BY MILES HILTON
Anthony Merchant’s studio, adjacent to the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts in downtown Jamestown, is sparse except for audio equipment. The moment I pull out my phone to begin recording our interview, Merchant intervenes, “I’ve got the sound board all set up, I can record on that!”. Minutes later, my usual recording device has been substituted for boom mikes, headsets, a sound board, and a computer reflecting the waves of our speech.
This is no surprise. Merchant, an affable man in his early thirties, is Arts and Entertainment Correspondent at WRFA, a local, non-commercial radio station supported by the Reg Lenna. He hosts Arts on Fire, a weekly show that airs Fridays at 5pm, with a rerun on Sunday at 1pm. Arts on Fire “highlights arts and entertainment in Chautauqua County”, Merchant explains, and can feature “anything as long as it’s within Chautauqua County.” “If somebody writes a book, if somebody is painting something, if somebody just wrote an album, if somebody does comedy,” he continues, “I’m just trying to cover it and get the word out”.
segment, recording in his studio in downtown Jamestown.
Interviews with artists and entertainers form the core of Arts on Fire episodes, which can also feature local music. Arts on Fire LIVE, a spin-off of the radio show reminiscent of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts, is a live local concert series in Merchant’s downtown studio.
Merchant has hosted the show for just over two years. Before him, Jason Sample and Dennis Drew co-hosted the segment. Arts on Fire features at least one interview a week, sometimes more. The length of interviews, while limited by the length of the segment, also depends on the chemistry between Merchant, as host, and the artist. “If it’s not a good conversation, the interview is not going to last an hour and a half,” Merchant explains.
In addition to Arts on Fire, Merchant hosts Local Rush Hour on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and produces a weekly finance segment.
segment, recording in his studio in downtown Jamestown.
As we talk, however, it becomes clear that Merchant’s real love is punk and alternative music, especially with a local bent. We spend at least fifteen minutes talking about his dream of hosting punk shows in the area, and brainstorming about venues and potential acts. After all, I’m also invested in the local arts scene.
Then, we start talking about Power Chord Hour. Both a podcast and a volunteer radio segment for WRFA, Power Chord Hour explores punk and alternative music.
“I’ve been doing that since 2016,” before he joined WRFA as an employee, says Merchant. Power Chord Hour is long – a three-hour segment – and features interviews with artists as well as a selection of music. The scale allows for the kind of in-depth conversations that Merchant clearly loves – our interview ran over an hour.
When he interviews musicians, Merchant says he “[doesn’t] care whether they’re an arena act or an obscure punk artist,” focusing instead on whether he likes their music and whether he thinks they’ll have a good conversation. He takes special pleasure in helping publicize the work of obscure or up-and-coming musicians through his podcast.
In addition to time spent interviewing, hours of work goes into setting up interviews (“get ready for rejection” Merchant advises), editing audio, producing a segment, and doing social media publicity for both Power Chord Hour and his WRFA segments. “You can’t just make art.” Merchant muses, “you also have to be a social media manager”.
All this behind-the-scenes work adds up, and Power Chord Hour is a volunteer project. “It’s hard to juggle the passion project with your actual job” Merchant admits, especially when the two bear so many similarities. Although Power Chord Hour the podcast airs infrequently, the WRFA segment airs every Friday from 8-11pm.
Despite the difficulties, Merchant clearly remains committed to what is fundamentally community-building work: reaching out to artists, either in Chautauqua County or in the punk and alternative communities, and creating and publishing conversations with them. “There is something really fun about that”, Merchant grins.
ArtsOnFire.png: Arts on Fire, a weekly radio segment, features interviews with local artists of all disciplines as well as local music.