Kevin and Bean Studio Visit

So, Paul Lee - artist and K&B super-fan - contacted a few of us, and arranged a visit to the KROQ studios during a live broadcast on Friday, Feb. 15, 2008!  We had a blast, and the entire gang was gracious to us. Yes, even Bean, making a rare live appearance. Especially considering this was the morning after the "Love on the Rox" singles party and most of the crew was either hung over or woozy from not having slept.  And here was this bunch of fans watching their every move, and pestering them with questions.

 The gang, me, plus Bean's cardboard cutout.

More photos here.

I also took some videos of their broadcast, but they are really jiggly.

So, here are some notes. Sorry, I wasn't able to get most (if any) of the questions answered, but here goes:

Who was there: myself, artist Paul Lee (creator of CD artwork, tattoos, etc. for the show), Kevin of the K&B Archive, 'Cott' (aka Steve) from Cotts Boomsmack, 2 friends of his who have hosted his site, and Ken and Gena who bring doughnuts to all their live events.

We were all put in a control room/studio right next to the one they were in. It had a window to watch/spy on them. It was kind of like watching a play, or a talk show taping.  A very funny, filthy one.

- Kevin and Cott traded technical tidbits about their sites.

- During breaks, Bean and Lightning talked with us. So we didn't get to hear their legendary off-air conversations between breaks.

- They only have 8 phone lines, and the system works pretty fast.  Meaning, if you don't get through within the first 90 seconds, of a 'caller 20' contest, forget it.

- Ralph's voice bits are pretty scripted, but they know that the best sketches are ones that unexpectedly go awry.

- They estimate an audience of 2.5 million listeners. On average, they only listen to K&B for 20 minutes PER WEEK, though.  Apparently, that's pretty typical for commuting-heavy L.A.

- Lightning estimated the Internet broadcast gets about 4,000-7,000 listeners from all over the world. 

- Bean and Kevin met while working at the same station in Phoenix. One worked afternoons, the other evenings (I forget which was which). They had no idea who to do a morning show when they first started. Bean joked that they still don't.

- Bean said he was moving to Seattle regardless, so it just a manner of making the show work logistically.  They tried a bunch of different technologies and configs before current one (ISDN, I think?).

- Why are they not syndicated? It's a corporate decision: content-wise, they feel shows can only get worse when they go national (Bill Handel, Mark and Brian, Tom Leykis, etc.)  Of course, Howard Stern is an exception, but Bean noted that Howard is an exception to every radio rule.

- Supermodel receptionist Janelle is not moving onto that new job. At the last second, corporate cut back staff and eliminated the job, so she's still at KROQ.  Disappointing for her, but awesome for Bean, Kevin, and all the other guys working there.

- Doq and security guard Charles were not there that day.

- They have a group meeting right after the show ends.

Thanks again to the entire crew for letting us crash the broadcast!