CHECKING IN WITH BEARGRRRIA...
Hello beasties!
This week, along with information on our latest podcasts we also have another interview with myself by The Beargrrrian Gazette, who approached me to find out exactly what I've been up to with my writing and other creative endeavours!
This week, along with information on our latest podcasts we also have another interview with myself by The Beargrrrian Gazette, who approached me to find out exactly what I've been up to with my writing and other creative endeavours!
Before we go any further I should let you know about our newest podcast - which is a recording of last Sunday's live show...
Here we are for episode 116 - where this time we join Mr Yeti for his 14th LIVE Pride48 show, ably assisted by Cromitty and Yeti Uncle John. We also have updates from Bettina, Ikk and Dameus and Lisa assists us in the chat-room. It's quite a science-y episode with robots galore - but also with some poems and stories in our extra content section this month. Our next episode, number 117 sees Yeti Uncle John developing his skills as a tour-guide. Do join us, won't you? Please email me at shyyeti@yahoo.co.uk if you have any comments - you can even send me a sound-file and I'll include it on the show. The music is by Shy Yeti and Luca. All content of this episode is Copyright Paul Chandler, 2017. Episode 116 was recorded live on Sunday 15th October 2017 from around 9pm-10.15pm (GMT) / 4pm - 5.15pm (EDT). Additional inserts were recorded between the 10th and 14th October 2017.
This episode can be downloaded on iTunes, Acast, Podbean and also from Soundcloud at the following link:
116: https://soundcloud.com/shyyeti/the-shy-life-podcast-116-our-14th-live-pride48-show
This episode can be downloaded on iTunes, Acast, Podbean and also from Soundcloud at the following link:
116: https://soundcloud.com/shyyeti/the-shy-life-podcast-116-our-14th-live-pride48-show
Our live show includes a number of robots - something that I hadn't originally planned for the episode; the main plot thrust was initially just Cromitty's plans for hypnosis experiments. However whilst thinking of ideas for the episode I came across a number of websites which allowed you to produce voices directly by typing in what you wanted the voice to say. One of the voices being a very robotic voice and the other being producing a range of human-sounding voices. These voices worked well on the show and so, with time on my hands, I have since produced another post-Halloween episode with further robotic appearances which should be out in a couple of weeks! You won't have to wait long to see what we get up to...
Next time I have some more behind the scenes chatter from recent and forthcoming episodes, but next up we have that new BEARGRRRIAN GAZETTE article to share with you... Enjoy!!
Take care - more soon,
Yeti hugs,
Paul (aka Shy Yeti) xx
A THIRTEENTH SLIGHTLY-OVER 60 SECOND CHAT WITH SHY YETI
Here is a recent interview from Beargrrria’s top magazine for chat; THE GROWL GAZETTE. They know me there partly due to my dubious connection with Beargrrrian superstar, Charlie Grrr. This is the 13th time that they have interviewed me in recent years – they like to check up on me every six months or so. As usual I mainly discuss what I’m up to creatively – so here’s what they asked and what I said in reply; straight from the yeti’s mouth, as it were!!!
Q. Welcome Mr Yeti!
Hello… Have we met?! Joking!! It’s great to be back!
Q. What have you released so far this year? Will there be any more books out during 2017
A. The three books that I’ve released so far in 2017 have been script-books – the second seasons of KENSINGTON GORE and HOT STUFF and the BEAST OF FRIENDS movie script – YETI DON’T FALL BACKWARDS… I’d been working on them for over two years – so it was nice to finally get them out there and to receive so many lovely comments about the new seasons from my readers. As for what’s next there are a number of other projects that I’d like to release – it just depends on how much time I get to spend on them over the next few months, what with the podcast going on too. I’ll get there eventually though, don’t you worry!
Q. What projects are you currently working on that you hope to release soon?
A. There are many! I’m slowly putting the finishing touches to the third seasons of HOT STUFF!! and KENSINGTON GORE – although those won’t be out until at least early/mid-2018. Meanwhile, season 4 of HOT STUFF!! is already written in first draft – but I won’t get to that until the third season is done. Meanwhile I am writing the 4th season of KENSINGTON GORE whilst working on the 5th season of HOT STUFF!! I’m also working on another lost BEAST OF FRIENDS series, this time it’s a whole series worth of episodes that are meant to have occurred around the end of season one.
Q. How do you see the future of both KENSINGTON GORE and HOT STUFF?
A. I’m definitely not ready to end the series yet. To be honest I probably have more ideas for HOT STUFF than GORE – but I definitely intend to do a fifth season of GORE and have quite detailed plans for the 6th season of HOT STUFF! It doesn’t usually take me that long to come up with new ideas – I simply haven’t sat down and thought in any meaningful way about these series beyond their next couple of outings. Watch this space… or my blog (shyyeti.com) at least! The only reason it’s taken me longer to write the most recent seasons of GORE and HOT STUFF than usual is because I’ve been focussing on my podcast over all other projects this year. Still, I’m not complaining; I’m happy to have released three new books during 2017 – that’s quite enough for one year!
Q. Will you also be writing more BEAST OF FRIENDS episodes?
A. I don’t see why not… During the current “lost” season I have brought back the main core of the show, Horner, Colin, Katrina and Warren – and also another new character. I’m afraid I’ve sent Cromitty and Clive off on an extended holiday – mainly because they were always harder to fit into the format and were probably only there because I was fond of their contribution to SUTTON PARK. Or course, Cromitty has become a main character on the podcast and works much better as a vocal character than in print. I did find that the 8 (mainly) stand-alone storylines for the lost season came to me very quickly – so whether I’d do another “lost” season or try another BEAST feature-length movie, I’d have to see. Writing the movie was an interesting experience – but I think I probably prefer either writing one-off episodes with these characters or maybe a series of shorter scripts with an on-going story of some kind. So I’d have to think carefully… I’m currently less than half-way through writing the “lost” season – so there is still much to be done on that project yet. The only on-going plot-line in this focuses on the fifth member of the team who comes to live with the characters in the house for the course of the season.
Q. Are you working on another collection of poetry?
A. Well, it’s been a while in the making! It’s not just poetry – it’s also flash prose, but it’s all material that I’ve released on the blog since the start of 2015 – so it’s about three years in the making. It’s only when I started to collect it together that I realised how pleased I am with the pieces that I wrote during this period. It’s easy to forget when you’re just writing them in isolation for the blog, when you only work on them for a short time before you release them to the world! Some of them I’ve performed at shows or on the podcast – but I’m really keen to do something more consolidated and spectacular (maybe that’s over-doing it slightly, I can’t afford fire-works!) once the book come out; probably sometime during the first half of 2018.
Q. How are things going with the Shy Yeti scripts?
A. Very well, although I am currently on a break from writing any new episodes whilst I put together a collection of the scripts that have been written so far… They were all proofread and tweaked to a certain level before they were posted – but I want to go through them just once more to make sure they’re super right and ready to fly. Of course all this re-reading of the scripts takes time – so I’m not sure the book will be out before the end of the year. As soon as it’s done I’ll probably start thinking about doing some new scripts. There just aren’t enough hours in the day!
Q. How do you feel about reaching your 100th episode of THE SHY LIFE PODCAST?
A. I’m really happy about it – it’s hard to believe that I was only on episode 45 at the start of the year – although I did predict that going at the same rate of production I would be doing 100 by the summer! I was right, but that said – there are many factors that could have prevented that. The series theatrical side has come on apace and I couldn’t be more happy with that. I love have contributions from friends and podcasters – but my favourite thing is to have them joining in with the fantasy. I guess it’s a little like doing Sutton Park on the radio – but this time we have an audience and the possibilities are endless. Episode 100 was particularly lovely because of the range of guests involved and how we found a balance between speaking to them and involving them in the story with Bettina, Aunt Tappie and Toppie in the second half. At the moment I’m focusing on episodes up to the New Year – I don’t yet know what 2018 has in store for us, but it is bound to be fun.
Q. Which episodes that you’ve released over the summer have been your favourite episodes of the podcast?
A. There have been some really fun shows in over the last few months – but I suppose my own personal favourites are the ones involving Ikk - who really came into his own during this part of the year. We also had some good interviews with Taffy and Babaloo - not to mention my first experience of the Pride 48 Live Streaming Weekend back in June. Listening to these episodes you'll probably find a lot of little stories weaving their way through - sometimes as the main event, but more usually in the background or maybe towards the end of the episode - maybe between the end music or at the very end.
Q. How are your live shows going on the podcast?
A. Very well, thank you. I’ve managed to do a show every month – keeping things as complicated as possible. What do I mean? (chuckles slightly cheekily) Well, I guess I see the live episodes as a chance to stretch what it is possible to do with a live format! I can’t possibly make it easy for myself and just sit there and chat; other podcasters do that and do that far better than I do – so there’s nothing for it but to pull out some complex plot-lines instead! Hmm… I’m being a bit unfair – I do happily chat and I hope I interact with the chat-room enough as it’s something that annoys me about other live shows who barely acknowledge the people who are posting in the chat-room.
Q. Is it true that you maybe be doing some extra live shows for an associated network?
A. Yes, hopefully. I still consider it a SHY LIFE PODCAST episode, but it may initially be broadcast as a standalone entity and then later be repackaged as a SHY LIFE PODCAST episode. I’d do these extra episodes more like they were actual poetry shows – kind of making up for not getting to do my Poetry Cafe Shows at the moment.
Q. How do you see the future of the show?
A. I'm extremely positive about it – both in the live and recorded format! Although I enjoy the freedom to do what I want and go where I please (or not!) with the recorded show – as I mentioned earlier I do also like to stretch the limits of my live show by including as much theatrics as possible. I’m pretty much sorted for episodes for the rest of the year – although some will still need to be recorded. I’m still considering whether I want to do a review of the year episode, as I tend to hate that sort of thing when it's other people - but there is definitely an inbuilt desire to somehow mark the passing of the year and to celebrate all the episodes that I have produced during 2017. I did a similar review of 2016, but then I only begun the show in late May, although I did manage to complete 45 episodes. Maybe I’ll do a flashback episode with specific clips instead – something less random and more ordered.
Q. How are your regular cast members doing? Did you have any good special guests over the summer?
A. Yes, the regulars have really come together – with a nice little gang of Yeti Uncle John, Dameus Twinklehorn, Bettina Du Pres, Ikk The Alien, Cromitty and Charlie Grrr. Also we are occasionally gifted with contributions from Gladstone McWhiskers – The Mouse Of Commons and Lords and his trusty assistant, Oliver. In addition to them we have "intelligent" cacti, Bert and Gert, Dameus' sister Tallulah Twinklehorn, friendly, but depressed-sounding zombie, Henry Moss, Ikk's nemesis, Zap (aka Nathan) and one or two others. Of course there is also our band of semi-regulars, Toppie, Nick, Jo, Toby, Calum, Harry, OtherPaul etc - but they are usually less dramatic to hang about with… Guest-wise we’ve had a number of nice chats most-notably with Pride48 podcasters, Taffy and Babaloo who are both, in different ways, attached to the show, Pod Is My Co-Pilot.
Q. What do you have in store for us in the concluding months of 2017?
A. Oh golly – what can I say without saying too much? We’re not long back from Lille where we recorded two episodes – both featuring my old friend, Harry. They are both focused around us celebrating thirty years of our friendship - the first episode is already out (#112) and a second spoof behind-the-scenes/making-of episode (#115) should be out soon after this interview is released. There are also episodes that continue the story of Bettina and Dameus, a trip to Italy and a murder mystery weekend - to mention only a few of the episodes that I am planning. I will also finally get around to releasing my two part Hunt For Nessie story, recorded back in June and July, plus I have a nice little Halloween episode ready which I will be editing over the next couple of weeks.
Q. Are you still regularly collaborating with Toppie Smellie from The Smellcast?
A. Very much so. The central plot of episode 100 involved Toppie and I and more importantly The Smellcast’s Auntie Tappie and our very own Bettina Du Pres… Our most recent recording session, at the very end of September carries on that story and takes it to the next level… We have lots more ideas to come towards the end of this year into early 2018 - one of these involves the Murder Mystery Weekend that I mentioned before.
Q. We hear that you have new theme music for the show! Another yeti composition?
A. Yes, indeed! It’s good fun to do! I worked on it a month or two before I started using it and in fact it was even anonymously played at the end of one of the episodes a month or two before it became the regular theme. I actually put it together on a train on the way back from Oxford in mid-May and although I really liked it I was still nervous about whether it would work as a theme; I needn’t have worried - it's just right. I’m considering changing the theme every 100 episodes as always like shows that change their title sequences. As I can't change any visual element - other than the logo - my main way of making things different is audibly, with the music and sound collage that I am currently using at the start of the show. We’ll see what happens once I reach episode 200, probably sometime in the next twelve months. I really need to do some more music – but time just flies by…
Q. Are you still making cameos on other podcasts?
A. Yes, indeed. I was recently a guest on LOTSL – my second appearance this year… I also still record messages for other shows – mostly Tastes Like Burning, Big Fatty Online and Vera Speaks… For Real! That said they're not recorded for completely selfless reasons because I tend to include the message itself and sometimes their reactions in my own messages. It's good fun though and often triggers further daft ideas. Goodness knows what their regular listeners make of it all!
Q. Have you been back on hospital radio since we last chatted?
A. It’s funny you mention that – I was just on in late September, with Tim and Nathan and I recorded the whole evening; I intend to put out an episode all about it at some stage, but needs to record some additional voices to go with it. We have plans for the recording of another episode in early December, which I'm informed may well be broadcast around the wards on Christmas Day itself!
Well, Gladstone and Oliver did appear on the podcast back in the summer – not to mention being in the beginning title sound collage for a while too. They are always so terribly busy, of course - but I hope, perhaps, that we'll hear from them for this year's Christmas post perhaps. There are still two or three books of stories of their adventures that will emerge at some stage - but they're having to join the queue of projects to be completed. Alas, I need more hours in the day to get everything completed!
Q. Will there be any further poetry projects?
A. If they happen, yes – at the moment I’m probably working more at preserving my old work via the podcast – although I have finished one or two new poems this year; I’ve actually returned to ones that I started but never completed at the time and will be showcasing them on the blog and in my next collection of stories and poems, next year.
Q. Did you do any live poetry shows in 2017?
A. Not at The Poetry Café, no – this was partly because of their refurbishment project – although I’d certainly be up for doing something there in 2018. Of course, I did do my live monthly podcast and have also been part of a number of Radio Wey (and one Radio Woking) shows this year. In many ways that feels quite enough and also affords me a potentially bigger audience than doing a live-in-person show. To be honest - being a bit of a closet introvert, audio (whether it be podcast or radio) is definitely something that I feel more at home doing, to be honest.
Q. Would we be right in saying that your blog is still going strong?
A. Yes, indeed. I continue to post on a weekly basis and it’s still the first point of call for any new short pieces of writing that I’m working on… I’ve also been moonlighting on a couple of other blogs and writing scripts for podcast collaborations - so that I can send the other actors links… I'm also posting all the chapters of the writing project that I'm doing with Nick Goodman - but we've not made them available yet as we've not finished the story or come up with a title for the finished piece.
Q. Are you taking the podcast out on location again this autumn?
A. Absolutely. I’m just back from a trip to Lille, France with my old friend Harry – something that we did to celebrate 30 years of our friendship. I also have a trip to Verona planned for my birthday in November - where I expect to have time to record (at least) two episodes of the show, plus maybe a few messages for other shows.
Q. Exciting news! Thank you for talking to us, Mr Yeti. See you again in 2018!
