The origins of Duff Radio

I started Duff Radio in December 2020. The name itself was chosen by one of my law school friends, Trevor Allen. Trevor was a videographer who shot music videos for rappers in Kansas City. I started working with Trevor as a production assistant on his video sets and eventually became acquainted with a number of people making music in Kansas City.

 I saw an opportunity to start interviewing these local artists. I set up SoundCloud and YouTube accounts and had a creator from Instagram draw me a logo of a dove wearing headphones with musical notes.

At first, Duff Radio was nothing more than a handful of DJ mixes I posted on Soundcloud.  I made them using Serrato. Those mixes all eventually got deleted because I wasn’t even aware of copyright laws.

I remember going into a film store in Kansas City with Trevor and buying a big black background for a podcast set. I shrewdly tried to hang the background in the bedroom of my apartment, but I didn’t like the way it looked.

Trevor helped film the first episode of the Duff Radio Podcast at Emerald Dreams Studios,  which was in Overland Park at the time but is now in Independence, MO. My guests were two local hip-hop artists, Connor Chillout and STBtheDon. Our set featured a big flower vase and burning incense on a long wooden table with a white background.

 I met Connor and Tee through Soundcloud. I sent each of them a direct message and invited them over to my apartment. We rode around in my car through the Lee’s Summit Christmas Lights Festival in the winter of 2020 and freestyled over rap beats.

 We became friends over the course of the next year, helping Jamal, also known as Mighty Casual, record his debut album over the summer of 2021. I filmed all of this process and put it out on Instagram and YouTube. I took an audio engineering class at Emerald Dreams Lab under L’s810 that summer, meeting more artists and learning about audio engineering software and equipment.

Duff Radio has since reached 1000 followers on Soundcloud and 600 subscribers on YouTube. Duff Radio has featured music from artists all over the country. Duff Radio has a long list of affiliates, including the Scumlords of KC and Live by the Bag.

Duff Radio’s infrastructure is now much stronger. The platform features my usage of a Black Magic cc6K Pocket Camera. I edit and color the footage in DaVinci Resolve. Keyword research and SEO on YouTube are skills I’ve greatly improved at. We have a consistent stream of viewers every day with a budding type beat business going with Gittyman. The potential of Duff Radio is unlimited.

 This journey has taught me about audio engineering, interviewing people and posting content on social media. I’ve taken time to learn about each of the different social platforms and how distribution works for all of them.

The podcast has since recorded over 25 episodes and is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud and YouTube. We’ll continue to be successful and have longevity with this podcast because of interesting conversations with smart people.

The mission continues to be serving as a platform for good and uplifting creatives around the globe. We will continue to build an audience through great art and engagement and the establishment of a culture. We continue to be creative thinkers and leaders in our community.  -

Ty McDuffey