Something about the passion of sharing music. Walter Venafro

Today begins our association with JAZZFM.91 - Canada’s premier, not-for-profit, charitable broadcast of, well - jazz. Huge supporters of emerging talent, arts education and community outreach, JAZZFM.91 is at the top of their game as an essential broadcaster of this art form. We will be posting our chats with some of the programme host on the first Thursday of the month, for the next few months. Join us!

Walter Venafro is passionate about sharing the music he loves. Think ultimate mix-tape, with a voice that is guiding you on a voyage of discovery.

Who are you?

I am many things, I guess.  It depends on what day.  I’m Walter Venafro, host at JAZZFM.91, on the weekends.  I’m also the co-creator of Jazzcast.ca, an online radio station.  I’m a voiceover actor, as well as a real estate sales person – something I did to pay honour to my dad who was in the business for three decades.  One needs the income if they’re working in the arts.  That was a way – a means – of creating an income so I could enjoy the luxury of what I enjoy doing, which is broadcasting.

How did you get into broadcasting?

There’s a question!  It really started on a chaise longue, when I was about 15 years old, in my back yard!  I was listening to CFNY 102.1 (known as the “Spirit of Radio”).  I imagined myself working, walking in the hallways, not knowing how exactly I would get there.  I just found myself in situations where I met others who were in radio and that desire to be in broadcasting introduced me to other people.

I got a job working at a station, in early ’84 (I think it was during the local elections.  that led to a part-time on-air job.  Up the hall was CFNY.  I think it was a year into my gig at this station that someone at CFNY asked me if I was interested in working for them as a board operator. I quickly said yes and within three months, I was promoted to road show manager, which was a video road show that travelled to all of the high schools in the greater Toronto area.  That led to more work at the same station.

I went to work at a country music station (not knowing anything about country music) and then quickly became one of the more popular hosts on that station.  But I also, on the side, had this crazy DJ world.  It started with working in small bars. My dream came true about a year after leaving CFNY.  I became very good friends with Skip Prokop, who was the drummer of Lighthouse and also host of a show on CFNY called “The Rock and a Hard Place” – a religious program.  He was doing marketing for a club that was to open up in Mississauga and suggested that I audition for the DJ position there.  I took up the opportunity, got the gig and I was the house DJ at a place called Superstars. It was the largest club in the GTA, a capacity of about 1600.  In fact, we would probably put over 3000 people in over Friday and Saturday nights.

All the while, I still had my hand in radio and was doing a little bit of voice work as well, commercials and stuff. I’ve been involved in radio, in one way shape or another, since the mid-80s and continue to this day.  Seventeen years at JazzFM and we’re coming up to our second anniversary with Jazzcast.ca.

It’s a passion for me.  I’ve put in my 10,000 hours.

What is the attraction of being behind a microphone?

I can only speak from being a radio listener and the passion that I got from my small, little transistor radio at about age 12, listening to these voices on AM radio.  When it comes to music radio, it’s really about a means to share your passion about the music that you’re presenting.  It’s like DJing in a club, except that in a club, you’re not necessarily talking about the music in a context.  You’re mixing records, keeping the dance floor full. In some cases, it doesn’t really mean that you like the music that you’re playing.  Thankfully, I’m in a great place where I’m playing jazz music and it’s something that I truly enjoy listening to.

It comes down to a passion for sharing the music.  I take a page from the early FM DJs in the late 60s/early 70s in North America.  They would string together a set of music that would go from maybe Bob Dylan to Miles Davis (?) to Steely Dan and make it all make sense. There was something about that connection with voices and, again, something about the passion of sharing music.

I’m not one for talking for a long time on the air.  I just like to whet people’s appetite.  I mean, we’re in the world of the internet, so if someone wants to do a deep dive into any artist, it’s available for them, right then and there.  As long as I can whet their appetite about the piece of music I’m going to be playing and they find interest in that – then I’ve done my job.

So, with the sharing of your passion, what do you think your place was in the middle of a pandemic?

I didn’t really think about it at the start.  You’re just doing what you normally do.  I didn’t change anything in particular, in terms of my way of presenting.  I think it became a lot more important to the listener, more so than on my side.  I didn’t dive into the obvious – that we were in a pandemic.  I didn’t think we needed to have that conversation with listeners.  We’re all in the same place – obviously different experiences.  I tried not to bring that up in my programs.  More than anything else, I sat down and thought about the music I was going to play that afternoon and the kind of vibe that I wanted to create as a means for people to escape – whether it was for 45 minutes, an hour, two hours – from reality.

Music is a source of relief – of sanctuary.  During this pandemic, did you feel any sense of responsibility?

In this day and age of radio, most hosts don’t get to choose their music.  It’s programmed for them.  I’m fortunate in that I’ve been given the leeway to pick my playlist, or at least, massage my playlist.  Pre-covid, that was my focus, my target on a regular basis.  In some ways it became even more important to consciously create a soundscape on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon that would put people in a better spiritual and emotional place with the music that I was playing.  So most of the stuff I would play, for example, would be uplifting and have a general ‘feel good’ vibe. 

That’s why, generally speaking, my musical tastes gravitate towards a soul/R&B/funk sensibility.  Those areas speak to me louder than anything else.  I do enjoy jazz/rock fusion, but there’s a place and a time for that.  There are some really good pieces that are uplifting and I do play them occasionally.  But I find myself more in the other categories than in the jazz/rock fusion.  Especially in these times. The rhythm, the kind of vibe that the song elicits is extremely important for me in selecting a playlist, so that it can somehow uplift my listenership.

You are in the one area of the arts that has kept going through this pandemic.  Did you ever get a chance to stop, breathe, reflect?

I’d be lying if I didn’t say that.  Most of my friends on social media platforms are musicians, so I got to see, immediately, what the effects of the pandemic were.  It’s extremely challenging out there for musicians.  No question.  I don’t know what I can do on my side of things, other than to promote music and the artistry of these musicians on my social platforms or during a program.  I can’t even imagine what it would be like not to be able to perform. When you live for that interaction…

Recorded music is great.  It’s wonderful.  But nothing substitutes you being in an audience and the connection with that performer on a music or theatre stage.  And I think that is what performers thrive on – that human connection.  And you need to be in that space where that performer is performing to feel that connection.

I keep that in mind.  That awareness is there as I’m going through my hours on a Saturday and Sunday (and on a Friday night with Jazzcast).  I reach out to a lot of my friends on social media, to see how they’re doing – have conversations to see what kind of emotional state they’re in. Try to uplift their spirits in any way that I can.

Look – we’re all creative beings.  We all have the ability.  It’s a matter of digging in deep to see what we are good at.  It could be woodworking – a kind of meditation.  Music is my woodworking. Pretty much every night, I’m online, going down rabbit holes, trying to discover new music.  There could be two or three hours that go by in that process.  If I didn’t do that, there would be those extra two hours in your day!  That you could fill up with real estate.

I was told that you must have a target at all times.  Short term or long term.  It helps you focus.  You can assess.  For artists and performing artists that don’t have a hard date, you’ve got to look within yourself, see what it is that amuses you first and keeps you in a really good emotional state and then – anything is possible.

We’re in a very difficult situation right now with performance, be it musicians or theatre performers.  I think of the side musicians who used to make a living doing four/five gigs a week.  Those are all gone.  And there’s no other means of making money. You will work again.  That’s going to happen.  This is not going to stop things in that respect.  I think performers are going to be that much more important when we come out of this – if they’re not already important.

You (and the other hosts) are the ‘glue’, assuring an ongoing relevance.

Sure.  Just because there’s a pandemic doesn’t mean that you should stop creating. What I’m seeing is that artists are going back to the main reason they got into this in the first place, and that is to make sounds from the inside.  As opposed to meeting a specific deadline.

What would you do if you didn’t do what you do?

If I didn’t do radio?  Lately I’ve gotten into electronic music.  I’ve always been a fan of EDM.  That music really interests me.  I went out and bought a toy about three months ago and I’m learning to use it. (It’s a pretty cool little toy!)  I would probably be creating more music, because of my club DJing experience.  That world is still interesting.  If I didn’t get into radio, that’s probably where I would have gone – down the electric music avenue.  With a jazz sensibility…

What stopped you from totally immersing yourself in music?

I think the other things were much easier to pursue.  I guess it was less resistance that sent me down the path that I went.  Voice acting and working on the radio came naturally to me.  Making music was a little bit more difficult.  Curating music was easier for me.  Putting music together for a dance floor or a program seemed a little bit easier.

It could have been different.  But at this point in my life, it’s becoming important again. I’m experimenting with, seeing where it takes me, spending more time in my home studio.  At some point, I’m going to have to make a decision. If I had focused on the music side, I think I may have succeeded.  I have the prerequisite systems that have allowed me to be successful in other areas.  I just need to apply that to the music side of things.  I think it was just a matter of time and circumstance before that goal would be achieved.

When the pandemic lessens/lifts, are you still going to be able to give it that time?

I’m going to follow through with this.  Producing music – I have a lot great musicians around me that will help me achieve that.  I didn’t go to school to study music, I played in the high school band.  My calling was with the turntables and that’s why I went down that road and became a DJ as opposed to a musician.

Now I’m at the other end of that.  I’ve done the DJing, I understand what great dance music is.  Experience swilling around in my brain.  Now I need to use the tools that I have to express myself in that fashion.

Yes, I will continue.

Who are you?

I’m this guy who lives just outside of Toronto, who most people know as a voice on the air, but is a lot more than just a voice on the air.  I’m a friend, I’m a brother and my only goal in life is to approach things with peace and love.