Fisting The FCC Without A Drop Of Lube: FearlessRadio.com
By: Jennifer Wagner |
Sunday April 30, 2006 |
| Fearless Radio spans a lot of turf: music, gaming with Play or Die, music, provocative candor on all things erotica on Love Bytes, music, and even sports talk on The Visitor's Locker Room. |
| If I had my own radio show it would be horrible. I believe it would really
suck. I've got my general format all thought out and it just goes nowhere. I'd
do a lot on sex and gender roles in our current Urban American climate, bitch
about double standards and claim with ever-increasing desperation that the
Fergi/Hollywood battle cry of "Forty is the New Thirty!" is absolutely true.
I'd start a forum on super-critical political issues like legalizing marijuana
then forget what my point was and move the discussion to a clumsy, infantile
rant on Kant's Metaphysics. Instead of lighting up the show with heated
debates, I'd spend a lot of time saying "I see your point." Just awful.
The talent on Fearless Radio doesn't have any of those problems. They never forget their point. They dig steel talons right into the tender marrow on every show, covering the most compelling topics within each forum from music to sex to sports and politics. They love to argue and generally posture a stance of giddy adherence to most double standards. So my hypothetical radio show would lamely beckon, then quickly repel, the listener with all the sloth-like, boring, hypocritical annoyance of an emaciated vegan stoner trundling through a peace rally in leather sandals. Fearless Radio is a wild-eyed kid from down south in a stolen BMW, barreling down the highway towards the skyline at night with a fistful of trucker speed, a quart of Jack Daniels, two buxom co-eds tied together in the back, and one tantalizingly obtainable goal in sight. My own designs on a career in radio diminished as the reality of my sure failure hit home, and I did what most dejected DJ wannabes do - I became a devotee, and have since gotten a chance to catch up with a few of the characters behind fearlessradio.com. First on the hit list was Mike McNamara, "Mac" of Mac and Slater, a high-voltage combat zone on weekdays at 2pm CST, covering all intrigues pop culture, peppered with sports and politics. We met at Belmont and Clark's seediest and smokiest, the regal L & L Tavern. I arrived first and hunkered down with a beer and my recorder to wait, entertaining myself guessing how many more sips of whiskey the ancient guy at the bar could drink before he hit the floor. My game was soon interrupted by the arrival of Mac, a tall, good-looking fellow of controversial repute. He's sort of supposed to be the asshole of the duo, and I was prepared to deal with that to find out a little bit more about fearlessradio.com. He looked around the smoky place with a bemused glint in his eye, grabbed a Jack and Coke and sat down. Jennifer Wagner: So, fearlessradio.com started up back in 2004, right? Mike McNamara: Yes, June of '04. More specifically, it began as orrn.com (Open Road Radio Network). But orrn...one, it takes an incredibly long time to say, and two I found out that oorn.com is a porn site and ornn.com is this hog site! My buddy called saying "I'm trying to get to your show and I keep ending up on this porn site." At which point you told him he was in the right place. MM: Yeah, then I let him know, "You're there, dude. I'm the one in the heels. How did you get involved? MM: They [Patrick Oliver and Rocco Cataldo] wanted to put together an Internet radio station, and they asked if I could help out, and I said "I think I may have you guys' first show." I'd been talking to my pal Eric Slater, we'd had a real good rapport together, we were thinking about going into the studio for a couple of hours and putting a demo together, we were gonna call it Mac and Slater...we wanted to have a show on broadcast radio. We didn't really know where it was going to go, it was going to be a two-man talk show kind of Pardon the Interruption rapid-fire, pretty open format. Literally we were putting that together when this happened. So I said, "I think I might have your first show," and they said "Okay" and we met a couple days later and within ten days we were on the air, and we were the first real show, the first regular programming for the network. Our show launched the network, I believe it was on June 28th of '04. How did you come by the name Fearless Radio?  Tell me a little about the format of Mac and Slater; it seems a little all over the place. MM: Since we were the first show on the station, we didn't really have the ability to say "Okay we're a sports show," or "We're a politics show." We didn't want it to fit into a fixed format. Since then a sports show has come on, a sex show has come on, political shows have come and gone, a music show is there, so we're kind of an anchor and we kept it open. It makes it fun for us, too, we don't know what we're going to get but we're pretty sure it's gonna be good and you're gonna enjoy it. Everything from the two of us arguing on the death penalty to the new Kevin Federline song...we'll call it a song. Is there a particular subject matter that you guys like more than others? MM: I love sports, Slater doesn't know a damn thing about sports, so we try to stay away from that unless we get a Jake Plummer, Simeon Rice...we've been able to get some really solid guests. Michael Musto from the Village Voice heard about us, and contacted us to come on, so we had him do an interview...he's a great guy, a total professional which I guess you'd expect...it went really well, really solid, and hopefully he'll be a regular on the show. And we've had folks like Jenny McCarthy...[she] had a movie she was promoting...we'll also seek out people that might be looking for a little more publicity that don't really get it that often. How do you promote Fearless Radio, ensure it's success? MM: Really at the heart of making fearlessradio.com successful is letting people in Chicago know it's there. A tremendous part of our efforts are spent programming which leaves no time for promoting, and we have less time to get the word out. So we count on the bands. When Kill Hannah was on, or when Lovehammers were on Love Bytes, when we have the fantasy football expert on; those are things that really spread the word around, and we are able to return the favor. It's great for the artists because...we promote the bands and hopefully they bring people to our site. Tell me about some of the bands that have been on Fearless Radio live. MM: We've had Kill Hannah live, Lovehammers, Rivieras, The Clarks...You know, we're not a big fan of "How do you write your songs?" and stuff like that, we really dig in. Has anyone really fucked up live? MM: One guy had a nervous breakdown on our show. He kept yelling into the mic, it was his first radio interview and he was very worried that he would ruin our show, and because of that he ultimately did. It was very exciting. Did it ever occur to you that he may have been injured or something? 
MM: No, he was okay, he just sort of freaked out. And we're not always the
nicest. We'll kick you when you're down. On Mac and Slater, you'll get heckled
when you're on our show.
At that point in the interview, my old drunk buddy at the bar leaned over, plugged one nostril and emptied the contents of the other on the floor with a splat audible over the jukebox. This got him kicked out, which took an agonizingly long time. He'd inch forward with a maudlin shuffle, pause, then lurch forward again. The dude who'd been sitting next to him, an unfortunate recipient of some of that launched booger, shouted a question after him; the only question that really counts and one I've been thinking about ever since: "What is the meaning of your life?!" MM(turning nonchalantly from spectacle at the door): We get a lot of positive feedback from listeners all over the country...I'm the bad cop, and Slater's the good cop, is how we kind of work...we found out early on that it was much more entertaining if we were polarized on issues...we're not controlled by the FCC so we're able to say anything, we say a lot that guys don't have the nerve to say...I have no problem calling out black politicians, white politicians... Death threats? MM: No death threats yet. You mentioned a new site design at fearlessradio.com; tell me a little more about that. MM: It's just gonna be a little sexier of a design... ...Boobs? MM: No boobs. Mac wasn't all that bad after all. Next I paid a visit to the studio at 401 West Ontario and enjoyed some quality time with co-founders Patrick Oliver and Rocco Cataldo. Rocco was hosting New Music Binge, a two-hour program dedicated to tearing up the net with the best in new, unsigned acts in Chicago. The guys were smart and very sure of themselves, handsome Rocco sort of playing the bouncing, energetic terrier to Patrick's methodical, unwavering bulldog. They presented a kind of cheek that usually sends me reeling, incredulous, tempted beyond control to let fly a maelstrom of smartass comments. In their case, however, I sort of see the point. The personalities they work with are uniquely strong, and to act as owner/program director with any sort of effectiveness you kind of have to be the biggest prick of the bunch. So, I get it. And they're redeemably sweet guys, as long as you agree with them. The studio was slick and indeed sexy, with a nice wide window view of the studio from the street, rife with mooning potential. I sat in on Rocco for a bit, and spent the next hour scurrying about the offices and control room looking for contraband, blow up dolls, some candy, you know - typical radio station swag. I found all of those things, and got some interesting tidbits out of Rocco and Patrick. What was the initial objective in mind for launching the station? PO: I wasn't thinking Michael Eisner at that time, I was thinking about it as a tech exercise, I knew that streaming was going to become a big thing and this was going to pad my resume as I did in the early dot com days. This was going to be a great way to find a paying gig, build maybe a little network (not entertainment but tech), and add revenue to our new venture. As far as programming was concerned, were very open, just wanted anything we could broadcast. By Nov. of 2004 we had four programs, three we produced and one that we replayed from what I called Bulgarian Radio...a show that was just awful, but it filled up a time slot. How close to the mark do you feel you've come so far in reaching your ideals, and how have your goals changed as you've watched the development of a station like fearlessradio.com? PO: Dec of 2004...on Christmas night we had 7 listeners. I remember my brother was there and I said out loud "Holy shit," I remember clearly what my brother said next, "Sure, why not?" So, I sat down with Rocco and said, "If we are going to do this we need to do it for real." He agreed. I set out to develop a plan and gave up my consulting clients. Our goal has been simple, theater of the mind. We want people to close their eyes and imagine that they are there. The content, as you can see from our diverse programming isn't as important as the quality of the people presenting it. You clearly have quite an affection for independent, unsigned music. A cornucopia of obscure and better-knowns are featured on seemingly every program on Fearlessradio.com, and an entire show, New Music Binge, you host yourself, Rocco, is that correct? Rocco Cataldo: Yes I do host the New Music Binge. The Binge is a live two-hour program that showcases the best unsigned bands across the country. I feature two bands a day, one every hour, and focus on their upcoming shows, where they're from and any press they might have, i.e. - featured on a film soundtrack, tv, etc. The show also books two or three bands a week to come in and play an acoustic set live in studio. This gives an opportunity for their fans and listeners of the show to interact with them, in real time, by im's or phones. And in between music and bands, I try to dish out the latest blurbs on entertainment and quirky news stories in order to keep my listeners entertained, or at least I try. Fearlessradio.com hosts a pretty wide variety of programs, from sports, sex, music, gaming...how does an interested party get started hosting their own show? What's the cost involved? PO: It depends, either we are looking for a particular thing or someone approaches us. We partner with the people coming in to do a show, revenue sharing, co-promotion, etc. We do not charge a show for being on our network. We have tried it in the past and it has not worked for us for a number of reasons. How do you determine which shows get launched? Have you turned a lot down, or are you looking to fill space, or a little of both? PO: I can say for myself there is no set process, which for an IT guy drives me crazy sometimes. I generally go by what my gut tells me. A lot has to with the person(s) that we bring in. Can I work with this person, are they professional, would I sit in a fox hole with them in the middle of battle are all questions I ask myself when talking to a potential host. We have been working towards creating a new stream called Fearless Radio FM [since launched] which will stream the music we have 24/7. We want to bring in some new shows for our stream first before putting that in place. Do hosts/show creators maintain complete creative autonomy with their program, or do you guys ever get involved in content and direction? PO: For the most part we let the hosts/DJ work their shows. I've always believed that you find good people, tell them what you want, then get out of their way. Ever fire anybody? Anybody really suck or do something inappropriate to the point of being canned? PO: When someone sucks we try to find them a new role first before asking them to leave. But we have had a few people who somehow believe that since they are the biggest thing in Batavia, IL that they are going to rule the world. Want-to-be divas and rock stars annoy me to no end. This is hard work and if you want me to carry your sorry ass baggage for you then have picked the wrong geek. Fearless Radio spans a lot of turf; music, gaming with Play or Die, music, provocative candor on all things erotica on Love Bytes, music, sports talk on The Visitor's Locker Room, and a little music, but there is a decidedly boy's club feel to the programming overall - it's pretty much a sweaty, smelly jockstrap flung carelessly to the floor next to an empty pizza box and a crushed beer can. They could use just a little more feminine juju in my opinion, even factoring in the intelligent, mildly Sapphic presence of Love Bytes' hosts Emily and Jen. Webcams in the studio present a new visual opportunity for radio, as does real-time chat with hosts and guests via instant messenger, taking the call-in to a whole new level. The most appealing aspect to the whole damn undertaking is, of course, no need to adhere to standards of the FCC. Fuck. The best promotional tool Fearless Radio has is the word from the abundance of diehard fans out there. Two avid listeners, nicknamed Southside and Michigan Krys, provided me with some dripping-sweet testimony. Why don't you tell me how you first heard about Fearless Radio? What drew you in? Southside: I heard about Fearless Radio from a friend of mine who was going to be on Love Bytes when they had their show about trampling (when a guy lets you walk or stomp over his body). Michigan Krys: I first heard about Fearless Radio last summer on MySpace. One of the women I had become friends with on My Space was the co-host of Haunts and Flaunts (a pagan show which is no longer on the air), and she asked me to tune in. I listened [to New Music Binge]. I really liked a lot of the music he [Rocco] was playing and I really liked his style. The "Rocco Rant" is what really drew me in. I'm hooked on Wolf's Den. I got to be on the show with Wolf and Shelley back in November when I was in Chitown for a Lovehammers concert at the Metro. And even though they teased me relentlessly for going to a Lovehammers gig, I had a great time. Any great moments stand out? MK: Great moments... the Lovehammers PJ party on Lovebytes was killer, as were Wolf's interviews with Dave Ellefson and Joey Belladonna and of course every one of Rocco's Rants. Oh and I can't leave out the time Shelley and Wolf put the restraint bars and shock collar on Don. Anything involving that shock collar equals good times and lots of laughs. What do you get out of your devotion to Fearless Radio? MK: Great music, great friends and great laughs. Three of the most important things in life! What would you do if you had your own FCC-free radio show? We've established that I would royally fuck up. We've also ascertained that they absolutely don't fuck it up at Fearless Radio, and maybe you won't either. Boost a Beemer from Naperville, hit DePaul for a couple of cuties to keep you company, grab some liquor and your favorite go-pills and find out. Only at fearlessradio.com |
