On the Scene with Bart DaSilva

Bart DaSilva grew up in Honolulu listening to the radio and imagining himself on the air. Opportunity knocked when he was the winning caller of a KPOI 98 Rock contest and the “jock” on-air — rock radio legend Lan Roberts — invited him to visit the studio.

That visit was the first step into a full-time career that included working with Top 40 radio pioneer Ron Jacobs in Hawaii and then going to California for eight years on-air there.

In 1997, DaSilva returned to Hawaii at Jacobs’ invitation to work with Tom “Uncle Tom” Moffatt in creating a new radio station, 107.9 Oldies. The station has morphed through three different owners since 1997 and now has a “classic hits” format of music from the 1970s and ’80s.

The current owner, Salem Media of Hawaii, has DaSilva, 58, wearing multiple hats as a disc jockey, media strategist/account executive, copywriter and voice-over talent for the company’s six radio stations.

He’s heard weekday afternoons on 107.9 Kool Gold and hosts Kool Gold’s tribute to Moffatt, “Uncle Tom’s Rock & Roll Drive-In,” on Saturday mornings.

JOHN BERGER: How do you see the challenge of keeping Tom’s show alive on Saturdays?

BART DASILVA: First, he is irreplaceable. He was a friend and a mentor I was privileged to work with for 19 years.

Saturday is fun time for me. It’s a little more free-form (than weekdays), I can play music I kinda like, and I can play what the listeners want to hear. It’s labor-intensive, but it’s a labor of love and I enjoy it.

JB: What do you like to do outside of radio?

BD: I love spending time with my family. My daughters are growing older very quickly, and the time I have at home is time to be with family, my pets and my music. I’m a music fiend. I have a vast record collection.

JB: How vast is it?

BD: About 20,000 vinyl albums and it keeps growing. I love the vinyl format and vinyl has made a resurgence.

JB: Do you listen to the radio when you’re not working?

BD: Believe it or not, I listen to KTUH because it is so unlike corporate radio. You never know what you’re gonna get.

JB: What do you see in the future for radio?

BD: The landscape is changing, for sure, but as long as radio continues to be local, and as immediate as it can be, there’ll always be a need to have someone who can give the latest traffic and news. I think the goal of radio should be to keep cultivating a personal relationship with the listener.

JB: Trivia fans know that you and former President Barack Obama are both members of Punahou’s Class of ’79. What is your strongest memory of Obama at Punahou?

BD: There was no “Barack” at Punahou, he was “Barry.” I remember him wearing very outlandish Afro-centric clothing — proudly displaying his ethnicity.

Other than that we were like ships (passing) in the night. I was hanging out at the school newspaper drawing cartoons and writing articles, and Barry was gravitating more toward the semi-jocks and a different circle of people.

JB: What would you like to be doing in five years?

BD: Retired. Maybe doing a podcast or something that I could engineer at home and still entertain people and play some of the music I have at home.

Reach John Berger at jberger@staradvertiser.com.