'ERS writer Ahni Brown Harbin sat down with our fresh afternoon host Parker to discuss entering radio, Boston venues, and all things Green Day!
Okay, Parker, so would you tell me a little bit about yourself?
Yeah, absolutely! I'm an Emersonian, so I'm an alum of Emerson, class of 2013. Oh, my God, I'm feeling so old! I'm also a local, so I'm from, like, an hour outside of the city, so I lived in the Boston area pretty much my whole life — or, rather, my whole life. I’m a big cat person: I have my little baby, Lucifer. He's not so little any more, I guess. He's gonna be six this year.
I’m obviously a big music person, That's why I’m at WERS. I’m a huge Green Day fan, so I would say they were kind of like my pivotal “huzzah” moment when it came to music. What else? Favorite color is purple, I’m a Doc Martens addict, you probably won't see me in basically anything else. Other things that are-currently-slash-are-a-part-of-my-past-work are social media — so I’ve been a social media manager — I really love videography and photography. I love creative artsy stuff, like all of us here.
And that's what makes WERS so cool! We’re all just creative nerds! So, what do you like to listen to? You said Green Day...what else?
Yeah, I would say alt rock is kind of my staple. Definitely what plays on ERS, it's indie, folk, eclectic, so I definitely vibe with that, but I would definitely say alt rock, Green Day is a huge one. You and I talked about Catfish and the Bottlemen, which I actually get to play this week and I got so excited. Are you familiar with the Gaslight Anthem?
I'm not.
They've been described as the punk rock version of Bruce Springsteen, so they're also from New Jersey. But yeah, my musical roots were kind of in punk rock, and really just anything rock, but I also grew up listening to oldies radio with my mom, so any of that sort of stuff. I really love everything! I mean, like, as we all know, the girls in pop music are doing the most right now in the best ways, like Chappell Roan, Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, any of those will be potentially on in my car as well. And I'm, like, screaming to the music really badly.
So what got you into radio?
Yeah! So I guess I've always been into music, but I'm not like a musician or anything like that. I’m not a singer, either. I've been told that my voice is not terrible, but I would rather throw up than sing in front of people. I can't do it! So, I wanted to get involved somehow, and when I came here to Emerson as a student, I was a writing student, and I originally thought I wanted to do music journalism and I was gonna write for Rolling Stone.
So, I did do some of that, but doing that, I discovered I had a couple of friends that were doing WERS, and one of one of the student managers was like, “Oh, yeah, we need some on air hosts over the Thanksgiving break if you wanted to give it a try.” I was like, “Yeah, sure!”
So, I tried it and I just fell in love with it. It was just a way to get involved with music and be a part of it that was not anything I would have thought of before, because I wasn't exposed to it before college.
Nice! So what's your favorite part of getting to host on the radio?
Ooh, well, two things, I guess. I always make the joke that this is kind of like a natural trajectory for me because I don't know about you, but I talk to myself a lot, like even not on the radio, so when I tell people they’re like, “Yeah, that makes a lot of sense that that's what you do for a job.”
But, I love being able to connect with other music people, whether it's the wonderful people working here or listeners. With all the crazy going on in the world right now, it's just really nice to connect with people on a human level about something that makes them happy and something that we kind of are all passionate about and love.
So, yeah, I think getting to connect with people and share my excitement about music with other people that are excited about music and just getting to geek out about it is really awesome.
You said you've been a lifelong Bostonian, so what are some of your favorite spots?
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, okay., this is gonna be so stereotypical, but my favorite building in Boston is the Pru [Prudential Center]. Not necessarily the shopping, ‘cause I'm not bougie like that, but I just love the architecture of it. I just think it's so beautiful. For a long time I really wanted a Boston skyline tattoo. I don't know if that's still gonna be in my future, but if I was gonna get one, I might even just get one of just the Pru because I love it. Ironically enough, one of the other radio stations I worked for, WZLX, before I worked there they actually had offices in the Pru, so it was kind of this weird, full circle moment. Then, I was like, oh, like I said, I subliminally know why I thought this building was cool.
I love the Esplanade. I love sitting in the sun, which I know is very bad for you, but I do it anyway, and just reading a book by the Charles is really, really peaceful. I really love Back Bay in general, like all of the old brownstone architecture. I just think it's so cool. The neat thing about Boston is obviously how old it is, and how historical. I love all of the old architecture and the really different vibes of the neighborhoods that are so distinct.
In terms of venues, I wanna say Paradise [Rock Club] I think is a really good one, and I feel like a lot of the shows that I've been seeing lately are at MGM [Music Hall].
I really like vintage and thrift shopping, and Vivant Vintage in Allston I really love. I've been going there so that's been really cool. One of the awesome record shops that I've been frequenting is Wanna Hear It Records in Watertown, they specialize in rock, punk, alternative. They have a little bit of everything, but if you’re looking for something that you were like, “This is kind of a little niche...” they might have it, because they really have a specialty there.
That's awesome! What are some of your favorite concerts that you have been able to see in the Boston area?
Oh, man, Paul McCartney, I got to see him three years ago with my mom. My mom is a big Beatles person, and I kind of grew up listening to them, so that was just, I don't know, that was just crazy, it was like, he's a freakin’ Beatle! And how old is he now? He's 82 or 83 and he still puts on, like an amazing show. So, I got to see Paul McCartney at Fenway Park, and that was wonderful.
Of course, you know, I'm gonna say Green Day. I've seen them. My God, I've seen them at Fenway. I've seen them at The Garden. I've seen them at the House of Blues.Pretty much anywhere that they’ve been, I've seen them. The Gaslight Anthem, I've seen at the House of Blues. They were really good. Rise Against was also really good, I saw them at the House of Blues as well.
I saw Lady Gaga at Fenway, she was really good, obviously very different from all the other people I'm talking about right now. And, I've seen the Foo Fighters at Fenway Park. But, I went to this show back in college at Brighton Music Hall. This band is called D. R. U. G. S., but it stands for “Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows,” and it's a hardcore band.
I had never seen a wall of death before, and it was just an absolutely incredible show. The music was amazing. I went with my ex boyfriend at the time, and right before it happened he was like, “You're gonna wanna stay back,” and I was like, “What do you mean? The pit's fine.” He was like, “No, no, no, you're gonna wanna stand back.” It was just crazy seeing these masses of people! So, yeah, that was definitely a really awesome show. It was very different. I think that those are good ones.
Those sound awesome. So, what do you like to do in your free time?
Oh, I definitely like to play with my cat. I love to read, I would love to be doing more of it. I used to be so much more of a reader when I was younger and my attention span slash phone addiction is a problem. I need to dial it back. But I do like to read when I get myself into it.
Specifically, I love reading music related things. I'm reading a couple of the — I don't wanna call them groupies cause I feel like that diminishes them — but a couple of the, like muses of like the 70s of some of the famous rockers have written books, and I love reading like their accounts of the music scene in the 70s and the 60s, I think that is really cool, I need to be doing it more.
Working as a full time social media manager, I kind of like dialed it back on some of my creative stuff, so I want to be doing more photography and videography. That is some stuff I do like to do in my spare time.
I am technically certified to be a yoga teacher, although I don't teach, but I love yoga, so working out is important to me. I love — I know that this sounds so cheesy — but I do still love just going on a nice, long drive with my favorite music in the car, and just singing my heart out to it. Doing it around here is a bit hard because of Boston traffic, but outside of the city, it's really relaxing.
So, what are you most excited about with your new position at WERS?
Ooh, getting to work with people like you, actually! I'm really excited to work with the students, that's always been something that I really enjoy about working at a college. Getting to discover more new artists. I mean, already, I feel like every time I turn on the mic, I'm like, “Ooh, this is one of my favorite songs we're playing," almost every time I talk about the songs.
Just kind of getting into getting back to my roots, because I did radio in college. I did it for a long time after, and then I kind of got away from it when the pandemic happened, actually, and the station I was working at, they sold it, and then I think probably two weeks later, everything shut down. So, getting back to honestly what was like a dream job. I wanted to do this when I was graduating and getting to do it, gosh, what is it, like ten years later, is crazy. It's awesome.
Cool! Well, thank you so much for your time, Parker.
Yeah, absolutely!
Read more about Parker here, and listen to her on air, Mondays through Fridays, from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
