Their Stories. Their Lives. Their Music. The 60's, 70's and 80's artists who have made the music that you and I have lived by.

I'm a veteran broadcast journalist who always had a passion for music. Particularly the music I grew up with - the music that takes me back to the carefree days of my youth. My show, A Breath of Fresh Air began as a covid project when some of the radio radio stations I report for, asked if I could fill an hour for them as some of their regular presenters couldn't fill their on-air shifts. I went through a huge learning curve to produce and present a terrific music interview show. As a journalist I'm great at tracking down people. I love interviewing them and reached out to some of my favourite artists of the era. I found myself chatting to Gordon Lightfoot, John Oates, Alice Cooper and a whole host of other big names. It was (and still is) wonderful to have warm, fireside chats with some of the biggest names in the industry. The interviews are gentle conversations that often elicit wonderful surprises. Sometimes I'm transformed into being that teenager again and when I ask listeners to join me to chat with their favourite artist, they often appear to be too. It's wonderful reward to receive feedback from listeners who tell me they feel like 'flies on the wall' to intimate conversations they thought they'd never be party to. I LOVE making people happy and this podcast really IS A Breath of Fresh Air in that it can put a smile on your face within minutes of tuning in.
 

ABOFA began its life as a radio show but recently graduated to becoming a podcast when a friend suggested I should put it up as a podcast. I listen to several podcasts and have always been intrigued by the medium but have been fearful about dipping my toes into the water. I understand traditional media, having been a radio and tv producer and presenter for many years. Podcasting is something I knew nothing about and I now feel like a babe in the woods, trying to navigate my way through the system. Initially my goal was to try to grow the audience and monetise the show. This is still my goal and every day I am learning a little bit more about how to do this. I feel I have a long way to go and wish there was some sort of rule book that one could follow to ensure success.

I uploaded several episodes in April. I now have 28 episodes in the system and I'm releasing one at the same time every single week.
 

I work on my show from the minute I wake up till the minute I go to sleep most days. The more I do, the more there seems that I need to do. Sometimes it's incredibly frustrating that I can't seem to make headway, other times when I receive listener feedback or an upward tick in my stats, it all seems incredibly worth it. I'm determined to understand this medium and to do whatever it takes to make it work for me. I really believe in the product I'm turning out and I know the limited audience I currently have, also really enjoy listening to the show. I don't have a day job a the moment although I do work freelance still as a journalist so little bits and pieces. The money I spend on the podcast is minimal but I feel I do need to throw more at it. I pay $80 per week to a wonderful audio engineer in Brazil. I have just paid for new artwork. I really need help in social media marketing but haven't gone there yet. I fund it all myself and have my fingers tightly crossed that with more interest (and downloads) I can attract advertisers and sponsors to help with the fiscal drain.
 

The only part of this question I can answer is the last question - how podcasting benefits me. I just love speaking to each and every musician I talk to. I love finding out about their lives. I love hearing their stories and I'm intrigued by the machinations behind some of my favourite songs. It makes me feel very happy and grateful to be able to share this with likeminded people.
 

I interview over zoom (sometimes the phone) and record via a zoom H6 zoom recorder . I edit myself using final cut pro. I then export my time line via wetransfer to the audio engineer in Brazil who mixes and masters for me. He returns the wav files via wetransfer.

I spend hours researching my prospective guests and more hours trying to find them - sending emails, phoning, sending messages. I never give up the hunt for my dream guests. A good journalist is always persistent. I don't tend to prepare questions but have a broad idea of where I'd like the interview to go. The best skill is the listening one so I'm always prepared to follow the interviewee and the next question often comes off the back of the previous answer. I tend to start somewhere and often come full circle to close down the interview at the end.
 

My show is now available on all major platforms but I am still confused about who aggregates total listener numbers. I can see where the listeners are tuning in from and I try to market through social media as much as I can. I have a strong facebook following and am trying to build both twitter and instagram. To tell you the truth I really dislike having to market the show. I was never very good at selling myself but the quality of my guests are so good that I do my best. Does it work? I'm not really sure.
 

I've learned that there is sooooo much to learn! Every day I learn a little bit more about this business. I wish I had started the podcast years ago and I've learned that no-one really has all the answers. I feel it's a developing and changing landscape and that the only way to get through it all is to keep putting one foot in front of another. I've learned that the podcasting community is one that can be relied on to be supportive and helpful and my advice to people just starting out would be to ask as many questions as you can, ask people for help and don't try to walk before you can crawl.
 

www.abreathoffreshair.com.au
www.sandykayepresents.com.au
www.emmettcommunications.com
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