Montarctica starts podcast

Montarctica, a Malta based brand has been busy bringing plenty of entertainment to Phillips County over the last couple of years including concerts, comedy shows and extreme sporting events.

Their latest expedition has brought comedic entertainment to all fifty states and several countries around the world, but Montarctica creator Travis Rhoads doesn't expect the Montarctica podcast to be loved by every person that hears it.

"First off, we are listed under the comedy section," Rhoads, a KMMR personality said. "And if you come on to our podcast and listen and are offended by any of it, please just don't listen to it."

Rhoads went on to say he will take constructive criticism but not non-constructive criticism.

"If you hate it that much, don't listen to it," Rhoads said. "It's comedy. It's a bunch of friends just sitting around, having conversations, telling old stories and funny things that happened to us in life and every once in a while we get serious and bring somebody that has better stories than what we can come up with and we play some music."

There have been several personalities on the podcast which include the usual personalities in the Montarctica Podcast crew like Brandon Nicholson (who is the Fact Checker), Jody Lee, Charlie Mulluk, Nate Salsbery, Noah Harms and Caleb Harms. The show has also featured Rhoads' children Braydon and Savannah and his girlfriend Carole Lopez.

The podcast kicked off early in March, years after it was first thought of years ago.

"Five or six years ago my buddy Johnny (Hould) and I had sat back and went you know it would be fun to have a radio show or do a podcast or something and I actually bought equipment for it," Rhoads said. "It's also recording equipment for music too but we always thought about doing a podcast."

A few weeks ago while members of the crew were attempting to play music together, the idea was reborn.

"None of us were finding any inspiration that night in music and I go 'have you guys ever thought about doing a podcast?' and everyone went, yeah! Let's do it right now," said Rhoads. "So there it was. It was born. And it's kind of moving fast now."

The podcast features music that pops into anyone's head at any given moment, giving the podcast a live music feel.

As of last Monday, Montarctica has posted 11 episodes, some of which have an explicit language warning.

"Most of them, unless they have my kids in them some of them will have expletives," Rhoads said. "That's the freedom of a podcast. You can't do that on the radio but the internet is free rein so if somebody is sitting back, having a few adult beverages and wants to tell a real good story, they will."

To help keep the swearing down, the Montarctica Podcast also features a swear-jar, that will help pay for things the podcast can utilize.

"It's a smiling monkey and she smiles bigger every time we put a quarter in the swear jar," Rhoads said. "We call a swear like a foul, so if it gets out of hand, my buddies will go hey, you're swearing too much put a quarter in the jar."

The stories told are real life experiences from people that may not have shared their stories otherwise.

"I have some interesting friends," Rhoads said. "I want to get their story out and some of them nearly hide from under a rock during the week until I drag them out into the studio. That's where we get some of the funniest stories."

Though the stories seem random in many cases, the topics are often planned by the guests and members of the podcast.

"We have a white board in the room," Rhoads said. "We write the topics on the board. Sometimes we hit on them, sometimes we just get into a conversation and we don't even touch the topics."

The show is open to topics suggested by listeners and the podcast even has giveaways for its listeners.

"Now we just started a new thing where every episode we try to give away something random out of the studio," Rhoads said. "The first person won one of the old cymbals off of my old drum set which was signed by everybody."

Another prize was an old Avon cologne bottle that is shaped like a car.

"That's the biggest thing; making it fun and hopefully entertaining people when they are listening," Rhoads said. "It's almost a Wayne's World atmosphere."

The studio has been adding décor recently, including an inspirational poster that Rhoads received from Lopez.

"Create something today even if it sucks," Rhoads said quoting the poster. "That there is the mantra of it."

Rhoads realizes that he and his team are still rookies to the podcast world and only 11 episodes in they are still learning the craft, but while they are learning the podcast has reached many ears.

"We just kind of let it grow organically and now we've already reached all 50 states," Rhoads said. "Including Russia, Brazil, Iraq, the Philippines and Canada. It's moving."

The podcast can be found by liking Montarctica Productions on Facebook or by searching Montarctica.com in your internet browser. It can be also be found on the Podbean application, available in the Apple Store or Google Play.