The Chase

The interesting thing is that a lot of people have made their minds up about me. Either you love me, or you hate me, and there usually isn't much middle ground. Most of my friends I have known for a long, long time (and I mean a long time), and my friend Brian Viana certainly is one of them. Brian was one of the first people I talked about Internet radio with years back and most recently. Anybody in Southeastern Mass who has ever owned two turntables and a microphone knows exactly who Brian is. He was DJing and spinning hip hop music when shell toes and Kangols first became cool in the early 80s, and he's been involved in the industry ever since. I've known Brian for 33 years. We lived in the Fordney Street housing project together, and myself, him, and his older brother Jim walked to school everyday together.

Those are the ties that bind, and with Brian as eager and ambitious as he was to get the Internet radio station up and running, his energy rubbed off on me, and we were knee-deep chasing this deal less than 48 hours after my incarceration ended. The deal made a lot of sense: I would be responsible for the talk component and the majority of the advertising sales, and Brian would take care of the music end with all of the artists and DJs he was working with around the country.

A friend of Brian's by the name of Joe Correia would handle the tech. side of it. It's funny - when you meet people and talk about going into business with them, there are many dynamics you have to take into consideration, and the majority of time, it just doesn't work. But instantly, after meeting Joe, I really liked the way he had about him: a quiet confidence, a warm personality, and, as I was about to find out, a huge work ethic. The technical end of this deal is critical; without Joe, there is no deal. I certainly didn't have the resources to pay him the fair market value, but, as I learned from Brian, he was passionate about this venture, as well, as he was starting his own business that had certain components of this project in it.

After meeting with Joe, we quickly organized a meeting at my house on Bond Street. It was Brian, Joe, myself, my friend Scott Bazinet, my brother Christopher, and my good friend Pete Daley. The meeting went extremely well, and the vibe in the room was real nice. It was clear that everyone involved brought specific assets and unique skill sets to this Internet radio idea. It was in that room that we charted a course and put together a plan of action that, for the most part, we have adhered to consistently up until this very day. What we didn't have in capital we had in commitment. It wasn't the legal ties that bound it; it was our friendship and family ties. We have been working the deal diligently ever since.

It wasn't long after this meeting that Hurricaneradio.net became a reality. The momentum I had from my writing while incarcerated translated into real tangible momentum out on the street. Soon the deal started taking place, and the dominoes began to fall.

Originally, we had planned on operating out of a nice storefront on 64 North Main Street, splitting the office with the SouthCoast United basketball team. When the basketball team didn't materialize with the finances not matching up, there was a mad scramble to find a suitable location for our radio station. As soon as we realized we couldn't stay at 64 North Main, we began working feverishly to find a new place.

It was hazy, hot, and humid, and the heat was literally on. I must have looked at over 20 places that day. From Plymouth Avenue to Pleasant Street, from North to South Main Street, from the Historical District to the Arts Overlay District, there was nothing that fit our needs or price constraints. Emotionally and physically drained from a high-pressure day, I asked my good friend Pete Daley to go by one more location. We did, driving by it twice, and took the wrong number down from the "For Rent" sign in the window. Instead of calling it a day, as most would have, I pleaded with Pete to turn around and go back one last time. It was then I got the correct number, made the phone call, and was able to see the office space available.

It was the last rock we had turned over. It was that little extra effort. It was that desperate commitment, with your ass on the line and your back against the wall that brought us to 227 South Main Street, a site that housed a former recording studio.

As soon as we walked in, all of our anxiousness began to ease as we instantly knew this was the place. From the built-in recording studio to the high ceilings to the hard-wood floors to the New York loft-style, we had stumbled on a prime space just across the street from the new Fall River Justice Center. Ironic, isn't it?

Negotiations went easy with the landlord. I was able to get two months of free rent, and before we left that day, the "For Rent" signs were down, I had a key in my pocket, and we were ready to make the magic happen. After the landlord left, I remember sitting and sweating, looking at Pete with a huge smirk on my face, we had accomplished something special today - we didn't give in, refused to lose, and kept working until eventually that hard work paid off.

It was our commitment, our grind, and our character that brought us to this place. We could have easily put it off until another place. Again, it's that extra commitment that made the difference.

They say that the miracle happens in the last five minutes. Well, that miracle happened for us that day, and it was definitely in the last five minutes.

Stay tuned for more...