Talking with Tim

I crave myriad means to learn about new music–and I’m truly partial to independent quirky music. So when Coverville’s Brian Ibbott tipped me off to Shelby Miller’s Shifted Sound podcast, I was ecstatic. So happy, in fact, I got Miller to agree to an email interview. Miller is a middle-aged father of three who loves music. A little over two years ago, he began discovering how much fantastic music was available on the Internet from independent bands he hadn’t heard a million times on the radio. So, as a way to share the music he found as well as figure out what podcasting was all about, he started the Shifted Sound podcast. Shifted Sound is a free weekly podcast showcasing great independent music from around the world. Music the masses should be embracing. And, even if they don’t, his kids love the show. Or at least that’s what Miller told me. Now on to the interview.

Tim O’Shea: In the About section of the blog, you note the show “is an experiment which will change and grow as needed.” How has the show changed and grown since it first launched?

Shelby Miller: The Shifted Sound podcast began as a way to share new music with people who might not hear it otherwise. Before I started the show, as I searched the internet for more music to listen to personally, I discovered more and more independent bands who were producing great songs and I was constantly telling my friends and coworkers about them. I eventually decided to try it on a broader scope with a podcast. So, in that respect, Shifted Sound has remained the same. I still feel like I’m sharing some great music with friends. What has evolved a bit is how I approach the show. When I began, I always plays two songs each from five different bands. And, of course, they were probably bands I hadn’t played before. Now I’m a bit more lenient with myself as far as how many bands I play, and I’ve started playing a couple of songs per show that I have played before as a bit of a reminder for listeners. One of the issues I’ve had over the more than two years of producing Shifted Sound is that I am often moving on too quickly. I have to spend so much time looking for new music that I can’t really get to know too many bands, which I regret. Playing some of their music repeatedly on the show allows me to go back and rediscover and enjoy music that might have slipped off my radar a bit too quickly. I also ran into a period last year where I was a bit burned out on it all and decided to go down to a show every two weeks. That didn’t last too long, though, because I had too much music I wanted to share. So now I record two shows on one night, but still post one per week. That way I get every other week off from having to organize and complete a show.

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A major way that my son, Colin, and I have always bonded has been through music. So last year, when I discovered the podcast of Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child (a show from Valley Free Radio [103.3 FM, Northampton, Massachusetts]) both Colin and I were pretty darn happy. The show, recently also picked up by 93.9 The River, is hosted by Bill Childs along with Ella, his daughter, and (sometimes) Liam, his son. As detailed at the show’s MySpace page: “We play both music that’s officially for kids (e.g., Dan Zanes, Frances England, CandyBand, Lunch Money, Asylum Street Spankers) and a lot that’s not (e.g., Pixies, fIREHOSE, Beatles, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, and again the Spankers). And we start and end every darn show with They Might Be Giants [TMBG].” I recently caught up with Bill for an email interview.

Tim O’Shea: How did you first come up with the idea of Spare the Rock, and was it hard to get Ella to speak on air?

Bill Childs: We had moved to Northampton in the summer of 2004 for me to take a job teaching law school. At a local cafe, I came across a flyer for Valley Free Radio seeking programmers and people to help get the station started up. I had done radio in college (WMCN, 10 blazing watts of power) and was looking for a community-related activity, so I decided to apply for a show. I rapidly got involved on the policy side as well; I have dropped out of that role for the most part for quite a while, as there was some unpleasant infighting that seemed unproductive to me.

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I first became aware of Arvada, Colorado-based pioneering podcaster Brian Ibbott when his show Coverville was mentioned by USA Today’s Whitney Matheson in her Pop Candy blog. After several months of enjoying the show, which focuses on covers (succinctly and aptly defined by Ibbott as “a new rendition of a previously recorded song”) and features a variety of musical genres and artists, I contacted Ibbott for an interview. Ibbott also produces other podcasts, including Lyrics Undercover, Today in Music History and The Wii Show. While the majority of the interview focuses on Coverville, we also discuss his other podcasts.

Tim O’Shea: As you quickly approach your 400th episode (as of today [January 7, 2008] he’s up to podcast 408), from your perspective, in what ways has the show drastically changed and have any parts remained (other than the show’s core premise) essentially the same?

Brian Ibbott: I think the overall feel of the show has stayed consistent, but I’ve become so much more comfortable with the microphone. It’s only taken me 400 shows to get there!
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