How it all started

Chino has that cool personality packed with a lot of knowledge on the things that he seems passionate about, which definitely translates on air. But how did his Monster Jock journey happen? Chino is one of the recent additions to the roster of Monster Jocks, starting out around September 2019. It wasn't until early last year when we got to hear Chino in the afternoons on the airwaves, after being in The Morning After (or the graveyard shift, as they say) for quite some time! It was simple for Chino; he was advised by a previous Monster Jock about an opening at the station and was recommended to try out as he seemed perfect for the job. He was given a closed audition after being down to try. 2 days of auditioning and 2 months after, the rest is history!  

The Morning After experience

The Morning After show, which happens every 2-6 AM, is basically where all the new jocks start out. Chino was the latest jock to host the show before it was indefinitely put on hiatus during the pandemic. What was his TMA experience like? "I pretty much learned trial by fire," he said. "They just threw me in there and said 'Hey, this is what you have to do.' and pretty much taught myself." 

His experience on The Morning After made Chino become more confident as a new jock since it was just him on the show. "It allowed me to make mistakes on my own and I didn't really have to worry about maybe the bosses or the other DJs or anyone in the office really hearing about it so it kinda gave me that confidence where I could try different things.." Chino is also a night owl so working on wee hours wasn't really a problem for him, and even made him thrive at that.

Other than what it was like working for TMA, Chino also recalled the funny moments with the other jocks. He did keep mum about it, giving the idea that these moments may be too much for the Monsters to handle but he did mention some of these funny moments that happened involving Nikki and Markki. We guess whatever happens inside the RX booth, stays in the RX booth! "It was an experience working in The Morning After. I'm like 'Wow this is, you know, my coworkers! I'm not that close with you guys yet but there's a lot of stuff going on here.' I thought that was pretty fun." Safe to say, Chino had a great experience on the show!

Working with the Monster Jocks

Like the rest of the Monster Jocks, Chino had his fair share of radio partners on different shows. Prior to his 8-month stint on The Morning After, Chino boarded for a bit with MJ on Wild x Wicked for a quick on-air test. It was just last year, when the pandemic started, where Chino was officially partnered up with another jock. He was first put on The Daily Survey with JC for 2 weeks before being with his first actual on-air partner, Nikki for Good Vibes and recently, Karla on some days as well.

When Chino started out, DJ Tom was one of the jocks who really helped and trained Chino along the way. He would also take in some notes when The Morning Rush would go on-air and listen to how they would sound like, after his shift on The Morning After. Chino also gives props to his current partner, Nikki as she would also give him some pointers back when Chino was still relatively shy. 

It was refreshing to hear Chino grow to be the jock who he is today and it's all because of his co-workers who helped him pave his path!

Adjustments on the recent changes

"It was pretty easy. I'm a homebody, in general so staying at home wasn't that much of a difference." Chino said about the new normal setup at RX where they would partly board from home and at the station. The only difference for him was coming in the afternoons instead of late at night and having an on-air partner. "Working with somebody and working with somebody remotely was also probably the biggest challenge, trying to figure out your verbal cues and how you guys mesh together. And you have to pick that up and learn from that." Regardless of how challenging this was for Chino, we can see how his and Nikki's dynamic works well on their show as they both bring a lot of good vibes (no pun intended!) on air. Even if they're arguing over their segment polls, it's fun to listen to both of them really. It makes their partnership the best it can be! 

Having a lot of fun as a Monster Jock

Chino loves his job! It's the way he can play good music while working and also being around the other Monster Jocks that makes his job worth it. Plus he gets a lot of free gifts from the other jocks like when Nikki would always give him stuff, Karla gives him treats and even JC got him slippers! "It's a really great environment to work in. When you like your job, it's easy." We can see how much Chino loves working on the Monster, seeing him grow both on his own and with the help of his co-workers make him come out of his shell and bring so much more on air!

There's certainly more to look forward to and learn from Chino as he'll never stop sharing more of his passion and who he is on the Monster! Don't miss out on this cool, laidback dude by catching him on Good Vibes and Soundtrip! Check out Chino's jock profile here.