It Takes a Village: Christian Swain and Jerry Danielsen on Building a Music Podcast Network (Episode 50)

Make Music Your Business.

Episode 50 of The Career Musician is a little different. Instead of a touring player or a session cat, Nomad sat down with the two guys behind the network the show had just joined: Christian Swain, CEO of the Pantheon Podcast Network, and Jerry Danielsen, Pantheon's head of engineering. Pantheon calls itself the first podcast collective built entirely around music.

Both of them came up in LA rock bands, both took detours, and both found their way back to music. If you are wondering how musicians build a second lane, like a music podcast network, out of what they already love, their story is worth a listen.

It takes a village

Nomad opened by explaining how he got there. A previous guest connected him with Christian, and shortly after that The Career Musician became a member of the network.

"Once again, ladies and gentlemen, it takes a village. It takes a team."

Nomad, 2:23

Nomad was clear that nobody was paying him to join and nobody was promising to make him rich. It was synergy. One referral, one call, and he told his wife afterward it felt too good to be true. That is Work begets work, and it is why the people you already know matter more than the strangers you chase.

Act like you know, then go learn it

Christian moved around a lot growing up and went to five different high schools. On his very first day at the third one, a kid walked up and asked what he did. Christian had acted in plays since fourth grade but had never sung outside of jumping on his bed. He said, "I'm a singer." By that afternoon he was auditioning for a rock band.

"I sucked as a singer, 'cause I never sang before in my life. But I knew I could act like I knew what I was doing."

Christian Swain, 28:41

Here is the part that matters. He didn't stop at faking it. He put a lot of time into lessons and learned to sing. Nomad pointed out the difference: confidence can carry you on a stage, but in the studio, if you don't know what you are doing, the people in the session can smell it. Luck = preparation + opportunity. The opportunity showed up on day one. The preparation came after, and it had to.

Christian's band went on to chase the record business in the 80s, playing the Hollywood club circuit and putting up posters the weeks before every show. Jerry's band was one of their rivals on that same circuit. They had known each other since high school in the Santa Clarita Valley, and Christian's band recorded at the studio Jerry started in the mid 80s.

You can step away, but it doesn't leave your blood

At 30, Christian decided he had aged out of rock and roll and took his day job seriously. He went into tech in 1986, followed it through fiber optics and data centers, started businesses and sold one. By 2014 he hated the job and quit.

"You do what you love... I just couldn't get music out of my soul. I tried. I literally tried for 10 years."

Christian Swain, 33:54

A friend talked him back into singing, which became an acoustic trio, which became a full cover band he has played in for about 15 years, 20 to 30 private gigs a year across Northern California. At the same time he combined his music, his love of history and his business background into a podcast, Rock N Roll Archaeology, a meticulous history of rock music, culture and technology. Each episode takes three to six months to make.

That is Make Music Your Business in plain terms. He didn't pick between the business brain and the music. He put them together.

Know the business you are in

Christian said he saw podcasting as a low barrier to entry industry that wasn't professionalized yet, so he knew he could make a splash. Jerry came on as engineer in 2016, and over time they noticed their shows were cross-pollinating listeners. So they built a network around one vertical: music only. His reasoning applies to any musician selling a service. When you walk into a music company, they want somebody who knows their business intimately, not a generalist who does a bit of everything.

Christian also broke down the basics for anyone thinking about a podcast. A host like Megaphone creates your RSS feed, and that feed goes out to the listening platforms, with Apple being just one of many. And just starting a show doesn't mean anyone will hear it. It takes a long time and a lot of work.

A family of career musicians

Jerry's side of the story is pure lineage. His mom worked as a switchboard operator at a musicians' answering service back in the days of the Wrecking Crew. Jerry runs his own studio, composes for TV and film, has written for musical theater and was lining up another feature film score. He has always had a home studio, and his son was writing and recording songs in it as a kid, playing every instrument himself. His son went on to sign with a major label by 19, with a band that, as Jerry put it, tours for a living.

That is diversification across a whole family: studio, composing, theater, touring.

The big announcement

The episode ended with the news teased in the show notes. Pantheon said it would be the first podcast company in the world to launch high definition audio podcasting, keeping full-resolution WAV files streaming instead of squashing everything down to MP3. Christian said the idea came through Neil Young, who asked if they could do it. They found a technology partner who said yes.

The takeaway

Christian and Jerry are proof that a music career doesn't have to be one straight line. Say yes to the opportunity, then do the work to back it up. If you step away, know that the music will probably pull you back, so bring your other skills with you. And never underestimate one referral. If you are looking for your next opportunity, start with the free Get the Gig guide.

Get the gig. Keep the gig. Build the career.

Watch on YouTube or find every episode on the TCM Podcast page.