Social media was abuzz the day after the ACRA finalists for 2016 were announced with Eddie Olek and his son Josh Olek both getting a nod.
 
It seemed everyone was debating if they were the first father/son combo to be nominated in the same year.
 
Not so according to Eddie.
 
“My former colleague Gordon Moore here at SEN and his son Alex (who was on the Gold Coast) were both nominated for creative writing in 2014 (from memory). I think Josh and I are the first nominees who are both on air at the same time in different markets, even though my nomination is for the production on Best Station Campaign.”
 
Josh has been nominated in the Best Entertainment/Music Presenter category.
 
“It’s pretty great,” says Josh an announcer at K Rock in Geelong.
 
“I woke up early Sunday morning before my shift to see if our names were on the list.
 
“I got very excited when I saw that we were both nominated and went to call him straight away. Gave him the good news about me and in his groggy state was like “ohhhhh yay congratulations”. Then I told him he was nominated too and it woke him up straight away.
 
“We’re both really excited.”
 
“It’s a great feeling,” says Eddie profiled here in 2012 by the late Keith McGowan.
 
“It’s my first ACRA nomination and Joshies second. As a parent, you always want your kids to do better than you ever did. Josh has come a really long way. As a Dad, I couldn’t be prouder.”
 
So how did Josh end up following in Dad’s footsteps?
 
“I’d always been around the radio industry growing up. Dad would take my brother, sister and I into 3UZ (then sport 927) when he was working nights there and would let us look at all the microphones and call Mum in a studio while he was on his work breaks.
 
“I didn’t really think about it until after high school where I wasn’t completely sure what I was going to do in my adult life.
 
“Dad managed to weasel me into doing Sunday morning breakfast paneling. I fell in love with it immediately. There’ is a hint of following in my Dad’s footsteps, but I’ve definitely tried to forge my own path not being “oh that’s Eddie Olek’s son.
 
“This semi-record is very cool though.”
 
So do the boys have a big night planned in Melbourne?

“It is going to be huge,” says Josh.
 
“I grew up there so I’m very excited to be having a night out in the big smoke.
 
“My girlfriend is also very excited to check it all out. It’s her very first industry night and she’s really looking forward to meeting all of my mates from around the country that I always talk to but never see.” 
 
And will they wear a matching father/son outfit?
 
“I don’t know”, says Eddie.
 
 “I’ll get my people to talk to his people… ;-)”

See the full list of finalists here.