This Night Will Change Your Life

Darren Miller grew up in Saskatoon, joking around with his Dad and being wary of authority, fitting right into the strange and vibrant local music scene before decamping to the left coast to get a doctorate studying audio morphing software. Let's listen...

This week's episode, through a confluence of circumstance and bad luck and lack of foresight, is lost to time. It was pretty good, but you'll never hear it. I do my best to sum it up, and Charlie Clark - ward 6 City Councillor in Saskatoon - was kind enough to do a follow-up interview. I predict big things for that guy. 

Episode 10 and it's the weirdest one so far!Join me as I sit down with J.J. Neufeld aka Dr. Isocellator aka Johnny Baconbitz aka Jamie McClevver as we hash out his superheroic origins in community radio and locally produced cable television. If you never saw the original run of his excellent / eccentric show NightDesk (and the chances are good), I suggest following the show on Facebook for updates on the forthcoming series.  This show also features a human ape named Mojo. So...

Though I don't normally have bands on the show, when I get a chance to open the stage up to a band like Man Meat I can't help but take it. They're a fierce 3-piece that defy genre and defy convention. I chat with two of their thirds, and by chat I mean that I mostly just sit there while they work their way through what is probably the most interesting episode of this show so far. It's a fun one. 

FINALLY, THE PODCAST CROSSOVER THE FAN(S) HAS/HAVE BEEN WAITING FORWeirdo Magnets meets TNWCYL! Not that we didn't already know each other. Step into our pod-parlour and find out just how frivolously (or not?) you can undertake the task of podcast-making. It's fun! It's fresh! It's weird! Dean and Dana have an interesting chemistry, and once you add this show to the mix, things go off the rails (ish). Enjoy!

Theo Kivol was kind of my boss at community radio (inasmuch as the program director is in charge of the volunteer hosts and he was the former and I am the latter) and he's kind of my boss at his comic book store Unreal City (inasmuch as I still work there, albeit barely and rarely) and he has helped me get other jobs. So I do believe I refer to him in this episode as my "benefactor". We touch on all of that, albeit briefly, and much more. There are tangents within tangents. And at the end of it, I decide he should suck it up and sing some Duran Duran. It's fun! This is the last episode until January. Tell your friends to listen to these things! It's only going to get better. I promise. Happy New Year. 

This week, we turn to another show promoter: Dan Smolinski, who works over at Louis' on the U of S campus. But Dan has had a very interesting journey indeed, from townie to suit to cartoonist. His comic Fuck! by Dan can be found in the campus newspaper The Sheaf and on his Instagram. We chat about cartoon cats, rock star stature, and so much more. Enjoy!

Right here we've got a basketball-reffing arts educator with a love of hip hop and a talent for rap and spoken word. His name is Isaac Bond aka Ibonic. He's at the helm of a youth-oriented workshop community called Write Out Loud. He used to run Tonight It's Poetry in Saskatoon. He's highly regarded in the national spoken word scene. And he graciously offered his time to do this interview. Things get serious! Check it out. 

Every time you see bands play, there's probably a show promoter who has something to do with it. Rich Taylor is just such a person. From back in his days with Vive, to his current tenure with Vangelis Tavern and as artistic director of MoSo Fest, Rich has begun making a career out of helping bands find an audience. Though he lives in Toronto now, we won't hold it against him. 

This one gets a bit hot and heavy, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Sit down with Cathy Petch: spoken word poet, master of the musical saw, playwright, and co-founder of Hot Damn It's A Queer Slam in Toronto. She's from Peterborough (and that comes up here with an unexpected connection to a very famous Canadian rawk band), but she now calls Toronto home - a very epic move indeed. This was recorded in the midst of the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, which had Cathy in a coach role for the Toronto Poetry Slam team, so we were both burning our respective candles from their respective two ends. The result is a study in banter that will one day be taught in universities. If you haven't yet subscribed to the show on iTunes, you should go ahead and do that. 

Episode 2 contains the following (in no particular order): Coors Banquet, break dancing for kids, Rainbow War, swearing, Michael Jackson. Plus, it contains my guest Charly Hustle. He just came back from being the Canadian rep at Red Bull Thr3estyle World Championships in Tokyo. He's kind of a big deal. He's one of those DJ's who fits well into a multi-genre lineup, and a multi-genre competition, because that's his whole thing. Think Girl Talk with less showing off. Somehow we didn't talk about Prince (his actual favourite artist) but we do touch on many other things, enough that there's probably something for all or most in here. Plus, he's super nice to his Mom. Gotta love that. 

Our maiden voyage! Here's hoping the sailing stays smooth and the waters remain at a satisfactory level of un-choppiness. Craig Silliphant writes about music (and more) for Planet S Magazine. He runs an entertainment forum called The Feedback Society. He's published a book of writings on the Saskatoon music scene entitled Exile Off Main Street. He's a Polaris Prize jurist. He frequently can be heard reviewing movies on CKOM and CFCR. And (and!) he's the creative director at Thoughtlab Media. The guy absorbs a lot of pop culture. He's also an experienced interviewer, so we figured he'd be a good guy to talk to right off the hop.