Announcing Filler: A Podcast About Love
Yes, I Am a Straight White Guy in My 30s. How'd You Know?
Sometime last year, I decided that I wanted to create more. I love writing as much as I love making music, but I wasn’t doing enough of both, or at least not as much as I wanted to.
After weeks of glacial reflection, I concluded that I could produce a podcast. While I do not consider myself a professional audio engineer, I know enough of the basics to make something aurally pleasing. What I don’t know, I make an excellent learner for.
I spent time brainstorming and iterating a topic that could remain evergreen. All of my favorite podcasts are ones that I spent weeks binging to catch up to the most recent episodes. I love spending my time listening to interesting thinkers who elicit new ideas of my own. This spurred the epiphany that I essentially do the same as an English teacher to my high school students.
Every day, from September to June, I challenge young people to empathize with other perspectives and grapple with meaningful conflicts in order to support their development as ethical members and upcoming leaders of society. Why couldn’t I do the same with a microphone in front of me? And did it just have to be about books aligned with my state’s English learning standards? Of course not.
I considered what to discuss. I’ve got plenty of opinions, and if you know me personally, you know that I can yap with the best of them. Ultimately, I decided that I want to talk about stories in any medium that I enjoyed or got something positive out of. The idea was not necessarily to critique but to dissect, poke, and prod, with an eye toward celebration and appreciation.
I just wanted to talk about the stories I loved, the ones that filled my cup and inspired me to create my own art.
But could I do it alone? That would be boring and, frankly, not fun. Once I started co-teaching, I realized there is nothing better than the relationship with a partner where you can riff endlessly. I didn’t just want a co-host: I needed someone to improvise with, to breathe life into this vivid world I was imagining.
Fortunately, my close friend and bandmate in the LVP, Stephen Sbiroli, agreed to join the project.
Steve has a background in screenwriting and songwriting. He can articulate what makes a story moving and engrossing. Perhaps more importantly, he is able to acknowledge and address shortcomings and flaws in the greatest works of art, including his favorites. Steve’s eyes and ears are as critical as they are appreciative, and that is exactly why he is the right person to join me on Filler.
Steve and I are three episodes deep1 as of this post. In that time I have:
learned how to set up a podcast hosting account, which is much more involved than I originally anticipated
composed, recorded, mixed, and mastered a theme song
begun to train my ear for what kind of audio I want my audience to experience (and translate that into my process in Logic Pro X)
put myself way out there.
I don’t know how long Filler will last. I’m not even sure how long I want to produce a podcast along with a full-time job and other responsibilities and hobbies. For now, though, I am having the time of my life talking about interesting media in fun, novel ways with my friends and family.
Doing that fills my cup.
Oh, is this a subtle teaser for our upcoming Valentine’s special episode, premiering tomorrow?