An Xperience Interview: Interview: Parker Pollock (WRPI DJ) The Shuffle

Interview: Parker Pollock (WRPI DJ) The Shuffle

Parker Pollock: This is a little bit strange for me, I have to admit, but cool at the same time, you know?

RRX: Yeah, well … we are fans of good music. We are also fans of WRPI. But honest to God, it’s probably the station on the FM dial that I’ve listened to the most in my entire life.

PP: Yeah, there are a lot of people who call in who have been listening for years and years.

RRX: Long-time listener, first-time caller. But tell me about your show. 

PP: I was a fan of WRPI, but I work here at the school. Before I worked here, I would listen all the time back when the Trojan Horse was on, Barbara Kaiser, Hair Man, of course, and all that stuff. When I got a job here … within the first week, I had a work order to go down and fix some lights in the record room, and the Hair Man walked in. I thought, now’s my chance, I could get to meet him. He talked to me like he knew me forever. So, I started hanging out down there. Since I was a little kid, I’ve always been into music, art, and stuff like that. So I started hanging out down there and getting to know the students. I started taking the classes, and it took me a while to pass the test because I’m not that good of a test-taker. But anyway, I passed, and I got Friday nights. That was, I think … 13 or 14 years. I lost track because of the pandemic. When we were shut down, we were off the air for quite a while.

RRX:  Yeah, I remember it hurt. 

PP: It hurt bad; we lost a lot of good DJs. We lost a lot of listeners. They ended up letting me, just myself, go back in to do my show because we needed so many broadcast hours a year or whatever to maintain a licence. Since I work here, I was part of the COVID protocols. It’s something that brings me joy, and I love to do it.

RRX: Yeah, Art Fredette, the boss man here, was like … you gotta talk to this guy. He’s like … I love this show, he listens all the time, and he said you’ve got a great selection of music. I’m always listening to WPRI as well, so I’m sure I’ve heard your show many times. There was actually another legendary DJ from RPI, Jim Barrett, who’s with us now at RadioRadioX with his show Kaleidoscope. 

PP: That’s a great show. I don’t know if Artie knows, but he and I know each other. 

RRX: I don’t know if he knows.

PP: I’m the guy who’s always hanging out with Anthony Alberino at all the shows. He and Anthony go back a long way. I mean … we followed Artie from bar to bar because he always had a great music scene. Also, my buddy Anthony, his father went to school with Jim, and I know Jim from the record store.

RRX: Oh yeah. He’s a Troy fixture.

PP: Yeah, it’s kind of a small town.

RRX: Yeah, they say it’s the smallest city in America with two post offices or something like that.

PP: Yeah, it really is.

RRX: Yeah, Jim told me this story. He said he just showed up at RPI back in the day with a book bag and tried to act like he was a student.

PP: I didn’t know that. That’s funny.

RRX: It worked out for him. That’s kind of the way to do it, I guess. A lot of geniuses up there at RPI.

PP: Well …

(Both Laugh)

RRX: We got the Brooklyn Bridge, at least.

PP: That is one. 

RRX: Oh man, I remember RPI back when they used to have the concerts at the Field House.

PP: Yeah, they’ve got a beer mug that they sell at the bookstore that has all the bands that played there etched on it.

RRX: Lots of legends; didn’t like Hendrix play there? 

PP: Jimi Hendrix played there, in fact, my buddy, Anthony again, some relation of his was a Troy cop, and he was backstage doing security. Jimi Hendrix offered this cop guitar picks and some memorabilia, and the cop said, I don’t want any of that hippie s***.  So he turned it down.

(Editor’s note: Hendrix played at the Troy Amory, not the Field House, on April 19, 1968, after being rescheduled from the original date of April 7 due to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.)

RRX: Oh my God, what a regret that must have been.

PP: It’s hilarious. Just a bunch of dope smoking hippies.

RRX: Wow, that was an epic fail right there. Well, that’s awesome. So, you’re on Friday nights from what time to what time?

PP: I’m scheduled from 5:00 to 6:00, but since I’m here on campus, I sneak in and usually start around 4:30, just because I can. 

RRX: And the show is called “The Shuffle”?

PP: That’s right. 

RRX: Art, myself, and the staff here very much appreciate college radio. I’ve been on commercial radio since 1996, and I always listened to college radio more than commercial radio. I was often envious because, why can’t we do this sort of thing?

PP: Yeah, I mean, how many times do you wanna listen to “Sympathy For The Devil”?

RRX: Right?

PP: That’s been on the radio since I was a kid; the classic rock stations play the same stuff over and over.

RRX: Yeah, there’s one specific station way up the dial that has long-time notoriety, but I can’t even stomach it now. You wanna hear “Living on a Prayer”? Tune in right now, it’s playing.

PP: It is. 

RRX: People have owned these albums for 50 years, right? So at least play some of the B cuts. Are they afraid people aren’t gonna know these songs? They do know them!

PP: They do. You’re absolutely right, that’s why I try to play songs that you don’t hear or songs that I like. I’m not a fan of the Rolling Stones, but the Rolling Stones have a lot of songs besides the ones that the commercial stations constantly play. 

RRX: Their catalogue is huge.

PP: It’s huge for all those bands. It’s corporate-owned, and they’ve got a playlist that’s set, and that’s it.

RRX: And that’s why we do what we do here at RadioRadioX, and you do what you do at WRPI. Was there anything that you wanted to say to our readers?

PP: Tune in and check it out. It’s something that I enjoy, and it brings me joy in a world that doesn’t offer a lot of that. So I hope that the music that I play conveys that when you listen. I want people to be happy, you know what I mean?

RRX: I do, and Art was the one telling me how great the music that you play is, and he’s a music snob, like me.

PP: That’s a huge compliment coming from Artie. I mean … Artie is responsible for so many bands coming to Troy, like the Fleshtones. Without Artie, I think Troy would be a lot different. So, I really appreciate his support and interest.

RRX: It’s been a pleasure, man. I could talk radio all day!

 

Parker’s “The Shuffle” airs Fridays at 5pm (4:30ish) on WRPI 91.5 FM