We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tyler Leli a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Tyler, appreciate you joining us today. Do you have any key partners or vendors – if so, how’d you find them and start working with them?

As I transitioned ‘The Forum’ from a print website to a more dynamic entity centered around a podcast, literature and music reviews, and publishing creative writing and photography, it was imperative that I had supportive partners. Lucas Scott was one of the first people I recognized could be a dependable friend and partner. We began our interview series early in 2022 and I quickly saw that we had a similar manner of thinking (about the process of creation. The why’s that impact the writing of songs, the perspective of a photographer, or the production of a beat–to name but a few examples) and he shared my vision of prioritizing genuine conversations around artistic experiences.

The third co-host of ‘A Rendezvous at The Forum’, Jack Geist, came into the picture after helping conduct an interview of Michael White with Lucas and myself. Jack possesses a dynamic energy in questioning that brings a lot to the table in the podcast former, and is a great writer (peep his poetry!) and questioner in his own right. I talked to Lucas after our first podcast and raised the idea of bringing Jack back in this new format, and he was immediately on board. There was no questioning the fit from there: our friendship comes through on the mics and helps foster the conversational long-form interview style that I desired from the beginning.

A shared vision of podcasting as artistic exploration has helped bring the three of us together. We have a shared commitment to creating a good product and bring unique perspectives from our experiences in philosophy, poetry, and producing beats. ‘The Forum’ as an organization is better off for having introduced a podcast, and its nominal successes are largely attributable to the contributions of Jack and Lucas as co-hosts (with the latter also receiving production credits).

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

The Forum was the culmination of many stops and starts. I grew up in Fuquay-Varina before attending UNC-Chapel Hill and studying political science and philosophy. After graduating, I moved to New York for two years and then to London for graduate studies in philosophy at University College London.

COVID lockdowns in March 2020 presented me with a stark choice: stay locked in my apartment in London or come back stateside and stay with relatives who had open land and free housing. I was on a plane before the end of March and was back in Raleigh in April 2020.

Lockdown was a time of reflection and inspiration. I toyed with the idea of a podcast at this time; a lot of talk turned into little action. I was still in school, taking classes that began at 5 a.m., and then working on a 30,000-word thesis on top of that. I told myself that I was too busy and pushed the podcast idea to the back-burner. Justifiable, I suppose.

Fast-forward to October 2021. I turned in my graduate thesis. The excuse I leaned on for so long was suddenly gone. I started buying mics, a mixer, and an audio interface. I did not want to half-ass this attempt at launching a podcast.

In the course of planning stories, contacting people for potential interviews, and creating a small team, I felt an urge to get moving. I developed a Squarespace page in December 2021 and immediately got to work. I started publishing poems, satirical pieces, and arranging interviews. Zach Dunham or Arson Daily was gracious enough to be our first interview, and we wrote a feature piece around Arson Daily’s New Year’s Eve show at The Pour House that I am proud of.

The next big step I will point to was bringing on Lucas Scott as a co-interviewer of print interviews. That really got the ball rolling. Lucas has a great eye for local musicians and artists in the Triangle, and he is a great communicator in interviews as well. We have a natural fluidity together, which I think brings forth a less formal, more raw, and unfiltered dimension to the interviews we have done in 2022 (namely with Michael White, Kemp Dupri, and Sean Kyd).

Once we began the podcast, we quickly brought on Jack Geist as a third co-host (I told more on this story in my other questions). We are now approaching 15 episodes, which we release bi-weekly and which focus on engaging NC-based artists in genuine conversations their creative process work, and life. The foundation of our podcast is steady.

I am excited about what the future holds. One big goal is to continue curating a team of individuals writing, drawing, taking photographs, and generally creating. Sean McMahon, Emily Schmidt, Trey Ferstler, and Dakota Proctor have all helped contribute heavily over the last year (alongside Jack and Lucas), and I am thankful for their continued work in helping to build out ‘The Forum’. As we approach the last few months of our first year, I think year two will involve scaling up and building a bigger team will be a central focus.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The process of creation has to be the most fun part or there is no point in creating. That said, what is most intensely felt positive emotions differs based on the creative space I am operating within. When writing stories, there are moments when finding the right phrasing or even erasing a word can be an ecstatic moment. With podcasting, where ‘A Rendezvous at The Forum’ is operating within, the joyous moments come when delivering a question that sets up a great round of conversation. The conversations are both enlightening and therapeutic. If my joy was not based in the process of creation then I think the endeavor would be a colossal waste of time.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think we are still building our reputation. But what has helped us take small steps has been the genuine engagement we have created with artists. We are a safe conversational space for artists. We are not trying to glamorize or tear down–instead, we let artists express themselves and seek to probe their work. In the process, I think that Jack, Lucas, and I become better writers, thinkers, and producers (in the case of Lucas).

Contact Info:

• Website: theforum2021.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theforum2021/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-leli-17773a7b/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/theforum2021
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsHnwTxk4OevRnDz83sBS7w?app=desktop

Image Credits
Tyler Leli and Jack Geist (final image)