Local Radio Host Hopes to Make it Big on the Air

The saying goes that morning talk radio host Tom Joyner is "the hardest working man in radio," but one Deer Park resident may very well be the hardest-working man in radio that you've never heard of.

Eammonn Dignam – also known as AmenPhoenix, his radio handle – is the host of BadSeedRadio, a rock/metal radio show based out of SUNY Old Westbury's online radio studio that can be heard here on Mondays from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. And that's the starting place from which he hopes to break out as a major player in mainstream talk radio. 

But in the meantime Dignam, 33, is working as a freelance radio producer for a New York City-based station. And as a supervisor in the food service business. And as a courier for a local chain of stores. And he's the bass player in the band The Kid Henry. Hence, the hard work.

"I compete with myself," said Dignam, a 1997 graduate of . "I go nuts without the stimulation. I don't care what anybody else does, just how well I can do something. Without my goals and determination I become depressed and listless."

The radio show, which has been running for about three years, combines music with commentary and interviews. Dignam started out hosting alone, but now has co-hosts "Just Greg" and "The Girl." They frequently invite local bands onto the show and play local music.

But radio wasn't Dignam's first love – it's his second.

"I graduated high school with no plans except that I was going to be a musician. I was going to be a rock star," he said. "When reality set in, I almost felt like everything had passed me by. It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to do."

Last year, he graduated in 2011 with a degree in communications, a radio concentration, and the goal of following in the footsteps of his idols Opie and Anthony and Ron and Fez.

OWWR program director Tom Gubelli said Dignam's radio show goes beyond setting the bar high for other programs on the station.

"Besides being the longest standing rock show on our station, I’m pretty certain he has a lot to do with setting the bar for other college stations as well," Gubelli said. "He does an all around great job with it. He puts a lot of thought and effort into what he does and I look forward to his show every week."

Along the way up he has seen his fair share of adversity, but he uses it now as motivation to succeed. Dignam even draws part of his radio handle from the famous mythology of the phoenix – "everytime I've been destroyed emotionally, I come back different and stronger."

"It has given [me] the drive to succeed in everything," he said. "I don't accept failure."