It’s a relatively low-key night at South Park Tavern when I join Tim Anderl and Frank Steele. The patrons are all scattered around the establishment, as the televisions above the bar are showing one of the few college football games left in the season. The three of us dive into a nice little collection of pizza and wings, and partake in some of the draft beers that are available to choose from. Being in the journalism field since 1996, focusing primary on the music side, Anderl’s bio comprises thousands of hours invested and countless interviews conducted with artists that are listed in every category and genre that could be ever thought of. Bands that tour around the United States to perform in local bar/venues, along with the ones that are seeing success that expands beyond their wildest dreams-Anderl has the privilege and fortune of being part of the music scene for some time now. With his current roles of web editor/writer for Ghettoblaster Magazine, New Noise Magazine, along with his local work at Dayton City Paper-Anderl has become widely known for his celebrated work in the music business. The next step towards bolstering his name started in March of last year, when Steele and himself begun a bi-monthly podcast that is titled Sound Check Chat.
With the aspiration of writing for publications like Rolling Stone and Spin growing up, Anderl took the proper steps to fulfill that desire by earning his degree in journalism at Ohio University. Even with landing great opportunities like interning for Alternative Press magazine during his college days, the hope to release work in the popular music periodicals never truly materialized. “I was dating someone that I wanted to marry who was still in college,” Anderl explained. “I went and got a day job and waited for her to graduate. By that time, we had family in the area, and I had settled into the job.”
Coming to terms with not writing for large publications was difficult, but Anderl went to work on finding different outlets to release his writing. He created his own website magazine formats for a period of time, including one that is still rolling-YouIndie.com. Opportunities to do some freelance work for other publications, such as Strength Skateboarding, Substream Music Press and blogs DoneWaiting, Delusions of Adequacy came along the way soon after. Podcasting was something that had never crossed Anderl’s mind. He mentions that he has listened to an assortment of shows, mainly on NPR, but when he reflected on venturing into the medium-he decided against it. “I really didn’t have the time to do it myself,” Anderl says.
As luck would have it, Steele was already setting up possible ideas and formats that would eventually become a podcast. With a background specializing in web, television, movie, production and design, Steele has been creating video media content around the Dayton area. Success has come to Steele, and with good reason. With his work in production, he has been awarded with having winning music videos with artists who have appeared on MTV, VH1, and CMT. He bounced around some concepts for the podcast, and settled on having the show concentrate on music. Steele pitched the idea to Anderl, and he quickly hopped onboard. The two friends had previously done some work, with a video production that was shot in Rumbleseat Wine when Jonathan Kingham (singer/songwriter that also was a touring member of Toad The Wet Sprocket) came to town in 2012.
Sound Check Chat’s nucleus is pretty straightforward-the show is centered on Anderl speaking with musicians from all over the United States and beyond. Roughly closing on the 30 minute marker (some longer than others) with each interview segment, Sound Check Chat is an insightful look for music lovers. “Tim is one the phone for a lot of the interviews anyway. I said to him let’s record the conversation, and make a podcast of that,” Steele explained. “It would be an extra product that you can offer.” With the tight editing courtesy of Steele, you don’t get much in the way of prolonged silences, questionable motives, and delayed responses. Anderl’s remarkable interviewing with his extensive research on each guest captures moments that you would normally wouldn’t get with most podcasts being aired, which is what gives the show such a pleasure to listen to.
With sixteen episodes already released, Sound Check Chat is still continuing to grow month by month. The duo already has sponsorship for the show, which for beginning podcast 
obtaining such a feat is worth being noticed. Some highlights of shows that have been released already include JT Woodruff from Hawthorne Heights, Chris Simpson of Mineral, and Violent J from Insane Clown Posse, it’s clear that Anderl and Steele will be providing listeners a wide array of musical talent to hear from.
Steele and Anderl reference that the whole development and growth of the show has taken a little bit of time, and possible will be slowly built. However, the duo have made the decision to keep it way. They aren’t about going out and chasing numbers. They want to have a show that is true to them. “We have been letting it happen organically,” Anderl says. “It would be disingenuous for us do to any other way…people seemed to be enjoying it, and that’s good enough for me.”
To listen to the show, go to the website http://soundcheckchat.com/. You can also subscribe to the show in iTunes or Stitcher Radio.
