Despite the massive success that My Dad Wrote A Porno podcast has accumulated in its eight-year run, the co-hosts say they still see themselves as “DIY underdogs”.
Co-hosts of the show Jamie Morton, Alice Levine and James Cooper reflected on their podcasting journey with the PodPod team in today’s episode, after announcing that they were ending the show with three finales planned for the end of the year.
While reflecting on the accomplishments they’ve had – from two sold-out world live tours to their very own HBO comedy special – the team revealed that they stay humble by remaining very independent and prioritising their friendship.
“I think it's important to kind of trust the show that you're making,” said Morton. “You never want the success of anything to impact the actual product that you're creating, because then it changes what made it special to begin with.
“I think it was really important for us that we kept it feeling like My Dad Wrote A Porno, and that it has never become ‘too cool for school’, I think that’s important because that’s the show that got you to where it was to begin with.”
And it turns out the even their equipment played a part in maintaining that authenticity. "There's a weird nostalgia to our mics," continues Morton. "They've recorded every single part of My Dad Wrote A Porno and we wanted to finish the show with them – there's magic in these mics!"
Levine compared the experience of creating the podcast as a version of their time working on student television projects when they were in university together, and that while the podcast is a higher quality production, it’s still a result of having a collective goal to create something together that they love.
“There’s no reason to have an elaborate video trailer for the start of a podcast series; that's what we love to do,” Levine says. “It feels very honest and true to what we built and I don't think you would do all of those little things along the way if it wasn't a kind of labour of love.”
As the team wrapped up the final chapter of Belinda Blinked for the podcast, they still used the same mics they started with eight years ago; three mates recording around the kitchen table in each other’s flats like they always did, and ready to discover a new future for their brand outside the podcast.
“I think what keeps us going with it is that kind of creative drive that we want to make something and to make something great… and to make something that has an audience no matter how big or small,” said Cooper.
