Press: Mike Hamilton talks Hellhound Country on KWTX

Interviewee: Mike Hamilton, Rogue Media Network

Interviewer: Lauren Westbrook, KWTX

LW: If you are looking for a new spooky story this Halloween, Hellhound Country may be the story for you. It follows the main character, Isabel, and her daughter, as they head on a treacherous journey after a shocking murder in their kitchen. It is a suspenseful story, sure to have you on the edge of your seat. I'm joined today by our friend, Mike Hamilton, here to talk about the recently announced Season Two of Hellhound Country. It's always good to have you here, Mike.

MH: Thank you so much. 
I always enjoy being here.

LW: You have so many good stories to tell through Rogue Media, and you're always looking for more. So we appreciate this one, especially in spooky season.

MH: Yeah, this is really fitting.

LW: So as we get ready for season two, give us a quick recap of season one, what this was all about.

MH: Isabel, the mother, and her daughter come home and find that there's been what they understand to be a murder in their kitchen. The father is missing. They go on a search for him. The rest of it, I'm going to leave up to your listening, but I will tell you there is a cliffhanger at the end where a rival group shows up and they want one thing, but Isabel and her daughter want something else. We start recording season two tomorrow.

LW: And a reminder, this is fiction, or not?

MH: It is fiction, yeah. No, none of this happened. No murders. It all takes place in Alaska, and then up into Canada. A lot of the episodes are named after cities in Alaska or Canada. It's so well written and the actors that we brought in to do this are just so talented. We've got a brand new group of them this time. Some of them are returning actors. It's just so nice to be able to put out a call and get responses from people who have done this before, you know?

LW: Are these locals or people from all over?

MH: All over. I think I may actually do a small part in this one.

LW: Oh, that's exciting!

MH: Yeah, I'm a little excited.

LW: Lots of twists and turns - that we can expect. It combines horror and science fiction. 
So what else makes this series unique, in your opinion? You are a part of so many different podcasts and different storytelling projects. What makes this one unique?

MH: I would say that this one is truly our first audio fiction story. This is a world that I want to be in, where we make our own stories. We hire writers, we record our own stuff, we bring in actors to do the voices. We have built a brand new IP and we've built a brand new community. We got so many comments and so much feedback on the first season. It was amazing. These kinds of stories are evergreen, because they're always gonna be around. You can listen to it any time. But today is the perfect day to binge.

LW: Oh, definitely. 
Everybody's celebrating Halloween and Día De Los Muertos and looking for different stories like this to listen to or watch. Where did the inspiration for this story come from?

MH: I go to podcast conferences and things in different cities, and I met a couple of folks, one from Dallas, one from Austin, and they were in business together. I asked them to stop by when they were coming by Waco. They came by, started talking, and I told them about my want for audio fiction, and they introduced me to Alexandra Segel of Segel Media, who this is a co-production with. When I say "co," we just provide the room and the microphones. For the most part, it's all her idea. She's a great writer. We met, we talked about it, and we were able to pull the trigger.

LW: Terrific. As we get into season two, starting tomorrow, how is it different from season one?

MH: I don't know to be honest with you. I have asked her to purposely not tell me a lot about season two until we get into it. I feel like when we get into the editing process, I need that. 
I need to be able to react, like you would as you listen to it. But I'm just looking for more. More characters, more plot lines, more edge-of-your-seat type storytelling.

LW: Can you elaborate a little bit about the partnership you just mentioned to this collaboration to make this happen between the two companies?

MH: Yeah, absolutely. We met, we both wanted to do something, and she had done some work in audio fiction before for other people, other studios, and she had this idea and had already started writing this thing. I just told her, "You know, you bring me a story and I'll figure out how to pay for it." So that's what we did. Honestly, this is what I dreamed of when I started a quote unquote studio. She's a wonderful writer. She'll be here tomorrow. I can't wait to see her and see what she's come up with.

LW: Now, some of your podcasts and projects have video elements. Is this simply audio?

MH: This is all audio. I'm a big fan of audio, just simply because if I tell a story about something, it's gonna look different in your head than it would in mine. And I just love being able to tweak that and play with sound. Video is great, and I do some video stuff. I've been here talking about some of my video stuff, but audio is always gonna be my favorite, just 'cause I feel like you can do more.

LW: So let's set the scene. It's Halloween. You're with your family. Is this age appropriate for everyone, by the way?

MH: Yeah, pretty much. There's a couple of words in there, but there are some versions out there that are bleeped if you would rather have that.

LW: Okay, how would you recommend people sit around and listen to this story tonight?

MH: I would say, turn off your lights, get some headphones and listen to it, so you can hear all the nuances and all the sounds, the crunching of the snow under the feet and the idling of the cars. Then freak out every time your doorbell rings.

LW: When will the new season release? I know we mentioned some things happening tomorrow.

MH: We are hell bent on January. So sometime in January.

LW: But until then, you can binge season three.

MH: Yes, absolutely. Please binge it. 
We are gonna go through and remaster it, just tweak the sound a little bit, raise some things, lower some things. But the version that's out there now, people love. So please go find it.

Check out the full KWTX interview here.