Around the roundtable we go!
Pokemon Podcast Appreciation Month is roaring and this time we have a Podcast Roundtable! We have gathered some for your favorite Pokemon Podcasters to get their thoughts on podcasting! From the tears, joys and COVID! We got your favorite Pokemon Podcasters together to talk about…podcasting!
Today at the roundtable we have…
Nick Yurko and Jake Abrams from Pittsburgh Pokemon Podcast (Pokemon TCG)
Josh Fjelstad and Tanner Greenring from EXP. Share (Specialty)
Professor Jacob from Welcome to the World of Pokemon(Pokemon of the Episode)
Ben Montoya from I Chews You (Specialty)
Now that we know who is at the table, lets ask them some questions!
What inspired you to podcast?
He already had a podcast and I work in podcasts, so the discussion naturally progressed to… what if we just played all the games and recorded our experience? Tanner (EXP. Share): Just wanted to find a way to spend more time with my friend Josh. |
Since then it’s always been something we wanted to try together. I think it’s fair to say that after more than two years of making ICY, the thing that inspires us the most to keep making new episodes every week is the community of listeners that have formed around the show. The Chewsies we’ve met along the way never ceases to make us laugh and it’s so fun to see everyone’s reactions! |
What is your thought process when it comes to picking music for your podcast?
Tanner (EXP. Share): When we started the show, we brought on a composer named Matt Shilts to make us a few chiptune-y jingles. As we invent new segments, we go back to Matt and ask for new drops and he’s always happy to oblige. |
We all decide on which theme song we’ll parody, Ian writes the lyrics and I’ll draft up the instrumental. And then we spend a few weeks recording and mixing before teeing it up for our episodes or making a video to go along with it. |
When you record your podcast, who do you wish to reach with it?
We want to provide a nostalgic ride through the early games for folks who grew up with them, but also look at them with a critical eye at times and provide knowledge that newer/younger players wouldn’t know if they haven’t played the games before the newer gens. Plus, we’re good friends, old men and not competitive (at least professionally) players, so we also go off on tangents about how cute or ugly Pokémon are, or pop culture more generally. Tanner (EXP. Share): Any Pokémon fan, really. But specifically, we’re looking for those fans our age who grew up with Pokémon and have a lot of nostalgia for it. |
Sometimes people hear the premise of the show and think we’re anti-Pokemon but even though we’re cooking them, each episode is usually more of a celebration of that particular Pokemon (with the exception of a few). But I think we also want to attract listeners who aren’t super hardcore Pokemon people. We actually spend a fair amount of time talking about everything except Pokemon so I think it can be a fun listen for someone who isn’t necessarily a Pokemon fan. |
How has podcasting in the last year changed due to COVID?
Fortunately a Bug Catcher (fans of our show) told us about Pokémon Showdown, so we still get to throw down, and the show gives us an excuse to hang out every week, which is awesome. Tanner (EXP. Share): We’ve always recorded remotely, so it didn’t really change much. If anything, it made it easier because Zoom added a bunch of helpful new features when everyone in the world started using the platform. |
However, I do think that since the pandemic we’ve made more of an effort to utilize our small platform and community to support causes we believe in. We’ve done several successful fundraisers for different organizations like Black Lives Matter and Stop AAPI Hate and it’s something that I think we only started doing in this past year of severe trauma. We hope that we can be a space of healing and laughter for people and realizing our ability to make a difference was something that maybe would’ve have happened if not for COVID. |
What is the hardest part when it comes to podcasting?
Tanner (EXP. Share): The time commitment. We’ve got to play the games each week, record for 90+ minutes, then edit the episode, which takes several hours. |
And that covers everything from simple scheduling like when to record to more conceptual questions like how we continue to make a show that excites new and old listeners. |
What has been the best Podcast moment you have had?
In all seriousness though, it’s definitely seeing a community build up around this show and getting to interact with people who share interesting lore with us (including Pokémon Crossroads!), “interesting” Pokémon art, and also keep us in check with our (aka Tanner’s) name mispronunciations. Tanner (EXP. Share): I’ve had the opportunity to meet a lot of interesting people and make a lot of new friends. A podcaster I’ve always really admired became a fan of the show and started tweeting about it. We’ve had him on several times now and we’ve become friends. That’s pretty rewarding. |
We were very nervous since our show is pretty new and really small. However, we received enthusiastic responses from much larger podcasts that we never expected to hear from at all! That spirit of collaboration is what makes me so proud to be a part of the Pokemon podcast community! |
It was something that we had planned for a long time in advance and I was really anxious about how it would go. But it was such a fun episode to record and be able to see everyone watching at home! My favorite part of dropping the new theme song at the end of the episode and watching everybody freak out in the chat. |
Huge thanks to these amazing Podcasters! Thank you Nick & Jake, Josh & Tanner, Professor Jacob and Ben for taking the time to answer these questions.
We hope you lovers of these fine podcasts also enjoy learning a bit about what makes podcasting so amazing and challenging.
Make sure to give them all a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcatcher! Don’t touch that Totodile! See you all next time at the Roundtable!