Osiris Media CEO and co-founder RJ Bee hosts The Drop and co-hosts the Helping Friendly Podcast and Under The Scales. Below, RJ profiles fellow Osiris podcast, Inside Out with Turner and Seth.
Interviewing musicians is a lot of fun. It’s also really hard to do well. You can try to build rapport and talk about commonalities and let the discussion evolve from there. You can do a ton of research and use your in-depth knowledge of a musician to engage them in conversation they wouldn’t otherwise have. It’s rare that a show does both, which is why I love Inside Out with Turner and Seth (Inside Out wTnS for short).
One of the earliest additions to the Osiris family, I was immediately struck by Rob (Turner) and Seth (Weiner)’s ability to bring both the deep research and the music industry vibe together to bring out the most in their interviewees. The first Inside Out wTnS interview I heard was with Jon Fishman, which was a great conversation, but ill-fated in terms of timing — it was conducted backstage at what would turn out to be Col. Bruce Hampton’s last day on this Earth.
https://insideoutwtns.simplecast.fm/0e793097
As longtime participants and observers in the Southern music scene, Rob and Seth both knew the Colonel well. So well that their first interview was with Col. Bruce himself (part one and part two). The cosmic train has chugged along for Rob and Seth, and they’ve talked to everyone from the jam scene and beyond, including excellent interviews with Billy Strings, Jake Cinniger of Umphrey’s McGee and Brandon “Taz” Niederauer as well as unique episodes like a discussion of mental health with Andy Frasco and Anders Osborne.
Co-host Seth Weiner has history as a music promoter and festival organizer and utilizes his intimate knowledge of the workings of the music industry in his role as co-host. He’s also an auctioneer and brings that humor and sensibility to the show. You can find Seth producing and hosting pool-side events on Jam Cruise and at other Cloud 9 Adventures events when he’s not doing the podcast.
Co-host Rob Turner is a consummate music fan. Whether I’m asking him about obscure Bob Dylan bootlegs or current Umphrey’s McGee setlists, he has the knowledge and details about all of it. He’s written about music for a long time, and is a proponent of all things live music related.
I’ve had the opportunity to do some interviews with Rob, notably Spafford and The Infamous Stringdusters at the 2018 SweetWater 420 Fest, and I was impressed by the way he brought his deep musical knowledge into the conversation from the beginning. When an artist knows that the interviewer has done their homework, and that they know how the music world works, they’re more likely to open up and share things that get to the heart of what fans want to know. That’s what I think Inside Out wTnS does best, and why their music interviews are some of my favorites.
https://insideoutwtns.simplecast.fm/nealjoel
