Burning Down The Studio
I realize that this might come as a shock for many people, especially those that have followed Beards and Comics...
I realize that this might come as a shock for many people, especially those that have followed Beards and Comics and the Catalyst Comics Studio suite of streaming content. Regardless…we are done.
I've watched and I've participated in so many streams and so many shows. I remember back when I felt like we had one of the only shows (Beards and Comics & BAC Live) to what now encapsulates entire networks worth of content.
I should begin by saying I believe that all creativity is fantastic. Even if it's something that I don't particularly care that much about; the idea that someone is using their creative intuition is a beautiful aspect of humanity. I've also come to realize as I watch my friends do crowdfunding and go on multiple shows, post about multiple shows, and do random live streams…that it doesn't seem to account for much anymore.
I've also noticed that more than anything else it's for other creators to interact and consume. While I love interacting with the other creators I often wonder what would happen if those efforts got refocused into driving toward just finding new fans. This isn't to say that other creators can't be fans of your work; or that I'm not a fan of other creators' work. It's pretty much the opposite. However, I believe that the pool has seemingly grown stagnant and, for the most part, it's the same people repeatedly talking about the same things over and over within the same formats.
I'm not going to say that I'm not guilty of it. I have watched recently a disturbing trend that going on all of these shows and pitching books hasn't helped even with creators I think have excellent work. Now, I have some friends who do live streams as a way to hang out with their friends and have fun and I think that's fantastic. I honestly think if it's not fun it shouldn't be done anyway.
So for us a Catalyst what does that look like?
The most fun I had while doing these shows was doing a podcast, not a livestream. For those that don't know, besides Beards and Comics, there was also a podcast that I was a part of that was about church and church culture. I love the conversation, but what I don't love is being on a livestream having to run multiple screens hoping people will comment, hoping there's interaction, seeing either zero people watching or multiple people with no interaction…
It does help one to realize that these things we consider so important are to others just a form of entertainment. That's why moving forward I'm scaling back significantly on livestreams and content that doesn't drive forward the creation that I've been putting out into the world. If I were to block those times aside and utilize them for creativity I would probably gain a mental benefit from it.
I'm not encouraging anyone else to do this and I'm also not saying I'm never going on livestreams again. However, and at least for a while, I believe I will only go on live streams where I'm explicitly invited to. As far as Catalyst Comics' own content I also believe that I will be not moving forward with doing them in a live-stream format. However, I do see a return to the podcast format happening in the future. The podcasting format has been an outlet that I've enjoyed for many years and it's something that I listen to regularly. For me, that's where my discussion proclivity will show up. There's another outlet coming as well that will require a bit of my focus and is also another form of creativity that I greatly enjoy and I look forward to announcing that soon.
What’s more is that I can utilize this time to spend with my significant other, and children. We have a crazy life living between multiple states, so the time that we have together is cherished. So, if you still want Aaron’s sweet voice in your ears, I encourage you to subscribe to this substack, because I am dropping a new ‘Inner Inner Sanctum” podcast episode as often as I can. I will actually talk about this a little more in the next episode. Also, subscribe to the Beards and Comics Podcast channel to stay up to date for when any podcast episodes will return.
Finally, thank you all for being so darn supportive. It has truly made all the difference in keeping me on my toes to try and do bigger and better things.
As always,
Do better. Be better.