So long, Jackson
Stepping down from The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
After 300 episodes I’ve decided it’s time to hang up my microphone with The Good Friends of Jackson Elias podcast. My final episode is released today, and wraps up our look at Lovecraft’s tale, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.
11 years we’ve been doing the show! Before I go any further, let me assure listeners that the show is continuing. Each new episode, Matt and Scott will be accompanied by a guest host. For those familiar with the BBC show Have I Got News For You, well, a bit like that (though, for better or worse, I’m no Angus Deayton).
A Brief History
Back in early 2013, Mike Mason and I had written the seventh edition of Call of Cthulhu, and the Kickstarter took place. I felt like this was the moment to seize the mic, and take advantage of the wave of interest in seventh ed. Matt and Scott were also involved with seventh edition, Matt wrote a scenario (Amidst the Ancient Trees) and Scott as an editor. Also, the three of us were planning to put together the first collection of scenarios for seventh edition — what would become Nameless Horrors. Add to that, the three of us lived within a half hour’s drive.
I’d spent years in my pottery shed listening to early podcasts like The Sons of Kryos, Theory from the Closet, and Out There Radio, and I wanted to be a part of it. I recall there was some uncertainty as to whether there was space for another Call of Cthulhu themed podcast. Keeper Dan and his crew had launched The Miskatonic University Podcast only a year before. That concern seems almost comical now, given the multitude of podcasts out there!
As a footnote, a couple of years prior, Scott and I, together with another friend (Robin), recorded a trial episode of a podcast to be called, The Ludomancers. The format was to be us reviewing a new game each episode. It’s easy to see why that didn’t have legs — playing and reviewing a new game every episode is a lot of work.
Year One
In the early days of the Good Friends, we used my pottery shed as a studio. We recorded direct onto my iMac, and quickly upgraded to a Yeti microphone. One microphone on a wooden stool, positioned between the three of us. Suddenly, we needed a theme tune and graphics and a website and — oh my!
Between us we managed. Scott set up the website and uploaded the show and wrote show notes. A graphic designer friend of ours, John Ossoway, created a podcast graphic for a very reasonable fee. When it came to the theme tune, Scott sent me a bunch of free-to-use jazz tunes, but I had a different one in mind. I’d been watching Boardwalk Empire, and the song, Japanese Sandman, appears in one episode. It captivated me. I couldn’t use any of the versions from the show for rights reasons, but found one I was pleased with that we could use.
As another footnote, I looked into using a clip of The Mountain Goats track, Lovecraft in Brooklyn. After lot of back and forth, a fee of tens of thousands of dollars was asked. Somehow, that didn’t happen! Good track through.
Shifting Gears: Patreon
Patreon started around the same time as our podcast (2013), so we were relatively early adopters. I recall mentioning it and getting some quizzical looks from Matt and Scott — the idea of people giving money to listen to a podcast seemed, well, a stretch at the time. A lot has changed in 10 years (where to begin?) Scouring the internet at the time, the advice was, if you wanted to make a podcast, go ahead — but if you think it’s going to pay for itself, you’re deluding yourself. As with so much free advice, you get what you pay for.
We were greatly encouraged that a handful of backers appeared as soon as we launched our Patreon. It wasn’t the money so much as the fact that real people liked what we were doing enough to give us real money to keep doing it. That meant a lot, and really spurred us on. I remember wondering if we’d ever reach $100 per show? That felt like in an idle pipedream. We needed to spice things up – but how?
Blasphemous Tones
I’d always been a fan of the a cappella style barbershop quartet sound. I believed we could do it. I was wrong obviously. But, in our own way we did it. For a few of those early years, people who backed us at the $5 level would get thanked with a ‘song’.
The process involved the three of us attempting to sing, both individually and together. It was not a home for harmony. I freely admit, I am by far the least musical. Scott and Matt can hold a tune, and I remember our surprise when Matt told us (after a couple of years) that he formerly played in a brass band — an actual musician! Never fear, any sign of musical talent was hidden behind odd sound effects, reverb and layering. I used GarageBand to mix each song, I don’t know how many we did, must have been over a hundred. In the end I insisted we stop the songs — surely the world had heard enough.
Here’s an example. Recommended for sadists and the hard of hearing only.
We used the money from Patreon to purchase three Neumann KMS 105 microphones, giving our sound quality a massive boost. Back then, poor sound quality was a common issue for podcasts. The mics were a lot of money, but I think it was well spent.
And Blasphemous Tomes
Another thing I’d always wanted to do was produce a fanzine. I had a couple of drawings featured in zines back in the 80s — back then there was a lively RPG zine culture. I recall showing one of my zine pictures to Dirk the Dice, “You were listening to a lot of Marillion at the time you did this.” Nothing gets past Dirk (check Dirk’s show, The Grognard Files).
Then there was Mike Mason’s zine, The Whisperer, dedicated to all things Call of Cthulhu. And Scott also had experience with zines back in the day. I could see how much work would be involved, but I felt like we could do it.
Issue One of the Blasphemous Tome came out in 2016. It featured a scenario co-written by the three of us. I produced the cover art; my blood-spattered (OK, ink-spattered) handprint and my teeth collaged together in an Y'golonac stylee. Matt did a great job with the layout. Each issue contains a scenario by Matt, Scott or me. From issue three onward the zine is licensed with Chaosium, kindly allowing us to publish actual Call of Cthulhu scenarios (as opposed to generic horror ones). For reasons, we’ve published 14 issues, but the latest issue is number 12. It’s non-Euclidean… or something.
The tome goes out to our Patreon backers, and those on the $5 level or above get a physical copy posted to their doorstep. More recent issues have featured cover art by the talented John Sumrow, and internal work by comic artist Evan Dorkin. I’ve agreed to keep writing a scenario for every third issue.
The Good Friends Live!
It wasn't exactly a life on the road, and there was no tour bus, but we played a few venues. We started at Dragonmeet, alongside the UK’s “premier gaming podcast” (it must be true, Gaz says it every episode), What Would the Smart Party Do? All I recall about that, is trying to chair the panel as Steve Dempsey hurled small plastic fish at us from the audience (fish jokes were a theme or the early days).
Later, we recorded in Providence, USA, at the Necronomicon Convention, alongside The Miskatonic University Podcast. Recordings of those shows are available in the archives.
The Before Times
Just prior to Covid kicking off, we had a reshuffle, and Scott took up the task of editing the show, alongside preparing our scripts. Up until the first lockdown we’d recorded in person. Suddenly, things had to change.
As we all know, lockdown was a strange time. We recorded some extra episodes for our Patreon backers. We thought there would be demand for such things, but ironically many people’s listening was disrupted by the lack of a commute.
We never went back to recording in person. Recording three isolated tracks made editing easier. It also cut out Matt and Scott’s travel time. Sadly, it also meant an end to our Saturday lunches as Bee’s Cafe in town. Alas, no more mega breakfasts.
Re-animated!
Then there was the time in early 2022 that Matt called to say that he wouldn’t be able to record on the following Saturday because an ambulance was on its way to take him to hospital. Things went downhill fast, and a week later, he’d been in out of surgery and was being kept in a medical coma. Then his kidneys packed up. On Wednesday, I called Matt’s wife, Tiffany. The doctors had prepared her for the worst. We talked and we cried.
By some kind of fucking miracle (and modern medicine), Matt pulled through. He walked a long hard road to recovery. Once Matt puts his mind to something, ain’t nothing stands in his way.
Finally, he gets to the point
Yeah, so this year I did what I’ve been wondering about for a while; I talked to the guys and said I was going to quit the show. I didn’t want the show to fold, and hoped that Matt and Scott would carry on with guest hosts, which they were happy to do.
Whenever we covered one of Lovecraft’s stories, as part of my preparation, I’ve always gone back and listened to the H. P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast. Chad and Chris do such a great job. I never felt we could equal them, but in our defence, our angle is different, with a greater focus on gaming. When re-listening to their episodes covering The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, Chad started on a personal note. He’d recently been through some trials in his life and commented on how much doing the podcast meant to him.
That heartwarming moment made me reflect that I used to feel the same way about The Good Friends podcast. Somewhere along the way, that feeling faded. It was time for me to move on.
Movin’ On
I’ve left The Good Friend podcast, but I’m still very involved with gaming; Call of Cthulhu especially. My work with Chaosium is keeping me busier than ever.
Then there’s the Eldritch Stories podcast I do with Mike Mason. Season One is out and Second Two is in the works. Each season features 12 short, weird tales, six written by me, six by Mike, read and presented by us. It’s a very different project, and one I’m really enjoying.
Dragonmeet
If you’re at Dragonmeet (London) at the end of this month (Saturday 30th November 2024) please call by the Chaosium booth and say hi.
Oh, and look me up on Bluesky. In case you don’t know, Bluesky is a social network similar to how Twitter was in the good old days. You’ll find me at: @paulfricker.bsky.social
Finally, thanks Matt & Scott, and to everyone who encouraged and supported the show over the years. Take care everyone.
Be seeing you.
Such a shame to hear of the change to the three amigos but you need to do what is right (like the stars) for you Paul, and as things change in your priorities and demands you can literarily only manage so much at one time. You have done an amazing work on the Friends podcast from inception to present and may even return as guest in your own right of course! But we can look forward to your other projects and I'm thrilled to hear about season 2 of your Eldritch Extras in the works already as well.
Thanks for the many hours of aural enjoyment Paul - a fantastic pod-innings!