Intellectual and motivational conversations on sports, pop culture and life. Drops every Thursday on ITunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Soundcloud.
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What is the story behind your friendship and why did you decide to start the Coolin Out podcast together?
So we met at St. John’s University 10 years ago working the same work study job. Back then, we were “Resident Safety Monitors” – AKA, all we did was swipe people in and out of the dorms. We worked one shift together over a summer, and during the summer it’s dead! You might see one person during an 8 hour shift as all of the students are away. Not really sure who started the conversation, but it was instant chemistry from the start. Jumped right in talking about sports, music, pop culture… everything!
One of the biggest arguments at that time was that Kev swore up and down that D Wade was better than Kobe (we all see how that argument ended lol). Anyways, time continued on and the friendship continued to grow organically over the years. Started hanging out more etc etc. During some of our hangouts, we would drink and chill, play 2k and just shoot the shit for hours with a group of our mutual friends.
During one of our hangouts, a mutual friend of ours, who shall remain nameless, decided to record our conversations without us knowing. The next day we’re all hungover and laughing about the prior day when he plays back our conversations and everyone was dying laughing at the recording. Not sure whose idea it was, but someone casually mentioned we should do a podcast so that the world could hear our discussions and be entertained. We mulled over the concept and idea, but when we wanted to start, Jarel moved to North Carolina for law school. That essentially put the podcast plan on a 3 year hiatus. When school was finished, Jarel moved back to NY and Kevin was in the process of starting a podcast with another mutual friend, and Jarel hopped aboard. We eventually agreed to part ways with the mutual friend as he had other desires he wanted to pursue outside of the podcast, but we are still pushing the podcast and brand forward.
Been growing the podcast ever since October 2016 and can’t wait to see what the future holds for us personally and professionally.
What is your favorite podcast and why are you a consistent listener?
K: I’m an avid podcast listener and have a lot of favorites. However, my favorite podcast would have to be The Bill Simmons Podcast. At the root of the pod are sports and specifically Simmons’ passion for the NBA. I love how truly in depth he goes when talking about the sport. His podcast also offers a ton of variety. His guest range of actors, musicians, employees and friends to name a few is really impressive. Simmons usually releases 3 episodes a week and does a great job staying culturally relevant. There isn’t a better podcast that caters to my interests while helping me learn things in the process.
J: Tax Season is hands down my favorite podcast, but unfortunately due to some legal issues, the host, TaxStone, has been in prison for the past few years. Due to his legal troubles, I can’t really speak on the consistency topic, as he only drops an episode or two a year now. For those unfamiliar with the podcast, Tax is your everyday hood dude from Brooklyn who got a podcast due to his connection with Charlamagne Tha God. Every episode was so raw and unfiltered, yet personable and funny enough to cross over. His talent for podcasting was evident early and it sucks that his career has been put on hold for now.
If you could have one special celebrity podcast guest, who would it be?
Jay-Z. For a multitude of reasons, but primarily his experience in the music business overall. He’s been in the game for 3 decades now. So many experiences… so much history there. It also helps that Jay doesn’t make himself readily available to the media, so if you get an interview, that means something. It would be most intriguing to pick his brain about how he navigated the music business for so long, and ultimately ushered in that wave of artists transitioning into business moguls.
What does the future look like for podcasters and podcasting?
K: I think that the future of podcasting is very bright. Especially, given all of these recent acquisitions by companies such as Spotify. The amount of money being poured into podcasting seems promising to me. It’s the responsibility for podcasters like myself to continue to grow the audience. The last numbers I stay, had podcast listenership on the rise still. There’s clearly a demand and there’s enough variety that I don’t think we’ve reached the bubble yet. With that in mind, given the partnerships and sponsors to name a few, there’s plenty to be gained the more successful you become.
J: I second everything Kevin said. Podcasting has become a wave of the future and large corporations are noticing its impact and pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into it. As time goes on, we’ll see more and more people who’ve achieved a certain level of fame/notoriety from being a podcaster. It’s another outlet, just like social media, for people to get their views/opinions out. As podcasters continue to become more creative with their shows (i.e. live podcasts), the market share will continue to increase.
For those who are thinking about starting their own podcast, do you have any advice?
K: I’d recommend that you start. Don’t mull it over to the point that a lot of time elapses. That’s what Jarel and I did, and I sometimes lament that decision. If you feel you have something compelling or interesting with an audience in mind, go for it. After you’ve started, you must keep it going. Consistency is key. It’s hard to grow an audience when they don’t know when they’ll hear from you.
Once you’ve established a release schedule try to stick with it. I’d suggest weekly on the same day ideally. Also, put some money into your podcast. At the base, make sure you’re audio is clear and crisp. Bad audio can ruin even the best chemistry. That’s one of the most important things to build on. After that, you can decide how much you want to put into recording videos and promotion for your pod. Last but certainly not least, have patience.
J: Starting is the hardest part. Just getting all of the equipment together and not mulling over the “perfect time” to release your first episode. As time goes on, consistency is important, but so is planning and promotion. Planning is key because we live in an information craze era. People want information as quickly and as accurately as possible. With podcasts, there’s always going to be some kind of delay in the information/opinions you’re giving, so it’s important to record episodes, edit, and release them as efficiently as possible. Promotion is essential because you could have the best podcast ever, but it wouldn’t mean anything if people are listening. Over time, we’ve learned how to properly use social media, etc. to our advantage and I’d suggest anyone starting a podcast to do the same.
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