Beating the Odds
When we use the phrase “DIY,” what do you think of? Is it the privilege of busting apart your iPhone so you can replace the battery? Changing your own oil filter on your car? Making magic on the weekend selling handmade soap at your local farmer’s market?
For us it’s the noise made by an indy group from Washington, D.C. who kicked off the DIY music scene by starting their own label, not selling any merch and never charging more than five bucks for an all-ages show.
It’s the late-night, bedroom dwelling kid using sub-$100 computers and a soldering iron to hack their way to something fun.
It’s the long tradition of celebrating the voices and interests often overlooked by mainstream media and the joys that come from making and sharing those ideas in interesting ways.
But for DIY movements to be successful, whatever form they take, they must foster community.
As of this blog post, there are over 2,000,000 unique podcast titles available around the world. (No, that’s not a typo.) And those two million podcasts have spat out 48 million episodes. On average, that’s 24 episodes per title. (We’re not there yet, but we’re getting close!)
As you well know, some of these suckers are produced by amazing media outlets. Or hosted by celebrities. Or traditional radio shows finding a second home with the cord cutters among us. They have thousands and thousands of listeners and millions of downloads.
But a vast majority do not. Ours included. We’re indy and self-funded, recording and sharing for the pleasure of both ourselves and listeners like you.
We are self-produced and take pride in that.
We’re not professionals. We’ve had to figure a bunch of shit out. Hell, we’re still figuring it out. And if you listen with any regularity, chances are you’ve at least figured that much out about us.
We do our own research. We do our own recording, editing and mixing. We make our own music.
And naturally, we design and illustrate all our own stuff. We’re artists after all.
Our listeners are our community—an important part of our DIY journey. Our goal? Bring more people like you along with us each step of the way.
So since you’re reading this, thank you. And if you’re a listener, double thank you. If you have left a review, triple thank you. You found us. We found you, too.
We’re looking to spread our wings even more. If you’re friendly with an indy media outlet (community and freeform radio, a student-run station on a college campus, etc.), let’s talk. We’re open to more ways to get the word out.
So let’s keep the DIY train rolling! If you fall into one of the categories mentioned above, we’re going to be reaching out to you guys as well.
Stay tuned…