Sorry I never got this to you last week, but I'm adding it here now, in case you want a place to discuss the subjects we cover.
We cover a whole range of topics, from Mark Kelly's autobiography, to Steve Hogarth's 90s apparent preoccupation with the success of other pop and rock stars, to the current The Light At The End of The Tunnel tour. Also: TV industry gossip!
2021-11-22 09:11:14 +0000 UTC View Post
The unedited version of the latest Digi video was almost 1 hour 15 mins. Getting it down to 30 minutes was tough, but I'm glad I took the extra time to do so. Sometimes, shorter videos are more work, purely because it becomes about the rhythm and flow, and - in this instance - focusing on the funny stuff over facts or whatever.
Anyhow. Here's 20 or so mins of footage that wasn't used in the finished ep, some of which is quite good. The rest of the footage was Sanja using Google Tr...
2021-11-19 13:03:16 +0000 UTC View Post
No idea when this is going up for everyone... but you lot get it early. It's bonkers, and I love it, and I hope you do too.
Oh, and you ALL get a namecheck at the end. It might be that subsequently it'll just be Top Tier who get their name at the end of the videos, but for this first time... you're all in it.
2021-11-18 22:29:40 +0000 UTC View Post
There's probably no new regular Digi video this week... but the one I'm editing right now is one of my favourites. Action Man is back! It's chaos.
Instead, we shot you something exclusive, that's a bit more serious than we'd ever do outside of Patreon.
A couple of things about this video: we did it as a test for our new lapel mics, which was only a partial success. Any tips gratefully received!
Also... I share some personal stuff that's been going on for me recently. P...
2021-11-18 12:12:11 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's something I've been working on for a friend of mine: part of a video for a new song of his. I was asked to do this back in April, or something, and then I got Covid, and then I had Digi Live, and then the Kickstarter, and then my parents got even older... and so I've been very, very late in getting this finished for him (please... never ask me to do anything that you need doing quickly).
But anyway. Keep this private plz. I'll reveal more soon, hopefully.
2021-11-16 17:05:37 +0000 UTC View Post
Here you go! A few deleted minutes from the latest episode, just for the Top Tier Crew.
2021-11-10 17:30:23 +0000 UTC View PostMe again! This is the first episode of what will probably be a regular podcast... or semi-regular, anyway... in which Sanja and I discuss... whatever we want, really. This first one is available for everyone, but it might become something that I put at the higher tier going forwards. Not sure. The tiers we have on here are probably very out of date anyway, and I've wanted to change them up a bit forever, basically.
Never mind that now. In this episode, we talk about moving away fr...
2021-11-10 17:21:15 +0000 UTC View Post
Heylooooo, Top Tier gang. I've got lots of stuff coming for you before the end of the week... starting with this: it's some Digi desktop wallpaper that's just for you and Kickstarter backers. You can get it directly from here if you want it:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nctwm2wf0imv1z6/digiwallpaper.png?dl=0
In this week's BYAMPOD, Sanja and I discuss the An Hour Before It's Dark cover artwork, reflect on the response to our Lucy Jordache interview, and follow up on some Anoraknophobia post... including Steve Hogarth's interesting response to a negative live review.
2021-11-10 16:40:59 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello, you lot. Here’s this week’s video, in which Gannon and I explore the history of the board game Operation (it's still processing... so you might only get the SD version at first).
Now… I don’t want to scare the horses – and it shouldn’t, because this is A Good Thing – but having hinted at this in a few recent posts… I’m moving away from a guaranteed episode-a-week schedule.
It’s not for any bad reason… more that what I want to be doing are episodes that...
2021-11-09 13:02:53 +0000 UTC View PostHello top tier gang. It has been a long while since I checked in with you all. The triple-whammy of Digi Live, the Kickstarter, and my elderly parents having old-person issues, and suddenly requiring quite a lot of care and attention, kind of left me a tad depleted. I'm horribly behind with messages and comments on Twitter, and Instagram, and Facebook, and here, and YouTube, and... everywhere.
It's noticeable the difference even just having a quieter week makes, though. So, I thou...
2021-11-05 14:45:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello, you lot. Here are ten whole minutes of too-hot-for-YouTube Halloween clips, including extra tasting, plus me trying to explain a book I read recently.
Hope you're all doing splendidly.
2021-11-05 09:14:48 +0000 UTC View Post
I hope this is okay, as I've not yet listened to it back in full... and I wanted to get it to you asap.
This interview was better than I could've hoped for really... Loads of exclusives about the new album, next year's Marillion Weekends, the next single, how much life the band might have left in it, and what will happen when they are too old to tour... and yeah, I tried to ask diplomatically about Steve Hogarth's environmental message in Be Hard On Yourself and probably got the respons...
2021-11-03 18:03:26 +0000 UTC View Post
Yes, we skipped a week because of the Kickstarter ending last Thursday... and completely missed Halloween... but we're making up for it with this feature-length special!
Gannon was meant to be in this, but I just ran out of time to film with him. Not that it needs it, given it's already 80 minutes or so. Plus, he's back next week.
But anyway. I sort of love this video. It's my favourite one for a while; nice and meaty... both Sanja and I get to dress up... we eat awful...
2021-11-02 20:32:43 +0000 UTC View PostHello, you lot. I’m skipping both Digi and BYAMPOD this week, which does mean that the Digi Halloween Special will now just be a regular Spooky Special. It’ll be worth the wait though. There’s still a bit to film with Gannon, but it’s already feature-length – just like last year’s one was. So far, it’s one of my favourite videos we’ve done for a while. Not only is there an exorcism, not only were we on form, but Sanja and I taste the worst thing either of us has ever put in ou...
2021-10-29 08:51:52 +0000 UTC View PostYes, you read that right, BYAMPOD Patrons: we're going to be interviewing Marillion manager Lucy Jordache, hopefully next week.
If there's anything you want us to ask on your behalf, comment below, and we'll do our best to put it to her (but no promises).
Paul
2021-10-26 11:38:31 +0000 UTC View PostHello, gang. Sorry I've not been enormously chatty on Patreon this past month. It's been a weird one, with the success of the Digi Series 2 Kickstarter on one hand... and some fairly upsetting elderly parent stuff on the other. It has taken up what little free time I've had, and obviously needed to come first, but I promise I'll try and get a proper blog post update done soon. Plus, something exclusive for Patrons.
Consequently, I'm unlikely to get a video out on Thursday, which m...
2021-10-26 11:35:13 +0000 UTC View Post
This ep of BYAMPOD claims we're only doing one week of Anoraknophobia letters... but in reality, we received a couple more that we think are worth reading out next time. Which we will do, among other things.
Anyhow - there's lots of interesting Anorak discussion this week, off the back of the post, plus we unveil our brand new Marillion gameshow... Neverland The Buzzcocks!
2021-10-22 12:11:14 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello, Top Tier crew. This was meant to go out a couple of weeks ago, but... we were still experimenting with new lighting, and the quality wasn't good enough. Consequently, we never finished the video - there was meant to be some footage of us playing Dig Dug against one another, you see. We'll do something else with the two mini arcade machines soon, but you get to see this version for now. Enjoy!
Here's the video again, with the offending redacted Gannon story now fully redacted to avoid the chance of anybody lip-reading it!
Enjoy!
2021-10-19 08:23:30 +0000 UTC View PostSorry, y'all - had to take this week's video down to make a slight change. I'll put it back up again early tomorrow.
Yes, Gannon returns... and what was meant to be a lovely video about an electronic game called Merlin careens, inevitably, off the rails almost immediately, and I succeed in ruining any chance I'll ever have of working on my all-time favourite TV show. It isn't all innuendo and lewdness, though; somehow in among it we do talk about our dream Doctors, and our favourite eras of the show.
Also: if you did want to support Digitiser The Show Level 2, you've got just under 9 days left: ...
2021-10-18 16:01:35 +0000 UTC View Post
This week's BYAMPOD wraps up our look at Marillion's Anoraknophobia - an album that surprised us both, chiefly with how much we enjoyed it. Although, we don't always agree about which parts are the most enjoyable. Nevertheless, Marillion have turned a corner at last, and the future is bright. Well... mostly. Also: we learn the length of the tracks on the forthcoming An Hour Before It's Dark!
2021-10-14 15:16:47 +0000 UTC View Post
Drinks flavoured like French fries, ramen noodles, and chilli oil?! These disgusting sodas are taste tested this week by Sanja and I. Suffice to say, they don't go down well. They literally don't go down well...
2021-10-13 12:35:52 +0000 UTC View Post
In this episode of BYAMPOD, we get stuck into Anoraknophobia properly, taking a listen to our namesake track, as well the classic Quartz. But not before we've discussed Marillion's latest crowdfunding idea, and disagreed about whether the band meant 'anorak' in a disparaging way or not...
2021-10-08 14:31:42 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello, top tier gang. This started out as one thing... then it became another thing that we are now sharing with you. It takes a bit of time to get there, but we do get around to discussing some of our Digitiser The Show Level 2 plans, while also experimenting with the new lighting and camera settings.
2021-10-05 17:54:12 +0000 UTC View Post
Sort of... Behold: a brand new look for the episodes! Actually, we're pretty pleased with how this turned out, so this is going to be how the videos look for the foreseeable future.
Enjoy!
2021-10-05 15:05:19 +0000 UTC View Post
It's a new ep of BYAMPOD, and we're finally starting to talk about Anoraknophobia. To kick us off, we discuss how Marillion invented crowdfunding, and dig up an old review of the album from by very young Mr Biffo...
2021-10-01 12:58:39 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello, all. Here's an exclusive video for you. I'm evidently somewhat ragged through cold, but we do manage to include the Birmingham footage that was supposed to be a recent Top Tier exclusive. Why were we in Birmingham? We'd gone to a Genesis concert.
Excitingly, you also get to see a big Ladbrokes betting shop that I helped launch, and I tell some EXCELLENT canal-based jokes!
Also, the first two minutes are basically constant interruptions, but I left it in so you can see...
2021-09-30 11:07:43 +0000 UTC View Post
What, just because we've got a Kickstarter campaign running you think we're going to neglect you? Never! Sorry we didn't get this done sooner. The Digi The Show Kickstarter was part of the reason, but also: I have a cold, and have been feeling a touch rough.
Anyway. It was fun to do a new Corner Shop Corner. Been a while. Next week we're starting a new filming schedule, which should - hopefully - mean some slightly more involved vids getting to you earlier, now that Digi Live and the KS...
2021-09-29 17:42:30 +0000 UTC View Post