A Friday Night Party Reunion 20 Years in the Making
The Friday Night Party was a long time staple of WJPZ, allowing mixers to come in and strut their stuff. Today we revisit the 1999-2001 version of the show with three guests who've gone on to very successful careers in the music world. From the Class of 2001, we have Mike Kruz, aka DJ Komar, as well as Adrian Arenas, DJ Double A. They're joined by Michael Eisner, aka DJ Splyce, from the Class of 2003.
Hailing from Binghamton, New York City, and Los Angeles, respectively, each of our three guests talks about ending up at Syracuse. For Komar and Double-A, they learned from the guys before them - DJ Pass da Mic, and Spike Eskin. And when they took over the show, they paid it forward with Splyce, who quickly impressed them both with his talent and enthusiasm.
We've talked about the Ostrom House on previous epsiodes, but these three may be the only alumni that enjoyed that iteration of the station; the show was designed to sound like a party - and now it was in an off campus house, the perfect venue. We believe all things discussed here are past their statutes of limitations.
The "Triple Threat" quickly garnered a following, and routinely DJ'ed events in Syracuse at the Country Club, from end of semester bashes to Donovan McNabb's draft party. But without the proper equipment to do a live broadcast, these three describe how they pre-recorded a show "live to tape" - a cassette tape. You'll hear that audio.
DJ Splyce is now known as "Hollywood's Disc Jockey to the Stars." He worked hard at honing his craft and networking in Los Angeles. A guest spot DJ'ing Larry King's party celebrating 20 years on CNN landed him an interview on the show. From there, his career went into the stratosphere, doing gigs all over the world.
Komar, now on air as Mike Kruz, has had a two decade career in radio, including 13 years in South Florida. He's currently doing afternoons on Miami's Easy 93.1. He's DJ'ed everything from Miami Fashion week to a residency at Atlantis in the Bahamas.
Adrian had a long career in entertainment, working with Tommy Mottola at Sony Music, then distributing telenovelas internationally, then for Univision, targeting their content for the US Latino audience. But the perspective gained from the pandemic led him to pursue another passion - getting certified in life coaching.
Throughout this episode, you'll hear common themes from the WJPZ at 50 podcast. Mentoring, being kind to others, paying it forward. This was just as true for mixshow DJ's as it was for news, sports, music, and PR. And the lessons learned at WJPZ served each of our guests well. And we of course close with a classic WJPZ story - when 2/3 of "the triple threat" were kicked out of the Country Club - at their own gig.
More from our guests:
DJ Splyce website (and the most fun sizzle reel ever): https://splyceofficial.com/
Adrian Arenas Website: https://adrianarenas.com/
The WJPZ at 50 Podcast Series is produced by Jon Gay, Class of 2002, and his podcast production agency, JAG in Detroit Podcasts.
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Want to be a guest on the pod or know someone else who would? Email Jag: jag@jagindetroit.com.
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