A few months ago, while in a cranky, over-tired state of mind, I began to listen to the indie podcast Lowlines; created and hosted by Petra Barran, an audio newbie, and then shaped into the series that it became with Lucia Scazzacchio and Lina Prestwood (from Social Broadcasts / Scenery Studios in the UK).
I was ready to hate it. That’s the kind of mood I was in. I had been awake and on the run for 18 hours already. And then I paced at an airport for many hours waiting for my delayed flight. By the time we took off, it was well past my bedtime. I wanted to close my eyes and disappear.
But instead of falling asleep, I was pulled into the Second Line Parade in New Orleans. And then I was driving down to the Gulf Coast….and then on a long train ride.
Suddenly, I was on an adventure, and the rest of the world melted away.
Recently I wrote about how this series is the Bildungsroman of podcasts.
But today I have a whole other treat for you.
Joining me in this Zoom interview is Petra Barran, creator, and host, along with Lucia Scazzacchio, who took on sound design for this series.
My first question was what incredible microphone captured all this gorgeous sound
[2:25] The answer surprised me.
What was this series, and how did it come to be?
[5:35 - Petra Barran]: It was only when I got together with Lucia and Lina that they were like, Oh, this is memoir….Don't make it a documentary. This is not, that's not. The interesting thing, the interesting thing is memoir, and your responses and how you weave it all through.
Why does the narration sound like it does? Like beat poetry mixed with stream-of-consciousness observations?
[16:05 - Lucia Scazzacchio]: There was a really conscious decision from Lina [Prestwood] and I that we didn't want to have the tracking, the narration, feel like it was plumped on top, um, and done in a studio.
We wanted a retrospective thing, looking back on these moments. We wanted it all to feel like it was happening in the present, in the now.
How did you actually just go up and talk to all these people?
[38:02 - Petra Barran]: If anyone ever had a problem, I just turned it off. I kind of figured, you know, apologize afterwards, rather than ask if you can do it upfront. Because it's more natural that way, if you’re able to use what you've recorded.
Further Reading:
Q: What books and music were you reading or listening to while you were away?
The Devil’s Highway - Louis Alberto Urrea. It’s an incredibly visceral account of being in the desert, without water.
The Conquest of New Spain - Bernal Díaz del Castillo, It’s a vivid first-person account of the overthrow of Montezuma’s Aztec empire by the ruthless Hernan Cortes, written by one of Cortez’s soldiers, del Castillo, writes a fascinatingly detailed description of the Spanish landing in Mexico in 1520. Translated many times over.
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