The Mouth of Manliness - A Journey of Discovery

Dan Turner
Jul 7, 2020
4 min read

Podcast wasn't really a word in my vernacular until recently. I had heard of them but i'd had very little interest.

A few weeks ago I was due to make a long drive and a friend mentioned that he always listened to Podcasts in these situations as he often tires of music over such an extended period.

I figured, why not, it cant hurt to try. I use Spotify for my audio needs and I can hook my phone up in the car so that is where I started.

I already knew that the YouTuber, Mary Spender has a podcast so I looked there first. I downloaded an episode where she interviewed Reina Del Cid, an incredibly talented singer and multi instrumentalist from Minnesota. I didn't know much about her so it was interesting to hear about the history of her career, her own personal mental health struggles and the many collaborations she has worked on over the years.

The only real complaint I had about this Podcast was the audio quality, largely from Mary's side, it often sounded a bit muffled and the music added at the end was far to loud. Other than that it was enjoyable.

I also found Adam Buxton's Podcast and my god, its glorious! I had been a huge fan of Adam & Joe back in the day but other than the odd cameo or panel show I hadn't seen much of Adam and even less of Joe.

The first episode I listened to was a chat with Frank Skinner, because quite 'Frankly' who doesn't love Frank? I laughed my arse off the whole way through and was thoroughly entertained. The format basically just allows Adam and his guest to have a chat and see where it goes. This is interspersed with zany musical interludes and sandwiched between an intro and outro recorded by Adam when out for a walk with his dog. On the return journey I ended up listening to a number episodes and loved every minute.

Whats the point of this story you say?

Well, if it wasn't for these experiences I may not have been as receptive to The Mouth of Manliness when I found out about it.

The Harwich Arts and Heritage Centre in conjunction with Essex Rocks and Arts Council England have been hosting online shows over the last few weeks. On 26th June 2020 they hosted the awesome Pet Needs. What I have learnt from these guys over the last few months is that they don't do things by halves! As well as playing acoustic renditions of some of their songs they invited a number of guests to join them:

Chris Berwick - Essex Rocks Andy Bennett - Poet Nick Noise - Podcaster

Rosie King - Writer, Public Speaker and Autism Advocate Jim Cavan - Writer, Inspiration for the song Dallas Rich Gutierrez - Bass Player, Pet Needs Jack Lock - Drummer, Pet Needs

Hosted by Johnny and George Marriott

While all of the guests were fascinating it was Nick who peaked my interest the most. He hosts a Podcast called The Mouth Of Manliness which Pet Needs had previously appeared on. The goal is to discuss mental health openly and honestly. Originally started by Nick and his friend Brad, the first few episodes were just the two of them chatting. A timer is set and when the hour is over it stops even if that happens to be halfway through a sentence. Over time they started introducing guests and with the second season Brad has left the production.

I started with the Pet Needs episodes (They ended up doing two because they didn't want to stop chatting) an interesting view into how even people who appear incredibly positive can have their own issues. It's no secret that I love the music of Pet Needs so it was cool to get a bit more insight into the band.

After this I moved onto the live episode that was recorded at Best Days Vintage in Colchester. This featured live performances by Johnny from Pet Needs along with Nick and Brad chatting to the owners of the store in front of a live audience. I haven't been to Best Days before but I learnt from the show that they are keen to be an open space where anybody suffering can go and talk about their issues, or if you don't want to talk just go and have a coffee and chill. Next time I am in Colchester I am keen to check it out, if my anxiety will allow me! ha

After listening to these two I decided to start at the beginning and get a real feel for where it came from and why it was started. From the very start you can tell that this is something special. Nick mentioning early on that they were signed to Acast just off of the back of the first episode. There is a huge amount of humour involved, I found myself laughing out loud many times. It is also brutally honest. If you want to hear about a mans anal fissure this is the podcast for you!

It is incredibly easy to get stuck inside your own head, feel like the issues you are facing are exclusive to you and that no one else has it so hard. Fortunately that is all bullshit. If you believed that or it made you feel special then sorry to burst your bubble. For me, the more I can hear about other's experiences and relate my own to that the less scary it seems.

The Mouth of Manliness is incredibly human. I'll be amazed if you cannot relate to these guys in some way even if you haven't struggled with your mental health. They are both busy fathers often struggling to find balance. I am not a father myself but I can certainly relate to the feeling of trying to find balance. I have often felt that I am not in control throughout my life, feeling that life is 95% shit for 1% value (where does the other 4% go? Who knows!). Thankfully its not always like that!

I cannot profess to be a Mouth of Manliness expert, I still have many episodes to listen to but I am excited to do so and I would urge you to do the same.

https://play.acast.com/s/themouthofmanliness/themouthofmanlinesspodcasttrailer