'We believe that people want to express themselves through video and audio': New podcast studio aims to offer place for people across Wolverhampton to be creative

Urban Flux Podcast Studio officially opened its doors at Crown Nail Works on Commercial Road in Wolverhampton to the public in May after founders and owners Craig Williams and Karl Walker had built up the studio over the last year.

The studio, which is the first custom-built podcast studio in Wolverhampton, is a fully equipped room with industry standard microphones and headphones, as well as movable lighting and cameras set up around the room.

There is also a control room with editing suite and other technology for turning the audio production into a visual one, with Craig and Karl also on hand to offer help and assistance throughout.

For Craig and Karl, the podcast studio marked the next step in a journey which has seen them collaborate together on the Rugby League Outsiders Podcast, then come up with the idea of providing a space for people to be creative after realising that they might have to stop recording.

Craig said: "The idea came from there being a chance that we were going to have to break up our podcast as I was on the verge of, perhaps, moving away, so we both agreed that we didn't want to give that up, so let's create a space where, regardless of where we live in the country, we can still meet up and record our podcast.

"We started to think about it and about the way that AI is going and people talk about a personal brand where their online presence is almost the best asset they've got in regards to business and hobbies.

"We believe that people are going to want to still express themselves creatively and we think video and audio are going to be the way to do it."

Karl said: "The idea kind of grew from our podcast about Rugby League, which just kept getting bigger and bigger and we wanted to have a professional edge to it to make sure we were above the competitors, so that was the idea behind this studio."

Craig said the location had been chosen as it was cheap and also perfectly located just five minutes from the railway station, so someone could come from Birmingham, record their programme, and be away in no time.

Both Craig, who lives in Bridgnorth, and Karl, who lives in Dudley, agreed that Wolverhampton was also a great place to talk to people and many of them had stories to tell, with a new podcast also coming from that.

Craig said: "Wolverhampton is full of incredibly inspirational people and amazing stories.

"Since we opened the doors a month ago, we've already met some incredible people and I think Wolverhampton is a city full of stories."

Karl said: "Since we opened, we've been developing podcasts for other people, such as solicitors who come in here and other creative types.

"We're also starting a new podcast called The Wolves of Industry, which is literally for creatives, business people and people with inspirational stories from across the city.

"We're creating a space for them to tell their stories as well and that is our new project, which is something we're just working on at the moment."

Craig and Karl said the studio at Urban Flux was available to hire through an online booking system, with a consultancy system also in place if people weren't sure what they wanted to do.

Craig said: "If you don't know what you want, then we can do the consultancy, have a bit of a chat, work it out and help and advise, which we're actually doing a lot of.

"I think people know that they want to do something, but the actual how is a little bit of a mystery to them, so we help them develop that as well."

Karl said: "I think a lot of people want to create authority within the industry and I think having a podcast is one of the main ways to create authority in the industry. so it's incredibly important.

"We've also found it to be a bit of a networking system as well, so people might start their own podcasts to promote their business, but then they start getting other guests on from other businesses and, before you know it, the podcast becomes a networking event.

"We've seen some real power come from that."

Both Craig and Karl said it had been a long road to get there, but they were proud of what they had created and said that while it was still in its infancy at present, there were big plans ahead.

Craig said: "I'd like to see a bigger building and location with a couple of different content studios, but also a nice, relaxing and inspirational coffee shop downstairs, so it becomes a creative hub, not just a studio."

Karl said: "There are a number of different projects we're wanting to work on as well as, besides the podcast studio, we do documentaries, video work and adverts for people, so it would be good to have that creative hub where we can venture into other areas."