Podcaster Profiles

In this edition of Podcaster Profiles, we start with a question: What types of stories are contained in the European horror podcast, Spanish Sundown?

Creator/host Samuel Mattern warns/entices: “There are Celtic warriors high on shrooms, mad bulls, gold-toothed bandoleers in hidden caves, Nazi collaborators, penis-shrinking witches, adulterous kings…”

Samuel continues: “Discover the horrific blood stories of Spain’s past. Discover the horror…that lies inside your own mind. Spanish Sundown is the result of years of ongoing historical research. An original audio drama production, it features the authentic sounds of Spain recorded on-site. Close your eyes and travel here with your mind.”

Ear Worthy sat down with Samuel Mattern to discuss his life, podcasting career, and his terrific indie podcast, Spanish Sundown.

Q. Can you tell me about yourself?

A. I was born in Portland, Oregon (USA), but moved to Madrid, Spain in my late teens. Aside from an interlude in North Africa, the land of Cervantes has been my home for the past 20 years.

This travel has introduced me to many different kinds of people. And I like people. The weirder, the better (I’m a bit of an oddball myself). I want to know their stories.

Q. How, and when, did you develop this affinity for stories and storytelling?

A. Back to my earliest conscious memory, a wide range of stories have obsessed my existence. As a child, I read the Bible. I watched Perry Mason. I listened to The Lone Ranger. And was confused and enamored by Kafka’s The Metamorphosis (I was already an oddball kid by then).

Whether it’s a book, film, podcast, or eccentric stranger I meet at a bar in real life, the character in the story evolves. When I walk in the shoes of an evolving character, it helps me to better understand the heart, mind, and motivations of others outside my own perspective. Hopefully, this helps me to better understand myself, too.

Q. How did your move to Spain affect your love of stories?

A. This love of stories feeds into my love of language and sound. After moving to Spain, the decision to study translation and simultaneous interpretation was a no-brainer. I specialized in screenplay translation, which has afforded me the very cool opportunity to work with –and more importantly, learn from — some of the best screenwriters in the country. This experience nourishes my work as an audio drama creator, as well.

Nowadays, pretty much everything I do is related to discovering or dreaming up stories. I look for spaces to meet new, interesting people and learn about their lives. I record live sound effects for Spanish Sundown at 13th -century castles and Visigoth necropolises. I plan out plots in my head while I run the mountains with my crazy, energetic border collie. I binged the latest Harlan Coben series on Netflix.

Q. How did you become a podcaster?

A. In addition to translation, I’ve been working as a professional voice actor for the past decade. Having voiced other people’s shows, I was motivated to try my hand at creating and producing on my own.

In 2021, I launched Fundamental, a Spanish-language political podcast that blends the documentary genre with autobiographical narration.

This was a true trial by fire — I was figuring out sound design, scripting, recording technology, how to host, how to promote, the works…all by the seat of my pants.

With (literal) chunks of my hair falling out, I learned important lessons about my own limitations, how to make more efficient use of technology, and how to set more realistic expectations in terms of time management.

With it all, and even though I cringe at some of the amateurish production mistakes I made at the time, I am still proud of this first project. It received positive reviews and was even featured on Spanish National Radio.

This initial experience encouraged me to push onward and to do things better. With several years of learning now under my belt, I am stoked to keep creating in a smarter, more balanced way. Spanish Sundown is the next step in this journey.

Q. Why choose Spanish Sundown as a project?

A. Spanish Sundown is a history-horror podcast, so first, I’ll address the historical aspect. Spain is a country that oozes history. There is a road right outside my back door that was built by the Romans at a time when ancient Celts with red and blue face paint roamed the mountains. These same mountains inspired Hemingway to write For Whom the Bell Tolls during the Spanish Civil War. A 5-minute walk from my front door is a 16th-century crypt containing centuries of royal family members’ bodies, complete with a “rotting room” where the bodies are left to dry for decades before burial in a marble coffin.

Q. How do you like living in Spain?

A. I am absolutely in love with my adoptive country and its history. I want to share it with the English-speaking world. One of the cool things about this project is that I can record sounds on-site: ambient sound of outdoor patios, between sips of sangria, music during Easter Holy Week processions, running bulls, masked pagan festivals still celebrated today…so listeners can “travel” through their ears.

Q. Why are you attracted to the horror genre?

A. As far as horror is concerned, humans like the thrill of fear. In addition to underworld demons, bulls that come to life, and marauding conquerors, Spanish Sundown delves into just how scary your own mind can be. For this reason, gray areas and blurred lines are a recurring theme in the show. As humans, we like clearly delimited binaries: black and white, right and wrong, righteous and evil. Unfortunately, real life is a lot messier and more nuanced.

Through my characters, I attempt to identify my own moral contradictions and hypocrisy to take listeners on a journey to also explore their own beliefs.

Q. What is the most challenging part of podcasting?

A. Working alone. As mentioned earlier, I am very much a people person, so writing, recording, and editing solo is my greatest struggle.

I’d like to mention that I’ve found several podcasting groups on different platforms with incredibly supportive professionals who have been real lifesavers in the online space.

However, I still miss being physically present with others and hope to be able to join forces with other professionals in the future to share both the grunt work and bounce creative ideas off one another in person — when logistically and financially possible for me to do so, this would be an absolute game changer.

Q. Is there anything else you like to share?

A. Oh, and I like to eat homemade paella and wash it down with a Godello wine. Good food features heavily in my stories, too. And what better place for food than Spain?

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Clearly, Samuel Mattern has found his calling in podcasting. Life can sometimes surprise us when the thing we love is also the thing we are good at. That’s Samuel Mattern. At Ear Worthy, we are keeping Mr. Mattern on our radar via Eurowaves because we are sure we will hear more from him in the future.

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