Sushi Jackknife is a stream-of-consciousness, comedy podcast. Nothing But A Bob Thang is a podcast dedicated to Bob Ross.

Sushi Jackknife has been described as "elevated dude chat" by a listener. Nathan and I have an improvised conversation that is about the world and our lives. I am an audio engineer by trade, Nathan works an office job from home. We have been friends since 2012 and found we had a natural rhythm talking with each other. We've played and recorded music together and have both done some writing. Our listeners are a wide range of creative individuals from around the country and the world. Nothing But A Bob Thang is a podcast dedicated to the life and work of Bob Ross and The Joy of Painting public television series. Each episode we cover an episode of the Joy of Painting, discuss any news in the Bob world and rate the painting with our rating rubric. Our listeners are dedicated and casual Bob fans from around the world.
 

We love podcasts! We wanted to start our own shows because we were fans of other shows. We had been listening for years before starting. Initially, we just wanted a creative outlet and wanted to try podcasting. We did Sushi Jackknife first. Then we quickly realized the special kind of flow we experienced with each other and found it so fun that we never wanted to stop. We started Nothing But A Bob Thang when we realized that people might like a show which was actually about something, haha. It's been fun stepping deeper and deeper into the Bob community. Sushi Jackknife began in 2015. Nothing But A Bob Thang in 2018. It didn't take long to release our first episode. We pretty much jumped right in.
 

We release one of the shows approximately once a week. It doesn't take long to produce an episode... about two hours per episode of either show. We both have families and day jobs. Our spouses are very understanding. We have a regular standing night to record each week, but adjust when necessary. We fund ourselves. Being an audio person I already had most of the equipment we needed. We spend very little on hosting and do all the editing, marketing, Etc. ourselves.
 

We have done ads in the past though we currently don't have a regular advertiser. All told we've probably made less than $1000 from podcasting, but any money at all has been exciting. We have found and continue to find sponsors through our hosting service. The biggest benefit is friendship. We have become such close friends since podcasting and have had some very cool experiences together. I also love bringing new friends into the shows and meeting new people through the shows.
 

I record in Pro Tools with a Focusrite interface and two condenser mics. We generally contact any guests ourselves and do so directly through social media. We don't prepare for Sushi Jackknife. For Bob, we watch the episode, take notes and reference a few other sources before beginning. We have had guests both in person and via Zoom/other video meeting software.
 

That's a good question. I'm not entirely sure how people find us. Some of it is word-of-mouth, otherwise I'm not sure. We've done some "guerilla marketing" ourselves, but no other major marketing. Sushi Jackknife listeners listen mainly from "Other", but also from Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Bob listeners listen overwhelmingly from Apple Podcasts, but also from Spotify. We mainly use Twitter to connect with listeners.
 

I would say the best thing is to just get started. If you think you have a good idea (or better yet, a unique idea) for a show then spend a little time planning and then just go for it. Podcasting should be fun first... everything else is secondary. I have mostly found guidance from listening to a lot of other shows of a wide variety. I try to consider what I like or don't about each show and use that to inform our shows. Some shows have great content but not great audio. Some are very popular, but I can't connect to the host(s). Etc.
 

sushijackknife@gmail.com
nothinbutabobthang@gmail.com
justindrakecroft@gmail.com
@Bob_ThangPod on Twitter
@sushijackknife on Twitter
Paypal Email sushijackknife@gmail.com
And thanks!