The Clampdown

What are you gonna do now?

For the past three and a half years, we’ve been making Center Stage: An Abandoned Albums Podcast (formerly Abandoned Albums). I’d love to say I’ve enjoyed every minute—but let’s be real, some episodes make me cringe. And sometimes, I don’t wanna edit… I mean, I really don’t want to edit. Nonetheless, we’ve soldiered on to create a space where artists can talk about an album, their career… or whatever they want.

Our mission remains to keep the work of recording artists on the cultural radar and, in some cases, put the work there.

Podcasting is a strange thing. People seem to fall into two categories: those who know what podcasts are and enjoy them and those who are unclear about them. I’ve yet to meet someone who is ardently “anti-podcast.” Some folks may think podcasts are dumb, but I bet that’s only because they don’t know what they are.

Or maybe they haven’t found one that interests them. If there are podcasts about pig farming (and there are), of the over 4 million podcasts available, I have to believe there is a podcast for everyone.

Before my father passed away, he would ask me every time we spoke, without fail, “Now, what’s a podcast?” I never tired of him asking, and I would never tire of saying: “It’s like a radio show, Dad.” He could wrap his head around that… at least until the next time we spoke.

Starting a podcast is easy, but sustaining one is considerably harder. It’s a grind to put a podcast out on a regular schedule. You’ve got to find the guests, book the guests, research, record, and, if you’re smart, edit the podcast. If anyone had told me how much of a grind it was initially, I wouldn’t have believed them.

Every hour of our podcast represents about six to eight hours of editing and at least one hour of interviewing. Geoff and I do our research separately, but it is safe to say that it takes at least two hours each, probably more. Coordinating the interview takes another hour, give or take.

In sum, it’s about 10/11 hours of work to get out one hour of Center Stage.

And that doesn’t include social media shit. On that note, I will say only this: you will likely see less activity on social media. Our most active account is on Instagram.

The social media landscape is a minefield, and the lift isn’t worth the yield. That may be a miscalculation, but our show isn’t about virality.

Don’t worry; this isn’t the point where I solicit patrons. We have a few, for which I am forever grateful. Thank you. Sure, it would be cool if you donated a few shekels; there is no pressure at all. I am committed to keeping the podcast free and commercial-free (I tried that route and had a bad experience).

That being said, we reserve the right to do additional things for paid sponsors at some point.

Keeping the show free and commercial-free right now is essential to me… and probably to my detriment.

Lately, there has been much scuttlebutt about video podcasts. Well, in my view, those aren’t podcasts. They’re talk shows. There is nothing wrong with that, but I’ve learned over the years that sometimes guests aren’t very tech-savvy, and without being in a studio with proper lighting, the video component doesn’t pass muster for me. Besides, at least for me, a podcast is audio only.

Aside from our interview with author Rob Janicke, even our YouTube channel is audio-only.

Now, Center Stage: An Abandoned Albums Podcast was hardly the first music podcast when we started. And since then, more have launched. And in the coming months, there’ll be more, perhaps most notably Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan. But here, I would argue that this is a talk show that disseminates audio and video.

To that end, people are beginning to refer to Joe Rogan’s show as a talk show… which it is. It’d be nice to see it removed from the “podcasting” umbrella. Conversely, Marc Maron’s show is a podcast. Podcasts are audio-first. Shows with a video component—like Rogan’s—are talk shows. Nothing wrong with that, but let’s call them what they are.

Podcasting is not dead and hasn’t yet reached a plateau.

All of this is to say that the landscape is changing. With an emphasis on video and higher-profile people getting involved in podcasting and being bankrolled by well-financed people and/or podcast networks.

We’re a tiny crew that does this for no money (we lose money) and only because we love it (most of the time). Would we love to be financed and have access to more prominent names as guests? Yep. I have a vision for that, but as a no-budget podcast, we do what we can. And candidly and immodestly, we feel that we do it pretty well.

We’re nothing if we’re not consistent and reliable. Yes, we take breaks between seasons. Our one extended break recently was for personal reasons, but aside from the two weeks between seasons (typically 10-12 episodes), you can count on one episode every Wednesday. That kind of reliability is essential to us.

Center Stage: An Abandoned Albums Podcast is the scrappy cousin of Broken Record, Disgraceland, All Songs Considered, Questlove Supreme, et al. Perhaps this is a bit hubristic, but think of us as a record label like 4AD (an abbreviation for forward); we’ll keep moving forward. Right now, there is room for all of these music podcasts. It’s an honor to be in the same league. 

But, as we’ve said from day one, we will remain “the only music podcast that matters.” Why no one has recognized that cheekiness or connected the dots is beyond me, or maybe they have chosen to ignore it. Either way, we stand by it.

What are we gonna do now? Nothing. Although the road ahead may be a bit bumpier than it has been, our flagship show, Center Stage, isn’t going anywhere, for better or worse. 

Yesterday, we dropped an episode with bass player Bingham Barnes from the band Glossary. Here’s our conversation: