Episode 107: DINKC
Thirty episodes ago, that week's guest discussed with me the notion of this podcast being a one-man weekly endeavor.
"That's a grind, man," he said. "That's a grind."
He was right when he made that comment, and it made me realize that that was a good summation of what the thing had been to that point. And it hasn't changed. It really is a grind to do the outreach and the scheduling, the interviewing and the editing, the prep and the getting the thing to the places it needs to be.
And since you were wondering, there are five essential components that make it all worthwhile:
meeting new people and hearing their stories
getting exposed to music I've either never heard of or listened to before
having guests tell me that they've enjoyed the interview
experiencing real-life, there's-still-good-in-the-world moments with each interaction
personal weekly pride in task completion and productivity
As far as viewership and folks' reactions to the thing in general, I've had a family member say that they don't know that the personal details of guests are something that the audience would be interested in.
A close friend trashed me (more than once) in a group thread with comments like, "Maybe I should sit in my basement and talk on a microphone to nobody."
I've had acquaintances say, "What're you tryin' to be? The next Joe Rogan?!"
A former colleague told me, "Maybe you should break episodes up into parts so that episodes are shorter, and people stick around longer."
When, in the initial aftermath of COVID-19, I had the idea of launching this thing, I knew that this -- the age of distractions -- wasn't the best time to ask folks to gather in-person for long-form conversations. I never had any lofty aspirations of this thing gaining any traction, let alone generating a profit. I just felt like it was a good thing to do. A cool thing. A fun thing. An educational thing on so many levels. My ultimate wish was for it to somehow, on the tiniest of levels, bring folks together. And I feel like those pieces have all panned out, even if unmeasurable to the average eye.
So, when I sit in the chair across from a total stranger like DINKC, and I get to learn about him, his family, his culture, his story, his wishes and dreams, and I then get to put it out there for whoever might be interested in sharing that same experience with me, it's worth it. Views and download counts remain irrelevant. Like and subscribes stay where they've always been: not on the charts of relativity.
I'd be lying if I said a part of me didn't sometimes long for more eyeballs, but you truly cannot put a price tag on the opportunity to meet a guy like DINKC. Now, I only sat with him for a couple of hours, and -- who knows -- we may never see one another for the rest of our lives. As DINKC says and lives and is, Death Is Not Knowing Certainty. It doesn't matter, though; my life and my time on this planet are richer for those two hours, and nothing can change that.
So, please check out our conversation. DINKC is a son and a brother and an uncle and a father and a husband and an artist. He's a businessman, a dreamer, a friend to many, and an asset to the Kansas City metro area.
We talked about his upbringing, his culture, his values, his art studio -- DINKC Studios (600 Ohio Ave. in Strawberry Hill), and we also talked a little bit about some of his favorite records, which were these:
Ritchie Valens (1959), Ritchie Valens
Notorious B.I.G.'s Ready to Die (1994)
Barrio Bravo (2001), Celso Piña
You can give DINKC a follow on Instagram here and here, and you can check out Zoe Strohm's The Pitch article on him here.
Whether you've been following this thing for all 107 episodes, or it's your first time here, or you've occasionally checked in, I do appreciate your ears, your eyeballs, and your minds. So thank you for whatever attention you've given this project. Cheers to you.
copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the audio samples featured in this episode. They are clips from a track called, "Slow Jam" by Vieux Farke Touré off of his 2009 album, Fondo (c/o Six Degrees Records).