It’s been a crazy past few years for indie filmmaker Jason Steeves. In December 2011 he began work on We Want The Airwaves: The WFNX Story, documenting the then-ongoing legacy of Boston’s legendary alternative rock radio station. But in June of the following year, the Phoenix Media Communications Company sold the 101.7 FM frequency and the station abruptly went silent, accelerating interest and action in his project. After a short-lived six-month run as an online-only stream (full disclosure: I was music director of wfnx.com), the station died its last death in March.
Now, We Want The Airwaves, named after the Ramones song, finally has a screening date: October 19 at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square, with a release party afterwards at nearby Johnny D’s. The doc features interviews with the station’s main players and DJs during its 80s and early-’90s rise, as well as live clips and other exclusive looks through the WFNX archives.
Tickets for the release party go on sale tomorrow; it features live performances from Parlour Bells (who played at the Paradise for WFNX 101.7 FM’s sendoff last summer), a Nirvana tribute band called Nervana (your guess is as good as mine), and former morning host D-Tension with DJ Emoh Betta.
Wrote Steeves this afternoon on the doc’s Facebook page: “I’ll make a more extensive announcement in the next day or two here and on Kickstarter, but I just want to say that I am SO UNBELIEVABLY EXCITED for the We Want The Airwaves screenings at Jed Hammel’s Filmshift Film Fest at the Somerville Theater, as well as the movie release party at Johnny D’s. Huge thanks to Randi Ellen Millman for helping make this happen!”
Check out the trailer above.