Spotlight: 8 Questions with Radioman Colfax on the Fox

Colfax On The Fox is a dying breed on the radio. He’s a disc jockey. As in a “get-on-the-mic-make-some-jokes-tell-some-stories-and-play-some-music-while-the-occasional-listener-calls-in-and-asks-for-something-ridiculous-in-between-Skynyrd-and-Zeppelin-tunes” DJ. He’s on Colorado’s FM institution, 103.5 The Fox, home of Lewis and Floorwax, a.k.a. The Masters. He’s a board op in the mornings for them, then he plays records, honest-to-god records on his own mid-day show; he manages the website, hosts remotes and concerts; hell, we think he might even handle human resources there. Here, Colfax takes a five-minute break between classic sets to wax nostalgic about Night Ranger, crazy radio stunts and getting up so damned early in the morning.

French Davis: How long have you been in radio?
Colfax On The Fox: Going on a decade; about three years here at The Fox.

FD: Why the name “Colfax?”
COLFAX: It was given to me by a guy that works in our office. We were in a bar down on Colfax, right by East High School (my alma matter). It was one of those nights where you seem to know everybody in the room. The next day, he told a group of people that I was holding court, telling stupid drinking stories, and he referred to me as “Mr. Fricken Colfax”… it stuck.

FD: Describe a typical day for you.
COLFAX: In the studio by 6am. I hang out with the Lewis and Floorwax show. I run their board, push a lot of buttons, do traffic and laugh at the d**k jokes. At 10, my show starts. I give away concert tickets, play some Skynyrd and try to be clever. At noon, we do Vinyl Lunch—I actually unplug the computer and let the needle hit the grooves for a bit. I’m off the air at 3, and do some work on our website and call it a day.

FD: What’s your stance on Satellite radio? Fad or dangerous foe? Or something else?
COLFAX: Satellite radio is what it is. We both play Pink Floyd songs. I guess the difference is we are free and local. When was the last time your satellite radio DJ talked about the Renaissance Festival in Larkspur or ate breakfast at Pete’s Kitchen?

FD: Who’s the biggest celebrity you’ve met working on The Fox?
COLFAX: It’s super music geeky, but a couple of years ago I sat in an 8-foot-by-8-foot radio production room with one of my bosses, Jack Blades and Brad Gillis of Night Ranger, and we recorded them doing an acoustic version of Sister Christian. I still get all misty thinking about it.

FD: What’s your favorite part about your job?
COLFAX: Getting to go to concerts and hanging out with listeners. Plus, sitting in the big chair, trying to be funny and playing music ain’t a bad way to make a living.

FD: What’s your least favorite?
COLFAX: In the winter, it’s usually dark when I leave the house. If it happened to snow, I have to scrape the windshield, in the dark, in the snow. That’s my least favorite part of my job.

FD: Can you share a couple of your favorite radio anecdotes? A story or two about an encounter with a celeb or crazy fan, etc…?
COLFAX: A couple of years ago we were broadcasting from a concert, and I needed a quiet place to do it, so I did breaks from one of those blue port-o-lets. That microphone still doesn’t smell the same. Last summer some guy crushed his car with a bulldozer for tickets on Lewis and Floorwax. I got to go out and watch/report on it. I just stood there watching this guy mangle his car and kept thinking, how much are these tickets, like 40 bucks? It’s crazy what people will do for tickets.

Catch Colfax on FM 103.5 The Fox [weekdays on the Lewis and Floorwax show,
on his own show from 10am to 3pm and online at thefox.com]