After a radio talent search in Tampa went bad due to timing, Devon Alter, 18, created 18 and Balding. When a scout asked him if he had any work he could listen to online, and the answer was no, this light-hearted podcast series came alive. Coming out weekly, Alter is aiming to hit the 18 to 30 year old demographic.
This mass communications major is focusing on radio broadcasting as a future career. He laughs and says, “I don’t want to say I want to be a household name but that’d be nice. Someday I want to work on being an on-air personality and DJ.”
When asked what his goal was for this show, he took a deep breath,
“Basically, my aim for the show is to highlight how the everyday person can be interesting…a slice-of-life kind of show.”
His favorite podcast he’s produced talks about a teen parent who has become successful and what hardships she endured. Alter says “there was a nice balance between humor and the deep stuff but maintaining the quality is most important.”
Each week, he has a different guest along with his co-hosts Thomas Shepard, 18,and Lemuel Pierrenoel, 26. Alter says it’s this “golden combo” that helps to “alleviate the pressure on guest from being funny” because his co-hosts bring the laughs. But this show cannot be possible with just Alter and his two co-hosts. William Sheehy, 18, is in charge of all the tech and editing for the show while Brandon Dinh, 18, makes original musical pieces for the intro. The whole process includes four microphones, computers, the show being recorded into a program called Cubase and then edited.
Their podcasts are mainly released onto Soundcloud and the link is always posted on their Facebook page. Alter says they have recently started recording videos and putting them on their YouTube channel.
“Audio is important to me because my main goal is radio so I feel like the video is another avenue to expand my demographic. I want to keep doing both and eventually live stream once I’m comfortable.”
He leaves me with this: “If you ever feel like listening to great conversation, listen to 18 and balding.”
For more information visit:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/18AndBalding?fref=ts
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/18andBalding?feature=mhee