Most entertainers Are skilled at what they do. Rendy Rustam Is multi-talented, working as an MC, Magazine Contributor, Winner of Claser VJ goes to New York, Radio dj, and self-proclaimed social media freak. he’s even been to the Maldives and back as an International Radio DJ. Beatmag pulled up a chair for a chat with rendy.
Tell us how you charge yourself up with inspiration on the daily.
Normally, I draw inspiration from many sources. As an MC, I read books by great presenters, like Larry King, Charles Bonar Sirait, and Oprah, and watch TV shows, paying attention to the hosts’ performances. I like Ryan Seacrest, Choky Sitohang, and Indy Barends. As a radio personality I normally read blogs, magazines, and watch music channels. It improves my knowledge of the latest songs, singers, and entertainment news so I can deliver information perfectly while I’m on air and in my blog (www.rendyrustam.tumblr.com Twitter timeline, (@RendyRustam), and magazine.
Every MC always has their own favorite microphone set up. Tell us yours.
Actually, I don’t have any special microphone while I’m on stage. Normally, the event organizer has prepared a good microphone so I don’t need to bring my own. But in case I need a special microphone, I have my own. I use a Shure Sm series dynamic church microphone.
How do you handle a difficult crowd?
Different events have different crowds. For instance, when I MC for government officials I speak and dress in a formal way and get straight to the point, according to the run down. But when the crowd is young, of course I speak and dress casually and throw in some jokes & slang so my crowd feels comfortable with my performance.
Tell me about your experience as international radio DJ in the Maldives?
Wow, I loved that! It was my first experience working with western announcers. When I was there, I had an Australian announcer as my partner and we did a prime-time show in the morning. We had to be one soul (Tick Tock) while we were on air, so I had to maintain my partner’s mood and try to understand his jokes. Indonesian jokes are mostly different from Western jokes (laughs). And as a result of that precious experience, the way I think about life is broader and more open-minded. I also got to explore the country, which has beautiful islands and beaches. The most important thing was that international experience is good for my CV.
On radio shows as the announcer, are you the type of person that sticks to a script, or do you loosen up with improvisations?
No, I don’t stick with the script. Improvisation is a must for my show because I have my own on-air character. So when people listen to Hard Rock Radio, hopefully they will know me from the information I gave and the way I speak without even hearing my name. It’s hard, but I keep working on improving my radio personality.
What’s the most interesting thing about being a radio personality for you?
Interviews are the most interesting thing for me because one of my ambitions is to have my own talk show on TV. When I’m interviewing people, I’m challenged to come up with quality questions, make the interview interesting, and make listeners stick with the show and interact with us. I’ve interviewed a lot of international acts (Hoobastank, Café Del Mar, Eric Bennet, Arrested Development, American Idol Keith Martin, HURTS, Ron Kingston, Neon Trees, The Click Five, Angels and Airwaves, Tiesto, DJ Tsuyosi, etc.), and local singers (Peterpan, Slank, Padi, Ada Band, Shanty, Rossa, Changcuters, Ahmad Albar, RATU, Yovie and Nuno, Tangga, Indonesian Idols, SHE, Marcell, Sandy Sondoro, etc.), and Indonesian celebrities. All of them have different moods and personalities, so I have to get close and personal with them.
How about your Claser VJ? Can you tell me more about it?
It was a fun experience. That was in 2009 and I was chosen from a bunch of contestants nationally. The winners were 2 people. The male winner was from Bali (me), and the female winner from Jakarta (Santri Handayani). For the audition, I sent them a video and didn’t come to Jakarta like the other finalists did, and I won. Both of us got contracts and a prize trip to New York.
Since you meet so many different people every day at different occasions, do you have any difficulty remembering names and faces?
Remembering the faces of people that I have met before is easy, but remembering names? It’s such hard work. I always put someone’s name on my “contacts” on my phone complete with their initials and workplace. For instance: Dedi The Beat, Aldi Editor, etc. So when I meet them randomly I search for clues from my contact list to remember their name (laughs).
You keep updating your online social network accounts and such. What’s the mission?
Yeah, it’s true. I love social media and always sharing information (daily activities, music/movie info, current news, trending topics, etc.). Being active on social media networks makes it easy for me to get friends beyond my area. I do FaceBook (www.facebook.com/rendyrustam),Twitter @RendyRustam), Flickr (www.flickr.com/rendy_rustam), vand my blog (www.rendyrustam.tumblr.com). The mission is to promote myself. Sometimes I got clients for MCing from social media as well.
Shoutout to BeatMag
Thank you very much for the interview. I really appreciate it. Keep up the good work, and keep being the best Bali & Jakarta biweekly entertainment gig guide. I want to share some great words too: pain is a beautiful thing. It forces us to stop, let our guard down, and just think. In a sense, it serves as a check, demanding us to reconcile the mortality that we so often abhor.
Interview by Dedi Kristian
http://beatmag.com/bali/features/domestic-fame-rendy-rustam.html