OMC: You're the voice of a ton of radio stations right now, including one in Africa, right?

DL: Yes, about 20 stations. Rhythm 94.3 (in Lagos, Nigeria), I believe is what it was. It's a cross between reggae and urban.

OMC: Is Westwood One your highest profile client?

DL: Yes, it is. I was the voice of a radio station in Washington, D.C., back in 2000. They were the Redskins' flagship station. One of producers for Westwood One heard me while driving through town or something. The light bulb went off and he said that's what he wanted for Westwood One. He got in contact with me, and it's been six or seven years.

OMC: Is that a particularly fun gig, or are they all about the same since you're working from home?

DL: They're all about the same. (Westwood One) had the idea to really hit certain words hard. I would do a take and they'd be like, "Can you hit 'now' like 'noooooowwwwww?'"

There was a guy named Ernie Anderson -- and I'm going way back -- who was the voice of ABC in the '70s and '80s. He had that voice like, "The Loooooove Booooat."

OMC: I remember that guy, absolutely.

DL: He would hit certain words really hard, stretch them out. They wanted to bring back that sound.

OMC: On the radio, you sound like you're 7 feet tall. But you're not. Your voice doesn't match your physical persona. Are people surprised when they meet you?

DL: I do surprise a lot of people who tell me I don't look like I sound.

OMC: Do you get recognized at the grocery store?

DL: No, not at all. Every now and then, I will get recognized, like, "Your voice sounds familiar."

OMC: You're back home in Wisconsin now. Did you ever expect imaging to be your full-time job?

DL: Not really. When I was working at QFM, there was a radio consultant who heard my imaging for the station promos, and recommended me to a few small stations like one in the Quad Cities, Iowa. From there, I started to pick up stations, the ones who couldn't afford Joe Kelly. I became like a poor man's Joe Kelly.

I started slowly accumulating stations, and that's when the thought occurred to me: if I could get enough of these, I wouldn't have to be a DJ anymore. Even though I enjoy being on the air, this had a better payoff.