Our high school Young Authors Contest winner for this issue is Lea Pereira, a secondary I student at Laval Junior High School. Lea had the opportunity to sit down with Shaun McMahon, radio show host at The Beat 92.5 for a one-on-one interview.

Q; Is there anyone significant in your life that sparked your interest in being a DJ?
A; Well, that's a really good question. You know what? It started earlier than that because I never thought that I was going to go into music radio. That was something that kinda fell on my lap a little bit later in my career. I actually started off as a sports journalist and it was probably Dick Irvin, one of the greatest sports broadcasters of all time [that sparked my interest]. I still remember lying on the floor of my parent’s room, watching hockey with my dad and hearing his voice. It was something about his voice that really spoke to me and I thought, “I have to do this, I need to be in that environment.” It was people of that generation that really inspired me. Dick was the best.

Q; Although now you seem comfortable on the radio, were you nervous at first?
A; I was never a nervous person, although what's important to point out is that if you don't have any nerves, that's a bad sign. Nerves are a good thing, whether you’re doing TV, whether you’re doing radio, whether you’re doing an interview live in-person with somebody…nerves keep you on your toes. That adrenaline is really, really important. Even sixteen or seventeen years later in this business, I still always get a little dose of adrenaline right before I go on the air. In some cases that might be nerves, in other cases maybe it's just adrenaline, but everybody has a little bit and I think that's a good thing

Q; You talk a lot about sports. Did you play sports as a kid?
A; [laughs] I played, though I don't know if I was any good. I played a little bit of hockey when I was really young. My dad was a hockey coach and I hated it, I really did. I played some tennis growing up and I really, really enjoyed that and I played floor hockey at Holy Family Parish during my teenage years, which taught me a lot about maturity and friendship, but I never really got to the point of playing a ton of organized sports; mostly just recreationally on and off. What I loved most about it was the environment, being around friends and having a team around me. The thing about sports I appreciate the most is listening to it and watching it, especially because of the people who make it so exciting.

Q; Have you ever made a mistake on air like playing the wrong song someone asked to have played?
A; I was 18 and it was my first ever sports report that I was doing as a young journalist. I was in the news room and I was so ready. Then they threw it to me; “Sports with Shaun McMahon”. I thought oh, this is my big moment! So I went on and I had passion and energy and so much excitement. I thought, this was going very well. People in front of me in the news room were waving at me and gesticulating at me and I thought, “Wow! This is a really supportive team!” When I got off the air I thought, “I am made for this business.” It turns out that I had never turned on my microphone... for two minutes! I went two FULL minutes without being on the air. The thing about mistakes is that it doesn't matter how old you are or how long you've been doing it, you'll always make mistakes. The key is to learn from them. I never made that mistake again!

Q; Have you ever hung up on someone [by accident], like a winner of a contest on air?
A; Yes. In the business that I am in now which is music radio, at a place like The Beat 92.5, we have a LOT of callers. I spent a lot of time as the producer of the morning show and my job was to answer those phone calls. With all those people who are trying to win [contests], and sometimes all those lines are flashing, and you get a winner, you go to get a piece of paper, hit the line and accidentally hang up on the wrong person. Luckily people are very quick to call back. The thing is, it moves so fast, you have to pay really, really close attention. Understand that you make mistakes and try to learn from them because those things will inevitably happen.

Q; How many years did you do traffic reports?
A; I’ve done radio for about 16 years. The first 8 were in AM radio and the last 8 have been in FM radio. I spent most of those AM years doing sports, but the thing is, everybody does everything, especially in this business. It’s important to learn as many skills as you can, so I did traffic on and off over the first decade of my career.

Q; What was the most intense traffic report you've ever made?
A; A truck carrying pigs spilled over on the Decarie expressway and that's a story you don't think you’re going to tell when you wake up in the morning. You wake up, take your shower, get a cup of coffee, then tell people there are pigs on the Decarie! It's interesting to be involved in that side of the business because there's always something happening. Also, the first snow storm of the season is the most interesting of the year because people forget how to drive.

Q; Do you prepare what you will say before you go on air?
A; That's probably the question I get asked the most. To be really vague, yes and no. Here's the thing; a lot people think everything we do is scripted. It’s not scripted, but you need to be really prepared. Let's say I'm doing my show, and we're talking about a contest. It's so important for the information to be accurate. You do need to have a certain level of scripting to make sure that the really important details of something are right. Outside of that, it’s much less about writing it out and so much more about being prepared for what you are going to say. Time is short, you need to be entertaining, engaging, and have lots of energy. The important thing is knowing where you’re going with your thoughts. How am I going to start? What's the middle? How am I getting out of this? You want to be prepared before you turn on the microphone. If you don't do that, you’re dead in the water. So you need to be prepared. That's super, super important.

Q; When you were younger did you want to be a radio DJ/reporter?
A; Yes. There was a time when I wanted to be an architect. That clearly didn't pan out [laughs]. It's funny because I asked my son who's 4 years old what he wanted to be when he gets older and he said he wanted to be a snake! My point is, when you’re young, you don't quite know what you want to do with your life. I think I was that way too when I was really young. When I got to high school, I started to find my love for radio. Like I said, I remember listening with my dad and listening to my clock radio under my covers in bed. I loved hearing people speak and listening to stories, calling and just interacting with the DJ. So by about 13 or 14 years old I started to know that this is what I wanted to do. I started doing public speaking competitions, debate club, story telling, etc. I would be in the school variety show, anything to try to learn to be that person.

Q; Have you ever done reporting in other places outside of the Montreal area?
A; I’m the first person to admit that I'm very, very lucky. It's not very common to be doing a job this long, especially with the same company the whole time that I've been in radio in Montreal, other than a couple of years as an intern at another station. I’m so proud of that because this is where I was born. This is my city. I’m fortunate that I didn't have to move to Manitoba, New Brunswick, BC or other places where a lot of my friends who've studied journalism with me all had to move to, in order to get their start. I was lucky that a radio station opened up in Montreal at that time in my life. That doesn't happen every day! The stars aligned, I found a spot, and I've held on to it. I think hard work pays off but sometimes you’ve got to have a little bit of luck. It's nice to have held onto this job in the city that I love!

Q; Can you tell me about some of the charity work you do?
A; Charity work is something that I've really grown to appreciate. I care very deeply about Laval, Montreal, and the people around me. As people get to know you a little bit more, luckily, the opportunities come to you and people ask you to help out. While it’s impossible to say yes to everything, I try to do as much as I can. Lately, I've been working a lot with the Lakeshore General Hospital Foundation. They're the main driving force when it comes to fundraising for the Lakeshore General Hospital, which is on the West Island of Montreal.
Now, I may not be from the West Island but that's where my kids were born. Even though I have a strong attachment to Laval, that hospital provided such incredible care for my wife and both of my children. My kids are still so young, I remember it like it was yesterday. Shortly after my son was born in 2012, the Foundation was nice enough to reach out to me and I quickly accepted an invitation to get involved. We've worked together a lot during the past 4-5 years and have raised a lot of money. Community hospitals need as much help as they can get. In my case, it’s been a true pleasure to lend a hand, either as event emcee or committee member.

Q; Why is it important for you to do charity work?
A; It's about connecting to people in the community. In 2016, while I was doing that charity work, I was lucky enough to meet a man who had actually died. The hospital brought him back. I got really emotional on stage talking to this man because it makes you realize that while everybody likes to go to a fancy party and have a nice steak dinner and watch a band, at the root of it all, when you start organizing an event 10 months before, you never think that later that year, you’ll be sitting face to face with a man who lost his life and came back. The type of care everyone works so hard to fundraise for, is what allowed him to get his life back, literally.
So when you sit back and you think of all the work, the late meetings, the logistics, what are we going to do for music, and how are we going to decorate that hall for this event, real people get affected by that. It is special when you can connect not just with a community, but with individuals. That man is someone that I've kept in touch with to this day. It's nice to just be part of those daily lives and try to affect people positively. It's really, really important to me.

Q; I know you went to VMC high school. Were you a good English student?
A; I was, I loved English. Vincent Massey Collegiate always had a great staff, a wonderful staff. The English teachers were always very, very inspiring. Like I said earlier, I did public speaking and the English teachers were always the ones that gave you that extra pat on the back. I got that level of encouragement that I needed, to know that I was going in the right direction. They'd say, “You know what? That was really good. You might actually go somewhere with this.” That encouragement was a big part of my development.

Q; You hear a lot of songs, which one is your favorite?
A; I work in Top 40 radio but I love a lot of music. Everything from hip hop to metal to hard rock. I work in an environment that plays Top 40 pop songs. People ask me, “Do you really like what you play?” I honestly do because nowadays the music is really good. It's a great time for pop music. “Can't Stop the Feeling” by Justin Timberlake is my favourite song of the last few years. Every time I start to talk over it, it just makes me feel good and if I feel that way when I'm playing that song, I'm hoping you’re feeling that way when you’re hearing the song. There are so many others I love, but that’s got to be the one that sticks out in recent memory.
Aerosmith is my favourite band of all time. Their song, “Living on the Edge” is probably my favourite song that I have yet to play on the radio. I still remember seeing them LIVE when I was younger. I had their CDs, and seeing them LIVE was just an amazing moment for me!

Q; What was your first job?
A; It was 1998. I worked at the Paramount Theatre in Montreal (now the Scotia Bank Theatre). I was cleaning up popcorn, mopping up bathrooms, and working the box office. I had also just started studying at Dawson College and while I was there, I met somebody who led me into radio. I interned in a promotions department at another radio station for about two and a half years. It was unpaid but it was really fun. I learned a lot. That eventually led to my first paying job in radio as a sports reporter at 940News and the rest is history.

Q; Do you know any other languages?
A; I am fluently bilingual (English and French). I wish that my Italian was better. My mom is from Italy. Truth be told, I spoke better as a young child because I was around my grandparents a lot more. They didn't really speak English, so I spoke enough Italian to get by. Nowadays, I can understand Italian and read it, but I am not as fluent as I'd like to be. I still like to consider myself a trilingual Montrealer.

Q; Who is your favorite Canadiens hockey player? Who is your favorite all-time player?
A; Patrick Roy, hands down. When I watched those games when I was younger and he got traded, I thought that my life was over. My all-time favourite player is a toss-up between Roy and Mario Lemieux. He played his junior career in Laval which is interesting. What was amazing is that I grew up idolizing him. I thought he was the most talented hockey player of all time. He also battled cancer and he came back. His story as a person is just as remarkable as his hockey career.
The great turning point of all of that was when I did sports radio in my early 20's and there was an international hockey game at the Bell Centre, and I can still remember being in the locker room afterwards, walking up to and looking up at Mario Lemieux, all 6-foot-4 inches of him. I never thought that there would be a day that I would be watching this man play hockey and years later, have a microphone under his nose, asking him what was probably a horrible question!

Q; Has anyone ever confused you with the wrestler Shane McMahon?
A; My full name is Shaun Michael McMahon, so I've had "Hey Shaun Michaels" or "Hey Shane McMahon", who is the son of Vince McMahon. So yeah, I get that a lot. For the record, there's no relation!

Q; What classes did you have to take to become a professional radio DJ?
A; There’s no traditional way to go about this. I studied Creative Arts, and most of that was learning sound and studying film. When I went to Concordia University, I got into the Joint Specialization of Journalism and Communications. That is just a fancy way of saying that you get to do a little bit of both. I thought Communications was interesting, but it wasn't for me. At that point, I knew what I wanted, and that wasn't what I wanted or needed.
Journalism was great because it had a lot of the programs and a lot of the teachers that were really close to what I wanted to do. Taking classes like Introduction to Radio would teach you how to write a story for radio. They'd say what was happening in detail and we would take those details and write a story. That's when you realize how technical it is and how good you might be at it. I was also a teaching assistant for a couple of years in the Advanced Radio course which I really enjoyed.

Q; What was your favourite concert you've been to?
A; I love music, but I don't get to go to concerts that often. You'd think that somebody who worked in radio would go to a lot of concerts! I have kids, so my social life is a little slower than it used to be. [laughs] It’s funny, as a young person, you see concerts in a different way because you're not used to the sound and size of the arena but since I so vividly remember it, my favorite show was Aerosmith in 1994 at the Forum. Now that I'm older, watching someone like Ed Sheeran just last year, by himself on stage for two hours without a band or background vocals really blew me away too. Those are probably the two that I've enjoyed the most.

Q; What's your favourite restaurant?
A; Anywhere my mom is cooking! She’s the best chef I know. I just want to be wherever she's making food—all that traditional Italian stuff that was passed on from my Nonna. That's the best.

Speed Round Questions!

Q; BBQ or skiing?
A; BBQ

Q; Chicken or kale?
A; Chicken

Q; Dog or cat?
A; Dog

Q; Hockey or soccer?
A; Soccer

Q; Country or heavy metal music?
A; Heavy metal

Q; Strawberries or chips?
A; Chips

Q; Home-cooked or restaurant?
A; Home-cooked