It could be argued the journey to podcasting for me started in part
in 2008 or 2009 discussing my then blog and the online community surrounding
blogging and vlogging. I was pretty uneasy during that show but managed to hide
it enough to be asked back a further five or six more times. It could also be
argued it started the first time I heard a Kevin Smith podcast and the notion
sat with me and peculated. I listen to multiple podcasts each featuring superior
hosts to myself daily which both slaps my self confidence silly and inspires me
to always try to improve.
I contacted a bunch of famous people through social media and traditional
means to find my first guest to no joy for over a month and had all but given
up hope of making this podcast a tangible thing and then I was shocked to find
that Billy Lockett was up for it and within 24 hours I was sitting down in my
office with little prep and the moment the said hi on the phone I realised all
the questions I planned to ask him had gone from my memory. That first episode
taught me valuable lessons,
Lesson 1; Preparation is key; you need to research your guest to the
point you know more about them than they know about themselves which is not
always easy.
Lesson 2; interviewing your friends makes for great episodes. John Farman
I knew from the Scottish Cartoonist Meetings I attend each month and we had a
natural rapport going from early in the interview which left me feeling at ease
and I think I was a better host in that episode than my first.
Lesson 3; don’t advertise interviews until you have recorded them. I made
this mistake at the very start of the show, there were two or three names I
banded about on social media that then for a multitude of reasons fell
through.
Not long after Billy had agreed so did the mighty Jack O'Halloran who was
a complete surprise because I thought he wouldn't want to talk to a noobie with
no track record. He was a complete joy to chat with and had so many great
stories and stories that led to questions I couldn't have pre planned. Again I
think this interview taught me something, that being always be ready to flip
the script.
Johnny Mac was another that signed on to appear before I really had any
strong audience numbers to attract a potential guest with. He was another that
was full of a lot of great stories and advice not just for writers but people
who are dealing with addiction. I learned with that episode to be prepared for
the unexpected.
Irish Mike brought great laughs and funny stories to the show as well as
the shows first four figure download numbers. This was the episode that got the
show noticed and for a brief few moments trending on Twitter. A show, that is a
personal favourite of mine also.
Another personal favourite of mine was the Kim Edgar episode. I think it
introduced a new direction for the show and a break from the usual formula of
intro, advertisement, interview, thank yous and exit music this one-featured
Kim's beautiful music, which really set the interview off perfectly.
The interview with Andrea Perron was the first that caused me to almost
have a panic attack haha as I realised after chatting with her for over two
hours that my recording software had had a brain fart and only recorded fifteen
minutes of it. Thankfully Andrea is a truly great person with a big heart and
she came back within a few days and recorded another two hour plus interview
that featured a lot of stories and incidents we didn't cover in the
first.
The bonus Q&A episode that isn't an episode was an unfortunate
experience and one I hope to not have to relive any time soon. My guest that
was lined up for that week couldn't record the interview in time and I was left
with a dilemma, do I have a week without an episode and possibly lose the
audience I had built up or find something else to talk about? In the end I
chose, rightly or wrongly, to push ahead and do a Q&A knowing all to well
that there may not be any questions thrown my way but thankfully you guys and
gals came through and sent a multitude of great questions, thanks again.
Then I sat down and chatted with a man that is an icon for me, the voice
behind 2000AD Mr Pat Mills. This was a great interview filled with a lot of
topics and great advice for would-be writers and artists out there and Pat was
awesome, they say don't meet your heroes but in this instance it was great.
Craig Campbell gave a great insight into the stand-up comedy circuit, and
that interview was so sincere and yet funny that it definitely makes my top 5
so far. Craig again is a true gentleman and even gave me tickets to his show at
the Edinburgh Fringe which he did not have to do in the slightest as it was my privilege
to interview him and I would just like to publicly thank him here for that generosity.
My interview with Gunner was also a lot of fun to do, as a fan of the
wrestling business for almost 30 years it was such a privilege to sit down and
chat about the industry with a guy living and working within it.
So what's next?
Well immediately next we have an interview with Manga Supremo Sean
Michael Wilson, which was a lot of fun and I know you will enjoy it. Beyond
that I have a few very interesting and huge interviews in the process of sorting
out and if they go through will put this podcast into the next level. I look
forward to being able to talk more about them at a future date with all of you.
Also next for me personally is the release of my debut novel, Deamhan.
Hopefully I can talk a little bit about it in the future months and then maybe
a book launch video on this very blog and all the social medias, hey I need to
eat right? Got to sell those books haha.
This journey will continue and grow from strength to strength and I have
all of you to thank for that so a massive thank you, one and all (not just one
honest) and here's to the next 1000 listeners to join us on this fun ride.
~ Drew
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