Days of My Life Podcast
by Dōhai
The name Aidan Wheller may seem familiar to some of you if you’ve been around the indie podcast scene for the last year or so: he made his debut in the podcasting world when he started reviewing shows in March of 2018 on YouTube. In the space of five months he reviewed around 60 podcasts, including some of his personal favorites: The Big Loop, Dark Net Diaries, Dark Saga: Aethuran, Duggan Hill, Superstition, Lonesome Pine, Dream State.
Come summer however he stopped producing his podcast reviews in favour of producing a show of his own: he changed the channel name, removed all the reviews, and began plowing his time into his new project, the Days of My Life Podcast.
So when Aidan reached out to me with a sneak peek behind the curtain of his upcoming show, what could I say?
Within ten minutes of listening to his heart warming first episode I was on the phone setting up an interview.
Q. So what led to the scrapping of the review portion of your YT channel? Was it simply to make room for the podcast, or was there something else?
“The idea for Days of my Life came to me in a moment, and by the end of an hour I had mapped out twelve episodes in my head. I started recording the following week, and as it started to go well I decided I had to stop doing reviews. For one thing I thought to myself “I can’t do reviews and put my own show out.” I needed some distance from being a reviewer.”
He added:
“I still listen to loads of podcasts and audio drama but for now I’m just a fan… cheering them all on from the sidelines.”
Q. Is there a possibility that the review portion of your journey will return, or do you think it was ultimately just a stepping stone in your evolution?
“Maybe in some way it could. But as of now I have no plans to do any. (I still have all the reviews if anybody wants them), but to be honest I have ideas for another podcast after I get done with days of my life. I had another moment where a fully formed story popped into my head, this one is all fiction though, so a great amount of work will be needed to make it come alive. The thing I like about the idea of the show is that it does not limit me, for now I have twelve episodes, but I can see there being many more.”
Q. Would a continuation of DomL be just your own experiences, or would you consider doing “defining moments” of other people's lives.
“I think that other people's lives have probably been covered well enough. I thought about doing some shows about my heroes, idols… but I quickly ran into the copyright barrier! It's impossible to really focus in on a person of fame without breaking copyrights! It took me a long long time to get the short clips that I use for reference in Days of my Life.”
A few weeks ago Aidan put up Episode 0, which is now available wherever you get your podcast fix. This heartwarming personal reflection on his deceased mother is entitled ‘Things I Wish My Mum Knew’ and it’s just that: a list of things that have happened since his mother passed away, that presumably is a reflection of the things they shared whilst she was still alive. It’s a simple premise, and with its monologue backed by somber piano music it is put together incredibly well, creating an ambience that makes me reflect on my own life, familial relationships, and the finite time we have together.
Now full disclosure here, I’m not really a fan of autobiographical works, even those of my idols, so obviously I came into this filled with trepidation. Something I’m happy to say, this podcast well and truly smashed. Perhaps it’s because Aidan is just your average guy on the street, not some Hollywood heartthrob or sporting hero that we hold in high esteem, that this story shines for me. Maybe the reason this story is so heartwarming is because it truly shows that all lives matter.
Episode 1 is entitled ‘Home Base’ and runs for just over half an hour.
In this episode Aidan takes us back to August 1997 when he was a wee lad of 16, when the times, as Bob Dylan so aptly wrote, they were a changing, and a young Aidan was having the time of his life. But this was all about to change, for this date was a major turning point in life, not just for Aidan personally, but for Billions of people around the globe.
As far as the content of this first episode goes, I’m going to leave it there. I have no intention of spoiling this story for you. Suffice it for me to say that this episode is not only well written and produced, it also humbles me how candid and self-effacing one human being can be about their own problems, flaws, and limitations. For me that’s worth the price of admission alone.
You can catch this first episode when it releases in April. (TBD)
Q. I assume that the following episodes will be of life changing moments that are as candid and as self-effacing, so with that in mind, how hard was it for you to not only think on these matters, but to actually break them down, and lay them out for the world to see, and how cathartic was the process?
“Yes they all are very heart-on-sleeve, I would not be able to do any other way. In some ways it has been cathartic to go back to these times, maybe even a bit like therapy for me, but because its all my own life I own it 100% there’s no fiction or worry about how things might end, its reflective and honest and when it's all done I will be proud to know that's out there and not just in the backseat of my mind.”
“Not all of the episodes are linked to moments in everybody else’s life, 4 or 5 of them are, some of the dates everybody will know. some of the days are about moments in time and events from my own life story, all true but with some little changes to protect people close to me.”
Q. What do you hope your audience, (and yourself) will take away from this endeavor? Here you are talking about the moment you decided to stop using drugs and become more supportive of your dying mother? Does your mother, and other family members feature in other episodes?
“Yes my family feature more in other episodes, and yes my mother's death and the time I spent looking after comes back, but I did not just stop getting waisted. The other shows focus in on the human condition of loss and living with grief, but also finding new things, and new ways to run away or transform into something else. I was only 16 in the episode Homebase, as I write this I am now 37, so plenty of time for more missadventures.”
“As for what people might get from it…. It's just me saying hello to the world, and sharing my story, I guess I want people to like it, maybe relate to it.. I don't think it will appeal to everyone, and not chasing anything… of course I want as many people to listen to as possible but honestly it sounds cheesy but it's true, if just a few people listen to it and relate to it that's fine with me.”
Q. So how are you feeling now that your first show is about to launch?
“I guess I feel a bit insecure. I'm not a pro and I am learning my craft as I go. I have one little mic and a shitty old laptop, so when I listen back to my shows I think, “it's not as good as the shows I love” but then I think ‘Hell’ the whole thing came from one little thought, it doesn’t have to be perfect as long as it's good enough for me that’ll do!”
I know how that feels, my first ever attempt is almost ¾’s broadcast, and even though I’ve had lots of praise, I still feel queasy when an episode is released, and I am poised to run through it all again so that I can reassess and learn all there is about my writing.
“The last thing I would say is that the show does not follow a solid timeline, so sometimes I might overlap or go backwards then forwards, I kinda like that it's a bit blurry and rough.”
I wish you all the best with your show Aidan, I’m looking forward to listening to more days of your life in the near future.
If you wish to catch this show, then you can do so wherever you listen to your regular playlist, and episode one ‘HomeBase’ dropped on April 3rd 2019.
A Podern Playlist
For week ending 31/3/19
Welcome back again Podern family! Here’s hoping you had a wonderful week filled with fun, happiness and of course podcasts.
Not only have I still not found my earbuds, but somehow I have also ‘mislaid’ my pair of Sony cans. What’s next? Is my mobile phone going to disappear next week? I certainly hope not. Anyway here’s what some of the gang have been checking out over the last week.
Lex Scott
This week for me was of course filled with my usual suspects: Small Beans, Junkfood Cinema, and Write Along.
Small Beans re released a few episodes I’d missed the first time around: a 1Upsmanship covering What Remains of Edith Finch, and a Frame Rate with Katy Stoll covering Princess Bride. They also had a few new episodes: 1Upsmanship covering Dead Space, and a Frame Rate covering Synecdoche, NY (neither of which I’ve played/ watched, but I always enjoy the analysis).
Junkfood Cinema had the boys covering Mask of the Phantasm, a Batman film I’ve never really been a fan of (I think it’s just fine, but it’s no Under the Red Hood), and Write Along had Cargill discussing some of his ideas and expanding on some previously shared ideas about writing for horror.
Oh, and I also listened to the trailer for the new season of Stitcher’s Wolverine Podcast. Sounds like it’s set in New Orleans, and will feature pretty much exactly the characters you’re expecting. I’ll likely listen to this when it gets here (weekly, I’m not with Stitcher premium) but the first season was pretty underwhelming...
Alex C. Telander
The week started with a new I am in Eskew that pushed me to the edge, as it always does. A new Marsfall showed things a little bit better but still pretty bleak. Greater Boston dropped another incredibly moving episode. In finally got started on SCP Archives and it’s like reading House of Leaves and it’s awesome.
On a recommendation I gave Vega Podcast another try and it’s completely blown my mind with the storytelling and original sound design. In preparation for writing a crossover episode with Ostium, I marathoned the current ten episodes of Middle:Below and it’s a great and addicting show. And finally on another recommendation, I started a new show called Starhopper Radio and am very intrigued to see where it goes.
Podern Times is only possible due to our wonderful supporters.