-
10 Questions with ... Chad A. Miller
August 1, 2022
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
1. How did you become interested in radio?
By always listening to the radio as a kid and getting in the habit of following current music and always keeping up with it. Throughout high school, I kept collecting CDs of my favorite artists, slowly building up a strong collection from there. By my senior year of high school, I was picked to do morning announcements to start off the school day and during that time, I was that kid who always called in to WRQK Rock 107fm in Canton (a station I'd eventually end up interning at and later working at), requesting songs and always asking when they would actually be played so that I could "tape them off the radio" from my boom box radio I had. During that time, I also would call in during the "Top Ten at 10" weeknight countdown and record intros for the songs, too. By then I had befriended Rock 107's evening deejay Alfonzo Riley (now mornings at K99 in Fort Collins, CO) who helped me into becoming an intern there and as they say, the rest is history.
2. What changes have you experienced at the station being in the MD chair for 6 years now?
The biggest change was quite literally moving into our new location in late November 2019. Our new location is tucked inside the newly built Ellet high school on the east side of Akron. Prior to this, we were in the Ott Staff Development Center building for Akron public school administrative employees after a lengthy run of over three decades. We all worked very hard on a capital campaign over the course of several years to raise the necessary funds to get everything together to construct a brand-new radio station together from scratch with modern updated equipment and everything. Our latest big accomplishment is adding a new translator signal at 90.fm in Athens located in the southeastern part of the state to go along with our homebase signal at 91.3fm in Akron and at 90.7fm in Struthers just outside of Youngstown.
3. How has the music at the station evolved since you’ve been there?
Really just by opening everything up musically to cover all the bases really truly and to acknowledge and get behind and support as much new music as we can which is our mission. Also, to really uncover and peel back the layers of the history of popular music from as many decades as possible and to integrate all of that into the daily music selections. It can be a little all over the place at times, but hey… that’s the freedom of non-commercial public radio and with our due diligence, we really lean into that!
4. How much music overlap is there in the market?
Very little overlap actually, which is great! Aside from the crossover acts like Adele, Coldplay, or that infectious new Harry Styles song, etc.; we own the market with a vast majority of the current songs we play here on The Summit. With no significant Modern Rock radio station really in Akron, Youngstown, Cleveland, and northeast Ohio in general, we're truly paving the way for new music discovery and curation in our market, which is something we’re very proud of in positioning ourselves as leaders of in our part of the world.
5. What new acts are you most excited about?
Oh man, where to begin? I'm always into any new music that's coming out in our world of Triple-A and especially the latest buzzworthy indie rock tracks. I mean, there’s always SO MUCH to keep tabs on and be aware of and be caught up with, and while it’s definitely a challenge, I’m always reminded that it’s what I do for a living and that I’m so lucky to be doing it. I’d say over the past few years, some of my NEW favorites have become Khruangbin, Lord Huron, Angel Olsen, The War on Drugs. Beach House, Waxahatchee, Courtney Barnett, Kurt Vile, Sylvan Esso, Japanese Breakfast, Lake Street Dive, Jason Isbell, Haim, IDLES, Fontaines D.C., Leon Bridges, Rolling Blackouts C.F., The Record Company, Lissie, Phoebe Bridgers, Valerie June, Durand Jones & the Indications, Wet Leg, Alvvays, among others…
6. What would surprise people most about the station?
That it's quite literally located in a fully functioning and recently built high school.
7. What are the biggest challenges facing public radio today?
Cultivating, attracting, and maintaining new members that are my age (45) and younger. To grow the future generations that truly get behind and support a non-comm, locally focused, Triple-A music intensive radio station that actively participates in the local community and plays all the incredible music that definitely exists but flies just under the radar of most; specifically for the enjoyment of those who actually care about the music.
Along with that I’d say mostly just awareness. Specifically, in how we differ greatly from commercial radio, and which comes with the freedom it allows us, especially with the perks of membership privileges. With so much overplayed mass-appeal music that gets played everywhere, just simply reminding people out there that these public radio stations have a much more tailored selection available for the serious fan of music is a big thing to be screaming from the mountaintops to all the music connoisseurs out there.
8. Besides your own, what is your favorite radio format?
Being the music nerd that I am, I've always followed a lot of indie rock the last few years. It may get stereotyped as "weird" or "obscure" (which honestly, I think is lazy, dismissive, and annoying) but so much of it can include some very memorable, catchy, and just plain unique songs which can stir up all kinds of emotions. I mean… isn’t that the point?! In this world of such diverse music that exists nowadays, I always enjoy finding something entirely different than what is normal and sharing it with friends thereby letting them in on a little secret.
9. What's the best piece of advice anyone's ever given you?
Best piece of advice for me was given in the very early days of my first job in radio at WRQK by then-evening host Alfonzo Riley who really summarized what we do in radio: "Sell the music, sell the station." Which, yeah ... pretty much sums it up.
10. If you wanted to completely change careers today, what would you do?
Oh jeez… I really have no idea. In between radio jobs I worked as a liquor sales rep for just over four years; all while volunteering at The Summit by doing a weekend on-air shift and patiently waiting to be hired full time. It was fun getting to hype up to bar owners all the latest and greatest in high proof spirits! Maybe that again, or to try my hand in radio promo by calling up other PDs and MDs in our world of radio to get them to add all the cool new songs. From that job doing liquor sales, it’s really not that different except for swapping booze with records. Ha-ha!! But honestly, that, or really getting into voiceover work which is a field that always intrigued me…
Bonus Questions
Last non-industry job:
Liquor sales rep for North American Wine & Spirits representing Diageo and Moet-Hennessy brands in the Akron/Canton, Ohio area
First record ever purchased:
(Vinyl...) The first six albums on vinyl by Pearl Jam at the old Spin More record store in Kent, OH during my college days at Kent State University
First concert:
Page and Plant 10/16/95 at Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio
Favorite band of all-time:
Pearl Jam, who I've seen 21 times in concert and will be seeing again on September 14th in Camden, NJ just across the river from Philadelphia.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time away from work?
Going to see live music, collecting and listening to vinyl, following our local Cleveland sports teams, spending time with friends and making new friends, trying not to be sucked into too much social media, making lists of little projects etc. that I should really get around to doing sometime and then mostly put it off, and adding to my concert poster collection that, honestly, is raging out of control.
-
-