The MCP is a weekly podcast featuring long form conversations with successful entrepreneurially-minded indie creatives in music, film and writing. In October we succesfully raised nearly $20k on kickstarter, thanks to you.
Why This? Why Now? Why You?
There are three reason why I feel like this is the right time and I'm the right guy.
For one, I know first hand what it's like to be an indie artist who has persisted across decades; through managers, well-received albums, poorly received albums, wins, losses, lucky chances. And In my 20+ year journey I have had the honor and pleasure to meet many talented comrades making their own unique way through the world.
I'm also a major book lover and a published author, and, in the last seven years, I've grown into something of an actor and filmmaker. My primary project for the last half-decade is a TV show I developed with some friends called Morse Code. We filmed the pilot with money raised from my music fans. It's currently on the film festival circuit where it's received several nominations and awards, including the Audience Choice Award at the Berlin Film Festival, Best TV Pilot at the Ramsgate International Film Festival, and a Best Lead Actor award for me from the NYC TV Festival.It will be showing at the Nashville Film Festival next month.
So I'm a guy whose not only been doing this for a long time, but I've had to pivot several times when either the industry changed or I changed. The through line for me is that I've somehow managed to stay creative, financially solvent, and not jaded. And the best part is, I'm not alone. I know a lot of amazing people not just in the music space, but also in writing and books, and as lots of people are coming through Nashville, I'm excited about the prospect of talking with more and more creatives as the podcast evolves.
Joe Pisapia and Korby Lenker
The MCP Mission
Following in the footsteps of our award-winning TV Pilot “Morse Code”, The Morse Code Podcast seeks to inspire you, the entrepreneurially-minded creative – be you a musician, writer or filmmaker – through stimulating conversations with the best creatives in the East Nashville community and beyond.
Conversation topics focus on three areas: the creative processes of guests, both in the immediate sense (how does he/she set out to write a song/story/screenplay, or make a film?) as well as how those processes have evolved over time. We’ll also look at the entrepreneurial side of the enterprise - the pragmatic approach to making a living in the arts - with an eye toward empowering our audience to consider the adoption of some of these approaches in their own work. Lastly, in the spirit of neighborliness, we’ll get to know each other as colleagues and friends.
As some of the guests will themselves be musicians and singer-songwriters, certain episodes will include live performances.
Liz Longley
The last reason I think I'm a good fit is technical. Without really knowing it, I've been preparing for this podcast for almost two years.
During the pandemic I was doing these weekly livestreams. I started getting obsessed with making them technically better and better. I invested in an ATEM switcher, then an ATEM Extreme, lighting, multiple cameras. I got pretty far into the ATEM world (and I've barely scratched the surface of what those things can do). I've been well-versed with Logic and the Universal Audio world of glorious plug-ins so the audio side was a no brainer.
Earlier this year, I transitioned that effort into a bi weekly show called Friday Lunch. I invited musician friends of mine to come and play a few tunes. Depending on the artist, I would sit in and accompany, or not. It was all about the spirit of celebrating music and showing simple unadorned performances of people actually playing and singing in a room. That's what I'm into these days.
John Strohm and Korby Lenker