Actually if you make it look easy, a lot of work probably was put into it.

D: Tsaka let’s face it diba, hobby, you can always drop it when you don’t wanna do it anymore. If it’s a profession, I mean, you’re hired to do something. You gotta be there whether you feel like it or not.

G: And even if it’s something that you love to do. Like let’s just say, I’m pretty sure that we (referring to Del and Chico) all love being on radio. But there are days na parang, “Oh I’m so tamad to go to work” or “I’d like to sleep, I don’t want to go

to work” but you still have to do it anyway. You know, so pa-rang that’s the difference between a hobby and a profession.

Before you became a DJ, did you have other jobs?C: I was still in college so, no. /

G: /He was inventing fire [Laughs]

C: /It was my first job! [Laughs]

D: I was a fresh grad. I got into radio in 2002.

G: Well I was a student. I had a part-time job in a call center while I was still studying

C: Diba you were like a host? A mascot? Ano yun? [Laughs]

G: Uhhhh..I started off as a marshal, like you usher people into like, events. Then the organizer figured that I could talk pala, so I sort of hosted na rin. So there.

If you weren’t a DJ, what would you probably do? G: I would be waiting for my mana from my parents. /[Laughs]

G: /At least I’m honest!

C: Uhhhh…siguro, ad agency? Or a writer. Nah, ad agency. I mean, ideally, a writer pero there’s hardly any money in writ-ing, so most likely I would be part of an ad agency as a copy writer/

G: /Male stripper [Laughs] That’s his dream job.

D: I don’t know, I don’t know. /

G: Diba?

D: /Maybe a teacher, but maybe not. I don’t know.

How do you prepare your topics every morning? C: Ahhh, you know, it’s uh… one of three things: either we come up with it, or it’s requested via Twitter, or it’s a little

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bit of both. Like, they request one topic, pero we tweak it uhhh..to our liking. So it’s just any one of the three. Uhm, sometimes it’s more of the uh… the third one. Yung parang, somebody requests for it, and then we just tweak it a little bit to make it more radio-friendly.

What was the biggest factor that led you to become a DJ? G: I was hungry and I had no work. [Laughs] I was forced to live off the streets. [Laughs]

C: It was destiny. /

G: /But if you come think about it, yeah!

C: /No kasi, I wasn’t going into radio if it wasn’t for a friend of mine who wanted to get into radio. Nagpasama lang siya to audition [….] They say it’s a very common story but that’s how it was and I ended up in radio and uhm…well my friend ended up in radio din, pero not in that station that we ap-plied in but uhm..as in, I so did not want to be part of the radio. I never saw myself as a broadcaster, as a DJ.

Arielle: But you ended up loving your job na?

C: Eventually. Pero sobrang I wasn’t into radio – at all. I want-ed to be a newscaster or an actor or anything except DJ! /

G: /Feeeeeeling!!!! [Laughs]

C: Bakit, pwede namang kontra bida ah?! Meron namang role na kontra bida ah. Sinabi ko bang bida?! [Laughs] Pero alam mo yun, I would rather be everything else in media ex-cept DJ. Seriously. As in I mean it. Think of a media job, mas okay pa ako dun kesa sa radio. That was before I entered ra-dio. So it’s so weird that I would become a DJ.

G: Janitor ng ABS-CBN?

C: Media nga. Yung mga on-cam or whatever.

G: Same here, actually. Uhm, I never even intended on go-ing into radio. Uh, my friend just asked me to drive for him because he didn’t have a car that time so he was like, “Oh can you drive me to the station, I’m gonna audition because there’s a competition.” And he was like, “Oh why don’t you bring like uhhh, your resume while you’re at it na rin?” So I was like, “Okay.” And then so we joined the same competi-tion, I ended up winning it and then..well, here I am.

C: Tapos siniraan ni Gino yung friend niya kaya siya nanalo. [Laughs]

D: Ako ano eh, I just heard a plug on the radio, I was on the bus with a friend, and then there was a plug umm, that

invited students to audition. Parang, you don’t need to be a Mass Comm major, you just need to have a voice and if you really want to be on radio. So, dinare lang niya ko. So sabi ko, “Okay, I bet I can do it.” And I did it, and the rest is history.

What are the perks of being a DJ? G: Definitely not the co-hosts. [Laughs]

C: Well, the hours. Like, we’re done. Most people just got to the office, pero kami we’re done.

Arielle: Like, you’re done for the day?

C: Yeah! Well, I mean for, the job. /

D: /Kasi you can opt naman not to. /

C: / you can opt not to do hosting

D: /Apart from hosting the show, we also host events.

C: But that’s outside of the job.

D: You can do whatever…you don’t have to. Pero siyempre if you want to maximize your earning capacity, then that’s what you do. The hours, one it’s a fun job. I mean, for certain types of personalities. I mean, there are personalities that can work behind the desk.

There are personalities that are better with, you know, performance like that. So that’s one, it’s a fun job. Two, we get paid to watch movies, go to parties, uhm.. try out products, meet celebrities /

G: /Get so many freebies

D: /Yun eh. It’s a perk, for sure.

G: And you get to grate your friends. [Laughs] Diba? Parang, you can go back to high school and you’ll be like, “Ah what’s up? Who’s the loser now?!”

What about the downsides of being a DJ?C: Well…no vacation!! Well, di naman no vacation pero, parang, alam mo yun, we have sobrang konti.

G: Well, the only days we have na vacation uhm…holy week. Just the three days. Maundy Thursday, Good Fri-day, and Black Saturday.

C: So Christmas, New Year, typhoon..we have to go. /

G: Typhoon, fire, whatever. 11

C: And holidays /

G: Holidays.

C: / Basta merong holiday, we’re not affected.

G: Parang you really feel it eh like “Ahhhh everybody’s on holiday and we’re here..”

C: So like, I have friends in the corporate world, they have like 20 days, 30 days in a year.

We have ten. That’s like once a month hanggang October.

G: Tsaka no matter how long you’ve been here..like, look at him [referring to Chico] he’s been here forever.

C: So that’s ten in a year.

D: Kaya mag-aral nalang.

C: That’s one of the things we miss about school; summer vacation.

G: I hated school when I was in school but now that I’m at work, I’m like, “Ahhh I miss school.”

C: I still don’t like school pero, I love the summer vacation.

How do you spend your time when you’re not working? C: Sakin charity work… [Laughs]

D: Whatever!!

C: No /

G: / More like internet research.

C: / Rest. Kasi, specially this past Christmas season, our schedule was really toxic and uhm, hostings are really heavy in December. Super, like the heaviest. G: Actually surprisingly enough, even this month. /

C: / Yeah

D: / Mhhhhmmmm.

C: Pero, alam mo yun, uh, on a regular month, it’s not that heavy. Actually ano, uh, we try to, kasi..even though we’re just 4 hours, it’s a myth that it’s easy. Our 4 hours is equiva-lent to other people’s 8 hours. Kasi ‘pag 8-hour job ka, you can opt to take your own pace, you know, eto talaga it’s 4 hours of like, literally, you cannot relax. Not even for – not even like going to the bathroom to wi-wi. Minsan it’s sus-

pended until after the show is finished. Walang exaggeration. As in you just hold it in kasi you literally cannot leave your station kasi there’s just so many things happening. So it’s 4 hours na talagang hyper, packed /

D: / Actually, you’re on your toes /

C: / You’re on your toes for 4 hours, no time to rest.

D: / Look outside. [People outside the conference room] They’re working pero they’re taking their time. /

C: / If they wanna take a break, they could

G: / In other words, they’re working pero minsan pume-pe-tiks din [Laughs]

D: / Kasi ang dali diba. /

Arielle: /They can chill.

D: Yeah, they can chill. If you’re a DJ, especially on the morn-ing show, everything is fast, everything. And you can’t not…you can’t afford to not have your attention there. So, for 4 hours, isipin mo yun, deciding what songs to play, you’re checking Twitter, you’re checking Facebook, you’re checking commercial load, you’re checking your co-hosts! [Laughs] /

G: / Thinking of other gimmicks to make things more inter-esting

D: Your brain is never…you know, uh.. standing still in the 4 hours. And you do it everyday.

G: And it’s not just one track. Like, okay, well let’s just say you’re in front of a computer, like you’re…you’re behind a desk or something like that. Usually, you’re focusing on just one thing. Whereas with this, you’re focusing on several dif-ferent things /

D: / You’re multitasking

G: with the same amount of focus on each and every single one.

D: It’s like you’re juggling so many balls in the air.

C: Like a juggler!

D: Like a juggler. You’re doing ten thousand things at the same time.

G: And controlling your emotions at the same time, ‘cuz say you’re having a bad day, you can’t make it seem that you’re

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having a bad day on air.

C: Actually, the reason we were bringing it up that it’s hectic, kasi you were asking nga pala what we do outside, like what’s a typical day. So, the reason we brought this up is that it really is hectic. So when we do have spare time, believe it or not, we would rather do, parang, like stuff that would relax you. /

D: / You wanna meditate.

C: You wanna just watch a movie or something. Believe it or not, sleep is such a precious commodity to us.

G: I don’t even talk around my friends anymore, I just listen.

D: Kasi yeah, pero it’s also good for you to listen. Kasi if you’re always talking, you know, if you’re a DJ, para kang sponge eh. When you go on the air, that’s when you squeeze everything that you observed from everything; from traffic, to movies, to songs, to clubs – everything. It’s all in your head. So when you do the show, everything that you observed, you put it there. Para you have content. So we find ourselves talking on the show, ang daldal namin pero in real life /

G: We’re just like… [blank expression]

D: Yeah. We’re observing, we’re checking out what people are doing and whatever, and also /

G: / Delikado rin yun kasi napapanis yung laway. [Laughs] Okay lang yun, toothbrush ka lang.

D: as much as we can, we relax, pero because we’re hosting a radio show in the morning, we’re doing meetings after the show because clients want to explain their products to us so we can execute them on the show, and then we have hosting at night, which take us all the way ‘til midnight sometimes.

G: And we have other jobs, our personal lives, and then you wake up at 5, and then you eat breakfast, and you do the ex-act same thing.

Arielle: So is that a routine?

D: That’s what makes our job fun – it’s not a routine.

C: It’s different things everyday.

G: Pero same amount of busy-ness.

Do you ever get annoying callers? D: Well, yeah. When we used to open the phone line. Well, if we ever do, kasi that’s something that comes with the job. It

can’t be na puro okay yung mga callers. There will always be one or two who will try to be epal about it. You know, parang, para maiba lang, ganun.

Was there ever a time when you thought of quitting your job? G: Yes. [Laughs]

D: I think that’s your ano eh, like, your default reaction when you’re…you’re frustrated with something. And the first frus-tration comes from co-hosts. [Laughs]

C: I think nung pumasok si Gino. [Laughs]

D: No I mean, it’s part of the job. Sometimes you get sick and tired of /

G: / your co-hosts [Laughs]

D: let’s say, kasama talaga yun eh. Sometimes there are too many commercials and you’re like, “Ahhhh I can’t handle this!” you wish you weren’t a DJ.

G: Tapos parang the demands are too much and you’re like, “Ikaw kaya dito!” parang mapapaganun ka nalang, so like, frustration yun.

D: And when people comment about your performance as a DJ on Twitter, medyo nakakapikon, because we’re humans!

C: Actually, any…ask anyone who’s been doing a job for quite some time. They’ll tell you that they’ve had a time when they wanna quit. I don’t think there’s anyone working who never experienced that. Kasi siyempre if you’re doing the same thing over and over again, parang siyempre kahit papaano diba, you start thinking of, “What if I was doing something else?”

G: It’s like life. I’m sure everybody has at least thought of quitting life every now and then.

Is a DJ career financially rewarding? C: Yeah. But it depends which DJ you’ll ask. Kasi, you know, it will depend on your /

G: / If you’re starting out..

D: / Tsaka your station!

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C: station. Kasi if you work for a station that doesn’t have a lot of commercials, then most likely /

D: / Walang pambayad.

C: there’s nothing to pay, diba. Kasi it’s true though, it’s sim-ple as that.

G: Tsaka siyempre, if you’re a successful DJ, then obviously, you will earn more than regular DJs. But if you’re an unsuc-cessful DJ, you’re not gonna earn as much as the other DJs. Just like in /

C: any other corporate job!

G: / any job!

D: Pero one thing’s for sure. A DJ, although we work for…kasi us, we work for 4 hours. But most DJs, work for just 3. Uhm, they get paid as if they’re working 8 hours. So it is financially rewarding. Especially when you make it…make it big time.

G: Tignan niyo yung left pocket ni ano, tignan niyo yung left pocket ni Chico! /

C: Wala na tinanggal ko na!

G: / May envelope diyan! [Laughs]

We saw you guest on Gandang Gabi Vice. Have you ever thought of being in front of the camera?

D: Yeah, definitely. You know, all…all of us have done TV stints. I mean, Gino was hosting /

G: I’ve done a couple of Hollywood movies before [Laughs] Feeeeelingggg!

D: / I mean, we had a show, kami ni Chico, we also had a TV show uhm, with Karen, ‘no, on ETC.

G: Yeah, and I hosted for GMA’s Party Pilipinas.

D: Right! And then we also did ano /

G: / I was part of Magic Mike, I was dancer number 74. [Laughs]

D: So yeah, it’s there. I mean, all media is related. Print, we’re also on print. Uh, TV, we dabbled on TV and then..

G: Oh, tri-media.

D: Mhhhmmm.

C: Ako I want to do drama, eh. /

G: / Kasi ma-drama siyang tao.

C: Telenovela siguro.

D: ‘Di lang yun, kasi now there’s an emerging media…me-dium, internet, and anything digital. So we’re also there, the presence is there.

G: So quad-media.

D: Yeah, quad-media.

For those people who don’t listen to your show, can you talk about what The Morning Rush is all about?

D: It’s a lot.

G: It’s a lot eh. That’s a really difficult question to answer, ac-tually.

D: Basically, it’s a morning radio show that entertains you in traffic. That’s what we do.

C: Talk and music.

D: Talk and music, that’s how we entertain uh, in the States –

G: Talk and music and bitchiness. / [Laughs]

D: / Yes, yes.

G: A lot of bitchiness.

D: I mean, that’s kasi… what separates radio from the rest of media is you can’t read while you’re driving a car. You can’t watch the TV. Diba, it’s…it’s easier for you to turn on your radio, and go through traffic, you know, if you’re a commuter or if you have your own car. It doesn’t matter. Radio is so portable that you can listen to it. It’s so accessible. And for us, that’s what we do: we entertain people who are commut-ing. And The Morning Rush does that with portions like The Morning Rush Top 10. So we have a topic, what used to be a Top 10, ngayon..top, I don’t know..top 300? [Laughs]

C: It’s true!

D: But that’s what we do. We try to entertain with music, talk, with silliness, with pictures. As long as the people listening are entertained, /

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G: / Kahit ano… =

D: = Kahit ano!

G: / kahit maghubad pa kami… wag… [Laughs]

How is your show different from the other morning shows?

C: Kasi we have different gimmicks, eh. If you listen… if you listen to… not… why don’t you include all the other shows /

D: / Even AM.

C: not even morning, diba. Isama mo na yung everyone else. Cuz obviously, you don’t wanna do a gimmick that some-body else is doing. So like, if you notice, I mean, I don’t know about the others, pero I don’t think there’s a...another show that would do a Top 10, because we’re doing the Top 10. So if we know that it’s something that’s being done by another show, obviously, we’ll stay away from it, and same with…with other shows. You don’t wanna do something that some-body is already doing, or somebody already, quote unquote, “owns”, diba.

D: Actually even if you did the exact same portion, what makes a difference is the personality. /

G: / Yeah.

D: Kasi these are..these are, uhh… personalities-slash-celeb-rities in their own right. There’s a way that they do things; there’s a brand of humor, there’s a way of talking that’s so dis-tinct, so people would who like that kind of personality will go there. If you’re into the type who likes uh, a certain type of entertainment, let’s say, news, dun ka pupunta. If you want a little bit of the shock-jocking, you’ll go to Mo… in the morn-ing.

G: And if medyo Beki, edi samin. Medyo kikay ka. [Laughs]

D: Yeah, ganun lang siya.

G: Everybody has their own shtick.

C: It’s like a… it’s like a buffet. /

D: / Ah, yon..

C: It’s just out there, tapos it’s up to the listener to get what /

G: / Whatever you want.

C: from whatever.

D: Depende sa mood! You could be listening to the two rival stations in different times of the week, diba. Kasi on a Mon-day, you’d rather start with whoever.

G: Tapos Monday, positive ka, tapos Tuesday medyo masama araw mo so dun ka sa negative na show tapos sa Wednesday positive ka nanaman. Parang ganun.

C: Aaaaayyyy!

G: What? I’m just saying!

D: La la la la la [Covers ears]

G: It’s like, take your own poison.

D: I didn’t say that, ah.

G: No, take your own poison, diba. Na parang, it’s like, what-ever you can relate to, I’m sure that’s what you listen to. /

D: / Yeah.

G: Like, diba. Especially now.

D: Especially now, people switch to shows even within the same uhh… like in the three hours or four hours that people are listening.

G: Parang usually pag nagco-commercial, lipat ka. Maram-ing ganun eh. Na parang -

Who inspires you to be a better DJ among the others?

G: Definitely not si Chico [Laughs] kasi for one, he’s not cool. [Laughs]

D: I think, uhmm… I don’t know if I can speak for the two pero it’s not like you’re inspired by a specific person. I think…

G: Wala ka bang inspiration?

D: [Laughs] To be a DJ!!

G: Wala bang inspired to be a better person din? [Laughs]

D: I think for us, we just wanna do a better job than we did yesterday. So that’s what makes us do what we do. Parang, “Hey we did a good job today! Let’s do even better tomor-row!” Or even the pressure of just maintaining it. And then we’re always thinking of… not naman literally, “Anong gaga-win natin bukas?”, not like that. Pero we always, like, open to the idea of doing something different kasi pag nagsawa yung

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mga tao, lilipat yan, eh. So we also try to /

G: / Open the idea of doing something new like sexuality [Laughs]

D: we always, parang, try to do the job better; try to make it more interesting.

G: Trying to wind up yourself every time, everyday.

D: So it’s not somebody else that inspires you, but /

G: / It’s more of yourself.

D: it’s yourself. Yeah.

G: It’s your inner competitiveness, I guess.

D: Tsaka specially the three of us, we’re pretty hard on our-selves. We don’t… we’re not okay with this much [hand ges-ture] /

G: We’re not okay with this much [mocks Del’s gesture] we like this much! [Laughs]

D: we just wanna do better everyday.

C: Ako inspiration is I just want to not be…I want to be a good person unlike Gino.

[D and G laughs]

C: As corny as it may seem /

G: / Well you’re failing!!

C: believe it or not, it sounds parang very Miss Universe pero it’s… it’s really the listeners.

[All: Awwww ]

C: parang you want… you want to give them a good show eh, diba -

[Del and Gino sings “Miss Universe” song]

C: Tapos na kayo? Because I’d like to wade into the truth now. [Laughs]

D: Wanna wade? We’ve been swimming in it!

C: I wasn’t talking about BS.

[All laughs]

C: Hindi, hindi, kasi like, kunyari, one of the best things for us that we really love, pag yung kunyari ang dami-daming nagti-tweet na parang, “Oh my gosh I’m just enjoying your show” like you have no idea…how… it /

G: / Rewarding

C: rewards you. Talagang it feels so… good. Just to have peo-ple, yung random people tapos marami, sabay-sabay nagte-text na parang, or nagti-tweet na parang, “I was just laugh-ing my head off!” parang you feel like, “Okay, I did my job.” So… you know, it’s a non-material thing pero it really fuels you eh, kasi parang… parang, “Oh my gosh I’m doing a good job” diba, for some people kasi let’s say, you’re an accountant. There’s nothing wrong with it, pero, how do you know that you’re doing a good job? Very, diba? /

G: / Yes! Nag-balance yung books ko! [Laughs] Credit-debit win!

C: Most people don’t have that sort of like… even if you’re the best accountant in the world, you will hardly hear people go, “Oh my gosh you’re so good at accounting!” diba?

G: You’re an accounting rock star!

C: Diba? But… but with us, that’s the really nice thing, you know, we hear people when they say nice things about the show, so, wala… that really fuels it eh. Parang, if they loved it, tapos the next day walang nagti-tweet parang, “Oh we did something wrong, let’s do it again!”

D: Actually ang daming ganyan eh /

C: / Ang dami talaga.

D: even as serious as… we’ve met people who say “You know, you got me through my parents’ divorce”, “You got us through the most difficult times in my family’s life” yung parang, “Re-ally? The show that we do, matters to you?” And then some-times people tweet us na parang, “Bakit…I…. I used to love weekends, pero walang Morning Rush, eh.”

G: Kakakilig, diba?

D: Parang ikaw, parang, “Wow!”

G: Pero at the same time, “Walanghiya kayo, pagpahingahin niyo kami! [Laughs]

C: Hindi kasi parang, kami, we would never, like, on a week-end, no work. We would never wake up early. I mean, we’d take that opportunity to to sleep. And then we would hear

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just to listen. Diba parang, like, “I wouldn’t do that.” [Laughs] But you guys would so parang, wow, thank you. It’s really nice. Minsan it sounds so “show biz” na sobra kaming pero it’s really like, we’re serious when we say that kasi parang it’s not one of those things that we do because we have to, kasi parang, “oh my gosh, thank you for making it special”

G: Kasi as children we never got enough good compliments. [Laughs] It’s true naman eh! Kaya ganito tayo eh!

C: Marami kaming issues. [Laughs]

D: Kasi look, if you’re on a radio show and nobody listen to you, what’s the point? What’s the point of –

C: Hey guys! Tapos isa lang yung sumagot. [Laughs] Like, everybody say hey! Tapos like, isa lang yung, “Hey.” [Laughs]

D: So we’re really happy when people tell us na parang, yeah, good job! Kasi it fuels you even if you are being paid, and technically that’s supposed to fuel you, there’s something about being able to parang, give people what they don’t know they need. Kasi sometimes diba you’re… specially if you don’t listen to our show, parang, “Okay, life is life.” And then they listen to the show and they’re like, “Where have I been? Why…why haven’t I listened to you before? Kasi now mornings are great!” Parang, talagang ano siya, it’s… it’s like “Wow.”

C: And sometimes like I feel so weirded out na like, kun-yari, we do a… book signing. Tapos talagang so many people went. So siyempre, like, you tend to be like effusive, you’re like, “Oh my gosh, I can’t thank you enough!” tapos ang ku-lit kulit mo, like yun, on Twitter, sa blog, wherever. Parang, “Thank you guys, thank you, thank you!” and parang feeling mo parang, people reading it would be like, “Ang OA naman nito.” Kasi parang, you can’t… thank you is not enough. Na parang, even another word na parang… mas, something big-ger. And it just sounds so corny pero if you can just feel how we feel after –

[D and G laughs]

C: Si Gino kasi ungrateful eh. [Laughs]

[D and G sings “Miss Universe” song]

Now that a lot of people listen to your show, how will you keep that audience?

C: That’s the stressful part. Kasi siyempre parang, you know, if you do a really good show today, parang, “Oh my gosh how do we top that?”

G: How do you at least, even, keep it on the same level?

D: Which is why we were telling you why there’s pressure. Kasi especially in a performance kind of show, especially shows, whether it’s on TV, or radio, talagang, you have to… you’re only good as your last show, it really is true. We may have entertained people today, but if we don’t do it tomor-row, we’re one step closer to losing them. But if you do your job well today, then you hold on to that, parang, in that sense of pressure of the job.

Looking back, have you ever been pressured that no one would listen to your show?

C: All the time. From the start to now. Parang, it’s an every-day struggle eh. Kasi obviously there’s always the next day. So hanggang there’s a next day, there’s always that pressure. Na parang, okay if you’re doing well, it’s a pressure to either keep doing well or even better. If you’re not doing well, there’s even bigger pressure na –

[G whispers something to D, laughs]

D: Ang sama, ang sama.

[All laughs]

G: Sabi ko lang medyo malayo-layo ni-look back mo. [refer-ring to Chico]

[C laughs]

C: Pero it’s really… whether you’re doing well or not, it’s the same pressure.

How do you see yourself 5-10 years from now?

G: Nako! [Laughs]

D: Hopefully thinner. [Laughs] You don’t… in this job ta-laga, you almost don’t think about that. You really do it like, everyday. Kasi we didn’t even think that last year, we had such a great 2012. If somebody told us that our 2012 is going to be as spectacular as it turned out, we wouldn’t believe it. In this job, you just do it every…. Every chance you get you do a good job. And then it propels you to better opportunity. Like, we started last year with the book launch, and parang, “Wow, may book.” Tapos /

G: / Tapos wow may Gino! [Laughs]

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D: and then there was uhh… the OMG Yahoo! Awards, and then there was the Tag Awards, and then, parang, it kept get-ting better and better. We, you… I don’t think anyone can plan that. What you can do is do a good job everyday and things start to happen to you. So we try not to play the game of “Oh in 5 years ah” you’ll… you’ll probably get so frustrat-ed. So just wing it. Wing it everyday and you’ll know naman if you’re doing a good job, or if it’s time to say goodbye, so hopefully that won’t be anytime soon.

G: Wag naman, dami pa akong babayaran. [Laughs] Nag a-amortize pa ako ng bahay. [Laughs]

2JRN2Laguilles

LeonidaMacasaetQuiamco

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