This week, with Rangers heading out for the Florida Cup in Orlando, I have decided to mix things up a touch.
I spoke with David Edgar, former spokesman of the Rangers trust, and for the last seven years voice of Heart & Hand.
Heart & Hand’s flagship shows on a Monday & Friday, attracts audiences of well over 100,000, and can also boast to hold the most downloaded podcast episode ever in Scotland, following a recent interview with ex-Rangers player Kevin Thomson.
Recently Heart & Hand evolved to a new subscription platform, one that provides daily updates and a varying mix of content, so you can go to @rangersnewsuk for your articles, and Heart & Hand for breaking news and everything else.
In the final instalment of this special we focus on the reaction to the live shows and how they came to be.
I thank David for his time and hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.
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SH: Are you humbled by the reaction you now receive, even now going into live shows?
DE : When you get the response that we have had this year not just in terms of subscriptions, but the live figures it’s pretty fucking humbling, you know I’ll be at Ibrox having a pee and talking to Scott or whatever and someone will come up and go are you the two guys from Heart & Hand and I’ll go thank you, I’ll not shake their hand when I’m in the toilet but it amazes me and it makes me humble and grateful, for it’s a privilege that people will spend their time with me, that people will give you an hour of their time to talk about something that they love, you need to remember that and that’s why there are standards.
SH: The live shows have proved big hits, even doing one with Kevin Thomson, was this planned from the start?
No, had the reaction of the first live show been it was ok, then I wouldn’t have done it again then it’s only because people said that was brilliant that we did it again.
With the first live show we had was always a contractual commitment, I’d done a kick starter years ago and it was one which we needed to do by the way, as our equipment was such that if we hadn’t got the new equipment then we would have stopped doing it because it was making it such a laborious process.
So in order to repay people one of the things we would do would be a live show.
There were lots of various reasons we couldn’t do it right away, one of the poders had basically a new career which reduced his time some had new jobs and then I was very ill for a number of months so it was always something we had in mind.
Then the first day actually after I stopped working I was like I can do it now, and I did it and it was a one off because I don’t particularly enjoy being in the spotlight.
I know that may sound weird if you’ve seen me its just I don’t particularly enjoying being out of it either its almost like you are a kind of introverted extrovert and I think that’s a great description but once I’d done the first pod it was like that was great, brilliant, and then people say well i never got a ticket would you do a second?
Once we done a second one in a year, people asked again, well could you do one a bit quicker this time. I thought we can’t just do the same thing we have to do something different, ok let’s get in see if Kevin will do it and then the next one I’m like well why don’t we do a transfer window special we’ll do one and then we can go over all the players that Rangers have brought in and we can see where the club are at that stage.
So long as there’s a reason to do it and so long as it’s not just us turning up and you know mob handed then great so long as its got a purpose then we’ll keep doing it but again, it’s like everything else, we’ll keep doing them until people don’t want to come to them anymore.
SH: Do you still get the same level of enjoyment out of watching games as you always did now?
When I’m at the game I’m at the game that’s it I’ll think about it when its done I don’t sit there thinking about lines to come up with. If you’ve ever watched the video stuff you’ll know that there just done to camera they’re not rehearsed I don’t read from a script I don’t script lines or whatever, (1) I’m too lazy and (2) I’d forget so I’ve got a dreadful short-term memory so the idea of rehearsing a line is…..it would come out like I’d rehearsed it and people would go oh he’s not made that bit up.
When I’m watching Rangers I feel sick you know my heart’s in my mouth, I don’t relax until they are free from you know. David 1987 is pretty similar to David 2017 is pretty similar when it comes to watching the Rangers it’s still the same reaction, I couldn’t deny ok I’ll go and do this show and again great believer back to the original philosophy that keep it real, turn on the camera and just do it and then turn it off and it’s done.
Same with the podcasts just do it and that indecently is like we always try to explain if see the post match immediate reaction stuff might be different from the Monday show because what I do is that is my immediate visceral reaction say it’s a Saturday game, I’ll watch the game on the Sunday and I’ll take notes and that’s for the show and I never used to do that but I’ll watch the game and then come the Monday we’ll record so you’ve calmed down a bit.
SH: When you leave the game there’s always like referee decisions or something that went against you or watch it back you go well one way or the other, your opinion can change.
DE: Absolutely and you might be sure of that and someone you thought wasn’t having a great game was actually quietly having an excellent match. I mean we say the even the angle you are in at the stadium can have an impact on your perception of a match. I sit in the stand towards the Copland so there could be stuff happening at the other end that you don’t pick up as well as I do when I sit and I watch the game back on RTV.
SH: Heart & Hand will soon head into the world of merchandising, where are the origins of that? Was it always planned?
DE: With the merchandise I mean, like I say we are seven and a half years in so it’s clearly not been something that’s been on my mind since day 1. I’ve never really wanted to get into it and what happened was it was on our live shows and people would come up and say have you got any t-shirts and we’d say no we haven’t why, would you want one?
And then guilt again comes in, well buy a home top instead. They then say well I’ve got a home top, that thing again the whole taking money from the club and feeling guilty about it and I think then you have to be a bit more realistic and assume that see it’s not that I’m stealing money from people, we’ll put this stuff up for sale and if they want it they want it and if anyone says no I don’t want to buy from you I totally understand that. I get that equally we’ll out it out and I think it’s a way for people to support the show, like I’ve bought t-shirts from podcasts that I support to support the show so I think it’s an opportunity for people to, if you like the word I hear most in anything like this is donate right that never wanted to do that and that’s why even going back with kickstart we tried to offer stuff. So ok you can support us but please let us give you something for it so this is just an opportunity for people to be able to do that and be able to, at the end of the day I don’t want anyone buying something from me rather than buying something from the club shop and I’ll say that right now if you’re going to come to me and say this is magic David this will save me buying a home top I won’t sell it to you, fucking go buy a home top.
SH: You have been a great source of advice and support for me, I thank you for that. Is this something you enjoy doing also?
DE: I can’t remember being as energized doing it as I am now because of new poders, guys like yourself seeing the development of the guys I’m working with. That is really encouraging.
I would like to thank David for his time, it has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Please get in touch with your thoughts.
@steven_harrigan @rangersnewsuk
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