For better or for worse, this past year has shaken almost every industry within our community. While some lay in ruins, and others are still holding on, many creators of online services and podcasts are thriving.

The Sunday Night Army is a local podcast with international horizons. It’s a show that encompasses artists of all sorts, from near and from afar. The show has seen a wide variety of content ranging from comedians to musicians.

Creator and host Jakub Winiarski is a former St. Clair College journalism student and musician at heart. He gives artists a voice and a different platform to promote themselves by. He has created a space where they can be heard and understood. His podcast The Sunday Night Army celebrated a full calendar-year of episodes in December, 2020.

Recently reporter Irena Wilson interviewed Winiarski for The Kingsville Times.

Kingsville Times:
Can you give us a brief background on yourself and this podcast?

Jakub Winiarski:
I am a former journalism student from St. Clair College. I’ve been into podcasts since about 2007. I had started out slowly recording music and eventually podcasting came about.

This show came out of trying podcasting with other people and finally deciding to do my own show last December, which is well over a year now. I’m able to interview anyone I want and put all my efforts behind it to make it a brand.

KT:
Why did you call it The Sunday Night Army?

JW:
That was going to be one of my album names, but I figured you know, that’s not going to make a lot of sense. “Army” refers to an audience and I release most of my episodes on Sunday.

KT:
What made you want to start this particular podcast?

JW:
The problem with music in the first place, from what I’ve experienced, is that you don’t always get a voice, especially when you’re trying to get your voice out there. There’s a lot of people that don’t try but there’s also a lot of people that are trying and can’t get their voice out.

So, I figured I’d create a show, and half of it would be the music series, with independent artists from here (locally) but I’ve also had a few internationally that you wouldn’t even think of finding online.

KT:
Being a musician yourself, what have you learned about the music industry from doing this podcast?

JW:
A lot. I’m very small in the music industry. I just write for myself, record for myself. What I’ve learned is that it’s hard to get your name out there. I do it for fun, just to amuse myself as a hobby and what I find is, you don’t have that voice in the industry a lot of the time because it’s extremely hard to break through.

That’s one of the things that drove me from the music being a hobby to making a podcast with music. It’s going to be a lot more fun and will support people that I really want to support.

KT:
How has COVID-19 impacted your podcast and your interviewees?

JW:
Oh, it’s been great, unfortunately because everybody has a lot more time on their hands. All these actors that I get to interview, all the musicians I get to interview, they’re all home. They’re way more available to Zoom or Skype.

Podcasts themselves have been growing extremely popular and COVID is the main reason behind that, because everybody wants to podcast. They have more time and they want to have a conversation with people.

KT:
Who has been your most memorable guest star?

JW:
My most memorable one was when I had a chance to interview somebody that I looked up to in the music industry. That’s episode 20, Jon B. He’s a very popular musician, an R&B singer.

I was able to relate to him extremely well because we grew up around the same time. I was a big fan, and having him bring a new song onto my show to play and talk about some of his experiences with Tupac and other famous celebrities was really good.

The independent artists that I find and listen to, I know I want to share this and tell their stories. I always have questions where I want to figure out their background, how they started as musicians, what would inspire them, how their writing process goes, stuff like that because I’m interested.

I write, and I want to know how they write, how they’re inspired.

KT:
What is your take on the local music industry?

JW:
We have a lot of good music locally. I’ve had the privilege of having local music on the show. I’ve had Windsor artist, Mailbox. He’s a tremendous hip-hop artist who has music with a positive message. Fresh Breath from Kingsville are really gifted artists.

Just helping artists reach a bigger audience is great. I want to share that with other people because you don’t always have that reach locally.

KT:
What struggles have you encountered?

JW:
In general, I’ve struggled getting local artists on my show. I have more musical friends in the UK and Ireland because it’s so much easier. They have a different mentality on how to promote themselves than we do here.

They’re really easy to reach out to, to converse with, to share music, to talk to about music, and to promote themselves. Whereas here, it’s really difficult to communicate with people to show them that there is a way to promote them.

KT:
How can artists get in touch with you?

JW:
The easiest way is to listen to the show and see if you’re a good fit, see if you like the show. The email address is the way to go. It’s thesundaynightarmy@gmail.com That is the best way to reach me. And follow the social media especially Instagram, which has the heaviest traffic for me.

KT:
Do you have any advice for aspiring podcasters?

JW:
You should just start, and always have a concept, always have an idea. It’s like doing any type of show. You’re having conversations with people except you’re talking to a microphone. So if you like doing that, start a podcast and talk about something. Just do it.

KT:
What does over a year of episodes mean to you?

JW:
That was a major accomplishment. I couldn’t believe looking back at it, that it was actually possible to do it or that the result would be so different than what I had expected it to be. It started as one thing and by the end of the year it was not exactly the same.

KT:
What does this podcast mean to you and what are your next steps?

JW:
This podcast means I have the opportunity to show whoever’s listening my point of view, when it comes to who I think you should hear from any industry that is willing to come on the show.

I’m expecting to grow this year and to continue having guests on that you learn something from, feel entertained by, and they bring in good music.

KT:
How many streaming platforms are you on and why?

JW:
I am on 21 streaming platforms worldwide. I just want to be available to everybody who wants to listen.

There’s some that are better than others because of how quickly they update, and how many people actually listen to them. But I figured, you know what? I want to be everywhere — and officially, I am everywhere — and just be available to everyone that has an ear and wants to listen to something different.

Sunday Night Army is available on LinkTree.

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Apple podcasts, spotify, and anywhere else found through the LinkTree link. Email Jakub Winiarski at thesundaynightarmy@gmail.com

Image provided by Jakub Winiarski