#VoicesOfIndia- A Conversation with Rohan Thakar
Rohan Thakar, a media enthusiast and the podcaster behind EP.log Media, talks about his journey and the inspiration behind.
Let’s start with you, Rohan. Tell us where are you coming from and what brought you to podcasting.
I started in IT - that’s what I was always interested in - building apps, studying about them. For a short while, I even did a job in an IT company but it didn’t work out too well.
That’s when I decided to start something in the media. My dad was always in media but I never had that fascination until I thought of it in terms of building something myself.
I feel media is a powerful influence on how we live. Within all of the media, podcasts caught my attention.
The way I came across podcasts as a medium is when I started out with listening to Gary Vaynerchuk and Vishal Gondal Show by IVM. I also listened to a few fictional podcasts before finally deciding to make one myself!
So, you decided to startup Ep.log media. Tell us about it, beginning with the story behind the name.
EP.log is a startup by my father, Abhijeet Thakar, and myself. He is building the business side of things and am taking care of the creation side.
Coming to the name, EP log is basically short for episode logging. Podcasts are great for storytelling, stories that are well told in episodes. Hence the name :)
The idea happened to me last year, but things really started kicking off 6 months back. The idea was to build lifestyle-driven content which not many are doing in India but is quite famous in the West.
Me being a cycling enthusiast, we decided to start there. That’s how, Hit the Road was born.
Cycling, right now, has a very small community and not much information is available. So, we decided to go ahead, gather information, and make the community stronger.
You have a few other podcasts that revolve around lifestyle content too. I’ll like to know, how did you zero in on the category?
I simply started by thinking what is it that I can do well. I jotted down a few genres.
I always had an inclination towards technology. Comedy is something I am not great with. Spirituality is something I have been inclined towards, being a part of a spiritual organization called Brahmakumaris.
Combining this, I wanted to do something to help people transform their lifestyles.
You know, when I worked in the IT company I mentioned, I would notice the schedule of people. They would come in the morning, go late at night- and that was their life. I wanted to help them in a way that makes their life better.
Hence, the idea of a lifestyle podcast that they could tune in to while commuting.
As of now, we only have people from the community but I will make sure that it benefits people on a wider scale. Even a slight change in their lifestyle or perception can go a long way in making them better and fitter.
Not many know the impact that exercise has on us- it’s not just about making us fitter but it opens our mind, helps us detach, and a lot more.
That’s my whole idea behind lifestyle content- helping them think about things that are missing in their life.
Fascinating! So what are all the podcasts you are producing today?
We have a total of 15 shows, 8 of which are already out. The rest of them are under pre-production. The podcasts themselves are very diverse and cater to their own unique audience bases.
Among the shows that we have put out, we have Hit the Road that I mentioned earlier.
Another podcast is ‘Torque the Talk’. We talk about automobiles- motorsports, cars, traveling, bikes.
The way I see it, a vehicle is just a tool that helps you escape. It helps you unwind from what you are doing. That way, your vehicle of choice is an integrated part of your lifestyle, isn’t it?
For this show, I partnered with Power Drift which is a YouTube channel who were happy to be a part of this podcast.
The other podcast I have is Being the Change which is hosted by me. We invite guests who are passionate about a cause- be it social entrepreneurs or for that matter, anyone who has positively impacted other’s lives.
I believe that if you want to impact someone, you have to first be a source of inspiration yourself. You have to change, to change the world. So I have interviewed people who have stepped up to positively change lives.
Another podcast is Meri Kahaani where we have Bhawana Somaaya who is a very famous film critic and Bollywood journalist. She was awarded Padma Shri in 2017 by then President of India — Pranab Mukherjee.
She is a veteran journalist who has done it all, seen it all. Being a woman, she is a big source of inspiration for a lot of people out there who believe women belong to the kitchen. We are soon interviewing people who are into the arts- singing, dancing, theater- something that people cherish.
Then there are three new shows that we have recently announced.
There’s Ep.Log Tech where we are discussing trending tech topics, catching you up on everything that’s happening in the digital world. It comes from a place of personal passion.
There’s Pet-o-nomics with Isha, India’s first show on pet parenting. This one is for you if you’re a new pet parent, or planning to be one. Or if you’re thinking about getting a second pet or introducing one to your children. Or if you simply just love hearing about pets.
Third, we have the SOS Show. The host, Suchita has a history of making films on the topic of Mental health, and she is now directly interviewing people who are affected by the very disorders they are going to demystify on the show.
Wow! That sounds like a lot of work. How does this all come together?
Currently, we are a two-man army. My father handles all things business, and on the creative side, I am the one handling things. We have hired freelance resources to manage production, particularly editing.
And… we are looking to hire and scaling up, getting a few editors, managers and producers to handle things better.
This is pretty cool that you’re managing all that production. Do you have a hack you can share with other podcasters or producers?
As a matter of fact, yes. This new plugin which I found out is pretty cool. It allows me to directly record Skype conversations in Garageband.
Until now, we had to install a few apps to take the sound from Skype into Garageband, but Soundflower takes that pain away.
The only shortcoming is that it only works for Mac.
I see! And given the fact that you’ve started four new shows in such a short span of time, I’m sure you have some tips for others starting their podcasts.
Yes.
The number one thing to keep in mind while starting a podcast is the concept. You need to have a strong conviction about your concept and feel that it can impact people, entertain them or be a source of inspiration.
Identify that idea. There are a lot of podcasts out there that simply try to imitate one another. But I feel that until you know it’s new and worth it, there isn’t much point going ahead with it.
Conviction comes when you are original. There is a lot of space to be original. Podcasting is a young space, you can make one on anything- designing, DIY, AI, and so on.
Another thing that I strongly feel is that make the pointers for the podcast in advance.
If you can’t decide the content flow in advance for at least 10 episodes, there isn’t much point in starting one.
We see that a lot of podcasts are interview-based so I would say that never hesitate to ask people for it. I have interviewed businessmen, actors, journalists- people from diverse backgrounds. Have the power and the confidence to ask. It will just be a yes or a no. That is something which differentiates you.
For instance, I wanted to get PowerDrift on board so I just shot in an email, and now we’re good friends. Email is the easiest way to go ahead too, people do reply to emails.
Thanks much for your inputs, Rohan. Wish you a lot of success with the podcasts that you’re coming up with :)
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