Chucking It All

"You know that Howard Stern movie, Private Parts, when the wife says, 'He's not really like that'? That's how I feel sometimes," says Lynda. "There's a Chuck Roast side, and there's a Bryn Tustin side, and they're very distinguishable, I think."

Even Chuck acknowledges that the Chuck side might "insulate" a more subdued, sweeter Bryn. But the two must bleed into each other. After all, Lynda keeps the dancing frog on her desk for anyone to see. And she thinks it's lucky that her husband has been able to make a living out of what he loves.

"He's like a sponge with music," Lynda says. She looks at Chuck and smiles. "I married the boy I knew when I was 17," she says suddenly, almost in awe of herself. Then she wonders out loud if that means she's in trouble. But the way she says it, with a little laugh, suggests she doesn't think so. And even if she does, hell, a little trouble never hurt anyone.

It's late, almost 2 a.m., and the KTRU radio show is over. Chuck won't let anyone leave the studio alone, because it's dark and empty out. When he gets to the lot, though, he can't resist showing off the revamped KSBJ bumper sticker on his car. Letters from two bumper stickers have been cut and shuffled to transform the religious station's "God Listens" motto into "Dogs Listen," and he has replaced the KSBJ call letters with stickers that spell out KTRU. Chuck tells of how he had to write to KSBJ twice to get enough bumper stickers to complete his project, each time taking on the persona of a religious listener who had been moved by the programming. As he talks about it, he smiles the Cheshire cat grin of a small child after he is discovered doing something very naughty. And it's hard not to grin along with him.

And that's how it is with Chuck Roast. Just as he shows you something kind of oddball, he does something very sweet, such as watching to make sure you get to your car all right. Just as soon as he's finished telling about the time he and Lynda played music from a black mass to scare off angry religious zealots at the store, he fondly remembers the road trips out West that his family used to make each summer. The two sides, seemingly so different, actually blend quite nicely. Yes, Chuck Roast is sick and twisted, but Chuck Roast is not sick and twisted. And that is exactly what makes him so very Chuck Roast.