Asa Merritt

Asa Merritt, he/him, is host of Six Sermons. Along with longtime collaborator Matt Kagen, Asa started First Rodeo (@firstrodeoaudio), an audio fiction studio dedicated to pushing the boundaries of genre, combining techniques of journalism and theater.

Describe Six Sermons in ten words or less.
Six Sermons is an American epic about mental health and modern church.

How did making this show change you?
Writing the show helped me reckon with my friend’s suicide (his death inspired the show). Initially, those feelings were so opaque to me, so foreign, so big and unknowable. I still don’t know them all, but since the day I started writing this show, I’ve come to understand a lot more of them. Dramatizing Pastor Alexis’ (the show’s protagonist) grief journey empowered me to have my own.

What is different about the sound that went into making the show?
So much! For the primary dialogue, actors rehearsed and recorded using sets. They had props to buttress their vocal performances, and could move around, to better embody a performance moment. The in-scene foley, accordingly, is much more organic, and the piece has a level of texture you can’t find in shows exclusively designed using SFX. We also field recorded in Dayton, Ohio, partnering with a community theater there. They play the church congregation and bring a very satisfying regionalism to the piece.

Why is this story best told via podcast, and not another form of media?
Prayers work best as audio. Sermons work best as audio (after real sermons in church, at least!). From the jump, this was an audio show. The music native to a church, the sonic potential of Ohio locales…so many of these factors are in the very DNA of the piece. 

Tell us something about Stephanie Hsu that we don’t know. 
She is incredibly rigorous. The first day of rehearsal, when the rest of us were having bagels and getting to know each other, Stephanie was in the corner, hunched over the script, hand to her forehead in concentration. It’s a massive role, and we had a narrow production window. Stephanie maximized every minute. 

How did you lose your hearing in one ear?
I had a rare benign tumor in my middle ear that kept growing back despite operations. Eventually, they had to remove a few bones in that ear, which took away all hearing.

How would you describe what your world is like, with the ability to hear with only one ear? Do you listen to things differently?
My world is very loud and very exhausting. We have two ears for two reasons. One is to know where sound is coming from, the other is to focus on one sound amid many. If I misplace my phone, calling it doesn’t help because I don’t know where the ringing is coming from. Formerly simple events, like a coffee out, now require tremendous work. Just imagine that every clanking coffee cup is at equal volume of the friend you’re speaking with. Ultimately, it’s been humbling. Despite youth and health, my ear left me. Bodies fail. 

What advice do you have for people who want to work in audio fiction?
If you want to reach a wide audience, think about how we are already trained to listen to audio (how we listen to music, podcasts, audiobooks) and use tried and true tools. Generally, society is still learning to listen to audio fiction. Meet listeners halfway.

If you were going to start another podcast, don’t worry about the logistics or whether or not anyone would like it, your budget is $1M, what would it be?
I’m sitting on a pitch about a fictional overland roadrace. Something like the Baja 1000. It involves a lot of fast cars and terrestrial radio. The $1M version will be the shoe string version, but will still sound amazing.

Thanks, Asa!