[:en]It’s Friday night and Oscar Gonzalez, better known as DJ Chocheman, is getting ready to start a live mix for Lobo 97.7 FM at the Tequila Night Club (3050 L St.).
He arrived at said club “by chance,” but it was thanks to this that he managed to become part of the team of radio announcers for the Spanish- language radio station (11128 John Galt Blvd).
“It was back in 2008 when I worked for Midwest Sound & Lighting that owner Abraham Juarez called me, so I helped out as a technician with a software he had bought at the store,” said the radio announcer.
After that, when there was no available DJ, the entrepreneur asked him to help him provide some entertainment for the night: “I accepted because I knew a lot about music due to my experience as the drummer for Zahoma and I was aware of the songs that were getting more radio play. And just like that, I began to work several nights each week, and Abraham became a great friend of mine.”
Gonzalez was used to taking the stage along with his band mates at Zahoma, but this was a completely different experience: “I began to play drums when I was 13 years old, but my mother obviously didn’t let me go to any of the dances to work. I never took any classes, and I played by mimicking others playing. I loved it, and since I was a bit chubby people said I looked like Choche (R.I.P.), the drummer of Bronco, so I began to call myself DJ Choche.”
Many years later, Gonzalez met radio announcer Edgar Monsivais, “El Cachorro,” Programming Director at Lobo 97.7 who suggested he change his name to Chocheman “to avoid any copyright issues.”
He continued: “He was the one who ‘christened’ me, and he also became my mentor, asking me to workonlivemixedontheradio,havingmyown space for doing mixes from Monday to Friday, from1to4p.m.,”emphasizedGonzalez,whotook his own turntable to the studio and first got on the air on September 2, 2016.
“I was very nervous during that first week,” said Gonzalez. “I was pushing the wrong buttons, and I made some mistakes, but I always tried to give it my best effort and people liked that. I get along very well with our radio listeners because I try to help them to have a good time, and Cachorro has been a great teacher from whom I’ve learned a lot.”
After quitting his 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. job at a factory to fully focus on his radio career, Gonzalez has more time to prepare the music genres he’ll showcase, reviewing all commercials to make sure they’re in the right order and producing informational segments for his show: “Every day I try to provide information on local news, and I talk about interesting topics with a fun twist, in the style of the Anonymous YouTube Channel.”
The Lobo 97.7FM audience communicates with DJ Chocheman through social media and by the text message hotline: “I work during a very tough slot to cover since people are at the end of their workday and I have to cheer them up. I’m very happy to know that we get calls from Lincoln and other areas in Nebraska and Iowa.”
Gonzalez considers that Lobo 97.7 has become one of the public’s favorite radio stations because “it is the Spanish language pioneer in Omaha and it has always been very versatile, so people always have something to listen.”
Always faithful to Grupera music and classics such as Liberacion and Bryndis, Gonzalez considers that “music played in the Chihuahua style with an accordion” is getting a big push in that part of the United States.
As the eldest of the five sons of Maria Garza, who arrived from Reynosa, Tamaulipas, to be able to provide a better life for her family, Gonzalez is well aware of what it means to fight to overcome any obstacles: “Because of this I want to tell young people to always give it their best effort, especially at school. They should never surrender because anything is possible. I’ve lived through it all, and now my dreams have become true.”
DJ Chocheman has one more dream on his list… to be able to play with his favorite drummer, Alex Gonzalez from Mana! Óscar González / DJ Chocheman Lobo 97.7 FM KBBX 402.884.09.68 chocheman@lobo977.com lobo977.com

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