The morning show on 99.1FM WMYX could best be called a mash-up of old and new. Not that Kidd O'Shea is a rookie -- he's worked across Milwaukee's FM dial for several years. But his co-host, Jane Matenaer, is a 23-year veteran of the station and has seen nine partners come and go during her tenure.

This current team has been on the air for two years. Flanked by producer Tony Lorino, who joined the crew last year, they're energetic, full of chemistry and just a little sarcastic. But most importantly, each has a genuine appreciation for Milwaukee and how it fits into their careers.

We recently caught up with the "Mix" morning show to talk about their radio alter egos, getting starstruck during interviews and what it takes to work in a city that they love.

OMC: Kidd, you've worked elsewhere in Milwaukee radio. Jane, you've been with the station for a long time. How did this show come together?

O'Shea: I fell into the job, because I was working at WKTI. The Mix hired me to do afternoons, and I did that for a year. They had blown up "Dan and Jane in the Mornings" which had been on the air for 12 years. They brought in another co-host that didn't work out. I fell into it, because I wasn't hired to be on the morning show. The interesting part is that when I was in high school, I would drive around listening to Dan (Weber) and Jane on the way to school. I would make fake tapes in my bedroom, and make the people who were driving me to school put the tape in.

OMC: Jane, do you know this story?

Jane Matenaer: Yes.

KO: Even before that, I met Jane at an appearance and gave her one of the tapes.

JM: He asked me to critique it, which I did. I remember it very well. I told him he needed to read the paper, to read out loud every day. To be prepared to start somewhere small. I suggested he go into neurosurgery instead.

KO: Ten years later, we wound up working together. Sometimes it's kind of weird.

JM: I've been here for 23 years. Kidd is my ninth partner. Some lasted for three months, some lasted for three years. Dan lasted the longest, for 12 years. I've gotten pretty flexible about whoever I was going to work with. I think Kidd's youth is a big advantage, and so is his perspective about the business. There's an excitement and less jaded perspective working with both of these guys.

OMC: Tony, you're the producer. How did you get here?

Lorino: I, too, grew up here. I really wanted to work in TV news. The first summer coming back from college, none of the stations would hire you until you were a junior. I got an internship at WKTI, and that's where Kidd and I became friends. He's a year older than me. We kept in contact while I was going to school in Iowa. I took my first job in North Dakota, and had an opportunity to move back here. I had feelers out, then Kidd called and said he was looking for a producer. The timing was meant to be.

KO: I had wanted him for a long time, as much as he drives me crazy. We had been on for a year, and it was time to take this to the next level. And Tony was there.

OMC: How long has this nucleus been in place?

KO: Last October for this group. We're two years into "Jane and Kidd."

OMC: Jane, you've got to be one of the more veteran people in Milwaukee morning radio.

JM: I'm old, Andy.

OMC: Not old ... veteran. How has morning radio in Milwaukee, and your job specifically, evolved over time?

JM: Certainly, we were a much softer radio station. More Barbara Streisand and Neil Diamond. It's gone through so many lives, because we've been purchased by a number of different companies since we've been here, and gone through different general managers and program directors. I like the tempo now, but it's just my personal taste. Not that it makes that much of a difference; I could work anywhere.

OMC: What kind of music do you listen to?

JM: I listen to the blues.

TL: I listen to us a lot and our sister stations.

JM: You're answering like such a program director.

TL: OK, I love '70s funk. That would be fun to program.

KO: A friend was listening to my iPod and said I have the most bizarre taste in music. I love old music, '60s and '70s pop, Beatles and stuff like that.

 Page 1 of 2 

Next >>

3 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...