Category: InterviewCategory: Interview

Substack is a busy place these days, and I’m definitely taking full advantage of the Live functionality to talk to interesting people.

Last Monday I got talking to 

Chuck Marshall. I didn’t leave that call thinking about NEW SUBSCRIBERS or engagement, but rather, “wow, Chuck is a cool guy, I’m glad we got to chat!”

Little did I know that magic would happen afterwards.

This from 

Bree Stilwell:

All these fricking live videos lately, it’s just soooo much. When I saw Seth Werkheiser pop in though, while folding laundry and feeling loose, gave it a shot.

What happened next is exactly why I think most of us are here, fighting our way through the noise and toward real life connections with other creatives.

I watched this video, learned a little about this cool dude and his local music, arts and beer newsletter, and, that we live in the same town.

I dm’d immediately, met him and his amazing partner-in-all-things Brenda for coffee just days later, and the bond has been set. Good works to follow, and friendships I didn’t have last week.

Says Chuck in his latest post:

“We met on Friday morning for coffee over at York Food and Drink. Meeting Bree and talking about her background and passion for art was a blast. She also shared thoughts on her project, which is yet another source of inspiration. She’s looking to build a third space for all kinds of creative folks. Most importantly, including those that are what I’ll call ‘creative curious.’”

This is what I’m talking about, friends; use the internet as a tool, not a destination.

As Bree said in a follow up comment, “it’s so completely crucial to use this platform, and others like it, as peripheral tools to make shit happen in real life, in our communities, and for lasting effect.”

If that takes shape as a Zoom room or a supper club or an email thread, then do it. Make sure it’s sustainable, and it feels good, with the right people.

Ditch the social media feeds and their algorithmic grief machines, and just fill your day with good people instead.

Hey! I spoke with Cody Cook-Parrott about NEWSLETTERS, so this video is packed with some ideas that you could use for your own projects:

Segments!

Using lead magnets!

Creative bothering (Cody came up with that one during this interview)!

Flodesk

Zapier

Cody’s Newsletter class

Substack’s Recommendations

Teenage Wrist email (web version)

“Marketing is a creative practice.”

“Creative bothering”

Cody has since left Substack, but pretty much everything here in this video interview holds up!

Sean Reid was a guest on one of our recent Escape Pod Zoom calls, and he dropped the phrase “artfully cacophonous,” which led to some good laughs!

He talked about all the toys and other fun items he collects, and I was reading the part of Austin Kleon’s ‘Show Your Work’ where he talked “Don’t be a hoarder,” and I’m so glad Sean isn’t hiding his fun decor – I think you’ll appreciate this interview!

“I spend a lot of time desperately trying to be childlike and not childish,” Sean

Some ideas we hit on during the course of our chat:

• People are always sending signals, and these signals can tell a story and create connections with others (read my post ‘What signals are you sending?’).
• Maintaining a sense of childlike wonder and approaching life with “beginner’s eyes” is a good way to ward off cynicism, and crucial for creativity and continuous learning
• Connecting with others, whether through online communities or local meetups, provides energy, support, and opportunities for collaboration
• Sean said “just make some shit” – creating things simply for the joy of it is 1000% valid, all without focusing on any potential financial return

A big theme to leave with here with this episode is the importance of engaging with good people, and getting into conversations that provide energy and inspiration

Spoke to Michael Gilbride of Mad Records on Substack Live yesterday (Wed, Mar 5, 2025) and we covered a lot of ground here. Buckle up.

• Directly reaching your audience with an email list
• Building trust in your work and how you present yourself
• Approaching the business side of all this creatively
• Be the Roomba
• Getting back to TALKING again, in person

What happens when you cold-email a bunch of radio contacts about your blackened death metal band?

In the case of Úzkost, vocalist Josh Thieler explains how it led to a memorable house show (and so much more).

Click play, it’s a wild story.

Josh explains how the magic has continued over the years:

“My understanding is, so the college radio stations started playing us and then one of these kids have like, graduated college and then started their own web radio stations. And so then they’re playing us on those, and then other people hear about it, and they’re playing us on their stations. And then some like real legitimate, like the one local radio station here, the Big Rock one has played us multiple times on it, which makes no sense to me.”

The band has gone from 200 Spotify followers to 2,800 as result.

As most of us know, it’s not just about unit sales and DSP playlisting:

“The last show that we played here, a mom brought her 13 year old trans daughter, and it was her first show she had ever been to,” says Josh. “And she’s like, I love you guys so much. And she’s like, bought each shirt, bought every record that we had. And she’s like, I want to play metal someday. And I’m just like, how did this happen?”

During our chat, Alex asked “what would you say would be an actionable tip from this experience that you would pass on to other people?”

“I’m learning that I know less than I did the day before. So try as much as you have energy for, don’t discount the things, you know, Seth pushes emailing lists and stuff. Do that. It’s easy to set up.”

Josh also dishes the age old wisdom for any creative person – networking is vital, but in an honest, organic, kind way.

“Just talk to people in bands. Talk to fans on the internet when you can, when you have the energy for it. Talk to people that write for different sites. Then, like I said, don’t discount any of the things that we look at as dead from the past, like mailing lists, radio.”

That’s the thing – you gotta start somewhere, but you gotta do it at your own pace.

“It’s obnoxious to like start this whole thing by yourself out of nowhere and just be like, okay, here’s everything. Let me start trying to do everything at once and collect all these different contacts and everything. Start somewhere, and you just keep doing it. Once you gather those contacts, it’s super low effort to just send a press release, you know, and you can use the same press release for your emailing list, you know, of fans that you send to your PR contacts and that includes all the radio people that you can find.”

None of this is a magic fix. Emailing your local college radio station this week might not be the answer – you just never know!

And if you’re not in a band, take this concept and run with it.

Maybe it’s not hitting up college radio, but maybe there’s a local print weekly, a flea market, a record store, a DJ night.

This is all built on people, on relationships. Build those up, and see where it goes.

Listen to Úzkost on Bandcamp.