Off The Mic
Doug Bybee
DJ Name: Dojo Doug
Shift: For the Record, Wednesdays at 8-10pm
Major: Journalism – Strategic Communications
Minor: Business
Notable KJHK Contributions: Current Member of Content Staff, took over For The Record last year, worked on Production and Music Staff
Favorite color: Red because it’s bold
Hobbies: Playing keyboard, drums, and guitar, recording music, biking
Favorite artist: Velvet Underground
Editor’s Note:
Off The Mic will no longer be done exclusively by Ethan Graham. Off The Mic will now be conducted, in rotation, with Content Staff writers Ellie Fehlig, Flammy Huo, and Ethan Graham. This is Ellie’s first contribution.
Ellie Fehlig: What was the first album you bought?
Doug Bybee: It was “Queen’s Greatest Hits,” and it was a dollar.
EF: So you were a big classic rock fan back in the day?
DB: Yeah, I grew up listening to 101 The Fox, which is Kansas City’s Classic Rock Station.
EF: Who or what got you interested in the type of music that you listen to?
DB: Most of it came from my dad listening to classic rock radio in the car. Then when I turned 16, I would start to drive up to KC to go to this record store called Zebedee’s RPM and the manager at the time was this guy named Miles. He introduced me to a bunch of stuff, and was largely responsible for what I listen to. Then I joined KJ and got into modern music, Indie and all that. KJ’s probably been the largest influence out of everything because I listened to a bit and then I joined KJ and it just got so much bigger.
EF: What would you say is a song that describes you as a person or explains what you’re like?
DB: Tough question. I’m going to go Tame Impala with “Solitude is Bliss.” I like that one a lot. It speaks to me. I like my alone time.
EF: I can understand that. I hear you have a pretty impressive record collection. Is this true?
DB: Yeah, it’s a little bit oversized.
EF: How did you get it?
DB: My parents own an antique store and so I’ve always been around a lot of old stuff. Then I got into records, happened to buy that Queen record, it went from there; six years later, I have like 600 records.
EF: 600? Wow.
DB: Oh yeah. I was actually going to buy one today, then I didn’t.
EF: What does the collection mostly consist of? What genre?
DB: For a while I had a lot of what I would call “dad rock,” classic rock stuff. But now it’s probably a pretty even balance between new releases, like Indie stuff. I’ve sparsed out my old classic rock and I also have quite a bit of soul and funk, which I really like on records, with my favorite being Al Green.
EF: Okay, so non-music related questions…What is your favorite ’80s movie and why?
DB: I’m really partial to “Ferris Bueller.” However, I think my favorite is “Blade Runner,“ which I opened with. “Ferris Bueller” is my favorite (John) Hughes movie and as for “Blade Runner,” I’ve always really liked the whole cyber-punk thing that’s going on. Harrison Ford is probably one of my favorite actors and I like Ridley Scott, who directed it. So it’s got a lot of things going for it.
EF: Another movie question… Who would play you in a movie version of your life?
DB: Topher Grace. He’s my actor spirit animal. We look a lot alike and I’ve always drawn a lot of comparisons to Eric Forman. I would get a young Topher Grace.
EF: Do you read? If so, what is your favorite book?
DB: I do read and my favorite book is One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey.
EF: Why did you choose KU?
DB: Initially I applied to only three schools. I was going to go to either Mizzou, here, or Missouri S&T because I was originally majoring in engineering. Then I came here for my visit and was like, “Damn, Lawrence is awesome.” I liked KU a lot. That was pretty much it. I was just like, “This is the one.” I just kind of knew it. It’s worked out really well so far. I switched out of Engineering and into Journalism and joined KJ my freshman year, which was the best move I’ve ever done.