A unique and often bizarre take on the songs of Iron Maiden and growing up in 1980s Birmingham

I've done writing, singing and performing before and even some radio but nothing grand. I wanted to do a new writing project at the start of 2020 and somehow fell into podcasting (a medium I had not considered before) about Iron Maiden (a band I hadn't given much thought about for over 25 years)

The show is a character-based comedy which covers the songs of Iron Maiden and a lot of 80s cultural nostalgia. Wayne, the host, looks at each song chronologically and analyses them while drawing on how he felt listening to it as a boy in the 1980s. He is quite a sad character, and a bit of an outcast for liking Iron Maiden as a young boy. he doesn't appear to have changed much as a grown man!

I have a mixture of listeners, mainly Iron Maiden fans of course and the title of the podcast perhaps prevents more casual listeners but I know a few people who regularly listen who aren't fans of the band and some have become fans as a result which is nice!
 

I was hoping to do some writing and stage work in 2020 but the pandemic stopped those plans. Podcasting seemed a natural thing to do given my background. I had the equipment and knowhow of getting it out there. I only did one episode as a joke on Mixcloud but then it took off so I did more. I hadn't really listened to a lot of podcasts but as I started getting more serious I would listen to some similar ones to make sure I was different to those. As I'm not a comedy writer I also listened to some comedy podcasts to get some ideas.

The first episode was put up in February 2020 and I only shared it with a couple of friends as the characters were based on people we knew. It was done very quickly in one evening - the writing, recording and editing. It was only 13 minutes long and deliberately awful in the presentation. I didn't expect to do a second episode but luckily people got the joke and the feedback was so good that I shared it more widely. There was no goal and I always considered it wouldn't last for very long so I didn't think much about such things. When the number of downloads increased this gave me more motivation to continue and I've now done over 70 weekly episodes.
 

I release episodes weekly and this is difficult as I have to write, record and edit around a demanding 9-5 job, and I've got a 3 year old so I am very restricted to evenings. It has been very last minute sometimes but while I might notice if one episode may not be as good as another I am always surprised and delighted to get good feedback on elements of the show I may not have thought as strong.

There's no real funding. I thought about patreon but didn't think I could guarantee the podcast would last a year as well as provide additional content. I have used ko-fi which is more flexible as people can give one-off tips and you can use it as a website for blog and shop functions. I have sold some merch including t shirts, music downloads and a special poetry book from Wayne's friend Trevor and I am amazed and grateful that people have wanted to spend money on it.
 

I don't gain financially and that is fine. I see it as a hobby rather than a potential career. I've not seriously considered sponsorship even though there is a fictional sponsor each episode. I have to pay for hosting and various platforms and I make that up from ko-fi tips and occasional purchases. I'm not an aggressive seller and I actually see my gains in terms of listeners, interaction and relationships formed through the podcast.
 

Each episode I will listen to the song featured in the episode, think of some ideas and jot them down. I'll structure it into blocks and then record an ad-lib session. I prefer a podcast delivery to sound natural rather than read. Often the best lines or ideas come while waffling on and this suits the characters.

I use Ableton to record and produce
 

Initially I used social media to promote and market, with the occasional advert targeted to certain audiences at the beginning. I get 64% of my audience from UK/US but I love the fact I have strong download numbers in places like Sweden, Mexico and Brazil as it's an unusual style of humour which I wasn't sure would translate well.

I have tried to create unique content based on some of the obscure trivia that comes out of the show, from time travelling ex-singers to fictional band appearances or Fray Bentos pies.
 

Give it a go and don't be discouraged if it takes a while to see results. Believe in your idea and make sure it stands out.
 

You can find details at linktr.ee/wimp