If you are looking for a release during your mundane Mondays, look no further than “Good Touches”—a Monday night radio show that proves to be anything but mundane.
The show runs weekly from 11 p.m. to 12 a.m. and is hosted by three friends: Mark Spero, Jack Dunnington and Nick Matesanz, all ’16. Although the three are close friends, the story of how they met is not exactly clear.
“I had an outtake freshman year. Nick and Mark were walking past with a crowd of friends taking up the whole hallway. I was trying to get to the side because they were coming through, and I tripped and spilled it all over Nick’s front shirt, and he smacks the rest of the outtakes out of my hands and says ‘never talk to me again.’ … Or a mutual friend?” Dunnington said, attempting to piece together the past.
Regardless of the catalyst for their friendship, the trio has an offbeat sense of humor that seamlessly bounces from one to the other. The history behind the title of their show exemplifies this sense of humor. Both Dunnington and Spero are Student Advisors this year. During training, they were told that throughout a day it is important to receive eight good touches, such as handshakes, high fives, hugs, etc.
“We thought it was good advice … but it was also hilarious,” Spero said.
Good Touches’ structure is also one that embodies their quirkiness.
“Each week we pick a theme that’s a little wacky. We’ve had themes like ‘Songs to Rollerblade Naked To’ and ‘Songs to Listen to on Sherman’s March to the Sea,’” Spero said.
Usually, their theme is not decided upon until Sunday night. Every week, after they come up with a theme for the program, they convene right before their show to decide which songs to play and how to organize them throughout the segment.
This past week, the group’s special Halloween theme was “Spooky Touches.” The show was a potpourri of musical genres, from electronic to classical, and banter among the hosts. Working with their theme, the DJs discussed possible costume ideas for the Halloween weekend, such as a drunken ghost.
Although there have been no interviews on-air, their show was inspired by Daniel Kisslinger’s ’14 show, “Erasing Boundaries,” which is known for interesting interviews with musicians, often very popular ones.
“Our show is nothing like it … but we still thought it was really cool,” Dunnington said.
Despite having only started the show this semester, the broad and silly themes have allowed the hosts to play a very diverse selection of music, including, in one case, a capella owl noises. They have not, however, fully mastered KDIC’s technology.
“Once someone tried to call us while on the air and we had no idea how to answer it. I’m pretty sure we were saying ‘Hello? Hello?’ for a long time,” Matesanz said.
Excepting a few minor setbacks, the three have had a successful past few shows and are planning to keep their show running next semester.
“In the end, it’s all about the music and the goofs,” Dunnington said.
