Interview with Keith and The Girl.

A few weeks ago I briefly talked about podcasts and the benefits of the medium, and Andy McDonald also wrote two articles on podcasting in a series on the technical details of putting together your own.

But what does it take to make it big?

“You have to take it seriously.” explains Keith Malley of Keith and the Girl, one of the most popular and successful podcasts by any standard.

“If you say you’re putting out a show once a week, you should do it.” Chemda Khalili ^{(the girl)} adds, “Also, it is giving a shit. If you don’t care about your show then nobody will. If you half ass it then people will half ass listen to it. If you say its a comedy show it should probably try to be funny, and if you say you’re going to give this type of information, you should research it; whatever the topic you should stay consistent with it and be the best at it.”

In the beginning.

Three years ago Keith and Chemda began the show to promote their respective creative careers, Keith a comedian and Chemda a singer, and quite quickly it took on a life of its own; allowing both to quit their day jobs.
“We knew this would be another thing we were doing but didn’t know it would branch out this far.” Chemda explains, “We didn’t know that this would be the main project, we thought it would be another thing to have because being whatever kind of artist, be it a singer or a stand-up comic or writing books, we know that you have to go through different avenues, try different ways to get any kind of career that’s in the arts going.”

Now they have a legion of fans, 17 of which have the shows logo permanently inked into their skin, and two spin off shows, one a videocast Keith and the Girl TV, the other a voyeuristic sampling of “off air” content. Both of which join the show as being consistently ranked in the top 10 of podcasts at podcast alley thanks to those fans. “There is a community growing.” Chemda says about their websites forums where fans gather online, “A lot of people know each other’s names, they have their own meet ups. It’s really just incredible that we can go out into some town and hang out with people and do a show.”

Quitting the day job.

“We didn’t know it would monetize so well, that’s the main thing, we didn’t know it would be the source of income at all.” explained Chemda on the financial success of the show. The couple sell show related merchandise on everything from t-shirts to towels at their online store, as well as their creative projects.

“Originally the merchandise was helping the show grow and now there is advertising.” Chemda adds, “We did it on our own [advertising] and we had some fans that have bought ads from us… we contacted some businesses and some of that came through and some of that didn’t, so yeah we definitely tried on our own and definitely got some.”
Recently the show signed on with Wizzard Media to handle all their advertising sales.

Chemda gives this last peice of advice on podcasting for profit. “If you want to make it a business then it’s going to take up more time than you thought it would. Chances are you’re working as many hours at least as a nine to fiver.”

The couple living in Queens, New York, produce the hour long shows weekdays, often live, and “talk shit”. From current events to personal issues, they are honest and entertaining.

“If you hang out with Keith, and he’s comfortable with you, you’ll see him take out a pen and paper when you say something funny” Chemda explains. “And try not to be offended if I don’t.” Keith adds.

You can catch one of the KATG live event April 15th at the Village underground in New York, more details at keithandthegirl.com.