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| About
Andy...
Thought to be from another planet by some, Andy was actually born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on the 6th of August, 19.. Living on the outskirts of the city, there wasn't a lot that he had in common with Japan. That was until Takeshi, an exchange student from Yokohama, taught him great Japanese words like baka and chimpo. This is where his first interest in Japan was sparked way back in 1987. Learning from a Berlitz phrase book more useful vocabulary, Andy gradually taught himself the basics of Japanese, and vowed to get out of his porter job at a Melbourne hotel and come to Japan. His first trip was in 1990 when he got the chance to go to work with other young Australians at the Osaka Flower and Greenery Expo. He found the whole thing a blast and declared that Japan was where he was at. Going back home, the thought of university was entertained, but soon overcome with the desire to go back to Japan. A brief organised working holiday programme by a group called WEP (who he hopes went bankrupt as they deserved) proved disasterous and ended only two months later. Eventually getting into Monash University in 1993, he studied Japanese and Japanese Studies, and in third year became president of the Japanese Club. But, in 1995, Andy got a scholarship to study at Chiba University. So, back to Japan it was. After a year there, he finished his Honours thesis on return to Australia. During this time, he joined a group of fools on the university radio station for a show run by the Japanese Club. Finishing university in November 1996, he decided to apply for the JET Programme. During the long wait for that application, he worked as a tour guide at JTB in Melbourne. In July 1997, he was sent to Okayama as a CIR (a 'Coordinator of International Relations', which does not involve dodgy arranged marriages...), and has been there since, working at the Okayama International Center. He got himself onto Radio Momo only after three months in Okayama, first for 15 minutes on a corner called 'What are you on about?', but changed the name to 'Son of a Peach' soon after being joined by friend Dan in late 1997. The programme of the same name was born in July of the next year.
Okayama doesn't offer much in the way of waves (bodyboarding is his hobby),
but good enough to keep him here at least until the summer of 2000. After
that, who knows... but he hopes that 'Son of a Peach' keeps going after
that!
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| About
Dan...
Dan Woolpert sprang from his peach in Palo Alto, California in December of 1973. He became interested in music around the same time an optional school trip in the Spring of 1988 to Japan sparked his interest in the language and culture. He was playing so much air guitar at the time that he thought he should just start playing the real thing! He lived and breathed heavy metal for many years afterwards, while a year at a Kanagawa high school (6/89-6/90) and another at Okayama University (10/94-9/95) kept his interest in Japan high. During his junior year at Okayama University he got infected with the ‘Momotaro bug’, making him want to return to Okayama after finishing his studies at OU, while at the same time he finally became enlightened enough to see what other forms of music had to offer. These days, he’s open to listen to just about anything aside from country or gangsta rap. He came back to Okayama to teach English for 6 months in the first half of 1996, where he got introduced to Desperado and started DJ-ing there shortly thereafter. After returning to the US to finish college, he got accepted to come back to Okayama yet again on the JET Program. It was then that he heard about a new local radio station called Radio Momo. When he read in that Pulitzer Prize-winning publication known as the ‘Insider’ that the esteemed author was looking for a partner to join him on ‘What are you on about?’ he decided to take a shot at it. The Japanese announcers there, for reasons still under investigation by the authorities, seemed to like his jokes and asked that he join Andy every week for that corner. Never one to turn down a great offer, Dan accepted and shortly afterwards started planning with Andy their own show. In April of ’98 they received approval for the show, and‘Son of a Peach’was born in July of the same year.
These days, Dan enjoys every minute of‘Son of a Peach, and
wants it to be the biggest, baddest, most Peachy show on Radio Momo. He can
also be found DJ-ing at Desperado and Club Jam while helping out the
Japanese economy by consuming fair amounts of the domestic brews here.
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