"BLUE" JIMMY: ROCK JOURNALIST
CAPT. ANDY DAM/MAGE: ROCK MUSIC RESEARCHER AND LIBRARIAN
BLIND DOG OZZY: NEUROTIC CHIHUAHUA
NAT HALL: HOST OF MULLET METAL MAYHEM
"BLUE" JIMMY: As part of our stalled 2018/2019/ 2020/2021 "No Sleep 'Til Hollywood" concert tour, "BLUE" JIMMY & ANDY DAM/MAGE decided to do the next best thing if we couldn't go to a concert during The Pandemic ... we interviewed a Heavy Metal DJ! Having our own Metal radio show is something we always talked about but that's all we did ... talk about it. We got in contact with Nat Hall, who does a Metal radio show on National Public Radio's KDLG in Bristol Bay, Alaska. His show is appropriately called MULLET METAL MAYHEM!
"BLUE" JIMMY: So you're living our dream, Nat! We toyed around with having our own Metal radio show since the 80's every time we would get together on the weekends but when we sobered up the next day ... we never did a goddam thing about it.
NAT HALL: Hey, that sounds cool! I am definitely living out my dreams as a balding, stubby, middle-aged, headbanger! I have full access to microphone and the music I want to play and I am loving life! Yeah, only because there is a small National Public Radio station here and the radio station manager was begging to hear something other than the pathetic droning music that was playing ... did I get a chance and am taking full advantage of it! I get to do my over the top, ultra-cheesy, ultra gooberish persona of the Natman and a lot of people are starting to hear it and enjoy it now. When people text me or message me on Facebook, I try to give them a shoutout on the air with all these Metal/professional wrestling nicknames and for the most part people dig that!
BLIND DOG OZZY: So we'll call you THE NAT-ILIZER!
"BLUE" JIMMY: Nice, Nat! Your Facebook profile says you're in Wasilla, Alaska ... what kind of town is that? Big? Small?
NAT HALL: Wasilla is not a huge place but it is growing by leaps and bounds every year. In Alaska we have boroughs (probably called counties most other places) and the Mar-Su borough has been in the top 10 borough/counties in the nation for well over a decade. It's a God, Guns and Oil kind of place because a lot of people out here work in the North Slope Of Alaska in the oil business. My son is one of those guys, being a heavy duty diesel mechanic for an oil company on the North Slope. It's got a great reputation that we love, because the snobs in Anchorage call us "Valley Trash" which we proudly acknowledge! Ha ha! Another friend of mine from Anchorage calls Wasilla "Wasitucky" Ha,ha!
BLIND DOG OZZY: So folks think you're from the wrong side of The Pipeline ... that's cold-blooded!
"BLUE" JIMMY: I got you, Nat! So be honest, were you always into Rock or did you look like Napoleon Dynamite in high school and someone turned you on to it?
That's how it was with ME and ANDY DAM/MAGE. He had flair jeans and an ELO belt buckle and I turned him on to Sabbath and Zep and later Van Halen. We graduated in '79.
NAT HALL: You know, as cool as the Natster and his Cobra Kai crew were, I actually wasn't talked into it at all. I was on a search for the Holy Grail and I didn't know it was Rock 'N' Roll until I first heard Foreigner! I was in about the sixth grade when I first heard the band Foreigner play and it rattled my young gray matter and blew my socks off!
Before that, I had only heard what my parents had listened to, which was pretty much Southern Gospel or Country. I was not into music AT ALL because that was definitely not my bag! Somehow though, I had heard the band Foreigner. I had no clue how I came across that or where it came from but when you're a sheltered kid from a very small town, we didn't get the benefit of hearing about bands coming through or anything like that. The town I lived in was a small town in Northeastern Nevada that was primarily Mormon and so hearing Foreigner at that time was pretty much like a kid's first listen to Rock being like Napalm Death or Cradle Of Filth today! Haha! The first Rock 'N' Roll cassette I ever owned was "Head Games" by Foreigner and I have never looked back!
I have spent so much money over the years on cassettes and then CDs on Rock and Metal it's not funny! My parents hated that music, so I would hide it all in a gym bag under my bed and various other places I thought were unfindable! About once every six months or so my mom would find it and my dad took great pleasure when he would take all those tapes and smash them with a sledgehammer right in front of my face! But, I was not to be denied my love of Metal! I was a glutton for punishment and kept on buying those tapes with all the part-time jobs I had as a kid. The turning point however, was when I first heard "Fantasy" by Aldo Nova in the back of a school bus on the way to a football game as an 8th grader. That nearly blew my mind when the seniors in the back with their 125 pound boom boxes shook the bus with the intro to "Fantasy!" I started looking for Metal because that's where I knew I was going! Once I heard Metallica's "Ride The Lightning" album, I knew I was a Metal addict!
BLIND DOG OZZY: There's no clinic for that addiction!
"BLUE" JIMMY: Oh, so we're a little older than you Nat! When I heard Aldo Nova I was already in college. We're so old, we saw Moses play live at the Colosseum back in something B.C. So what do you do when you're not blasting the Internet with Metal, Nat? ... Or can you talk about that?
NAT HALL: You know I can talk about it but I'll have to mandate you attend a sensitivity class after we finish! Haha! Yes, I am in human resources leadership in healthcare.
People can't believe that an HR leader, who is supposed to be, by job description, the most anti-fun, anti-rocker person on the planet, can actually be a Metalhead and also be over the top ridiculous and cheesy with a Metal radio show! When people find that I am The Natman on Mullet Metal Mayhem, they are almost always shocked, uncomfortable or nauseous because I have to be a certain way at work. I'm not a jerk but I'm definitely not Natman The HR Dude! I also tell folks that at work I'm Dr. Jekyll but on the air I am definitely Mr. Hyde! It's my scream therapy for a long week in HR! I also tell folks that on my radio show, I'm still an HR professional, it's just that the acronym HR stands for hellraiser and I am a hell-raising professional during my radio show! It's a great release and it keeps me very balanced because the weeks can get pretty rough, especially working in healthcare during this Covid-19 Pandemic. People are on the edge now more than ever and it's a great release not only for me, but a lot of people out here have told me they like to let loose when my show comes on! Also, because my radio show comes on at 8PM in Alaska, that's about when people start having their favorite beverage or three and when I end my show at 10PM, they are in a much better place to enjoy the rest of the night and the weekend! Haha!
BLIND DOG OZZY: Get F-d up and listen to Nat's show!
"BLUE" JIMMY: I would've never thought that, Nat! I thought you might have been a roadie for Motley Crue and got left on the road somewhere and started a Metal radio show in your spare time.
So how did you approach KDLG to do your show? What was that like? I have heard the other programming on KDLG and it's not so rocking. How did you break through?
NAT HALL: Holy Cow! That would have been a "damp" dream come true being a Motley Crue roadie! Haha! When I first started with my employer 5 years ago, I had started to make a few friends and had found out that one of my coworkers, who was a Project Engineer and far smarter than I could ever aspire to be in life, had a volunteer radio show at the local NPR radio station here. I talked to him about it and then I attended a couple of shows with him. His name is The Bear and his show is Roadkill Radio! It was an awesome Classic Rock/Progressive Rock radio show for 2 hours on Saturday afternoons and he had a lot of people listening to it. I had told him that I had a Heavy Metal show back in college and that I really used to love it. I had done quite a bit of sports broadcasting as a play-by-play radio announcer for high school and college football and basketball in Oklahoma and had actually done play-by-play for for an arena football team for 2 years down there as well. He told me they were always looking for volunteers to host their own shows because NPR stations are known for some of the most drab music and hosts of all time! No joke, some of those shows are worse that waterboarding! That Saturday Night Live spoof with Alec Baldwin and his Schweddy Balls NPR skit was just about nearly spot on with a lot of the programs on NPR currently!
Bear told me I should talk to the radio station manager who I later found out, was a closet Metalhead and an Iron Maiden fan of the highest order! I talked to him and said there was no way I would play any of the music that NPR was playing and I would only be a volunteer if I could play the stuff I wanted to play! He said as long as the music I played wasn't too filthy and if every other word wasn't a curse word and way over the top like Slayer and then some, he was perfectly fine with it. My first show on a Saturday afternoon was my last show on a Saturday afternoon as that radio station streamed in the local grocery stores and when I had Testament, Exodus and various other Thrash Metal bands mixed in with my Hair Metal, there were more than a few phone calls with complaints to the radio station about it. He said I could go on Friday night or Saturday night and I was happy as a clam about that! It's been Friday nights for about 4 1/2 years now and he couldn't be happier as there have been quite a few people who called in after a beverage or 2 or 3, very satisfied with the music being played and not one of those horrid NPR World Cafe' programs!
BLIND DOG OZZY: Zzzzzzzzzz! Zzzzzzzzzz!
"BLUE" JIMMY: Oh shit, Nat! I remember the Schweddy Balls skit and wondered if stations actually had shows like that anywhere in the U.S. I'm glad you actually broke through in your area with some high-energy Metal! So here's the question we're dying to ask ... what's your music collection like? CDs? LPs? Tapes? 78's from the Library Of Congress? ... How do you keep it all? Andy Dam/mage puts everything in hard drives. Where does he get all his stuff? We don't need to talk about that!
NAT HALL: I am completely old-school as I love the physical component of music! I must love it, caress it, coddle it, "my precious." Haha! You have to say that last bit in Gollum's voice! By the way, fashion tip: he and I have the same hair stylist! Haha! I have a ton of old cassette tapes back in storage way down in the vaults (next to the Nixon Watergate recordings) and I have stacks upon stacks of CDs in my basement.
What I do is take quite a few CDs and my laptop (full of most of my recorded CDs) and take it to the station. It's a really old board they have at the station and there is a CD player there as well, and I plug in my laptop and go back-and-forth through the show. I will typically play 2 song at a time and then start blathering on about something ridiculous! Once in a while, I'll play something from the radio station computers but it's typically the more Classic Rock, early 80's mainstream stuff. If I don't have it with me, sometimes it's on the radio station computer but typically I bring a lot of music that as I believe you said, they just don't play on mainstream radio anymore! I love the one-hit wonders from the Hair Metal era and try to play at least one tune or more throughout the show that nobody has heard of but most rockers instantly like! I also like to play music from across the globe, as there is some smoking music from Europe and in particular, Scandinavian countries these days! I have a ton of CDs and Amazon Prime has been my best friend over the last 4 years here in this remote part of Alaska. And now, not only people in this region but my old buddies, pals and others worldwide get a chance to listen to the rantings and the antics of The Natman on Mullet Metal Mayhem!
BLIND DOG OZZY: MMM!!!
"BLUE" JIMMY: I can just imagine your collection, Nat! Like you, I like to have it in my hand ... my music collection, I mean. Don't be a pervert and think something else. Before the Internet, did you have record stores where you live? Out here in L.A., we had Tower Records on The Sunset Strip and record stores on every corner ... all gone now.
By the way Nat, have you ever been to L.A.?
NAT HALL: You know this is a perfect segue from the end of that last question. Did I tell you that I have stacks upon stacks of CDs taking up way too much space in my basement? Yes, I so love having the physical product and it makes me happy as a little girl ( as Dieter Sprockets from Saturday Night Live fame would say). Haha! Back in the day when I was living in the Southwest in Oklahoma and Texas, there was a great video/music store outlet called Hastings that has a phenomenal Metal section and I would blow a LOT of money in there (much to my wife's chagrin).
I moved back to Alaska 12 years ago and you know up here in Alaska in years gone by, there was some good record/CD stores before the Internet but much like Max Headroom, they have faded away into obscurity. But with the resurrection of the interest in records (and I have NO CLUE how that happened), an excellent indie record company opened up here! Obsession Records is their name-o and The Natman has found his happy place! Also with the advent of the Internet which Al Gore was so nice to bequeath upon us, you couldn't rip the dimples off my face for weeks when I get my treasure troves of CDs from Amazon Prime orders! Oh yeah my wife, who is an amazingly perfect and wonderful gal, is extremely forgiving but she does know her blackmail points exceptionally well, because if something needs to be done around the house or something else of importance, all she has to do is grab a couple of CDs and go near the burner of on the stove and she has my full attention and the prioritization of her request is now at the top of the list! Haha!
I really love the CDs but I know that they have been dwindling in their appeal and sales so I'm trying to corner the market on them all, especially the ones from the past that I have never heard of until the Internet came around and because of that, I'm finding them! It doesn't matter where on the planet they come from if they're a rocking band ... I want that CD! And yes, I've been to L.A. and somehow maintained a limited amount of sanity after experiencing too great a measure of wokeness to be of any good in Alaska! Haha!
BLIND DOG OZZY: L.A. tends to f**k with people's heads!
"BLUE" JIMMY: I have to ask Nat, because people are so arrogant down here, we think Alaska is a snow-covered barren wasteland and people live in igloos and I know that's not right.
But is there a Metal scene where you live? Before The Pandemic, did major bands play in your town or nearby? Did you go to concerts on a regular basis?
NAT HALL: You know, the stereotypes are all true! We actually have a beautiful 3 bedroom, 2 bath igloo with a 2 dogsled team garage! The only bad part is we have to remodel every Summer! Haha! I'm playing! Back in the day, we had some nice concerts up in Anchorage! Metallica has been up here in a large arena we call the Sullivan Arena. Also, there was a very cool large bar up here called Chilkoot Charlies that had 4 or more bar areas and several stages for bands! I had a chance to watch Quiet Riot play there in about the year 2000 or so. Also, Alaska has a massive state fair in August every year that has brought some major acts our way! That was a while back though, and I haven't been to any concerts for a while now. We have lived back in Alaska for 12 years and I have only seen a handful of concerts in that time but they were major ones! I had to fly out of state to get to them. In 2018, I went to this event I have heard of for 20 years but never had the cash or the ability to get down to Atlanta to watch this epic weekend show called Prog Power USA!
It was the most mind-bending, life-altering event I have ever been to! I met about 1000 Headbangers that enjoyed this exceptional music and I couldn't believe the experience! There were 3 or more generations of families that would come to this! There were some young kids there that were headbanging, anywhere from 8-10 years old and up, and there were 70 and 80 year-old headbangers there as well! There was actually an African-American woman about 80 who all the long-timers knew and she was practically The Queen of that Metal festival! There were so many old Headbangers there and it was incredible! I was about 50 years old at the time and I was probably middle-of -the pack in age! It was crazy good! I got to see the actual Queen Of Metal, Doro Pesch, there and so many other smoking amazing bands, primarily from Europe and Scandinavia! It was the greatest event I have ever been to! Another one about 6 years ago, was the most unusual event I have ever been to! That was Knotfest in Southern California. I went with my son and coworker who is about the same age as me along with his wife. I saw some of the most unusual forms of life slithering around that event! There was LARPing, there was really crazy piercings and pagan/twistola stuff going on ... it was wild and crazy! But I got to watch one of my favorite bands of all time, Testament, play there along with Hellyeah, Volbeat (the first time I had heard of them), Danzig and a lot of other bands, some obscure and new to me and some older and wild! Napalm Death was there and those were some wild and crazy middle-aged dudes! Back in my 20's I had gone to a lot of concerts in my college days. I went to college in Oklahoma and had a lot of mid-sized cities around, so there were a lot of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal concerts going on, especially at the local Rock clubs which I loved to go to! I so enjoyed those times! I saw a tremendous amount of Hard Rock and Hair Metal bands back then, probably more than 70 bands! I know you and Andy get way more action where you live but for a kid going to college in the Southwest United States, I was in Shangri-La!
BLIND DOG OZZY: "... Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit. He took the midnight train goin' anywhere ..."
"BLUE" JIMMY: So Nat, How much of that on-air persona is part of your daily life? I used to think that Ozzy was just an onstage personality but then I saw his TV shows and I realized he was even worse in real life. What does your family think about your strange addiction?
NAT HALL: That is such a great question! You know my on-air persona is such a part of me, it's an equal part of the real me, as much as my professional persona! I love Metal music, I love to laugh and I crack the cheesiest Dad jokes of all time, at least according to my kids! I have gone to Metal festivals with my son, I have introduced my daughter to Classic Rock and Hair Metal and she is taking right to it as a 15 year-old! I really enjoy chillin' with my rockin' friends while listening to Heavy Metal and Hard Rock while sitting around our fire pit at home while cracking a cold brew and roasting hot dogs, sausages or marshmallows over it! I love my Harley and other motorized play toys I have! I have a smoking hot wife who is far more beautiful and wonderful than I deserve! I most definitely married way above my pay grade and couldn't be happier! I was a kid of the 80's so I was watching Magnum P.I., Air Wolf, The Fall Guy and was introduced to Married With Children when I was in college! We were all drooling over Heather Locklear, Heather Thomas and Elle McPherson! I don't get butt hurt easily and typically have a grin on my face that most people can't and don't understand! My family thinks I'm an oddity at age 52 being a Metalhead but they are ok with it because I'm a fairly decent guy (not to toot my own horn or anything). Haha!
BLIND DOG OZZY: You don't want someone else tooting your horn ... who knows where they've been?
"BLUE" JIMMY: Screw you, Nat! You have a charmed life like I could never have. Let me give you a little more background on "BLUE" JIMMY & ANDY DAM/MAGE:
They call me "BLUE" JIMMY because I'm a fairly well-known Blues musician in my area ... that area being my own mind. ANDY DAM/MAGE is a former computer technician who got the nickname DAM/MAGE because of his propensity for breaking things ... it's a long story. We started a tour on Facebook in 2018 called the "No Sleep 'Til Hollywood" tour in which we were supposed to hit as many concerts, clubs, bars, swap meets, backyard kegger parties as we could in one Summer and then end it all at the Hollywood Bowl for Ozzy's final concert ... ever.
We were supposed to document it all on Facebook and end it all at the end of Summer with a party at my house with catering and everything. Well, Ozzy cancelled his end-of-tour concert here in L.A. about 3 times and then The Pandemic hit. So the "No Sleep 'Til Hollywood" tour is stalled and we have a handful of concert tickets in limbo. If you look at my Badass ROCK INC. Facebook page, you will see all the places we've been. Well, I think I've looked into your private life as much as I dare, Nat. Is there anything else you want to add?
NAT HALL: No, I think I have touted myself more than the average Kardashian, so I believe we will shut it down at this point! I just want to give a big shout out to you, Andy and all the Headbangers out there who keep Metal alive and well during this socially and mentally distanced Covid time that we are living in! I really appreciate this opportunity to cuss and discuss with you, "Blue" Jimmy! Keep it Metal, my rockin' compandres!
"BLUE" JIMMY: One last question I ask all my interview subjects, Nat ... Dave or Sammy?
NAT HALL: Has to be Dave ... TV ... all Dave, all night!!
"BLUE" JIMMY: F**K YES, Nat! We're coming to your town to drink, party and stay up past 12 on a school night!
NAT HALL: Thanks, fellas! You're welcome up here to the Last Frontier any time! Thanks for the interview and have a good one!
BLIND DOG OZZY: Wow! Wow!
"BLUE" JIMMY: Sake's Alive!
bluejames61@hotmail.com
