PART 1: LOUD 103.3 Radio Personalities,
BIG KESS & SNACKS Join me on UNSCRIPTED!
Unscripted
By Keith Edmonds
FWIS Contributing Writer
“I am overly excited to be back on the radio. Radio was my home for 15 years, I love Fort Wayne, and I’m ready to bring local radio back to our city.”~Keristen “Big Kess” Baker LOUD 103.3
I feel encouraged when I have the opportunity to spend time with talented people that want to bring excitement and a “sense of community” to our city, and I think that these 2 men had Fort Wayne’s best interests in mind when they decided to combine forces and share their gifts with us. I was so impressed by their candor and willingness to support our city with their gifts that I’m devoting space for each of them individually to share their thoughts. Please join me in welcoming LOUD 103.3 personality, Big Kess to my 2-part piece in this UNSCRIPTED.
UNSCRIPTED: Tell me a little about your background in radio and what brought you guys together?
BK: Well, I started my radio career in about 2005 as a van driver at HOT 107.9 and doing parody songs on the morning show while working at Pierre’s night club here in town. I was then presented with an opportunity to work for WILD 96.3 which was a competing station of 107.9 and they offered me my own radio show. I started doing nights, afternoons, and then my own morning show (which lasted less than a year because the company was sold.) A new company came in and made me a program director (manager) which I did for a couple of years but knew in my heart that this was not what I really wanted to do because I am more of a talent driven person than a manager of music. I then left radio for 5 years and was approached with another opportunity to return to radio which I accepted under the condition that I would be able to bring my friend (Snacks) along with me which they accepted, and here we are!”
UNSCRIPTED: So Kess, why did you decide to combine your talent with Kam when you could have easily stayed solo?
BK: “ For me, seeing Kam do his thing it reminded me of an even better version of me with his work ethic and the things that he was doing. I’d never had a brother that reminded me of myself in terms of being funny, being big, and loving food! (lol). The conversations that we've had in terms of what we both wanted to do professionally, developed a bond and chemistry that makes things work well for us today!”
UNSCRIPTED: What makes your show different than maybe some other radio shows in our area?
BK: “I think that right now people are just getting the audio version of our show. Another thing that helps Kam and I is that we’re both into theatrics as I was just in the Sponge Bob musical over the summer and have been in a few other stage plays. So I think that when people see that side of our talents and how we can bring characters to life from a visual standpoint (which is coming). We both love making people laugh and have a weird combination of comedy and genuine friendship that maybe you wouldn’t see in other shows.”
UNSCRIPTED: Where would you like to see this show go in regards to your audiences and maybe nationally? Syndication?
BK: “ It’s funny that you ask this question. This time around in my career, I really wanted to make more of an impact. I wanted to create a platform that no one could knock me off of (in a sense.) When Kam and I got togther, we started thinking what we could do GLOBALLY and not limit ourselves locally. With radio, we could be syndicated whether we were in California or Fort Wayne so lets think outside the box. The goal was to establish ourselves on a national level and that’s what drives us daily. If we had the ability to have a team of people working around, and with us daily, then you could really see what the BEST version of each of us could be and that’s our goal.”
UNSCRIPTED: Kess, tell me, what is the PASSION behind LOUD 103.3 and where do you see yourself being a pivotal part of the success of this station?
BK: “ I would say the passion behind it when I sit back and think about how I took the high road in certain situations (When I could have easily taken another approach) believing that there is a higher purpose, starting from zero, and genuinely finding your way through it. And then it happening along with meeting Snacks and fighting off people trying to pull us and our purpose apart, and the belief that we have in each other, makes this new journey so much more, exciting, purposeful and rewarding. Having the radio station come back around like they did. Let me know that my purpose wasn’t done and has become a true blessing.”