Since WNKU went off the air last September, many local radio stations have imitated the idea of playing local and national music, but one self-funded station is carrying on that format with added podcasts on local artistry and political activism.
The station, INHAILER, launched in May and consists of podcasts as well as primarily indie, folk, punk, and hip-hop music. Listeners can tune in on their websites as well as their app, which is on the Android and iPhone markets.
It all started when founder, Coran Stetter of Multimagic, heard that WNKU was going off the air. Since most of the team did not come from a radio background, they had to learn how to create an online broadcasting format.
“He got this space and started bringing people on board who wanted to give local musicians a platform and help give people, who like listening to music and music fans from this city, a place where they can listen to and meet their local performers. And the people who have potential to be, you know, national or successful performers,” says News Director and host of podcast Interchange 513, A.J. Kmetz.
WNKU helped promote Multimagic and Setter and his team wanted to not only provide a platform for local musicians to be heard, but also let the people of Cincinnati understand and participate in the social issues happening in the city like the March of Our Lives Rally on March 24.
“That's not our event, but it's something that's very near and dear to me and we want to see change happen so we want to get people to that,” says Kmetz.
Kmetz hosts a news hour daily as well as a bi-weekly podcast with producer Sam Benasek called “Interchange 513”. The podcast airs on Wednesdays and this season, they focus on how music correlates to social change. Melvin Dillion of Soul Step Records has been featured and councilwoman, Tamya Dennard will be featured on the next episode.
Their other podcasts include “Lost on the River,” “Fresh Local Producers,” “DM in the PM,” and more.
“Lost on the River” is presented by The Cincinnati Music Foundation and is recorded at the Herzog building where Aaron Sharpe of WNKU, Eli Leisring of Eli’s Barbeque, and Bill Furbee of The Cincinnati Music Foundation talk about the city’s history of music on Wednesdays from 7-8 p.m.
Fresh Local Producers is a podcast, hosted by Sledge of WNKU on Fridays nights, where he highlights electronic music producers. “DM in the PM” is hosted by Danielle Morris where she plays local rap, hip-hop, and R&B on Fridays 9-11 p.m.
The station, located on 1212 Sycamore St., has a creative 12-member staff. It is broadcasted 24/7, with live broadcasts during the week. The app can be downloaded on any smartphone, free of charge.
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