A deep dive into ephemeral films such as education, experimental, cult, and documentary films

Matt Comegys is a metaphysical musician from Atlanta, GA who decamped permanently to the mountains of central Japan to get weird with the cosmos. This podcast is but a launching pad to take obscure films of note, and dive into rarified discourse with other wild minds. The farther we get off-topic, the happier I tend to be with the episode.

These weird old (and sometimes newer) films often offer a window into past realities that mass culture has trouble expressing. A good educational film shows of the people and value of that time period with little or no pretension, even if things like production value or acting talent may be lacking. A good experimental film magnifies that to the mind of a few, or a single, trenscental-minded filmmaker. These are perspectives that hold real value, and tend to fire the synapses into unpredictable directions.

I've gotta admit that the folks listening are but statistics on my Transistor, but I'd like to think they are along the lines of film geeks, hipster doofuses, and/or astral explorers.
 

I got bitten by the podcasting bug somewhere around 2016. I'd been walking around in the nighttime listening to Alan Watts in the nighttime. There's only so much Alan Watts, though, and I needed something new. That's where I entered the podcast bubble.

My first podcast was an abortive attempt to work through the tv show "Firefly." The same co-host from that one and I expanded our reach to all sci-fi and started the almost famous podcast "Matt and Luke's Sci-Fi Sanctuary."

Aural Hygiene started in January 2021 mostly as an excuse to talk to my old friend Andrew Shearer, who is the regular Monday episode co-host. We threw about several concepts for a new podcast, and the initial pitch was 'education films,' though I quickly got the urge to expand that reach a bit. I think we spent about two weeks getting a few episodes in the can before making it a public thing.

Soon, other friends began to join me for Friday podcasts, and I realized that I could bring in guests of many stripes for a Saturday podcast. It's made me a busy bunny, but a satisfied one.
 

We initially planned to go once a week with this podcast, but it expanded to two once the RSS feed was a live 'go." Three months later, the guests episodes made it three a week.

I kept this one minimalist from the get-go. I record, and plonk that down into an audio template with the greatest of speed. Sometimes things go a little wonky, though, and I need to put on my editor hat - I am trying to make this a quality affair.

I've got a day job in Japan that runs about 12.30-9pm in generally. That leaves me my mornings, which matches with American nights, and I found it pretty easy to find the sweet spot for guests. So, many mornings I now just roll straight out of bed, throw on my headphones, and have enlightening conversation with strangers, not-so-strangers, and friends.

As of my writing this, it's still for fun. We make enough to pay for our hosting, but not the Zoom Pro I started two months ago.
 

All I'm gaining at the moment is amazing experiences and new knowledge. This is one of those things I do simply because I've got to - it's fifth chakra work, man.

I'd be happy to hawk boner pills if the opportunity came my way, though.
 

I find guest through my own whims and serendipity, though I should note that the Pod Match site has been some help as of lately.

I prefer to Zoom it these days on video. The main attraction is the audio podcast, though I do archive a raw video feed unless the guest prefers I don't.

Post production is generally just an edit for odd mistakes and pauses, and sometimes I don't even need to do that. I give the audio a quick sonic shower in Sony Sound Forge and then let 'er rip.
 

Well, I feel confident that I'm making good content, but I don't have a marketing bone in my body. I get a whim for this or that sometimes (this interview being one of those), anda few more people come in and out of there as listeners. Hey, give me advice on this one!
 

The main thing to do is just to do it, and have a blast listening to the results yourself. And have a good time chatting with your guests if you're a podcast that goes for that sort. And if you're banging your head against a wall with one approach, try another. You may have committed yourself to a premise for a podcast, and you may feel good about it, but it just might not be gaining traction. If you feel you're a good talker, try something else, and you'll eventually stumble on the secret sauce.
 

I've got two podcasts rolling at the moment. I was invited to talk about the one that covers ephemeral films:
https://auralhygiene.transistor.fm/
But I've got a second where I talk about sci-fi with a fellow ex-pat:
https://mlsfs.transistor.fm/
Then, I make a bunch of music here:
https://rovingsagemedia.bandcamp.com/
And, if you straight up want to email, I'm still slightly below the spam border so I should notice a missive:
mcomeg@hotmail.com