EXCLUSIVE: 'I just met the anonymous host of Casefile. Here’s what he was really like.'

As I waited in the Mamamia podcast studio for the arrival of my 'anonymous guest,' I found myself feeling nervous.

He, apparently, was nervous. So heck, now I was.

The host of Casefile has been a mystery for nine years, since the chart-topping podcast's inception. He describes himself as a "typical Aussie bloke," who started the true-crime podcast in his spare room in 2016 while recovering from a sporting injury.

But that's it. That's about all we have.

LISTEN: I interviewed the anonymous host of Casefile. Post continues below.

Even as the podcast has dominated downloads for almost a decade — currently in the ears of more than 800,000 people a month — the host has stuck to his guns. He wants the podcast to be about the story and the facts, not him.

He rarely, if ever, does interviews for that reason alone. So it was a big deal that we were sitting down together for a chat on Mamamia's True Crime Conversations. For him, this was completely out of his comfort zone, but you'd never have guessed it.

When he walked into the room, he immediately held out his hand and gave me his *real* name. He was warm, friendly and sipping on a latte. I was taken aback. I had assumed he'd stick to the pseudonym 'Casey' his audience has fondly given him. But no, here he was, very much not anonymous.

Watch: I started with some 'getting to know you questions. Post continues below.

I don't know what I was expecting, having just heard his voice for years. In the interest of protecting his identity I will share just one observation; many of my colleagues commented that he was "younger than they thought he'd be". Make of that what you will.

A group of them crammed into a lift to basically chase the poor man out of the building, all eager to see what he looked like for themselves.

Pretty impressive, huh.

'Casey' might not want to be the story, but by being anonymous, he's managed to bottle an air of mystery that has become synonymous with his brand, and I would argue, made his podcast even more popular.

Creating Casefile: the origin story.

Casey wouldn't go as far as telling me about his former career, only to say that he did not have a background in media or storytelling when he first started playing with the idea of starting a podcast.

He'd been an early adopter of podcasts, listening since about 2008, and toyed with the idea of starting one about music or sport — both strong passions of his.

"I started looking into music pretty heavily, but obviously that's a nightmare with licensing and all of that sort of stuff. Then I started thinking about true crime," he told True Crime Conversations.

He'd spent his childhood being babysat by his auntie, who had a shelf full of true crime magazines, which he devoured. Each magazine was a deep dive into a singular case.

"I remember always having an interest in the human side….like, what causes this? How does this happen?" he explained.

It wasn't like that sparked a life-long obsession with true crime content, but it'd always been something he'd dipped in and out of. He was drawn to books like Helter Skelter, and enjoyed shows like Blue Murder.

In 2015, he was off work nursing an injury when he started to put some proper research in.

"Serial had been out for a few years [and] Making a Murderer was big at the time, but there were hardly any true-crime podcasts, especially in Australia.

"The handful I did find were more formatted around multiple hosts, interviews, or more documentary style with interview clips and 911 calls," he said.

Obsessed with the podcast Hardcore History, Casey started to consider emulating that idea; creating in-depth storytelling in the true crime space with just a single narrator. That's exactly what Casefile remains to be to this day, with the audience gravitating to the "no-nonsense" approach Casey has honed from the start.

His first Casefile episode went live on January 9th, 2016. It was about the infamous Wanda Beach murders in Sydney in the 1960s, and within 24 hours was sitting on 100 downloads.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Casefile: True Crime Podcast (@casefilepodcast)

"By the end of the first week it was about 1000 and by six months we were averaging 50,000 downloads an episode. It almost didn't seem real, because there was no promotion. Nothing," he told True Crime Conversations.

"This wasn't supposed to go to an audience," he added. "This was a project that I was doing while I was off work injured. It was literally just to fill in the time until I went back to work so I didn't go crazy, because this was my third serious rehab from an injury in quick succession, and that can be a pretty dark and lonely time, especially for someone who likes to play sport and keep fit and active."

But as his episodes started gaining momentum, Casey realised he needed some help.

"It sounded awful [my recording], so I advertised for an audio producer on a freelance website," he said.

Casey was instantly drawn to one of the applicants, Mike Migas, but "I looked at his resume and he'd worked at Pinewood Studios in the UK, on a Star Wars movie, a Disney movie…"

Even as he thought to himself "I can't afford this," Casey messaged Migas, who was in-between jobs, looking to get experience in the podcasting space, and happy to work for a reasonable rate (much to Casey's delight).

He remains the audio producer of Casefile to this day, with the team now consisting of a second producer and three permanent writers and researchers, alongside several freelancers. He himself was able to leave his former career behind and make this his full-time job by the end of 2017.

"I wasn't sure about it [leaving my career], it was a big risk, but it was the best decision I ever made," he told True Crime Conversations.

Casefile has now released more than 300 episodes covering cases from all over the world, with its American audience now just as big as its Australian one.

Casey is most passionate about telling unsolved stories, and admits he has "no idea" why his show continues to dominate all these years later.

"Every day I wake up I'm like 'is this the day where everyone stops listening?'. It doesn't seem real and it's pretty rare to have been at the top for so long. We don't take it for granted," he told me.

Careful not to reveal too much about his personal life, Casey did admit he struggles to consume any true crime content for entertainment anymore.

"People might be talking about the latest Netflix series or whatever is out. I haven't watched any of them….it's just not something I can do outside of what's required for work now. So I've got to seek other sorts of avenues to unwind."

While he has no plans to reveal his identity publicly, he has started dabbling in a few 'live' podcasting recordings, where an audience can at least see his face. But there's a strict no photos policy.

He also does turn up to events like the recent Australian Podcasting Awards, which a handful of 'Casefile presents' shows were nominated for. But he planned to send colleagues on stage if they won.

"If I had bumped into you, or you had introduced yourself in that kind of environment, I would have said who I was," he assured me.

He's cautious about where and when he reveals his real name, but not obsessively so — clearly confident in the near decade he's enjoyed flying under the radar as one of the biggest 'names' in Australian podcasting.

So what else did I find out about the anonymous host of Casefile?

Well, I can tell you he's a huge rugby league fan and loves a game of golf.

His favourite food is Thai. His ultimate dinner guest is Kurt Cobain. Flowers and You by Touché Amoré is his song of choice, and Cobra Kai is his comfort watch on weekends. His favourite place in Australia is the Blue Mountains.

A quick peek at his Instagram, (still under that trusty pseudonym), gives you further insight into his music-and nature photography-loving ways, and the dedication of his fans — one even got 'Casey' tattooed on their hand.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Casey (@caseys.snaps)

But Casey is happy sharing just that — a few hobbies, a few insights. Nothing personal. Nothing super deep.

He's built a very successful career without turning himself into a personality, and has no plans to change that anytime soon.

And yes, before you ask, he's seen the chatter out there debating his identity.

"There are some weird and wild theories…and they state them like it's just so matter of fact," he told True Crime Conversations, an air of humour in his voice.

"There are some I'm like, 'how do people even come up with that?'"

Feature image: Mamamia.