► Tell us about you and your podcast
I am a musician who enjoys sharing the stories of other musicians, by interviewing them to discuss their musical journey from it's early beginnings right through to present day. I host, edit and then release a weekly episode every Saturday. My listeners are musicians and people who enjoy listening to real stories about real people. It is a rare opportunity for a musician to discuss their entire journey, from early interests to current day, with an interviewer who allows them to speak uninterrupted.
► Why & how did you start this podcast?
I started listening to podcasts a few years ago and was amazed by the wealth of information that was available in this medium. I was motivated by my interest in the music industry, and wanted to go beyond the traditional interviews that tend to be focussed on one part of a musicians career. Before doing the interview, I research my guest first so that I have a sound background knowledge from which I then write the questions. I learnt from my mistakes from season 1, which was a variety of subjects. Season 2 is dedicated to drummers, as they rarely get to chance to speak during an interview. I also made sure that I had a good reserve of recorded interviews before launching episode 1, this allowed for any last minute cancellations or rescheduling, and meant that it wouldn't impact on the weekly release.
► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?
I retired from full time work a few years ago, so I have time to dedicate to my podcast series. The podcast platform that I use is free, so the only cost is my time. I spend a few hours researching my guests and writing the outline questions for the interview. Once recorded, I download the interview and edit it, plus add in music that the musician has the rights to use for the intro and outro of the interview. I spend a few hours every week updating my social media with information regarding the podcast. I do not have any sponsors as yet, but I am open to having any music related business as a sponsor for my show.
► What do you gain from podcasting?
I actually enjoy interviewing people, and as I am a music lover, I receive personal gratification from helping others in this industry. I would love to gain employment in this field as I believe that I have a lot to offer. I enjoy watching the episodes do well, and look forward to growing a larger audience. Season 2 launched in November 2020 and has been a lot more successful, but I am still a small fish in a large pool of podcasts. According to Anchor I am now up to 1605 plays with 67 unique listeners last week, and 20% of my audience located in the USA.
► How does your podcasting process look like?
I started with musicians that I know, and this has led to others reaching out to me as well as listeners contacting to make suggestions on who to interview. I use the Anchor app due to relaunching during Covid making this an easy option. Anchor has a record with friends feature, so my guest and I can do the interview from the comfort of our own homes. I download the interview and then edit it using Studio one, once complete I upload the mastered copy to Anchor, write the accompanying show notes, and schedule the release for 9am Saturday morning.
► How do you market your show?
I have a Band It About Facebook page that has 1.7K followers, I post the weekly episode release on there, and also share it on a couple of groups, and look for other Facebook groups that might be suitable for sharing the guest interview on. I have just set up a separate Instagram page for the podcast so that I can cross post. My audience is 34% Anchor, 32% Apple podcasts, 8% Spotify, and 26% Other. The interviews that have done well are the ones that the guest has also shared on their personal social network.
► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?
Research your guests, I hate being interviewed by someone that knows nothing about me! Don't talk over your guest, it's annoying and rude. Be prepared for last minute cancellations, life happens and you are not their top priority, so have backup episodes ready just in case. The higher profile guests are not the ones that get the most listeners, as they tend to be the ones that don't help you to promote their interview. Join help groups and look for the good advice amongst the information.