Jerry Houston considers his high school days in Baltimore essentially as practice for how he now spends his days.
''Every chance I could get behind the microphone in high school I would,'' says Houston. ''And I always did the morning announcements, all four years.''
Jerry Houston
(Photo by Todd Franson)
These days DJ Houston is behind the microphone for hours each day on two radio stations in the Clear Channel family: every day on Pride Radio, on the company's ''iHeartRadio'' app, a digital radio service, and on select HD radio stations around the country, including 99.5's HD2, as well as a weekday fill-in and weekend host on Hot 99.5 FM. He also helps oversee outreach online and in social media by the area's leading pop station as its digital content coordinator. This year he also became the entertainment coordinator for the Capital Pride Festival, which Hot 99.5 sponsors.
The 36-year-old Houston -- whose given name is actually Huster -- got his start in 1998 with the company's Baltimore-based country station, WPOC 93.1 FM. Interestingly enough, 99.5 broadcasts out of Rockville, where Houston also makes his home -- directly next door to the station. That ''super-easy commute'' comes in handy, given that Houston often works 10-hour days, six days a week.
''There's a certain passion that you have to have for radio because of the long hours,'' Houston concedes. ''It's not all stars and glamour.''
METRO WEEKLY: How did you get into the radio business?
DJ HOUSTON: It's one of those things I always wanted to do. I always wanted to be in broadcasting. When I was little – this is gonna sound funny – I grew up watching game shows and I always wanted to be either on a game show or a game-show host. And then I wanted to be on television news, and I focused a lot on journalism in high school. Once I got to college [at Towson University] I started getting into radio and television, and managed to get an internship at a radio station in Baltimore during my junior year of college. That turned into a part-time job, which then became a full-time job. That was in Baltimore at WPOC.
MW: What is it about radio that captivated you? The music?
HOUSTON: Not really so much the music as it was the chance to make a connection with people. And by people I mean listeners, to get to know them better and sort of make them part of the experience. One of the things that I've always liked about radio is the contests that we do. I love giving stuff away to people. It's a chance for me to make someone happy. Something that a normal job doesn't always let you do.
I do love the music at Hot 99.5. I'll be honest, it took a little while to get used to country music. I never listened to it. When I started there I had to kind of dive in deep and learn the music and learn about the artists and everything.
Mainstream music, which is what I prefer to listen to -- Top 40, which what 99.5 is, and dance music, which is what we play on our Pride Radio channel -- that music is more what speaks to me personally. That's what I like to listen to. You don't have the sense of community that you do with country music, but you do have more of the energy and party atmosphere with Top 40/mainstream music that I personally identify with – because I'm always about having fun. I love to hang out with friends, or go out for a drink or something like that -- and that's the music that's playing. That's the music that energizes everybody.
MW: How much control do you have over the songs you play?
HOUSTON: I am actually the music director and assistant program director for Pride Radio, so I have a good amount of control over the music being played there. Each station has a music programmer that takes a great deal of care in selecting the music that their listeners will really enjoy.
MW: That means you have control over the music there?
HOUSTON: Absolutely I do. It's nice to have that. With that being such a niche format to begin with, it's nice to be able to super-serve that segment of the audience. We get feedback all the time on social media, people requesting some really obscure dance songs, but we're able to do it because we're so honed in to the LGBT community, and we're supported a lot by iHeartRadio.
MW: Pride Radio focuses strictly on dance music?
HOUSTON: It's dance and pop. We'll play dance remixes of Top 40 songs. Anything by Rihanna, Miley Cyrus. You name it, we're playing it, but dance mixes of it though. So it's a nice alternative to the standard mainstream station that you would listen to.
MW: Why is that gays and dance music seem to go hand in hand?
HOUSTON: [Laughs.] That's the million-dollar question! Pride Radio has been around since 2006 and had gone through different variations before I came on board with it, at the end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010. It had made the transition to dance before I got involved. Early on it was a mix of pop and also a lot of, I guess you would call it alternative/granola-ish music. It was such an eclectic mix of music that it was hard for people to listen to. So it slowly made a transition as dance music became more popular on its own.
MW: Is Pride Radio a nationwide thing?
HOUSTON: That's the beauty of iHeartRadio -- listeners can access the station wherever they are around the country. Every DJ that's on Pride Radio is in a different area. We have folks in San Francisco, San Diego. We have somebody in Tampa. And myself.
MW: This is one way Clear Channel specifically reaches out to the LGBT community?
HOUSTON: Exactly. Clear Channel is a really supportive company. That's why I've been with this company for so long, because I've always been supported being who I am and what I do. We've gotten so much support from the company for Pride Radio. That's why we sponsor Pride events around the country, really.
We actually started with DJs on Pride Radio just about a year ago, and I was the first DJ on the station. Prior to that it had just been music and segues and stuff like that.
MW: To try to interject some personality into the mix?
HOUSTON: Absolutely, yeah. And it's brought a whole new life to the station. Our interaction with listeners was okay before, but now we're able to get more information out there about pride events around the country, things that may affect the LGBT community directly, like the marriage-equality movement, the situation in Russia and all of that. We want people to know that we're there for them. Because we reach people who are in cities where gays may not be as accepted as they are here in D.C. Maybe someone in the middle of Nebraska, who feels completely isolated from the outside world, but they have us and they can count on us to bring them information, to make them feel like part of the community that they belong to.
MW: Explain more about your involvement with Capital Pride.
HOUSTON: It's been great. This past one was either my fourth or fifth Pride. At Hot 99.5, we started by joining the parade, then the next year we increased our involvement a little bit more, as I hosted some of the stuff on the main page. Then I was invited back to host the entire main stage, and Hot 99.5 became a presenting sponsor. Over the past year I also became the entertainment coordinator, helping identify the artists for the festival.
Like I said, I've been so floored by just how supportive the radio station has been of the LGBT community here in town. That's why I know I'm home. I know I'm in the right place.
MW: As the entertainment coordinator for the 2013 Capital Pride Festival, I guess we have you to thank for Icona Pop, Emeli Sandé and Cher Lloyd as the headliners?
HOUSTON: [Laughs.] Yeah, it's directly because of my involvement. That was the best Pride I think that we could have had. We wanted to really reach out to the youth at Pride. That's one of the missions of Capital Pride and also one of 99.5.
MW: And you're on board to do it next year, too. Not to put too much pressure on you, but hopefully lightning can strike twice.
HOUSTON: [Laughs.] I know we have a lot to live up to.
MW: If people want to give you ideas, should they feel free?
HOUSTON: Oh, absolutely. We welcome the ideas. We don't want to tell people what they should like, we want them to tell us what they like so we can make it better and give them what they want.
MW: Do you make a special effort to play out artists?
HOUSTON: Oh, yeah, absolutely. We focus on either out artists or artists that are strong allies for the community. That's why you won't hear an artist on Pride radio that is not a friend or ally of the community, if they're not themselves in the community. I don't want to say anyone specifically, but there are certain artists that we know would be controversial and don't support the community in any way -- or not that we've seen publicly.
As an example of an out artist, we have Adam Barta, who's based in New York. He's an artist in the community that wouldn't be known to mainstream folks, but we had him play at Pride last year. He has a few dance songs out.
MW: I imagine there are songs or artists you have to play but would rather not because you don't like them.
HOUSTON: Well, yeah, you're always going to have a song that you're like, ''Oh, my God, why do I have to hear it again?'' [Laughs.] But, honestly, I do love the music that we play.
MW: Is that true with news too: Do you ever get tired of celebrity news, and the latest about Kim and Kanye?
HOUSTON: No, I don't, actually. It's amazing the amount of crazy stuff that celebrities do. [Laughs.] I don't get tired of it because it's great content for me, for all the different shows that I do.
Especially those celebrities that people love to hate like ''Tan Mom,'' or even Kanye West and the Kardashians. It's these celebrities that are just an endless treasure trove of news stories.
MW: Finally, let's get a little personal. Do you have a partner?
HOUSTON: Yes, I do. His name is Chris. He is my connection to ''normal-person world.'' [Laughs.]
MW: Are you meaning to suggest that radio people aren't normal?
HOUSTON: Well, I mean we're all special in our own little ways. But it's easy to get caught up in the entertainment aspect of things. And he keeps me grounded. He keeps me in check. He's my reference point to make sure that I don't ever lose sight of what is important to people. Because it's funny, with radio, and I think with entertainment in general, it's easy to lose sight. I always try to stay grounded and he helps me a lot. Radio is a very busy business. There's a lot going on. It's long hours, but it's really great work.
For more about DJ Houston, visit prideradio.com.
On Air
Take to the radio waves, streams and podcasts with some of D.C.'s intriguing audio talents
Wives Making Waves
Aisha and Danielle Moodie-Mills sound off on politics and pop culture
Out and Tuned In
Sheila Alexander-Reid brings the LGBT community to the FM dial
...moreWhen it comes to ''institutions,'' D.C. has plenty that are completely removed from Congress, the White House, the Smithsonian or all the other icons recognized globally. At the grassroots level, a few are the Washington City Paper; WPFW, 89.3 FM, the public station offering ''jazz and justice''; and Sheila Alexander-Reid, longtime activist and promoter in the LGBT community. Throw those grassroots institutions together and what do you get? In 2008, the answer was Inside Out, even if it has since become Sheila Alexander-Reid Live.
''A friend of mine was a program director at WPFW,'' says Alexander-Reid, who works by day as Washington City Paper's business manager. ''His name was Bobby Hill. Because City Paper and the station were in the same building, we would see each other coming in and out. He asked me one day, 'I'm thinking about changing the programming, and one of the shows we'd like to have on there would be an LGBT show. I know you're too busy, but can you think of somebody who would be a good host and producer?'
Sheila Alexander-Reid and Dr. Nicole Cutts
(Photo by Todd Franson)
''The best way to get me to do something is to ask me for a referral. Very clever. If you ask me directly, I'll probably say, 'I'm too busy.' But when you ask for a referral, I think I would be perfect! So I'm on this radio show because he asked me if I know of anybody who would be good.''
With that, Inside Out made its debut April 14, 2008, with Lisa Joyner serving as associate producer. In the years following, Alexander-Reid has worked with various producers, different schedules and now the new title.
''First it was called Inside Out, like going inside the out community,'' she says, adding that the show originally aired monthly, then every other week, and now weekly on Tuesday from 1 to 2 p.m. ''I got so many people asking me what that meant and being confused, so I just decided to go with my name. That happened in January with the new timeslot.''
Having a new timeslot is the simplest way of putting it. At WPFW, however, the politics aren't necessarily limited to the station's talk shows. The latest scheduling changes gave Alexander-Reid that weekly Tuesday slot, but others were kicked off altogether.
''They were taken off the air with very little notice,'' she says. ''I support the fact that they were treated badly and that they need to be treated better. But I also benefited from that. I'm torn. I like my timeslot, but if they deem it necessary to put one of the programs back on and move my show to another slot, I'm okay with that. I just like to have a voice and be heard. Whenever they can squeeze me in, I'm just happy to be there.''
That's a very good thing, too, as Alexander-Reid certainly isn't making any money off her show. Instead, she's got to ensure that her listeners enjoy her show enough to be willing to donate to the nonprofit, public WPFW if she wants to stay on the air.
''If you have an underperforming show when it comes to the pledge drive, you're at risk for being cut,'' she says, adding, with a laugh, ''The next one is in December. There's always one coming up, trust me. … WPFW is operating from always just one step ahead of being broke. I have to create an audience for my show, and that audience has to come through. You have to really build the community around your show, a community of supporters. … The fact that this is D.C.'s only LGBT radio show on the FM dial makes it that much more important, that gives it one leg up. I don't necessarily need to meet every goal, but I need to be showing that I have some support out there. It's community-based radio, membership-based radio. If you don't show that you have some support, I don't care how rare or what niche community you represent, you gotta go.''
Today, Alexander-Reid is building that supportive audience with Nicole Cutts, a licensed clinical psychologist, success coach and organizational consultant. Cutts's psychology skills may be of particular use when the show fields hostile calls – an inevitability, says Alexander-Reid. But Dr. Cutts, as they say, is on-call.
''My background and experience equip me to remain calm in the face of people acting kind of psychotic,'' Cutts promises. ''And to understand that this person is expressing their views, their opinions. We try to engage them in a way that's respectful. Not calling them names or lashing back, but speaking to them in a calm, sane way.''
Most of the time, however, Alexander-Reid and Cutts are able to engage the audience in positive ways, interviewing interesting folks from the local LGBT community, talking to newer entertainers who'd like to introduce themselves to the community, and taking on political topics.
Like Alexander-Reid, Cutts says that contributing to this dialogue is a labor of love.
''I get really inspired and learn a lot from the different guests we have on,'' says Cutts. ''I also feel that what Sheila's doing with her show is to get information out there and understanding in the larger world about gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans and queer issues. With radio, it's comfortable for the listeners to take in information, to get more of an understanding, and that's what combats heterosexism and homophobia. Hopefully, by hearing Sheila and often myself on a weekly basis, they probably start to feel like they know us.''
In an age of various ''audio platforms,'' Alexander-Reid emphasizes that being on old-fashioned terrestrial radio is crucial in that mission of reaching listeners who wouldn't necessarily seek out information about the LGBT community. Sandwiched between music shows, many listeners looking for jazz tunes instead get LGBT talk.
''People will come across it by accident,'' Alexander-Reid says of her show. ''With blogs, things like that, people typically have to go there on purpose. I want this message to get out to someone who just happens to be looking for jazz, or just skimming the radio looking for the news or whatever. I like reaching people by accident, because sometimes they may not be open enough to go there on purpose. People [tuning to WPFW] are typically looking for jazz. The station's mission is 'jazz and justice.' My public affairs show gives you the 'justice' portion of that combo.''
Whether or not Alexander-Reid will be the one behind the microphone with WPFW's LGBT programming for the foreseeable future, however, remains to be seen. There is power in passing the torch, and Alexander-Reid is fully aware.
''I would like to let somebody inherit it,'' she doesn't mind admitting. ''I think the whole point of having these co-hosts is to sort of groom them to be able to take over. I don't expect to do any of this forever.''
But she and Cutts are happy doing it for now, every Tuesday at 1 p.m., delivering the LGBT goods on your local FM dial.
Listen to Sheila Alexander-Reid Live Tuesdays from 1 to 2 p.m. on WPFW, 89.3 FM. Several weeks of shows are available in the station's online archive at wpfwfm.org.
On Air
Take to the radio waves, streams and podcasts with some of D.C.'s intriguing audio talents
Houston, We Have a Playlist
DJ Jerry Houston has found his home with 99.5, Pride Radio, Capital Pride and a partner who keeps him grounded
Wives Making Waves
Aisha and Danielle Moodie-Mills sound off on politics and pop culture
...moreFor some couples, marriage might signal the start of quiet domesticity. Then there are the power couples. Bill and Hillary. Sonny and Cher. And certainly Aisha and Danielle, aka Mrs. and Mrs. Moodie-Mills.
While not D.C. natives, these dynamic women were long ago drawn to the nation's capital and its halls of power, its cadre of progressive professionals and its many platforms for executing change. One of those platforms, it turns out, is BLIS.FM's Studio 202.
Politini: Aisha and Danielle Moodie-Mills
(Photo by Todd Franson)
''We found them through a friend of ours who was also getting into the radio business,'' says Danielle Moodie-Mills, an advocacy professional with a background in politics and education, a SMYAL board member and a 2013 ''The Root 100'' honoree. ''We contacted them saying, 'We've had this idea for a while, and we're really interested in seeing how we can work together.'''
That idea was realized in January 2013 as Politini, their Thursday evening live-streaming show and podcast. The duo market the show as ''Politics and Pop Culture served up with a twist -- A twist of wit, a splash of style, and opinions straight up. From Hollywood to Poliwood (the new Washington), Danielle and Aisha Moodie-Mills, the resident Polinistas of the lifestyle blog threeLOL.com, are giving you the scoop on inside the beltway chatter and Sunset Blvd antics that are pushing our society to the brink – the brink of what, is what they'll discuss on Politini. So, grab a cocktail and join the conversation.''
Beyond the marketing, Aisha Moodie-Mills, who with her wife was on the forefront of bringing marriage equality to D.C. and who works as a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, calls the show ''the personal side of politics.''
''What we hope to do with our show,'' she says, ''is to really bring to the public the sense that – beyond the surface kneejerk reaction to what we see happening in the world around us – what we see and what we hear, whether in the political discourse or in the cultural discourse, permeates our social consciousness and colors the way we view one another, the way we view ourselves and the way we engage with the world. And that matters.
''With the show, we try to get to the core of the heart behind the headlines. What's the real passion behind the politics of what we're debating? … We're just constantly getting countdowns, rundowns, sound bites, and we don't always have the space and emotional capacity to stop and say, 'What does this really mean? And why is it happening?'''
Getting behind those headlines, recent Politini topics have included ''Colorless Catwalks,'' ''Civil Rights vs. Religious Rites,'' and ''The History of Disgruntled White Men.'' And while these women get behind the headlines, they also put themselves out there, literally, taking the show to audiences in the form of ''Scandal Watch'' parties, letting Shonda Rhimes's weekly ABC drama help fuel the conversation. There's even been enough buzz to get Laverne Cox, from the cast of Neflix's Orange Is the New Black, to stop by for the Oct. 3 launch at D.C.'s Jin lounge.
''We love Scandal,'' comes Danielle's playfully deadpan assertion. ''We cannot stress that enough. But it was really an opportunity for us to bring our show out of the studio and to a live audience. We really wanted to cultivate community, more so than we're able to do in the studio with just the two of us and our technical producer, Emma Weinstein-Levy. It was an opportunity to get out there and be in front of people and be able to feel the energy of the crowd around a show that we really like. And we have connected with a group of African-American women who are all entrepreneurs in their own right – from music to events to PR – to really create community around this show, around black women as gladiators in suits, as 'fixers.'''
The two say that Scandal points to a theme shared with Politini, which is dissecting the attraction D.C. has for them and others.
''We came here because we wanted to change the world,'' Danielle says of Aisha and herself. ''It sounds corny, and we may get rolled eyes, but for most people inside the Beltway who are in politics, that's the reason why they came here: being a part of something that's bigger than you are. And that's kind of the energy and the passion we bring to Politini every week.''
While Aisha and Danielle definitely bring the passion, one might reasonably wonder why. It might sound like they're just having fun, but producing a weekly show is work. Unpaid work. There are no salaries, no high-dollar sponsorships. Politini may be an extension of their ''threeLOL'' blog brand – standing for ''Living Loving & Laboring OUT Loud'' – but it's no cash cow. Mostly, it's just hard work.
''When we go to 'real' studios with full-on staff, productions teams and bookers and all of that, people ask us, 'Oh, who books your show?' And we just laugh,'' says Aisha. ''We literally do it all. We conceive of the ideas on our couch, which is pretty much where we come up with pretty much everything. Through our constant conversation all week long, we come up with the show ideas. But the labor of it, we really work at our structure. It's scripted pretty well, pretty thoroughly. Danielle does an excellent job at writing the show. We do our best to have a script and some format so that listeners can follow along and know what to expect, yet also keep it very natural and impromptu. We're constantly working at it.''
Danielle promises that money is the next step – or ''Phase 2 of the Politini Media takeover.''
''The first step was to develop a really great show, having fantastic content and really creating a structure that matched our style and our energy and our conversation,'' says Danielle. ''Then, giving people something that they want, and then can't live without. Or don't want to live without.''
With that sort of product, Aisha and Danielle are ready to look for funding, as well as broaden their distribution channels, evolving to a point where video replaces the audio offering.
''We actually call Politini a talk show without qualifying the medium,'' Aisha explains. ''Our goal, ultimately, is to be cross-platform. … The goal is for it to be video every week.''
However Politini moves into the future, Aisha and Danielle are committed to the long haul. Whatever forms that future may take – from audio to video to live events or yet-to-be-discovered platforms – that commitment is a promise to inform their audience. As Danielle says, ''There's no better way to be fabulous than to be informed. And that's what Politini gives you.''
Listen to Politini streaming live every Thursday from 8 to 9 p.m. at blis.fm/politini. The archive of shows is available both at blis.fm and on iTunes.
On Air
Take to the radio waves, streams and podcasts with some of D.C.'s intriguing audio talents
Houston, We Have a Playlist
DJ Jerry Houston has found his home with 99.5, Pride Radio, Capital Pride and a partner who keeps him grounded
Out and Tuned In
Sheila Alexander-Reid brings the LGBT community to the FM dial
...moreThe organization that has brought hope to millions of LGBT people around the world responds to Russia’s antigay laws with a new campaign.
The stateside release of Morrissey's autobiography removes any mention of his two-year relationship with another man.
The tireless HIV and human rights advocate passed away Thursday after a long battle with illness.
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