We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Paul Garcia a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Paul, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?
My co-host Matt and I have been friends since we were 15. We met in 1996 in Ontario, Ca. and have been friends ever since. However, in the last 13 years, we have been separated by distance, and circumstance. I moved to Ventura, Ca. in 2011 when I met my then girlfriend and now wife. Being two hours and over 100 miles apart for each other, we lost touch for some time. In 2021 Matt came up with the idea of us being able to hang out digitally and do what we have always done – sit around and watch horror movies over drinks, and just talk about them. But this time, he wanted to do it as a podcast. I was open to the idea at the time since I was working on a video docu-series on my grandmother who is now 93 years old. And because I was shooting footage, recording her stories, and then editing/posting those to YouTube, I agreed to do the podcast but as long as it was a video podcast.
This was difficult to start since we agreed on in person recordings. I work during the day and during the week but Matt works during the night and all weekends. So episodes were few and far between. But we picked it up a bit and even started doing live events. However, the editing process was grueling as I am also a husband, father of two, and a manager at my full time job. So, trying to maintain work/life/podcast balance was getting a bit overwhelming for me and for everyone involved.
Matt and I took a short hiatus and when we came back we decided to do an audio-only format. This way we remove the burden of syncing schedules for in person episodes and can be more regular/consistent with content. In October of 2022 we started uploading to Spotify and have been ever since.
We re-started doing what we normally do, watch a movie, drink, and then meet online to talk about the movie. But over time it turned into something else. We are experienced this natural progression from talking ABOUT a movie to talking THROUGH a movie. Instead of just telling people what we think about it, we actually talk out the movie all the way through with our thoughts at the end. We believe that this allows people to experience a movie who may not have time to sit and watch one. Now they can “listen” to one with our drunken commentary and side comments littered throughout.
When we decided to create an instagram page for the show, this is when things changed of us. We are now following so many different independent horror movies and production companies which is awesome because it gives us something to look forward to with new movies being released all the time. In addition to the Instagram, we have also started attending horror conventions which allows us to meet different kinds of vendors. One of those being Toxic Doom.
Toxic Doom introduced me to a director named Sean Haitz. He has created movies such as Big Top Evil, Cannibal Comedian, and his forthcoming Area 5150. I was introduced to Sean early in 2023 when Cannibal Comedian was just becoming a name on Social Media. From there, we were able to interview Sean to learn about him and his projects. From there it’s just been taking off. We have been out to his movie premieres, met different actors, producers and directors, all of which have allowed for us to create some greatBTS content and provide for in-person interviews.
This networking at the different movie festivals, horror cons, and on Instagram is really staring to reshape our podcast. It is quickly morphing from a simple movie review show to a promotional platform where film creators can share their projects as a means of “spreading the word”.
What started as a simple means for two friends to stay in touch is quickly turning into a side gig. MCH has aspirations and is in “soft” development of creating a promotional firm where indie film creators can hire us as a marketing firm (of sorts) to promote their projects and content.
While this isn’t what we had in mind when we started, we are loving the direction it is taking. One of the reasons we have been so successful is the relationship I have with Juan M. Gonzalez – Mr. Dirty Freakin Joe.
Juan and I became (real-life) friends through instagram back in June of 2023. From there we have been promoting all of his projects, and content and in return, he has introduced us to so many different kinds of professionals. We owe quite a lot to Dirty Freakin Joe.
The last year has been quite an emotional roller coast for me, and for Matt. I can sometimes be a stickler for ensuring we are creating content consistently and I thank him for putting up with it. But none of this is really possible without the love and support from my wife. She has been my emotional anchor through this whole endeavor and I don’t know that this whole MCH thing would be the same if it wasn’t for her patience, understanding love, and support. She is the reason why I feel like we can, and are, taking MCH in this new direction.
Paul, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I have just been a super fan of horror and film my whole life. In my opinions, movies are the best form of story telling. I love to sit in the dark and in the quiet, and just immerse myself in a creative time and place for a period of time. Matt and I strive to shed light on movies that people will enjoy and hopefully have similar experiences. Over time, we have really started to create our episodes that help immerse listens and help them experience any given movie while listening in their car or on the go. We always give our honest feedback and thoughts when reviewing films and are striving to shed light on indie artists whose projects feel like everyone will love. We just want to help share all of the creative goodness that is out there through our platform.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
Matt and I never imagined that our podcast would be what it is today. We were happy if just one or two people listened. As of this writing, we have over 1500 downloads in the last year with streams in 11 countries throughout 5 continents. And while we are both content with our current full time jobs, turning the podcast into a full time gig would be a dream come true that we are trying to bring to life. Currently we are in development of a promotional version of the podcast – Mutant City Horror (MCH) Productions.
We have spent quite a bit of time helping independent artists and film makers spread the word on their upcoming projects. Over time, we have met quite a few directors, producers, effect artists, etc. Through those connections, we plan launching an inexpensive paid service that allows said artists to hire MCH Productions as a remote/digital marketing team.
Ultimately this is a byproduct of a long time of social and digital networking, creating and fostering relationships, and being open and honest with everyone we have ever worked with.
How did you build your audience on social media?
We have been growing our following strictly through Instagram and Spotify. While the growth has been steady, we are proud of the fact that it has all been organic. I hear stories all the time of how people cut corners and pay to gain followers as a means of developing “growth” and “influence”. I believe that interacting with as many of our organic followers helps spread the word and feeds the growth.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mutantcityhorror/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mutantcityhorror
- Other: [email protected]