Electric Arc Radio

[Lights up on writer STEPHANIE WILBUR ASH and musician DAVE SALMELA of the Electric Arc Radio Show meeting for coffee at an undisclosed location in northeast Minneapolis to talk about audiences for MinnesotaPlaylist. They each order an americano because it is better than straight coffee—less acidic— and only costs an additional fifty cents. DAVE pays for both of their coffees because STEPH claims to have no money, even though DAVE later sees a $20 bill sticking out of her wallet.]

STEPH: How do you think we got such an awesome following for a one-hour ensemble narrative radio sitcom–stand-up–musical hybrid that is only intermittently on the radio? That’s not exactly a three-verse-plus-chorus slam-dunk.

How did we get an audience that seems both intergenerational and artsy-educated-hipster?

DAVE: There are many reasons to see the show. Some of them follow you guys around because they want to be writers, and they’ve been to your writing workshops. Some are interested in the musicians that we have as guests. They are people who follow local music. Some are there because there aren’t a lot of other live radio shows going on in town. I think a lot of the older people enjoy the “theater of the mind” radio element.

STEPH: “Older people” have better imaginations than us, huh?

[DAVE gives no response.]

STEPH: I think, too, because we do a new show every time but use the same characters, it’s both comfortable and new. It’s like a sitcom. I think that brings in fans who like to feel close to their art-makers and fiction, and I think that it also brings in creative types who understand what it takes to create stuff and are curious as to how we do it all the time.

DAVE: I think there’s something to the fact that we are just making and showing freshly created work. It gives the performance a lightness that makes the audience part of the process in a way.

STEPH: Interesting. I know that from the writers’ end, when we initially started to read our work in public our entire goal was to turn the stuffy literary reading on its head—this was before we met you, Dave. We wanted to read our stories, but not necessarily sell books, mostly because at that time we didn’t have any to sell—this, of course, was before Herbach’s novel, The Miracle Letters of T. Rimberg, was published in April. All we wanted was to entertain people with literature—we saw its possibilities for entertainment. It was all very Shakespearean. Very Dickensian.

DAVE: [Not believing the Shakespearean/Dickensian thing.] Exactly.

STEPH: And we believed we as writers could make artful fiction that was entertaining. This goal of “liter-tainment” is at the core of what we do as writers in Electric Arc. And because it is literature made as entertainment—it has a literate audience built right into it.

DAVE: [Thinks about how this applies to his music. Wishes he were at a piano so he could write a song about it.] I enjoy literature but I agree it’s a difficult thing to sell on its own as a performance. When we were running shows at our art gallery [Creative Electric Studios], we  specialized in creating environments and situations that would help their work “pop.” I was excited to work with you and the other writers’ prolific writing talents to create an ambitious show that “popped” a little more, with the addition of music and character-actors.

STEPH: And we were excited to add your musical talents and your vast local music connections and your ability to write a song in 30 minutes. Also, your sexy, gravely voice.

From a standpoint of attracting audience, our collaboration was like Eminem and Elton John: Two different audiences, several different forms but, at the base, a similar, or at least complimentary, aesthetic. It’s a perfect artistic marriage in that audiences who come will feel pushed in some ways, but comfortable in others. Maybe that makes going to an EARS show exciting but also safe.

DAVE: I think some of our audience members come to learn about pop culture and to stay in touch with what’s going on culturally. The show challenges people to learn things outside of their demographic. It’s like a demographical group hug.

STEPH: When writing our show—a show which, at its best, is comedic and absurdist with a heart of gold—I am always thinking about audience. I am thinking: Will our people laugh at this? But I am thinking: Is this meaningful? Does this say something more than, “That guy just farted?” Do you think about that when you are making music for the show? What about when we write songs together?

DAVE: When I’m creating music, I have a balance of working with the story, the singer, and the small amount of time we have to rehearse it. In that context, I try to write music that is interesting and challenging and somehow advances the art. This usually creates a lot of challenges for us, but that’s what keeps me interested in it.

STEPH: One thing I’ve noticed about some other artists, musicians, and performers—and even sometimes directors—is that they think only about what pleases them as creators, or only about audience in an intellectual sense, that is, “How can I trip their mind?” That seems a little ass-backwards to me but also makes sense. If you’re making “art” you’re thinking about audience in an intellectual sense. If you’re making “entertainment” you are thinking about it at a different kind of engagement, a baser emotional engagement more located in collective, maybe, or primal need.

DAVE: [Nods. Knows Steph is totally talking out of her ass about this stuff.] Sure, we all like to “trip their minds” but I think it’s important when writing music for this radio show or for film or whatever, that the music serves the story first and foremost. So the challenge is to both serve the story and still create something that I think is interesting. But the first priority is the story.

STEPH: Ooooooooh. That last part is so true. I agree that artists–entertainers must please themselves first. If the creator ain’t interested, ain’t nobody interested. And we have a lot of creators in EARS because we’re so collaborative, so I would add that often what we’re doing is trying to please each other, make each other laugh. That creates a higher level of art–entertainment right off the bat, and I think audiences respond to the way we seem to be enjoying each other.

So are we at Electric Arc artists, entertainers, or both? Can we be both?

DAVE: [Sets down coffee.] Steph, in our group, I think most of us are both. I would like to think that we don’t think about the audience when creating the work. When the show is created, then we obviously want to get people to the seats. We want to make good art, and we want to have some people there. Our show benefits from the “play” between performer and audience.

STEPH: You’re a pragmatist, Dave. Herbach is an absurdist. Brady’s a dandy. Sam’s a sex addict. And I’m a bitch. In the end, we’re all just showmen. But you, Dave, you’re like the Milton Berle of northeast Minneapolis.

DAVE: Umm, thanks. [Shuffles feet. Looks at his watch.]

STEPH: [Suddenly filled with caffeinated paranoia.] Do you think we should even be talking about how we get our audience to our shows? Is this like a trade secret thing?

DAVE: Well, we’ve been doing the show for three years. I think it’s okay to talk about it. Remember how we started with a loyal following from your reading group and my art gallery?

STEPH: [Feigning interest in the past.] Of course!

DAVE: I don’t think we really knew what we were doing, and in fact I remember not telling people about our first few shows because I didn’t know what it was going to be like.

 [STEPH hides her inner hurt at this comment by nodding in agreement.]

DAVE: It was more of an experiment and we didn’t know if it would work at all. I guess we didn’t want people to come see the show just because we were doing it, but because it would be something that we would want to see. From that point on, it became a delightful experiment.

STEPH: I love that. I love “delightful experiment.” I think that’s where so much of the joy in creating our show comes from, and I think our audience responds at least somewhat to our own glee.

DAVE: Yeah. Our audience seems to like the idea that they can see something created fresh each time that is always on the verge of falling off of the rails.

STEPH: Herbach calls it “the wheels falling off.” And let us not underestimate Herbach, who can build community like a nobody’s business. He was born to build community! He’s like community-builder guy, particularly the way he writes so lovingly to our audience in the emails about upcoming shows—he really communicates how our shows were made out of love and for their amusement. And how he solicits opinions from some key fans who tell the truth about each show because he knows that that feedback loop both respects the audience and provides us performers information that will help us grow and get better. It’s inspiring. Oh, Herbach!

DAVE: Planes, trains, automobiles, community... I guess the point is we started pretty small and worked out some chops with a small house that was easy and relaxed to work in.

STEPH: And now? Now what?

DAVE: Good question!

[DAVE and STEPH stare at each other for a few minutes, wondering what else to say that won’t disrupt their delicate dance of respectful collaboration. Finally, they settle on Veganaise®. They both agree it’s pretty good. Fade to black.] ❦