Adrian Daniels sits down with radio host and news Editor of Asaase Radio 99.5 in Cantonments, Carlton Cofie, to discuss the inspiration behind his podcast, "The Sound of Accra."
Adrian shares how the podcast originated from his networking events in Accra and has now grown to feature top Ghanaian founders, entrepreneurs, and creators worldwide. He talks about the significance of the podcast's title and his approach to engaging guests, while also delving into the podcast's focus on the vibrant city life and amplifying global Ghanaian excellence.
Tune in to hear how Adrian navigates the podcast landscape, his future plans, and insights into his experiences in Accra.
Timestamps
00:00 Random thought led to podcast name "Accra."
05:00 Leveraging network leads to effortless guest acquisition.
07:59 Approach politics cautiously, discuss indirectly to avoid problems.
Questions
1. How did Adrian Daniels come up with the name "The Sound of Accra" for his podcast, and what significance does it have to him and his work?
2. In what ways does Adrian discuss his approach to the podcast, particularly in terms of the individuals he invites as guests and the topics they discuss?
3. How does Adrian describe his initial experience with organizing networking events in Accra, and how did this lead to the development of his podcast?
4. What methods does Adrian use to source and engage guests for his podcast, and how has this changed over the course of his podcasting journey?
5. How does Adrian reflect on the potential expansion of his podcast beyond Accra and the impact it could have on his content and audience?
6. What insights does Adrian give regarding the selection of interview subjects, particularly in relation to music and political figures?
7. How does Adrian express his approach to discussing politics on the podcast, and what considerations does he have in this regard?
8. How does Adrian outline his vision for potential future content, such as a documentary on Accra, and how does he believe this will contribute to his podcast's message and impact?
9. What is the significance of Adrian's anticipated guest, Rocky Dawoni, and how does it align with the usual content of "The Sound of Accra" podcast?
10. How does Adrian describe his current stay in Accra and its potential influence on his podcast, and how might this influence the future direction of the podcast's content?
Let us know your thoughts! Join the conversation on our Social Media handles @thesoundofaccra on all platforms and @thesoundofaccrapodcast for TikTok and YouTube!
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About The Sound of Accra Podcast
Our mission is always the same, to promote Global Ghanaian excellence. And always to bring you closer to Accra, whenever you are, with powerful stories that make you want to take action in your career, business or personal life.
For 4 years, we have been championing Ghanaian business, entrepreneurship and Creators through podcasting. To this date, we've achieved 10s of thousands of audio downloads worldwide and published well over a 150 episodes.
We are trying to grow our global audience and reach more people and become an established brand in a go to resource for learning about native and diasporan Ghanaian Creators, entrepreneurs and founders worldwide.
I'm kindly asking for your help. Yes, all of you. To leave a review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, the most popular podcast platforms that you all listen to us on.
If you have feedback for our shows or would like to share what you would like to hear from The Sound of Accra Podcast, please email info@thesoundofaccra.com
00:00:00
Hello. Welcome to Assati Radio. Adrian Daniels.
00:00:04
Thank you so much for having me on the show. Great. Well, I yeah. As
00:00:08
a podcaster, well, I, I find that what you do is really
00:00:12
interesting. And, the most interesting one is the the title of what you're
00:00:15
doing in Ghana, The Sound of Accra. Yeah. The sound of Accra Podcast? I
00:00:19
know. It's just it's pretty random. Like, I just had, like, a light bulb moment.
00:00:23
I had like a light bulb moment where I was listening to a podcast or
00:00:27
radio you know and then I heard someone say The Sound or
00:00:30
something and I thought to myself that would be a good name for a podcast
00:00:34
you know. The sound of whatever and I was trying to think what can I
00:00:37
name it? And then I randomly thought of Accra because what I used to do
00:00:41
before the podcast was I used to do networking events in Accra for the
00:00:44
diaspora. Because what will happen is in December, you know, December people come and party
00:00:48
and all sorts. But for me it was more about maybe business connecting the
00:00:52
people family. And then what will happen is that I thought to myself
00:00:55
there's no networking events here. Why don't we take advantage of people
00:00:59
flying in from different countries and connect? Like, there's nothing
00:01:03
much. So I thought let me start the networking events. So I I did a
00:01:06
couple in Roman Ridge, I think 2, you know, 2 years in a row.
00:01:09
First one was a flop. Just my friends came, 5 people. The second one was
00:01:13
pretty decent, 25 people came. And now of those 25 people,
00:01:17
I think, 2 of those people came one of my first guests on season
00:01:21
1. This is all the way back in January 2020. So now 4 years in,
00:01:24
you know, we've gone past a 150 episodes. So,
00:01:28
yeah, that's kinda how the name came about. I just heard something in radio, and
00:01:31
I pulled it together of what I was doing in Accra, and then here we
00:01:34
are, the sound of Accra podcast. Fantastic. But then somebody would ask, well, is
00:01:38
it only Accra you're focused on or you've been looking at other parts of the
00:01:41
country? Not just Accra. I mean, for me, it's it's more about
00:01:45
it was just a name. Like, just I mean, when you hear Accra, it it
00:01:49
does sound like unlimited to the city itself, but it's just more about the name.
00:01:52
It's, I mean, the the I mean, what I say now is, I mean, the
00:01:56
show is all about speaking to, you know, top Ghanaian founders, entrepreneurs,
00:01:59
and creators worldwide. So I like to speak to the native
00:02:03
Ghanaians. I'd like to speak to the the diasporan Ghanaians and
00:02:07
also like to speak to people who have an interest in Ghana. Because the
00:02:11
the first motto of the show is, we chat with colorful creatives and
00:02:14
entrepreneurs worldwide with a Ghanaian background or interest.
00:02:18
So for me, I don't limit myself to Accra. I don't limit myself
00:02:22
to native Ghanaians. I don't limit myself to diasporin Ghanaians.
00:02:26
I don't even limit myself to those who aren't Ghanaian. You know, I also
00:02:30
open it up to those who have a inch strong interest in Ghana, you know,
00:02:33
and, you know, I get them on the show as well because they have something
00:02:36
valuable to say as well. Yeah. The sounds of Accra, well, I vary.
00:02:40
And I'm wondering some of the spots you've been to. Where have you been to,
00:02:43
say, the markets and other places to capture some of the sounds
00:02:47
there? Yeah. You know what? That's a very interesting you mentioned, Carlton. So,
00:02:51
I'm thinking of maybe going into some kind of documentaries like it would be
00:02:55
beautiful to have like a documentary on like Makloumaki. I think people have done
00:02:59
it in a way But I feel like I wanna capture certain
00:03:02
certain vibrancies of Accra and Ghana that people really haven't before.
00:03:06
You know, just really just dive deep into things. But when you but, you
00:03:10
know, one thing I do ask people in some of my shows is ask this
00:03:13
question, what is the sound of a car to you? And I say what thoughts,
00:03:17
vibes and feelings come to mind? So I've had people come in the show saying
00:03:21
plantain chips. I've heard people come in the show saying, you know, street
00:03:24
hawkers. I've heard people come in the show say traffic. You know, all all sorts
00:03:28
of things. So, for me, I think the Santa Barbara is I think is more
00:03:32
than just a name. It's more than just a city. It's about kind of the
00:03:35
emotions that peep that that people invoke when they think about it. And and
00:03:39
also, just, you know, what, you know,
00:03:43
the and just amplify the amplification of Ghanaians, you
00:03:46
know, as a whole, you know, because I also say that we we wanna promote
00:03:50
global Ghanaian excellence. So it's not just limited to, you know,
00:03:54
Accra or Ghana or whatever it's promoting. It's amplifying that excellence
00:03:57
around the world. So you can also see the sound of Accra in that perspective
00:04:00
as well. So how do you go about it? When you need
00:04:04
to record someone, do you let someone link you up or you just walk out
00:04:08
to them and say, well, I want to interview you? How do you I mean,
00:04:11
how how do you engage them, really? Yeah. I mean, it's, like, really incredible. It's
00:04:14
a good question, Karl. It's really incredible, actually. So, I mean, when I first started,
00:04:17
I'm sure I mean, just like you. I mean, you're veteran journalists. You know? I
00:04:20
I'll look up to people like yourselves. I essentially when
00:04:24
I first started, I had to use my phone book or my contact list, my
00:04:28
contacts. Right? So maybe I'll start start off with interviewing friends and family,
00:04:31
you know, even James here. He's he's he's he's recording. He's now part of our
00:04:35
team. But then what happens is there's a thing called like the network
00:04:39
and ladder. The high hop you go the higher you go up the
00:04:42
ladder. The the the higher guest you can, you know, you can you you you're
00:04:46
more likely to interview. You understand? So season 1 is more or less friends and
00:04:50
family and then people who are referring to our friends of our friends or family
00:04:53
of our family. And then just from there, you just go on and just interviewing
00:04:57
movers and shakers, you know, from Ghana or based in Ghana. So for me, it
00:05:01
was more about, you know, using my contacts in the beginning of the
00:05:04
my podcast journey. But then as time went on, I would get people
00:05:08
introduce me to people. I'll go to events, you know, and then I'll get
00:05:12
introduced to people there or I'll connect or my network will go bigger and
00:05:15
then people will start to approach me. So now, today, it's like
00:05:19
for me to get a guest on is not as hard as it used to
00:05:22
be. I would get approached half the time. I would get introduced without asking for
00:05:25
half the time or I'll be I'll send a DM to maybe
00:05:29
the gone as big as this, gone as big as that. Hey. Do you wanna
00:05:32
come to the show? Reply almost instantly. You know, it's amazing. The
00:05:36
access now that I have to people in Ghana or
00:05:40
from Ghana who are doing great things, you know, representing Ghana.
00:05:43
And that's 4 years of work, you know. So we give glory to God, you
00:05:47
know. What can I say? Great. Now, you know, sounds of Accra
00:05:50
include a lot of hip life music. Yeah. And the whole city is
00:05:54
breathing and booming to hip life music. Though, have you had a
00:05:58
chance to maybe, yeah, re interview some of the the artists?
00:06:01
Or yeah. It's very interesting you mentioned that. That. Yeah. We
00:06:05
typically don't do music interviews because we wanna focus more
00:06:09
on the creatives, entrepreneurs, and business, and even economics a little
00:06:12
bit. Because we know there's a lot of people out there. They're doing music and
00:06:16
entertainment, podcasts and shows, you know. Shout out to sincerely Accra,
00:06:20
who also have the name Accra in in their name as well. So, you know,
00:06:24
we kinda leave it to them, to those people to to do it. Shout out
00:06:26
to Christina Carmel as well who I interviewed on season 6. We leave it to
00:06:30
these kind of, like, experts who understand music more and know know
00:06:33
the industry better than I do. But, however, I did have,
00:06:37
I do have one person coming on season 6, which is what I'm currently filming
00:06:41
in Ghana. Rocky Dawoni. He's not necessarily
00:06:44
a hip life, but I think he's more kind of reggae. Right. I think he's
00:06:47
Grammy nominee to the Grammy winning or whatever and he's doing great things. And,
00:06:51
that interview I didn't want it. His PA kept approaching me. And I said
00:06:55
no. No. I don't want it. Here here's here's someone in the interview because I
00:06:58
wanna focus I wanna stay in my lane. Right? I think whatever you're doing you
00:07:00
need to stay in your lane. But then they insisted, no, Adrian. We like what
00:07:03
you're doing. I think it'd be great for him. And I said, okay. Cool. But
00:07:07
then I said, look. What we could do is rather than maybe focusing more on
00:07:10
music, we could focus more on what he the other stuff he does which is
00:07:13
like the social impact, nonprofit,
00:07:18
activism, all that kind of stuff. So, you know, that's kind of like how I'm
00:07:22
kind of playing it. So yeah. I don't really interview music artists, but I mean,
00:07:25
may have had 1 or 2 I have I I actually have had a music
00:07:28
artist on the season 1, but it's not really kind of like my kind of
00:07:32
my area. Great. Now the well, back the
00:07:35
sounds of Accra include a lot of political talk. Yeah. And I bet
00:07:39
that was it just yesterday or the the other day? There was a lot of
00:07:43
talk from, well, the ruling party, the the candidate, and,
00:07:47
he's he was out there, and there was a lot. So what did
00:07:51
what does that also for within your scope of people you're
00:07:54
interviewing, some of the, political,
00:07:58
players in the world. Yeah. I mean, politics, I think it's something that I think
00:08:02
it's something we need to tread carefully Anyone comes to Ghana, you do have to
00:08:05
tread carefully or they'll come after you. So for me politics I try
00:08:09
and stay away from us try and stay clear as much as possible. What I
00:08:12
do do is I try and maybe maybe I talk around it rather
00:08:16
than talk you know directly about politics. Because politics we can't
00:08:20
get away from it. It it influences our daily lives and, you know, it's the
00:08:23
government that runs the country and the government runs, you know, the world. Right? So
00:08:27
I kinda talk around it, but I don't talk directly about it. And even some
00:08:30
of the guests that come on, maybe we we maybe we find ourselves talking about
00:08:33
politics, but then we we find ourselves maybe talking a little bit too much. And
00:08:37
then we realize, no, let's not go deep into that area because we know it
00:08:40
can cause con you know, all the the drama and the controversy that we
00:08:44
know it can. So, yeah, I just try and, again, just try and stay stay
00:08:47
in my lane. Fantastic. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, happy to have you
00:08:51
in Accra, and I hope you enjoy your stay. How long are you gonna be
00:08:54
here for? Mommy, I've been here for a while. I came in January. I'll probably
00:08:57
be here to, like, maybe going in towards Easter, so we'll see what happens. Fantastic.
00:09:01
Yep. Yeah. Nice to have you. Thank you very much. Enjoy the rest of the
00:09:04
day. Thank you. Cheers. Thanks for having me on, Carlton. Sure. Cheers. Yeah.