Martin Austwick

Martin Austwick is an award-winning podcaster (Radio Academy/Sony/Aria Gold for Answer Me This! in 2011; British Podcast Award 2017 for Song by Song). He’s co-created, presented and produced podcasts since 2007 including Answer Me This!, Song by Song, Brain Train, Global Lab, and created music for the above and The Allusionist and many more. Martin is the founder and lead curator of the Podcast Maker Weekend (2017-) as part of the London Podcast Festival. Follow him on Twitter here.

How did you get introduced to the audio space?
I started making music in Garageband in 2001 and gradually amassed some recording gear - in 2007, my wife wanted to start a podcast with a friend of hers and asked if I would help. The podcast was called Answer Me This!, and it just finished after 14 and a half years, several awards, and a lot of wonderful listeners. 

You recently launched Neutrinowatch—what was your goal with that show?
To do something really creative that hadn’t been done before. To see what I could come with when the rule is “the episode has to change from one day to the next”. What stories are interesting to tell in that way. To hang out with Jeff Emtman.

What kind of people listen to Neutrinowatch?
The best kind.

Which one of your awards was the most exciting to get?
The 2017 British Podcast Award for Song by Song - the niche podcast I make about Tom Waits with Sam Pay - because we were up against “proper” shows and I really didn’t expect to win.

Answer Me This recently ended after 14 years. Do you miss it?
Not yet!

What’s your process like for coming up with the music for something like Mubi?
I’ve known Rico for a while and he has a very good idea about what he needs from the music. That’s not imperative though - I’ve worked with plenty of people who don’t know musical terms or even music well. We figure out what tone(s) and moods we need, we usually pull together a mood board, and I go from there.

You’re a composer, writer, host, producer, and sound designer. Which of these is your favorite, and what is most challenging? 
I like them all. Production - audio editing - is the part that feels most like a job. Writing is the hardest but the most important part I think. It’s the most abstract in a way. I can never work out if I’m a vague person or a details person.

How does your background in physics help you podcast?
I’ve run a Transmission Electron Microscope and seen individual atoms. If a technical process is difficult to understand, it not because I’m stupid. It’s either because it’s difficult, or the software is designed badly. It gives me a certain amount of confidence that it’s not my fault if I’m finding a technical aspect hard. (NB I did not study acoustics)

How does your music discovery journey different than your podcast discovery journey?
I go on word of mouth for both, but in the podcast space there are voices (e.g. Bello, Wil Williams, yourself) that I trust to guide me towards stuff I’ll enjoy. Music is very hyped and I don’t know who I’d read.

What’s something you’ve seen in podcasting that’s excited you?
I like the medium in general. I know there are barriers to entry, but there are fewer barriers to ideas being turned into work - than radio or TV, say. It’s a bit like stand up in that respect.

What’s something you predict for podcasting in 2022?
AI text to speech is going to start being used a lot more. In a few years, AI-written news and podcast scripts, and combinations of the two (maybe that’s already here?).

What do you want to be doing more of in 2022?
Making better work.  Earning more money for making better rather than making more work.

If you were going to start another podcast, don’t worry about any of the logistics or whether or not anyone would like it, what would it be? Do you have an ongoing list?
No not really. I tend to make the things I want to make, and I have to be immediately excited about an idea. I don’t have a list or I’d already be making them! Having someone to work on it with really helps too. Maybe a video game podcast? They used all to be crap but there are a few sneaking into the gaps now that are good.

What are three elements, tropes, or genres that will always get your attention when you’re looking for a new show to listen to?
Something original. Something that doesn’t care about being niche. Bats. [Ed. note: Martin is the one who introduced me to Give Bats a Podcast!]

What podcast does the best job using music?
George the Poet is amazing at that. I love Off Book. I saw their live show in London in 2019 and cried. I was very jetlagged.

Who is someone in podcasting who isn’t getting enough recognition?
Ross Sutherland, always. Even if he was as famous as Ira Glass. Anyone making good work that the new slate of mainstream podcast commissioners who’ve come in from TV, film, print etc don’t know exist. They’re in for a treat.

What’s a show that nobody talks about but everyone should?
IDK I think I hear about podcasts because people are talking about them. I did some consultancy/mentoring on a show by a friend of mine called Down to a Sunless Sea, about the life and decline of his dad - it covers memoir, politics, science, history... That’s the podcast, my friend is called Dave Pickering. They make longform stories which I think puts some people off. But Sunless Sea is absolutely worth spending the time on. It did get written up in the Guardian but I think it’s a show that deserves more attention; Dave’s a really interesting creator and it’s my favourite thing they’ve done.

Thanks, Martin!