A new radio station hits the airwaves this spring in the heart of Cambridge’s Central Square: Central On Air.
For some it may feel like a homecoming of sorts, reminiscent of a period from 2014 to April 2018 when WEMF broadcast out of a building on Brookline Street that closed to become offices. The station moved to Brighton but shut down that November.
The Central Square Business Improvement District-founded station, at 425 Massachusetts Ave., will livestream – with video – on its soon-to-come website. The goal is for the windowed alley space in the Market Central collection of eateries to “be a place where you can hear the music and see the DJ spinning as you walk by,” said Erik Sarno, program director at the BID. He is a producer who’s taught music at the Institute of Contemporary Art and opened a studio called Union Sound in Somerville in 2019.
The station aims to broadcast “the vibrant, underground music culture of Central Square,” Sarno said, one that reflects a mix of local musicians and those who pass through to perform at area clubs from The Middle East and Lilypad to the Crystal Ballroom and The Jungle. “It’s not your Spotify or your FM radio.”
“Expect anything,” Sarno said, because Central On Air is going live with an “anti-algorithm energy” – meant to reflect the diversity of residents’ tastes, not create a mush of background noise meant for a lowest-common-denominator audience.
The BID is accepting applications for recurring programs and one-off live performances via an online show request form. DJs and artists are asked to give their genre, a link to their music portfolio and a little about themselves and their proposed show.
Sarno will be responsible for developing Central On Air’s programs and schedule during a design-and-build phase in which sound, lighting and camera equipment is installed and experimented with. That starts in the next few weeks. “The most fun part of testing is just having local DJs in the space as we’re building it out, you know, just to get comfortable, get excited, but also give us some feedback from the folks who will be really using it the most,” Sarno said.
Sarno said the team hopes to eventually stream seven days a week from a likely Monday-to-Friday start. “Our plans are to expand into more performance-based programming, so maybe think of like a Tiny-Desk-esque performance,” he said, referring to a movement led by NPR Music’s “Tiny Desk Concerts” of having performers do in-studio sets. Archives of Central On Air shows and live sets will have a home on a YouTube channel.
As manager for four years at Starlight Square, the BID’s now-dismantled open-air event complex, Sarno believes the station presents a “cool opportunity” to activate public space in Central Square – starting with a launch party that will be held outdoors, if the weather is kind.
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Might be better than “the smell of Cambridge”…but it will still stink.
Congratulations Erik and Central Sq BID. This has been in the works for a long time great finally see it happen.