Evan Phillips: Founder Of Pod Peak Studios | From Mountain Climber to Podcast Producer

08/17/22 • 30 min

This week on CLIPPED, I welcome Evan Phillips to share his journey from mountain climber and guide on Denali, Alaska, to gigging musician, then to podcast host and producer. Evan describes his podcast production setup and his personal philosophy behind the craft of editing and mixing audio. We finish off by discussing where Evan thinks the podcasting industry is headed, some of the podcasts Evan listens to and loves, and Evan’s exciting new project with the Anchorage Daily News.

Evan Phillips is an award-winning songwriter, composer, and podcast producer living in Anchorage, Alaska. During an audio career spanning 20 years, Evan has recorded and produced over 50 albums. Since 2016, he has immersed himself in the craft of podcasting, delving deeper into the sonic landscapes of storytelling, atmospheric music, and powerful sound design.

“My philosophy about recording and DAWs is that you should use whatever you're comfortable with.” - Evan Phillips

“We live in an era where because of technology if you've got some chops, some natural abilities as a creator, there's so much you can do now from a home studio.” - Evan Phillips

“I think the podcast industry is growing, I think it's going to continue to grow — it’s a way to share information and share storytelling..” - Evan Phillips

Episode Highlights:

What it was like to work on Climbing Gold with Alex Honnold
Why Reaper is Evan’s first choice of digital audio production tool
What motivated Evan to learn to audio edit and produce his own music
The learning curve involved with audio editing tools like Reaper
The pros and cons of automated systems
How technology has changed since Evan started recording 15 yrs ago
How Evan got into podcasting via being the host of The Firm Line and why he took that passion project one step further and founded Pod Peak
Evan’s advice for aspiring podcasters and some of the lessons he has learned during his journey
Why you need to take time on the front end when you’re starting out as a podcaster

Connect with Evan Phillips:

Connect with Eric Montgomery:

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“My philosophy about recording and DAWs is that you should use whatever you're comfortable with.” - Evan Phillips

“We live in an era where because of technology if you've got some chops, some natural abilities as a creator, there's so much you can do now from a home studio.” - Evan Phillips

“I think the podcast industry is growing, I think it's going to continue to grow — it’s a way to share information and share storytelling..” - Evan Phillips

Episode Highlights:

What it was like to work on Climbing Gold with Alex Honnold
Why Reaper is Evan’s first choice of digital audio production tool
What motivated Evan to learn to audio edit and produce his own music
The learning curve involved with audio editing tools like Reaper
The pros and cons of automated systems
How technology has changed since Evan started recording 15 yrs ago
How Evan got into podcasting via being the host of The Firm Line and why he took that passion project one step further and founded Pod Peak
Evan’s advice for aspiring podcasters and some of the lessons he has learned during his journey
Why you need to take time on the front end when you’re starting out as a podcaster

Connect with Evan Phillips:

Connect with Eric Montgomery:

Previous Episode

Riverside.fm: How To Record Studio Quality Podcasts Remotely

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Getting studio quality audio and video remotely used to require expensive equipment and a lot of technical knowledge. Today, it’s easier than ever with Riverside.fm. Gone are the days of the grainy videos and garbled audio files that Zoom produces. It’s time to ditch Zoom, and harness the power of a proffesional online recording studio, one that was built specifically for podcasters.

Riverside.fm is accessed through Google Chrome. It’s super easy to use and records HD video (up to 4K) and uncompressed audio files, remotely. The video looks great and the audio is crystal clear. Separate audio and video tracks are recorded for each person in the session, which is ideal for editing and mixing.

My Riverside affiliate link:

Riverside.fm

If you want to give Riverside a shot, and you sign up through my affiliate link, I’ll earn a small commission. This doesn’t cost you anything extra. It helps support me, and the little bit of dough I get from affiliate partners helps me keep the podcast alive.

Local Recording

Riverside uses what’s called “local recording”. During recording, Riverside continuously uploads everyone's video and audio to the riverside cloud. This means the quality of your recorded files, doesn’t depend on the strength of everyone's internet connection.

File Storage

Never lose your recordings. While recording, your files are automatically saved in real-time. If your computer crashes, it ain’t no problem. You pick up right where you left off, with nothing lost.

Other Features

Magic Editor:

Edit your video files from within Riverside. You can easily add your logo, choose your speaker layout and background, then export.

Clips By Riverside:

Quickly repurpose your long form content into social media snippets. There are 3 sizes available. 16:9 for YouTube and banners. 9:16 for Instagram stories and Tik Tok, and 1:1 for Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn posts.

Streaming:

Stream to YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitch.

Transcription:

Automatically transcribe your files for blog posts, or pull quotes for social media.

“Riverside.fm is the easiest way to record podcasts and video and studio quality from anywhere in the world, all from your web browser.” - Eric Montgomery

“In Riverside you can create all the social media snippets that you want, and repurpose them for all your social channels.” - Eric Montgomery

“The main reason you should be using Riverside is for the fully remote HD video and full-fidelity audio. So gone are the days of shitty zoom recordings — with this, you're going get a professional sound.” - Eric Montgomery

Episode Highlights:

Why Riverside.fm is the most effective way to record remotely
Why Zoom is an outdated platform for podcasters
How to achieve great audio and video quality with Riverside with minimal effort
How to connect and record remotely with podcast guests via a simple link
Local Recording technology and how it can ensure your audio never drops out
How the Riverside.fm dashboard works for podcast guests, hosts, and producers
Why the Riverside platform is a great choice for repurposing content o

Next Episode

The Top Six Digital Audio Workstations For Podcast Production

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This week on Clipped, I dive into what a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) is and why it’s an essential part of editing your podcast. I cover the top six DAWs for podcasters and what I like about each one. In addition, I also highlight why it’s vital to put in the hard work necessary to learn how to use your DAW to its full potential.

“Regardless of where you record, you're going to have to learn a DAW.” - Eric Montgomery

“A DAW is where all the magic takes place.” - Eric Montgomery

“It's not so much the DAW that gets the results; it's really your ears. It's the months and years of training and learning about EQ and compression and microphone signals and dialing in the right sound.” - Eric Montgomery

Episode Highlights:

How to get your podcast audio files into your DAW to start cutting together your episode
The benefits of recording directly into your DAW
Using audio processing tools, known as plugins, to manipulate the sound of your podcast
Factors to consider before choosing a DAW
My top DAW picks, who uses them, and why I recommend them
The benefits of getting into the Adobe Ecosystem
Why I prefer ProTools and how I use it
The importance of putting in the time to understand how to use your DAW effectively

Resources

Are you having trouble getting your podcast off the ground? Then you need The Fou