CANTON − After hopscotching from radio station to radio station, Matt Fantone thought his profession as a DJ is likely to be over.
Fantone had misplaced an area FM radio gig resulting from company restructuring, quickly adopted by fewer alternatives in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I used to be caught on this spot like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I am not going to get again into radio,” he recalled. “Radio is completed for me.”
After having labored within the enterprise for a decade plus, the Canton space radio character discovered himself within the midst of an identification disaster in 2020.
“I believed, ‘Who am I? What am I doing and what’s my life all about?'” Fantone mentioned.
However he rebounded with a job at Undertaking REBUILD, a Canton-based nonprofit program that teaches youth building and life expertise.
Though his new job was deeply rewarding, Fantone’s thoughts nonetheless would drift to ideas of one other crack at radio when he drove previous the studios of 1480 WHBC and Combine 94.1 FM in downtown Canton.
Native radio information Longtime native radio character Matt Fantone to host 94.1’s new morning present
So when a day DJ slot turned out there at Combine 94.1 in spring 2022, he jumped on the alternative. Nevertheless it wasn’t till October that he landed his dream gig − internet hosting the pop music station’s new present, “Combine Mornings With Matt Fantone” from 6 to 10 a.m. weekdays.
“Mornings are the gold commonplace, it is the premier spot,” the 39-year-old Fantone mentioned. “And it is type of the place folks establish with a radio station.”
Early radio riser: Black espresso, pure pep and distinctive voice
Aside from frequent cups of black espresso, Fantone is of course energized, plowing by studio moments when he rubs fatigue from his eyes. At 6-foot-7, he towers over the management board, hardly ever taking a seat whereas broadcasting and both sporting headphones or holding them slung round his neck.
The lanky radioman strikes concerning the studio even quicker than he talks, his voice a prelude to his character − distinctive and relentlessly peppy, an aural model of Purple Bull. A small fan whirs within the nook of the room to maintain him from breaking into extra of a sweat.
He is a real one-man band. Present preparation begins at 5 a.m., with Fantone researching information on-line that gives fodder for commentary. As soon as he is within the studio, he talks on air, cues pop music and WHBC information segments, intently eyes laptop screens, solutions calls, slides levers and pushes buttons on a console, provides away prizes, scribbles notes with pen and paper, interviews studio friends and infrequently checks a textual content from his spouse.
“I feel there are such a lot of extra broadcasters who can do issues smoother than me,” Fantone acknowledged. “However I need it to be actual.”
From future Marine to Mr. Microphone
A marine is what Fantone first wished to be when he grew up earlier than discovering his love for speaking right into a microphone. An elementary faculty instructor even nicknamed him “Mr. Microphone.”
And he is a lifelong fan of music and superstar, sharing tales of his teenage days when he and his brother would wait on the airport and accommodations in Cleveland in hopes of assembly skilled wrestling stars like “Stone Chilly” Steve Austin and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Fantone gave faculty a attempt at Bowling Inexperienced State College earlier than detouring to broadcasting faculty.
Ready tables at Max & Erma’s adopted, in addition to radio internships, together with at nation music and conservative discuss stations. In 2007, Fantone took a Greyhound bus to Fresno, California, to work at a station that tried a radio model of actuality tv earlier than it disbanded. A DJ stint at an FM station in Flint, Michigan, was subsequent.
The Twinsburg native ultimately returned to Ohio to be nearer to household, the place he made a splash from 2014 to 2020 as co-host of a morning radio present on Rock 106.9 FM in Canton with Dan Stansbury.
That widespread present put him on the radar of Joel Murphy, program director for Combine 94.1 and WHBC-FM, a part of Alpha Media.
“I feel now greater than ever, radio appears to resonate extra powerfully when it’s regionally based mostly,” Murphy mentioned. “There’s loads of nice nationwide exhibits. ‘Dave and Jimmy’ was a type of exhibits (on 94.1), and their syndication deal wrapped up … and I believed, ‘Wow, this is a possibility to go in a brand new course.'”
The place does an area DJ match within the digital world?
Fantone admits the radio panorama has modified vastly since his entry into the biz.
Satellite tv for pc radio is a typical characteristic in trendy autos. Pop music songs are immediately accessible with cellphone streaming. Nationwide information is plastered throughout the web and out there from a plethora of retailers.
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Even so, morning radio is a timeless establishment, an integral a part of American popular culture and life, each Fantone and Murphy imagine.
“It is a fairly aggressive market right here in Canton, Akron, Cleveland and Youngstown,” Murphy mentioned. “We’re all enjoying Taylor Swift, so how do you differentiate your self with the opposite stations?”
Serving up hyperlocal content material is the calling card for the morning present’s core demographic between the ages of 25 and 54, mentioned Fantone, who lives within the Vassar Park neighborhood of Canton together with his spouse and their 3-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son.
“Lots of people do need this sense of neighborhood, that sense that I am a part of one thing,” he mentioned.
“I feel that is how radio, and particularly morning radio, bolsters itself locally,” Fantone mentioned. “You are the voice within the automotive, you are with (listeners) as they’re by themselves. Folks really feel like they know you. They hear about your children and issues that go on of their lives.
“I am residing the identical life that you’re − we’re in the identical neighborhood.”
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Interspersed amid the Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Harry Kinds and Doja Cat songs is chatter about Massillon highschool soccer and different Stark County sizzling matters. Way of life and popular culture tidbits run the gamut − McDonald’s tinkering with its traditional burgers; the hyperlink between proudly owning cats and an elevated danger of schizophrenia; and the perils of following your ex on social media. Sprinkled in are humorous tales about parenting and making an attempt to repair a rest room at residence. Visitors differ from an angel reader to the director of a Stark County a cappella singing group to Canton’s new mayor.
“I nonetheless assume it sounds nearly as good as the foremost market stations,” Murphy mentioned of Fantone’s present. “However I feel it has an area taste which you can solely discover right here.
“This goes for anyone who’s profitable in radio,” he added. “Matt is similar off air as on. He is genuine. Folks can choose up on BS fairly shortly and in case you’re faking it and in case you’re not legit, and he’s legit.”
On this nook … Matt ‘Babyface’ Fantone
Fantone shines brightest when he is merely himself and freestyling behind the microphone. Charismatic, extremely likeable, amusing, relatable. And prepared to delve into delicate matters just like the Tusky Valley faculty bus crash or bomb threats at a Stark County faculty.
“He has some dynamic vary,” Murphy mentioned. “He not solely talks about popular culture stuff, (however) he additionally leans into the native facet, and he can discuss to a soccer participant after which 10 minutes later he is speaking about suicide prevention or one thing.”
Clay Church, operations supervisor for WHBC-AM and Combine 94.1, mentioned Fantone has advanced because the days when the 2 labored collectively at a radio station in Flint, Michigan.
“Matt is likely one of the most real folks I’ve ever met,” he mentioned. “The distinctive factor about Matt is that he may be each 100% real and never take himself too critically on the similar time.
“He’s always making an attempt to get higher at what he does, all whereas lifting the folks round him,” Church mentioned. “… He could make you’re feeling comfy listening (and laughing), and he has the breadth to tackle very severe matters with out shedding any of his real character.
“He actually frolicked studying every part he might from everybody round him,” he added. “His time outdoors of radio working with non-profits in Canton additionally helped him to see issues from a brand new perspective.”
Shock jock antics aren’t Fantone’s factor. Neither is being a provocateur chasing excessive scores. Matters are curated with the viewers in thoughts. Even when opining on presidential politics or marijuana legal guidelines, he does so tactfully and with out being heavy-handed or agenda pushed.
In comparison with his edgier days at Rock 106.9 WRQK, Fantone is now a babyface (good man) and never a heel (dangerous man), he admitted with amusing. And his personal musical tastes vary from Taylor Swift to Nickelback to nation and Western swing band Mike and the Moonpies.
“I feel every part is only a caricature of me,” Fantone mentioned. “You are taking the weather of you which can be essentially the most distinct, you then attempt to pump them up and attempt to maximize them, and also you attempt to attract consideration to these issues.”
‘It is the place to me that is spectacular.’
Fantone brazenly mentioned the spectrum of radio, from being an area superstar to shedding jobs resulting from administration modifications and company choices.
“It is extremely fleeting, and in a blink of an eye fixed, you do not have that focus and you’re only a dude who was on radio who’s spending 5 bucks on pump one on the gasoline station.
“It is the place to me that is spectacular,” he mentioned. “… And I’ll by no means take that as a right. I’ll all the time be appreciative for somebody coming as much as me and saying, ‘I hearken to you.'”
Rapping with Matt Fantone
Following a prolonged interview, Combine 94.1 morning radio host Matt Fantone answered rapid-fire questions on popular culture and different random stuff.
What would you do on day one if elected president of the US?
“I want to assume, in some capability, reframing healthcare and the way it works on this nation … can be an instantaneous precedence for me.”
Are you a Swiftie?
“Sure! She is a pop star on the peak of her energy proper now.”
Favourite eating places in Stark County
“Loby’s and all of their franchises. I like Loby’s Irish Pub and Grill, that’s considered one of our favorites. And Basil (Asian Bistro) and Deli Ohio (in downtown Canton).”
Favourite albums
“Weapons N’ Roses’ ‘Urge for food for Destruction’ was simply such an necessary a part of me coming of age and understanding adolescence − it was harmful, it was cool. And ‘Exile on Important St.’ by The Rolling Stones is on the quick record.”
One thing you do folks would not anticipate
“I just about begin day-after-day meditating, and I journal.”
Stark County radio influences
“There’s so many icons of Canton radio, and (the late) Freddie the Frog (Rock 106.9) is on the quick record. “
Why does he have a big tattoo of Abraham Lincoln on his arm?
“Abraham Lincoln definitely (ranks amongst) my favourite Individuals. … (And) I do assume there’s quite a bit to be discovered and appreciated.”
The final e book you learn
“‘Grit: The Energy of Ardour and Perseverance’ by Angela Duckworth.”
Favourite live shows
“I used to be simply unbelievably impressed with Taylor Swift’s efficiency. I used to be simply blown away by Girl Gaga. Corridor & Oates was incredible reside.”
Attain Ed at ebalint@gannett.com. On X (previously Twitter) @ebalintREP and Instagram at ed_balint
