Two former Brooklyn DJs, Mistress McCutchan and The Wasteland, one an experienced podcaster and the other a newbie, have teamed up to bring us the It’s Midnight Somewhere Podcast with the goal of developing a sense of community between North American alternative music scenes.
When it became clear that the Cat vs Bat Podcast was coming to an end, that didn’t mean the people involved in the project wanted to stop podcasting. They just needed to part ways amicably and pursue different ideas and interests. From that parting of ways came It’s Midnight Somewhere.
A familiar and working partnership
DJs Mistress McCutchan and The Wasteland have already been spinning (in person and now digitally) at the Prophecy parties. Says The Wasteland, “We had already been working together for a few years as DJ partners for our party Prophecy. It didn’t take much for her to sell the idea, pretty sure I said yes before the question was done being asked. In fact the hardest bit of the whole thing was naming the podcast. We had a lot of contenders and a lot of silliness, some of which you might hear if you listen to the very end of the episodes.”
Regarding his podcasting experience, he adds: “This is it, very much learning as I go. It’s been a bit of a learning curve, but Mistress McCutchan has been a big help there.”
The custom music for It’s Midnight Somewhere was written by Robyn Bright of Cockatoo. The DJs had already come up with the name and gave her creative license to compose music.
“She was very pleased to be asked and it was a good opportunity to work with her.”
Building a sense of musical community
Eleven episodes in, this music-focused podcast includes album discussions, mix tapes, special guests DJ Nocturna, Kevin Matthews (of Transmission Records), and Derek Rush. It’s not just about critical reviews of the music itself but a discussion of alternative sub/culture and its impacts, both positive and negative. One particular episode addresses problematic artists, because not having a conversation about them can be destructive in both short and long term. These DJs would prefer to build something.
“We’re trying to shine a light on music we love, its roots and how it relates to those who are darkly inclined. We also have a goal to reach out to people from other cities and see how their local scene compares and contrasts to our local area. The goal with that is to try and bring North America a little closer and build some community more like what they have in Europe.”
Topic selection for episodes is a work of adaptive planning. They begin with a working list of topics. They select which topic should come next, “based on how heavy or involved the previous topic was.”
What’s next?
Given the flexible nature of topic selection, the future isn’t easy to see. The easiest prediction to make is that there will be many more episodes of It’s Midnight Somewhere. On a more specific note, the next episode that releases during the week of August 17, 2020, will discuss where the tastes of these DJs overlap. The Wasteland is more on the industrial side while Mistress McCutchan tends toward the goth side, but what’s in the middle of that Venn diagram? Tune in and you’ll find out.
It’s Midnight Somewhere can be found on Mixcloud, Facebook, The Belfry Network, and Apple Podcasts. For more reading check out our other Podcast Spotlights.
