Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Gordon.
Alex, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
In 2008, I was teaching guitar lessons full-time and, as a result, I was talking to a great deal of young people. I was also the father of a three-year-old son. It gradually occurred to me that there wasn’t any radio content that solely featured kids talking. No adults, just kids. Students I taught would complain about having to listen to NPR in the car with their parents and the idea just hit me like a lightning bolt: why not an NPR for kids? Why isn’t there a radio station that had only kids talking and only kids talking about things that kids find interesting? Most kids don’t care about politics, finance, or current affairs so why not create something that they find interesting? It became an all-consuming idea and I immediately started working on it. I originally wanted an entire physical radio station operated and managed by kids. A place where you’d call up to find out about advertising or something and the reception desk was run by a nine-year-old named Dustin who would transfer you to Michelle who was 12 but you got her voicemail because she was at the orthodontist. The whole concept was so intriguing to me and it all stemmed from the premise that kids are complete and valid human beings RIGHT NOW. Not when they turn 18, but NOW. They’re just newer than adults but that shouldn’t invalidate their experience, insight, or contributions. I was on a mission to give them a voice.
Eventually, the radio station concept evolved into a prerecorded internet radio show and I found myself charged with a creativity I had never encountered before. Something woke up inside of me and I found myself writing scripts, songs, and segments for the show at an unprecedented rate. The intensity of the creative process was almost overwhelming and so, it became a marriage of kid empowerment and my own creative vision. It seemed a logical step to call it “Alex Gordon Radio” since I was the creative impetus and underpinning of the whole thing. I approached neighbors, students, and friends with kids and began interviewing as many young people (anyone 18 or younger) as I possibly could. One thing became abundantly clear from jump street and that was the empowering effect the interview process had on these young people.
My wife, Jessica, still claims that this empowerment is the most beautiful aspect of Alex Gordon Radio. These kids would sit down and an adult (me) would be asking them about their life AND this adult was really listening. It was undeniable that I was onto something. Another key element is that I can never talk down to these young people. Never. They are important, valuable, and beautiful people who deserve and demand respect. I consider it an honor to talk with them and to have them share their stories with me. The process of creating Alex Gordon Radio and its recent video variation, Alex Gordon Radio At Home, continues to be a life-affirming, life-changing experience for me. It combines aspects of everything I love: kids, imagination, songwriting, sound editing, production, creative direction, storytelling, fun, laughter. In short, I feel it’s my life’s work to create Alex Gordon Radio and Alex Gordon Radio At Home.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I’d say if there has been a struggle, it’s been building an audience. And in all honesty, the blame for that would fall on me. I’m easily discouraged and the amount of intense, passionate work that goes into creating content like this is daunting, exhilarating, fulfilling, and ultimately exhausting. I love making this show so much and I put everything I’ve got into producing it. So much so in fact, that I often find myself out of gas when it comes time to go promote it. I’ll be completely spent emotionally and spiritually and the thought of taking this rewarding and uplifting creation and getting approval for it just leaves me feeling too vulnerable. I have to be stronger and persevere. I realize now that I have to be extraordinary. I have to dig down and find that courage to push through that vulnerability. I owe it to these kids to let them be heard by more people.
Alex Gordon Radio – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Alex Gordon Radio has now evolved into Alex Gordon Radio At Home which is a YouTube talk show for young people. In light of the pandemic, we’ve decided to remotely conduct online video interviews with young people and then edit those interviews into an Alex Gordon Radio show with a new video format. The show is created together with my son, Everett, who is 15 years old. While sound and musical notions define my comfort zone, Everett is a video editing wiz and so we have come together to create this new video version of the classic podcast. Season One of Alex Gordon Radio At Home has recently been completed. Through this new medium of video, we seek to uplift, empower, and comfort kids with some lighthearted fun and normalcy. We pride ourselves in treating young people as equals and hopefully, we’ve created a playing field at Alex Gordon Radio At Home that is level and inviting. Alex Gordon Radio At Home seeks to furnish a program that will leave everyone smiling and hopefully feeling a little better in these unprecedented times of uncertainty.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Personal success for me would be to wholeheartedly believe in myself and to love myself unconditionally. I am my own biggest detractor and critic and if I could somehow lessen the negative impacts of that critical inner dialog, I would feel tremendously successful. I’m working on it every day but it’s a long road. In turn, if I could somehow impart that belief of loving oneself unconditionally to the young people who experience Alex Gordon Radio, then I would be a wealthy man indeed.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://alexgordonradio.com
- Email: alexgordonradio@gmail.com
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