Radio Transmission

8 years is a good run for radio. Back in November of 2005, I had no idea what i was going to do with Inkstuds. I had started the show after the previous comics show on CiTR, Onomatopoeia had relocated to Montreal and there was space for a new comics shows. I put together a sloppy demo of Colin Upton and I talking an issue of World War 3 Illustrated. No one will ever hear that. I was able to somehow book an interview with Seth before my first show had even aired. I am still very appreciative to Peggy at Drawn and Quarterly for that opportunity. I am proud of that interview, although you can still hear how much I still had to learn, it’s proudly placed as the first interview in the Inkstuds book that Conundrum published 3 years.
Doing a weekly radioshow is a lot of work. When I started the show, i was a student and able to go to the station every week. after a very awkward start of not knowing what i was doing, interviews seemed to work well. Almost every week, i would go into the station and interview a different cartoonist. Since starting the show, it is a handful of interviews shy of 500 interview. I expect to hit that mark before the end of the year. After finishing my BA at University of British Columbia. I started doing the show from home and sending in the interview for them to play. Even from home, having to have a new interview each week is a lot of work. I try and read everything a cartoonist has done before interviewing. Hopefully my research shows in the questions that I ask.

It’s pretty great to think of all the guests that I have had in the studio. Like Chester Brown or Scott McCloud. When Michael Deforge was in town on a personal visit, Brandon Graham and I dragged him to the station and Frank Santoro joined us over the phone while James Stokoe avoided the radio and sat in the next room drawing his giant galactus piece listening to us talk.

At this point, I am stepping back just a little. I will no longer be producing radio for CiTR.

Very little may change with the amount of inkstuds that comes out, but i want the opportunity to step back if I need to, as well as get longer and indepth when the opportunity arises. There are interviews that I have cut short, just to fit for my hour slot, but really should of gone on for longer.

I have some amazing interviews lined up and hope to continue producing audio that folks are enjoying, I just won’t be doing it for radio broadcast. Some have presumed that I work for CiTR. that is not the case. I am a volunteer programmer that get’s paid nothing for producing a show. I also do not advertise. Inkstuds is purely a project of pleasure and this is the direction I am taking it in.

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14 Responses to Radio Transmission

  1. Your enjoyment of the comics medium, respect for its practitioners, and diligent research is evident in every podcast. Thanks for being so good at this!

  2. Robin, I have greatly enjoyed listening to your interviews… and the vast archive you have amassed. You have served as an education to me in all things international cartoondom. I am a cartoonist in California and listen to your shows as I work. Too, I am Canadian-cartoon-curious and enjoy your “local” shows about tooners north of our border (as well as those French tooners).

    I do hope that you will continue this awesome thing you do… otherwise it will be greatly missed and leave a huge cartoon hole in the universe.

    Smiles and much appreciation.

  3. Ryan says:

    Makes a lot of sense — xcited for the tweak and work/life balance benefits you’ll get. Good luck on future interviews and undertakings with INKSTUDS <3
    – Ry

  4. phil says:

    Many thanks for all of it.

  5. Luke says:

    The reading and thought you put in beforehand is always very apparent to me and is one of the reasons I consider you THE BEST.

    So this is exciting. I’ve always thought it was a shame when an engaging conversation could clearly have gone on for longer.

  6. Bill Tudor says:

    Good riddance to the George Noory of comics podcasts, inept to the sorry end

  7. C. Bottomley says:

    I will raise a glass of moderately-priced whiskey to your eight years and wish you the best. Inkstuds, in some crazy fucked-up way, changed my life. Whether for the good or the worse, I’m still not sure. But it got me through some tough times, introduced me to some brilliant comics creators and music, and also subjected me to a small degree of pretentious wind. Only one word will do, Robin: Excelsior!

  8. Robin, you are a gentleman and a scholar, and a fine judge of character.
    Thanks for fighting the good fight, and sharing such audio Podcasty goodness with us listeners these past 8 years. Your interviews are not only informative and entertaining, but they are the perfect answer to the question: What should I listen to while I’m drawing?
    Kudos sir, do whatever you have to do.
    All the best,
    Meesimo

  9. Eric says:

    Thank you very much for everything. Please keep it up

    If not for this website or program, I wouldn’t have been exposed to all these amazing cartoonists. It has greatly influenced my motivation for my own art. Much appreaciated

  10. Werner says:

    So glad that INKSTUDS is on my radar. And will stay there. Thanks Robin.

  11. Bill Tudor says:

    You guys must all listen to a different podcast than I do, because Robin is completely inept at the mechanics of radio and the art of interviewing.

  12. Carrie says:

    We all need to step back sometimes. I look forward to the longer shows whenever they come out!

  13. Allan Lorde says:

    Glad to see this isn’t an end, but a new beginning. Good on ya, sir.

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