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GO Getters: GRRRRR

Photo Kevin O'Riley

Josh Evans (left) and Adam Hammons. They look trustworthy to us...

Josh Evans, 22, and Adam Hammons, 19, host On-Air With Josh and Adam on The Growl, Missouri State University’s student-run web radio station (“E-Radio With a Byte”). You can listen in at thegrowl.missouristate.edu. They don’t get paid—actually, they pay $50 each per year to fund their Wednesday, 9 to 11 p.m. airtime—but they don’t care, even going out of their way to book actual guests. Interested, we pulled a little bit of air time with the guys.

What is your show all about?
JE: Ours is Top 40, but there’s a rock show, and a techno show, and a variety show. There’s a show called Middle School Misfits run by our sponsor’s eighth-grade son. We started our show last semester.

Walk me though an episode of On-Air…
JE: We have Ted Keller call in almost every single week, have special guests on every single show. The show’s so big and double booked right now, that we’re just really packed. We had like 12 people in that studio the other night. We’ve had Yakov Smirnoff, the Duttons…

Who else?
AH: We had Jason Yaeger from American Idol.
JE: Luke Menard. In the next few weeks we're going to get the Liverpool Legends, and we're working on getting Larry the Cable Guy when he come [to JQH] in May.

So what do you guys want to do with this?
AH: I want to go the sports route. I dream of opening up a sports bar, but that’ll be after I do the radio stuff.
JE: I really look up to Ryan Seacrest, he’s like my idol. I want to do what he does.

I hear J. Fotsch is a Growl alumni…
JE: I met Fotsch. He’s awesome.

Don’t you know it’s dangerous to have a guy like Fotsch as a role model?
JE: Yes, I do. He’s a character, but he’s awesome… He’s probably one of the coolest guys I ever met.

Since you’re not over the airwaves, do you have to follow the rules others do, language wise?
AH: We’re self-policing... If someone curses, it’ll get brought up in meeting and you have to pay $5 into this jar.

Do you ever have guests get rowdy?
JE: Sometimes people want to bring beer on the show, but I don’t think security would be very down with that.
AH: Yeah, that’s not very good.

If you could have one person on the show, who would it be?
AH: Albert Pujols.
JE: Brad Pitt. My mom and uncle went to school with him, so I met him once. My mom actually dated Brad Pitt, but he cheated on her. Brad Pitt’s an awesome guy, though.

Who is your average listener?
AH: Teens and young adults, college students. We have really loyal listeners who just make it [part of their night]. They'll be sitting there doing homework and turn on The Growl.
JE: We've had some people from New York City call in, from Alabama, Massachusetts, guys from Florida. It streams, so anyone in the world can listen.