► Tell us about you and your podcast
We are two nerds living in Vancouver, Canada. We met 13 years ago and bonded over a mutual love of G1 transformers. A mutual friend introduced us at a party they were having and –this is a true story– when they saw us talking, came over and said, "looks like I'll have to have another party so you two can hang out again", and I (Matthew) replied "Oh we're hanging out again." and Simon followed immediately with "You can come too if you like".
 
► Why & how did you start this podcast?
The Awesome Friday Podcast was originally conceived because every time we got together we ended up talking about pop culture stuff, to the exclusion of all else and our friends suggested we start a podcast. Partly, we think, because they thought we would be successful and also partly because they wanted us to shut up!
After several years running life changes meant the podcast went on the back burner until 2021 when we were finally able to relaunch and now we record weekly.
 
► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?
we have a modest budget for the podcast, but a regular recording schedule makes things work smoothly. Limiting ourselves to two titles per week means we have plenty of time to make we have seen them both, and in the odd case where one of us hasn't, that one interviews the other about that title. We record for about an hour and do very little editing, and all the post-production takes maybe another hour or two. We'd love to do more, but since we both have day jobs this is what we can dedicate to the project and keep it maintained.
 
► What do you gain from podcasting?
We do not have any sponsorship at this point, but we're starting to look! Most of the benefit to us is that we love doing it, and connecting with our listeners.
 
► How does your podcasting process look like?
We record using Zencastr since we relaunched in lockdown. We use Blue Yeti Mics and our Macbooks, and all our editing is done in GarageBand because it does the job just fine. I (Matthew) put together the episode description on the site and then our podcast host, and also creates the episode artwork using Pixelmator Pro.
 
► How do you market your show?
WE market the show using social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) and Reddit, as well as making sure that we are on every podcast listing that we can be. Our main listening audiences come from iTunes, Spotify, and Deezer, as well as a dedicated group who listen to the embedded player on our homepage.
 
► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?
Honestly, there seem to be two important things to do. First, make sure you have a theme for your show and hammer out what you want the format to be. This ensures that you always know exactly what you are doing for each episode. The second thing is to start. All the tools you need are out there and either free or cheap, so if you want your voice to be heard, there's no reason for it not to be.
 
► Where can we learn more about you & your podcasts?
The best place to learn about us is our homepage, https://awesomefriday.ca! There you will find all of our episodes, as well as other reviews and editorials and all kinds of other content. You can also follow us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/AwesomeFridayCa) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/AwesomeFriday/), and for support, we have a Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mcsimpson