My second conversation with Chris Salih
MY CONVERSATION WITH MIKE JONES
Episode Six of the podcast landed today!
Here is the picture taken moments after I broke my ankle as mentioned during the episode.
Here is another picture taken later that night. The only positive part about this was I bought The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild to play at home while I was injured.
MY THOUGHTS ON AN AMAZING WEEK
This past week has been amazing. On the morning of Monday, August 14th I uploaded the Chris Salih episode and things exploded. I expected there to be great interest in this episode, but I had no idea what was waiting. In the first day it got over 4,000 listens! In the span of a day my Twitter followers jumped from around 150 to over 1,000. Soundcloud followers increased to over 600. The new influx of listeners also resulted in an increase of plays for the previous four episodes. Over the course of the week I received tons of comments, all positive. From what I can tell everyone loved it, including Mark Eshleman from Reel Bear Media! He reached out to let me know that he enjoys what I am doing and acknowledged the high production quality. This speaks volumes because Mark has a very discerning eye/ear, he knows his stuff. Another thing that happened is the website PopBuzz wrote an article on the episode. It talked about what I predicted would be a major topic – the alternate names that the band almost used (Chill Coat/Bicycle Thief).
During the episode I announced that in the near future I will be talking to former bass player Nick Thomas! I can’t wait for this, I’m sure it will be another fantastic conversation. In addition to Nick, Chris is also going to be back. I know it came across during the episode, but I want to say that Chris is a solid dude. From the start he was very kind and answered all my questions with great honesty. He was extremely easy to talk to and I am honored that he came on my podcast to address many of the things that fans have wondered about for years.
When I decided to do a podcast aimed at talking to people connected to the band I had no idea if it would work. Five episodes in and it has exceeded my wildest expectations. From the outset the guests have been high caliber, and I think that this along with the focus on production quality have been a major factor in its success and appeal.
Thank you to all my guests and a special thank you to all my listeners. Each time you listen to an episode you are welcoming me into your life. It is you who have proven that this podcast is something special.
The tweet from Mark Eshleman of Reel Bear Media.
A super nice compliment!
The total plays as of Monday night, August 21st.
The show broke the Top 10 on the iTunes Podcast Charts! It was #8 at one point.
The show also broke the Top 20 on the UK iTunes Podcast Charts!
MY CONVERSATION WITH CHRIS SALIH
Click here to hear my conversation with Chris Salih, the original drummer of Twenty One Pilots. We discussed the early days of the band, why he decided to leave, and if he has any regrets. I also learned that the name almost wasn’t Twenty One Pilots.
Follow Chris on twitter @salihdotchris and check out his current business at elmwoodcustomgoods.com.
REFLECTIONS ON MY CONVERSATION WITH CHRIS SALIH, A FOUNDING MEMBER OF TWENTY ONE PILOTS
Note: This post DOES NOT contain spoilers.
This past weekend I had a conversation that had been in the making for months. In the hours leading up to it I guess you could say I was a bit anxious. A few minutes before we started I steadied my nerves and reminded myself to just have fun. The cause of the anxiety was understandable. Would it deliver? Would he be easy to talk to? And lastly would he answer the tough questions honestly? It did, he was, and he did.
Chris Salih is the original drummer and a founding member of this thing we love called Twenty One Pilots. To many he is a mysterious character who was here for a moment and gone in a flash. A short Facebook message announced his departure, Josh Dun stepped in and that was it. But that’s not it. Twenty One Pilots was his baby. Until our conversation last Saturday Chris hadn’t publicly spoken about his time in the band or his departure. I know he is asked the same questions over and over, and while he does occasionally reply in a 140 character tweet, this was his opportunity to fully clear the air. I’d like to think this was a cathartic experience for him, and in the process I got to hear about the early days of Twenty One Pilots directly from a founding member. To say it delivered would be an understatement.
Chris during the early days of Twenty One Pilots.
IMPORTANT NEWS REGARDING CHANGES TO THE PODCAST
From the beginning the idea was for this podcast to be fun, high quality, and weekly if possible. Every Saturday became the plan, keeping a consistent release day was key so that listeners would know when to expect episodes. Lately I have given this a lot of thought and its increasingly become clear that I will not be able to maintain this model. To put out the best podcast possible and meet this self-imposed weekly deadline I have sacrificed quality family time and its increasingly taking up more time than I feel comfortable with. I spend weeknights focused on nothing but my computer screen and twice have missed an entire fun-filled day with the family to do show stuff. This has led to the podcast becoming less fun and turning into more of a chore. I don’t want that to happen and I would rather take care of this problem in the early days of its existence, rather than later down the road.
To bring back the fun of doing a podcast I have decided that the show will no longer be weekly. The way I feel at the moment there will be no set schedule, it could be bi-weekly, monthly, whatever. I just want to enjoy doing it. I also think I am going to shift the release day to Monday mornings going forward. I am happy that so many people enjoy what I am doing and I want to continue doing it for as long as it makes sense, and as long as it stays fun. So far it has been amazing talking to people about a band I love. Thank you for all the support and thank you for being a listener. Feel free to share any of your thoughts using the usual contact methods.
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OVER 3,000 LISTENS!
The Twenty One Pilots Podcast now has over 3,000 listens! In just the span of a month this podcast has gone from being a seedling of an idea to a show listened to all over the world by lots and lots of people. I love the fact that this thing is international! Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to reach out and send me comments, you are the fuel to the fire.
The Podcast is now available on iTunes and is on the charts in the Top 200!
A little over a week ago I was in Florida on a family trip to Disney. The podcast may have been on hiatus, but a friend reached out to me to share some really cool news about it. It was charting on the iTunes Podcast Charts in the Music Category! At first I had no idea what he was on about. As far as I knew the podcast wasn’t even available on iTunes, so he sounded nuts. Additionally I questioned the significance of “charting” and wondered aloud whether it was like a participation trophy, did everybody get one?
He went on to tell me that its a big achievement. There are thousands of podcasts and charting is something to hang your hat on. Even better, I broke the top 200 and also charted in the UK! The UK!?!?!? That’s when it hit me that The Twenty One Pilots Podcast is international and people half the world away are listening to me ramble on. To me that is mind blowing.
So the show is now available on iTunes and every platform you prefer to listen to podcasts on! Thank you for listening and making this a success. I said it on social media and I’ll say it here – lets get it into the Top 10! It would be so cool for the band to not just top the charts in music but also in music podcasting. How quirky and weird, we can do it! Share the existence of this podcast with all of your music friends, not just Twenty One Pilots fans. Spread the word! There’s something here for everyone and everybody is welcome. |-/
You can find the current US charts by clicking here (its at #105 as of writing this)
Click here to find the show on iTunes
THE TWENTY ØNE PILØTS PØDCAST 