Hawksley Workman

Part 1

0:00How you doing? Good man, how are you doing? I'm doing amazing. I'm chilling with Hoxie Orgrimund. It doesn't get any better than this. It's a beautiful venue here down at the Palais Rail around the lake and looking out the window. I wish it was slightly nicer day, though. Like yesterday. Like yesterday, yeah. It's a nice day. So you have an apartment in Paris. Do you ever go there? Still. Yep. I mean, Paris is like my second home. So when I'm in Europe, that's kind of my center. So I got lots of friends there. And I just feel comfortable. I just feel really comfortable. I love the city. What's the biggest difference between fans playing in Europe and over in Canada? You know what? It's funny. There's very little difference. I find, yeah. The audiences are just as appreciative over there

0:49as they are here. And to be honest, there's not a lot to say that's differently. I mean, European festivals are a great deal different than a North American festival. They're sort of a bigger deal. And people have a little more respect sort of surrounding the overall event. But people are the same. When it comes to rock and roll, it looks a little bit the same, yeah. Howers, I was reading an interview a while back about huge crowds in Europe. You've been playing in front of 15,000 people. And here in Canada, huge crowds were sold at both nights to in our own Toronto. Now, have you tried the States at all? We haven't gone much into the States, done some playing in a couple of major cities in the East,

1:35like Chicago, New York, and different smaller cities in New York State. But because we were indie for so long, we just went kind of where there was fires to fan. And instead of sort of banging your head against that American brick wall, things started to happen in Europe and England. And so we went there instead instead of going to the US. Cool. We'll start things right off with a song. Just play the first song on the end. We also need a song. What was it? Actually, I had something written down to it. Well, a few. Start off with the word. Yeah. Whatever, you know. And it's on the radio. How did you like? Well, we had to switch the swear word for a slightly nicer word for it to be on the radio. But I thought it was a bit cheeky to open the record like that.

2:23I kind of didn't want to, but I had people around me saying, no, it'd be a good way to start the record. In some ways, it's the most hopeful song on the record. And it was one of the last songs I wrote for the record, because I didn't feel like I had a hit song on the record. So I kind of needed that catchy smash sounding song. So that's how we will still need a song came about. All right. Here it is, 88.3CJI Kid. Fuck you, you're drunk and acting tough. I know you're sad, you know, the only one who feels like that now.

3:11I'm talking about Angra's beauty for a second.

6:33Well, actually, the record seems like there's three, whiskey comes up a lot. Weddings come up a lot. The grandma comes up a lot when you're writing. Well, it's funny because I think that I write a lot about women, God, and whiskey. And so I think all of those things fall under that category. But yeah, weddings, I guess, commitments, loves, these sorts of things are always perplexing. So for me, I guess I spent a great deal of time trying to figure that out. And that just ends up showing up pretty clearly in the writing. Yeah. Love or fight are supposed to be two records I read. That's right. In fact, most of my records started out as two records. And just because I can't keep a focus on one thing, so I start making two records. And then inevitably, they start to going to bleed together.

7:20So I'm already planning the next two records again. It's the same. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. You know, because when just recently I put together a collection of songs that didn't essentially were cut off, the first record, still great songs just weren't consistent. And it seems that I always record at least 20 songs per album. And that's, again, generally because I'm recording too at the same time. Yeah. When you were recording up to the old schoolhouse in North, did you build out yourself? Did you turn that place into the studio? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it was falling down. It was an old broken down building. And with a lot of love and care and hammers swinging and painting, all sorts of good energies going into it,

8:06we turned it into a pretty magical little place where you can make music. So I'm really blessed to have it, actually. You're the only person that records up there? Yeah. I know I have recorded other people up there, but primarily it's my home away from home. Cool. And you feel most comfortable in the studio? Yeah. Yeah. Home out of the city. And I'm in nature kind of where I grew up. And able to have sort of creative freedom there, no sort of judgment that you sort of feel in the city. Now, your name, Hoxley Workman. Is that your real name? Hoxley is my mother's maiden name. Yeah. And I just chose something to kind of give me a fresh start

8:51when I was about 22 to kind of feel like I could start again with a new perspective on my own kind of music and career and things. And it was a good thing for me to kind of hit the reset button like that. Yeah. What did you feel the need to do that? I think that I got to a point where I had accomplished a lot, even in music at that age. I was a pretty polished drummer as a teenager and had been writing songs, never really any good songs. And I started to discover my voice. And I think with that came a feeling that I needed to honor that by making a kind of a significant change. Yeah. Were your parents very supportive? I know your dad played drums with you last night at the time. Yeah. No, my folks were extremely supportive.

9:37I mean, I'm blessed about that. I mean, they didn't make me play music. They didn't really have designs on me being anything. So the fact that I took to it and was so passionate about it at such a young age, they, yeah. I mean, I honestly know, I can't believe that they put up with drumming literally five hours a day for years. Oh, wow. Yeah. And I mean, I remember we used to, because we were in the country, we didn't have cable TV. So we got two channels and the family would watch TV on some nights. And I was allowed to practice during the commercials. It was a little bit disgusting. I look back now and it seemed normal, but I don't think it was completely abnormal. Well, look where it's brought you now though.

10:23Yeah, I guess. I'm lucky. I did, while my friends were getting drunk in high school, I did sort of have another focus. I'm busy getting drunk now. Oh, no, that's my phone when you're famous. Second song on the record. You're a religious person. It talks a lot about religion. Yeah. I mean, I guess I'm a Christian. I was raised a Christian. I sort of hold that mythology close to me. I've always referenced the Bible and taken the wisdom that I can from that. And as a historical reference, I find it fascinating. So I also think that the church, albeit they fucked up a great deal over the centuries.

11:11For our generation, it's an interesting glimpse into the past, especially in North America, where we don't see history visually in the same kinds of ways you would in Europe. For me, it's nice to see the church as some kind of thread stretching backwards. That's cool. Even an ugly man's second song. Yeah. Oh, is it? OK. Even an ugly man. Yeah, that was funny. That was going to be the name of the album, actually. I always write my titles first. And the working title of Lover Fighter, one of them was Even an Ugly Man, which is kind of like a song about grace. I think you can sort of feel like God's looking down at you.

12:00And that grace sort of enables even an ugly man to be loved and be taken care of. You know what I'm saying? Sure do. Here it is. Yeah. Whisky's certainly mine. I must have said the last 69 times. Part of your faith unto the type that I have.

16:49I'm going to vote here. It says, I'm better at snapshot moments than I am at creating a whole story. And I said that, oh, I'm not a great storyteller. It's like it's when I go to see movies, which I don't do very often. To see a beginning, middle, and end, it fascinates me because for me, I'm better at just taking a series of spiritual and intellectual and all these esoteric kind of polaroids. And for me, I just like to assemble them in an order that somehow creates a feeling that there's something bigger going on than the parts. Yeah, for sure. It's crazy. Well, do you think you become a better storyteller as the records have progressed?

17:35I doubt it. But I don't think that that's important for me at least. Like, I'm not convinced that storytelling is the key to songwriting. What is the key to songwriting? I think attention paid to simplicity and beauty in the words that you choose. And yeah, I don't think every great song tells a story per se. But I don't think Leonard Cohen songs tell stories necessarily. That's true. I think that he is another writer who tends to write using images to create a feeling of a story, but not actually introducing characters and these sorts of things.

18:23I think Bridget Springsteen does that well, that kind of story. Yeah, of course. Well, your records are very different. Well, according to the very unique and very, they're like nothing else, really. I think so. I love it. Oh, cool. But do you see that? Do you see how they're different from it? I do. I do. And I'm always surprised when I get compared to things that don't seem to fit all that well. What would you like, if you have to pigeonhole yourself into? I just think I'm making pop music, rock and roll music. But I think it's, I mean, and not speaking from any place at Ego, but it's a little smarter than what's on the radio now. And so I'm kind of committed to trying

19:10to keep the quality of the music I make in a sort of generally a good realm. Cool. The third song in the album is wonderful and sad. I was listening to it in the car earlier. And it sounds very much pumpkin's asking. Yeah, it's interesting you say that. I never thought of it. But now that you say it, there are elements about it that are reminiscent of I'm not a big smashing pumpkin fan. But the album just before the album that had 1979 on it or 75 or? 1979, yeah. The one before. The one with the one with the green cover. Yeah, yeah. That song I wrote in Paris and a pretty sad song, I think. Simple though, and pretty folky, actually.

19:57Out of all the songs on the record, I think it was probably one of my least favorite that the way it turned out. Just when the cakes finally baked and the muffins are big, one some muffins taste better than the others. And that one to me maybe could have tweaked a little here and there. That's just a personal opinion. The travel film did not be in the taste too.

20:48I'm trying, I cannot be protected. No sense in worrying, I can't be protected. No sense in trying, I cannot be protected. Yeah. No sense in worrying, I can't be protected.

21:52No sense in trying, I cannot be protected. No sense in worrying, I can't be protected.

23:03It never was and there it never will be.

23:51You're talking about how you're not too pleased with that song. And you produce your own record. Do you think you'd be able to, your songs would change if you had someone else produce them? Because I mean you're writing them, you're producing them. I'm playing everything. You have no outside perspective. Yeah. I'm not convinced that outside perspective is all that important. But definitely it becomes a bit of a, you know, an intellectual pressure cooker. You know, like you're in there by yourself and you're just kind of recycling your own steam. And I don't know. I think when you make a record you choose one insanity or the other. If you make it alone, you choose the insanity of your own judgment.

24:36If you make it with somebody else, you choose the insanity of many other judgments, you know. So it's kind of one of the other. Yeah. Do you ever feel that, would you ever want to have anyone else produce them? Yeah, I could do that. It would need to be somebody I really, really, really respect though. So that I could feel like I had to work to please somebody. And, you know, as a musician I'm fairly accomplished and I feel really strongly about what I do. So that person would have to really kind of wow me. I think for me to feel like, wow, I really got to step it up. Yeah. Any producers that stick out? Dr. Dre, for sure. It's like Dre to produce now. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. I mean, I guess I listen mostly to rap music now.

25:23My favorite producers tend to be producers who are making rap music. I mean, I think the Neptune's did very smart things, even with the Justin Timberlake album. And I think Timbaland is also another very, very brilliant producer. And who's the other, I'm not going to remember his name. Anyways, I'm a big Jay Z fan and his last album just slayed me. There's a cut on there produced by some guy that just floored me. But in terms of rock producers, I mean, Danny Line was always been a favorite. And there's also some good Canadians. Well, if you see Danny Line was a Canadian, Matt DiMario is another good rock and roll producer. Any word with you on the last album?

26:09Yeah, yeah. He's a really smart guy. But there's lots of time. There's lots of time to do that. Yeah, sure. For song of the album, Anger is Beauty. Anger is Beauty is kind of a flagship song of the album, I think. It's funny for me to talk about the records. I really haven't talked about it in so long. It embodied the sort of political spirit of the album, which was, you know, sort of a romantic notion, a romantic sense that a revolution would come by some violent means and that it would be somewhat apocalyptic, you know. So that's what that song kind of has. That feeling in it and the lyrical sensibilities, it's when the record company decided that that was the song they wanted to go with as a first single I was stunned because I honestly

26:56thought that the lyrics could get me thrown in jail, you know. You know, sort of romanticizing violence in the name of revolution is not necessarily your most, you know, popular topic right now. Especially with what's going on. Exactly. That's still a great song and here it is. Start off with a drummer.

32:44When you're at home and you just go pick up an instrument, what instrument do you pick up? Usually the guitar. I mean, sadly, I don't pick instruments up like I used to. I don't play for fun like I used to. I don't know why I was talking about this just today that technically I was a better musician when I was a teenager on a technical level. Like as a drummer I could play faster and I could play harder and I could play longer and as a guitar player I could do all the same things too. But I have a more mature aesthetic and a more, I think just overall just a better feel which arguably creates a better musician. What were we talking about? You were talking about how.

33:29Oh yeah, what do I pick up? Yeah. And so I don't know. Music is my job. I love it and I love the job. But it negates in some ways that making music for fun. I do a lot of other things for fun. I cook and I like to work in the yard and plant things and I love to ride my bike and I love to canoe. Just generally I'm pretty simple. I'm not a big party animal. I don't really go out. I like to drink but I drink usually at home kind of thing. When I'm out on the road I really prefer to be quite quiet and alone. I think if I had a drum set up that always sounded good and I mean I put in a lot of hours.

34:15I logged a lot of hours on the drums in my life and I think that's still kind of my home. Even when I played last night at the Danforth I mean the joy I get from sitting and playing drums is just it's otherworldly. Do you ever get to play drums on tour? Was that just pretty much a one time thing? I usually play one drum solo for a track of my first record name, no more name Johnny. We're lonely and I sort of do kind of a Latin jazz kind of jam out. I don't know if we'll do it tonight but we might. You also do something with poles and a kind of a tap dance. Where did that all come from? I always imagined that I had always jumped up. That I do that whatever that is.

35:01As a kid I thought I'd be interesting and at a certain point in my life kind of when I decided that I'd change my name I part of my decision to not only make a record and change my name was just to get off my ass and do something. Because you can talk and talk and talk about how great you are and how great a record you could make and how great it could be. And so oddly enough I mean maybe this is a long story for kind of a non answer but that was part of it. I always thought it would be cool to do that so I just decided to do it. And it just, you know, anyways that's kind of silly. Silly to say I sat and listened to Purple Rain one night with a friend of mine and it kind of clicked. You know music is about five to ten percent inspiration and the other percentile percentage is all work.

35:51Like nothing comes easy and if you want it to work and to happen you know writing songs they don't just come out of the ether and tap you on the head. You really have to be committed to a work ethic that's you know diligent and focused so anyways it's a long answer for as I said. Anyways yeah on stage last night while doing that you get in cheers for everything you said everything you did. Cheers cheers cheers all the time your boot on stage. Do you remember? Yeah I remember getting something thrown at me in Kingston once. I'm pretty lucky you know well that's you know England is a really tough country to play in that you'll always get hecklers and people who want to try and sound smart there. But other than that I've generally been pretty well received.

36:37Yeah. No reason to cry in your eyes. Yeah yeah on the highway tonight. I think I wrote that in Paris as well actually. That in... You know what that's not true I wrote that in here in Canada. It's just a ditty. It's a song. I love it but that's a nice little song. It's kind of like nothing incredible about it. Although the bridge is pretty cool. And I do a bit of a Phil Spector rip off and be my baby breakdown. I'm going to get the highway and then romanticize the automobile.

39:53Yeah. Back to back kind of car. Yeah car and anti-car. Yeah. Romanticize the car one song and then de-romanticize it the next. Yeah. That song I guess is kind of a sort of an anti-fantasy about you know the teenage love affair with danger and having sex and automobiles you know. I think you know when you're young and you're falling in love like you know your boy or your parents car and kind of becomes this temple of sin in a way. She can't have sex or kiss or do stuff anywhere else but there because you really you don't have any sort of cordon off any place at your own for that. So it becomes this funny thing and yeah you live more recklessly when you're young and you drive faster and you take more risks.

40:44And you romanticize that and it looks kind of beautiful because of it looks dangerous but I guess it's kind of an anti-car song. Yeah.

45:08My favorite song on the record. It was cool you did last night with it with Serena and everything. Yeah. We'll do the same thing tonight. That song was one of those songs written in two minutes kind of thing. The lyric was born really honestly out of a you know. I think just that the how pathetic it feels to be in that downward spiral and how it's kind of a peculiar gluttony you know when you have the luxury of spinning out in this in our modern kind of world you know. In North America a week you know it's alcoholism is a sort of a fortunate excess you know.

45:53You're not busy worrying about survival and somehow rock and roll kind of negates any realities and I think that to me some days it feels kind of like a more pathetic kind of lifestyle. That's kind of bleak. The rap on the album. Did you just feel like I can do whatever I want let's do some rap. Yeah exactly. Well that's I'm lucky that I'm that kind of artist that I really do still feel like I can do whatever I want. And people go crazy like I said they'll just cheer for whatever. Yeah it's funny I mean I'm just enough above the radar and below the radar that I'm not nickel back who has to please fan by playing bonehead rock and I'm not like completely unknown and with no expectations I think people expect to be unexpected to coin you know whatever overuse phrase for me.

46:43So that's that's kind of cool it's a good position to be. Definitely. In your underclothes you and I go to smoke. You last breath of smoke. You let out in the race. Get to be smoked.

47:38Darkness comes in the day like turns and runs and settings close to hell.

48:35You wrote jealous of cigarette as kind of a pop song.

52:26You ever think you're gonna write that one song and just be like I want to make a shitload of money and then write a pop song and get it all over the place. Well I thought we will still need a song that's gonna be that. Honestly I thought strip T is going to be that as well. And no I mean that to me is like the science and math of music is the most beautiful thing and so I never shy away from the idea that I'm going to. Yeah to me that's like a science project writing trying to write that hit song. I've been a little disappointed that it hasn't kind of clicked. I mean we will still need a song was a number one in Europe in some countries but it didn't translate in the sort of big numbers in terms of sales but I mean I do have a sort of a hidden little business man on me that sees that beautiful science of music.

53:23Yeah I take it as a challenge I don't think it cheapens what I do at all. Cool because a lot of people talk about sellouts now like good Charlotte to sell out or whatever but yeah I mean. Can you really sell out of me? I guess you do what you want. I mean I don't particularly like good Charlotte and I don't you know there's lots of things in the radio that I don't really like. I want to try and have a hit song on my own terms which I guess creates the complication. So how do you how do you be Hoxley Workman and then create a hit song without sort of stooping to the lows that are kind of required to get on the radio these days. That's the conundrum that's the science fair question.

54:09Yeah all right everybody come to show we do a thing called 20 questions. 20 good questions just one word answers. Oh Paris favorite song to play live smoke baby what's in your CD player right now. Nas Emile Harris Leonard Cohen. Cool if you could play on anyone's album who would it be? Jay Z. What instrument would you like to learn? Probably saxophone. Cool you think you'd add some saxophone X record? Yeah I played saxophone as a kid but I think it'd be an instrument I'd like to play. Downloading music good or bad? Sorry? Downloading music. Both. Both. Okay if you were in a musician what do you think you'd be doing? Probably farming.

54:55The song that you've written that you're most proud of? Your beauty must be rubbing off. Favorite album? At the moment. All time. All time can't do it. Landon or McCartney? McCartney. Clapton or Hendrix? Hendrix that's easy. I'd say Clapton but that's easy I don't know if that's easy. George W. Bush. lousy. Best concert you've ever been to. I can't really remember I don't see much and I haven't seen a concert in so long. I'll say Supertramp in Switzerland. If you could change any law what would it be? I'd make a new law I'd ban stupidity. That's kind of hard.

55:42Penalty penalized by death. Favorite movie? The Seventh Seal. Favorite drink? Booze. Alcohol or marijuana? Alcohol. Best bar in the world. Best bar in the world? No idea. I don't go to bars. Favorite cover song to play? The immigrant song. And one word answer, Hoxie Workman. Lost. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you. Again to Hoxie Workman for stopping by.

58:42You just heard no sissies off one of his first albums. Not off the new One Lover Fighter which we've been playing for you all night tonight. Hoxie Workman talking about all of his tunes. Backstage Pass is what you're listening to. I'm Matt Schichter. It's almost at a clock. Punk Rock Academy is coming in. One thing I just want to tell you next week on the show. Turn off the Stars. Great ban from Toronto. We'll be here. Enjoy your weekend. Have a great time. Summer's here. And stay tuned, Punk Rock Academy. Have a good one.

Part 2

0:00Do you want me to call you Ryan or Hoxley?

0:56Hoxley, yeah. Hoxley, always Hoxley? Yeah. Yeah, I haven't been, I'm Ryan and my mom. I'm Ryan and people, but I've been Hoxley to God, it's almost eight years now. Wow. I'm playing Massey Hall tonight. Massey Hall. Cool venue. Yeah, it's, it's like a, it's one of those moments. Oh, I'm playing Massey Hall. First time? Yeah. Wow. Yeah. It's a big deal, I guess. You know, this is like the Carnegie Hall of Canada. So that's what I'm told. Yeah. You know, it's, it's an important place and I've been coming here to see shows since I was a kid, so. Yeah, most one of them that you remember. Oh, there's so many from Bruce Coburn and the Indigo Girls, All the Way to Dead Can Dance and King Crimson and Tom Cochran and the list goes on and on.

1:42Yeah, you still go to shows all time? I don't. I find that my life is shows. So it's like, yeah, when I have a day off, but it's funny when I do get my ass out to a show, I really love it. So I'm trying harder to get out more, but I'm not kind of a reckless actually. Yeah, you're not a much time and you're on the road recording doing all this stuff going to France. Yeah, that's the thing is that you got a sort of, yeah, I don't get out much period and it's ends. Yeah. Let's play a song, start the show off. Something off the new record. My favorite is Track 6. I don't know when these mountains were the seashore. Yeah. Let's do that. These mountains were the seashore. When this desert was the ocean. Love. Love. We would swim beneath the star filled sky.

2:29We were lovely fish alone. The night before the cities met the heavens. You think?

5:59Yeah, well, my buddy and I were talking about it on the way over and yeah, it seems that way and now he's a big fan. Really? So his girlfriend's mother actually used to sing with you. Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh man, oh man, hilarious. That's amazing. Is it upbeat? It is, but it's upbeat in a somber way I would say. I guess I only ever write from kind of where I was. I was actually in a pretty melancholy place writing this record, but I think it, just because of the simple elements of it and the fact that it sounds like a folk record, I think it just, you know, there's a sense that it's full of life, you know. It's all acoustic instruments as well and that too brings a real kind of positive energy to. Yeah, lots of cool instruments when you got harmonica, banjo horns. Yeah.

6:45How do you decide like what, this will sound good on this track or this instrument on this track? It's just all. Trial and error. No, I rarely trial and error. I always just do. Oh yeah? You can't make a record in a week with trial and error. You just make a record. It's like Yoda, you know, you just do it, you know. Made it in a week? Yep. Wow. Yeah. When? Yeah. Last year. Oh, it's a quick turnaround for it to release in February. Yeah. Yeah. Talking to your thoughts, when you recorded the schoolhouse? This was recorded at my apartment in Toronto. Oh, no way. Why not? Everything else is recorded at the schoolhouse? I know. I just couldn't get motivated up there. Oh really? You tried and I tried? I tried. I tried to get motivated and I couldn't. It was just, you know that's the problem when you work at home. It worked, it's really nice and convenient for a few years and then after that it's

7:31like, well, I could make coffee. I could boil an egg. I could go cut the wood or I could make a record or I could go, you know, yeah, it's a problem. So I moved to the city, moved all my equipment and a piano and I did the record in the city and then a bit at the Blue Rodeo studio as well. That's pretty cool. You said piano, I know it's very piano driven in this record. That sounds nothing like the last one. Yeah, very conscious. The whole record was made in a week and it was done using really old vintage analog equipment and yeah, it's just about music. It's about I'm a player and I played the songs. You play everything on it too? Yeah, pretty well. Except for the horns. Except for the live shows, you always bring them in. Exactly. I don't know what that means either. Let's continue.

8:16Okay. Yeah, live shows, you have the whole band with you, same band as always. Except tonight we got just me, Mr. Lonely and my bass player Brady, Derek Brady, coming in. No drums. What are you going to do, drum machine? No drum machine. Really? No drums tonight. No? Everyone always likes singing play drums. I know, but I'm not going to do it. Nice. Is that like a whole, is it even a tour? It's not really a tour. It's kind of like some of the tours. This is the end of a tour. Yeah. This is the end of a tour. I was in Europe last week. We did Canada. We did Australia. It's been a tour. Yeah. You got some shows in LA. Seven, like seven different shows, different venue every night. Yeah. Your choice or is that like a label thing? It's a, you know, I've never really done much in the US.

9:02So it's kind of like I get my foot in the door there. We always spent more time in Europe and in Canada. It seems to be working quite well in Europe. Yeah, it does. And also in Australia it worked really well. So. Excited for the state? Yeah. I mean the states of the states, I guess. Like you can make a lot of money there, but you got to be in the states to do it. You know what I mean? So I love Los Angeles. To be honest with you. I love, there's parts of the United States. I really love. In fact, I wrote Starling mostly in California in the desert, but I just find that it's a scary place. I can't help but feel like I'm surrounded by insanity when I'm in the United States. Let's play another song. What do you want to hear? What do you want to hear? Well, do I want to hear. I wouldn't mind hearing Claire Fontaine, but that's an old tune. I want to hear you. No, I love Claire Fontaine.

9:48You play it every night? I play it every night. Nice. I like the paper you make. We were introduced by a lover of mine, and now she's gone and I still have a Claire Fontaine. You seem to bring the best out of me and the things that I write to sing Claire Fontaine. Claire Fontaine, are you a lumberjack or something? Does your father own a forest? The nicest trees for chopped and black wine. Hey, Claire Fontaine.

10:33You shoot super soon. I like to rub my pen across them. Do you feel the way I do Claire Fontaine? Claire Fontaine. You seem to bring the best out of me and the things that I write. Paper's used when you pick before the news, things may seem less terrifying. Just because of you, they're fine. Say when they said the war had started, If you think you'd write a letter, They would start my beer to best out of a Christmas.

11:45They may refuse me and drink kushin' native too. That's country fanfog. So distinguished, I'd say never.

12:49And the last time you said Jay-Z and Dr. Dre, You were listening a lot of hip hop still. I still listen to a lot of that. These days, what do I spin? The new Yeah, yeah, yeah, as record. I love, except it sounds like Karen Oh has been worshiping, Teagan and Sarah, but it still worked with. Yeah, it's still a good record. What else have I been liking? It's new and fresh and good. John Stothworth's records are always great. And then I'm always listening to the Smiths and, Of course. You know, the standards. But what I hear of the new Nellie for Totto records, Brilliant as well. Yeah, it's pretty cool. She does a nice cover of, you know, that Narl's Barkley song that one's getting played everywhere. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not on the record I found online though, which is a cool cover.

13:34It's pretty cool. Really? Yeah, counts it in French and stuff. It's nice. Really? You should download it, check it out. Yeah, seriously, if I was, if I had any aptitude with the computer, I should download it. I was going to ask you actually about downloading if you're into that kind of stuff and how you feel about it. I love my iPod. I love iTunes. I love having my music all sort of, Usually my CDs end up in the trunk of my car all over the place. Yeah. So it's cool to have everything kind of sorted. Downloading, I mean, we're resisting it. The industry is resisting it. You can only resist for so long. You know, it's like, I got thinking about it today. Like, eventually something's got to give, you know, so. I don't, I don't really know what to say. You think it's out to your arms you more, at least the illegal stuff? Well, I remember when lover fighter was released, I sold 4,000 copies in the first week and there was 2 million illegal download attempts.

14:27So I guess my record label was fairly disappointed because they're trying to make the money back that they spend on me. I don't really have a, I'm neither here nor there with it. I mean, I guess maybe I'm losing money, but. It's getting kids up to the shows though, getting the music out there. Yeah, probably. Coolest play in our song, something new. Let's play, um, uh, um, goodbye to radio. Goodbye to radio. We know, we'll accumulate as we just, guitar, good little.

18:32To be any song of all time. Okay, let's do something old. Let's do, um, Tarantula. Oh, you love that one. Yeah. I think you guessed it that one last time too. Oh man, I'm too predictable. She's a setlist for a show.

22:16Um, are they similar for most shows? Yeah, I'm kind of a little, maybe on the boring side. I like to have the same set night after night because I find that I can anticipate a rhythm from song to song to song. If I just to make an up with setlist new every night, sometimes I'll put songs back to back that don't work, and I find somewhere near the middle of a tour, we get a setlist that's really cooking. And then eventually I just get bored of it and start messing with it on stage. We don't write anything new, but that keeps everybody on their toes. Nice. Have you been writing stuff new? There's a new record done. No way. Yeah. What does that one sound like? It's upbeat, rock. It's, it's a, it's a hit. It's a massive hit. Oh yeah. I think so. I mean, you never know, but it was written half in LA and half here in Toronto.

23:04And it's really, yeah, it kind of combines the best of lover fighter and delicious wolves. It's like the cheekiness of wolves with the rock of lover fighter. Nice. So like full band smash on the tubs and stuff. Oh yeah. Good. I like that stuff. I'm Antford to come out, but I think I might have to wait a while. Yeah. And the record companies don't usually like release two records in a year, it's not the 60s anyway. Yeah, exactly. And I'm not Ryan Adams. No. No. Yeah. Was he a four this year or something like that? Yeah. He seems to be that same kind of style as you a little bit. Yeah, I am ish. Maybe? Yeah. I don't have any of his records. And that's not true, I have his records. And, but I'm not, no, I'm not a diehard like a lot of people. Yeah. Play another song. Oh goodness.

23:49Let's try, let's try Strip T's because it was. Big hit. It was a big hit. This is from me, baby.

24:56Strip T's from me. Five quick questions, one more answers.

27:21Yep. iPod or CDs. iPod. Leonard McCartney. McCartney. Alcoholer marijuana. Yes. It's a song you've written your most proud of. Don't be crushed. Now come. Ah, there's just a couple lyrics in there that are killers. Yeah. They're just so sweet, pure and naive. It's like, I sometimes feel like I'm standing in the shadow of that song because it's a real good one. Nice. So get back to that fifth question a second. Okay. I mentioned how you just kind of write couplets. You don't write a full story the same way on this record. Yeah. I guess I just write in images. I don't write a beginning, middle or in an end. One word. Hoxie working. Tired.

28:06Thank you so much. Close it out with a tune. What do you want? Let's listen. Does that have to be mine or can we see the audience? No, not any. What do you want? Okay. Yeah. Oh, that's a great idea. Let's listen to, um, Achilles last stand. Cool. Thank you.

Part 3

0:00Hey, Hawk, how are you? We have ours here. We're missing you at our folk festival this weekend Actually, they need to make summer longer so that we can all visit each other's festival Well, at least you get to make it up to Edmonton next month You know my brother lives in Calgary and he just had a baby and I'll be seeing him for the free excited to get out What no way? Yeah, congratulations, man. Yeah, it's pretty wild Does that make you an uncle for the first time that's Think I'm gonna be that rock and roll uncle that you know that the kids not allowed to visit without Financial supervision you know corrupt him real well

0:56How are things with you man, it's been a while Walling my basement with my dad and we're both like super hacks, you know We just laugh and like you still play drums with him a lot. Yeah, because he's really good when he was a kid He sold his drum set for our song

1:42Decisions you know on their life. It's pretty funny. That's an expensive kit though to trade it for a car 60s were I don't know very gypsy almost oriented. Yeah, lots of trading going on Yes, exactly good will I like it Last time we talked was your gig at Massey Hall in Toronto like two summers ago. Holy yeah, okay. I get it Yeah, you said you had a hard rock record done It was in the can had the cheekiness of wolves and the rock a lover fighter Yeah, and then you get between the beautiful is out and I'm like what the hell no Yeah, and then this one comes down like oh there it is that's what he was talking about the lost man licious is the record

2:28I wanted to release the business is a funny thing and You I mean I could go on for hours. Yeah, you know like guys like you and I who are probably music fans Have bought records and thought geez why do they put this out and and sometimes the artists to do with the decision? Unfortunately, and it's not because I'm spying on her. It's just funny how things work sometimes and all of a sudden I'm being talked out of releasing The big rock record that I wanted to release which I did and well anytime you do music

3:17It's wonderful, you know, but delicious is a record that I think it's just great and rock and roll Me that I part of me that I would get mmm. What's like? There's this dirty drum almost like you're banging a kitchen sink in the background of when you're gonna flower That song got recorded so many times that tracks on it. Oh really oh, yeah, that's wicked So let's play that for people right now

4:0290.3. This is 16th Ave

7:18I'm Matt Toxley workman brand new track when you gonna flower record lost man Let's just out August 26 on CD and all the the traditional ways But you can get it right now on your website if people are interested Oxy workman calm 10th album What's in store for the next and you're gonna make like a cabaret record Foxley live on sunset if you would have videotaped my dad and I putting up drywall you could have put out a six-hour comedy DVD I don't know what's next, you know, I think this is what's great about my job is that stuff just keeps just keeps changing and and and and And if you just sort of let life take you where it takes you you can end up in some pretty interesting places and so

8:05Last night we played out this rock and roll set. Mm-hmm. We played some lead Zeppelin We did we sort of peppered the fat with stuff we like you know, yeah, and it's kind of reminded me like man It's really fun playing loud, you know, so When men let's just come down we start to tour it's gonna be a loud tour Are you gonna be doing because last time you came here you were the you're the Jack Singer Which is our nice theater here, and it was great. Yeah, you can't really pull off a rock show in a theater. I Don't is that true. I don't know. I don't well you can but people are gonna be sitting. Yeah, you're right actually So what are you thinking the dome? The dome the album blasting of the saddle. Yeah, you know, why not feist is doing it you can do it now Maybe I doubt it I don't even know where you're playing. So you can do the university. It's a pretty good room, and it'd be it'd be awesome actually

8:55Yeah, I think you're right actually it might be that might be the best place. I think we could do a rock show What would you do Jack Singer? Oh, yeah, I'm all for it. All right. What would you play? Would you be more on get or would you go back to the kid as well? Well, I've been really Oh, really? I would only jump back for a minute. I'm not gonna do like we did on this last something People don't actually like it. You just guys sing. I like it though. I like it, too But you know that's music nerds for you. Yeah, you call me a nerd It is true it's sad but true Let's play people another song off the record

9:42I really like in the bedroom in the daytime because it's like the poppiest thing you've done in years maybe It's a pop song it's like there's like Beatles do-op harmonies going on I love it. I love it. I really really love it and I know that you're supposed to hate Los Angeles It's the cool thing to do you hate Los Angeles and you love New York, but Something about LA makes me want to write great songs and the other thing is I always find myself working in these historic downtown Hollywood if you're in a studio that Michael Jackson recorded in and Queens of the Stone Age recorded in and Tom Petty recorded in like there's a vibe in there

10:29You know and you can't go into those studios and make crappy music like you got to go in to kill You know what I mean exactly so we wrote in the bedroom in the daytime in this little studio where Michael Jackson recorded It was like okay, we got to write a great pop song. You know took us about 15 minutes and It's just no hold bar. It's just like let's throw in every Everything you need to make it like you need doo-doo's and you need this and you need that and you just couldn't go wrong in the 90.3. This is 16th Ave. I'm Matt Toxley workman

13:39We got him on the phone that's a brand new track called in the bedroom in the daytime office record lost man Lishes out in stores August 26 But you can download it right now for 13 bucks over at Hoxley workman calm. Have you found songwriting to be a mathematical formula? I think it is math, but it's the most beautiful math you can make you know like I think that pop music Really does belong. It's a tradition and I feel very much Indestive to the tradition, but I you make it because you are Sort of equally reverent and irreverent to the tradition for as much as you can be you know like I'm indebted to the Beatles I'm indebted to Led Zeppelin. I'm indebted to AC DC. I'm never gonna like I can't escape that

14:29If I told you yeah, man, you know, I'm not influenced by any of that stuff He'd be like come on because that music is in my blood But my job is to take what I know so well with Within the confines that are sort of set out for me. You know what I mean? Hmm very much so I play people another song. There's a lot of remixes on this record of tracks that were on between the beautifuls Yeah, they're gonna play I was gonna ask you I was gonna say Let's play delicate heart cuz it slows things down a little bit. Yeah, but which version oh play the manlicious version It was the first version we did of that song. Oh, yeah, what what made you change it around for a different record? I Just more for what ends up happening with me is that what people would consider demos ends up being my record because

15:22You know You're farting around in the studio and you're coming up with a cool track and you lay a vocal down You think all happy Mike because I'm gonna re-record this anyways and it ends up being magic sounds better Doesn't feel as nice, you know So the lost manlicious version sounds better But I think that the part of me the between the beautiful version sounds better But I think the lost manlicious version feels better Well 90.3 Calgary's classic alternative it's oh you delicate heart from Hawksley workman office new record lost manlicious and

20:56He also had that song on between the beautiful's got Hawksley on the phone. There's like the shaker There's more shaker in this one. Yeah I like random instruments thrown in there and there you do it all the time so a lot of this written in the desert Treeful was as well all yeah now was it all written around the same time was all in like the same kind of session Yeah, you know our time he was Spending time in Santa Monica and he would send me books in the desert and records him with a lot of very interesting people

21:46Who were in my life at that moment kind of feeding me, you know? It's to be honest I went out to the desert to try and quit drinking even just for a month or whatever it was did you succeed? I did yeah, good. I mean not forever No, but I succeeded in it. Yeah, and I must have written two songs a day It was a very it was an amazing time and I highly recommend I don't know something about California I mean, I'm an Ontario boy through and through I guess but something about California makes me really excited I totally agree. I lived at there for a little bit. No, when you say people hate LA. I loved it I I totally be honest I would live there in a heartbeat if it wasn't in the US right now, you know

22:34Dangerous maybe who knows things feel different there, but but when you're in California, it's just like another planet, you know Yeah, do you think Obama's gonna take it? I? Have high hopes to be honest. I'm a pessimistic I really would love to believe in things and I read the Obama interview It made me feel hopeful like for the first time in a long time. I felt like you know what this guy This is a breath of fresh air. This is like reason to believe you know like what is happening In the world right now feels so desperate and we can't deny how powerful the position of being the president in the United States Oh, of course, but this is a guy who could turn things around like who could and maybe I'm overly

23:25Optimistic, but I think well hell. I mean I I'm really hoping he wins I think that McCain is it's even a step up from what what they what the Americans have right now, but I just think that I'm Opportunity to to look at environmental issues social issues with with a newness and kind of a almost electricity You know what I mean? Like I kind of hope that it all worked out for Obama and and the United States and consequently the rest of us Yeah, exactly. Well, we're all hoping for it and just wonder if it's gonna happen. Yeah What's your most political song do you have one that the deals been yet? Yeah, I think my most political songs are all on trefo of Starling actually

24:12Yeah, it's a full gear record. I'm with my most political. I'd say that you and the candles is pretty political Let's play that for people. I like that song. Let's play that for people. All right Crumble and everything's gone When the cars are all rusted away When there ain't no more money and there's nothing to buy When all that we have is the day

25:00When the world becomes silent no planes in the air when the voices just gather When the guns are the fence post the cars are the dog house and the telephone Do all 90.3 this is 16th Ave

29:23I'm Matt you and the candles from Hawksy workman Hawks on the phone Talk about Hey Rosetta because those guys are amazing. Yeah, and they were here through yeah They came in a few weeks good to the session for us and they were fantastic and I know you worked with with great big See on their new record to you know, what's next for you? You got anybody other projects going on? Oh Productions on the table right now, which is great What else is record? I produce my own record. It's kind of like I have fun, you know, but I feel I think it's because you know I grew up in a working class somebody's gonna hire you to do a job

30:09You better bloody do it right, you know, you don't mess around you show up on time You give it a hundred percent and so I find that when you make a record that I am at the end of it I'm just bloody spent you know Hey Rosetta are a bunch of geniuses. There's no doubt about that great big thing But they're the funniest smartest people I've ever met I learned a great deal these bands and I and I'm very Chewy with who I work with and man I had a couple of great Let's play something off the heroes that are record for people because I don't think enough people know who they are and they should I agree. I'm here. That's a possible signal choice. They might they might go with that

30:59I've been I've been trying to tell I've been I've been saying that and saying that nobody let them Well, hey their manager told me that that might be a single so maybe they are starting to listen to you I'll be in a sleep for a long long time You have open

32:3390.3 the 16th Ave. I'm Matt got Hoxie workman on the phone. He just produced the Hey Rosetta record

36:56You just heard from Hey Rosetta. I've been asleep for a long long time that kids drum kit you had on stage on this last tour Where did you get that? I want one? Long time they're ninety five dollars. It's amazing. I can't believe how good they sound I bought it for a nephew Well, sort of a not a proper nephew, but yeah a friend of a friend's Kid who I know well enough to call a net by God for him for Christmas and you know Christmas Eve We're putting it together and leave the sleep and I'm just trying to testing it out and it's like oh man No, I remember the snare sounding unbelievable on tour. I was like damn there the snare is unbelievable It sounds better than your actual kid No offense it did I was like boy

37:45It was crazy Pretty cool. There's no doubt about it five questions one more answers. Okay rotor studio studio Leonard McCartney McCartney alcohol or marijuana Song you've written your most proud of Don't be crushed. That's what you said last time too. So it always it's always gonna be don't be crushed isn't it? It is that's cool one word Hoxie workman. No No, that's a good one. I like that Let's close it out with one tune off either of the two actually you know what I want you to choose prettier face or prettier face Because they're completely different versions. Yeah, do the lost man lichen's version of prettier face You seem to like that record more than beautiful's I do I can't I cannot tell a lot Well, thank you very much. I appreciate this. I love a nice. Yeah, this has been fun a very artful chat

38:35Thank you. Thank you. And next time you come to Calgary. You got to drop by the studio We will that's it for 16th Ave next week Zulion gonna be live in studio Toxie workman and prettier face fuel 90.3

Part 4

0:01OXI workman welcome welcome back on the show fourth time on the show never in Calgary though, so this is the first Thank you for having me my pleasure and thank you for being located so close to a coffee shop We try yeah as part of the plans we build really is location location location location. Yes, exactly So big rock show tonight a Mac ollie rock show last night if last night was any indication where were you we punished? Vancouver with the kind of rock that is not often seen oh really Describe this rock and roll that is not often seen well. Here's the thing about rock and roll is that I Always think we always play pretty good shows. That's it's my job. I'm pretty good at my job We always do pretty good. However, there's those magic nights where something happens like it's just the right blend of

0:51It was sold like you know angle of the Sun versus you know atmosphere versus Something astral has to be going on I don't know what happened, but last night we just upped it was mental so And tonight's gonna be really fun because this my brother lives here in Calgary last time you were on the show You told me you just had a baby. Yeah, that's right and so It's nice to see my one and only nephew and my dad came into town. He'll go he'll probably Play drums tonight. Yeah, he's gonna be nice big time good Calgary has always been great to us You know, I'm really a blessed guy to have my job and and that in Canada We still are able to I'm one of the only people I think in this sort of in the Canadian music business who gets to do whatever

1:36I want and no one says hey quit Confusing us, you know, it's like it seems to be I had you get a have a carte blanche So and I have a band right now. That's just mind blowing like cool It's exciting for me to be on stage and hear these cats because it's like It's always off the hook in the last time we talked You said you you're gonna throw on some fluid and Zeppelin covers things like that. Are you doing that? We did that in this past summer we did We did a few one-offs we played a show outside of Geneva Switzerland with Shenandoah Connor, we played the Edmonton folk festival and played a folk festival in Ontario and it was one of those summers Where I was like, you know what? Why don't we're just nerdy dudes Why don't we pull the whole garage thing and we'll play all of our favorite songs we played four or five of my tunes

2:26But we played six or seven really played a hoo track and a Led Zeppelin song and and a queen song Jackson five song You know, rea static song. We're just totally nerd it out like what do we want to play? It won't be so fun to play and so we sort of spent the summer goofing off So but we were back to while we're still goofing off, but we're doing it more exclusively with my songs more In line. Yes, I'm keeping I'm keeping everybody. Yeah, I'm keeping a rigid Frigid that's the word I was looking for it escaped me Live at Mac Hall tonight, Hoxie, we're gonna let's play a song. Okay off lover fighter angers beauty or smoke, baby Well, let's play smoke, baby. I know you're gonna go with that one. Why? I like dangers beauty. I always thought that it wasn't the right single choice

3:13I know that sounds real nerdy and music bizzo, but that's all right I always thought smoke baby was the strongest track on the record And I still think for folks who like my music and have that record I think it's generally a favorite five questions one word answers cut rotor studio Both that sucks choose one Studio thank you. Let him know McCartney I'm a cartney alcohol and marijuana Yeah, both Choose one marijuana song you've written your most proud of all What song you've written your most proud of? Probably a song called don't be crushed off my first record cool way back when you haven't read anything as good since I

4:00Probably have it's what I've you know their songs It's I think it was the first I look back and think that's a really great song And and I think that I've always felt like it looms, you know, I'm supposed to beat it. Okay. Yeah cool And you haven't yet. You don't yeah, I think I probably have a couple times become very close on Treeful of Starling I wrote a song called Ice Age, which comes close. I think yeah Are you just right now it's actually quite a lot of new stuff everyone so well I find Because I'm a creature of habit. I'm like a cat, you know, I'll just eat whiskers over and over Lamb and rice lamb and rice for 20 years, you know, and I can find that I'll be on the road and because I like the comfort on stage The show's real serendipitous and a bit random

4:48But I only can feel comfortable about that serendipity if I know that the songs Stay the same night after night like that. There's no change in the setlist my band they they're they go mental like can we just play a new Set of tunes and for me, I like having that one thing remain consistent however, what it means is like five years can go past and and it's like geez, you know like I've written 10 records that means like There's 120 songs to choose from and I still always sort of mine the same 25. Yeah, that's cool though. Yeah, so this we really set out to kind of Play a bunch of stuff that we weren't comfortable or familiar with mm-hmm back to the five questions Yeah, I love this one word Hoxley workman. Okay one word Hoxley workman. Yeah Lost lost you feel lost right now right there right now. I do yeah, you get to go home soon

5:36Right. This is like the last date for the long gonna go home for a while to be honest with you I think I just I'm gonna just be a journeyman traveling. Yeah, I'm gonna just stay kind of traveling for now I'm tired of the winter. So I think I'm gonna go to Mexico next week. Oh, I'm gonna go to New York I think yeah, you think you don't know any planes planes booked or anything. You just kind of see what happens No, I don't have anything booked, but that's kind of the way I like it cool Let's play when you're gonna flower cuz off the new record love that and there's like what 65 drums in there what happened When you're gonna flower is just like it's a bombastic exercise and trying to be AC DC. Yeah, I can see that okay Yeah, that's what you were going for. You said let's make an AC DC track Yeah, lost man. Let's just still feel better for you last time. We talked you said beautiful sounds better. Yeah, unless just feels better It's funny, you know like between the beautiful has been nominated for this Juno which has kind of got me

6:27rethinking about that record like there's just I don't know I sort of have a bit of bad blood with that album and I don't Consider it, you know like it also came and went really quickly. Mm-hmm. It didn't really see a wide release only really in Canada and So we did our tour and then the song's kind of disappeared But yeah, man. Let's just to me is still the king of a castle. Mm-hmm It's what you want to make all long it's what I wanted to make all along and that that record came out of the session Same as beautiful session is treeful is darling all back in the desert a few years Yeah, that's right and I know you've been releasing records that are older Yeah recently then you know security guards came out a few years ago puppy came out. Yeah, are there still records back there that there is Yeah, there is there's one more there's one. I mean oddly and it's funny you bring that's it's amazing

7:15They even know that stuff puppy was a fan well, that's cool. It blows my mind Puppy was something I found on cassette to be honest. I completely forgotten about it and that during the drinking days I actually wrote and recorded puppy as an experiment between for him and the girls and delicious wolves kind of trying to figure out exactly What I was gonna do and back in those days. I didn't have a Particularly sophisticated studio so all of the mixes ended up on cassette. I remember finding it in a box playing it and being totally Excited that this music existed, you know So there's only one other record that I know of that's just sitting around collecting dust and how can we just sitting around? Why isn't it because I'm a few lyrics shy of it being through? Okay. Yeah, cool and then for material that's coming out next

8:04Are we going back to that treeful session or is there I know it's funny. Yeah, I'm that dry, huh? Desert. Yeah I I am I've just finished making a record to be honest with you You always have just finished making a record. I talked to you seems like you work constantly. Well, you see I do I was also You know, I was in a Relationship that ended and instead of destroying myself. I decided I'd record a record, you know, so probably healthier. Yeah So I this was rather impromptu so I called an engineer my favorite engineers named Stu Crooks and I Said look I really Need to just make a record. I think and are you available? You know starting oh three days kind of thing and so yeah, we cooked up a pretty cool little record

8:51And I don't think I'm gonna stop there. I think I'm gonna keep firing at records For the next little while it's nice to be creative. It keeps you and sometimes if I don't if I don't make something I feel completely useless, you know, and that I don't have any real value So and this is part of the problem when you get into this cycle of producing a lot of stuff and Doing tours like I find it hard to rest, you know, I think that's why you end up drinking and stuff is that because it's like okay? well My job is so full of these these peaks, you know, that if I'm not on the Going up to a peak or just sort of finishing a peak that the slide down to the bottom into the valley is really fast

9:37You know, it's like if I haven't just written a great song or done a great show or produced somebody's record or something like that Then I find like it's a struggle to know what to do and you're awake, you know What what productions do you have going on right now anything? Nothing at the moment. Although there's a couple of things kind of cooking. I I had a big year producing records Two years ago with the A resettled record and the great big C record And I think there was one more in there too Jeremy Jeremy Fisher's that's right. Yeah, that's right I forgot all that you do non-stop basically work. It's true. I know that you say it It's it is true, which is which makes me such a catch Why that's why I'm single again, you know, it's like man that workman is such a catch look at that guy with all that

10:27Work he does workman doing the back. Yeah, exactly Let's let's play a song for people okay I want to do pretty your face because we were talking once and you want Dre to produce your records You want Timbaland to produce your record? You put a prettier face on beautiful and it sounds oh pretty and nice and then it's got a very hip-hop beat Yeah, a very Kanye beat on the on manlicious. Mm-hmm. You still looking to do some hip-hop? Oh, yeah I mean, but you know I wrote most of that record with a hip-hop producer in Los Angeles a guy named Doc who is still one of my favorite people to create stuff with and He's a very talented guy one of the only Music people I know who I really really Want to impress, you know cool. Yeah, do you feel like you impressed them? I think so we have this mutual, you know sort of love slash brotherly respect for one another cool

11:20Hard to remove yourself. I know you produced all your records up until recently. Yeah hard to remove yourself in that position Or did you really want to get out of that? You know the last With between the beautifuls the production job that Andre did for that was was more like I Just wanted somebody to tell me what to do Or or to finish the record. I didn't want to have to worry about I Just wanted to go in and sing and play. I didn't want to have to think about you know backing up hard drives and Getting mixes to record labels and all this other stuff that comes with the job producer, you know and they're all very valid parts of the gig, but it's tiring and it's just so it was in some ways I needed that I wanted somebody to just

12:07Take over the you know what I'm gonna finish this. I'm gonna go home and Edit the drums. So tomorrow they're going to be great and then you know that kind of yeah Just go and sing play your tunes and yeah and leave yeah. What do you think for the next record? Well, I guess it's already done. It's already kind of done. Well, I mean, it's done in some capacity. I produced it largely by myself with my guy stew and and It's pretty innovative sounding record I think actually compare to any other records or one of your other songs. Yeah, it would be It got it has a real delicious wolves flavor again. Okay. Yeah, cool. I'm excited me do any idea when anyone's gonna hear it You plan me a lot of hands. No nothing like I'm I'm one of those people that never plays new things live until it's out there

12:55Yeah, cuz I was one of those fickle finicky fans when I'm at a concert It's like and the guy you know, whoever the band is like or we're gonna play a new one for you and it's like Great. Wow. I don't want to hear anything new. I want I've come to hear the songs I love don't bore me with the new ones. I'll learn the new ones on my own once the record comes out You know and so I take that kind of with me on to stage I I just assume people think like me like they don't want to hear something new. They want to hear songs. They like I Want to hear new stuff, but that's okay. Okay One song to close us out anything off any of your records when you play people Um, I don't know. What do you I was thinking the Christmas song is the newest thing. Oh, I love that. Why'd you do it? The Christmas record. Yeah I was on a I was on a plane on the tarmac at Pearson International in Toronto

13:40on route to play a show in New York City the night of September the 11th and you know, obviously everybody's world changed and all sorts of things have come out of that time and it was such an uncertain and strange time and I Ended up on a plane again a few days later going to Switzerland and ultimately then moving to Paris and I just felt That the that one event had put the world on on watch, you know, and I got thinking about all the very precious things that I had in my life in particular my grandparents and Just what simple lives they led and that I truly Was I felt very grateful for this warm

14:27very family centric kind of Sense of Christmas and togetherness that I had felt from my grandma and I just I don't know I just wanted to make this really uncool highly celebratory record about singing family and eating and I did it while I was fasting oddly enough to I was I fasted for 10 days in Paris and wrote that record in about five days How are you feeling at the end of it because everyone's heard of fasting and thought of it, but no one no one really does it I used to do it regularly. I haven't done it in years And I don't I don't you feel refreshed. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. Well, Hoxley. Thank you so much always a pleasure This is a pleasure. This is like a smart interview is a great interview. Thanks for having me. Look at this

15:14It's like in the studio. We got bells and I brought the Glock out just for you But a Glock to your dome and you start to cry. Yeah, we call it the rock and spiel that okay The rock and spiel. Okay. Let's be the name of your chit chat show the rock and spiel. Yeah Like this one this one right here. This is why you get the kid has got it going on Thank you a real pleasure

Part 5

0:00Talk welcome back. Thanks for having me. Yeah, this time in front of my camera this time in front of a camera Oh, we had cameras last time. Oh, it was in the studio. That's right. That's right. That's okay. Well radio is not radio anymore Yeah, it's all video and podcast and you're doing podcasts now, too Actually do some podcasts. It's been a while. Yes, but a couple of months but I guess the records almost out there So you previewed all the songs Yeah, but you know I was doing it because my I always wanted to be a DJ I like the idea of having a radio station, but I haven't had the time yet I have a little studio in Toronto where I kind of do it from and since I haven't been there in a couple months I haven't made any new ones. I thought I'd do it on the tour bus, but I'm not no No, you always have these big ideas in the road and then they just never pan out which is it's funny I just read actually somewhere that McJagger Kind of laughing that every time to this day that that the stones go out in the road Keith always says we're gonna have all this time

0:51Well during soundtracks will do writing we'll get a new record prepared and they never do and it's the same You always have these big ideas like I'll work in all this time but for some reason even though you're doing nothing You can't do something. It's very weird. You mentioned the stones. I got my thing I've never asked you what records did you grow up those kid? Do you remember those first records? Oh? Yeah, my dad was a he was a fanatic for music so He like we always had music on our house and We like piano pop like Elton John and Billy Joel and then we listened to almost a steady diet of Motown music Oh, yeah, yeah, like Stevie Wonder was constant Ruth of Frank and was constant and It was just all about music my dad he was kind of

1:38Generous like he didn't like do well. That was one thing he didn't like like 50s do all music But if it was a great song he'd buy the record And so I sort of grew up thinking music was somewhat Generous and then when you get in this business you realize that To make it you have to pigeonhole in order to get rich and just doesn't jive with my You're not really pigeonholing yourself right now. No, I'm not very good at it No, well, you never have it actually no I never was good at it I don't imagine I ever will be good at it and two because I started as a drummer and I always approached music from the drums, you know, so it's like It'd be cool to play a reggae feeler be cool to do this be cool to do that I'm not very good at keeping it On the same lane. Do you still listen to music the way you used to do you still love listening? Yeah, because you right now

2:23It's it's different for you. Well, I still love listening I Still buy a lot of records And I Yeah, right now Well the Phoenix record that came out last year is still blowing my mind Jay-Z always blows my mind and I like that new XX or double X. Yeah, it's pretty cool Tons of Canadian stuff too still like still love Chavangalen and some of the stuff that's for some reason isn't being heard calling Brown Somebody here from Alberta you know her from Edmonton. I don't but I'll check her out for sure and everyone should do Yeah, a couple of guys from Ottawa Matt we met and Andrew Vincent And these people are gonna be working with and you are you producing? Do you have anything? Yeah, I just finished Justin Rogers new record and I'm gonna do Jeremy Fisher's record in

3:13In May Nice before we go to Europe and that's gonna be really a fun record. Do you have ideas already? Yeah, I always kind of can I always kind of taste the texture of it. I know it's gonna sort of sound like Singing the sounds and stuff the new well meat at least sounds a little like manless. It's just the dirtiness of it Is that is that where you are now sonically? Um, I? I think meat has more Commitment than manless just did I think that I Think with manlessious it was such a It was such a run around with the label and it kind of got watered down It took years for it to come out It was sort of only half of what it was supposed to be and I think

3:59Meat in many ways just sort of more to the point. It's a truer sort of representation Yeah representation of what of just wanting to kind of have that dirty Like a real punctuated Durdiness to the texture and a real irreverence, you know like there's a lot of fuzz on that album I hear it on the radio. So done. I think that's I Don't know if it sounds good or not. It sure stands out. You know like it. It's a bit. It's a bit It's a better like list record to listen to at home. You know, it's a fuzzy gooey dirty record Manless, yeah, I don't know I look back at that record Maybe because it was at the tail end of my relationship with universal and it was such a hellish time and I was being treated like such a third-class Citizen that I thought that that record kind of has a whole lot of added baggage to it

4:49Everything it you're right fuzz and and and that like I heard drums were going through amps and stuff like that Except for Sarah Jane song that opens our which is completely different than anything else on it. Yeah, that record that song was recorded When I'm writing I I don't notate stuff and I don't have a memory to keep it in there So I usually have to record it straight away as soon as it's written so I Wrote that song backstage in London in a church that doubles as a live venue called Union Chapel and Sarah Jane Morris who was gonna come visit and sing with me. I didn't know what we'd sing So I just wrote a song that afternoon for us to sing that night I recorded it on my little handheld device and that's the recording on the record with all the noise What are the noises what's going on? It's like what the same kind of thing here like people walk here gear being rolled into the venue and set up

5:40And it's the sound of yeah The sound of a P.A. system being built Most people would say I'll take that and I'll rerecord it in the studio and do it. Well, I wouldn't expect you to but yeah I think it's that it what you hear is the song Being played for the first time and I thought that was pretty neat and I knew I would never nail it like that like it would never have that sort of charm and So yeah, I had to I had to commit to it. I thought that was a better way to go It also seems like a little jab at Universal because they probably wouldn't happen You know what I have to admit universal was very good to me and you know my lack of success with them in terms of our relationship I take you know some of the responsibility

6:26They signed me because Universal was owned or maybe still is owned by Vivendi, which is a French company and the head of that company saw me in France becoming a bit of a cult star and Universal had passed on me many times in the past They didn't really want to have anything to do with me to begin with but when the mandate came in from France It was like sign that guy. He's a star All of a somata record deal and then I had a label who was excited because I was like okay We get to work with a real musician with a real vision and this is exciting It's a nice departure from sort of prefab music But I think it was always a bit of a difficult self for them And I think too after lover fighter Didn't sort of blow up one of the this huge record that everybody thought it was all of a sudden

7:15It was fun to have me on the roster. I was I made a nice mantel piece, but I wasn't particularly I wasn't particularly marketable and so do you want to be them? Well, I always thought I'd be a huge star because I thought I'm so good at my job like it would it seems like a no-brainer But I'm talking what's that little cocky. No, it's not cocky. I'm horrible That's so many other things like I spent my entire life at this You know like just like a home builder or anybody who doesn't anything well If you dedicate your whole life to it you better be good or you better be somewhere else So for me this one thing I'm very good at and when I made for him and the girls I Was still a fan of radio and I still thought oh radio is getting really crappy I didn't buy into the 90s I didn't think it was the this you know that grunge saved the world

8:01I thought grunge sort of was like punk a kind of dumb-down music for me And I wasn't whereas I you know I'm a fan of the drop D power chords. No, no, I mean There were great things that happened in the 90s But there's sort of that pervasive sense that thank God grudge came and killed you know killed up the hair bands There was so much great audacity and great songwriting in the 80s that sort of people forgot like people don't write songs like take on me or Or karma chameleon, you know anymore, which still get huge pops and you play them alive like people love those songs. Yeah, it's true and But the you know I think that there's just maybe a little less daringness now, but um Anyways, of course I wanted to be You know

8:49Like I wanted to use that opportunity with universal to to make a real impact and I did make a Impact it wasn't as big as sort of everybody was telling me it was going to be And I didn't get into music to be obscure I got into music to to always do to do it right to do it well and to try and make music that was always a cut above And when I made for him and the girls I thought okay I'll make a record that is better than the music on the radio and then it'll go on the radio and people like me who like the Radio like the radio again, but I didn't realize I was making something that people say oh, he's a weirdo He's such an esoteric weird. Oh my god. He's such a weirdo. I thought well I just pop songs, you know with melodies and a verse and a chorus and a verse and a chorus and a bridge and a chorus every time I never it's not like I'm making you know to want 25 minute opuses with drum solos

9:36Pop music, but for some reason it was always been it's always ever yeah That's a weird thing that guy does, but I never thought it was all that weird And I think too, you know, maybe in the US they have They have a maybe a bit more They have more people so something a little more esoteric has a chance because just just via you know Population percentiles, you know in Canada it is a little harder to be different because there's not as many of us to support it You know we have a good art scene though like with the CBC and things like that. Yeah, it does work a little bit Yeah, I God bless the CBC for keeping us all informed and intelligent and smart and moving forward and for my career

10:23It's been absolutely essential Yeah, it would be it would be sad to see that change in any way. It's it's a very lucky Instrument of culture we have in Canada you mentioned the States and I know you will you just released your first record? They're not too long ago. Yeah, I don't know what that means. I think it's kind of a bogus thing, you know what I mean? Why that one out of all of them? Well, I think when we finally said okay Well, let's release a record in the United States like I think because I got popular or started to look like I was gonna get popular in Europe We we completely negated the whole America game and we went to Europe and we lived there and toured there extensively and and all of a sudden it 10 years have gone by and it's like

11:10Oh, well, I don't really feel like traveling in the same kinds of ways. I used to I still do but I have a vision one day of being more still Anyway, so I was like well, what are we gonna release in the US and it seemed like Why don't we just start at the beginning? You know, I don't know what we would have done that would have been But you know what what that said I just thought well, it's kind of weird like the internet you're allowed to have anything and get it for free and It seems like kind of an odd thing to do, but I guess as an official release It's pretty neat, but it doesn't really affect my day-to-day. I haven't done many interviews or I still not touring a whole lot there I don't have a label supporting it. It's It's sort of a slow thing and what I find is when I do tour the US now because of the internet

11:59because of the years of touring and what little sort of bits of Interesting success I've had here and there it's all filtered anyways to parts of the world I've never been so you know I can still go to New York or Los Angeles or San Francisco and still fill a small club you know and it's it's only because it's been years and years of traveling and and Working and releasing records and being present on the internet that kind of has allowed me to do that But it'd be nice if it was a little bit bigger, but it takes an incredible amount of effort to build a career nowadays you know, there's so many things vying for people's attention and there's a lot of methods by which humans entertain themselves, you know back in the 70s it was

12:45Movies a bit of television and all these records, you know remember as a kid walking into the the Eaton's downtown Huntsville and the first thing you saw walking in was was Racks and racks of super tramps breakfast in America like it was something that everybody bought You know music was part of everybody's life It's not so much the same anymore and people's tastes are more fractured and you can find More varieties of music and more varieties of places so it's not as sort of not as focused as it was Is that why milk was released so differently? Milk was released is being released. Yeah, it is being released I think it's just because clearly the you know, no one has solved the problem of the fact that people now steal music instead of buy it so

13:36So while we all kind of swim around in our And to figure out how we're gonna change attitudes about that kind of thing You know, we just figured it would be fun to do something different and because we're not tethered to a label And we're not tethered to having to have 50 meetings about anything. I was like, well, why don't we just do this? It was one phone call. Yeah, okay good done. You know, and it just seemed like Something to stay to keep people interested to keep me interested. I get bored of myself real fast So but we also released meat like that, but you know, it came out somewhat. Yeah, and I think the vinyl copies of milk actually Show up in Edmonton in a couple days. So nice. Yeah, there were there is a an actual sort of release coming

14:25Mm-hmm. It all again. It all seems so funny now because release no release doesn't really seem to you know, it's There are people still buying records, but it's it's just such a different thing now at first It didn't it didn't feel like I was being affected by the the theft of music, but now I feel it and It's it's it's it's more pervasive than it would appear, you know, because there's just less money in the coffers to To promote one's career that means, you know, there's less money to tour There's less like the one thing that creates less for a whole most of things It's unfortunate. So people are really struggling with that. I'm very lucky. I was just saying to my manager the other day that It's nice. I started 10 or 11 years ago because it's even tougher now

15:14You'd think it was easier with the internet, but there's more competition. There's more Wash of just average, you know, there's just more more more and when for him or the girls came out in 1999 I didn't even have I didn't own a computer. I didn't have an email address record to tape. What were you doing? Yeah, I recorded it Cool. Yeah, when we talked six years ago now You had said you thought the illegal downloading it actually helped you because it was bringing more people out to shows because it was your music was just getting out there I think I was maybe trying to be cool and told the indie line There probably is some of that. There probably is some of that But I think I'd have to say on the whole It's more for me

16:02It's I'm critical of the cultural disposition, you know, like The fact that we now live in a very disposable society and music Contributes in many ways to that, you know kids know that the kids know a lot of stuff It's hard to fool a kid. So if you're trying to shove some crap down that throat that is virtually you know Worthless then it will be treated as such, you know I think and you know I see these indie kids saying that oh it's cool because music should be like this and it helps and But from you know from somebody who's been in the business quite a while and who has some understanding of how To build a career alone without the help of too many other people Every penny counts and so if those pennies are starting to

16:51Disappear all of a sudden there's compromises are made on so many fronts, you know and so Yeah, I think it's it's also just a sad comment that we don't value Um what people create, you know, we're raised to be You know nice dutiful tax paying citizens who don't ask too many questions and watch the tv and believe the commercials and believe the politicians and believe the 24 news hyperbole and And to just be consumers Don't don't create don't do that just sit back and passively take it in and it's tough. I think our culture is really suffering from a bit of um

17:37Just a bit of lack of care and lack of understanding I I think that even from the food we eat and the the things we read and I think that there's just a there's no real sense that Quality begets quality begets quality, you know, I think that we kind of live in a a ball for chief is better For sure universe at the moment that being said you're selling on concerts across country Uh Yeah, but that's that's been 10 or 11 years in the making you know I finally have Um a tech person After 11 years, so I can't sit here with you and do this interview while my stage is getting set up I've never had that in my whole life And so it's just these things come very slowly like if you're not a nickelback if you're not an ellie frittata if you're not one of these

18:27Like there's very few people in canada like me who exist who make a good living In the middle, you know, there's a lot of people on the fringes whether your fringes Indian struggling or massive and incredibly wealthy. There's not many people like me who kind of Have my thing, but it takes constant constant work What's the band like for this tour? It's it's my sort of standard rock band. It's my It's the best band i've ever put together and i've had them now for a few years Uh jesse zubot from vancouver who plays violin guitar Right compaction from st. john's new for the new plays drums And min my stalwarts mr. Lonely and daric brady on bass

19:13Nice. Yeah, it's i'm the weakest link in the band. I always am I don't think so you're very versatile you can play drums you play guitar I know what I forget everything that's my mind wanders and I have Voices and if those voices are chatting too loudly on stage sometimes I can get sidetracked true I'm assuming because every time we talk your next records already finished. It's well. I said the first time where it's not I've had a I've had a I always keep titles And I now can't live without my silly ass All-purpose telephones of course and I have hundreds and hundreds of the song titles on there too soon to become full song I still have a half finished full length record where all of the music is done

19:59I just haven't written lyrics or melodies to it yet No, there's no finished record that I know of Um, but I have found finished records in the past one I found but uh I I just finished producing justin rutliges new i guess I said that in jeremy fish. Yeah, I've been too busy I've also been writing a lot of pop music for sort of Swedish pop stars and finished pop stars really yeah And the last Canadian idol Theo Tams I co-wrote his hit single and um I've written a couple of theme songs for new television shows and I've written some movie music I don't take days off anymore. I try to always be writing And it's been real helpful to do that. I've learned a lot sort of about myself but always having to remain honest

20:48It's hard to like if you're writing every day It's hard to bullshit. You got to really kind of be on it, you know, so I have to write from experience It's uh and that's been fascinating sort of watching, you know, a finish idol is doing a song The english songs? Yeah, okay. Well english is the language of pop music for the most part so You know, you'll there's always going to be domestic artists who sing in their own language But everywhere I go at least there's always english music on the radio because it's like opera Best song in you know in Italian or German. It's it's like rock and roll kind of born in english It kind of lives best in english too. I think the moment for the most part. I agree hockey the musical. What is this? I get that was another thing that I just did somebody said hey um

21:36Michael McGowan is doing this movie musical and we need songs written and we're a little behind and it seems like something might be good out and So then I wrote one and they thought that was great So I wrote two and then I think I wrote five or six songs and then Michael calls me and says I really like the sound of your voice and Even though I was going to be replaced by the official actor when it all came down to it, but um He said why don't you act in the movie? I'll give you a bit part So I hadn't been on skates in a long time a couple years and was 10 hours on an outdoor rink plan hockey and singing and it's awesome Fantastic. What's your team? Do you have a team? Uh, no I gotta say I have a bit like snootie about no, I'm not snootie I mean, I don't watch hockey like I did when I was a kid

22:23It was the Edmonton Oilers and the magic of that dream team right that was kretzky coffee curry Messier moug and grant fure and glenn Anderson and those those years were great and hockey seemed real free back then it was very poetic and I try to I try not to harbor tribal instincts. I think humans I think our tribalism is it's partly what makes us lovely because it gives us a variety of languages and food and stuff like that But there's also why we start wars and why there's an us against them and I just can't stand that so No, I don't have any reason to pick a team. I just like when anybody does something great. So I think it's great. It was great to watch the Canadian Canada versus

23:09Was it the Czech Republic or the It was fun watching the Olympics. I like that I like seeing all those great players making magic with one another, but I don't like to us against them Oh, can it is better than you or we're better than him? It just kind of soft drives me nuts I'm saying you were out at the Olympics. I heard you got arrested. I got arrested in court in Sometimes I feel like a fugitive from Ontario, but It turned like I don't know it didn't look like me, but we both had scarves on apparently that was enough that Well, maybe not so many people in court. Maybe see where scars. I don't know I thought wherever it's winter everybody wears a scar I don't know

23:54Don't they I would I would think so but I apparently the cops don't think so I don't know it was pretty weird I tell you like I don't deal well with that kind of authority It's kind of kind of scared me I don't tell lies. I never have I was always a good kid in school like I was never in trouble with the principal or anything like that I was always the top of my class and a very good student and yes, sir. No, sir I taught Sunday school like it's only been in my adulthood that I've been a punk You know rock and roll guy and so it was all very procured to me and so the guy said well Are you this guy? I said no and I'm not used to people not trusting you. It's very off-putting You know, but I guess that's your job kind of a strange job I got thinking how sad that is that you have to see the world is liars everybody's a liar You know when you're in uniform everybody's telling you a lie and I think that's unfortunate

24:43You know big a concept for a record that everybody's telling you a lot. Yeah, it could be actually I thought of writing some sort of a character around it, but I wouldn't want it to go into anything that would turn it into anything that's disrespectful I'm sure it's a very difficult and strange and probably largely horrible kind of job to have but um Yeah, I think the idea of police and militaries, it's all very strange to me, especially when It seems like the government would like nothing more than to lock away in people who think and make music, you know It's like it seems like a really strange time to be an artist even in Canada like we seem to be going Socially, we seem to be going in reverse. So oh that makes me feel very odd as well Sorry bleak way to end the interview. Oh, is that the end? Sorry?

25:31Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it

Part 6

0:00so sorry are you living in l a now i and i think we're trying we're trying l a out that's what we're doing who who is we all mean my woman worked worked it's not committing to it here because you know we still love uh... being back home in toronto but there's a lot there's a lot that would hear there's a lot of good reasons to be here and so we're just kind of yeah we're trying it out i think you're like me in the fact that you're more of an l a guy than new york is that is that true you know what i think you're right i mean i love both of those cities and maybe it's because i spent a lot more time here due to production like i i've i've spent a lot of time in the city in studios here so i have a real fondness for it i spent

0:46yeah like l a always feels great to me why do you people do so much on the east coast probably because it goes against a lot of kind you know i i i think that you know there's no pop there's no public transit really to speak of here it's kind of a different thing like it's a driving culture it's um i think probably to if you're in the movie business there's lots of people who are looking for the next step up for them and so i think that sometimes if you're talking to people here it feels like that they may be looking over your your shoulder in case there's somebody who could help them more than you you know so maybe it's that but yeah it's hard to say and as is that why you're down the you're now a big actor

1:32ha ha ha ha i'm now uh... what am i uh... you know that's been we're down here we're down here just to be doing some writing and some playing like um i've been doing a lot of writing for other artists these last couple years and which i totally love and it's it's totally it's totally yeah it's it's it's a complete thrill for me i've been doing it a lot in Stockholm and in London too so um that kind of explains the the workout here you know that the music machine the pop music machine at least yeah for North America still really live in LA you know right and well and Nashville to a degree but i guess that's that's a different uh that's a different beast altogether you're right in fact

2:17in fact Nashville is getting more it's not so hard country anymore it's definitely i mean with acts like Lady Antebellum and is it Sugar Land or these kind of acts are kind of crossing over so there is a little bit more pop in Nashville now as i understand it then then there probably was 15 years ago during sort of the Garth Brooks kind of era you know or yeah maybe that's 20 years ago now yeah maybe well country's not really country anymore but that's not that's not what we're talking about we're talking about you and acting in a new film um okay score hockey musical tell me we talked about this briefly in the spring but now that the film's coming out and and now i don't know if you've seen it since or what what tell me about the film yeah i've seen it um i uh we were the film that got a lucky break i guess

3:04you know opening the Toronto Film Festival which to be honest with you i didn't realize was all that big of a deal you know i'm not i'm not a film both as it were and i'm also too i'm not i don't follow celebrity culture so i can realize that the Toronto Film Festival is as big no probably as the con film festival yeah so yeah it's become that way yeah and so i that was the first time i saw the film was um was opening night along with whoever else is in the audience that there at Roy Thompson Hall and i thought it was pretty damn good to be honest you know when when i started writing songs for the film or writing music i should say um i was doing it because i like to work and i

3:50like to do stuff and i like being involved and and if i have a day off i'd usually rather be in the studio than doing nothing at all so i would was i had a friend who called and said look if you've got nothing going on we're some hockey musical we're working on the music why don't you come down and try try writing a song so i did one and they thought it was good and then i did a couple more and a few more and all of a sudden i had written four or five songs for this and then the director mike said hey i think it's cool what you've been doing do you want to have a bit part and it's like and can you skate now that yeah i can skate i'm a horrible hockey player passionate but horrible yeah and i'd love to so you know what on paper i think that if you were a movie critic you don't even you wouldn't even have to see

4:38the movie and you could you could give a sort of a vitriolic response to it because on paper it looks like it could be something that you wouldn't want to see and so i was honestly so pleasantly surprised and i think what mike mcgowan the writer director has done with this movie has made something incredibly charming and my mom actually saw it that night too she came down for the premiere and she said it's totally corny and totally smart and it's kind embodies it like so my my take on the film now i've seen it a few times at a few different festivals and i think it's why do you brilliant how how often are you in the film are you just literally like a couple scenes or unit quite a bit no i mean it two scenes probably if you if you if you had

5:26your stopwatch it would be you know a minute in total and um but but quality minutes just you know for early in my acting career these are really pithy parts that are looking toward so early in your acting career what is it what does that mean does that mean there's more in the way well you know what it's funny i had talked to a couple people after and it's i did a lot of music theater when i was a kid and and um i don't think act i don't think i have a talent for acting but i'd said to somebody hey if there was a tv show and they wanted you know some weird music guy to do a walk on and say three things i could definitely be that guy but i think i'm i've always thought i'm kind of funny looking so i know you got to be really pretty to be in movies you know you're a good looking dude hulk don't worry about it

6:12okay okay how different was it working on it on a film set than a music video i can't imagine it being that much different no it's exactly the same um just as much sitting around wasting your life as a as a music video um you know like there's no better way to waste life than getting into film and television i think so um but with one you know exception um now there's there was a lot more people i guess the one of the big things was um my scene the two scenes i'm in um i'm on skates both times i'm playing kind of one of those small town rink rats and uh i don't know i don't know where you grew up if you grew up in the rurals but we had in our township

6:58one skating rink at the fire department the volunteer fire department looked after and there was always some kind of unemployed kind of grimy 30 and 40 something year old guys swearing spitting on the ice while my dad and my brother and i tried to play shinning and also i was one of those guys you know i was on skates for 10 hours straight after having not been on skates for two years i must confess so by mid by mid day i was um taking ibuprofen just to kind of keep swelling my feet to a minimum but that that was the only real kind of heroic element to my uh my my film debut when are we gonna see you next up here any ideas i i've been talking to my agent about maybe maybe doing a spin through canada next

7:46next spring like maybe may or something but nothing is confirmed i mean you know my my brother and he's just having a second kid and stuff in calgary no it it it means that i try to get any opportunity i can to be in your stunning province there because it means that i get to have good old uncle time and i'm trying right now for for top uncle status you know what i mean right of course so i yeah like so christmas times is really important for his first birthday i got him a remote control helicopter and last last year it was a strata caster you know so it's gotta be big gotta be big this time you know strat isn't he like two he's two yeah strata caster that's a gift some big hopes for the little guy you gotta start a moat right you know

8:32yeah fair enough uh fair enough you should get him uh you should get him that drum kit you had on the on the beautifuls tour oh man i uh i still got that thing it um we dragged it all over hell's half acre and it it's suffered it's really suffered fair enough you have a bit of a kinship though we talked once you were an oiler's fan as a kid yeah um when it's funny uh because that this kind of thing is being brought up a lot more now that i've sort of been involved with this hockey movie right it's you know my sort of hockey know how is being called into question i'm uh i guess i watched that was back when you know i would with wearing jogging pants to school and and you know we'd all bring our plastic

9:19road hockey sticks and it was just a beautiful time in hockey i'm sure that you know this was pre this was pre-millionaire era NHL i'm almost certain you know probably and i'm there was just the poetry to the way hockey got played back then i think the guys were probably a little smaller the game was quite a bit less corporate um and you could watch poetry on ice and i mean those great rival years between the islanders and the orlers were just some probably some of the best-looking hockey i've ever seen you know so but the guy who i always wanted to be when i was out playing was um any subard from the black hawks because he just seemed like such a spazdick he's just he seemed to be kind of right up my alley like he he had a liquid approach i thought that was pretty cool

10:05you gotta grow almost dash like him then yeah right oh i don't know i think no i couldn't do with dash i don't think no i don't think i could either i know we've done this before but uh but once again five questions one more answers yes road or studio studio lennener mccartney film McCartney lyrics melody or cadence what's most important in the song wow lyrics but i i might need uh there might need to be a yeah lyrics we'll say i'm gonna commit 69% to lyrics song you've written your most proud of like it's probably the top the top my brain autumns here or don't be crushed i don't even like

10:51i think wall halls portrait of griskew is a pretty had something to it too uh fitting for the talk we're having this afternoon too indeed indeed and uh one word hoxie workman uh upside down okay that's good i like that um before i let you go can i get you to give me like a little uh a little snippet about a few songs that we play on the station yeah totally uh angers beauty um angers beauty uh you know i'm kind of apocalypse obsessed and i'm obsessed with with um dissidents and and being defiant and i think that i wrote that song angers beauty as a way of sort of asking the question like would you take to the streets when it came time to or would you sort of stay in and make love for the last time

11:38before it all ended uh smoke baby um you know when i wrote smoke baby it i was uh i was yeah it's probably i was remembering and celebrating something that was very rock and roll but you know in hindsight now with a little bit more adulthood in my pocket it's a little bit of it's kind of an embarrassing song you know at the height of when i was uh i when i was believing my own hype i guess i sort of believed in the in the rock and roll lifestyle and i i kind of don't really anymore uh off the same record we will still need a song we will study a song with with a real honest sales pitch to myself that the music i was making was was important and that i was relevant i think

12:24probably any artist goes through this i in the song i sort of turn it the other way and make it sound like i'm i'm talking to somebody else but really i'm having a drunken discussion with myself about my own relevance deep i don't know well i asked you for a blue song a few a few months ago you sent me just depressed my hangover sunday so we're playing that one now do you like it yeah man it fits it kind of fits as blues but we'll pass it off as blues if we can well i'm glad you're playing that song that i wrote that song for my wife um wife yeah yeah i got married uh in june he rats man that's awesome yeah i think so i i guess i haven't made it entire you know i didn't come out and make a big statement about it not that anybody cares but i think the idea that um sometimes rock and rollers sort of try to keep their

13:11singleness because it it has i guess a little bit more rock and roll appeal you know you know as the whole jon lennon thing back in the day right yeah is that what did they hide the fact that they had their significant others yeah i didn't know that yeah that he wasn't allowed to say that he was married or had a kid at the beginning i guess well for the same reasons right that you want the allure that any that you're accessible to everyone right right and it's funny to say that because i remember reading in one of the the memoirs whether it was um garra maybe it was rick danko or somebody's memoirs of of uh ronnie hockens era band ronnie didn't let any of those guys bring their girlfriends he didn't let them talk about girls they had to look a hundred percent available and he thought that that was part of the cache at the band i guess that that like you said it's rock and roll

13:58it's totally rock and roll um so you wrote depress for your wife elaborate yeah i was uh i was actually in stock home and i had been told by my publisher that i should try to write a song for kylie minogue and so i show up at this guy studio and he's a total he's a total genius cook with a basement studio in the heart of stock home chock full of some of the sexiest vintage drum based guitar equipment i had ever seen and so we just started goofing off and playing it was like clear that he and i put together would never come up with a song that would work for kylie minogue so we just went with it and i was feeling kind of dirty and and that song really is just about kind of the dirtiness that i don't know

14:47we like writing days off you know we like sort of staying in and and listening to records and cracking a bottle of wine at two in the afternoon and just kind of like letting one day come slide past and let the world kind of worry about itself and so that's what that song's about and um i'll let you choose one of the heroes attitudes hey red heart or i've been asleep for a long long time i've been asleep for a long long time that was the song when i heard the demo that i was like these kids are off the charts this is not i've been asleep for long i got chills just saying it i remember being in the studio cutting that track and it just i just knew that that band was a force and that i was so blessed to be trying to kind of put it on the tape and have it be represented i just

15:34that record was one of those records for me that i felt like i'm so lucky i'm going to be the guy that goes i got to hear that when it was played and put on tape and uh yeah i've been asleep for a long time it's just that's a you know in a different era in culture that would be a number one for 12 weeks