Coming from America

THE LATEST addition to the Morning Crew on hitz fm is Jay R. Smith, an American who's travelled across the world to host the Morning Show every weekday from 6am to 10am, along with Arnold Loh and Ryan De Alwis aka RD.
It all started with an ­advertisement that appeared on a US job site looking for a new ­presenter for the show.
At the time, Smith was ­hosting his own show, called JR in the Morning, on U92 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
He sent in a demo and resume for the hitz fm job, and, after two months of ­communication via Skype, ­arrived in Malaysia in ­November and hit the airwaves in December.
"I wanted to see how it was to do radio abroad," said Smith, adding that famous radio personalities back home in the US such as Howard Stern can't say they did radio outside their own country. "I felt like I should try it."
Back in Utah, he initially hosted his show solo, but later had a co-presenter. Now, on hitz fm, Smith has to contend with two.
Smith spent a couple of weeks hanging out with his new co-hosts before getting on air with them.
"We would be together and share stories, just trying to get to know each other better before the launch," he said.
De Alwis said that some of their listeners were surprised to hear Smith for the first time.
He explained: "He was clearly a ­different voice. But seven months later, it has been all good."
Loh had his own ­worries on how Smith would adapt to local ­radio ­culture.

"There is so much freedom of speech in the US. Here, Jay would say ­something, and we would tell him he can't say that on air," Loh said, ­referring to ­initial ­teething ­problems which were settled very quickly.
He ­added: "It was less about us ­discovering each other than about the ­listeners ­discovering us. That was our main ­objective."
For Smith, starting a new career in Malaysian radio also came with some additional ­challenges.
"What Astro is offering is ­unlike what we have over in the US," he said.

"Over there, we just had to worry about the radio side of things.

"At Astro, we have to worry about the radio side of things and also the digital ­media or social ­media side of things. This ­appeals to me."
Doing funny ­parodies like the presenters often do on hitz fm is ­something Smith has also done on air in the US.
Now, he has to take the extra step of ­posting his ­exploits on social ­media.
"I used to ­complain about the long hours but I am pretty fly right now."
Smith said ­Malaysians have been ­welcoming. "They will say: 'Hey Jay, what's up!' like they have known me ­forever."
As for coming together as a team with his other two co-presenters, Smith said: "It took a couple of months. It was not something that happened overnight.
"If you listened to our show during the first month or so, you could tell I was out of place. [Loh and De Alwis] already had chemistry and I was still trying to figure out their reaction."
On the subject of "culture shock", Smith related a story of what ­happened when the three of them hosted a 24-hour ­broadcast.
Loh and De Alwis took the opportunity to introduce him to some choice Malaysian foods.
"They made me eat chilli and they made me eat durian," Smith said. "I threw up. I have a weak ­stomach and I can't eat pretty much of the things ­offered."
Laughing at the ­memory, Smith said: "I called [Loh] up [after the event ­finished] and he was like: 'Dang, this new guy can't eat ­anything'."
On the bright side, he likes nasi lemak and banana leaf rice.
"In ­Malaysia, there are so many cultures to ­discover. That is what I ­really love about this ­country."