We're talking today with Matthew Reschke, also known as R Source, from the class of 2012. Matt's connection to WJPZ started in his childhood, growing up near Syracuse and engaging with the station's DJs through AOL - before even AIM.
Matthew's academic path took him from Onondaga Community College to LeMoyne College, where he first dabbled in college radio. His journey to WJPZ was not straightforward; it involved exploring different educational paths and eventually finding a flyer that led him to Z89, introducing him to a community that would significantly shape his experiences and aspirations. Working alongside notable figures like Alex Silverman and Mina Llona, Matthew found a sense of belonging and purpose within the station.
Our discussion shifts to Matthew's contributions to WJPZ, highlighting his creation of the mix show "Off The Hook." This show was a blend of local music and hip-hop, filling a gap in Syracuse's radio landscape. The segment "Bump It or Dump It" became a hallmark of his time on air, engaging listeners in a direct and interactive way. Matthew's dedication to authenticity and community engagement through his show exemplifies the impact one can have in the radio industry.
Reflecting on the broader impact of WJPZ, we acknowledge the invaluable network and learning opportunities it provides. The station is more than just a platform for broadcasting; it's a community that fosters growth, learning, and mutual support. Our conversation with Matthew underscores the importance of seizing opportunities, learning from those around us, and contributing to a community that has given us so much.
Jag: Welcome to WJPZ at 50. I am Jon Jag Gay. Quick programming update before we get started today. Yes, the official regular release schedule of the podcast has concluded. But I have said for anybody that wants to reach out and still wants to come on the podcast, I'm happy to do one offs, whenever they may pop up. I had a couple of people approach me, at this year's banquet in Syracuse, ask about coming on the pod, so we may have them. And today's guest actually sent me a note after the weekend saying he didn't get chance to talk to me in person, but wanted to come on the show. He has a bit of an unusual story, so we're going to get to it. Matthew Reshke, aka R Source For introduction purposes, we'll say class of 2012 but we'll get into this a little bit more. Welcome to the podcast.
Matt: Happy to be here. It's, an honor. And anything with WJPZ, attached to it is always awesome in my mind.
Jag: You grew up in Syracuse?
Matt: Grew up in a suburb of Syracuse, about 30 minutes away from campus, a town called Chittenango. Yeah. So I know about Z. My first memory of Z is actually talking to a guy named Spike. He was on AOL. I don't think it was AIM I think it was AOL. And I thought I was like the coolest guy because I had this contact and I was talking to a live DJ that was on air.
Jag: So this would have been, gosh, this would have been probably like 98, 99 ish.
Matt: I would say so, yeah, that's my furthest memory Where I lived at the time, Z didn't come in everywhere in CNY.
Jag: I was going to ask that. Okay, because that's pretty far east. Okay.
Matt: I remember though, in the car, you wouldn't always get it, but my first memory was with Spike, talking to him online and knowing the DJs, being like, I know this guy, tell a few people. And I kept it secret too because I'm like, oh, I know a, celebrity. That was my first memory of Z.
Jag: Oh, back when they thought radio DJs were celebrities back around my undergrad days.
Matt: Yeah, they definitely did.
Jag: So you were familiar with the station. It was this sort of entity that you could pick up here and there growing up. Then you eventually kind of head to Syracuse. Right?
Matt: I did an undergrad at Onadaga community College, transferred to LeMoyne, got my bachelor's in around 2005. So then what brought me to Z is I was a part time student around 2008, taking some non-matric courses, trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. And I found one of the informational packets where they were advertising the station. And I remember this like it was yesterday. They had the information session. Mina was a big speaker at that, recruiting kids. Sean Scott DJ S1 I think he was just, like, on his way out. So the transition period. And I remember Alex Silverman there. Those three people really stood out that time. And I filled out the information they wanted. I was like, thinking, oh, they're never going to accept some guy that found this, but they did. And if I could reverse real quick, the first radio experience I ever had was I was an undergrad at Lemoyne, and they had a college radio station called WLMU Cheap plug to them, but it was what the norm that people think of a college radio. Kids fooling around. We were doing whatever we wanted. We partied, they streamed on the campus TV system, which I think WJPZ did, at least for a few years. When I was there, they had the cameras and would broadcast the Zii live or whatever. So they did that. So that was my introduction in 2003, 2005 five ish time frame. And I dabbled in that. So, yeah, I had some experience. I came there, I signed up. I know that if I don't mention this guy will make sure it gets mentioned, but Darren Benda, when we went through training, I'll say it now, publicly, live, for the first time. He trained me at Z.
Jag: Okay.
Matt: I sat with him in the shadowing the few weeks we went over the board. He was really cool. He definitely deserves his recognition there. I went through the training with him, was doing the shifts whenever I could get in. And then the first thing I remember doing was I signed up for a Z Morning Zoo at the time, was paired with a gentleman named Jaquel Brown, called him Q. I forget exactly how we got paired up, but we got paired up. And one thing that's funny is, as I mentioned to you, I lived outside of Syracuse, so it was about 30 minutes from the Hill, okay? So at 05:00 a.m. My dad, he worked a job, so him and I would drive together. I'd take my car. He'd take his because he was going to work and I would have to go to work or be up at the University after the, show. So we'd leave at five. I'd pick up Q at south campus, drop my car. I used to shuttle to Manley. My dad would drop us off in front of Watson hall, get us in. I talked to Alex Silverman this weekend and thanked him. I go, you really deserve going in the hall of Fame. I remember all those mornings we had card access errors and you'd come down from wherever he lived, I think south campus, and he'd let us in.
Jag: Let me timestamp this for a second because you mentioned Alex and everything. So you're doing the morning show. It's during the academic year. What year is this that you're in there with Q?
Matt: It had to been late 2008 or 2009. So I don't have all the years.
Jag: No, that's fine. But I'm glad we're talking after Banquet because it gives us a chance to recognize two of our newest hall of famers who worked brilliantly together. And that of course, being Alex Silverman and Mina Llona. And it's great to know that you learned from two of the best, when you got there.
Matt: I gott say that and it was really important that I was in the room with them. I got a chance to briefly speak with both of them and I was so happy that they do the hall of Fame separate from the Banquet now because to me it really honors both of them. Kid Kelly, Dion especially introduced Mina. And all of it's true, I've never told her this, but she just have this welcoming personality that I remember sitting, as a student, an older student in the back of that theater. And she was just like a motherly figure, ironically, because she's got a little one just like I do now, gathering everyone like a pep rally. And I was like I knew in that room. I don't know what I'm going to do here, if they're even going to let me talking in the microphone. But I want to at least learn from these people. And then Alex, I don't have to give a background on him. Look at his accomplishments. My biggest memory of Alex Silverman is not actually Z. I listened to him during the hurricane that hit New York City and he was like out live broadcasting for CBS Radio, I believe, at the time. And I picked him up and I was following Twitter. Twitter was really big then. I remember Matt Friedman, another JPZ'er had also tweeted out and I was already following radio gold right now and talking about the importance of radio is Alex Silverman. I think it was Hurricane Sandy.
Jag: Yeah, that's my mom's name, so I remember that one.
Matt: Yeah, it was gold. He just painted a picture. And I'm just sitting there in awe the whole time, like, this is history happening in front of our eyes.
Jag: Oh, absolutely. Okay, so let's go back to your story, Matt So you are at Z. You're doing the morning show. What else did you get involved with while you were there?
Matt: So I did the morning show. I dabbled with a few other people. Joanie I know some people know Joanie We did a few shows, one offs. So obviously I was a local, which I don't always like to be referred to, but an opportunity came up to program in the summer, and I cannot remember what we used for the life of me, but Lauren Levine was the program director or one of the roles, and they needed people to program the station for seven days a week. So I took one of the days and I learned. Came in once a week, and I programmed that day out. And, it was just eye opening, learning how a radio station is programmed. The back end of this, you don't just have a log of songs and just throw them in. I cannot remember the program for the life of me. But you have the ABC songs.
Jag: Oh, yeah. Selector and G Selector.
Matt: Thanks, Jag. I have no idea if they still use that. I'd love to just look at the interface.
Jag: I can tell you right now from talking to the more recent grads. So they had the original DOS based selector that many of us use in radio. And then they've since upgraded to G selector, which is the newer windows based version for anybody who's scheduled music, who's listening, who's curious what they're up to in 2024,
Matt: I think I used both. But I'd probably have to see them to get the memory jogged. But it was a really cool experience, don't get me wrong. There was days it was, like, tedious. I'm like, I don't know how someone does this for seven days a week, but it was really, an awesome experience.
Jag: Okay, so how did the nickname R Source come into play?
Matt: So probably a little before my days at WLMU, I love to get new music. Back in the day, mixtapes were a thing, and we had a core group of friends, and we were like, our source for music. We wanted to put on shows and DJ and just, like, fun events up there, so I needed a name. I thought Matt was real basic for a show. So everybody had nicknames, and that's how it started. And it was like this music movement that we had now in college, I guess everybody has some dreams. I was the one who stuck with it, and, I carried it over to Z just because, like I said, I thought, Matt. Everybody's Matt. How am I going to stand out? I think on the Zoo, I was Matt and R Source. It's funny, I remember Q I think he always said outsource instead of R Source And I looked at him one day and I'm like, it's R Source, man. I didn't say it out loud to him. I think I corrected him off here. But I was like, you know what? I just went with it, because maybe it could be like a show bit where somebody calls in and we go over it. So that was the beginning of it. One thing I left out is my furthest memory of radio is my sister and I used to use the boombox and we'd record our own radio shows, and we do our own talk breaks. I never dreamed of doing this, but we used to do, like, playtime as children, and we hosted our own radio show back then.
Jag: I've joked in previous episodes of the podcast that I have a tote board that I put a mark on for anybody who says they've got to Syracuse and wanted to be a sportscaster. I think I should have a second tote board for anybody who played with any of those, whether it was Fisher Price or Radio Shack, or slightly higher end, taping the radio, talking over the intros of the songs. Want to be DJ as a kid? I feel like that's a tie that binds so many of us, in this group.
Matt: Yeah. I wanted to be a garbage man. Jag.
Jag: What?
Matt: When I was a kid, I wanted to be a garbage man. I wanted to ride on the back of a garbage truck, pull the lever, and crush the garbage. That was, what I wanted to be as a kid. I did do the radio thing for fun, but never was. Like, I'm going to do this someday.
Jag: I would hate to think that radio got in the way of your dreams of being a sanitation worker.
Matt: No, I don't know where that stopped. That dream stopped. I guess those surveys you do in middle school, high school, of what do you do? I want to do with your career. The garbage man never came up there, so I guess that was the stop to that. But as I was a child, that's what I wanted to do.
Jag: One thing I know you wanted to cover at Z was the show that you started,
Matt: I proposed a mix show. It was called Off The Hook. I played some local music with a twist of hip hop that wasn't being broadcast anywhere in Syracuse. You couldn't find this. We didn't have a hip hop station. The hip hop station, had been gone a while, and I blended, like, top 40 ish hip hop songs, but you weren't hearing them, on Hot or Q or Z. Some you were, but very few. And then rhythmic hip hop with local, and it was called off the hook. I proposed that. They accepted. It became my claim to fame. One thing, Jordan Hayes mentions this. I came up with a segment called Bump It or Dump It I'd play a song that I knew this is only going to be me playing this, and I let the fans decide, bump it or dump it. If they bumped it. If they called in and voted to bump it, I'd continue it on the show. If they dumped it, I never played that song again. And there was some, I think at some times, not usually, but there'd be some. Otherwise, I'd be like, this one's getting bumped. And so I think he's done a tribute to me. So I thank him a lot when he's been back to Z. I know he has his own little station that he runs and podcast thing, and he's done that as a tribute. and I'm honored that someone would do that. I don't think I invented it. I didn't steal it from someone, but the idea, I don't know. One day I ran that on the zoo, and that was like the segment on my mix show. Every year I remembered on the mix show doing a countdown, and I actually tallied phone requests and I think some social media, but definitely the phone requests, and they were legitimate tallies. At the end of the year, I'd play, like, the top ten most requested songs.
Jag: That's impressive that you actually tracked it as opposed to just fudging it like a lot of people in radio have historically done.
Matt: I did Jag. I don't know if I had the paper and electronic copy still in the archive, but I did that because I really took pride in being authentic with that show. I took a ton of pride in that. I was there a lot of Sundays alone. The sports guys were always in and out. I'd always tell them, if you're available and you want to do your sports update, come into the show. I knew so many sports guys from that. Other than that, the station was usually a ghost town on Sundays. I came in after a guy did the Island Ride. I think he was a community member. I cannot remember his name. He did this really cool mix show, Island Ride, and for a semester or two semesters, he'd have the audience already ready and I'd come in
Jag: Had a great lead in what time was your show Matt?
Matt: So it was like seven to nine and eight to ten. It depended on the semester and the time blocks. But I'll tell you, the time slot of that Sunday night, I was always like, are people going to care about this? I'll tell you, it had more success in my mind, more participation. The summer of 13, I brought the show back and ran it on like a Tuesday or Wednesday night when the new studio was implemented. And I didn't feel it had the engagement that was once there. Now we took a break because I didn't participate when the station did all pre recorded. And I love the live aspect on so many levels.
Jag: So I'm going to tell a quick personal story here at banquet this year. I got a chance to go on the air, and I love doing it. And it was just like 15, 20 minutes. I had a quick shift on the air and posted some videos to Facebook. And one of my close friends from my radio career, Joe Rosati, texted me and said, dude, you light up still to this day when you're behind a microphone. So to your point, Matt, there is something about being live. And I know the station, it wasn't the same when it had to rebuild the studios and it was pre recorded at Newhouse. new house. And it was a necessary evil to end up with the amazing facilities that they have now and since then. But, yeah, I understand what you're saying. There's something about live, and I want to come back to what you said about creating the show. That's the beauty of Z. You can create something that some corporate behemoth owned radio station isn't going to have some senior vice president approve. That's the beauty of Z, is you can try things, you can do things, and you prove it with that show.
Matt: I've got to say, Rashaud Thomas, I don't know if he. It was Matt Dangelotonio Antonio's last name, yes. Or Rashaud that approved that, but Rashaud Thomas was just a resource. You asked about times at Z, and looking back all these years later, I didn't take advantage of the wealth of knowledge, the talent that that individual had. Rashaud, without him, I would have never been able to have a success with that show. And it's one thing I pride myself on. I look back and I wish, but I produced it. I answered the phone, I did the best I could. Djing with the tools at hand. It was hard sometimes to do everything I wanted. But those were 2 hours that I had this creative control that I'll carry for the rest of my life.
Jag: So many amazing names in the history of JPZ. Some we know and some we're learning for the first time today that you worked with and you probably learned from. Any specific lessons that come to mind. Life lessons, career lessons you felt like you learned at the station?
Matt: I feel like this is going to come across cliche. Everybody throws this tagline in, but for a guy that didn't know what he really wanted to do with his career at Z. I remember the first banquet, talking to people like Dave Gorab and how welcoming everyone was. And it was just family. Literally you say JPZ, I got goosebumps. You probably can't see them on the video. Like just mention it. Because everybody cares about the success of others. It doesn't matter if you know this person for five minutes, but once you get to know, just there's this connection that can't really be explained and everyone really cares about each other. You don't have to beg or ask. It's just hey Jag, you like podcasts, let's talk about that. And you're very welcoming. So the point of the long winded story is the network in the just it taught me to personally build my resume and find my goals. Because during this time I was trying to break into a field of IT, informational technology. The job market in CNY was flooded. It's 180 degrees different than today. You'd apply, you'd be going up against 75 candidates. So what I'm saying there is you learn how to build your resume. It was better than any, no offense to the people that have helped me over the years, career service advisor. It just taught you how to like hey Jag, I'm applying for this job. It put all that together. Rocket Larry Ross. If I have any advice professionally, I could just message that guy because he's not working in the industry either. But we've built that relationship in twelve years of going to banquet and getting to know each other and loving SU sports. Just ask him for advice. And that's what JPZ is to me. It's this huge network of unlimited resources. Like you mentioned before, you're constantly learning about new people, what they've done, new names. I love going to the not the networking, but the Friday conference. The Friday conferences. conference. The Friday conferences. You shouted out Jay, a guy that I'd never met, with some statistics on podcasting and radio, and I met Jay and got to know him, and we had a great conversation in 10, 15 minutes. And you make a new friend, like a, lifelong friend.
Jag: And Jay Nachlis is somebody that I've met working in podcasting at industry conferences, and I've really gotten to know him well and should we share some commonalities and that he worked in Detroit radio and I worked in Detroit radio, and he's somebody that I've only gotten to know the last few years, but have really gotten to enjoy knowing. It's a story that plays out between generations over and over again. Just the grad years and the names change, but the dynamic is still the same.
Matt: Yeah, exactly.
Jag: So, Matt you mentioned IT. Walk me through your career and what you've done since being at Z89. 89.
Matt: So, since being at Z 89, I've worked at it at a few different companies in education, bounce between them. I've been like a, help desk, support tech desktop, support technician, system admin. I'm not a full network administrator, but I do some network administration jobs. That was my goal of going to college and landing that. It didn't come quick, and it was a little harder than I ever would have anticipated. But that's that in a nutshell right there.
Jag: And where are you working now?
Matt: I'm at Onondaga Community College doing IT support for the entire college.
Jag: So you've come full circle.
Matt: Yeah, it's funny. I am full circle. And we're having this conversation. I'm in an OCC room. That's one thing. I never did radio up at OCC. I couldn't even tell you the radio station name here just a few weeks ago, not to toot my own horn. An, individual from the community, I know him through other things. Came up to me at a live D1 one basketball game up at Lemoyne. And he said, hey, what's good with the radio? So what do you mean? It's been, twelve, 10, 12 years since I'd been on live. But the fact that someone cared to still ask me about that. My point of this is to the students at Z, like you just said, there's so much time to learn. So many opportunities. Take full advantage of them. The resources are everywhere. Alumni, the current students. Live and learn. And don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Alex Silverman talks about plugging those wires. I was afraid because my buddy Bill Drinkwater was the technical guy at the time. And I'm like, I'm talking to Bill. I'm not touching any of this. I don't want to take the station offline. But looking back, if you tried to fix something and you would have told and communicated, no one's going to get mad. It really is what it said, this live media classroom, that to an outsider, they can't fully comprehend, but it really is the greatest tool. I've worked in sandboxes, live labs, doing simulations. WJPZ blows away any of those opportunities that I've come across. And I've had some cool resources being a student up at SU and worked on real cyber attacks as they're happening. I still think the stuff with is, you know, the best, the legacy is huge. the one thing I wanted to say that I did leave off is like, Jordan Capozzi, that he worked for me while I was at Z. He bagged some groceries and we worked together, and he told me he was going to Newhouse. And I looked at him, I said, if you never listen to me at this job or take any advice I ever give while you're up at Su, make sure you sign up for Z89. I go, I don't care what you do there. I really recommend you get on exec staff and do everything you can. He had told me he wanted to be like a sports guy, media guy, and, Jordan Capozzi, I'm so proud of him. He went to Z. He's known all over Syracuse, and he's just a great talent. And I just wanted to give him a shout out. there's so many names, I cannot make a list. I don't even want to try because there's so many names that have impacted me at my time there and time after. That's one story with Z. I want to get out there that I'm so proud of knowing him and remembering him as a high school kid bagging groceries that went out there.
Jag: I think that's a fantastic place to leave it. Matthew Reschke, thank you so much for coming on the podcast and approaching me, about coming on the podcast. And by the way, Rashaud Thomas, if you're listening, you were mentioned earlier, he's one of the people that approached me at Banquet. So, Rashaud waiting on that email or that text from you so we can get you on the podcast as well. Matt thanks so much for coming on
Matt: Thanks so much for having me. It's a true honor with the legends of WJPZ, Z 89, just to, have a few minutes to talk to you, but I got to sign off one last time. You're listening to the beat of Syracuse Z 89. You're Off The Hook with R Source. Do not change that dial!