Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Rez.
Hi Mike, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I attended Brown Institute in 1996 and majored in Radio and Television Broadcasting. Brown was “the” radio school to attend back then and was responsible for launching many radio careers. I graduated from Brown in 1998 and landed my first radio gig in Preston, MN that August.
Needless to say, a small town is not the place for a city kid. I didn’t last long there and moved back to the Twin Cities. I started working as a wedding DJ for a company that led me to start my own business with my friend RJ. We did our thing for 10 years before we called it quits.
I thought I was done with my broadcasting/DJ days after that. In 2015 I started volunteering at a local low-power FM radio station that was just getting off the ground, WFNU-LP 94.1FM Frogtown Community Radio. I broadcasted my first show in October of that year, covering local high school sports. In the summer I would host what I would call a generic radio shift. Top 40 or whatever and doing what I went to school for. After COVID I decided to focus on the music show. I changed the format and focused on local musicians here in the Twin Cities. Last year I added a great co-host to the show. Bridge Sky is a great audio creator!
I’ve been on the air for seven years now at WFNU and I love every moment of it!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not always been easy. People you want to interview don’t always want to be interviewed. Some people are better storytellers than others so that makes for a challenging show. My work at WFNU is all volunteer and I work a full-time job outside of that. There just isn’t enough time in the day sometimes.
I will say that WFNU is a great station to be a part of. We are free to cover any topic and do what we feel is right for us. Following FCC rules and regulations of course.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Besides volunteering at WFNU, I cohost another podcast called the Amazing Pop Culture Podcast. The main host and powerful brainchild are Dags. We met over Twitter and have been making powerful audio for about 3-4 years.
That’s crazy to think about. I also host karaoke once a week at a local VFW for R&L Entertainment. I make cribbage boards out of resin and wood, I run some social media for WFNU and R&L Entertainment. I have two websites, mikerezradio.com, and mikespaintstudio.com.
My wife and kids let me do all of these things and are very supportive.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up.
My favorite childhood was the year that my brothers and I got the best Christmas gift ever!
Santa brought us our very own Castle Grayskull. We were so excited about that gift. We were way into He-Man back then. All of us tore open that gift not knowing what it was and all three of us yelled, “Castle Grayskull”, at the same time. It was awesome!
Contact Info:
- Website: mikerezradio.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/mikerezradio?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Nine45Show?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Twitter: Twitter.com/mikerezradio
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@mikespaintstudio
- Other: mikespaintstudio.com
