4 JUN 2021 · Welcome to Sound Salad, the interview podcast for all things spoken and all things heard. I’m Romy, nice to have you with us. Sound Salad is the brain-child of Theo Gibson, (founder and creator of Audiobooks NZ) and myself, Romy Hooper (actor, audiobook narrator, writer, fellow bibliophile) essentially because we thought it was about time that there was a decent, local podcast about audiobooks. One that didn’t centre around reviews, or that were simply audiobooks released in podcast format. While we may cover some of that stuff, we’re keener to be a bit niche and chat with those who work in the creation of audiobooks. The voices, the authors, the publishers, the engineers, the editors, readers and appreciators of the spoken word who all have the same thing in common - they’re lovers of aural storytelling. aXnYbtsHkvUzDeYsHwta

18 JUN 2021 · Michiel first started working at the (then) Blind Foundation in 1976 at the age of 16, doing tape to tape transfers for the National Library as they adapted to a two-track system for print disabled people, (people who had difficulty holding books or reading them.) He desperately wanted to work in the library and fought out 3 other applicants to do so. He’s been in various spaces in the library since, and currently works in Accessible Format Services for (now) Blind + Low Vision NZ as a scanner operator, getting digital copies of books through to engineers. Now aged 60, he’s been working in and around the creation of audio content his entire professional life.

2 JUL 2021 · ‘We turn pages, they press buttons.’ This week my guest is Josh Nathan. Josh figured out at university that audio engineering was what he was going to focus his energies on, and has been a keen listener of all manner of recordings since. Beginning with the ‘sound side’ of music, (not surprising given his influential Uncle happened to be the drummer of iconic Kiwi reggae band ‘Herbs,’) he was looking to extend his engineering portfolio, when he saw that BLVNZ (Blind + Low Vision NZ) were advertising for a role...

16 JUL 2021 · This week our first narrator interview is with an amazing New Zealand actor, musical director, and vocal mimic, the artistically and musically adroit Paul Barrett chats to us about the role of the narrator in bringing a story to life for an auditory audience

30 JUL 2021 · Pip McKay is our next guest on Sound Salad, and one of our first authors! She self published her novel 'The Telling Time' over lockdown in 2020 and has won numerous awards since, featured at multiple events through our Writer's Festival circuit and has already developed her ideas towards a sequel. She's an awesome new addition to our literary sphere here, and isn't afraid to ask the hard questions about culture, sense of belonging and self in NZ as an immigrant, the places we find ourselves hunting for that sense of belonging, and where we sit as women in that exploration. Thanks for the chat Pip, we look forward to the next one! :)

13 AUG 2021 · "We’ve got a lot yet to tell, and see, and watch and listen to in this country. There’s such a lot more to tell." This week I chat with Martin Crump. Martin Crump is a writer, broadcaster and MC, and (among many other things) one of Barry’s Boys. His feature book, In Search of the Great Kiwi Yarn (2007), is a collection of thematically linked Kiwi stories that he claims he never even knew he could write, least of all deliver. But with his literary lineage, it was a shoo-in, and there were plenty of other projects that followed....

27 AUG 2021 · Today we’re speaking with a woman I admire hugely, she’s a powerhouse of productivity and advocacy and action and she’s always got time for sending the elevator down to help other writers at all levels of their creative journeys. She is many many things, public speaker, workshop facilitator, genius behind the Writing Room, but is primarily a screenwriter. Her credits include Fresh Eggs, The Tender Trap, Under the Vines, My Life is Murder and the Cul de Sac - to name a few. I’ll let her fill you in on the rest, welcome to the show Kathryn!