This Night Will Change Your Life

It has certainly been a while, but we are back! This podcast began with a specific vision. Over time, circumstances have aligned in such a way as to make that vision difficult to fulfill. So, I played with the format a bit, and will continue to as time goes on. In the mean time, I'm sitting on a backlog of unproduced episodes that deserve to be heard. First up: visual artist David Stonhouse! We chat about his installation Liquid Luxury, breakfast sandwiches, lipsticks and push pops, the value of libraries, the lucrative investment potential of milk cartons, being a mercenary teacher, his work at the Remai Modern and with the Bridges Art Movement (BAM), the roots and inception of BAM, his experiences at the Banff Centre, spa culture, my sneezes, textures and dirty hands, the marvels of the Internet, and sundry tangets as is custom.  Recorded in late December, 2017. Not sponsored by A&W, though we did eat some food from there.  Take a look at David's work here: http://www.davidstonhouse.com/ Thank you

Hi everybody.  This podcast is coming back. In fact, I'm sitting on a backlog of unproduced episodes! Enjoy a preview of the first new episode, recorded last holiday season with visual artist David Stonhouse. It features a spirited rendition of a seasonal favourite. And get ready for more of This Night Will Change Your Life coming very soon in your podcast feed!  Happy holidays!

Taylor Jade is a singer and songwriter based in Saskatoon. She’s been in a whole bunch of musical projects, including the maybe late, definitely great Little Criminals -  and she’s a mainstay of the city’s music scene. Her debut album, Dreamy Is The Night, was self-released last Fall and we had a nice and tangent-filled chat about it.  Find the album here: https://taylorjade.bandcamp.com/  

Welcome back for Season 3! We're kicking it off with something a little different this time around.  Last July, for the second year in a row, I headed down to the Big Muddy, an area of Southern Saskatchewan known for ranch land and not much else, to the town of Bengough and the site of the Gateway Festival.  It’s a very small town of just a few hundred people, just a little north of the Montana border, and the border of Treaty 4 Territory. They have a motel, a credit union, a high school, a Co-op, your usual assortment of shops, and even a municipal pool. It’s kind of an oasis in an ocean of horses and hay bales. It’s also the home to this festival – which attracts music fans from all over the province and musical acts from all across the country. This anachronistic gem of a summer attraction shouldn’t work – but it does. I had the good fortune to be able to chat with some of the folks who help make it happen, and some of the artists on the bill. This episode features interviews with members of Library Voic

Denise Valle is a prodigiously talented R&B singer/songwriter based in Saskatoon. For this show's final episode at the Saskatoon Public Library (for now?), we delved into the multi-purpose and echoey space in the Frances Morrison basement - presumably closer to wherever the forbidden books are stored. We chat about singing with your back turned, Valle's Rosthern-based upbringing (home of the Wheatkings) and California-based education, the influence of El Salvadorean rancheras music and American pop around the house, the doors that opened from winning a local singing competition (The Duo) along with Brock Fehr, experiences performing in Mo' Love ("what about the elephants?"), cross-border observations, Valle's parents' journey from El Salvador to Los Angeles, the importance of and liberation in talking about experiences with racism and discrimination out loud, "vulnerability hangovers", building up songs from "skeletons", the artistic relationship with validation, the magic of Daniel Caeser, the wonder of

Close Talker are a trio (made up of Will Quiring, Matthew Kopperud, and Christopher Morien) from Saskatoon who trade in tightly arranged indie pop full of start-stop tension and well crafted sounds. After releasing an album and an EP in 2013, they worked with Jace Lasek on their second album Flux and then decamped to Regina in Winter to work with Royal Canoe's Matt Peters on their third full-length release Lens, which came out this past April.    We gathered in the gallery at the Saskatoon Public Library to talk about middle names, elementary school altercations, hockey card manipulation, their origins in Oh Victoria and as a wedding band, their contentious cover of "Fox on the Run", the evolution of songs from demo to done, the impact of doing music full-time on day-to-day life and relationships, coming up with ideas through jamming, the thin line between prog rock and R&B (it seems), recording in January - in Regina - and the effect of the season on their sound, the rigors of touring, Cracked Pepper Spi

The Williamson Bros. are Dusty Adam and Dylan Jay, two stand-up comics who are brothers and who are also twins. We talk about mistaken identity, parenting and Dad jokes, birth order and being surprise twins, panel discussions and sports interviews, the show Ballers and The Rock's CFL past, the impetus behind their two (and potentially growing) sets of regular live shows - The Comedy Lab and Weird Al Karaoke, the context of working within Saskatoon's comedy scene, Night Club Confidential, Dylan's years in Vancouver, the possibility of getting in a fistfight, something terrible I did in Grade 7, good shows versus bad shows, I digress about Ballers again, we talk about doing open mic sketch comedy (as opposed to stand-up or improv), the crutch of the dirty joke, their Dad's compulsive art purchasing habit, growing up on a farm with the oldest, saddest horse, the coming apocalypse, dirty, Disney, dirty Disney, Twin Or Lose, and more!

Lindsay Knight aka Eekwol, originally from Muskoday First Nation, is a renowned and award-winning hip-hop artist. We talk about the early influence of Rap City on Much Music, Columbia House picks (including Souls of Mischief), Fresh Fest and archiving the scene, being a woman in hip-hop, her crew Innersoulflow and their eventual breakup, using music to channel energy and as an opportunity to be introspective, "going solo", the legacy of "Too Sick" and other socially conscious songs in her catalog, the importance of writing your own experience, The Unsilent Project, dealing with harmful behaviour at shows and online, becoming friends with T-Rhyme*, and a whole lot more.   Song: "Pitiful" (beat by 2oolman) from the album Good Kill Eekwol on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/eekwol Eekwol on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Eekwol Note: there were some problems with the qulaity of the mics we used to record this episode. Please forgive me, and power through. It's a fun one. 

Kirby Criddle is a singer, songwriter, holistic health care practitioner and co-founder of Freedom Fooders Saskatoon, a group who craft boxes for taking and leaving food and place them throughout the city. We have a conversation about touring, the comfort of home, the process of capturing the music inside of her head, the punk rock Pita Pit, the legacy of Sawyer Brown, her extensive education in holistic health care, the healing power of Reader's Digest, the duty of writing, working with Andy Shauf, the privilege of visibility, the impetus behind Freedom Fooders, and a whole lot more. She wasn't able to sing karaoke on the day, but there's a new track by Kirby Criddle and Factor Chandelier at the end of our chat. Put it in your ears.  I really enjoyed having this conversation and I hope you enjoy listening to it.  Follow Kirby on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kirbycriddle   NOTE: This is the last episode of the show to be recorded at Amigos. All things come to an end. The podcast isn't done yet, but it's ch

The Karpinka Brothers are two brothers with the surname Karpinka (and the given names Shawn and Aaron) who have a well-earned reputation as the nicest guys around, the self-proclaimed "Jedi Council of Ukrainian Funk". They have released 3 albums of close-harmony-laden pop/folk and are getting set to release their newly recorded 4th album later on this year.  TNWCYL catches up with the brothers Karpinka on the eve of their trip to Memphis for the esteemed Folk Alliance. We chat about early musical influences, Shawn's notoriously bad temper, youthful misadventures, early gigs in long-dead venues, the difference between playing music and playing music with your family, their decision to record with Howard Bilerman at the mighty Hotel2Tango studio in Montreal, their tandem songwriting processes, facial skincare and beard maintenance, there's an extended metaphor about cooking noodles in a pot, notable concert-going experiences, and other sundries.  And then, we play the Newlywed game (except with brothers) and

Melissa Gan is a prodigiously talented violinist who performs under the moniker respectfulchild. They have also collaborated or played with a who's who of other musicians, including Adolyne, Paper Beat Scissors, Murray Lightburn (The Dears), The Faps, and others. We chat about their particular adventures with gear, early music lessons, the Royal Conservatory (wherein I probably misquote a story about other people), prioritizing performance over recording and the power in making shows unique from each other, the origins of the name respectfulchild, and the limits of genre; we also touch on Gan's work on the Laundry List on CFCR and their social media coping mechanisms, and then they sing a song by Teresa Teng.  Look for Gan's forthcoming respectfulchild album, as well as an unreleased track included on the second Pentagon Black paper compilation.  https://respectfulchild.bandcamp.com/ https://respectfulchild.com/ https://www.facebook.com/LaundryListRadio/  

Ian Blurton is one of the best guitar players I've ever seen (and heard).  You may know him from past bands Change of Heart, Blurtonia, Bionic, C'mon, and others. He currently plays in and co-fronts Public Animal. He's a Toronto stalwart and he's produced a whole lot of albums, including notable releases from Huron, The Weakerthans, Ron Hawkins, Skydiggers, Amy Millan, Elliott Brood and others. Blurton came through town for the 2nd annual Winterruption, and I took the opportunity to chat with him. We talk about the musical map in his mind, the power of place, the sound of Toronto, left-handedness, Change of Heart's arc, the ways that songs reveal themselves, producing strategies, the genesis of Public Animal, and about two dozen tangents. He didn't sing immediately following the conversation, as is custom, but he took the stage to do Cheap Trick's "Surrender" later on in the night. It was super fun.  Public Animal: https://publicanimal.bandcamp.com/ Ian Blurton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ianblurton T

Christian Kongawi is a professional musician and lover of puns who moved to Canada at age 12 from the Congo, into a foster family in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. He's also the mastermind behind The Potluck, a series of events that have funded Kongawi's work building schools in the Ubangui region of the DRC. He has played in many bands, including The Rebellion, and now is a musical director on Carnival Cruises. We have a pun-filled conversation about being kicked out of school dances, his early drumming career (including a band called Five Alarm Chili), the skylight view into Amigos, "beats for money", the transformation of The Potluck into a fundraiser, dealing with corruption in the DRC, his education at Musician's Institute in Los Angeles, being at sea during Hurricane Matthew, and his uncanny connection to the Dave Matthews Band.   This episode also features unsolicited contributions from my cousin, a guy known as J-Pop, and some off-mic shenanigans from Rylan Schultz of The Pistolwhips. Shit gets weird. 

Bethani Jade is a writer and performer who spearheaded the first alt alt Performance Fest back in January, a two-day festival of "weirdo art" (her words). I sat down with her to chat about it, along with two of the other performers involved: Elise Pallagi, a spoken word poet / roller derby girl, and Linda Cunningham, a Calgary-based spinning artist. We talk about catharsis through art, licorice socks, Colorado gun shops, slow-moving cogs, the wild world of arts grants, Elise's relationship with poetry and roller derby, the poetry of professional wrestling, accessibility in the NHL, the power of intimate collaboration, and a whole lot more. These are 3 guests that really inspire me to believe in my own artistic practice, so it's fitting that they all sing the karaoke "classic" from Journey, "Don't Stop Believin'".   http://www.bethanijade.ca/alt-alt-diy-performance-fest/ https://www.facebook.com/elisepallagispokenword/ http://lasquetipress.blogspot.ca/  

I decided the best way to look back at the whole thing that was 2016 was through the eyes of 3 people who did interesting things throughout the year. First up, Trevor McKenzie-Smith - one of the campaign managers (with the illustrious Michelle Beveridge) for past TNWCYL guest Charlie Clark's successful mayoral bid. We talk about that and about the eventful birth of his second child. Next, we're joined by Kehan Fu, the current president of the USSU. We get into the idiosyncrasies of post-secondary student government, and Fu's priorities as president. And we round it out with Zoey Roy - an outspoken Cree-Dene Métis artist who advocates for youth and indigenous rights all over the place. We chat about her Indspire Award, being "blasted" by right-wing radio, meeting the Royal couple, and her massive plans for 2017.  And after all of that, amazingly, all my guests team up and sing "Eye of the Tiger".  Yes, I know it's February already. 

Kevin Wesaquate is a writer, spoken word poet, visual artist, and co-founder of the Indigenous Poetry Society in Saskatoon. He does a lot of great work carving out spaces for indigenous artists where there might not otherwise be. We talk about his upbringing and sense of justice, early days in the spoken word and poetry scenes, dealing with dyslexia as a kid, emerging as a painter with the help of SCYAP, Kevin's instagram page (great for radio, I know), incorporating histories like that of mistasiniy into his work, and the indigenous traditions of oral storytelling. The next Indigenous Poetry Society show takes place March 7th at The 220.  This episode also features anther "mini-sode" of the Podcast Pilot Project. Sit back, relax, and enjoy Pod And Order - back by "popular" demand!

Alison Whelan spent the last few years as General Manager at the Broadway Theatre in Saskatoon, and has been instrumental in Girls Rock Saskatoon and Band Swap. She's packing it in to explore other parts of the globe, so it seemed natural to get her to talk about her experiences for posterity. We chat about all of that, plus her days in Carbon Dating Service, the multi-talanted Mairin Loewen, the revisionist history of the origins of Band Swap, the empowerment of failure, accessibility in the music industry, and more.  This episode also features the 3rd installment of the Podcast Pilot Project with the inaugural CastPod - A Podcast About Different Times We've Needed Casts (featuring special surprise guest Krystle Pederson). 

Right here we've got a rollicking conversation with writer, spoken word performer, and pop culture sponge Deej Siminoff. We chat about her new chapbook Joni Isn't From Here Anymore, the importance of place, Scandinavian long-form crime drama, inspiration as it relates to perspiration (according the film Heavyweights), magic TV studios, my semi-serious childhood interest in Bob Newhart's television empire, the TGIF sitcom universe, a massive life lesson learned through Disney Adventures magazine, onion pants, and more. Also I sing the Smallville theme for a sec.  This episode also features another installment of the Podcast Pilot Project. This time around, it's For Your Prize Only - a show where there is only one prize and the host can also win the prize. Thanks to Mickeilla and Cass for volunteering. Stay tuned for more bold new podcast pilots!  

We're back! I'm calling this Season 2, because that seems to be an idiom that everybody can understand. This episode features illustrator, designer and filmmaker Huw Evans. We talk about his affinity with microphones, a rural upbringing, the hierarchy of visual art, being published by Mad magazine (and its imitators), Eyecatcher's surprise viral hit, working with his sons, meeting Jack Davis, and sundry other topics.  This episode also features the first installment of the Podcast Pilot Project - wherein we debut new podcasts within this one - with episode 1 of Guided By Voices of Guided By Voices (featuring Robert Pollard).  Huw's website: http://eyecat.com/  

We're back! Well, sort of back. We will be back. In fact, we'll be back next week! New episodes of This Night Will Change Your Life return - regular and everything - starting Wednesday January 11th. Here's a little taste of what's coming up for Season 2. Get stoked! Or don't. If you're not stoked, I can't imagine why you'd be reading this.