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HAVE YOU HEARD? // Idiot’s Picnic

HAVE YOU HEARD?

HAVE YOU HEARD? // Idiot’s Picnic

Have You Heard? is a new series in which the team from Pod Bible meet the people behind the podcasts you may not have heard of yet, with a focus on the smaller, amateur podcasts. While the Oh. My. Pod. section in the magazine gives a quick shout out to shows of that ilk, Have You Heard aims to go deeper in an effort to spread awareness for shows that deserve a larger audience! In this first edition we sat down with the team behind the Idiot’s Picnic podcast…

Who are you and what’s your podcast about?

Jesper: We are Jake, Jack, Hadiah, Chad and Jesper and collectively we make up the Idiots’ Picnic. We’re all friends from Norwich in the UK.

Jake: We try and just discuss some of the thoughts we have on a day to day basis so sometimes it’s very silly and sometimes it gets a little heavy. We’ve gone from how famous Basketball stars eat pizza to understanding parallel universes. We forced ourselves to write down any thoughts we had on our phones as soon as we had them, no matter what. Like most other people, we’d never think about them again until BOOM. Podcast. Hopefully it helps our listeners feel not as silly or guilty about having the same sort of thoughts as well!

What’s the first podcast you ever listened to?

Jake: I think the first podcast I ever listened to was Serial… probably the most well known gateway podcast. The first season of that show is still definitely on my top 10 list.

Jesper: For me it was the original Adam and Joe Radio 6 podcast. The crazy days of text the nation, song wars and of course…STEPHEN!

Chad: The first shows I listened to were the Kermode and Mayo Film Review and Xbox World podcasts. Hello to Jason Isaacs.

Jack: It was the Ricky Gervais podcasts from back in the day! Ricky, Stephen Merchant and the original podcast idiot, Mr Karl Pilkington. Still some of the best podcasting I’ve ever heard!

Why did you decide to start podcasting in the first place?

Jesper: We were all such big podcast fans, and a few of us had always been on the cusp of recording something, but once we heard some of Hadiah’s notes round the lunch table at work we hit amazon hard, got some cheap mics and dodgy cables and away we went.

Jake: I definitely wanted to try my hand at it for the longest time because I loved listening to podcasts. But I never really put too much effort into it namely because I didn’t really have an idea I was really confident in. Then we were sat round the lunch table discussing things probably a little more PC than the stuff on the podcast and realised this would be a great format for a show, decided to go for it and now were 14/15 episodes deep.

Chad: I was inspired to give it a crack after following Kinda Funny for many years.

Jack: We are all avid podcast listeners, always handing out recommendations and chatting about our favourite episodes to each other. Then we decided to give it a go ourselves.. after all, how hard could it be right?! We met up at a local pub to discuss ideas and here we are now.

Which podcasts do you take inspiration from?

Jesper: Around the time we started getting the ideas together we were all addicted to The Dollop and wanted to capture a similar silly vibe. The ‘My Dad Wrote a Porno’ guys also have made a show that feels like you’re sitting right next to them which is certainly something we want to achieve!

Jake: Definitely The Dollop! Although all the other podcasts I listened too made me want to record my own stuff The Dollop took it too a whole new level. Maybe its the simplicity of the format with the personality of the hosts but what I was hearing really got me itching to do my own thing. I got roped into these idiots and the rest is history.

Jack: I think we get a lot of influence from conversational style comedy podcasts. For me it’s the casual manner the hosts interact in podcasts like The Dollop, The Football Ramble, The Nerdist & Russell Brands RadioX stuff. You can tell they’re all just genuine friends having a laugh. I love that even if there were no microphones actually present, it feels like these conversations would still take place.

Who’s your dream guest for the podcast?

Jesper: Just because he’s been on so many other podcasts and ALWAYS finds the right groove, it would have to be good old’ Scroobius Pip. Nothing to do with the fact he helps run this magazine. Or Jack Black. Yeah one of those two.

Jake: I really don’t know! I think this always changes but right now I would love to get any of the political leaders of our country in on our picnic. I think it would be so interesting to not only pick out some of their thoughts but also to get there opinion on some of the shit we discuss! When you talk about whether you think milk and cheese taste great together you never really consider if Jeremy Corbyn has an opinion on the matter… we need to get inside his HEAD!

Chad: I’m not really sure, other than someone at the pinnacle of their field. I always enjoy podcasts that involve relatively dumb people talking to incredibly intelligent people.

Jack: Barry from Eastenders.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as a podcaster?

Jake: Biggest so far definitely has to be getting out and doing it and making sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. Individually, we have all wanted to make our own podcast for the longest time but I think we have been caught behind a wall of excuses, and, I can’t speak for everyone but certainly for myself, I have talked myself out of doing it because I was inexperienced or didn’t know what equipment to buy.

Since we have been getting stuck in I’ve realised more and more that the only way to get better is to just do. I know that sounds obvious but we first started recording on our phones and once we got started it was easy to figure out what to do different or better next time, and you keep doing it this way.

For the other more practical challenges there are a TON of useful blog posts or articles online that help you with basic beginner set up for equipment etc. Seriously just get out there and do it!

Jesper: Yeah. And don’t get hung up on how many listens and all that stuff! Keep going and the listeners will come!

Jack: Getting 5 people to each have the same evening free can sometimes be more challenging than you think. Also, beer and snacks are essential.

Which episode would you say is the perfect introduction to your podcast?

Jake: This is really difficult to answer! Love episode 7: Swans and Housewives or episode 11: Great Greats and Above. Most of the feedback we have been getting is around what people are picking out from each episode, which is really cool to hear! We are seeing some people loving the more serious side of conversation and some just in it for the stupidity! We hope to make sure we are as honest as possible so each episode brings something different for our listeners.

Jesper: I really enjoyed Great Greats and Above. Very good fun.

Where can the Pod Bible readers find out more about you?

Jake: We are building up our social media profile so definitely check us out on Twitter and Instagram @idiotspicnic, or they can e-mail us idiotspicnic@gmail.com. We’re working on a website as we speak so keep in touch for more information!

Jesper: And obviously you can find out more by listening!

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