VWMusic

All images courtesy of Jim Harold

Jim Harold is a titan of the paranormal podcasting world, as well as a pioneer for podcasting in general. There’s a reason why he is perpetually atop the proverbial podcasting heap.

For nearly twenty years, Jim has hosted a variety of shows that cater to the paranormal, and all-around spooky stories. Regardless of if it’s UFOs, cryptids, ghost stories, or true crime from all over the world, Jim provides a safe and judgment-free zone for people to call in and talk about their paranormal experiences.

One such show is Jim Harold’s Campfire (as well as other shows), which feature interviews with prominent people in the paranormal, and true crime world. If you would like to learn more about Jim Harold, head to his webpage, and dig in

Anthony:
Jim, thank you so much for doing this interview with me today. It sure has been a crazy couple of years — what have you been doing to keep sane?

Jim:
Thanks for asking me to do this interview, it’s a great honor! For the last twenty months or so, I’ve dedicated all of my time to my family, and my work. Thanks to my audience, I am so lucky to do what I do, and the work and my family have sustained my positive outlook through this very strange time. We also moved from our long-time home several months ago, and that has been an exhausting but welcome distraction. 

Actually, the last two years have been the most successful we’ve had with the shows. Honestly, when the pandemic arrived, I thought the opposite would be true, and I’d be out looking for a traditional job. I thought it was going to kill the business but things have been quite busy. That being said, we’ve been very lucky. My heart goes out to everyone who has been personally impacted by the tragedies related to COVID-19. Like all of us, I wish it had never darkened the world’s door. I can’t wait until things are back to “normal” if and when that happens.

Anthony:
For those that don’t know, can you tell us a bit about yourself? You’ve been a podcaster for quite some time, what got you started in that space?

Jim:
I began podcasting in 2005 as a hobby. I’d gone to university and majored in broadcasting. My goal was to be in front of the mic or the camera. However, I ended up for most of my career selling radio advertising. I was frustrated that I’d never been able to pursue my love of broadcasting. I thought it would be a fun distraction to do this thing called podcasting that I’d just heard about. I NEVER thought it would be successful or generate revenue, let alone be a career that has lasted nearly ten years full time already. If I could go back in time, and tell myself this would be essentially my life’s work, that past version of myself would be gobsmacked.

I am from Ohio in the American midwest. I love that I get to do something I love for a living, and I get to cover a topic that has fascinated me since I was a small child watching Leonard Nimoy’s classic TV series, In Search Of…

Anthony:
When you started podcasting, the medium was pretty young at the time, right? Was it hard to break in, and gather an audience? At the same time, one could say it could’ve been a “wild west” situation where you were able to claim your stake early on.

Jim:
For me, it was the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a tremendous movement. It was kind of like buying cryptocurrency in 2010. It might not be as monetarily lucrative, but it has been just as fulfilling. I love my job and I doubt it would have happened had I started in 2020, for example. It was so early on that I was able to get the show title, The Paranormal Podcast. How wild is that? It is tough for new podcasters to cut through the noise today even if they have a great show. I’m so lucky I started early.

Anthony:
I discovered Jim Harold’s Campfire about seven years ago, as well as The Paranormal Podcast, and, amazingly, you provide a forum for all these stories for people to tell. What was your entryway into the paranormal genre? What ultimately led up Jim Harold’s Spooky Studio?

Jim:
In 2005, when I was looking for a topic to podcast on, I wanted to focus on something that genuinely interested me. The marriage of tech, podcasting (which is for all intents and purposes broadcasting), business, and the paranormal has been a perfect combination for me.

Anthony:
Speaking of Spooky Studio, can you tell our readers more about it?

Jim:
That is my app available on iOS and Android. It is really a place where you can find all of my shows. You can certainly find all the free shows I’ve done, and Plus Members can access the content behind the paywall. We do 8 exclusive episodes of Plus-only shows every month. Those are, in addition to the free episodes available for Campfire, and The Paranormal Podcast available to everyone. Also, our Plus Members can access hundreds of classic episodes that are behind the paywall.

Anthony:
For a while, live shows were going a part of the equation with Jim Harold’s Campfire? If I remember correctly, you had mentioned a paranormal cruise at one point — will we see another one?

Jim:
Well, the cruise was great and a lot of fun. I plan on being a speaker on another cruise in 2023 — that should be great. It’s not specifically Campfire-themed, but it will be fantastic. In terms of touring, that did not come through because of the pandemic! My first solo appearance on stage was going to be in March of 2020, in Nashville, and we all know what happened to the whole world at that time. If life ever gets back to normal, I’d like to revisit the idea of live Campfires once again. Fingers crossed!

Anthony:
Any favorite haunted, or spooky locations that you’ve gotten to visit, or plan to in the near future?

Jim:
I’m not a paranormal investigator per see, but one I’ve always wanted to visit is what they call the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum (a horrible name but that was what it was called), which is in the nearby state of West Virginia. My Mom’s family was originally from that area, and I passed it while riding many times as a child but did not know much about it. That would be the first spooky place I’d like to visit when things go back to normal.

Anthony:
I understand you have quite an extensive background in radio. Can you tell us a bit about that?

Jim:
If you add my various stints up, I worked in radio for well over ten years, but it was in advertising/sales. Quite frankly, much of the time I was muttering under my breath that I wanted to be on-air, and, “Why did I end up doing THIS?!” However, as life often supplies us, it was a blessing in disguise. I learned so much about the business, and how to sell ads that it has been invaluable as an entrepreneur. Without that experience, I could not do what I do for a living. I am thankful for those struggles. They prepared me for something better. Now, I actually enjoy the ad sales side of things. I’m not the best host, interviewer, tech person, editor, writer, producer, web admin, ad salesperson, paranormal authority, or business owner, but I am mediocre at all of them. I like to say my mediocrity has served me well. I can do a little bit of everything well enough.

Anthony:
It’s great that you keep an open mind to all things paranormal, and spooky and provide a space for people to tell their own stories in a safe and judgment-free zone. I know you’ve heard thousands of stories, but are there any, in particular, that stands out to you?

Jim:
The one that stands out the most is The Roadhouse Saloon. It is the story of a woman who, with a friend, apparently almost got stuck in a kind of weird otherworldly portal of a bar. It really is like something out of The Twilight Zone. In fact, I thought so highly of her story that I traveled out of state, in 2019, to interview her on video. She told me the story face to face. and I believed her. 

You can find that on my YouTube channel. Here’s the direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV2ui1hBn5A

I think she stumbled on some weird place that threatened to swallow up her. and her friend. An incredible story indeed.

Anthony:
I like to say I’ve had my fair share of paranormal experiences, and sometimes you may add in snippets of your own stories to add on to others. Do you have a personal story that you’d like to share yourself?

Jim:
Well, I think I must have a guardian angel. One example is the time that my wife, and I (she was my girlfriend then), encouraged me to sleep on her family’s couch after a long day at a local amusement park. I went back home the next day to find out my apartment (admittedly, in a bad neighborhood) had been shot up by an AK-47!!!! If I’d been there I may have resumed room temperature, as they say. She (and that guardian angel) saved me. Too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence, I say! Good news though. We have now been married for twenty-five years, and I thankfully live in a much better neighborhood!

Anthony:
One of my favorite questions now for podcasters is — what kind of hardware, and software do you use to record and produce your content?

Jim:
I use a Neumann TLM-103, a Rodecaster, and a Mac Mini. My studio has sound treatment throughout. That’s an upgrade I instituted when we moved to our current home several months ago. Sadly, my office is the messiest room in the house, and I can’t send a pic of the full room. But, below is a shot of my beloved Neumann TLM-103, with my website in the background (a total coincidence, I assure you).  [Laughs].

Anthony:
For you, who has quite a few podcasts, what’s your process for keeping track of everything — writing, recording, and producing to what we as listeners eventually hear as the end product.

Jim:
I kind of have my own system in my head, but my virtual assistant and associate producer, Maddy Hilker, is our secret weapon. She books all the guests and keeps the calendars organized. I use a spreadsheet to catalog each interview, and when they are ready to be posted, I have them there to “take off the shelf,” and edit appropriately. I am a big believer in calendars and note-taking apps. I am not smart enough to remember everything, so, I need trusted places I can document things so that I remember. I gleaned this from David Allen’s, Getting Things Done. Anytime I start to get overwhelmed, I go back to some of those basic “GTD” principles, and it saves me. I wish I used them all of the time. It makes life so much easier! 

Anthony:
Here’s a short and simple one — what are some of your favorite podcasts?

Jim:
I enjoy Leo LaPorte’s MacBreak Weekly, Mike Rowe’s The Way I Heard It, Cocaine & Rhinestones (a great show on the history of 20th-century Country music), Libsyn’s The Feed, and Dave Jackson’s School Of Podcasting.

In terms of paranormally oriented shows, some of the best are Astonishing Legends, And That’s Why We Drink, Box Of Oddities, and Somewhere In The Skies, among others. I am privileged to be a colleague to these great podcasters. 

Anthony:
Have you gotten to meet any of your favorite podcasters? When I chatted with Kat and Jethro Gilligan Toth, they had nothing but nice things to say about you!

Jim:
I’ve met Dave Jackson multiple times — great guy, very knowledgeable. My biggest fanboy moment was meeting Leo LaPorte, who inspired me way back in 2005 through his TWiT podcasts to give this all a try. I’d never met him before Podcast Movement in 2019, and that was a real thrill…now that’s a podcast pioneer. 

Of course, Kat and Jethro were great to meet, and I hope to see them again soon once the world stops being so insane with the pandemic.

Anthony:
We touched a bit earlier on about you getting your start in radio. Is it safe to say you like music as well? If so, do you collect any physical forms of music such as vinyl, cassettes, CDs, or are you all digital?

Jim:
I have a turntable but it is sadly in a box. But good news! My youngest daughter wants a turntable for Christmas, and I fully plan on buying it for her as much as myself. I have boxes of vinyl that I haven’t listened to in years, so, I have a feeling I’ll be listening to her new turntable a lot. She said she, “Literally did not know how to play a record.” That blew me away, what kind of parent have I been? But, I look forward to introing her to the joys of vinyl and reliving it for myself as well.

As an aside, I do find it incredible we all have access to this celestial jukebox where we can call any song up on our phones, BUT we certainly have lost something as well — that ritual of taking the vinyl from the jacket…reading the liner notes…experiencing the little crackles that gave our records personality, and in a way made every copy unique.

Anthony:
Jim, thanks again for taking your time to do this with us. Is there anything else you’d like to share with us that we may not have touched on earlier? Any future plans? Maybe live shows when things calm down enough?

Jim:
I plan to release my sixth book based on Campfire’s last year, and I hope to ramp up my video efforts on my YouTube channel. Most importantly, I need to dust off those records! I hope everyone can check out the shows at JimHarold.com, and wherever they get their podcasts. Happy Holidays!

Interested in learning more about Jim Harold? Check out the link below:

Dig this? Check out the full archives of A.M. Radio, by Anthony Montalbano, here: https://vinylwritermusic.wordpress.com/a-m-radio-archives/