What is your name and DJ name?
My real name is Jerry DiTata, and my DJ name is Jerry D.
What is the name of your show, and when is it on?
Jam Jar Radio, Thursday afternoons 1-3pm.
Please describe your show. What is its format?
The format varies quite a bit but it’s based on jam bands, offshoots of the Grateful Dead, but you could also hear blues, americana, deep classic rock cuts, and whatever seems to fit at the time. It’s kind of freeform, but jam band-based.
What drew you to participate in KMRD?
After moving here in 2014, I wanted to get involved in local radio, and we decided to take a trip up to Madrid one weekend. I believe it was in the MAQ [Madrid Artists’ Quarterly] magazine that we saw the ad that the station was coming online, so I got in touch, and here I am!
What is the appeal of doing a radio show? How does it fit into the rest of your life?
I’ve always been curious about radio, and I never thought I’d actually be able to do it, until back around 2012 I was living back on Long Island and there was a college station there, and I found out that you didn’t have to be a student to be a volunteer there. So I joined and started doing a show – it was called “Wake and Bake” – early Tuesday mornings, basically the same format that I do here, but under a different name. I shared the show with someone else, who is still doing a show on that station. I’ve always been interested in it, and once I got here I was happy to get my foot back in the door, so to speak.
My musical tastes are kind of all over the place. I also like to play local music, I love giving local musicians a chance. If anyone out there wants to be a guest on the show, get in touch with us and we’ll see if we can make that happen!
What difference has being a DJ made in your life?
I guess it makes me feel important! To try to make someone’s day better by bringing good music – I hope it does help, I hope people enjoy the show. It makes you feel good, to improve somebody’s day just through music.
What are your hopes for your show?
I just hope more people learn about it and tune in and enjoy it. I think ideally it would be a nighttime show, but the problem with that is that at night I think I’d rather be a listener! So doing it in the afternoon is more convenient, but it might not be the best time slot for the type of music.
What are your hopes for the station?
I hope it continues to grow and flourish, and more people find out about it, and let’s cross our fingers that the FCC doesn’t allow any other translators to interfere with us – that’s an issue with a lot of Low Power stations.