By Alina Issakhanian
Podcasts have been all the craze lately. A podcast is a digital and downloadable radio show with hosts and constant conversation. Since their rise in popularity, podcasts have come in different genres such as true crime or comedy. Junior Kerry Sempelsz recently started a podcast called “Off the Script” with alumni Deavon Garcia-Walker. Their podcast originally had the mission of reconnecting with old friends who had graduated. When they actually started the podcast, however, it turned into one where they dialogue with their friends or people they still see and talk to on a daily basis. Now, they are making new friends and tightening their bonds with old ones through this podcast.
“It’s always interesting, getting people’s stories and perspectives. The idea was that we wouldn’t pre-plan anything. Lights would go up and we’d talk,” Sempelsz said.
He reveals that creating the podcast itself is not that much work as they mostly rely on the conversation during the show to create something great. Sempelsz expressed that by personally knowing the people that he interviews, he has a few things he knows he wants to talk about but never limits the conversation of the episode. Stressing this aspect of it, Sempelsz promotes the concept of spontaneity and the idea of finding the “gold” in a fluid conversation on his podcast.
Most of his podcast relies on the other person, their experiences, and their stories. The conversations that stem from these stories are what Sempelsz loves the most.
“Once you get a baseline, you go off of each other and something beautiful gets created,” Sempelsz said.
This applies to those he is not so familiar with as well. They establish a direction and see where it takes them. As hosts, Semplesz and Garcia-Walker guide the conversation and lead guests away from topics like politics that may cause them to lose or upset some audience members and more towards topics like those in pop-culture.
To create an episode, Sempelsz and Garcia-Walker schedule people throughout the week to meet with them at their studio on Saturday, set up a camera and microphone and talk for about an hour with no script. Besides the few pointers in conversation they as hosts want to achieve, it is nothing more than just a fun conversation, hence the name “Off the Script.”
They film around three episodes on Saturdays and release one every Sunday on their YouTube channel “Off the Script Podcast.”
Just recently, Semplesz and Garcia-Walker have been recording their episodes on video, specifically for audience members with shorter attention spans, who haven’t given podcasts a shot yet.
Make sure to go watch or listen to their new podcast episode this Sunday and watch out for more updates on guests, new episodes, and more on their instagram @offthescript.podcast.
The Plaid Press 