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While most of us are still yawning our way to the office, Kemal Mochtar is already on the air and hard at work at Jakarta’s 98.7 Gen FM. Kemal’s mission is to kick-start your day with his morning show, ‘Semangat Pagi,’ which runs from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Here he tells us what famous song drives him nuts and how he keeps annoying callers at bay.

What time do you usually wake up in the morning?

Well, my alarm starts ringing at 4:30 a.m., but I usually roll out of bed at 5.

How do you manage to be so energetic that early in the morning?

Basically its the passion, and of course the money [laughs].

Do you have a morning ritual?

No, not at all. I simply drink mineral water after I wake up, no coffee or whatever. And because I have to go on air at 6 a.m., I have to have my breakfast after the show.

Have you ever fallen asleep while you were on the air?

Well, I always try to be alert every morning, but yeah, I fell asleep on air once. It happened because I had to tape a TV show the night before. The schedule said that it would be finished by 10 p.m., yet we kept on taping until 3 a.m.. So the next day, I fell asleep and there was dead air for about 30 seconds until the radio operator woke me up.

Recently a ‘slip of the tongue’ caused trouble for one TV presenter. Has anything like that ever happened to you?

Nothing that serious, but just yesterday we got a caller who complained about the Indonesian national football team losing to Oman. He complained about how much money had been spent to send the team to Uruguay to train. After the show, the president of the PSSI [the Indonesian Football Association] called my director. He didn’t say anything harsh, but explained that our caller’s claim was untrue, that the team wasn’t sent to Uruguay but had hired a Uruguayan coach. He asked us to clarify this. So I explained that to my listeners the next day.

Listeners tend to think that your job is simply to ‘yap’ on air. How would you describe your job?

Up until early 2000, talking on air by reading advertisements and filling in between the songs was what radio announcers did. But now the competition is much tighter, so as a radio show host, I have to be creative. Every day after the show, I sit down and discuss the upcoming shows with my producer. We talk about every detail, from sound-effects all the way through to preparing the next day’s callers.

How long have you been a DJ?

Ten years. Wow! A decade! I should write a book [laughs].

How did you get your start?

When I was a college student, I saw a newspaper ad. So some friends and I applied and, after several interviews with senior broadcasters, I was accepted, and now here I am.

Don’t you ever get fed up talking about traffic every day?

Well, on my show we have a reporter who gives traffic reports every two hours, so it’s actually not my job. But yes, in Jakarta it’s pretty much the same every day. But once in a while there’s an accident or some out-of-the-ordinary event, so that keeps it interesting.

Is there any song that you are sick of playing?

If I’m honest, Anang’s song, “Separuh Jiwaku Pergi” [“Half My Soul Has Gone”]. It’s very mellow, which means that it’s not good for a morning show, and it doesn’t create the right mood. But when Anang and Krisdayanti’s marriage problems were in the spotlight the demand for the song was crazy, so we had to play it.

‘Salah Sambung’ (‘Wrong Number’), where you call someone, throw a tantrum and then tell the victim that you dialed the wrong number, is one of the most popular segments on your show. Has it ever created any problems?

Well, yeah, that part of the show is very popular. People know me as Kemal “Salah Sambung,” not Kemal “Semangat Pagi.” I’ve been doing “Salah Sambung” five times a week for two years now and only once has the victim gotten really mad and threatened to report us. But luckily nothing happened after that.

So as a radio star, you must have fans?

Usually radio listeners are young people, but my listeners vary in age and social status. I’ve met primary school students and grannies who listen to the show. When they meet me, they usually take a picture with me and ask about the show.

Any experiences with annoying callers?

Not at all, because I always screen our callers the day before the show.

What do you do when you are not on the air?

“Semangat Pagi” ends at 10 a.m., and after that I discuss the show and prepare for upcoming shows with my producer. After that I go to ANTV to record a music show called “Click,” then I head to Global TV to tape “Boogie Boogie,” a music show for kids. And for the next two months I have to head back to ANTV for a live on-air quiz. After that, I head home, and I always try to be asleep by 10 p.m.