From WhatsApp Chat to Launch: How The KASE Files Podcast Came Together in Eight Weeks
Eight weeks ago, a message landed in the KASE team WhatsApp chat. Someone floated the idea of a podcast. Within the hour, we were deep into format discussions, potential episode titles, and whether we could actually pull this off.
Spoiler: we could. But not before Dan and Laura's combined neurotic streak produced several spreadsheets, a launch checklist long enough to require its own scroll bar, playbooks and strategy docs, and more pre-launch checks than any reasonable team should carry out. We have already written about why launching a podcast made sense for KASE in the first place. This post is the messier, funnier, slightly chaotic story of actually getting there.
The WhatsApp Message That Started Everything
It began the way most of the best KASE decisions begin, with a casual message in the team chat and an immediate group pile-on of ideas.
Within an hour we had a rough format in mind, a working title we all liked, and a list of potential episode topics already forming. There is a particular energy that kicks in when an idea feels right, and this one had it from the first few replies. By the end of that evening, it had stopped being a suggestion and started being a plan.
We gave ourselves eight weeks. In hindsight, that was ambitious. In practice, it turned out to be exactly enough time to panic productively.
Finding a Studio That Was Clearly Meant to Be
We drew up a quick shortlist of studios to visit on a team call, expecting the search to take a while. Then Rick noticed there was one sitting ten minutes down the road from him.
We went to view it, and it was obviously the one. Good acoustics, the right setup, flexible booking, and close enough that recording sessions would not require anyone to block out half a day for travel. Sometimes things line up this neatly, and when you spend your weekends looking for signs and patterns, you learn to take the hint and move.
Booking confirmed. Studio sorted. One major piece of the puzzle in place, and we had barely started.
The Upside of an Expensive Hobby
Here is where paranormal investigation being a costly hobby finally paid us back. Every piece of video kit we needed for the podcast was already in the KASE gear bag, accumulated over years of investigations for evidence recording, ambient capture, and on-site documentation.
No panicked Amazon orders (maybe just one or two). No debates about whether we could justify spending on proper microphones (well, maybe a couple of brief ones). We repurposed equipment we already trusted, had already tested in demanding conditions, and already knew how to use.
If you have ever wondered why our investigation kit list looks the way it does on our private investigations page, this is part of the answer. Good equipment earns its keep in more ways than one.
Dan and Laura's Neurotic Personalities Take Over
With the studio booked and the equipment ready, we reached the stage of the project where Dan and Laura's neurotic personalities did what they do best.
Topic plans. Episode trackers. Publishing schedules. SEO templates. Content compliance notes. Cross-platform syndication calendars. Launch week checklists. Post-launch monitoring schedules. If it could be built in a spreadsheet, it was built in a spreadsheet, and then it was colour-coded for good measure.
We do not do half measures at KASE. We have never once looked at a task and thought, “that is probably fine as it is.” That is not in our nature, and it certainly was not going to be in our nature for a brand new podcast launch.
Rick and Crabby, meanwhile, were stepping into host mode, working through topic briefs, thinking about their delivery, and settling into the kind of easy rapport that makes the episodes what they are. The spreadsheet people kept spreadsheeting. The host people kept hosting. Everyone stayed in their lane, and the thing came together.
Checked, Double-Checked, Then Checked Ten More Times
The two weeks leading up to launch were a blur of reviews. Audio levels got checked. Episode descriptions got checked. Metadata got checked. Publishing schedules got checked. Cross-platform uploads got checked. The podcast page on the site got checked. Social assets got checked. And then, because we are who we are, all of it got checked again.
By launch day, we had reviewed every element of this project roughly ten times. We had caught small issues, fixed them, re-checked the fixes, and moved on. We felt ready.
And then Spotify still had a hiccup on launch day. Because of course it did. That turned out to be the one thing a spreadsheet could not prevent, and a useful reminder that no amount of preparation removes every variable. We sorted it, the episode went live, and the lesson got filed away for next time.
One Week In
We are now almost 100 downloads in, less than a week after launch, with around 100 views per episode on the video versions. For a brand new independent paranormal podcast from a small team in Kent, those numbers feel like a genuinely strong start and we couldn’t feel more proud.
More important than the numbers, though, is the response from the people who have listened. The messages, the shares, the feedback from friends and followers who knew this had been in the works and wanted to see it land well. That side of it has been the most rewarding part.
We already have a backlog of episodes planned, recording dates in the diary, and topic ideas that keep appearing in the team chat at unhelpful hours of the evening. The first episode was the hardest. Everything from here is easier, and we are genuinely excited about what is coming next.
Listen to The KASE Files
If you have not already, Episodes 1-3 of The KASE Files are live on our podcast page and on every major platform. New episodes will be landing bi-weekly from now on, with episode 4 dropping on the 28th of April, and we cannot wait to share them.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major podcast platforms
Watch the video episodes on YouTube
Follow KASE on social media for episode drops and behind-the-scenes content:
Facebook @Kent and South East Paranormal
Instagram @KASEParanormal
X/Twitter @KASEParanormal
Read more from the team on our blog
Thanks for being part of this with us. Eight weeks ago it was a WhatsApp message. Today it is a podcast we are proud of. That is a timeline we will happily take.