Summary: Welcome to episode 13 of the Wonder Junkie Podcast featuring Johnny Doom from Kerrang! Radio. It’s safe to say that if I hadn’t have met Johnny, I probably wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today. Back in 2009, I hosted my own radio show “Metalheadz” on Calon FM and was lucky enough to attend Download Festival with a media pass where I got to interview bands and bug as many people in the music industry as possible for a job. Luckily, Johnny didn’t get too annoyed by my bugging and gave me a foot onto the ladder into Q and Kerrang! Radio and it all progressed from there. So there was a lot to catch up on as I hadn’t seen Johnny since Download Festival (this year) but I wanted to get the back story on Johnny as there’s a whole heap of stories I’ve heard over the years that I’d imagine have never made it to the airwaves… Johnny explained how came upon the name “Johnny Doom” through the band Doom, who John Peel was a great champion of. He also clarified whether or not the Doom logo was ripped off by the now famous game / movie. As with most careers in the music industry, Johnny’s is full of ups and downs and he talked about how he worked as a production runner in the 90’s after departing Doom, driving Slayer to McDonald's and delivering KFC to Amy Winehouse… never doubt the glamor of the music industry. Amazingly, after twelve years Johnny is still with Kerrang! Radio today, he currently presents evenings Mon-Fri 7-10pm and talked about how Kerrang! Radio got started, how he got involved with the station, reaching 1.4 million listeners and where the station is at now. Outside of radio, Johnny has recently delved into the world of TV with his new now show AMP’d on Big Centre TV, so we talked about that and how he finds being a radio presenter on TV. If you follow Johnny on social, you’ve probably had that “I’m not sure if he’s being serious or not” moment and Johnny happily, admits he’s a massive troll but is trying to not get too sucked into the world of social. But in those moments where Johnny is being serious, you can tell it’s sincere as we talked about him growing up in the Thatcher years, the polarization of politics, how Jeremy Corbyn has refreshed politics and if he would ever consider properly getting involved in politics. We also spoke about how fatherhood has changed his life and his outlook on the world, why he still loves Birmingham and thought’s on Phil Anselmo's white power outburst. Johnny is, without a doubt, one of the most down to earth guys you’ll meet in the music industry, I’ve always found that refreshing as you find yourself dealing with people’s egos. He might take the piss out of you on social, but he’d be the first person you’d wanna have a beer with down the pub or at a gig. I hope he gets another twelve years on Kerrang! Radio as we need people who don’t take themselves too seriously on air and I’m sure this won’t be our only chat in the years to come.
