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SOMETIMES peer pressure is a good thing.
For FilAm disc jockey John Banaag if it weren’t for a friend pestering him to join a local radio station contest, he wouldn’t be in the situation that he is in now.
The 32-year-old Banaag better known as DJ John Magic is the Number 1 radio on-air personality and DJ in Central California. Since joining Clear Channel KBOS 94.9 (B95) three years ago, Banaag’s Night Show has dominated the 7 pm to 11 pm airwaves.
His energetic, fun-loving personality and enthusiastic, party style are a hit to the number of college and high school students in the area.
Aside from being a successful on-air personality, he’s in his fourth year as the official touring DJ for Hot Import Nights, the largest touring automotive lifestyle event that attracts thousands of event goers nationwide. And he flies across the country to DJ the hottest parties all over the nation. His calendar for this month alone is packed with gigs across California.
But Banaag admits he wouldn’t be where he is in now if it weren’t for a friend’s persuasiveness.
"I’d probably be either finishing college to become a teacher or doing magic tricks at a local restaurant," he said.
Lofty Ambitions
Born in Manila, Philippines, Banaag’s family immigrated to the United States when he was six years old.
Growing up in Rialto, about 50 miles east of Los Angeles, Banaag remembers being drawn to the radio at an early age.
"I don’t know what it was [about the radio]," he said. "I would sometimes sit at home and listen and imitate my favorite radio personalities. Sometimes I’d play along and talk during the breaks or before the song was introduced."
A cousin fed in to his love by buying him a small transistor radio from Radio Shack and every Sunday the two would produce their own show.
"The radio would only reach like a mile but it was fun," he said.
But Banaag said what really reinforced his decision to pursue a career in radio was listening to legendary DJ’s Icey Ice and Eman, Fil-Am’s who performed at such high levels in their professions during the early and mid-1990 in LA and have influenced a generation of Filipinos to DJ.
"That’s one of the biggest reasons why I wanted to do radio," he said. "Honestly, because they were Filipino. When they would DJ on the radio, it just made you feel proud and I was like, ‘I want to be that too.’ They were good. They were the big names back then."
He knew then that pursuing a career in radio would be his chosen path but lack of self-confidence and parental pressures forced him to consider other alternatives.
"You know how it is, my parents thought [a career in radio] was just a game or a hobby," he said.
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