idle/bored 1? with Aoife
This week, Not Aoife interviews Aoife about the plodcast idol board, from Fourth Strike. “There are so many songs that I feel, like, kind of get missed. So, like, one thing is I want to show how literally there is not a single bad song and how amazing some of the stuff is,” Aoife says, explaining why she makes idol board, “and along the way learn some stuff about music theory and music creation that I can use myself.”
Hi, I’m Aoife! I’m the host of idol board, and also a co-writer. I’m pretty new to blaseball & the garages, but I’m loving being a part of the fandom and the band, and it’s been so much fun talking to everybody! You can find me nowhere except the Fourth Strike discord because social media scares me, but if you shout into the wind on a moonlit night, maybe I’ll hear it. Maybe.
This episode of idle/bored was edited by BONES, hosted by Not Aoife, produced by Tangereen Velveteen, transcribed by SigilCrafter Aya, and written by Aoife and Tangereen Velveteen. Find all episodes and transcripts of idol board at fourth-strike.com/podcast and follow @idolboard on Twitter for updates. Get all episodes plus bonuses by supporting Fourth Strike on Patreon.
Listen to “fight gods” by the garages on Blandcamp:
Episode Transcript
[musical intro plays]ANNOUNCER:
You’re listening to a Fourth Strike production.[‘affinity for crows’ by VigilantBaker plays briefly, and fades out]
NOT-AOIFE:
Alrighty. Okay. You ready for this?AOIFE:
I’m… Sure.NOT-AOIFE:
[clears throat] Hello! And welcome to idle slash bored! I’m not Aoife and I don’t use she/her pronouns! If you don’t read the episode titles or the transcripts, I have just made a *very* clever pun. In this plodcast, I’ll be interviewing members of the idle bored team about their episodes, creation process, and possible aspirations. My guest for this episode is idol board host: Aoife! Thanks for coming on Aoife! Can you tell us your pronouns, pre-podcast ritual, and what plodcast you’ll be talking about with us today?AOIFE:
Hi! So my… my pronouns are she/her, as you would know if you’ve watched any other episode of this… uh, listened. My pre-plodcast ritual is to drink lots of water. Remember to stay hydrated folks! And I’m going to be talking about the plodcast idol board!NOT-AOIFE:
Wonderful! So great to have you on. Can you tell our audience when and why you joined the garages?AOIFE:
Soo, I’m a bit of a fake fan when it comes to this ‘cause I am very new. I joined… season ten or eleven, near the end of whichever one, um, and then basically I’ve- I saw, like, two games, and then I- and then the Grand Siesta happened. I’ve- I’ve been very new to blaseball as a whole. I started as a Hades’ Tigers fan, um, because I thought they were cool- and I still think they’re cool, we support them. Once I started, like, looking at, like, the music that existed which was insane, like, I would just sit in the voice channel on the main discord. I was like “I love music” and I’ve always wanted to make music and I was like “Hey, this could be fun. I have nothing to do,” so I joined the big garage discord and then from there I joined the Fourth Strike discord and.. Yeah, it’s been… a wild ride.NOT-AOIFE:
Wonderful! Well, now that you’re here, you’ve already started doing, like, so many things! This whole podcast! Can you tell us how- how *did* idol board begin?AOIFE:
Well, if you’ve listened to any other episodes, you know that most of the time when things start as the garages, they start as a joke. And so did this! Somebody mentioned Song Exploder, which I had never heard of, but they were talking about, like, podcasts, and somebody said y’know, we should do our own podcast and expand our media empire just so that we can, you know, cover the internet in garages themes paraphernalia-NOT-AOIFE:
-That’s the goal.AOIFE:
-So I was, like, I enjoy talking to people and I’ve done interviews before, I’ve done videography work, but never, like- and I love podcasts. So I offered I was like “Hey if anyone wants to do this seriously I’m more than willing to host and write”, and then a couple people were like “Yeah let’s do it!” And then I talked to rain and it set up a channel, and then it just started! And my amazing producer came along and you know, did everything. And I don’t know how I could do it without them.NOT-AOIFE:
That’s… That’s me~ [both laugh]NOT-AOIFE:
Oh boy. I should have known you were going to try to do that. I should have known you were gonna- oh well… Getting back to *you*, um, what- what’s your goal with this plodcast? What’s- for you, when you’re doing it, what’s the point?AOIFE:
So it’s… I’d say it’s two pronged, like, the thingy that you put, like, steak into, or, like, pasta? So, like, first prong, uh, one I just wanna get, like, more involved with the band and get to know people and make friends and, like, make something that I can show people and be like “Look! I made an art!” ‘Cause I’ve- I’ve made very little art throughout my whole life, I failed my high school art classes, um, shoutout to- I forgot my teacher’s name, but anyway I hate you… Anyway. [Not-Aoife chuckles] So that was part one, is just get to know people and make stuff and then part two was, like, there’s so much music in the garages, I still haven’t listened to all of it, I’m trying really hard-NOT-AOIFE:
I continue to judge you for it.AOIFE:
You-… judge me a little bit, but that’s okay. But there’s a lot of music that I feel like doesn’t get talked about much? Because we have the people when you think of the garages you think of people- you think of people like rain, you think of yana, you think of basically the people that have been in the live shows- and they’re amazing, but there’s so many other people. I mean, we have like a hundred people in the discord now. There are so many songs that I feel, like, kind of get missed. So, like, one thing is I want to show how literally there is not a single bad song and how amazing some of the stuff is, and along the way learn some stuff about music theory and music creation that I can use myself.NOT-AOIFE:
That’s awesome! What’s your favorite thing that you’ve learned so far?AOIFE:
It’s really weird learning how people write? Because I want to write music, but I’m terrible at it. And so many people write in so many different ways, and some people write it all in one sitting, some people write it, like, over a longer period of time… Learning all these different writing techniques and seeing how literally everybody contributes and makes art in a different way has been really interesting to me? And I’ve just found that really enjoyable.NOT-AOIFE:
For context, it’s currently the 23rd of December, 2020. And you have finished recording eleven episodes of the podcast with eleven different members of the garages so far. How does your last recording compare to your first? What’s changed in the- let me check my notes [papers shuffle] um -one month! [Aoife laughs] since you- since the idea for this plodcast was formed?AOIFE:
Oh geez, um. I listened to one of the first ones- I don’t remember if it was actually the first one. I don’t remember what the first one was… though I listened to one of them and… Oh boy is it hard to get through. Not because I think I’m bad, and our guest, as always, was fantastic, it’s just… It’s so different looking at your stuff once it’s finished, compared to when you’re currently having the conversation. I try not to listen to stuff that I make or things that I- if I’m reading stuff. I’ve done speeches, I’ve done- I used to go to church, and I did some sermons on trans stuff, and I would not listen to the recordings, um. Because what it feels like to what it is, I might have just answered a different question, I’m not entirely sure.NOT-AOIFE:
Um.. It’s a- It’s a great answer.[both laugh]
NOT-AOIFE:
To whatever question it is!AOIFE:
Yeah, but I- I also think that I’ve improved quite a bit? Um. One person I was interviewing- I do not remember who. I’m terrible with names. I’ve- A couple times I’ve mentioned stuff and I’ve been like “I don’t remember who wrote this or who this person was”, if you’re one of those people, I’m really sorry. Um. My memory not so good. But, one person said that it was- it was after a couple interviews, that I will improve over this? But for a lot of the people coming in, every single time is going to be their first time. ‘Cause it’s different people every time. I think I’ve improved, but one thing I’ve- I’ve been really careful about trying to do over the time is kind of recognizing how people might be nervous and trying to… help them feel more comfortable. And I think I’m better at that than when I started.NOT-AOIFE:
As the person who sits on mute, um, to record backups for your episodes, I can say: For sure, you have. You do just such a better job at- kind of, you know, the improv and the back and forth… So, you rock!AOIFE:
I really appreciate that! You rock too.NOT-AOIFE:
Um. I know earlier, I asked you what- the- your favorite thing you’ve learned so far is, but what’s your favorite part of, like, doing the actual interviews?AOIFE:
There’s so many parts that I really like. I- I love the questions that we do each time, because it’s so interesting seeing the differences. So one thing I love is when we talk about musical inspirations because I… listen to a lot of music and I always have, and it’s really nice to learn new bands, and new musicians, and also get to interject with my own personal takes. It’s really nice being able to, like, talk about music in a… intelligent way where I can just sit and talk about, you know, “It sounds a lot like this band. I really like how you did this, it reminds me of how one of my favorite artists did that”. The other thing I really love, one of my favorite parts, is the last question, where I ask underrated songs- [Not-Aoife chuckles] because I know it’s a really hard one for people, but it kind of goes to, like, my mission with this which is to try to get more awareness to certain songs that might be missed. Like one thing that I feel, like, a lot of listeners didn’t really appreciate ‘storm’s coming’ when it came out, like, I’m sure a lot of people did. I know a lot of people did. But, like, we’ve talked a lot about ‘storm’s coming’ in certain episodes and a lot of people have named songs from them or the album itself as the most underrated, like, thing from the garages. That’s been really helpful because, like, I’m a person who didn’t really listen to country. I kinda got into it from ‘steal home’, from ‘forecast’. It’s really given me a new appreciation for genres, and I think it can give a lot of listeners to.NOT-AOIFE:
Well, speaking of that final question. Outside of your own work, what do you think is the most underrated song by the garages? [They both chuckle and speak over each other briefly, before starting over]AOIFE:
Oh my gosh, um. I mean ‘steal home’ is a great one, I’ve mentioned that… um… We- we recently recorded the one with VigilantBaker on uh-NOT-AOIFE:
‘curse of crows?’AOIFE:
Yes! Yes, I really like that song, a lot. Especially the acoustic rendition. Another one is ‘eyes in the dark,’ I love that song.NOT-AOIFE:
Oh, I love ‘eyes in the dark.’AOIFE:
It’s just fantastic. ‘forecast’, just when it comes to rain’s works, I think it’s least well known work for the garages and I think it’s one of its best. It really is difficult because I have not listened to a bad song. ‘Cause to me, they’re all on the same level. There’s no hierarchy with these songs. Like, there are songs that I listen to more, but I think quality wise, all of them are at the same stage because they’re all made with, like, heart, and passion, in a way that a lot of new music isn’t. So, like, I’m gonna go on a bit of a tangent now. Most of the time, for the record, my tangents get cut out, but this time, I can look at the timer and see that we have a lot of time left, so I’m going to go off on a tangent!AOIFE:
I think what’s interesting about the garages is that it reminds a lot of fanfiction in a way- and that is not derogatory in any way. Like, that’s- this- this is a compliment. ‘Cause I feel like fan fiction and young- like, works written by young people, generally have, like, a level of, like, passion and pure interest in the subject that has not been beaten out of them from, like, college and from learning it professionally. So, like, you get people that write amazing works, just because they want to and not because of capital not because of a need to create more things for people to buy, and what I love about the garages is a lot of people who are self taught who haven’t gone to music school- although some have, and they’re also amazing- but it’s mainly people who are new to it and they come in with so much enthusiasm and so much willingness to make something that is wholly them, it’s not 50% their feelings and 50% how they’ve been told to create, it’s 100% this is how I want to make something. Does that mean it’s going to be really angsty at times? Of course! There’s so much emotion in it, and it’s- it hasn’t been kind of turned into a watered down image of art.NOT-AOIFE:
Well, it has been so cool to have you on the other side of the mic, and to get to learn some more about the behind the scenes of this wonderful plodcast. We don’t have an end song, I didn’t pick an end song for this.AOIFE:
Oooh!NOT-AOIFE:
What song should we do for the outro?AOIFE:
I didn’t really touch on this that much, during this, but I am someone who has been really heavily involved in politics and one thing I love about the garages is the anarcho-syndicalist structure, so I think one of my favorite songs is ‘fight gods’ because it is an obvious metaphor- or at least the way I read it, it is an obvious metaphor – for, like, revolution and for making the world better by fighting the people or the beings that are in power-NOT-AOIFE:
Yeah!AOIFE:
I think that would be a really great fit because it’s a song that I find really powerful when it comes to my own personal ideology.NOT-AOIFE:
Awesome! Let’s go with that! To our audience, thank you so much for joining us on this episode of idle slash bored, a plodcast where the creators of idol board interview each other about the plodcast they make. You can find our episodes at blandcamp.com/podcast, spotify-AOIFE:
-with an L!NOT-AOIFE:
[Not-Aoife laughs]- With an L in ‘Bland’, not in the p- “Pod”-AOIFE:
-That’s true!NOT-AOIFE:
[both laugh] I’m going to spell it out for you now! This is what you get for adding too many L’s in too many places.AOIFE:
This is our hubris!NOT-AOIFE:
Alright, we’ll see you next time! Um, whenever we do another one of these episodes, and now! Here is ‘fight gods’ by the garages![‘fight gods’ plays in its entirety before fading out]
ANNOUNCER:
idol board is edited by Ada Quinn, BONES, Jennifer Cat, nuclear tourist, and zack.ry. Hosted by Aoife, produced by Tangereen Velveteen, transcribed by SigilCrafter Aya, Merry, and VigilantBaker, and written by Aoife and Tangereen Velveteen.[outro music plays]