I had the pleasure of working with Social Broadcasts’ Lucia Scazzocchio when she worked on the now award-winning Lowlines. Time and again, audio created and platformed by Lucia has reignited my love for the spoken word.
Social Broadcasts is a space where audio making meets community engagement and participatory art practice, weaving conversations and personal stories to reveal broader social themes.
True to form, Lucia is now organizing the XMTR Audio Arts Festival.
The XMTR Audio Arts Festival is a sonic storytelling festival happening from September 25-27 in St Leonards on Sea, East Sussex in the UK. Any who are lucky to attend should definitely go!
I had a chance to chat to Lucia about how this audio arts festival came to be, why we need it now, and what the pillars of spoken word are. Plus, at the end she shares some audio art highlights from the festival to look forward to.
On to it!
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. Any emphasis is mine.
Shreya Sharma (SS): Tell me about the XMTR Audio Arts Festival.
Lucia Scazzocchio (LS): The first edition of XMTR Festival was in 2024 as a small pilot in collaboration with another local sound arts festival called Sono Electro. I had just moved from London to St Leonards on Sea but had been plotting this for a year with each trip to this part of the UK’s South coast. I launched XMTR.FM in 2021 as a portal for creative independent audio makers to be able to share their work and discover both historic and contemporary audio works from all over the world. This platform has been growing and the festival is a physical manifestation of this.
SS: Why does the podcast industry need the XMTR Audio Arts Festival now?*
LS: What the festival provides is a space to play, a space to connect and a space where audio making can be pushed and inspired by other artforms and practices. The industry needs a dose of all those things right now. Many of us have our creativity squashed as we make things to fit the market in order to pay the bills. There aren’t that many spaces where audio makers can experiment, listen to other people experimenting and have deep and meaningful conversations about audio craft without having to think about monetization or marketing strategies. This is all important stuff but lets not forget why we were drawn to crafting sound to tell compelling stories in the first place.
SS: Creators always find a way to create even in a primarily capitalistic economy. Thoughts? Does that extend to podcasting? If so, how?
LS: I think the word podcasting in itself is the problem and kind of sucks the creativity out of audio storytelling. Of course it’s just the medium rather than the message but I think creative audio makers squirm when they are referred to as ‘podcasters’ which is why the festival is for audio arts, which includes podcasts of course but also all the other creative ways of sharing audio. As ‘podcasting’ becomes ever more formulaic, audio makers will find ways to bend the medium. I think we’re also going through an interesting moment in how audio works are shared, broadcast and consumed. With the push to video podcasts, I hope we’ll see a natural divide happening between chat casts that are video and audio only work that allows you to build your own pictures. We’ll be talking about all of this stuff at XMTR PULSE - a symposium about the place of creative audio in the current landscape.
What the festival provides is a space to play, a space to connect and a space where audio making can be pushed and inspired by other artforms and practices. The industry needs a dose of all those things right now
SS: What are the core values that you believe should lie at the center of spoken form creation?
LS: That’s a tough question. I think it’s the same core values that work for everything: integrity, respect, letting go of assumptions, being playful - this goes for the work you make and your audience.
SS: How can the more business side of this industry do better/do different to support the creators?
LS: The number one is stop assuming you know what listeners want or need. Allow space for things to grow. Take a few risks.
Thank you so much for this, Lucia! I would recommend checking out other pieces at XMTR.fm if you’re looking to re-ignite your love for audio.
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safe + sound Jesse Lawson and Kit Callin
An immersive, sea-inspired listening experience with three stations on the beach: grounding, floating and diving, including underwater listening for those willing to take the plunge.
Multi-Faith Prayer Room Daniel Brandt
A 120-voice ambisonic installation around the themes of faith and spirituality in an iconic church setting.
You might have heard me shout it out from the rooftops already but, in case I missed your neighborhood – Tink is proudly hosting the International Women’s Podcast Awards in Toronto on October 8.
Got some quick and very exciting updates on the IWPAs but first…
A quick reminder that tonight (Aug 14 midnight ET) is the final deadline for submitting to the awards.
Now, updates:
Tink will be organizing an invite-only summit focused on a question on every audio creators’ mind – what’s the actual role of video in podcast audience growth? This summit will be held at the CBC offices. Want to participate or know anyone who should be there? Let me know!
I wanted to officially welcome True Native Media, Lower Street, and Sound Off Media as our newest sponsors. They join RSS.com, Sounds Profitable, and CBC in supporting us. You can learn more about sponsorships by emailing awards@tinkmedia.co.
I also wanted to shoutout our wonderful media partners – specifically Women in Media who you might hear more from in the coming weeks.
Also while I have the mic, big thanks to all the folks who’ve agreed to come on as judges for the IWPAs. I shudder at the thought of what we’d do without you.
It’s coming along, folks! More updates soon.
Our very own Lauren Passell is hosting a Radio Boot Camp on Podcast Marketing 101! Tickets are priced at USD 100.
Earlier this week, I chatted with Lower Street’s Annalise Nielsen about the role of video in podcast growth. As always, Annalise’s straightforward framing of industry trends helped release a knot in my brain. Watch it happen in realtime.
The hosts of Tink favorite Debt Heads are inviting listeners to share your financial secret, anonymously of course. This might be featured in an upcoming episode of the next season. Send them a voice memo with your secret to debtheadspodcast@gmail.com.
Our friends at Multitude Productions just launched season five of award-winning podcast Conversations From The Frontlines – a show from Liberty Hill Foundation about the frontline organizers making real change across the U.S.
That’s all for today, folks! We return next week with more podcast marketing magic. Until then, hold onto your hats and whimsy for dear life.
💜 Shreya
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