Podcast Spotlight: Break it Down Show
Starting from a local Bay Area radio station, the Break It Down Show is diverse in hosts and in guests. Together, cohosts Pete, Jon, and Mark have backgrounds ranging from Hollywood actor to military veteran. Their collective experience gives them a unique insight into a variety of conversations, which then make their interviews that much more engaging. They’ve had guests such as Jay Mohr, Stewart Copeland, Olympic medalists, Nobel Prize winners, musicians, authors, and more.
We were lucky enough to catch up with Pete over email and discuss the podcast, dream guests, and the unique challenges podcasts bring. See below for our Q&A.
Listen: Stitcher
Discover Pods: How’d you get into podcasting?
Pete: My partner Jon and I had a radio show on KZCT 89.5 in Vallejo CA. We reached a point where our ability to get premier guests was hampered by having to be on at a specific time, and having a very local, terrestrial radio audience. So we started the podcast, where we could be mobile and unrestricted by schedule, geography, and scale. And then Mark Valley was a guest on our show, and we enjoyed ourselves so much that he joined the party.
DP: In your own words, why should listeners tune into Break it Down Show?
Pete: Simply, our hosts are a Spy, a PI and a Hollywood guy–that’s pretty cool. Mark Valley is a Hollywood actor who graduated from West Point; Jon Leon Guerrero is a writer, a drummer, and a Private Investigator; and myself, I’m a combat veteran, and I’ve spent years in combat zones working as a spy in the Middle East among other places.
We are all skilled in the collecting of human experience. Though we’re trained and experienced in interrogation and investigation techniques, we also relate to the artistic development processes. That means we can each carve a path to the essence of a guest’s calling, their struggle, and their success. It’s very common for us to hear from our listeners–and our guests– that we have taken them to a different place. That place is special and it’s what our audience loves.
DP: Who are some dream musical guests for your show?
Pete: We have been fortunate of have some of them already: Sly Stone is a legend who very rarely speaks to anyone; we had Stewart Copeland, and we recently booked Andy Summers, so I suppose Sting will be next. My ultimate guest would be Bono, or any of the guys from U2. I’ve loved that band for decades. I don’t get star struck, but I might if U2 sits down with us. Jon would likely say Nile Rogers or Narada Michael Walden. I don’t know who Mark would want from the music world. He is an actor, so he is more interested in breaking down the processes with Tom Hanks or Ron Howard.
DP: As a music-focused podcast you cover a wide range of genres. What are some of your favorite episodes?
Pete: We do a lot besides music, but our favorite musical shows are probably JR Robinson, Nathan East, Stewart Copeland, Slim Jim Phantom, Rick Marotta – there are really too many to pick just a few. Dr. Bob Greenberg is a recurring guest and a dear friend and someone every needs to have in their lives. Dr. Bob has played a tremendous part in our music education.
The newest thing we’ve added is a weekly album fight, where we treat two albums like boxers. Each track is a round, we score it, and it’s a wild ride getting to the winner. It allows us to take some great albums down from the shelf and appreciate them in a whole new way. And I think we’re going to start having the artists chime in on their albums when we feature them in a fight.
DP: What’s the most difficult part of podcasting for you?
Pete: We post three shows a week and have three hosts: two of them on opposite sides of the L.A. basin, one in the Bay Area, and all three of us travel. So we have great range to get lots of guests, but coordinating it all is a wonderful challenge. Mastering the technical aspects, so we can do remotes and turn out a consistent quality product took some work too, and we constantly work to improve it. Having producers and sound engineers on our show from time to time means that it get scrutinized, and the bar is high. We are moving towards including video too, and that learning curve is proving to be time consuming. We’ll get there soon.
DP: What podcasts are you listening to now?
Pete: We listen to a lot of the friends we have made on our own podcast. Screenwriter’s Rant Room with Hilliard Guess, The Jordan Harbinger Show, Mohr Stories with Jay Mohr, and The Crab Feast with Ryan Sickler and Jay Larson. Jon listens to Deane Ogden’s show On the Hit, Freakonomics, The Rubin Report, and a few other things. We are all over the place. But if there’s a through line to what we’re choosing, it’s show quality for content and sound.
DP: Anything else you’d like to add?
Pete: Our guests are sharp, complex, very funny, and they’ve led multifaceted lives. The same tends to be true for our audience. So we’ve been very lucky. Some of our guests are very well known, and some are far less so, but they have all done something fascinating and gone down an inspiring road to get there. Whether it’s Grammys, Gold Medals, Title Belts – and yes, we even have a Nobel Prize winner – for our guests it has never been about the awards, but the work. And what it takes to dig deep and put in the work is something from which we all can learn.
You can reach us: @PeteATurner, @JonLG69, @yesMarkValley, or @BreakItDownShow and we’d love feedback about who should be a guest or how we can deliver even more.
Previous Story
Podcast Spotlight: Sensible People
Next Story
Imagining Movie Sequels with the 'Now Playing Soon' Podcast
Comments
Comments are closed.