TRAPPO. (An Introduction)

 

THIS IS HOW THE END BEGINS...

Hello, my name is Dustin, and welcome to the beginning of an exciting new journey.

Of course, I say this is the beginning, but that's not exactly true. And before we get to the future, we'll have to take a quick journey into the past. In fact, this particular journey actually began way back in October of 2010, when I sat down with my cousin Ky with the express purpose of recording a podcast all about horror movies. That podcast, and the not one but two series it inevitably produced, were never really bothered with such trivial matters as structure or even coherence, as is plainly evident upon listening to any random episode. Hell, we never even bother to introduce ourselves at any point in any episode we've ever recorded. That's not an exaggeration. 

For whatever reason, I thought this was all perfectly fine. I obviously knew what a traditional podcast was, having listened to many of them before I chose to throw my tattered hat into the ring, but I never really bothered to actually make a podcast that would have felt at home with all of those professional products. I guess I just felt that our scruffy little shows and their anarchic charms would set them apart from all the other podcasts out there with their organization and topics and production value. These podcasts were never being made with the thought of them catching on in the popular culture; they were made by a pair of nobodies who shared them with a handful of people they knew in real-life, and if some random folks online discovered and enjoyed them, all's the better, but that was never the intention. And the way they were made, our previous shows would have no true appeal to a larger audience, so I was never surprised when their audience never grew. Looking back, I think I'm proud enough of the 124 episodes of The Podcast Of Lies and Lies My Podcast Told Me overall, despite their numerous faults. I will admit there are some topics we discussed and a lot of language we (mostly I) used in many of those old episodes that I regret sharing with the internet, but I was younger and more ignorant, and I've grown up quite a bit in the ensuing eleven years. Times have changed, and so have I. 

Back in May of last year, with pandemic lock-downs in full swing, my cousin Ky, who, several years prior, had moved from his ancestral home of Kansas to sunny southern California, contacted me and asked if I'd like to start recording a new podcast. Our previous series had come to an end on Christmas Day of 2015, several months after the death of my best friend and then-current co-host. I had hours of content recorded and ready to edit, but I found I just couldn't do the whole podcast thing anymore. My heart was broken and I just threw in the towel. In the weeks before his death, my friend Titus and I had begun to discuss the possibility of transforming our amorphous little diversion of a show into a real, structured podcast. In the years since, I'd often wondered what that theoretical podcast might have become had circumstances been different. 

Over this past year and change, Ky and I have been recording Trappo's Chap House, a new podcast born out of the ashes of the old, and the only real difference here is that somehow the audio quality of the new series is worse than our old stuff (we recorded the new show using Google Voice, which is convenient but not the best for crystal clear sound reproduction), and the process, I've found, has been a lot of fun. I'm genuinely enjoying the old grind of recording and editing a podcast again, but something has been missing. The seed of the idea planted over six years ago was germinating in the recesses of my mind. Trappo's Chap House was fine, but aside from a few minor differences it was essentially the same thing we've been doing since 2010, and it just wasn't enough for me anymore. Recently, I had a discussion with Ky, and we decided to try something a bit different. Something almost, dare I say... legitimate? 

So that brings us to today, and to the beginning of that exciting new journey I warned you about up at the top. Allow me to introduce you to TRAPPO. What is TRAPPO., you may well ask? It's an all-new podcast hosted by myself and Ky, and we call it "the show that talks about stuff on purpose", because that's exactly what it is. In TRAPPO., we actually have topics and structure and some vague semblance of production value. But don't think it's gonna sound too fancy, because you have to keep in mind we have no budget for this show, and are basically just working with the equipment and software we've already got on hand, so please temper your expectations. I'm going to work hard to make every episode of TRAPPO. as polished as possible, but there are certain circumstantial limitations that just can't be avoided. And the first several episodes are inevitably going to be a little shaky overall as I figure out this new format, but I trust that things will improve as time passes. And hey, we've figured out a few key aspects of this whole podcast thing already, since we actually remember to introduce ourselves at the beginning of every episode. It only took eleven years to get that part right, but we've finally done it, and I'm pretty proud of us both for crossing that particular threshold. 

TRAPPO. is a series that will take a crooked look at movies, music and more, old and new, appraising and re-appraising the stories you love, and the stories you love to hate. The inaugural episode of TRAPPO., the first of a two-part discussion of our essential albums, goes live tomorrow, and when it does I'll return here to tell you all about it. I'm excited to finally be here, on the cusp of starting this new chapter, because it's something that's been a long time coming. It's been a lot of work so far, but I'm thoroughly enjoying the process of bringing TRAPPO. to life, and I hope that, when the time comes, you'll enjoy listening. As for what the name TRAPPO. means, I have no earthly idea. It just sounds like a clown name to my ear, and I enjoy that. We all have to name our podcasts something, and what's wrong with TRAPPO.? I suppose I could have come up with something more descriptive that would give potential listeners a clue as to what exactly they're in for should they chose to give us a spin, but I just like TRAPPO. I may be shooting our little podcast in the foot right out of the gate by launching with such a deliberately bizarre name, but I never claimed to have learned all of my lessons, after all. 

The current plan is to release episodes on a bi-weekly basis for the foreseeable future, so be sure to check out brand-new TRAPPO. every other Friday, either here or on Anchor, and I hope to have the show available on other platforms in the very near future, so stay tuned for that. If you're looking for any links to the podcast or any other TRAPPO.-adjacent content, there's a handy drop-down menu above that will show you what you're looking for. And while you're here, you might as well join the conversation and leave a comment on either this or future posts, or you can even send us an email at dickbloodd69@gmail.com. That is the official TRAPPO. email address, and no, I'm not joking. Drop us a line. Tell us how we're doing. Is there any specific topic you'd like to see us cover? We're all ears. With TRAPPO., we want you to feel like you're part of a small community here, and your voices matter. 

We'll be back tomorrow with our first official episode, so stay tuned, because this is only the beginning.