John Taylor has taken "self promotion" to another level by having his music played in cyber space. The cyber station is called Meltdown Radio and can be heard on Live365.com (or linked through Taylor's own official site trusttheprocess.com). Just like all other radio stations, even on the web, there's a DJ spinning the hits. Meltdown Radio isn't any different! Tune into my chat with DJ Oktober to find out the exciting details about this music machine!

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Q/A:

What is your background?
I grew up in a small town in Massachusetts. I escaped to New York City after high school to attend Barnard College, the woman's college of Columbia University. I started college with the goal of becoming a doctor, but I dropped my pre-med studies during my junior year and graduated with a BA in Historical Musicology, since I had a great interest in music and was already classically trained in piano and cello. While attending school, I had the pleasure of working in Columbia's Electronic and Computer Music studios, where I fell in love with mixing boards. My first job was at Barnard, where I managed the school's computer jobs. After a year, I moved to Miami Beach, Florida and spent four years in a fast paced computer network engineering position. Four years later, I returned to New York City, where I am now and happy as I can be!

What inspired you to become a DJ?
Well, I have a very long answer to this question, but I will give you the cliff notes version: I was bored. I was also coming up on one year clean and sober and it was time to make some changes in my life. For five years, I had been a computer tech geek and had ignored my creative side completely. So in March 2000, while I was still in Florida, I read an article in Rolling Stone about Live365.com. I thought running an internet radio station would be fun and would feed my creative/musical urges. I had been a fan of Duran Duran for a long time, and I chose them as my subject of the project, since their new album "Pop Trash" was scheduled for release that June. So I launched "DuranRadio" in May 2000 and have been loving it ever since.

How did Meltdown Radio come about?
In the early weeks of "DuranRadio," I was trying to contact all past and present Duran Duran members for station material. I knew it was against Live365.com's user agreement to run a station with only one band, and I wanted play lists from Duran Duran members of other artists. I e-mailed John directly and by the time he got back to me, "DuranRadio" had been temporarily shut down by Live365.com. A friend suggested that I propose to John that he have his own internet radio station, since he is very in tune with the internet and his fans. After some urging from other friends, I took the leap and e-mailed him the idea. He referred me to Patty to continue discussion and we've been collaborating ever since!

When you found out you would be working with John Taylor on Meltdown Radio, what was your reaction?
I admit that I was part of the 80's "Duranmania" that invaded the teeny-bopper magazines. My very first rock concert was Duran Duran in 1984 and posters of the guys plastered my adolescent bedroom walls. It took me about a day to get my head wrapped around the idea of working with John. But, once I got used to the idea, the mature adult took over. I'm a business-minded individual and I respect my employers as any business professional should.

Where would you like to see Meltdown Radio go in the future?
I hope we continue to push the limits of the streaming radio technology. As you now know, we are trying a brand new idea: the live audio chat. If it goes well, we could take it to the next level. We also have the new broadcast coming later in December, where instead of individual tracks we will be streaming a seamless "club mix" of music. We are constantly discussing new ideas and formats and I hope that these ideas will continue to be explored on "Meltdown."!

What kind of working relationship do you have with TTP?
I work primarily with the fabulous Patty Palazzo. Since we are on opposite coasts, we correspond frequently by e-mail and phone. John and Patty develop ideas together and propose them. I also come up with ideas and propose them to Patty and John. Thankfully, we are usually on the same level with our ideas. "Meltdown" is a team effort from the beginning to the end. I love the fact that John gets so excited about the things we can do on the station. Sometimes, when I propose an idea, I get the surprised reply, "We can DO that?" and I always say, "Why yes, WE CAN!"

What are your future plans?
Time will tell. My work with "Meltdown" is part time, so after taking break from full time employment for the past few months, I just accepted a new position. I am back in computer network engineering, but I am employed in the online music industry. I think it is the perfect opportunity to combine my career and my passion: computers and music. I will continue working with John and Patty and I hope with "Meltdown" we will keep pushing the limits of what internet radio technology has to offer.

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