Things Centered Around Gaming & Sometimes Movies

My name is Matheus Carneiro, I'm a Brazilian film student currently also living in Brazil and wrapping up my film course. I hope to eventually get my master's in Canada, so fingers crossed! I once had a mildly successful comedy YouTube channel about Formula 1, so I have some experience making content for the internet outside of podcasting. Podcasts are still very new to me so I'm always learning something new!

My podcast is called Controller Disconnected, it's about video games and related subjects such as reviews, analyses, and discussions. There's also the odd film review every now and then, to keep my original degree sharp. Eventually once I build my skills behind the mic I'll bring in some people to interview and have a proper discussion with on the show as well, but for now it's just me by myself doing my thing.

My listeners are interested in video games and looking for someone to provide recommendations on what to play, or want to hear opinions about a particular game they're interested in. Or maybe they like my weird accent, some people have said nice things about my voice which is cool.

The first podcast I listened to was WTF with Marc Maron a good few years ago but I never really kept up with it. I also guested on a motorsport news and discussion podcast during my YouTube days called Motorsport101, so I already had a little bit of experience before making my own. I really pulled the trigger on listening to podcasts around August of 2019 when I heard about Welcome to Night Vale. I binged that almost exclusively for about three weeks to catch up and wanted some more after that, and my subscription list grew more and more, it kind of got out of hand after a while. Nowadays I manage it better, but I'm still following over 100 shows on my listening app!

I wanted a new creative outlet after not doing much since ending my YouTube show in mid 2018, and seeing as I was really into podcasts I decided to try my hand at one as well. I believed in my potential to make a good show with the experience I already had built up to that point. I also started playing video games more often after defending my bachelor thesis so talking about them seemed like a good choice to go along.

My podcast began when I posted my trailer on January 7, 2020. I downloaded the Anchor app on my phone and it said to make a trailer if I didn't have an episode ready, so I just started recording and rambled something off the cuff to have something on my feed until the first episode came. I've since replaced that trailer with something more polished and to the point, so you can't listen to it anywhere unfortunately.

My first episode came exactly one week after that trailer, on the 14th. I had just completed the God of War game from 2018, so the topic was an easy choice for a first couple of episodes to get off the ground running. I tried recording something improvised, but found it very hard to focus and there was a lot of silence while I thought of things to say. So I scrapped that original recording and wrote something to read off of and be more precise and polished. It's been the same thing ever since, write the script, read into the mic, edit and, publish! I don't write or say much, so my episodes come out rather short, but I think it taps into a niche that likes succinct shows or those who don't have much time to commit to listen to podcasts.

I was releasing episodes weekly until the end of March, at which point I decided to switch to a biweekly schedule to keep the burnout from setting in. The writing takes the most time to do, depending on my work ethic for the day. A script could take anywhere from 3 days if I spread it out, to even a single day if I really sit down and do it.

I'm currently a full time student, so I have some time to spare to podcasting. If I ever do get a job not related to podcasting I suppose I'd have to dedicate my weekends to recording and editing while spreading the writing out more thinly during the week.

I've been through three different hosts until now, but it's mostly due to being a stubborn indecisive person when it comes to such things. Every now and then I look at one or the other and consider switching again until my self-control sets in. Right now I'm hosting with Buzzsprout so that sets me back $12 a month. They offer pretty detailed stats insights which make it worth the price in my opinion. With regards to equipment I carried everything over from my YouTube making days, so no money was spent there unless you count the original date of purchase all those years ago. There's also the website for the podcast (https://condisconnected.com/, *wink wink) which costs another $4,50 monthly.

I apply for sponsors on Podcorn sometimes, but more often than not I don't get any returns. Just have to keep trying and hope they come around one day. The dream would be to have enough to carry the show and make it pay for itself.

My first sponsorship was through Podcorn themselves, they kindly paid for a pre-roll spot on one of my episodes. I must've had some 600 monthly downloads at the time.

Nowadays I'm pushing more towards 2000 after getting a push from Apple themselves in Canada and hitting big in the charts there for a while. I'm still looking for new sponsors, so any offers are welcome.

I've already made some good friends through podcasting, many of them with great shows themselves and others who enjoy listening to them. Not going to lie, I do get a small high from seeing the stats soar every now and then but the interaction with listeners is what I enjoy the most. I wish more people would come to me with feedback and things to say about the show in general and particular episodes. I promise I don't bite!

My microphone is a Behringer C1-U, the USB version of the C1. I don't have much to spare for a mixer, so it does well for now and has very decent quality as well. Maybe once the checks start coming in I'll upgrade. I record with Audio Hijack into my MacBook Pro. It's got many nice trinkets to play with, such as boosting the input volume for my mic which tends to come out low most times and also removing noise while recording which is a godsend. I have a very complicated history with post-processing noise removers. Speaking of which, I edit on Adobe Audition due to familiarity with the Creative Cloud suite. And also because it's a very capable program.

I prepare by setting up my microphone in my home studio, also known as my bedroom, first of all. Then I close the windows to keep the outside noise to a minimum and put the cat out and shut the door, otherwise she will attack me and ruin the recording. She has something against the sound of my voice for long periods of time for some reason. I keep a bottle of water beside me for hydration whenever I need it as well. Once everything is set up, I run the noise remover for a little bit so it learns the patterns and speak away!

Since I currently haven't done any guest episodes I have nothing to share on that matter.

I made sure to use all the proper keywords so it can be found easily by people looking for gaming podcasts. The Apple promotion I mentioned before also helped a lot with finding new listeners, even if most of them haven't stuck around. I'm also very active on Twitter and give some opinions on news and retweet the odd or funny thing here and there to keep engagement up. I have accounts on other social media but Twitter is my main breadwinner.

Social media has been the most useful for me. It's where I made the most connections and gotten the most promotions from peers and services.

Be aware of the time needed to dedicate for your show. It's not just as simple as recording a conversation and releasing it as is. Well, it can be, but it won't be good. Plan out what you want to do and say, and I assure you it will come out much smoother.

Buzzsprout has many videos with tips and suggestions for those looking to get into or improve in podcasting. The Feed by Libsyn and Podnews are two great sources to keep up with what goes on in the podcast world or to just find new and interesting stuff you might want to apply to your own show.

The website for my podcast is condisconnected.com.

My handle on all social media (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc.) is @condisconnected.

If you have money to spare my Patreon is patreon.com/condisconnected, or you can also make a one time donation at ko-fi.com/condisconnected.