Matt Connarton interviewed by Charles Richardson about leaving Retro Spectrum Radio

0:00 Speaker 1: Well, now we got you alone obviously now since we're both part of DARE and we wed. I mentioned, you know what happened to me on my wrestling show, and I know you want to go ahead and let your your your cat out of the bag as well, that you were part of this one show for a long last time, not longer than I was partly of for this wrestling show. Yeah, and and just a backstory on what happened with you and a so called best friend that just turned ugly and for what I understand over the flip of a coin.

0:44 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it was very very strange. Well, of course you're referring to my my falling out at Retrospectrum Radio, the show that I used to do on Friday nights on w M and H. And I've never I've never talked about it on my show because so I'll never you know, on because you know, retrospect Radio is Friday nights and then my show, Matt Connorton Unleashed his Saturday morning. And I've never talked about it on my show and I and I never will because you know, as long as Paul and I have shows on the same station, you know, when when I talked about it.

1:24 Speaker 2: I mean, I did address it the next morning on my show, but I you know, I took the high road and I just said, you know, my my time on Retrospectrum Radio has ended, and you know, I wish everyone well and it was a great ride in sixteen years. You know, I was there from the beginning and all that. But you know, I tried to keep it very positive and and and I'll never say anything bad about it on while I'm on w M and H while I'm actually on that on the air there, because again Paul and I are both still there, so you know, we're both playing on on that team.

1:52 Speaker 2: We're both wearing that jersey so to speak, to use a sports metaphor, which is always awkward because I'm not a sports guy. But you know, but so so I would never because people ask me about it afterwards, and people were asking me, well, are you going to talk about it on your show? And I was like, well, I'll talk about it. You know, I might talk about it on somebody else's show, but I'll never talk about it on WMNH. I'll only say positive things on WM and H. Because he and I we never see each other.

2:19 Speaker 2: Our paths don't cross anymore. But he and I are technically still colleagues right at the station. So while I'm there, I'll you know, I'll never say I'll never say anything on the air, but you know, but I have no problem talking about it outside of there.

2:32 Speaker 1: So but yeah, let's hear all the dirty details on it, since this is a form for you to go ahead and dive into that.

2:40 Speaker 2: So so essentially what happened, the reason, the reason my run on there ended, and I'm gonna be I'm gonna be very careful too, since I am going to talk about it. Actually, this will be my first time talking about it publicly. I h but again, I haven't really had an opportunity to, you know, outside of my own show. Like I said, I won't do it on my own show. I'll be I'm gonna be very careful though, to only only tell you the facts. In other words, I'm not gonna try to add my own commentary into it or anything, or say any or say anything insulting about anybody.

3:16 Speaker 2: I'll just I'll just tell you what happened to fact based account. That way, nobody can say, oh, Matt said this and he shouldn't have said this, or this was out of line. I'm just gonna tell you the facts of what happened. Objectively, what happened. So my last night on the show Friday nights, I would always get there early. I was. I was always the first one there, and part of the reason for that was I like to get there before anyone else so I could do last minute prep for my show Saturday morning.

3:47 Speaker 2: So all the music I was going to play, anything, any new bumpers or liners, I wanted to use anything at all, any audio that I was going to play on my show Saturday morning, I wanted to make sure was loaded into the computer ready to go for Saturday morning. So I would get there early. I would get all the pre production taken care of, and then I'm good, and then I would you know, and I'd always have my computer with me so I can get some work done while I wait for Paul and whomever else is gonna be on the show with us at night's show up.

4:16 Speaker 2: And that particular night, so you know, pretty seemed like a pretty normal night, and I had let in, I think the other two guys that were in the room that night were already there, and Paul gets there or one of the two guys was already there. Paul gets there and right from the get go he was acting strange, wasn't talking, wasn't saying much. It was like, you know, I greeted him when he walked in, he said hello, but he was being very very quiet. And you know, it's not unusual for him to come in grumpy.

4:55 Speaker 2: But because he's a grumpy guy. Again, I'm just speaking objectively. That's just that's just a fact. Anyone who knows him will tell you that, right. But but he was.

5:05 Speaker 1: And that's nothing negative. It's just like, hey, listen, you have your your off days. You're going to come in with either a chip chip on your shoulder or or something personal probably happened that you, you know, you're not too happy about.

5:17 Speaker 3: So yeah, you can. You're not going to come in the best of moods sometimes.

5:20 Speaker 2: Right, And as a friend, I would always ask him, you know, if if he came in and he was upset, or I said, hey, Paul, how's it going, and he said, oh, I had a terrible day. You know, as a friend, I would add, because and I'm an empathetic person, I would ask him how what happened? What's wrong? You know, do you want to talk about it, and he often would. He would often confide in me, you know, because I thought he and I were good friends. I was considered I'm a really good friend, you know. But but this this particular night, he was being very quiet.

5:47 Speaker 2: He was acting strangely yes or no answers to things. He just really seemed in his own head. And then, uh so the show starts. And I don't know if you've ever listened to Paul's show, but there's usually a couple of there's usually a segment of a couple of songs at the beginning of the show, and maybe a comedy bit, and then you hear the intro. You hear the intro music, and then we and then he, you know, brings up the mics and we start the show.

6:22 Speaker 3: Something similar to what I do. Yeah.

6:24 Speaker 2: Yeah, So we get a couple of minutes into that part, and I don't know, I made a joke he didn't like or something, and all of a sudden, he just, uh, he just stops and he says, Ah, that's it for the show, good night everybody, and he pulls down all the faders on the board and he flips he flips the feed over to the replay of last week's show, so we're not live anymore. All of a sudden, the replay is on from the previous week, and he goes, I'm sorry, I wasted everyone's time tonight. And he starts packing up his stuff.

7:00 Speaker 2: He's put away his laptop. He's just and so me and the other two guys who were in the room, Uh, we're just kind of sitting there, like, what's good. So I spoke up and I said, what's happening right now? I don't understand. And that's that's when he flipped out at me and he starts yelling at me. He goes, you're being a fucking tool and and you know your joke is stupid and you're ruining the show, and he just unloaded on me, and he's just he's just yelling at me.

7:33 Speaker 3: Do you remember what the joke was.

7:35 Speaker 2: The joke was something it was just something silly about and I wish I had the audio to refer to, but I don't because he you know, he erased it. But the joke, if I remember correctly, was something like, you know, because he had this dumb bit that he does every week about how you know because on retrospect, radio. We you know, we're going back in time, so we're gonna jump into the DeLorean and we're gonna go back in time. And I made something. He said something about we're gonna run and jump into the Dolorean, and I just made some silly joke, very typical of me.

8:11 Speaker 2: I just said something like, well, I think maybe we should step into the instead of running and jumping into the Dolore, and maybe we should step into it carefully because there's a lot of very sensitive electronics in there. We don't want anything to go wrong. And that pissed him off.

8:25 Speaker 3: Seriously.

8:26 Speaker 2: Wow, I'm serious, that was the moment and he pulls down all the faders that he just starts yelling at me. And in sixteen years of working with him.

8:37 Speaker 3: Sixteen even longer than I thought.

8:39 Speaker 2: It was sixteen now I should say not sixteen years consecutively. There were gaps where he didn't do the show, but.

8:47 Speaker 3: Still that's a long ass time.

8:50 Speaker 2: Yeah, he'd never I mean, I was shocked. I was shocked. So he just unloaded on me and I did, and I did do something uncharacteristic of me. I actually started yelling back at him because there was one particular thing he said to me that really got under my skin. It's very unusual for me to yell, like for me to actually raise my voice at another human being is very very rare. But I did, and I will not and that's the one thing I will not reveal. I will not reveal what he said to me for a couple of different reasons.

9:22 Speaker 2: That really pissed me off. But it did piss me off. So I started yelling back at him also too. You know, you don't get to just stand there and yell at me and me not react. I mean, I'm not a bitch. I'm not just gonna take that. So I did yell back at him and I and I kind of mocked him too. And this might be the one thing that I do regret a little bit, is because there had been a previous incident where he was kind of mean to me on the air where he said some mean things about my show that I actually enjoyed.

9:52 Speaker 2: I thought it was an interesting segment and I just give it right back to him when he did that, so I didn't even take any of it personally. But he was worried that he had hurt me, and he called me. He called me that Sunday crying crying, he called me to apologize. So I mocked him because I was so angry with him and how he was treating me. And by the way, this is in front of other people too. This isn't even in private just him me, right, this is in front of yes, other people who are there. And this is We're in a professional environment.

10:25 Speaker 2: We're in a radio station. You know, this isn't an argument happening at the bar. You know, we're in a professional environment. And this is how he's treating me. And so I as I was walking out the door, I go, oh, by the way, are you gonna call me Sunday crying because you're sorry about how you treated me tonight. I did say that to him, but he you know, but he had that coming. I mean, he just unloaded on and he said weird things to me that didn't even make sense. Yeah, Like at one point he told me, you know what, Matt, you need to get a job.

10:55 Speaker 2: You need it's time you just got a fucking job. He said something like that. It's like, dude, I have multiple Like I'm like the busiest person. I know, what are you talking about? But you know, it's it's just that didn't even make any sense. And I almost wondered if he was having a psychotic break in that moment, because he what he was saying to me wasn't even making sense. It's like, what are you even talking about anyway?

11:17 Speaker 3: Start talking to no? No?

11:21 Speaker 2: But but yeah, so so I left and that was it.

11:30 Speaker 1: Ever since that day, that night, for that matter, has he or you even spoken a word to each other.

11:39 Speaker 2: No. But I'm going to reveal to you something, Charles. I'm going to reveal to you something that no one else knows. Oh unless he's told anyone, because the only person who would know is him. I haven't told anyone this.

11:58 Speaker 2: I did after a few weeks had gone by, after two or three weeks maybe had gone by, I did send him an email and I basically just said in the email, I really regret the way things ended. I don't ever want to come back to the show. I don't want anything to do with the show. But I do think it's really shitty that sixteen years of friendship just goes up in flames in a matter of seconds over a joke that you didn't like. And you know so. But I also in the email, I said I don't regret. You know, I don't regret yelling back at you because I'm you know, I'm going to defend myself and I don't like the way that you treated me.

12:41 Speaker 2: And this is in no way an apology for anything. But I do think it would be good if at some point, someday, you know, maybe we can find our way to at least talking, because you know, because I considered you a very close friend, and you know I don't have a lot of close friends, Charles. I I've always kept a very tight inner circle. I have almost no social life to speak of, not because you know, not because I try to isolate myself or anything. Since I'm a natural introvert, so you know, I'm not someone who you know, You're not gonna see me at the bar having some drinks, hanging out with some buddies.

13:21 Speaker 2: It's just not me. But but I considered him a very close friend, and I thought he felt that way about me, because that dude has confided a lot, way more than I've ever confided in him, because I don't really confide much in people, but he has confided a lot, had confided a lot in me over the years.

13:41 Speaker 1: Yeah, did he ever reply back to the email.

13:45 Speaker 2: No, No, did not not be.

13:49 Speaker 1: There's a couple of comments in there from parks is I love how people overreact to an off the cuff comment. In other words, their understanding of what was said was carried by the image of self worth in their own heads. There was another there was a question here was there a previous incident involving Dolk Electronics harboring blah blah blah? Was there anything that may have triggered it?

14:14 Speaker 2: No, No, I don't know. I do know that there's I can't tell you that there's been a pattern over the years of other people being chased off.

14:26 Speaker 3: You know, not somebody that's been around for sixteen years.

14:30 Speaker 2: No, I never thought it would be me. He finally got to me. It was finally my turn. I guess.

14:36 Speaker 3: So you were trying to take over the limelight. I guess.

14:40 Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't know if it's uh, you know, there was something. And by the way, this is on YouTube. I did. I did post this on YouTube. There is something from back in January that I put on YouTube on the IPM Nation channel titled the Beginning of the End Paul versus Matt, And it's actually the segment where he about which he called me in tears to apologize, and it's him being kind of mean to me and saying insulting things to me about my show.

15:14 Speaker 3: What do you have against your show?

15:16 Speaker 1: I mean, was this the weekly one or the one that was on the Saturday now Saturday mornings.

15:22 Speaker 2: Yeah, so he.

15:23 Speaker 1: Had a problem with your show or had issues with your show of interviewing musicians, Yeah, he was, and leaders of Manchester.

15:34 Speaker 2: He was saying my show was weak and I should just end it and all this. But the thing is, and people have a hard time understanding this because other people who heard it were upset on my behalf like well Paul was really mean to you, and I was just like, well, actually I thought it was a fun segment because when Paul would get like that with me, I would always just kind of give it back to him and sort of laugh in his face, which I thought was fun. I would never let it get under my skin ever, So so I was so I thought it was an interesting segment, and I thought it was compelling radio, and conflict often makes for compelling radio.

16:11 Speaker 2: So I actually had no problem with that.

16:13 Speaker 1: Why you've spent all that time engaging with crazy Joe because that you you thought was compelling radio.

16:21 Speaker 2: Yeah, so yeah, exactly. So you know, I didn't have a problem with it. I wish that, you know, the the final meltdown. I wish that had happened on the air. You know, if that had happened on the air, I would have been in my gloria. That would have been great radio. You know, but it doesn't that.

16:41 Speaker 1: That would have been like like the news or something like that flat in Manchester. Yeah, that would been great. Yeah, I would I would have loved to hear I would have just loved to hear the whole ramp between you and him back and forth. Right, So, I'm sure the two o the co hosts were just popping pop point of like sitting back watching eating.

17:03 Speaker 2: Yeah. Well those two guys, I won't say they're next. I won't say there well yeah, I mean.

17:11 Speaker 3: You don't have to say the names.

17:12 Speaker 2: I'm just saying everyone. Uh, you know, everyone gets chased off there eventually, except you know, the board. The only thing is, I mean, the thing that was very clarifying about it for me though, is I realized that those guys are not my friends either, because and I'm not mad at them. I don't even resent them for continuing to do the show. I do not, and and anyone who and and there's other people too who continue to do the show who are not there that night. But but the thing that I realized about them is, if let me put it this way, if you were in that room when this was happening and I was being treated that way, if you were in that room and you can witness me being treated the way that I was being treated, and you can still come back the week because I did tune in the next week's show, If you can just come back next week and be backslapping and and and and yucking it up with the person who treated me that way.

18:12 Speaker 2: In other words, you're completely fine with it, you have no problem with it. You've offered your tacit approval for the way that I was treated. Then you're not my friend. So I'm not mad at those guys. Obviously they like doing the show. Good for them, but I do. But I do understand now they're not my friends. They're acquaintances, they're people I know, but they're not my friends.

18:32 Speaker 1: The people that do that show, do they have anything to gain by doing it besides just being on the radio.

18:39 Speaker 2: Yes, one of them is a singer songwriter from the area who started doing the show and then also started playing a lot of gigs. And I think for that individual, of the show is a vehicle for him to help promote his music music career, so he's getting something out of it. Very very nice person. Someone I considered a friend. I now realize he's not my friend, and that's perfectly fine. He's an acquaintance, he's a guy I used to do a radio show with, and that's fine.

19:09 Speaker 1: But the only consider that person not a friend because they continue to do the show.

19:14 Speaker 3: Well, I mean it is, it is.

19:15 Speaker 1: It is a beneficial for them to It's like it's almost like, listen, I can't put business in front of friendship or friendship in front of business.

19:24 Speaker 3: This is business. I'm here for business purposes.

19:28 Speaker 1: I may not like the host, or I may not have a nice thing to say, or I definitely probably don't condone what he did, but this benefits me as a business.

19:40 Speaker 2: I right, I totally get that, and I agree. And if it is benefiting him, which I believe it is, then he should continue to do the show.

19:49 Speaker 1: Well, why would you say that he's not a friend because he's just he's he's not standing up for you because he's a he's afraid that it's gonna endanger that that benefit of it.

19:59 Speaker 2: Right, here's the thing. If you could be in that room and watch what happened and still show up every week and be completely fine with it and actually approve of and tacitly endorse it. Because here's the thing. The two guys who were in that room, Yeah, neither of them ever said, ever even spoke a word to Paul. I know this for a fact. Neither of them have ever even bothered to say to Paul at any point. You know, Paul, we love you, we love doing the show. The way you treated Matt that was a little fucked up.

20:32 Speaker 2: But you know, neither of them ever did that. You know how I know that because if they did, they wouldn't still be on the show.

20:40 Speaker 3: They know that. You should know that.

20:41 Speaker 1: They know that you see something to Paul, you're following Matt right out the door.

20:45 Speaker 2: Right, Oh yeah, yeah, because because Paul wouldn't have been able to handle that, and he would have driven them out too.

20:51 Speaker 1: Now are these two people, these two individuals are did you ever conversate with them off the air?

21:00 Speaker 2: The only time I had any contact with either of them was that night. I basically sent each of them just because, and I had an ulterior motive for doing this, because they were still there when I left. But I did send them each a text message basically saying, Hey, that was pretty wild, huh you know, or something like that. I wanted to see what they had to say, because I was curious what was said after I left. Neither of them had much to say to me, and I haven't heard from either of them since, and I'm quite sure that I never will.

21:31 Speaker 2: I don't expect i'll ever hear from either of those guys again. They've made their choice, they're happy with their choice. Good for them, and it's it's clarifying. And by the way, the guitar player there, who's there Friday nights, he's been on my show a couple of times, and if he ever wants to come on my show again, he's welcome to. If I get a text from him and he says, hey, Matt, can I come on your show, I'll have him on, no problem. But at least now I'll have him on with the understanding he's not my friend, he's an acquaintance and and he's welcome on my show.

22:04 Speaker 2: I like him. He's a nice guy, but he's not my friend. I know that, and that's fine, totally fine, But I'll never hear from him because here's the thing. For him to actually come on my show, he would have to get approval from his boss on Friday night. Oh and that guy's not gonna not gonna go for that. So uh because because Paul. Because Paul also does not like people who are on his show going on other people's shows. And that's why a certain person named Steve Light was driven out because Steve Light was going on the Morning Show and Paul didn't like that.

22:36 Speaker 2: So now Steve Light goes on the Morning Show and has his own show on w M and H.

22:42 Speaker 1: Hey, but we there should be a segment that you should do one of these days, either on a just like a YouTube short or something. The characteristics of Crazy Joe versus Police C and the similarities that they have, Oh yeah, yeah.

23:03 Speaker 2: Some similarities being the narcissism, the inability to take to accept any accountability for one's actions. It's always always always everyone else's fault yep, the megalomania, the and and the and the treating friendship as purely uh transactional. Some people are only your friend for as long as you are of some use to them, as long as they can get something out of you. I apparently no longer served a purpose for that particular individual because they felt that I had You know, I was no longer in that positive.

23:42 Speaker 2: I was now in that negative. I was a drag on the show. So therefore, he, in his mind, had no choice but to terminate the friendship because I was no longer of use to him in his mind.

23:54 Speaker 3: Parks goes ahead and then mentioned solidarity through cowardice.

23:58 Speaker 2: Yeah, because that's the other Ye. Well, yeah, cowardice is a good word, because the thing is too If he wanted me off the show. Oh and I did say this to him in the email that I sent to him. If he wanted me off of the show, if he felt like I was no longer contributing to the show, all he had to do he could have done this at any point. He just pulled me aside, and say, Matt wouldn't even have to pull me aside. He could email me, he could call me a lousy text message would have been fine. But if he had communicated to me at any point, Matt.

24:29 Speaker 2: I'm sorry. You've been with me from the beginning. It's been a great ride, and I appreciate everything that you've done, but I just don't think it's quite working anymore. I don't think the chemistry is still there. I think I want to make a change with the show, so I want you to I'm sorry, buddy, but I want you to step away. Fine. I would have accepted that. I would have, you know, as a professional and also on a personal level. You know, I would have appreciated him for coming to me and maturely expressing that to me, and I would have said, yeah, no problem, dude.

25:00 Speaker 1: You know it didn't sound that's the way he operates. He operates obviously on instinct and and just pure emotion.

25:08 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, he's he fired. He fired someone once during the show. There there's a guy and I'm not gonna I'm not gonna say who it is, and it's not anyone you would know. But this individual has since returned to the show though, incredibly enough. But there's a person who he was so annoyed with. He actually said during one of the music breaks one night, Uh, it's not working out, dude. I think you got to go like during the show, this was a few years ago.

25:33 Speaker 3: Couldn't we talk that the show's done and it had to be then? Huh it had to be then? Wow, Well, Matt, thank you very much for sharing that. I know.

25:42 Speaker 1: That's it's kind of it's kind of like the exclusive right here that we got, uh, the the policy meltdown on retrospective basically the retro rejection of Matt Carrington.

25:54 Speaker 2: So yeah, and if and if he sees this or anyone sees us who wants to be mad about it or hear's us and wants to be mad about it, I just well, I just explained what happened that that nothing I said was an exaggeration or a lie or anything. That is the objective truth. And I've got witnesses. Of course, those witnesses are.

26:12 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, every won't speak.

26:14 Speaker 2: They won't they'll they'll never stick up for me, obviously, and that's fine. They're not my friends. I wouldn't expect them to. But but that is what happened. That is the objective reality.

26:25 Speaker 3: Yep, we're gonna step aside here.

26:27 Speaker 1: We're well into our and do dose as you would say, new marrow dose, right,