Fresno Famous

Ask the boys from Dorktown a serious question about their podcast and see how far your journalistic prowess gets you. Here’s a hint: You’re not going to get a serious answer.

You will get a line about Phucket, Thailand, which is purposefully mispronounced with an “ugh.” Or something about how the podcast is telling the stories the media doesn’t want to tell — like last episode’s discussions of Ashley Swearengin flashing for votes (it’s a joke!) or Motley Crew drummer Tommy Lee’s penis.

They won’t even tell you what a podcast is really — if you don’t know, you don’t need to know. But Mike and Bells (those are their podcsting names) been recording one for three years and are celebrating with an anniversary party June 10 at the Starline.

It will, no doubt, be full of the things they love — Fresno bloggers, music (It’ll Grow Back, the OverDubs and Tokyo Death March, and Chrysalis) and beer.

The podcast sort of runs on beer. The general breakdown is this: At least three before they start and another two or so during recording. Sierra Nevada is the choice, though recently they’ve been introduced to the tasty Kona Brew.

Now, for those who need to be caught up: “A podcast is a series of digital-media files which are distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and computers. The term podcast, like broadcast, can refer either to the series of content itself or to the method by which it is syndicated; the latter is also called podcasting.” It’s one of those combo words, made from i-Pod and broadcast. That’s according to Wikipedia anyway.

The beer and humor and cursing belie some hints of actual motivation for the Dorktown boys. Like the excitement in being part of an emerging underground media that is wild and uncensored (show is full of f-bombs and other expletives) and open for anyone to try.
“Pretty much anyone can do it,” Mike says.

And he suggests you do. Competition isn’t bad.
It’s how Dorktown started, with another podcast (the original one, with Jarah, Malcolm and Reed in Suite C stuios) calling on Fresnans to take up podcasting arms, so to speak. And they did. Why not? The pair had been doing faux radio shows since they were 12 years old. Only then, they were recording on tapes, and no one was listening.
“The technology finally caught up with our radio nerdiness,” Mike says.

The first podcast was recorded with just a computer and a microphone — one, which they shared. It took them a good 10 episodes before they got a feeling for what they were doing.

Sixty-one episodes later they have several microphones (so they can have guests), a mixing board, even a portable digital recorder to get interviews from the field. And they’ve gone from being one of two local podcasts, to one of almost a dozen (do a google search to find them yourselves. I'm being link lazy), covering a range of topics, from sports to politics and motherhood. Even the mainstream media is jumping on board.

Now it’s time for the money, Bells says. Yes, they’re looking for sponsors, if anyone is interested (hint, hint Gold Diggers). Mike assures us it’s a legitimate thing; other podcasts do have sponsors.
“We’re waiting for the big offer from Sirius,” Bells says.

And just so you don’t think they’re too serious (and why should you?), he says they won’t sign for anything less than $450 million.
“We’re just going to keep recording until that offer comes in.”

Dorktown’s three year Anniversary Party
9 p..m., June 10, $5
Hosted by Love the Captive and featuring It’ll Grow Back, The Overdubs, Tokyo Death March and Chrysalis
The Starline, 831 E. Fern, Fresno

Mike co-hosts Flowing with Famous. My band is playing the anniversary show.