My Baltimore Sun Interview

12 Responses to “My Baltimore Sun Interview”

1. Vic on May 10th, 2007 9:52 pm

   That was cool Marc. I was glad to hear more about your business ideas and how you’re able to eak a living from woodworking/podcasts.
   And yes, you talk a lot. (But, you have a lot to say.)

2. muddler mike on May 11th, 2007 6:27 am

   yup, very cool. Glad to see you get more exposure. And yes, your appeal is because you’re young, funny, and inspiring. I’m sure most of us know way more about you, Matt, and your families than we do of Norm, David, etc. and that accessability is what makes the podcasts even more enjoyable.

   Musician huh? whacha play?

3. thewoodwhisperer on May 11th, 2007 7:43 am

   Thanks guys.

   You know, some would say I am stretching the definition of musician. I play the drums. :)

4. dan on May 11th, 2007 7:55 am

   Don’t be crazy, Marc. I love your self-deprecating nature, but you sell yourself short. I listened to your interview in the shower this morning (no judgments, please :), and I was thinking to myself, “I’ve never heard anyone talk this intelligently about wood-working.”

   Now, maybe my experience with wood content isn’t the most wide-ranging in the world, but you are filling a fantastic niche for literate, younger hobbyists who can appreciate the beauty and satisfaction that this timeless art affords. I, too, am a podcast junkie, and yours is rapidly becoming one of my most-anticipated downloads. (BTW, what techie podcasts do you like? TWiT? Buzz Out Loud? Diggnation?)

   Anyhoo, just know that when you’re speaking to your crowd, you’re crystalizing and re-affirming the experiences that a lot of us are going through, and teaching us new things in the process, and that you have a lot to offer us. We respect your sound knowledge base and accessible, friendly delivery, so don’t feel like you’re imposing when you deliver the goods. If folks don’t like it, they can FF or cancel the feed. Those of us that like it will keep you going strong.

   And dammit, let’s see that workbench podcast! :) You’re teasing us with the glimpses and the whatnot……Keep up the Good Work.

5. thewoodwhisperer on May 11th, 2007 8:14 am

   You guys flatter me. :)

   The workbench podcast is slated for the first week of June, from what the Fine Woodworking guys tell me.

   And as far as tech podcasts go, where to I begin? You hit some of the greats though. Buzz Out Loud, any Leo podcast, The HT Guys, Engadget, MacCast, dl.tv, geekbriefTV, the Fanboys, etc. I can keep going. :)

6. David on May 11th, 2007 2:13 pm

   Wow thats cool Marc. I live near Baltimore so it was interesting having them interview you. Wow this website sure is giving you a lot of attention. Good job doing what you do Marc

7. Tim on May 12th, 2007 6:43 pm

   As a custom cabinet maker I would have to disagree with a comment you made in the interview. Maybe I misinterpreted what you said or meant, but I think you can be just as creative with cabinetry as with any other type of woodworking.

8. thewoodwhisperer on May 12th, 2007 10:21 pm

   Hey Tim. I listened to the interview again and I can’t find any place where I stated that cabinetry is less creative than other types of woodworking. I did, however, draw a contrast between kitchen cabinets and occasional pieces and I did imply that occasional pieces allow me to interject more of my creativity, which is why my customers come to me for that type of work.

9. dan on May 12th, 2007 11:11 pm

   I dunno, Tim….I’ve made a kitchen full of $20,000 worth of custom cabinets and several custom built-ins, and I definitely feel like you’re more constrained in those situations by formal expectations, function, and the client’s expectations that are derived from every other kitchen they’ve been in in their lives. Not to mention the need to obey the homogenizing laws of Resale Value. Sure, some folks will allow you to branch out here and there, and there is _definitely_ woodworker’s artistry in the design and execution of such elaborate cabinetry….but a lot of times you’re just building boxes with face-frames, b/c that’s what the client wants for their space. It does get a little old after a while.

   I’m not going to put words in Marc’s mouth, but if you take a look at some of the stand-alone furniture, stools, inlays, etc. in his photo gallery, you can definitely see that he has a little more freedom of design and taking risks in some of those pieces. In the “starting from the ground-up, anything goes” kind of design freedom, few people are going to let you get too interesting with the center of their family life, the kitchen. Most clients won;t let you unveil the exotic grains, colorful touches, and cool design curves that the wood is capable of–they just want a good-looking, normal set of cabinets or built-in. Smaller, occassional pieces are less of a permanent investment and can therefore break a few more rules.

   They’re both great in their own right–I personally love a freshly-sanded face-frame more than just about anything else I make–but what Marc said in the interview actually resonated with the wood artist in me. Any artist worth their salt wants to test the boundaries of form and function, and try to frustrate the veiwer’s expectations in new and creative ways every once in a while. The tricky part is making the end result so undeniably cool that someone still wants to buy it.

10. Tim on May 13th, 2007 8:52 am

    Marc and Dan,

    On one hand I can see whee you guys are coming from. On the other I don’t! LOL! Maybe its the kind of clients we bring in, I don’t really know. Most of our clients come from northern burbs of Chicago and usually have more money than they know what to do with. Exotic grains, strange colors, and riduciously hard to make curves pieces and furniture like cabinetry is the Hot tamale right now. I guess maybe since cabinets are my thing I don’t think of them just as a fancied up box. When I see something interesting in some other kind of woodworking project I am usually thinking how can I use that in cabinetry.

11. dan on May 13th, 2007 10:44 pm

    man, now I’m really jealous….you get the best of both worlds! :) Sounds like you really have a great niche carved out there…..hmmmm, I’m only about 4 hrs from Chicago…..might be time for some relocating :) Now, how to convince the wife to move so I can make cool cabinets all day…….

12. Tim on May 14th, 2007 3:48 am

    I am not so sure distance matters. The shop I work in is about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours away from most of our work, depending on what part of chi town we are going too. We are located in Wisconsin and I would say about 80% of our work is down there. You go into some of these older upscale neighborhoods and look down the streets and about every other house has remodeling work going on. Than all the new sub-burbs always being built the demand is so high and so is the competition’s prices. Here in SE-Wisconsin area we are probably the most expensive shop around and considered a high end shop. Down in Chi town area we are the cheapest and would be considered mid grade cabinet company compared to some of the shops down there. Its crazy how it works!

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