Bruce Figler
"The Peak's" Bruce Figler Interview
CreativeSoundWorks.net
Interview by Roger Zee (08/23/18)
Roger Zee: Talk about your days in the Eighties as a guitarist in the Apple Jam Band, the house group for NYC radio station WAPP 103.5.
Bruce Figler: I worked as a Disc Jockey and Production Director at New York City's WAPP. Our morning jock, EJ Crummey, a talented guitarist dated Jane, a good keyboard player. EJ thought we should start a radio station house band to perform at
WAPP functions. Since I played some guitar and other staffers played bass and drums, we put together The Apple Jam Band.
We practiced at EJ's home in Rye and then played a handful of radio station functions at nightclubs throughout the metro area.
Our biggest gig came at the Beacon Theater in 1983 where we opened for freshly discovered Jon Bon Jovi.
Back in the early Eighties, as part of the Miller Beer "Rock to Riches" contest, WAPP set out to find the best music in the NY Metro area. We wanted to produce an album featuring local artists with the winner getting to play the Beacon Theater. The contest ran simultaneously at radio stations in other markets. The winner of the national prize would receive a recording contract, allowing them to put out their first CD.
As you might imagine, hundreds of audio cassettes started pouring in from all over the region. We turned the job of going through them over to one of our youngest employees, John Lassman. One day, he came into the studio yelling "You guys gotta hear this!" He had in his hands an early version of "Runaway" from this Jersey kid who had personally dropped off his demo at the station. And just like that we had our champ.
Jon Bongiovi (as it was spelled then) would end up winning the national contest too, but by that time, he had already signed to a different record company so he had to turn down the grand prize. We booked the Beacon Theater in early 1983 for the winners to perform with the hope that Jon would play a whole set. The Apple Jam Band would open the show followed by a set from Jon and then the runners ups would get a few songs apiece.
Well, as it turned out, Jon's new record company would not allow him to play a full set. So after the Apple Jam Band played our three songs, Jon came out and performed one song, "Runaway." That Apple Band performance stands as the high point of
my music career. I played rhythm guitar in the band on my 1967 hollow-bodied, cherry-red, Epiphone Casino. I still own it.
Essentially, that was the only fully organized group I ever played in though I did jam regularly with friends. When Jon was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier in the year, John Lassman and another station staffer, Chip Hobart, flew out
to Cleveland and got invited on stage to share in the celebration.
Roger Zee: As a weekend DJ for The Peak 107.1, do you pick your own music?
Bruce Figler: For our format to succeed, we carefully stick to various rules and formatics. And while remain far from a "free-form" station, I do have the option to play songs from our huge library when I choose to. But they have to make sense in the format. We have to be careful about leaving room for a certain number of commercials each hour. We also need to be cognizant of not playing too much unfamiliar music, while at the same time not playing too much over-familiar music.
It's a huge balancing act where we mix old and new, upbeat songs and softer ballads. In the case of new tunes, we need to play them enough for our listeners to become familiar with them while not crossing the line and over-playing them. To achieve this, I can't simply play whatever I want whenever I want. But when I get the desire to play something, I do find a spot for it. That said, on Jimmy Fink's daily "After Six" segment, formatics go by the wayside. The same goes for Rich Russo's Sunday night program called "Anything, Anything."
Roger Zee: Why listen to the radio when so many other music delivery systems exist?
Bruce Figler: Yeah, even in the case of a great radio station, not every song will tickle your fancy. But a good radio station will expose you to new and different things that at some point you could come to like. I strongly believe that it's better to evolve musically than to remain rooted in one place.
Local radio also ties into your life in terms of the places we talk about, be it in a commercial or otherwise -- the concerts we promote and review and the news we report. Online and satellite services can't offer you that. Local radio does. Yes, a shameless plug for 107.1 The Peak -- on the web at www.1071thePeak.com and available through the Peak App.
Roger Zee: Tell me about your recording studio/voice-over business, Creative Sound Works.
Bruce Figler: When WAPP changed format to Top 40 radio in 1984, they bought out my contract. I took a break from radio and started an audio production company called Creative Sound Works. It started in my house but has long since moved -- first to a space in Hawthorne and then in 2000, to downtown Pleasantville.
We produce anything that features spoken word -- from radio commercials, to TV commercial soundtracks, books on tape, audio for web presentations, educational programs and the like. By the early 1990's, I expanded into TV production as well. As a trained voice actor, from time to time, my voice appears in some of the projects I produce.
The voice-over business is a tricky one. Many people think that since they can speak, they can easily make the jump to work as a voice-over artist but that's very far from the truth. To do it well requires a lot of training, practice, breathing control, and really good ears. By the way, in 2005, after twenty years out of radio, I jumped back in shortly after the Peak arrived on the scene. After hearing and liking what the station was doing, I thought this is something I should be a part of.
Roger Zee: How did you get involved with the Pleasantville Music Festival (PMF)? What's your role now?
Bruce Figler: Back in early 2005, the founders of the Pleasantville Music Festival asked me to join their planning committee as they worked to get the first event off the ground. They knew of my connections in the radio world and wanted my help in getting a station involved. We got WFUV on board that first year as the Peak was still in its infancy. But by the festival's second year, the Peak became a major player in the event.
For the next nine years, I stayed involved mainly on the periphery as a member of the Peak air staff and as a consultant when needed. In 2015, a new festival director came in and promptly asked me to be the Music Director which I gladly accepted. That year, we brought in talent like Gin Blossoms, G Love & Special Sauce, Fastball, Marshall Crenshaw, and Lost Leaders and the festival had its best year ever.
The new director, however, found the job extremely difficult as he tried to balance his full-time career with the demands of the festival. He stepped down and the Village asked me to take over for 2016. I stayed as Executive Director ever since.
Roger Zee: Who and how do you pick the performers each year for the PMF?
Bruce Figler: As a general rule, I get a lot of input and suggestions from my staff and follow many of their recommendations. But at the end of the day, I make the final decisions. And trust me when I tell you, me being a fan of or even liking an artist does not figure into the decision-making.
As far as criteria, on the Main Stage, we try to vary both the musical genres as well as the demographics that our headliners appeal to. We want as many music lovers as possible to see some artist in our line-up that appeals to them. Therefore, it's unlikely you will love everyone on the Main Stage, but I am expecting you to really like at least one of them, and hopefully more than one.
For example, this year we had an Eighties New Wave band, the Psychedelic Furs as our headliner. But we also had the soulful and folksy sounds of a current band, the Lone Bellow, the funky Jam Band style of Robert Randolph & the Family Band, the Country leaning Nineties rock of Cracker, and the rocking blues of Lizzie & the Makers. A little something for everyone is how I like to look at it.
On the Pamnation Party Stage and on the Chill Tent Stage, we regularly scout original artists in the area. We also wade through artist submissions that come in through our website. We tend to lean in the direction of bringing in artists with local roots as often as possible, whether they still reside in the area or not.
The festival has earned a reputation as a showcase for local artists and we would like that reputation to continue. We are particularly attracted to artists who have extensive followers both at their gigs as well as on Social Media.
Roger Zee: Describe the your favorite performances at the PMF.
Bruce Figler: I have a lot of favorites. Some go way back to the festival's early days. I loved how back in 2007, even though nobody knew them, DeSol got everyone off their blankets to groove to songs they were hearing for the first time. I fell in love with Joan Osborne's beautiful rendition of "Midnight Train to Georgia" as the sun went down in 2008. I loved dancing to the English Beat in 2012.
I still remember the shock of the audience watching a then 12 year-old Brandon "Taz" Nederauer blow people away in 2015 on the Party Stage. Also that year, great magic occurred when Marshall Crenshaw joined Gin Blossoms on the Main Stage for a song. The two sets that KT Tunstall did in 2016 were spectacular. I loved how Ripe totally rocked the Party Stage in 2017 and also that year, how great was it when Vernon Reid of Living Colour joined Blues Traveler on the Main Stage.
This year's show had so many outstanding performances, from Robert Randolph and the Lone Bellow on the Main Stage, to Juice and Harsh Armadillo on the Party Stage, to Tim Stout and Dan Zlotnick in the Chill Tent.
Roger Zee: Any advice for youngsters who want to get involved in the music industry?
Bruce Figler: 1) Innovate. Don't follow the leader. Become the leader.
2) Riff Off. Feel free to listen to what "they" do, but then don't "rip off", instead "riff off". Take what they do and drive it in your own unique direction up to the next level.
3) Persevere. Stick with it. If you believe in something, don't give up on it, even if you are turned down by "the man". Build an audience, and "the man" may come find you.
4) Don't be afraid to do it simply for the love of it. Even if you don't get rich from music, doing something that you love is priceless. Many people in the world sadly don't have that.
©2018 Roger Zee