Witchpolice Radio

This episode features an interview with acoustic folk/pop-rock singer-songwriter Ezi Margolis, who has been making music for a long time, but has just (as in the day this episode came out) released his first proper solo single, "Queen of Hearts". We chat about acoustic guitars, writing catchy songs, working with a producer with a very different musical background, DIY marketing as an independent artist, and much more! This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon! You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.

I get asked if I know the true identity of mysterious music reviewer Bad Gardening Advice (“Steve Schmolaris”) on a regular basis, but I legitimately have no idea — even after recording an interview with him (complete with animated avatar and voice changer). Stay tuned for a conversation about the new BGA book, his abstract style of writing reviews, staying anonymous, getting to the heart of a record in a non-linear way, and much more! This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon! You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.

I sat down with singer-songwriter Doug McArthur to talk about his new solo work, years after initially hitting the scene as frontman of local alt-rock act Broken Halo (and later with Soapbox). Here's a conversation about Doug’s collaboration with Rusty Robot, navigating the strange new world of digital singles and TikTok hits, needing to express himself creatively post-pandemic, and much more! Note: I must have had more coffee than usual the day we recorded this, because my already-rapid speaking seems even faster on this one. Sorry. This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon! You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.

Great conversation on this episode with Brendan Grey, frontman of acclaimed Winnipeg live-band hip-hop outfit Super Duty Tough Work! We talk about the heavy, politically and socially conscious new LP, ‘Paradigm Shift’, maintaining focus on music that matters, being both inside and outside of the Canadian music industry, hyper-local references, and much more. Want more SDTW? Brendan was interviewed on an early episode of the podcast (#167, Feb. 2016) guest-hosted by Elliott Walsh. This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon! You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.

Guitarist and bandleader Ed Durocher of hard-touring psychedelic jazz rockers Apollo Suns is back on the show! Settle in for a chat about the upcoming ‘Departures’ LP, album sequencing, consuming content at a slower pace, experiencing the jam band scene in the U.S., and much more! Need more from Ed and the gang? Check out Apollo Suns' previous appearances on episodes #226 (April 2017), #375 (April 2019), #506 (July 2020), and #645 (Dec. 2021). This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon! You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.

As regular listeners know, I like weird shit, and long-running Winnipeg experimentalists Trío Telfær certainly fit that description! I had a conversation with Corey and Brian about their process of improvisation, being ideologically — but not necessarily sonically — a “jazz” group, their other gigs backing up high-profile locals (i.e. Amos the Kid, Boy Golden, and others), their deep catalogue and upcoming release, and much more! This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon, including our newest patron, Tom! You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening. Note: At the time I'm uploading this episode, something is still wacky with my witchpolice dot com URL, so until that's fixed (hopefully in the next few days), you can still access the website at https://witchpolice.castos.com/. Thanks for your patience!

We're back in Morden (virtually) for a conversation with pop-punk solo act Garry "EzRa" Doell! Check out a conversation about growing up listening to punk/hardcore/metal of the Christian variety, the neverending quest to find bandmates in a small community, performing at the Corn & Apple Festival (and getting a high-profile shoutout), new music, and much more! This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon! You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.

After a few years on hiatus, Winnipeg ‘tweemo’ trio Mulligrub are back with a new bass player and their long-awaited sophomore album, ‘Tragical’! (It's really grubbin' good, too!) Stay tuned for a conversation about new (and also old) sounds, sad songs, reaching new audiences, and much more! Need more Mulligrub in your life? Check out episode #173 (March 2016)! This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon! You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.

The good news: JayWood just released a new EP. The bad news (for Winnipeg): he’s skipping town! Jeremy Haywood-Smith was back on the podcast to talk about decamping to Montreal, the ‘Grow On’ EP as an extension of 2022’s acclaimed ‘Slingshot’ long-player, and much more. Need more JayWood in your life? Check out our previous interviews on episodes #308 (Aug. 2018), #589 (May 2021), and #708 (July 2022). This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon! You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.

This one's a little different. It's part of a series of episodes I'm doing in collaboration with local rapper Ezoman's Creative Side Entertainment for this year's 'Future of M"you"sic' competition, which is a five-month long showcase of up-and-coming local artists at the Limelight. Here's the fourth episode, which is similar to my old Quick Hits format (remember that?), and it features a clip of Ezoman giving some background on the event, plus interviews with four of the artists who are participating in the August event: Koziithegoat, Nova, SincerelyT, and Knathan. I wasn't able to hook up interviews with the other two -- Mezziisgone and Forevr Brwn -- but I've included a song featuring both of them at the end. This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon! You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.

Winnipeg’s The Benefits might be borderline un-Googlable, but big things are going down in their universe. I sat down with the duo of Snarky Remarkable and Jomaha Nebraska to talk about their new (but also very old) single, expanding to a full band, comedy music (and musical comedy), parody songs, and more! Note: Due to technical difficulties, the audio for about half of the interview is from my backup recording, which is lower quality (especially on my end of the conversation), but it's still listenable, and fixes itself partway through the episode. Thanks for yer patience. This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon! You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.

Summer in Manitoba is festival madness, and one of the events coming soon is GentleFest, Aug. 25-27 at Ignite Retreats in the Interlake! I talked to Zach Van Der Hooft of organizing team The GentleFolk about the festival’s roots in campground animations, its connection to a local shitposting forum, building a DIY community, and much more! This year’s GentleFest features artists like Ami Cheon, Vikings, a Sebastian Owl reunion, and a number of past Witchpolice interviewees, including Stiff Wiggle, Freddy and the Fire Nation, Lounge FM, Shay Wolf (each of whom appear on this episode in song form), Paper Machetes, and Gladly! This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon! You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.

Singer-songwriter Orvis Thomas -- known mononymously as simply Orvis as far as his music is concerned -- sat down for an interview days after the release of (the second version of) his new ‘Love in Vain’ solo EP! Check out our conversation about the record, playing country covers, notebooks of songs going back 20+ years, getting into music in a remote northern community, and much more. Need more Orvis? Hear a micro-interview with him on episode #576 (March 2021). This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon! You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.

Remember psych/noise/prog/post-rock/etc. outfit Ham? They’re back — from various corners of the continent — for a pair of reunion shows later this month (Aug. 18 at The Goodwill with Mahogany Frog and Aug. 19 at Rainbow Trout)! I sat down with Paul Lafreniere (guitar/vocals) to talk about getting back into Ham-mode, defining the band’s weirdo sound, opening for the Pixies almost 20 years ago… and more. This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon! You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.

On this episode, I sat down for a conversation with singer-songwriter Grant Davidson, a/k/a Slow Leaves. We talked about the excellent new ‘Meantime’ LP, making modern-sounding music while throwing back to ‘70s vibes, productivity during the pandemic, getting reviewed by goth publications, and much more. This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon! You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.

Living proof that dick jokes are alive and well in Portage la Prairie, pop-punk band Pulling Pud have just released the “It Burns When I EP”. Check out this conversation about the ongoing appeal of the genre, the music scene in Portage, influences from the obvious (NOFX, Blink-182) to the unexpected (black metal, country)… and much more! This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon! You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.

Drummer and composer Tetyana Haraschuk is back on the show! We sat down for another great chat about her upcoming EP, experimenting with heavier sounds, the difficulty of defining her psychedelic/jazz/rock/electronic style, and much more! Need more Tetyana? Check out episodes #630 (Oct. 2021) and #698 (June 2022) This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon! You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.

From the teeming metropolis of Morden, Man., it’s Derek Helps, who you may recognize from projects like Lakes and Pines! Here's a conversation about his excellent new solo album, 'That Night, A Forest Grew', which blends singer-songwriter vibes with atmospheric soundscapes and crunchy alt-rock. We also touched on the music scene in the Morden area, getting experimental down at the local legion, and much more… This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company and by Hot Goth Summer Fest II, happening Aug. 11 at Blue Note Park! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon! You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.

This one's a little different. It's part of a series of episodes I'm doing in collaboration with local rapper Ezoman's Creative Side Entertainment for this year's 'Future of M"you"sic' competition, which is a five-month long showcase of up-and-coming local artists at the Limelight. Here's the third episode, which is similar to my old Quick Hits format (remember that?), and it features a clip of Ezoman giving some background on the event, plus interviews with three of the artists who participated in the July event (because, yes, I screwed up and released this a day after it happened) -- AJ Lino, ThatGuy Treva, and Joey Medik. This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company and by Hot Goth Summer Fest II, happening Aug. 11 at Blue Note Park! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon! You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.

Their Bandcamp page describes it as “horse taming music”, but local outfit Boys Road has a mountain of eclectic, experimental weirdness out there, including the new 'Brand New Spankin Man' album! Check out this conversation about the record, the band’s experimental sound, and much more… This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company and by Hot Goth Summer Fest II, happening Aug. 11 at Blue Note Park! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon! You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.