“It’s a big planet. There’s room for everyone.” Captain Phil.
Community Radio Volunteer DJ out of Stony Brook, NY takes over the airwaves geeking out on science fiction and progressive rock. His radio shows Captain Phil’s Planet and Jim Dexter hit the airwaves on WUSB Radio and entertains through his love of science fiction and music. Some remember Phil from Destinies the Voice of Science Fiction going way back to 2005, while others know him as simply one of the nicest nerds on the planet. Many such nerds connect with “The Captain” through their love of the 70s TV series “Space:1999.” To those who have been lucky enough to meet this guy in person, or online, they know what a sincere and dedicated sci-fi fan he is.
His radio show boasts guests like acclaimed author Andrew Aydin, Viper Violinist Joe Deninzon, and classic “Star Trek” actors David Frankham and Michael Forest. The DJ even “chats with” the occasional fictional guest such as Marvin the Depressed Robot from “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” Get to know Captain Phils who loves to entertain while multitasking the buttons behind the radio scene.
Colleen Bement: To start off with, should I call you Captain Phil?
Phil Merkel: I like Captain Phil. My real name is Phil Merkel. I’m a retired music teacher, WUSB DJ since 2015, but involved with WUSB (radio) with the Destinies the Voice of Science Fiction since 2005. I came up with the Captain Phil idea because I bought a comic book years ago called “Captain Phil and his Intergalactic Space Pals.” That’s an actual comic book! I believe there was only one issue. I liked it because it had my name in print. I liked seeing my name in print, kind of a narcissist, and I also liked the whole captain idea thinking that I could be the captain of something.
I will tell you this, I’ve never been in the military, never held a rank, but sometimes I am a little rank. (laughs) It’s all for fun. My show is Captain Phil’s Planet, and when I have bands and guests on, I say it’s a big planet–there’s room for everyone.
CB: You’ve got two radio shows. One is Captain Phil’s Planet and the other is Jim Dexter. Tell us about them.
PM: Captain Phil’s Planet is the show that I pestered management on WUSB until they let me go on the air. To shut me up, they gave me some air time. I originally started out on Fridays at 1:00, then I eventually landed to my current spot, which is alternate Thursdays from 3:00-5:00 pm ET. That is a show that I like to do a lot of progressive rock music. I like to talk about science fiction, “Star Trek” and “Star Trek” conventions, or “Space:1999” conventions, or “Star Wars” things. As a joke, I interviewed Marvin the Depressed Robot from “Hitchhiker’s Guide” (to the Galaxy), and stuff like that. I try to fool around with that sort of thing. I also like the prog-rock scene, and I like long-form music–pieces that go on for 20 minutes.
That’s Captain Phil’s Planet. The Jim Dexter show is a show that airs from 6:00 to 8:00 am on Tuesday mornings. Jim Dexter is a classic, legendary WUSB DJ. He is the DJ that I listened to when I wanted to get on the station. I would listen to him every morning, getting ready for work. He does great things. Right before COVID he got very sick, and they were filling in for Jim for a while, and finally, the person filling in said it was too much for him and asked if anyone wanted to volunteer. Of course, I love Jim. I love his show, and we had just transitioned because of COVID to do live remotes like we’re doing now, and I would do Jim’s show as a pre-record. I’ve been doing it for a year now. Jim is hopefully getting better. I always told him that when he’s ready to come back, the show is his. I kept the music playing, every week.
CB: What kind of cool guests do you have lined up for the next few months?
PM: I do. I’m only on again on May 20th, and I do have a guest book. That would be Michael Schilling from the Baltimore area “Star Trek” convention Shore Leave. This is a fan-run “Star Trek” convention that’s been around for 40 something years. They’ve had Shatner, they’ve had Nimoy, and they also do other shows where they had the dude from “Stargate”—
CB: Richard Dean Anderson?
PM: Yeah. What my favorites from Shore Leave have been the classic “Trek” people like Michael Forest who played Apollo in ‘Who Mourns for Adonais.’ I loved talking with him. What makes Shore Leave special is that it’s a fan-run convention.
PM: Then in June, I think the 17th, I have the band Evership coming on. They’re a great prog-rock band from Tennesee, and they do really amazing stuff. And then, later, I don’t have a lot of stuff booked because of COVID. I’ve been trying to place a little loose here and there, but I do get a lot of guests coming in from Crossover Media. I do have a local Long Island artist coming on in October named George Barry. I’ve played some of his music in the Jim Dexter show that I do. He’s a cool dude. I’ll also have some other guests such as Marybeth Ritkouski of the Ticonderoga Festival in New York.
CB: Where can people find your shows and guests?
PM: I have a Facebook group called Captain Phil’s Planet. For big events, I’ll put together a Facebook event page, and I’ll send it to the WUSB website.
CB: Tell us about some of your favorite guests that you’ve had on your show.
PM: This is the guy who played “Is There No Truth in Beauty” David Frankham, and David Frankham is 92 years old. I pre-recorded an interview with him, and we had a marvelous conversation that lasted two episodes. We talked about what he did: Two “Outer Limits,” a “Star Trek” episode, the movie “The Great Santini,” and he did films with Vincent Price, and he did “Return of the Fly.” Such a marvelous guest. So personable, so nice. I loved talking with him. He pushed all the nerd buttons.
I also talked to Andrew Aydin. He was a congressional aide to Rep. John Lewis, and it was the story of John being beaten on the bridge, and about the Freedom Riders movement. Andrew Aydin was a comic book fan from way back and he suggested to John Lewis that his story would make a great graphic novel. Like a lot of the people in the office told him not to bother with it. John Lewis took him seriously. It took off and won a lot of awards, and it also became part of a school curriculum. I’m going to try to get him back this summer. He’s doing another book called “Run” which is about John Lewis’ run for office.
My last great guest would be Joe Deninzon. Joe Deninzon plays the Viper Violin which is a seven-string violin that he straps to his shoulder. He’s basically the Jimi Hendrix of the violin. He did a live performance in studio and knocked my socks off. He just improvised this amazing thing and he was just great. He’s been working non-stop.
CB: I want to take you way back to when I first met you at a “Space:1999” convention in Tampa, FL back in 2001 when I called you Oh Captain, my Captain. Does it blow your mind that people still watch “Space:1999” and do you still watch it?
PM: I have not watched it recently, but if I watch it, I watch it on YouTube when I’m looking for a quote of a clip. I think the thing that blows my mind is that you and I got to be friends. Personal friendships transcend the show. The show, is the show, is the show. We like the show. The real benefit is the actual people that you meet along the way. I think that is the ultimate thing. Long time friends with Anthony DiPietro, Mateo Latosa, Bill Latham. Things like that made me feel a part of something bigger than myself. It gave me a sense of community.
Phil also engineers Mondays 9:00 am through 1:30 pm weekly alt-weekly 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm and runs prerecorded programming on Monday 5:00 pm, and alternative Mondays 5:00 to 8:00 pm. He puts on his engineer hat Thursdays from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm weekly. He occasionally comes to the station’s aid by running pre-recorded programming throughout the week.
Stay connected with Phil Merkel on Twitter and Facebook.
Written by Colleen Bement
Hi, I’m Lynn, and I Make.
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