Canadian Musician Podcast

So, this is it, Mike Raine’s last episode as host of the Canadian Musician Podcast. Mike kicks off the show by introducing you to Manus Hopkins, one of the editors at Canadian Musician who you’ll be hearing on the podcast from now on. And then, Mike shares his last interview for the Canadian Musician Podcast, and it’s a prime example of the type of conversation he’s loved having here. It is with Menno Versteeg, founder of Royal Mountain Records and former frontman of the band Hollerado. Menno – in his typical funny, honest, and self-deprecating way – tells the story of Royal Mountain’s creation and how it almost accidently grew into Canada’s best indie label, with an all-star roster that includes Alvvays, Mac Demarco, Orville Peck, PUP, and so many more outstanding artists.

On this week’s episode, Canadian Musician Editor-in-Chief Mike Raine chats with Brad Simons. Brad is a man of many hats — he is a musician, computer scientist, Juno-nominated producer, and the owner of Edmonton-based studio and artist services company Velveteen Music. Brad tells Mike about his life in the music industry and the evolving vision for Velveteen Music and how he and his team are creating a multi-faceted company and studio facility that is geared towards helping indie musicians not just record music, but empower them with additional tools and content that are needed in the digital era. They also go down a rabbit hole of discussing the pros and cons of streaming apps and how the platforms could be made better for both music fans and the folks behind the scenes who help make the music.

Joining Canadian Musician Editor-in-Chief Mike Raine on the podcast this week is Vanessa Thomas, who was recently tapped to lead Sound Royalties’ Canadian operation. Sound Royalties offers a unique royalty advance model for independent artists and small music companies. Vanessa is a respected Canadian industry expert with more than two decades of music industry experience, including six years running Canada’s Songwriters Hall of Fame as part of her work with SOCAN. Canada provides notable funding for the arts, but advances can still often be limited and capped. This is not always in line with the rapidly changing financial needs of the artist. The working relationship between Thomas and Sound Royalties aims to provide more nimble options to existing funding solutions that can help to build a more robust music ecosystem in Canada.

On the podcast this week, Mike Raine chats with award-winning artist agent and event promoter Paul Biro. He is the co-founder, president, and operating partner at the Sakamoto Agency, one of the top companies in Canada’s live country music industry. He has also helped lead Sakamoto’s expansion with the creation of the Sakamoto Music record label and GPS Promotions. Paul recently received his fourth Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Award as the Talent Buyer or Promoter of the Year. The Sakamoto Agency also continued its CCMA Award streak after winning the Booking Agency of the Year award for the third year in a row. Paul takes Mike all the way back to his days as a truck driver and how that actually helped him break into the radio and music industry. From there, Paul discusses the creation and growth of Sakamoto Agency, his approach to artist relations, how to grow artists’ live careers, the future of radio, and a lot more.

This week on the podcast, Canadian Musician Editor-in-Chief Mike Raine speaks with two rising Canadian rock bands who he’s become a big fan of, Goodnight Sunrise and Les Shirley. First up, Mike chat with Vanessa Vakharia and David Kochberg of Toronto-based band Goodnight Sunrise about their new album, ‘Against All Odds,’ and Christmas single, “Single All the Way,” as well as getting on streaming playlists and radio, album art, and, naturally, the classic Christmas rom-com Love Actually. Next, Mike spoke with Raphaëlle Chouinard and Sarah Dion of Montreal-based band Les Shirley. Their musical style is redefining the indie rock genre connecting the dots between 90’s grunge, 2000’s punk rock culture and catchy pop tunes. The girls are solid musicians with a flair for flaming hot melodies and bursting riffs. In 2019, they were named the best breakout band in the province at the Alternative Independent Music Gala of Quebec. Mike spoke with them on the day their new album, More is More, was released.

Producer and Toronto Raptors official DJ, 4KORNERS, tells his story, from journalism student to DJing NBA games and parties for A-list celebrities. He has just released his highly anticipated debut full-length album 4KORNERS of the World . This new album is destined to make waves not just throughout Canada, but around the world. In this chat with Canadian Musician Editor-in-Chief Mike Raine, he tells the story of becoming only the second official team DJ in the NBA, the behind-the-scenes trick and stories, and a whole lot more. This is definitely a fun conversation!

On the podcast this week, Canadian Musician Editor-in-Chief Mike Raine welcome David "Gordo" Strickland, one of the pioneers of hip-hop production and recording in Canada. He’s an Indigenous, Toronto-born and based award-winning engineer, mixer, producer and DJ. Known for being behind the boards on iconic hip-hop and R&B records for over two decades, his work has graced seminal tracks by the likes of Pete Rock, Erick Sermon, EPMD, Keith Murray, Redman and Method Man, to records by ground-breaking Toronto hip-hop acts, including Drake, k-os, Ghetto Concept, Jelleestone, Kardinal Offishall, Jully Black, and Choclair. David's two most recent collaborative albums, Spirit Of Hip Hop (2020, Entertainment One) and Spirit Of Hip Hop: Elements (2022), highlights some of North America's hip-hop progenitors and innovative Indigenous artists alike to share an embodiment of the teachings, art, traditions, and music of the community, aligned with his Indigenous heritage. In this chat, David tells Mike about how he got his start and built his engineering skills, being thrown into the fire as a newbie on an album by Saukrates, and working his way through the industry from there.

This week on the podcast, Canadian Musician Editor-in-Chief Mike Raine welcomes Thompson Egbo-Egbo, a celebrated and internationally acclaimed pianist and composer from Toronto. His new album, What Remains, is out this Friday, October 28, via MNRK Music. Born in Nigeria, moving to Canada at age four, and learning piano at age six, there was concern that the renowned jazz pianist wasn't adjusting well in school. His mom decided to enroll him in music lessons. At Dixon Hall, a community centre down the street from where Thompson grew up in Toronto's Regent Park neighbourhood, he was able to take piano lessons at two dollars a session. Growing up in subsidized government development area of Toronto, Thompson was inspired by Dixon Hall’s mission to build a musical school gave neighborhood kids access of affordable music lessons. Thompson went on to earn degrees in music from Humber College, and music production at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and has released numerous works and collaborating with some of the world’s most renowned artists. In 2021, Thompson portrayed a young Oscar Peterson in an episode of Historica Canada’s Heritage Minute, honouring the artist’s life and career. While he was set to cross the pond for a recording opportunity at Abbey Road Studios in London, UK, Thompson was still able to proceed in Toronto to write and record Oddly Familiar – an album released and archived with Audio Network’s sync library.

Joining Mike on the podcast this week is Josh Neuman, the president and co-CEO of MELON, a powerhouse metaverse game development studio focused on Roblox. Josh explains why Roblox offers a lot of untapped potential for virtual music events, as well as a platform for audience growth and engagement, revenue generation, and more. He also explains why he thinks a lot of metaverse music experiences are misguided. Before arriving at Melon, Josh was an artist manager for major artists like Tiësto and Fall Out Boy and and built major artist management firms. He also founded Recreation Worldwide, a brand creative agency and the THUMP EDM content platform, which were acquired by VICE Media in 2016. Josh has been at the intersection of celebrity culture, media, brands and marketing throughout his career and has architected some of the most innovative partnerships in the space. The development team at MELON has been behind numerous music events on the immersive game platform Roblox, having worked with artists including Tai Verdes, Ava Max, KSI, and Zara Larsson on their Roblox events, as well as experiences for clients like the NFL, Chipotle, and Mattel. In July, MELON announced a $5 million seed round, which included investment from the likes of Crush Ventures (the investment arm of Crush Music), Deborah Dugan (former CEO of Product (RED) and the Recording Academy of Music), Spencer Baim (former CCO of VICE Media), and Gene Salomon (partner at leading entertainment law firm Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman).

Back on the podcast this week is Music Canada CEO Patrick Rogers. With Canadian Musician Editor-in-Chief Mike Raine, Patrick gets into the weeds and behind the scenes on Bill C-11, aka The Online Streaming Act, in which the federal government aims to bring streaming companies like Spotify and Netflix into the CanCon regulatory regime. Patrick has been one of the music industry representatives to testify before the Senate Committee on Bill C-11 and Music Canada has been vocally supportive of the Bill, though it also has a couple important concerns, which Patrick gets into. In this conversation, Patrick brings some fascinating and important insights based on his many years working on legislation in the federal government. Prior to joining Music Canada in 2016, Patrick worked in Stephen Harper’s Prime Minister’s Office from 2010-2013, and then was the Director of Policy for the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages from 2013-2015. Based on that experience, Patrick offers some insight as to why Bill C-11 is constructed like it is, for better or worse, and shares some anecdotes from his appearance in the Senate.

First up this week, one of Canada’s leading experts on internet regulation and e-commerce law, Michael Geist, returns to the podcast to dissect Bill C-11, aka the Online Streaming Act, as Senate committees get underway. Geist, who often butts heads with the music industry, explains where there’s agreement and conflict between entertainment companies, streaming services, and the government with regards to the new law, how it could be implemented, which aims to regulate streaming services such as Spotify and Netflix in order to promote and fund Canadian artistic content. As well, guitarist, songwriter, and producer Jeff Gunn returns to talk about his own musical and professional evolution, music education, playing at Ringo Starr’s birthday party, and a lot more.

On the podcast this week, Canadian Musician Assistant Editor Manus Hopkins shares his recent conversation with Dallas Green and George Pettit from the mega influential post-hardcore band, Alexisonfire. This is one of the conversations with the band the Manus had for the latest cover story in Canadian Musician magazine. In it, George and Dallas talk about the band’s early years, their, breakup and time apart, their recent reunion and new hit album, Otherness (Dine Alone Records), and their influence on younger bands. Enter CM's Alexisonfire sweeps at pages.nwcworld.com/alexisonfire for a chance to win one vinyl copy of Otherness, one Otherness star t-shirt in a size of the winner’s choosing, and one Otherness keychain. Check out the full Alexisonfire story in the September/October 2022 issue of Canadian Musician, alongside other great features, columns, and more! CanadianMusician.com.

First up on the podcast this week, Canadian Musician Editor-in-Chief Mike Raine chats with award-winning country artist Jason Blaine about his shift away from mainstream, radio-focused music to a more soulful alternative country sound with his latest album, Diamond in the Desert. It earned him a 2022 Canadian Country Music Association Award nomination in the Alternative Country Album of the Year category. Jason gets into the songwriting and recording of the new album, and also how he has managed the shifting expectations from fans and industry, as well as himself. The second conversation this week is with Rich Chambers, a rock and roll artist out of Vancouver who, after decades raising a family and in a professional academic career, has thrown himself into a music career. Rich wrote an interesting email to Mike that caught his attention, which Mike shares here and explains why he thinks Rich’s story will resonate with a lot of listeners. It’s an inspiring conversation about art, dreams, life, and growing older in this world of music.

Now 36 years old, and just a year removed from winning the Polaris Music Prize, Rollie Pemberton (better known as Cadence Weapon) is able to reflect on the significant highs and lows he’s had in his career. From a rap-obsessed Black kid in Edmonton who shared lyrics on early internet message boards, to a teenager with critically-acclaimed albums but stuck in an exploitive label deal, to an entrepreneurial independent artist navigating the business on his own terms, Pemberton has lived multiple lives in the music business and has the lessons to prove it. He shares his story and all the lessons learned along the way in his new book, Bedroom Rapper (Penguin Random House Canada). It’s both an illuminating memoir and a guidebook to the music business for independent artists. Here, Pemberton chats with Canadian Musician Editor-in-Chief about his career and shares many great stories along the way.

First up on the show this week, Canadian Musician Editor-in-Chief Mike Raine chats with Dynesti Williams, an independent hip-hop and soul singer who also works a financial coach. Dynesti tells Mike about growing up in a low-income household in Toronto and learning to use the programs that were available to young artists to further her career. She then discusses how that led her to a career in finance and the key lessons about money that she shares with other up-and-coming indie artists. The second interview this week is with Chris Cresswell of beloved Canadian punk band The Flatliners. They guys are back with their sixth LP, New Ruin (Dine Alone Records) and are also celebrating their 20th anniversary together. Chris and Mike chat about the band’s longevity and evolution, their relationships with each other and their fans, writing political punk songs, the advantages bands in Southern Ontario have over artists in other parts of Canada, and more.

Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Feist, Tegan and Sara, Metric, Broken Social Scene, The New Pornographers, Peaches, Danko Jones, The Weakerthans, Alexisonfire, Kardinal Offishall, Fucked Up, and the list keep going and going. The early 2000s were a special time in Canadian music. It was a moment when the rest of the world really took notice of Canadian indie music. Suddenly, we were cool! And so, this week on the podcast, Canadian Musician Editor-in-Chief Michael Raine is joined by music journalist, author, and music historian Michael Barclay to discuss his latest book, Hearts on Fire: Six Years that Changed Canadian Music, 2000-2005. Barclay discusses the socio-economic factors that allowed for thriving music scenes all around Canada in those years, in the influence of Napster and file sharing, his own experiences interviewing bands and attending concerts in that era, the relationships between the bands, Canada’s perpetual inferiority complex when it comes to art, and more.

This week, Canadian Musician Editor-in-Chief Mike Raine is joined by Morgan Hayduk and Andrew Batey, co-founders and co-CEOs of Beatdapp, a Canada-based company that is tackling the huge issue of streaming fraud. Morgan and Andrew reveal why they think the common estimate of $300 million per year in lost royalties is actually too conservative when it comes to music streaming fraud, and how their team of data scientist and engineers uses cross-platform analysis to expose fraudulent streams in the DSPs’ data. They also discuss how the fraudsters are operating, why it’s nearly impossible for a streaming service to find all fraudulent streams on their own, and the delicate politics involved in tackling the problem. This is a fascinating and important conversation that impacts everyone involved in the business of music rights.

On the show this week, Canadian Musician Editor-in-Chief Mike Raine chats with Fabiana Claure, a concert pianist, entrepreneur, and business coach for musicians. Fabiana is also the co-founder of the Superior Music Academy in Miami and the former director of the Music Business and Entrepreneurship program at the University of North Texas. She tells Mike about why she left that tenure-track position to launch her current company and program, called the Musician’s Profit Umbrella. With it, she’s helped hundreds of musicians create businesses, gain employment opportunities, and launch their careers so, she says, they can live “the life of artistic realization, financial freedom, impact and fulfillment they crave.” For Fabiana, the goal is to help experienced musicians work smarter, not harder so that they can get out of the trap of simply exchanging time for money.

As an acclaimed and sought-after record producer and recording engineer, Kallie Marie has witnessed first-hand the opportunities and challenges that women in her chosen field face every day. In her new book, ‘Conversations with Women in Music Production’, Kallie interviews some of the most renowned women in audio and music production to reveal how they’ve navigated their careers. Ranging across both the personal and professional, the accounts collected contain varied viewpoints as well as many shared experiences, encompassing such topics as diversity, childcare, healthcare, pay equity, and the ways technological change is reshaping the industry landscape. In this episode of the podcast, Kallie joins Canadian Musician Editor-in-Chief Mike Raine to share her own experiences as a woman in the professional recording industry, and what she heard and learned from others while writing her book.

In late June, the Canada's Parliament passed Bill C-11, commonly known as the Online Streaming Act. This legislation is something music industry groups like SOCAN, CIMA, and Music Canada have long lobbied for, and it could have a major impact on the country’s music, TV, and film industries. In broad terms, it updates the federal Broadcasting Act in order to apply a new version of CanCon regulations to streaming companies like Spotify, YouTube, and Netflix, and bring them within the CRTC’s regulatory regime. Current CanCon regulations have been in places since the early 1970s and force Canadian content quotas and an arts funding system on traditional Canadian broadcasters. Though the broad goals of Bill C-11 are made clear (which include significant monetary contributions from DSPs into Canadian arts funding bodies like FACTOR and greater promotion of Canadian artists on the platforms), significant parts of how this will be implemented is still widely unknown. And so, this week Mike brings back beloved broadcaster and music industry expert Alan Cross to chat about all this and what it could mean for both streaming companies and the music industry in Canada.