One of WMNF’s most-revered alternative music programs is calling it quits after 16 years on the air. Over the weekend, Scott Imrich, who’s hosted the Saturday Asylum for more than a decade-and-a-half, announced that his last date on the air would be September 28.
“This September marks my 30th anniversary (!!!) as a WMNF volunteer, and I felt 30 was a good, round, even number to leave on,” Imrich, who started volunteering at WMNF when he was 18 years old, wrote.
The end of the show will be lamented by listeners who spent many afternoons listening to Imrich share new music and interview bands (including the Meat Puppets and Jason Isbell) coming to town. Listening to Imrich was like having the employee from the record store blasting through your stereo.
In his note, Imrich said that his reasons for leaving the show, which airs in the 4 p.m.-6 p.m. time slot, are twofold. First, he’d like to spend time with his daughter, who had her first day of first grade on Monday. Second is the fact that he’s found himself complaining about the goings-on at the station more than usual in recent times.
“Without getting into the nitty-gritty, I’ve felt, let’s just say, a certain level of dissatisfaction with some of the decision making that’s been happening at the station over the past few years,” Imrich wrote, adding that he’s not interested in disparaging anyone at WMNF or the station itself. He also hopes to keep volunteering at the station.
In an email to CL, program director Randy Wind said that he’d be posting the opening and that he didn’t know who might be interested in taking over the show’s time slot. Imrich also doesn’t know who, or what, will replace the Asylum (which was last helmed by Diane Dill, who came up with the show’s name), but he did write that he hopes that it’s “something good… maybe something better (that wouldn’t be too hard).”
In a phone call with CL, Imrich expanded on his hopes for the program.
“I hope they make it their own and that they make it awesome. I do hope they focus on new release stuff because I think that’s very underplayed on WMNF as a whole,” Imrich said. “I hope they interview bands and that they make it fun. And if they need any help from me, I'll do whatever I can.”
WMNF has recently added some youth and color to its programming lineup with shows like the local music-centric Room 1210 (Thursdays at 8 p.m.) and Latin X (Mondays at 10 p.m.). There’ve long been hip-hop-centric shows on WMNF, but the best of them (Hip-Hop Flavors, Saturday Night Shutdown, The Damn Jams) air in the wee hours. Grand National Championships has long played alternative sounds and given airtime to locals, but that show has always had a home in the late hours of Wednesday night.
For now, Imrich will focus on finishing his time and then taking a less hands-on approach to his volunteering at WMNF in the hopes of regaining the feeling of joy and excitement he used to have every time I went on the air.
“I will always support our beloved community radio station,” Imrich said in the note. “And, yes, I may be critical sometimes, too. But, please remember, that’s always done out of love, baby. “
Follow @cl_music on Twitter to get the most up-to-date music news, concert announcements and local tunes. Subscribe to our newsletter, too.
This article appears in Aug 8-15, 2019.