Witchpolice Radio

Singer-songwriter Larysa Musick has just released the debut single, ‘Joan of Arc’, from her upcoming EP. We sat down to talk about moving from the world of poetry slams into playing folk music, working with women and non-binary collaborators, writing about history, house shows, and so much more. This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company, who have brand new Witchpolice merch in the works! Watch for that! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon! You...

I talked to multi-instrumentalist and producer Joel Klaverkamp (Cookie Delicious) about the new ‘Fox in Golden Armour’ record, the differences between his previous garage rock-inspired solo project (Beefdonut) and Cookie Delicious’ freaky dance music, needing to be in three bands at once (see Merin and Robojom)… and more! Need more Joel? You can hear him on episode #083 (2014) as Beefdonut and episode #380 (2019) as a member of Merin. This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt...

If you were anywhere near a radio in the ‘90s, Winnipeg’s Crash Test Dummies were hard to miss. Decades later, with members spread out across the continent, they’re back on the road with a new single, “Sacred Alphabet”. I sat down with frontman Brad Roberts to talk about performing for multi-generational fans, pressure-free touring, being a terrible hockey player, and much more! This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company, who have brand new Witchpolice merch in the...

This one definitely qualifies as ‘music-adjacent’: I talked to Shane from 3D Pro Wrestling and wrestler/podcaster/man-about-town Stefan Richard about the upcoming ‘Protect Ya Neck’ event, March 30 at the Pyramid Cabaret! In addition to live indie wrestling, local bands Cheap Heat, xMeans to an Endx, and Murder Capital are performing (and I threw a song by each into the episode too)! Check out this conversation about how wrestling is similar to DIY music, combining heavy music and heavy...

With the new tape, ‘The Body Horror’, Matthew Powers (a/k/a Midnight Review Presents) adds to his already stellar catalogue of DIY weirdness. We talked about the new album, the ongoing horror motif, collaborating with artists like The Famous Sandhogs, non-standard cassette packaging, and much more! This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company, who have brand new Witchpolice merch in the works! Watch for that! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on...

Rumours of The Thrashers' demise have been greatly exaggerated. Winnipeg’s favourite skateboardin’, garage-rockin’, Transistor 66-in’ power trio is back, briefly, with one last record — their first since 2015. Well, technically, it's two records in one: the brand new We Are Literally the Thrashers and This is a Pizza Party With the Thrashers EPs, combined into a single slab o' wax! Here's a conversation about their last hurrah (April 15 at the Park Theatre), their decade and a half as a...

‘The Empire is in Decline and Growing Weaker by the Day’ is the excellent new record by rapper/producer/songwriter Rob Crooks. We sat down to talk about the album, the political context behind it, making angry, anxious music, and a whole lot more! Way back in 2012, Rob was one of the original co-hosts of this podcast, so he's on a lot of past episodes, but if you want to hear more of him (as a guest) in recent years, he's on episodes #657 (with Gruf and Yy, Jan. 2022), bonus episode...

Here's an interview with the members of Winnipeg's Campfire Sigh about psychedelic pop, navigating social media and self-promotion, last fall’s ‘Different Peninsulas’ album, prolific songwriting… and more! This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company, who have brand new Witchpolice merch in the works! Watch for that! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon, including the latest patron, KairuMustDie! You can help out for as little as $1 a month if...

‘From the Attic’ is a new video series based out of Argyle Studio, featuring some of Winnipeg’s latest and greatest artists! Here's a quick conversation with the trio behind the project (Cam Loeppky, Mike Requeima and Tom Elvers) about the series’ origins, upcoming episodes, filming b-roll of Winnipeg streets in the dead of winter, and more. The series already has a couple of episodes out, including performances by the Greg Macpherson Band and Fold Paper. I also did a second interview...

Local video gang The Village Idiots were always ahead of the curve when it comes to live-streaming Winnipeg music. After a pandemic-related hiatus, Rylie Saunders, one of the Idiots-in-chief, is back with The Spare Room, a new series of live performances and conversations with local musicians! On this episode, we chat about the new show and much more! Need more Village Idiots? Check out episode #212 (Dec. 2016). This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company, who...

I inaugurated my new memory card with a great conversation with Veronica Blackhawk of Tinge! We talked about the upcoming Big Deep Sigh EP on the House of Wonders label, indie folk (but also math rock), the joys of Midwest emo, making music for people who are underrepresented, and much more! This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company, who have brand new Witchpolice merch in the works! Watch for that! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You...

Great conversation with contemporary drum kit specialist Ben Reimer! Really enjoyed this one. We talked about expanding the horizons of the drum kit into forms of classical music, the melodic playing on his Katana of Choice LP, working with composers, using techniques from genres like metal in symphonic settings (classical blastbeats!) and much more. NOTE: As I mention in the intro, my trusty old memory card finally crapped out on me after hundreds of episodes, so this is the backup...

Winnipeg singer-songwriter Cec Lopez is out-of-province working on a Master’s degree, but more of the soulful songs of heartbreak that made 2021’s “Canola” EP so memorable are in the works. Here's a conversation about vocals with presence, Manitoba as home and inspiration, learning the business side of being an independent artist, and much more. NOTE: As I mention in the intro, my trusty old memory card finally crapped out on me after hundreds of episodes, so this is the backup audio,...

After a decade of band practice, the members of Satanic Rights are ready to celebrate with an anniversary show March 10 at The Handsome Daughter! We talked about the milestone, how staff Christmas parties are responsible for the band’s longevity, what they probably *should* have named themselves, working on new music, and much more. This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company, who have brand new Witchpolice merch in the works! Watch for that! Huge thanks to...

Very interesting conversation on this episode with jazz vocalist/composer/educator Adele M Wilding. She’s presenting a three-week vocal workshop on African-American spirituals next month at the Manitoba Conservatory of Music and Arts, and we discussed the direct throughway from spirituals to all genres of popular music today, aural and oral traditions, the idea of musical “soul”, and much more. We also got into Adele’s upcoming ‘jazz vespers’ event, and the idea of bringing a jazz trio...

Here's a throwback episode -- it's a re-release of one of the "lost" podcasts from 2014 -- an early Witchpolice interview that didn't get added to the current podcast feed. This one was originally released as episode #77 (the show wasn't even into triple-digits yet!) and featured a phone interview with Sammy Kohn, drummer of iconic Winnipeg rockers The Watchmen. I hope you dig it. It's in the show's old format, so if you're new to Witchpolice Radio, you're better off listening to a 2023...

This episode features two members of Velvet Blitz talking about releasing music at the height of the pandemic (and the evolution of their songs since they’ve been able to rehearse in person), coming from Winnipeg’s vibrant Filipino music community, blending funk, blues and punk influences with straight-ahead rock n’ roll, and more. (We also talked about the really PURPLE-heavy graphic design on their records) This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company, who have brand...

Rob Rodgers is the Winnipeg half of interprovincial indie rock duo Yelverton Undertow! We talked about the two-decades-in-the-making collaboration with a former bandmate in Newfoundland, leaving tapes in the wild, the upcoming Yelverton Undertow EP and its almost-release on vinyl, and much more. This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company, who have brand new Witchpolice merch in the works! Watch for that! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon....

Here's a conversation with members of Fox Lake about releasing an LP during the pandemic, struggling to explain what kind of music they play (is it math rock? Is it Midwest emo? Is it “punk-adjacent”?), remote songwriting with one member living out of province, and much more! This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company, who have brand new Witchpolice merch in the works! Watch for that! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for...

Solo artist Andrew Floyd's latest project, Lifte, is a very personal one. His raw new cover album, 'Disconnected' — as well as his previous releases of original music — act as an emotional outlet for the experience of being caregiver for his wife, who has primary progressive multiple sclerosis. We talked about creativity as catharsis, responses to the record from friends and family, sleeping on hospital chairs, connecting with other caregivers and loved ones of MS patients, and much...