Interview with TV’s Mr. Neil on Podcasting Approach

Hey, this is Joe Sanfilippo. You're listening

to the GeekCast Radio Network. There is nothing

wrong with your podcast player. Do not attempt

to adjust the volume. Hello and welcome to Studio

2009. I am of course, Steve Joe and Mike. Jamie,

as always, is Steve Megatron. Hello, sir. Hello.

Hello. And for our latest podcast approach guest,

we welcome that gaming hipster himself, TV's

Mr. Neil. Hello, you. Yes, we are here and we

are no longer waiting. So for those that don't

know, podcast approach is our, my, whatever you

want to call it, interview thing about people

who listen to or Produce podcasts we have 30

questions Steve and I divvy them up over the

next hour or so depending on how Neil gives his

answers and We find out about his podcasting

habits starting off. When did you first discover?

Podcasts and what was the first one you listened

to? Oh my god very very early 2000s. I can't

tell you what year obviously I guess the first

one I ever listened to on a regular basis would

have been like, I think Scott Kurtz had a podcast

and it was back to back with this other podcast.

I think it was called The Big Fanboy Show or

something. It was like two different shows, but

they kind of hosted together and the two shows

would run together. It was like an all night

thing and it was really interesting to do while

I was drawing or whatever I was doing at the

time. That was one of the, I think that was the

earliest one that I really started to listen

to. Very cool, very cool. That was during the

time when downloads were forever. So it's like

you basically picked one. Yeah, you picked one

and there was no streaming podcast back then

I don't think. Right. How long after you started

listening did you want to start your own podcast?

It wasn't really that I wanted to. It was that

I knew someone else who was starting a podcast

and he asked me to be a guest on the podcast.

And then just somehow I wound up being the co

-host because he didn't know how to edit and

I did. So I wound up editing the podcast and

I kept reappearing on the show and I just wound

up being the de facto editor. So that's how that

happened. Very cool. It's kind of like how the

beginning was Steve and I. I didn't know how

to edit anything. And then about 2009, 2010,

I learned and I was like, and now I'm like, Steve,

long as you let me record it the way I want to,

I'll edit whatever, edit it however you want

me to edit it. As long as it doesn't take me

eight hours, because I have to go through every

second of audio. Anyway, what was your plan in

getting your podcast off the ground? I'm not

sure I know how to answer the question. My basic

plan was just This is going to sound like a lame

answer, but it was just to start and to make

sure it was listenable. I'm a very meticulous

editor. I used to spend a lot of time editing

the old animation fishnado's episodes, taking

out all of the pops and hisses and awkward pauses.

And then I figured out that there were tools

that did that for me. So after a couple of months,

I was like, oh, well, this takes a lot of time

out of my... out of my system. It wasn't really

a plan. It was more like, okay, I'm doing this

now, so I need to figure out how to do it. So

it was kind of a learning experience as I went

along. Yeah. Which do you prefer audio or video

podcasting as a fan and as a producer? It depends.

For me, as a producer, audio, I've never appeared

on camera and I don't really want to. I like

my privacy. In fact, Facebook there are very

very few pictures of me and I've asked like friends

and family I'm like I don't really want to appear

on the internet so don't don't put pictures of

me up if you can help it so I don't I don't appear

on camera so I I totally prefer doing audio for

other people mostly audio there is the occasional

video podcast I will enjoy but not too often

because you know if I'm working and I can't I

don't really One of the big reasons why I listen

to audio podcasts is because I'll be working

and it's just something to have on in the background.

So I'm not really watching anything. It's very

few podcasts that I actually watch. Yeah, I much

prefer to actually listen to it. Like even some

of the video stuff, it's like, I'll put the video

on in the background. I don't need to see what

you're doing. I just need to hear what you're

saying kind of thing. All right, Steve, take

over. So. What kind of setup did you have when

you started podcasting and what do you use now?

I had a studio mic that was literally just run

through an adapter to the PC and I said headphones

and that was literally it and a copy of Audacity.

I had it was a microphone. I don't I couldn't

tell you what kind of what brand microphone it

was, but it was like literally just a like a

mic you see like on stage. Nowadays, there are

very specific microphones that you buy for the

computer. I think it's called a snowball mic.

It's this mic that's just like a ball on top

of a stick, and that's what I have now. I got

it because I heard that it was a really good

microphone, and then immediately after I opened

it up and got it, I saw another review that kind

of dogged it and said it. I'm like, oh, geez,

I didn't really even get the best microphone.

But it's OK. I hear other podcasts. I'm like,

yeah, my audio could be a lot better. What's

funny is I have the Yeti. I've had it since 2011.

It sounds pretty much close to what everybody

else has. You just have to know how to use it.

Yeah. So I get that. So if your headphones or

mic breaks, do you buy the exact same setup or

do you use that chance to upgrade? I will use

that chance to upgrade. I haven't had a reason

to upgrade in a long time. This is literally

the second mic I've ever had. So this mic is

doing great. My headphones, my headphones generally

fall apart. I'm really rough on headphones. I've

had headphones that I've basically Frankensteined

together just because I break them so often.

Right now I have a set of headphones that, see

I broke the, it was usually the wires in the

headphones I would break the most often. So now

I have a headphone that just has like a three

and a quarter inch jack in it. So I just have

to replace the jack once it dies. So now the

headphones just last forever. There you go, that's

awesome. Yeah. I know you can get like wireless

mics, but I don't like batteries. Yeah, I'm of

the same opinion. I don't like wireless stuff

because of batteries too. Did you think you'd

be podcasting for as long as you have? No, I

never really thought of myself as a podcaster.

I started out as a web cartoonist. And I'm like,

well, I don't have anything interesting to say

except if I was like to talk about my own stuff

and I didn't think my stuff back then was really

all that hot. So I'm like, I don't really have

anything to say on the Internet. And then started

talking about cartoons and found out I had a

lot a lot of things to say. So that's just kind

of how it happened. Awesome. Awesome. So how

have your podcasting goals changed since you

started compared to now? Changed I've basically

changed how I my goal is to have a better format

for the show like back in the old days we were

just kind of like get on just blab forever and

like sometimes we didn't even fact -check what

we were talking about and like I listen to some

of the old podcasts I'm like you're kind of wrong

about that but like now now it's like my goal

is to be more informed on what I'm talking about.

If something isn't actually in my wheelhouse,

I won't do it. I'm not a gaming historian. The

Gaming Hipster is more a podcast just about my

personal experiences. I basically tell stories

about how I was a gamer over many, many years.

I know I'm answering several questions at once,

but my basic plan is to stick to what I know

and not try to be like other podcasters, not

try to do what other people are doing. I totally

get that. I'm in the same boat myself nowadays.

Absolutely. Alright, let's talk about your podcast

listenership as a listener. What defines a good

podcast to you basically it's gonna sound like

a like a very taut illogical answer but like

Subjects that are interesting to me Like if it's

if it's something I'm interested that I'll listen

to it. I know that sounds like really redundant,

but You have to find things that you want like

I'm not going to sit here and listen to a Dungeons

and Dragons podcast, but somebody else might,

yeah. Of personality, of quality of the recording,

if it's, I'll listen to like a crummy sounding

podcast, but if it's, if the, if there's just

like a lot of garbled audio and hissing in the

track, then I'll be like. And then I'll kind

of tune it out. But I basically just look for

anything that'll interest me, like gaming topics

and cartoons and stuff. And if it sounds good,

if the host is fun to listen to, then I'll listen.

Very cool, very cool. So if you find a podcast

that you think you're going to like, as a listener,

what Does a podcast have to have to draw you

in? So you listen to that first episode and you're

like, it's okay. But what does that first episode

have to have to keep you coming back for more?

Um, I'm basically just looking for a new perspective

on things, I guess. Um, cause if I just listen

to another gaming podcast, it's just another

version of retronauts. And it's like, well, I

could just listen to retronauts. Like what, what

the hell? Cause even, even retronauts after a

while, like after about 200 episodes, like, yeah,

this is just the same thing over and over again.

So I'm looking for something fresh. Yeah, I guess

that's what I'm looking for is just something

that's a different perspective than what I'm

used to hearing. And just, like I said, a fun

host that's, you know, enjoyable to listen to.

Cool. Very cool. As a listener, do you prefer

short 30 minute to an hour and 30 minute shows?

Or do you prefer longer podcast episodes as in

two hours or more? It depends. In general, I'll

say short, just because some podcast hosts don't

know how to edit and they don't realize that

maybe the huge digression should be taken out.

If you're just gonna like babble on and on then

maybe compartmentalize it a little more so that

like the main focus like kind of what I'm gonna

like throw in my own example of what I do is

like the main show is like the beginning and

then like the digression is everything after

so like the show actually ends and then I'll

come back and like just babble you know with

with the with the guest or whatever for like

however long until we sign off and that's That

way you get the topic show and it's concise and

easy to listen to and you can turn it off if

you want to If if I get like a podcast that is

just like a topic show But it takes them forever

to get back on track that I'm like, oh god, I

don't want to listen to this anymore Yeah, we've

learned that the hard way in the last 13 years

or so And it's funny when you say that I'm like,

oh so he Ferris Bueller's it What are you still

doing here? Go home, it's over. As a listener,

do you start at the beginning of a podcast, the

most recent episode, or do you jump around? I

jump around. I'll start with the most recent,

obviously, because that's the most indicative

of what the podcast is going to be like. I'll

go back through the, if I really like it, then

I'll go back through the archive and pick out

these shows that I think are most interesting

to me. And then if those are really good, then

I'll go back to the beginning and start from

the very beginning and listen to the entire archive.

And that's if it's really good. Sometimes I won't

do that. Sometimes I'll just pick up from the

most recent episode and not bother going back

in time. But I'd say that's what I usually do.

It's very rare that I'll... Like listen to an

entire archive Especially if it's like if it's

like 200 episodes, it's like oh god. No way.

Am I gonna go back all the way? Yeah, it's funny

I did that with a with one show only because

of the way the show was structured it was enough

it's a It's part -time Merit's full -time dads

with Mike layman and Chris Blonsky and when they

started Part of it is it's gaming and what they're

doing in their lives. But the most part of it

is that they were becoming parents. So in the

beginning of it, they talk about how their wives

are pregnant and what that's all about and everything

else. And they go through the birth of their

children. And now it's more like, oh, it's gaming

news or it's what's going on with the kids or

hey, we moved kind of thing or whatever. All

right, Steve, you're up. All righty. So, as a

listener, how many hosts are too many on one

episode? If it has three, it's starting to push

it. The problem is that a lot of people and their

friends sound the same. After a while, I don't

know who's talking anymore. It takes me a while

to really solidify which voice belongs to which

person anyway. I used to listen to archives of

Opie and Anthony and it took me forever to figure

out who was who. because they'd be talking over

each other, and they'd be throwing jokes at each

other, and they'd have other people in the studio

with them. So it's like, all these people sound

the same until I figure out, until I get the

cadence of each person talking, then I'll click

with it. But if it's like three, I think that's

just starting to get a little... It gets hard

for you to follow and then like four and five

is just no I Think it depends on the format of

the show so when we were doing GCR and wars and

we would pit like lethal weapon versus die -hard

or something like that where you have or You

know Star Trek versus Star Wars and you compare

the franchises like ships weapons this that and

the other thing and sometimes you would have

to have a tiebreaker voice so you'd have to have

an odd number and sometimes sometimes again only

in the way of the as long as the format is down

as long as we're not going to talk over each

other that kind of thing sometimes five is okay

i as i've said before in other episodes for podcast

approach two or three is more than fine for me

Yeah, let's you guys typically address each other

by name. I'm talking about podcasts We're like

nobody says a name for like an hour and I'm like,

ah, oh my god. That's ridiculous Who the hell

would not say somebody's name Wow That's bad

Wow It happens more often than you think so what

podcasts are you currently listening to um at

the moment I'm kind of taking a break from podcasts

it to be honest just because there's some so

much thing going so many things going on but

I typically listen to stuff like I'll listen

to like not really a podcast but like like happy

console gamer I listen to I just put like a whole

bunch of his YouTube channel YouTube episodes

on and just listen to him babble for 20 minutes

at a time. He used to have his own podcast a

couple of podcasts called Oh God, what was the

name of that show? The all -gen gamers. Yeah,

and then and then he had another one called I

forget I forget what it was but he had he had

another show with a alpha omega sin Which was

pretty fun to listen to it was only like 15 episodes

though You still listen to retronauts a long

time ago and then I just kind of got out of it

not really Like I said, I don't really listen

to a lot of other people's podcasts anymore.

I basically just watch YouTube clips, or actually

just listen to them. Nice. As a producer, do

you find yourself listening to podcasts less

and less? Yes. Same, same. As a producer, are

you a podcast planner or are you throwing stuff

at the mic to see what sticks? Oh, it's definitely

I'm definitely planning now. Like I said, a lot

of the old episodes were just like turn on the

mic and just talk. And nowadays what I do is

I'll have I'll generally have an outline, sometimes

a script, although rarely just because, you know,

scripting takes forever for. I have, I actually

have a few different formats. I'll have like

a gaming memories type shows, which is those

are the most, those are the ones that are basically

structured like a story where I have like, I

have like three parts and like for the Game Boy

episode, I had like, I had split up into three

sections. It was early days of Game Boy, the

middle, the latter half of like the black and

white era, which is like where a lot of like

the really cool games are like, you know, Metroid

2 and Zelda. and a bunch of that shit and then

let there's like Game Boy Color and it's just

it's just basically divided up that way and then

for when I eventually get to NES I'm gonna do

kind of the same thing it's gonna be like launch

era boom period and then like the weird era that

came out after the Super Nintendo was launched

and so it's it's basically made that way so that

like I get three sections that are all like basically

equal in length Maybe not exactly but like you

get what I'm saying like basically like So that

like everything gets like an appropriate amount

of time and I'm not just like I'm not just like

winging it Yeah, it's like you get 20 minutes

you get 20 minutes and you get 20 minutes. Boom.

There's an hour show done Yeah, and then like

sometimes I'll have interview shows like like

what I did with Mike James to talk about his

book and that's basically like I'm gonna wing

it but I'm also going to take it into the editing

bay and make sure that like everything's paced

properly so that it's not like this because we

can get off we got off on like tangents here

and there and I would just like snip those out

so that like it sound so that I don't sound like

quite such a scatterbrained idiot like like I

think I do when I listen to my own voice I think

I basically outline what I do. I come up with

a structure of what I want to do for the show,

and I just go from there. There you go. Cool.

Nice, nice. As a producer, are you a one -man

show host or do you prefer working with co -hosts?

Well, I don't really have a co -host per se.

I do like working with guests just because I

can sit back and relax a bit more. If I'm by

myself obviously I feel like the pressure is

on for me to keep talking and sometimes I just

I don't feel like I have I Don't have everything

that I need to just talk for an hour So I prefer

to have a guest there with me just so they can

kind of Throw their own ideas in and then we

can kind of bounce off of each other Doing shows

by myself are the hardest. So I do I do like

to have another person there I refuse ever since

the TFG one podcast and I think the first Two

episodes of the pullback. I refuse I have to

have co -hosts or guests or whatever you want

to call them other people How do you go about

finding co -hosts when you need one? A bunch

of different ways. Sometimes I'll just do a cold

email to someone and be like, hey, you want to

be on my podcast? Like I did with Ben Heck. And

then sometimes I just know people just from being

on the internet for so long. I've known R .D.

Reynolds from WrestleCraft for years. So when

I said I was doing a gaming podcast, one of the

things I threw out there was a pinball episode.

He immediately volunteered. I'm like, Cool. So

it's basically two different ways. And sometimes

it's just my friends, like Ben will come on the

show, or Kitty Hawk. Although I haven't had Kitty

Hawk in a long time. She's very busy. But I get

Pablo on, who's also a good friend of mine. Obviously,

when we had a bunch of the voice actors and and

producers on the old show animated animation

vision out as we would like just basically cold

email anybody and I always felt awkward doing

that because I'm like hi I'm some nobody want

to be on my show I don't like doing that but

like you have to I guess yeah that's that's the

one interesting thing that I found in getting

interviews for anybody doesn't matter who they

are if they have management or if they have an

agent or whatever. Hey, I'm so -and -so from

this place. We've been online for a year. We

have blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We would love

to be able to talk to this person about what

we love that they did. And if they also want

to promote anything, that's more than fine, yada,

yada, yada. Of course, now, 13 years later, it's

like, hey, we're from this. We're from the Geocast

Radio Network. We've been around for this long.

We'd love to have any amount of time that we

possibly can with this person to talk about this.

Most of the time they listen. Most of the time

they respond. Sometimes they don't respond or

they respond with a no and that's fine. I can

handle a no. I'm going to be fighting until whenever

to get a certain... Skull of a joker on here,

but that is what it is As a producer do you feel

the need for a mixing board and all the fancy

stuff that would essentially be in a radio station

Are you good with just a great mic and headphone

setup? I basically just mic and headphones. I

anything that needs tweaking, I just do an audacity.

I'm pretty good with audacity now. As a producer,

how much time do you put into the editing of

one show? Um, generally an hour or two. It really

depends. Like sometimes if it's just like a,

if it's just like a movie commentary, I can just

do a de -hiss and that's it. Yeah. As a producer,

do you prefer in -person recordings or over the

internet recordings via Skype, et cetera? I think

I know the answer to this question. Uh, Discord.

Mm -hmm. Yeah over the internet. Yep. Yep As

both a listener and producer Do you prefer one

feed have everything or should each type of show

have its own feed? Well, I guess it depends it

depends on the size I guess if you have like

a lot of episodes of each show then yeah, I guess

they should each have a feed but I just have

one feed at the moment. I really only have two

shows. Anyway, there's a there's a Gaming show

and then there's a movie commentary show and

they basically just both run on the same feed

How do you use social media to promote your podcast?

How often do you promote each episode that kind

of stuff? I'll usually drop each new episode

on Twitter and Facebook and then that's basically

all I do at the moment I suppose once I I suppose

once I really feel comfortable with it, I'll

be a little more aggressive with it. But right

now, I'm just kind of like being like, hey, you

want to listen to my show? Here's the link. Absolutely.

I find we have to do the whole, sometimes I will

do this, oh, like we'll release this on a Friday

by Monday. Oh, by the way, in case you missed

this over the weekend, we have this new show

out or we have this new episode out kind of thing.

specifically for Twitter because Twitter is so

instantaneous kind of thing, whereas, you know,

Facebook is what Facebook is. Stupid algorithm.

So what is your favorite topic to discuss on

a podcast? I guess at the moment gaming. I do

a lot of gaming shows now. Yeah, that basically

is my topic show now. Obviously, there's a movie

show, so You know, we talk about movies and we

have a lot of the movie commentary show that

I do is a lot more like like loose form. So we'll

just like run through a whole bunch of like goofy

conversations that revolve around movies. So

movies and gaming, I guess is the answer because

those are the two shows that I'm doing. Nice.

Yeah. Was there ever a moment when you were done

podcasting? I think after the last Animation

Aficionados, we recorded one, and we just never

released it. It was just like, yeah, that's enough.

Like animation? Come listen to Animation Aficionados.

And if you disagree with us, you could be a guest

on a future show. Available on iTunes, the Zoom

market, and animationaficionados .com. And then

I came along with pixels in the animation, yeah,

yeah What a nightmare that show was oh my god,

it would never end it would never end but it

did yeah, I Remember the very beginning of that

show somebody loves an iTunes review. I don't

expect them to get to a hundred episodes like

a decade later Oh, look, we got to a hundred

episodes. Finally. Yeah, we stumbled over the

finish line. I know right those last six episodes

were like what oh man it's why I always say life

comes before podcasting because if you have stuff

going on in your life you can't sit there and

create free content for everyone when you can't

concentrate or have dishes crashing in the background

yeah somebody about that I know, right? The editor

probably. What do you see is the differences

in podcasting versus being on the radio? Basically

format. Like when you're on the radio, you have

to like assume that people are always tuning

in. So you're constantly like, okay, the topic

today is such and such in case you're tuning

in. But when you're doing a podcast, you can

just, you can just say what the topic is once

and like, Just let her rip and like when it's

over it's over. You don't have to like you don't

have to give the time You don't have to like

account for people who are tuning in you can

just you could just go You don't have to go up

there to Canada JT and now here's JT with the

Saskatoon traffic So if you've ever done any

interviews with famous people, which was your

favorite Harry Partridge. He's a he's a YouTube

animator and He still he still creates a lot

of great content today. He did He's done a lot

of parody cartoons he did like star barians he

did He did the Justin Bieber show he did he's

really really fun. He's a really funny guy and

he's fun to talk to and he We got him because

he inserted a lot of Chris Chan references in

his cartoons. I know the timing of bringing that

up is really weird, but that's the truth. I've

seen you talk about that, and we're not going

to get into that. No. I don't know what any of

that is about. You don't want to. I'm sure I

don't. It's probably Harvey Weinstein level of

no thank you. It's maybe worse. Oh, Lord. We

can talk about that offer. All right, final two

questions here. What advice do you have for new

and veteran podcasters in the art of podcasting?

Expect that you're going to suck when you start.

I don't know what the other one would be. Just

record a few shows and then don't release them.

Don't release anything until you know, it sounds

good a Lot of shows do that a lot of shows have

like episodes that never aired I Found a podcast

recently called records revisited and they review

old records kind of thing and I'm like You're

all's episodes are all over the map on Spotify.

Where's the first like seven episodes? Oh the

audio sucked. So we we just removed those I'm

like, oh, okay Fine then Last last question obviously,

this is the promotion section folks. Where can

the people find your shows? Right now patreon

.com slash TVs mystery. No wait I'm sorry to

get the URLs mixed up. It's patreon .com slash

Mr. Neil. There you go. Yeah. Any other podcasting

things we want to mention guys before we get

the heck out of here tonight? Don't think so.

No, I don't think so. Awesome. What's wrong?

Feeling pixelated? Well, excuse me, princess.

Hi, this is TV's Mr. Neil. Join Blanchard and

me as we sit down to watch some classic video

game based cartoons. Super Mario Brothers, Sonic,

Zelda, Captain N and more. A total of nine cartoons

spanning a hundred episodes. You can check out

pixels in the animation on the GeekCast radio

network at geekcastradio .com. Hey gamers, TV's

Mr. Neil here. The Gaming Hipster is my personal

podcast in which I take you on a journey through

my history of gaming, both new and old. Each

month is a new topic show in which I bring you

my console memories, give reviews of my favorite

video games, and talk with cool guests. People

have made cartridges. I've actually played Netflix

on Nintendo. I was making sure that I got everything.

I was writing it all down. They fixed that for

the third fake prototype. And that's the first

time I remember seeing real animated boobs. Find

the podcast at Geekcast Radio. the next one.

Thank you for joining us here inside the studio.

If you'd like to get in contact with us, we'll

leave feedback for the show. There are several

ways to do so. Visit the website geekcastradio

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at geek cast radio is the network at its studio

2009 is the show I'm at TF2 and Mike Steve. What

is your Twitter at? SCP 21 and nail TVs mr. Neil

You can also search out Studio 2009 podcast over

there as well as the gaming hipster. Coming up

next time in episode 26, I'm springing this on

Steve, but I did tell him at one point we were

going to do this. It's an episode all about the

Cola Wars. Man, we might have to have a quadruple

shot of TV's Mr. Neil because it's, you know,

soda, not pop. It's pop. It's soda is what it

really is. No, it's pop. It's soda. It's all

Coca -Cola. You get a Coke. You get a Coke. You

get a Coke. I'm okay with that. For now, I am

TF2 and Mike with Steve Megatron. TV's Mr. Neil.

We'll see you back in the studio soon. Yes, we

seem to be down to our last diet cook. A gentleman

is on his way to fix some up. Just look for a

black car. No, this black car will be rather

difficult to miss. And by the way, the gentleman

is usually in quite a rush.