Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Matt Dusk: Toronto Mike'd #1125
Episode Date: October 11, 2022In this 1125th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike is joined by crooner Matt Dusk as they talk about growing up in Toronto, The Casino, They Call Me Fitz, and the Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra. Tor...onto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Yes, We Are Open, The Advantaged Investor, Canna Cabana, StickerYou, Ridley Funeral Home and Electronic Products Recycling Association.
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Welcome to episode 1125 of Toronto Mic'd.
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And Canna Cabana.
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cannabis. Guaranteed.
Joining me
today.
Making his Toronto Make debut
better late than never,
is musician Matt Dusk.
Welcome, Matt.
Hello.
I am already ready
to drink and smoke and die.
This is great.
In that order.
Yeah.
Okay, don't mess up that order.
That's important here.
Listen, my friend, this has been a long time coming.
I waited for Milestone episode 1125 to get Matt Dusk on Toronto Mike.
This is a big deal to me.
Congratulations.
Did you start at 1,000?
Yeah.
That's my secret to my longevity.
I started counting at 1,000.
I remember when I was a kid, I started my music business.
I started my check count at like 1,110.
Just so people like,
Oh,
okay.
Okay.
So when I started my home,
my,
I run a TMDS,
Toronto Mike digital services,
and I had new accounting software.
And this was a few years ago.
And I remember that feeling where the first invoice was at like 00001.
And you're like,
Oh,
like,
like that's never like,
like this guy,
he's so green.
And I was thinking what you did there. Like, I'm like, yeah. Like who said I had to start at one. But then I thought like my brain're like, oh, like that's number, like this guy, he's so green. And I was thinking what you did there.
Like, I'm like, yeah, like who said I had to start at one?
But then I thought like my brain would like,
I'd get all confused if I didn't start at one.
So it's like.
Blow up.
So somebody paid invoice number 00001.
Are you at number two yet?
I'm sending number two to you.
Awesome, I'll pay.
Cash only, coins.
Matt, you're a...
By the way, right off the top,
people think that Matt Dusk is a stage name.
Totally.
Dusk, Matt Dusk.
But I did a little digging.
That's your real name, buddy.
It is.
It's from my old days when I used to be in the clubs.
This is going back to like the mid-90s.
I had a band leader who said,
Hey, kid, love your name.
It's too long.
Got to fit on a beer coaster.
And he said, Do you have a name in mind?
I was like, I don't know.
My friend's calling me Matt.
Perfect, Matt Dusk.
That's my name.
But Dusk is your legit last name, no?
It's been my name since I was born.
Since you were born.
Okay, just confirming.
I don't want anyone to be updating Wikipedia right now
with this late-breaking news here.
So you're a legit Matt Dusk,
and you're a Toronto guy, right?
Born and raised here.
This is my favorite place in the world.
What neighborhood were you raised in?
Tobacco.
I was...
Well, hold on a sec.
Let's go.
That's where I remember most of my life.
But Weston, Jane and Lawrence, what a great, great old neighborhood.
Such a cool, cool place.
I consider it a bit like Streetsville in that it's like a little village in a big city when you're in Weston.
Totally.
My parents had a triplex that was on a street called William Street.
And it was like one of those old Victoria homes
that had been split into gajillion units.
So I was raised in a village.
I actually, I like to take the Humber Trail.
So I'll jump on the Humber Trail,
the waterfront and take it north.
And that's where I stopped
because that's where the stairs are.
Okay, so, and people who bike this trail
know what I'm talking about.
But that Weston Bridge that you go under
on the Humber Trail,
you can't continue
unless you walk your bike up a set of stairs and then you have to go on weston road for a bit
no i do it and they did add this like the stairs that you can actually have like a slot for your
uh wheel of your bike which is right up an easier way to bring your bike upstairs but uh i did that
ride yesterday beautiful day for it probably one of our last days what a great way to spend thanksgiving what neighborhood do you reside in now mr dusk i am in
etobicoke it's called uh like humber valley something it's like royork and dundas kipling
eglinton okay did you attend the taste of uh the king's way this year i did not i was on tour
but uh i've gone many times.
Great Lakes Brewery.
I want to give this to you off the top.
That's why I'm jumping into this.
We have a lot of ground to cover.
But Great Lakes Brewery was the beer vendor of choice
at Taste of the Kingsway.
I was there.
I had a fresh craft beer there.
And I'm sending you home.
Now, this is so hyper-local to you
because they brew this on like rural York
and Queen Elizabeth Boulevard.
You know where the Costco is? Yep. Like down the street from the Costco. Couldn't be closer to you because they brew this on like rural york and queen elizabeth boulevard you know where the costco is yep like down the street from the costco couldn't be closer to you
you're leaving here with fresh craft beer from my great lakes brewery speaking of booze uh how do i
get myself an invitation to your home so you can make me a manhattan is that in the cards at all
does it depend how this conversation goes anytime as long as it's after 6 p.m.
I have a 6 p.m. rule.
Okay, before 6.
That's why you're not wearing a tux.
After 6.
After 6.
I was wondering what you'd wear to this recording
because I can't picture you in your, like,
you're in a t-shirt.
Yeah, well, it's a nice day out.
It is a nice day out,
but I thought you might have a...
A suit on?
A tuxedo.
Yeah, no, I either dress to the nines
or dress like a bum.
It's kind of in between.
There's no in between.
So shout out to Nadia Thiner who wanted to know if you still live in Etobicoke.
I do.
But we did address that.
You love Etobicoke and that's where you are right now.
Yep.
Jimmy Jam, right off the top, I want to say hi to Jimmy Jam who said,
I was a small fan earlier, but a big fan after seeing him at Casa Loma.
Wow.
So you won him over.
What a great venue.
I mean, you got to think of how many great parties they've had there,
how many great big bands used to play there,
how many current artists play there.
It's quite a location.
And it's our only castle, right?
I can't think of a second castle in the city.
Do we have another castle in the city?
I don't think so.
That's it, right?
Okay.
Okay, I want to just shout out
Diane Leifer.
That's a great name, I think,
especially if you're a hockey fan,
Diane Leifer.
Die hard.
She was such a fan,
she changed her last name
to Leifer.
Diane Leifer writes in,
hopefully he will have
some St. Mike's Choir School stories.
So you attended St. Michael's Choir School. Yeah Absolutely. So you attended St. Michael's Choir
School. Yeah. So when I was in the mid-80s, my parents sent me to this Catholic school called
St. Michael's Choir School. And, you know, people ask me, well, why did you choose to go there?
And I was a six-year-old, didn't really have much of a choice. however though um i basically spent most of my childhood during the
day at young in dundas when it was pretty seedy i mean the the gene machine was the gene machine
was there was a guy on the corner who would always hand out the flyers they had street fighter inside
we would always save our quarters to go play right the arcade was there that's right so it's like
every time i come back down to to see toronto i mean if if it's
you know two months a year whatever everything's always changing but i remember that really cool
i don't want to call it cd but i want to call it like it was it had character it had character i
because i got a okay so you're the same age as my uh one of my brothers is your exact age and i know
that because his wife remembers you from university. So Vanessa says,
hello.
Yo,
yo,
yo, Vanessa.
What's up?
So I know I get a few years on you,
but I a hundred percent have the same memories of,
uh,
you know,
taking the trip to downtown Toronto and you,
Sam,
the record man,
and Sam's and then H and B shows up.
And yeah.
And I remember the greatest fear we had was that.
So I'm,
well,
somebody rolled me for my Walkman.
Uh, I used to get rolled for quarters
when I used to go to the arcades in the basements.
I mean, that would happen.
That's a real Toronto story right there.
Quarters or TTC tickets, one of the two.
Oh, yeah?
Yeah.
Or not your docs.
Did you have a pair of docs?
No, man.
I grew up with Reborks.
My parents never bought me any brand name stuff.
No, no, no.
You got to do that yourself after grade nine.
Yep.
Got my money.
Get some cash.
So, okay.
So you're at St. Michael's Choir School.
What is your musical taste?
Like at this time, are you into grunge?
Like what are you into at this time?
So I think as a six or seven year old,
you're kind of just living with what your parents have on.
So basically they had this station on called CJRT-FM,
which is now Jazz FM, 91.1.
In the old days, they used to play classical music.
So classical and choral.
And when you look at St. Michael's Choir School,
which is located a block and a half away from Massey Hall,
there's also this giant cathedral there.
So I was kind of indoctrined into this classical material.
So that's what I was listening to.
But it wasn't until my friends had cassettes
and we used to get our Walkmans
that I discovered like, hmm.
I remember the first cassette I ever listened to
was Eddie Murphy, Delirious.
There you go.
And I never ever heard swear words before that that moment that amount of gratuitous swearing yeah that hit
us uh us kids uh like a ton of bricks right between the eyes now looking back you're like
how did that even happen and that didn't age well right because they have all those f-bombs and i ain't talking about you know f-u-c-k well
funny enough my my my wife she's from poland and uh i met her you know i think sometimes in the mid
2000s and one of the first things this is you know some of the clips were on youtube and and i showed
her it and she was like how is this even possible she goes i goes, I don't know how to react.
Right.
No, I know.
It is shocking when you remember loving it and you and your friends loved it
and then you come back like, you know,
decades later as an adult and you revisit
and you go like, oh, like we thought that was funny.
Times change.
That's not funny.
Not anymore.
Times change, my friend.
Okay, so is what?
Eddie Murphy, who was also a singer, lest we forget.
That's right.
I mean, he, who was his favorite singer?
It was like, he used to do a really good Stevie Wonder impression.
Oh, yeah, I know.
He did a great Stevie Wonder.
And he also had that whole, I want to party all the time.
Which was a legit hit.
Yeah.
And I remember like, that was like, it would sit alongside your, I don't know, your Phil
Collins and your, I don't know, your Peter Gabriel or whatever.
But it was like a legit pop top 40 hit.
How many kids does he have now? Oh, I don't know. I think he's got a lot. How many kids do you have? I don't know, you're Peter Gabriel or whatever, but it was like a legit pop top 40 hit. How many kids does he have now?
Oh, I don't know.
I think he's got a lot.
How many kids do you have?
I have one.
Okay, you have one.
One's enough.
Is it one and done?
Well, one and she's six years old
and she's probably going on to 17.
Of course, she knows everything.
So you have a six-year-old daughter?
I do.
I also have a six-year-old.
Oh, high five.
So there you go.
Woo.
Yeah, we have something in common there.
All right.
St. Michael's, I'm just thinking you're into classical music, but was there a moment?
Because I'm going to share with you right now, Matt, a moment where I discovered crooning.
Is that the word?
That's the word, man.
Okay.
So maybe I'll share my moment.
You go.
Since it's Toronto Mike.
And then when Toronto Matted is on, not a bad name for a show.
We'll get to your origin story.
All right.
This was the moment I discovered crooning. Time to hit it for the golden light.
It's a good time for the great taste
dinner at McDonald's.
There you go.
All right, here we go.
Big finish.
It's McDonald's.
Come on, make it McDonald's.
Okay, awesome.
So I don't even know.
Mid to late 80s.
I'm going to add this to my repertoire
show me out all right so he's like the moon man he's a big oh yes and he would wear a tux and he's
a moon guy and he would be at a piano and i didn't even know like oh that's a cover like that's a
that's another song called mac the knife like i just knew this was mac tonight and this ad would
run a lot and that was like my intro to like the world
of like sinatra etc so what brings you into the world funny enough uh i will also quote a television
commercial all right i'm excited yeah i think it was the a1 or is hp hp is canadian right hp is uh
the sauce yeah for steaks.
One of them is Canadian.
Anyway, it was the singing cow going,
Can you imagine how much I love you?
Moo, moo, moo, moo.
You got to be the only one for me.
Could ever be you.
Matt.
So, you know, media definitely influences kids. i still remember that oh it's too funny
see if you can find it i will i will search for that um that's me so so though am i safe to say
that even though you're listening to like classical music and performing like opera at
st michael's choir at some point the tones i don't know the dulcet tones of Tony Bennett enter your eardrums and the rest is history.
Yeah, so that station, CJRT,
that was 91.1,
they had, at 10 o'clock,
they'd flip over to jazz.
So, you know, as a young kid
trying to stay up as long as you can.
This is it.
This is it.
Sorry to interrupt. This is important. Breaking news.
Can you imagine?
I got the key.
I got the key.
How much I love you.
Wow.
Boom, boom, boom, boom.
I know the only one for me.
Yeah.
Could ever be you.
My arms won't free you and my heart won't try.
There you go, man.
Thank you. You're beautiful. Okay. That's HP sauce for the record. HP. That's the Canadian one. There you go, man. Thank you, you're beautiful.
Okay, that's HP sauce.
HP, that's the Canadian one.
The same cow, 1994.
Yeah.
Okay.
So it's somewhere in there that I was like,
this is who I want to be.
I want to be a cow.
You want to be a cow.
Who doesn't want to be a cow?
Now, you know, like I said, I did a little digging.
I always do my homework.
And I know that you had like a,
there was a family business at play here.
D&D Steel Rule Dies
and Carton Limited. How'd you find that?
Oh please I have my sources but
D&D Steel Rule
Dies and Carton Limited
doesn't quite roll off the tongue but this was
your destiny. Yeah D&D
D&D so what happened?
I've seen dragons but like dies
Matt you blew it man
D&D Steel Rule Dies and cardin limited was waiting for you
and what did you do it's funny because i i i my dad was a tradesman and you know being a small
business kind of guy you know you don't have babysitting at home you bring the kids to work
yeah and i started to learn how to be a tool and die guy so this was like my destiny and now
i could probably charge like 120 an hour
to do that stuff which is nothing to laugh at i know it's crazy like when i was a kid people
would befu that now it's like try to get a contract we're from the same generation we were
we were sold a bill of goods we were sold the lie go to university go to university uh get your
english degree otherwise they'd say things like oh oh, you'll be stuck with a blue-collar job.
Dude, that was the total story I was sold.
I know.
Shout out to my buddy Murray,
who just became an apprentice.
His dad was a plumber.
As a teenager, he was working with his dad as a plumber.
Today, that guy's got a trailer in a trailer park.
He's got it going on.
The best, happiest life.
Murray is as happy as a pig in shit,
and Murray is running his own business
as a in-demand plumber.
I'm telling you,
seriously, when I was a kid,
I remember going to my,
what, the counselor's meeting?
Going like,
what do you want to do with your life?
Yeah, guidance counselor.
And I said,
well, I want to be a baseball player.
Yeah, sure.
And he goes,
cool, are you good at it? I'm like, no, I just like baseball. Yeah, sure. And he goes, cool, are you good at it?
I'm like, no, I just like baseball.
Right, right.
And he goes, well, I was like, well, you know,
I've been working in my dad's shop for 10 years.
I know how to do all these skills.
Yeah.
And then I remember him saying,
don't you want to apply yourself to higher learning?
Right.
What was that about?
That's such bullshit when I listen back
and I think back to that.
Like, so many great tradespeople out there were almost like, oh, this is your consolation prize because you're not smart enough to go to the U of T or York or something.
Right.
So during the pandemic, time to do all the renovations yourself.
I had those skills paid off.
Okay.
Because I need some help here.
No problem.
I know.
When I come over for my Manhattan.
Manhattan.
We're going to work out a deal here. All right. So we got a lot of need some help here. No problem. When I come over for my Manhattan, we're going to work out a deal here.
All right, so we've got a lot of ground to cover here.
I hope you have several hours.
Let's do it.
And I've got some great clips,
but I am curious about the Canadian National Exhibition Rising Star Competition
only because I did work three years at the CNE
well before you were there winning a contest,
but tell me how this contest changes your life.
Sorry, you won a contest there?
I worked there. Okay, okay. I won nothing. I won a game booth. I won a couple of stuffies.
So it's like in my teens, I used to go on these tours with the choir and, you know, think about
this. You're going with your friends from your class and other classmates and younger kids and
older kids without your parents. Okay, from the age of nine, we're going all over the world to Europe,
to South America, to the Caribbean.
And what do you do as a kid?
You bring your Walkman and you bring your mixtapes.
And so my friends, they had these crooning stuff.
So I started to get into this kind of jazz music.
And then there was this talent competition called the C&E Rising Star.
So I think it was 1997, I tried out.
There was like, I don't know, a thousand people that tried out.
Didn't get in.
And it was terrible.
Then Frank Sinatra died.
And there was this resurgence of his music.
So I was like, ah, I'll try out for myself as well as a group.
And I ended up winning first and second place overall.
Timing's everything.
Wow, and then you realized your destiny was not D&D Steel Rules.
It was working at the C&E.
It was working at the X.
And I did.
The next year I got to sing every day at this competition
and it was kind of the thrust into
I guess you could call it the music business at the time.
And you won the
Oscar Peterson scholarship.
I didn't even apply for that.
I think they just had too many and they had to hand it over.
Did you meet Oscar?
There's a mural
or a memorial I guess right near here
on Lakeshore for Oscar
because he's a lakeshore
and he just had got his he just got his own toonie is that right yeah he just got his own coins like
that he's he was like an exceptional talent one of canada's best absolutely i met him when i was 13
i think um at the time he was being installed i think to be at the chancellor of york university
and my mom at the time was working at York.
And I remember being,
her responsibility was to take care of him.
So I was backstage with him.
And, you know, I have my program
and I walk up to him and I go,
Mr. Peterson, would you mind signing my program?
He goes, ah, young blood, keep young.
And it's funny how he's been a part of my life ever since that moment.
That's amazing.
I got a clip I'm going to play because there's a great question coming up on a TV show that you're known for.
But I need to ask you about your hair.
Like, okay, so I'm looking at your hair.
The hair is amazing.
Thanks.
But I feel I could do that too.
You have a bit more pigmentation than me.
And I'm going to blame that on you being like four years younger than me but okay that's what i'm gonna do but
i'm curious about product in that hair what is in that hair that is not like because i just had a
quick shower after my bike ride knowing that the great matt dusk is coming over clean as a whistle
but all i have in this is water and it's gonna dry What's in your hair? Base cell.
That's not true.
I don't know.
Hairspray?
Is there a burl cream in there?
What's going on?
Is that hairspray?
There's this cream.
I don't know.
KMS?
Is this a personal question?
No, no.
I don't even know.
I just go to the store and buy the same thing
I've been buying for years.
Okay, but you are stylizing it.
I have to.
Otherwise, it's like a helmet.
It's pretty much like a helmet now.
Welcome to my world.
I can't wait to take that photo with you afterwards.
People can dare to compare.
Listen closely, Matt.
This is your life.
Two shots are happy.
One shot is sad.
I'm just a singer.
Some say a sinner.
You're a good singer, Matt.
Was.
Rolling the dice
Heard you sing the cow song.
Not always a winner
You say I've been lucky
Well, I've made my own
Not part of the crowd
But not feeling alone.
It's a rather lengthy question, Matt, but I'm going to read it all
because Steve Cole took quite a bit of time to put this together.
But he writes in, Mark Burnett's reality show, The Casino,
was when I first realized that the word reality
is a rather loose concept when it comes to these shows.
Oh no, it's 100% real.
It was apparent from the beginning
that the show was heavily scripted and storyboarded.
Of course, that didn't prevent me from watching the whole series.
One of the main storylines was whether this young Canadian crooner
could get promoted from lounge singer to the main storylines was whether this young Canadian crooner could get promoted
from lounge singer
to the main showroom
at the Golden Nugget.
Can Matt share some details
about the casino show?
Was there anything
that was not scripted
or storyboarded and rehearsed?
How did he get cast in the show?
Notwithstanding the less than stellar
reviews and ratings for the show,
was it a positive experience
and did it have a noticeable effect on his career?
For some reason, I recall Barenaked Ladies
making an appearance on that show.
Was there a Canadian connection somehow with casting?
The floor is yours, Matt Dusk.
Let's hear it all.
So having spent a number of dinners or drinks
with Mark Burnett, as he best explained it to me,
it's called unscripted drama.
Who are we to argue with the man who gave us Survivor?
And The Apprentice.
I won't hold that against him.
Matt, on that note,
he gave us The Apprentice,
which you could draw a line between that
and the fact that who the 45th president
of the United States was.
Do you have any aspirations?
Will there one day be Prime Minister Matt Dusk?
Oh, God, no.
There's no chance.
No, thank you.
You're not even thinking about Ryan Lesnar.
On your best day, one out of every two people hate you.
So what a great job for an entertainer.
You can win with those numbers.
I know.
That's the worst part.
So back to the casino.
Basically, what happened is, you know,
they were looking for someone to perform in Las Vegas for this show.
And the whole idea was we're going to because the guy who was the music supervisor was very good friends with my manager.
And he said, listen, bring let's bring Matt down.
Speaking in third person here as he was talking to him right and he said we'll we'll set up a show in in a lounge
uh at this restaurant called i think it was called like fieros or something anyway and we'll bring
the owners out and if they like it uh matt can be in the show so i was like you know as a young kid
watching all these sinatra dvds and elvis dvds i'm dating myself now. I was like, I never thought I'd be in Las Vegas. I was like, let's
go. And I remember the
very first day I
ever arrived there, I was staying at the
Sahara Hotel. And the
next morning,
it's about 10 o'clock and I
go to the front
where the concierge
is and I say, hey, where can I get breakfast? He's like, oh,
there's this great place called the Pepper Mill, which is like a the concierge is. And I was like, Hey, where can I get breakfast? He's like, Oh, this is great place called the pepper mill,
which is like a couple of blocks away from there.
So I go down there and,
they give me the menu and this lady comes and goes,
Oh,
drinks anybody?
And I was like,
yes,
I'd love a coffee.
And she goes,
no,
no,
no,
I'm here for alcohol.
And I said,
what?
She goes,
it's Vegas,
honey.
And that was,
that was my introduction to,
to Las Vegas.
So we do this show. Yeah. And the guys come out, they see me,
they're big Sinatra fans, and it became this friendship
that didn't really unfold that well on the TV show,
but I'm still friends with them even today.
And that's an amazing break for you, because you're pretty damn young.
I was 23 or 24 i think
at the time yeah and so so did you move to vegas i did i lived there for four years wow because i
had i had my showroom there i was traveling uh you know off to asia and off to europe so you know
the question is was it was it a good thing for my career? Absolutely. I mean, I think any attention at that grand of a scale will attract people. You know, even if you get 1% of people who like you, it's a great launching pad. In hindsight, I'm kind of glad that time heals all wounds.
Explain.
romanticize the past, but, you know, going through that whole experience of, of being on an American television reality show, um, you know, everybody is out for themselves and they're, they're going
to bend things to benefit them at the expense of the talent. Right. So they, they, they are ruthless.
Um, but that's okay because it gave me the introduction to realizing how naive I was as
a good Canadian artist.
Are you a Barenaked Ladies fan?
Absolutely.
Do you happen to know how they end up on the show?
Do you have any idea?
So they were playing at the showroom anyway,
which is at the top of the Golden Nugget,
and they were contracted.
I don't know what they got paid,
but then that's how the whole thing came about.
Okay, because there's a tie here, and I am now skipping ahead a bit,
but hey, it's my show.
This is what I'm going to do here.
But, so we'll fast forward a bit.
Oh my gosh, call me Fitz.
Yeah, so.
Without you, I'd find my smile.
Without you, I'd run by mile without you.
Oh, life would be so grand without you.
I'm half a man without you.
Call me Fitz, and we're going a few years later,
but Mike Moniz did write in and say
that show is so damn raunchy and funny,
one of the best comedies I've ever seen,
and Jason Priestley playing against type as a slime ball
was brilliant and gut-busting funny.
So here, it's all coming together in my mind
because Jason Priestley gave Barenaked Ladies
their big break on 90210
when bare naked ladies played peach pit after dark wow and then jason priestly directed the
bare naked ladies video for the old apartment and really helped break bare naked ladies because
he's canadian of course but breaking bare naked ladies in the usa and now we have uh bare naked
ladies on your show and then later you're doing the music for
Call Me Fitz my brain's gonna blow all these Canadian artists like what is happening here
we are a very small group okay but how did you get the Call Me Fitz deal so I got a well my
my management they got a call about this Canadian show that was coming and they wanted to use all of
this great crooning music, which is,
you know, from Bobby Darin, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole. But of course, the sync rights are
very, very expensive. So they had this idea where, hey, what if we hire Matt to put it together?
And I was like, a TV show soundtrack? You know, absolutely. Why not? Why not?
And that's,
that's,
that's,
that's life,
right?
That is life.
Here it comes.
That's life.
That's what all the people say
You're riding high in April
And shot down in May
But I know I'm gonna change that tune
When I'm back on top
Back on top in June
I said
That's life.
And as funny as it may seem, some people get their kicks stomping on a dream.
But I won't let it get me down.
Because this final world, it keeps spinning around.
I've been a puppet, a popper, a pirate, a poet.
A pirate and a king.
I've been up and down.
Man, I don't even want to bring it down, but fantastic.
This is also from, well, this is...
Call Me Fitz.
Oh, Call Me Fitz, yeah.
Wow, look at you, man.
You love torturing me just listening to myself.
Does it bother you?
Because I saw you when I was playing that theme song,
To Call Me Fitz, that you kind of buried your head in your hand.
What, you don't like to hear your voice?
How many people do?
What people with good voices do.
I don't think so.
Remember that thing when you used to have answering machines?
And you'd listen, you'd like change your voice.
Hello, you have reached.
Drop it down another level.
Yeah, exactly.
I really sound like this.
You should hear some of the voices on this show.
Okay.
Here, I'm going to give you a couple of quick gifts here before time runs away from us.
Can you imagine how much I want this?
This red box is empty.
That red box is from Palma's Kitchen.
Palma Pasta has a large lasagna for you in my freezer.
What?
So before you leave, I'm putting a large lasagna.
That's from Palma Pasta. I thought you were giving me a corrugated carton here so you could quiz you in my freezer. What? So before you leave, I'm putting a large... That's from Palma Pasta.
I thought you were giving me a corrugated carton here
so you'd quiz me on my youth.
And what's this?
That, pull the paper
part, pull that out. Is it going to like
float on my face?
I do this to all my guests. That is a flashlight
courtesy of Ridley Funeral Home. Oh no,
he's blinded everybody. Ridley Funeral
Home sent that over for you.
This is how they make sure
you're not dead.
They put it in your eyes.
Okay, they're dead.
That'll keep you from dying
because you use that in the dark.
You don't trip around.
Thank you, Ridley Funeral Home.
Thank you, Palmapasta.
Go to palmapasta.com.
Nervous Saganok.
Hey, there's a
Toronto Mike sticker for you, Matt.
Love it.
Putting it on my car.
StickerU.com
quality stickers, decals.
That's where you get
all your awesome swag
do you pay me
if I put this on my car
yeah I pay you
for Great Lakes beer
perfect
Great Lakes beer
cheers
alright and one more thing
because I want to ask you
about a little band
called U2
because it's funny
David Alter was here
last week
and U2 is his favorite
band of all time
we did a lot of
U2 chatter
but
but but but but
there is another gift
on that table for you
do you see the
Bluetooth speaker do you see the Bluetooth speaker?
Do you see that?
Oh my gosh.
This is in another box.
This is great.
You take that home when you listen to your Sinatra.
Okay.
Because season three of the award-winning Yes, We Are Open podcast hosted by FOTM Al Grego just launched.
It launched earlier this month of October, 2022.
Al's been traveling the country interviewing small Canadian businesses
and he's been telling the story of their origin,
their struggles, their future outlook.
And if you're a small business owner
or entrepreneur like us,
you'll find the podcast helpful and motivational.
Yes, we are open.
Listen to that on that Bluetooth speaker.
And yeah, now so many places I want to go here,
but here, I'm going to play the song. I actually played a bit of it earlier, but I want to go here, but here I'm going to play the song.
I actually played a bit of it earlier, but I want to ask you a little more of how you came to record this,
because I found out who wrote this song and I thought that was pretty darn interesting.
I think this is the video, so maybe I'll actually fast forward a titch. Two shots are happy, one shot are sad.
You think I'm no good.
I know I've been bad.
Took you to a place.
Now you can't get back.
Two shots are happy One shot aside
Walk together down
I know you don't like listening to your own voice, Matt,
so I'll bring it down.
But this, of course, we heard it as the theme for the casino.
Who wrote this song?
Bono and the Edge for Mr. S, Mr. Frank Sinatra.
The chairman of the board.
It's quite a story.
I think it was in the,
it was right after Sinatra did his duets record.
He recorded, I think it's,
I've Got You Under My Skin with Bono.
Yep.
And Bono was like, I'm going to write you a song.
So of course Frank's like, whatever.
But Bono kept on trying to get the song.
And finally he got it together and pitched it,
but Frank was well into his late 70s, early 80s,
and then at, I think it was Frank's TV special
when he was having his birthday,
Bono was like,
Frank, I've been pitching this song to you forever.
Now I'm going to sing it for you,
and he sang it,
but then Frank died.
Shout out to Ridley Fun home with the light anyway um basically what happened was you know the song kind of just sat doing
nothing and i got a call from our publisher going we got the song written by bono and the edge
for frank he died how would you like to record it and i was like well i'm kind of busy right now i'm a big
deal he's got signed universal i don't know right of course i i it goes but listen we got to do the
demo then we got to send it to them for approval and from my understanding they they liked it and
not only did they give us the title track of my debut record with universal but also the theme
song for the casino.
Coming all back to that story with Mark Burnett.
Sounds great, but I'm going to look in the eyes
and ask you a very difficult question, okay?
Was there ever any concern they might give this to Bublé?
Oh, God, no.
No, man, we got two different voices.
I mean, same genre.
It's like saying Nat King Cole and Frank.
Both great.
You coexist happily, you two.
There's no rivalry.
You two are...
Do you guys get along?
I thought you meant you two,
as in like Bono and the Edge.
It's very confusing, absolutely.
But you and Bublé,
and I only bring up Bublé
because I think he's got a few years on you, obviously.
That old man.
He's going to retire before me.
I'll take everything.
Then you'll take over.
But you're both crooners and you're both Canadians, so there's some obvious comparisons.
Well, it's crazy, right?
When you think about crooners, we don't quit.
We die, right?
I mean, look, look.
Tony Bennett's still been doing it after seven decades.
Paul Anka's still singing.
Crooning definitely allows you to age gracefully, unlike pop music.
Good point.
So this is, yeah, you're good till retirement, unless you die on stage.
No, I'm going to retire, but I'll definitely reach out to Ridley.
It's better.
Yeah, you can do a pre-plan.
At TMLXX, which was like September 1st at Great Lakes Brewery,
they actually, We had a contest
and one of the prizes was
a huge
discount on your
pre-plan.
It's always smart to pre-plan.
You can buy a condo for $800,000
or a funeral plot for
$28,000.
Plan now, sell later. Why not both?
I'm living forever.
Forget it.
Your wife is from Poland?
She is.
Is she of Polish descent or she actually emigrated from Poland?
Oh, no, no.
She emigrated here to Canada from Poland.
Okay.
So this is a great opportunity for me to find out.
The comparison I've been using.
Ah, yes.
Is that you are to Siegdach Poland
yes
as David Hasselhoff
is to Germany
it is true W maju jest na dnie Żeby umieć wrzucić drugi bieg
Znowu w czerwcu móc się wysoko wznieść
Westline
Choć żałosne zdaje się być
Że niektórych cieszy, gdy spada ktoś na pysk Now what are we listening to here?
Well, it's called That's Life, but it's been translated partially into Polish.
You're huge in Poland.
I'm actually leaving on Friday for there again.
So, I mean, you know, you're a big deal here, of course.
But what is it with that neck of the woods embracing your dulcet tones?
I think because buble doesn't go there.
Come on, man. No,
listen, Buble's got nothing on you.
So I think there's a good
story. I think every song has
a great story, every album, every career.
You know, my wife, having come from there,
coming to Canada, there's a
story.
I don't think also
a lot of people have taken the opportunity to
translate these great English songs into different languages.
But as you can hear right now, this song book can be translated into any language.
Oh, that's English.
Oh, it's bilingual, baby.
Bilingual.
It's like Canada, French and English.
Can you name check who are the singers with you?
Do you know?
Uwe Barak.
There's Andrzej Piznaczny.
And Natalia Kukulska.
Very popular video on YouTube.
And great, great, great recording, man.
Good for you.
Thank you.
So you're going forward.
You know what?
Yes?
You know, the one thing I got to just mention about music
is that great music crosses so many cultural borders.
Like, I was just in Quebec.
I did a couple month tours different times of the year.
But, you know, you got songs like, say, The Good Life.
That's a great song that Tony Bennett did.
It's very popular.
But it's also a French song that was Bennett did, very popular, but it's also a French song
that was called La Belle Vie.
Right.
So, you know, being a Canadian
and being exposed to all these different languages,
I was like, why can't we do this in Polish?
Why can't we do this in Romanian?
Why can't we do this in Lithuanian?
You know, like, it's a beautiful thing.
Absolutely.
I tell you, the more you drink, the better it sounds.
That's what I always say.
A real quick note here from Moose Grumpy,
which I found amusing because Moose Grumpy's real name is Dawn.
And then I was thinking this question is literally from Dawn to Dusk.
Hey-o.
I worked hard on that one.
Okay.
I worked way too hard on that one.
Does Matt Dusk get tired of singing Marshmallow World?
And then she makes an inside reference.
I don't expect you to get, Matt.
But she says, is it his black cars?
And that's because Geno Van Alley came on and I just wanted to talk black cars.
And he made...
That's hilarious.
Can we get off black cars already?
And it's kind of a famous line in Toronto Mike Tistri.
Do we ever get tired of the belting out the Christmas songs?
You know, it's what keeps the crooners alive
is the Christmas songs.
I mean, we still got these standards in North America
that come around once a year, and it's nuts.
It's like my streaming numbers goes up to like, you know,
five, six million a month.
I don't get sick of it because these songs have
so much history for the listener.
They remember it.
You know, it's like, what is a great song?
A great song comes with a great melody and lyric, but also comes with great memories.
So that's what keeps the crooning genre alive as well as great holiday songs.
Do you have a favorite holiday?
We'll call it a holiday song.
Do you have a favorite holiday song to perform in December?
Happy holiday.
Happy holiday while the marabels bells keep ringing happy holiday to you so it's like um i'm nothing against calling things christmas or holiday but that's the one that andy williams had
and as a kid growing up i had andy williams christmas vinyl which we still have today
which i just broke out a week ago just to make sure the record player is working for December.
Amazing.
Right, because we're quickly approaching Halloween.
Don't worry.
Costco is already way beyond that.
They're already, what are they at?
Valentine's Day?
Yeah, exactly.
Buy a skit of Cinnamon Hearts.
Well, you know what's down the street
from the Costco, right?
The brewery.
Now you know.
Great Lakes Brewery.
Now you know.
My son, so I mentioned I have a six-year-old i
actually have four kids and one of them is eight and the eight-year-old had a uh when he was younger
he had a daniel tiger's neighborhood theme party he was big so i i i like yourself we remember mr
rogers neighborhood yeah the kids today they're into daniel tiger neighborhood. So if you don't mind, I'm going to
play a little bit. Yeah, I haven't heard
this since I sent it in. Okay, you ready? Yeah, let's go.
Happy holidays,
neighbor. Today is a
special day. We're celebrating
Snowflake Day.
And we're putting on a snowflake
show. I'm so glad
you're here. And I'll be right
back. Come on, Daniel. It's Snowflake Day in the neighborhood so glad you're here. And I'll be right back.
Come on, Daniel.
It's Snowflake Day in the neighborhood.
Let's celebrate with our neighbors.
Just look outside at all the pretty lights.
I'm always looking forward to this day.
It's true.
And now I get to celebrate this day with you.
Let's make the most of a great holiday!
And while we're together,
we'll laugh and we'll play.
Won't you please, won't you please celebrate it with me?
Won't you please
come celebrate
Snowflake Day?
Yes! How can you not be in the mood? Yes.
How can you not be in the mood?
Skip Halloween.
Go straight to the holiday season.
I'm ready.
You know what's funny?
It's like having listening to,
I remember when I first heard that,
I haven't heard it since then, and I was like,
holy cow, this kid is acting like crazy.
So I was like, let's get on the,
there's no business like show.
You got to overact on
daniel tiger's neighborhood so here's a fun uh small world story is that you're now an fotm
matt so fotm means friend of toronto mike sweet man you're now an fotm uh better late than never
i can't life to have that manhattan at your uh at your home now uh another fotm is a jazz singer
named heather bambrick oh of course. She's amazing.
You know Heather?
Yeah, she lives like two doors down from me.
Okay.
So shout out to Heather who brought me this screech because she's from Newfoundland.
Yes, that's right.
Kiss the screech.
So the reason I, why am I bringing up Heather Bambrick?
Because she plays.
She's amazing.
Yeah.
And she plays the mom in Daniel Tiger.
She's the voice of the mom.
I did not know that.
These are things I discovered here.
You came to the right place, buddy.
Yeah.
You come here, you leave with a bunch of fun facts and useless.
And a lasagna.
Love it.
Absolutely.
So shout out to Heather Bambrick.
And Palma Pasta.
And Palma Pasta.
I'm going to report back on that pasta.
So how did you get the Daniel Tigers?
They were looking for a crooner?
It's the same thing, man.
And Bublé didn't answer his phone?
Probably.
Probably what happened is they're like, okay, who can we get
for our price range?
Let's call Michael.
Three million.
Let's call Dusk.
30 bucks.
Done.
You do it for,
for some,
from Great Lakes Beer,
I'm sure.
Totally.
What do I get,
more than two?
I'm taking yours as well.
Screw you.
Yeah,
you can,
I'm going to get you
more than two.
Actually,
I'm going to take care of you
because,
especially because they brew it
in your like backyard. Like literally, that's where they care of you, especially because they brew it in your backyard.
Like, literally, that's where they're doing this. As long as they deliver.
I'm so lazy after the pandemic.
I want to leave my house.
All right, my friend.
I want to talk a bit more about Frank Sinatra,
chairman of the board.
Did you ever see him perform live?
Never.
I only got into him after he died.
How about that?
So weird.
And remind me what year he died.
I think it was like 98. I think it was like December 13th, 98. Or about that? So weird. And remind me what year he died. I think it was like 98.
I think it was like December 13th, 98.
Or 11th, somewhere there.
Is that right?
I'm going to take your word for it.
Fact check.
I will.
I'll Google that in a second here.
It's amazing that that,
so he passes away and you dive in.
And like, I would say that,
like if I go to see you live,
you mentioned you're going to Poland,
but when are you going to play Ontario again? So Toronto
December 9th?
8th? Queen Elizabeth
Center? 9th? 9th?
Warm? Hot? Who's voice was that that I just
heard? Who's in this room with you? My publicist is here.
What's her name? I don't even know. We just met
today. What's your name? Is she your
Uber driver? Yeah. Five star ride.
She just wants to like stick around
here. I meant to tell
her if she wanted to put headphones on uh no she doesn't want to hear at all in here she wants a
nap she's working so hard frank sinatra the great i i've recorded episodes with steve pagan do you
know this guy steve pagan i do not so he's a guy uh who hosts a show on TV Ontario TVO.
Oh, yeah.
It's called The Agenda.
Cool.
And Pagan is the biggest Frank Sinatra fan I know.
In fact, I was tweeting at him when you were in this calendar.
And I said, Pagan, there's an episode for you coming up with Matt Dusk that you're going to love.
And he's quite excited about it.
So Frank, to warm us up here to talk Frank, where do we have so much here?
You mentioned that Frank did this with Bono.
Yep.
So let's just drink this in for a moment and then we got to talk Frank.
I've got you under my skin.
I've got you deep in the heart of me
So deep in my heart that you are a part of me
I've got you under my skin
I tried so
Not to give in
I said to myself
This affair
Never can go so well
But why should I try to resist
A baby I know so well
I've got you under my skin
What album do I have to buy to hear this recording of you, Matt?
Sinatra.
That's the name of the title of the record.
Volume 1 or Volume 2?
Either of them.
They're all on Spotify, whatever.
It's all out there.
Guns N' Roses did that, okay?
Do you remember Use Your Illusion? No. And they had 1 and all on Spotify, whatever. It's all out there. Guns N' Roses did that, okay? Do you remember
Use Your Illusion?
No.
And they had one and two.
Oh, yeah.
You were too busy
with Tony Bennett
and Frank Sinatra.
And the cow.
By the way,
Pagan won't know
Guns N' Roses either.
I'll have to tell him
who Guns N' Roses is.
But they put
Don't Cry on both.
Like, I just have memories
of different versions,
but they had that song
on both Use Your Illusion 1
and Use Your Illusion 2.
But, okay, so you have albums that these are, did you record these different versions, but they had that song on both use your illusion one and you use your illusion too. But okay.
So you have albums that these are,
did you record these during the pandemic?
Actually recorded them before the pandemic and I was never supposed to
release them.
I just did it for me.
So did you record them at home?
Do you have a home studio?
I do,
but I,
but,
uh,
so the,
the,
the plan was,
it was like,
I think it was May of 2019.
I had sung these songs forever. And we had, when I say we, so the plan was, it was like, I think it was May of 2019. I had sung these songs forever.
And we had, when I say we, my band and I, we had some downtime.
So I said, let's just go in the studio.
We got seven hours.
Let's go record whatever we can.
So I brought, you know, a ton of charts.
And my expectation was five or six charts and we ended up recording live off the
floor about i think it was eight 17 songs wow and it was crazy right because it was like one two take
done one two take done one two take done and the band were all like high-fiving i had scotch i was
gonna bring it out at the end of the session by like lunch we're bringing it out um it was the most
serendipitous thing that i've ever had happen in in the recording studio ever i'm very proud of it
and how quickly did you bang out these 17 jams it was like in under seven hours amazing it was live
off floor it's crazy can you could you name check the band like they sound amazing. Yeah, let's go. Oh my gosh, there's Jason Logue on trumpet.
Alex Kandaxiaglu.
I think James Rhodes.
I think...
Oh gosh, I'm in...
Putting you on the spot here.
Yeah, there's...
I'll fix it in post.
Mr. Black.
There's like 18.
There's like 40 people on this record.
That's like broken social scene.
Brian Barlow, Mark Rogers on bass.
Lou Pamanti on... Hey, Lou was here last month.
Oh, I love Lou.
We're very good friends.
Lou Pomanti.
Okay, say hi for me.
Do you know James B then?
Of course, James B.
Okay, do you think...
He's like part of the furniture.
I know.
Do you...
Wait, I've moved the camera on you.
But do you think James B is famous?
Of course.
Fame means that people know who he is.
Right.
Yeah.
Okay, I agree with you.
It's been an ongoing debate on Toronto Mike
whether James B. is famous or not.
What are you talking about?
He's like part of Toronto.
There is no Toronto without James B.
He's a legend.
Yeah.
He's a legend.
We just heard it.
Oh, this is a very, very early record.
This is from Look People.
You can go on to that.
But that's when he was...
The pre-cocktail hour, if you will.
Before... And I mean, when I look back...-cocktail hour, if you will.
And I mean,
when I look back,
was it? He definitely has changed.
He's changed.
Oh, yeah.
He has those salon parties.
Have you ever been,
you've been invited
to a James B. party?
I have been.
Every time I get invited,
I'm not here.
It sucks.
You gotta spend more time here.
Shout out to James B.
Shout out to Lou Pomonti.
Sorry for interrupting you there,
but you said Lou
and I had to mention
he came on.
Lou's the best.
He is cool.
And his son is a musician, right?
Yes, his son plays.
I think he's playing over.
Kim Mitchell, maybe?
Where does he play with?
I get my...
There's another guy too,
but he's playing over in Asia right now, I think.
Yeah.
Look at you guys, globetrotters.
Well, I mean, we're hired guns, bro.
We go where the work is.
You go where the work is here
could you imagine playing 30 dates a month in toronto that's just those days are long gone
ron hawkins used to do it but that was a long time ago at the cock door and my french accent
is terrible but i'm sure i'm saying it wrong the cock door in in in the 1990s that you could you
could play six seven times a week now you know it's a different time because I'm going to ask you about how the pandemic fucked up touring.
What are you talking about?
I kept touring.
You were touring what?
In one bedroom and then the kitchen, the bar every night.
Yeah, the pandemic screwed the entire industry up.
And you like, clearly you like to perform.
You want to be out there sharing your music with the world.
And what is it, March 2020? I'm clearly you like to perform. You want to be out there sharing your, uh, your music with the world. And,
uh,
what is it?
March,
2020. I know.
I remember picking up the kids on Friday,
the 13th of March,
2020.
And then everything changed.
Now,
what did you do exactly?
Like you just got comfy and,
uh,
so,
so,
so funny enough,
we,
uh,
my,
say we,
my band and myself,
we were driving to Quebec to start our tour.
And we drove like almost a thousand kilometers out in the middle of nowhere and then 15 minutes for load and they're like
tour's canceled and they were like but we have our rider yeah and i paid for the hotels we're
like screw it let's go to the hotel drink and then the next day we drove home and like the
world was falling we're like what is happening anyway um what did i do you know obviously kept on doing
music it was different though right because usually in the old days when i say old days 2019
you'd get in a studio like the sinatra record you'd grab like 30 people in a studio record right
now every time i have to make a song it would be like record the drums remotely record the bass
remotely record this remotely and so know, your timeline became extreme.
Also, I did a ton of home renovation stuff.
Right, well, that's because your dad taught you.
I was a tool and die guy, man.
It was just like, all right, let's go to work.
Did you consider going back to the family business, right?
Who doesn't think about that?
Of course.
I mean, the other thing is, but, you know, I got the skills.
So I'm'm like anybody need
a carpenter you're still a young man eh like like have you considered uh radical career change at
this point are you like your retirement plan is retirement you're frank sinatra now well i mean
music was my backup plan so we'll see what's next i don't know what's i mean if you're in demand in
poland you're on your way here and you were you said you're playing Toronto. What venue are you playing on? Is it December 9th? The 9th, right? Yeah. Queen Elizabeth Center.
That's at C&E, right? You know, it's funny. I didn't realize this. It's at the C&E,
but that is where I did my first audition for The Rising Star.
So it all comes circle. Nothing changes in life. Same, same.
The only constant is change, Matt. I've been trying to tell you that. Okay, so pause.
I got to talk more Sinatra
because I promised Bacon.
Guys, I want to play more of you at Sinatra,
but you look like a smart investor.
You look like you know what to do
with the money you earn.
What is the currency?
Is Poland, do they use the euro there?
You can use euros in Poland?
Zwoty.
Okay.
I bet you've been invested.
Say it again.
It's actually called Zwoty.
Zwoty.
But it looks like Zloty Zloty but it looks like
Zloty
and if we were
going to butcher it
in English
and shout out to my buddy
Shem Zolt
proud
Yax Shemash
he can't
he
new Canadian
not that new anymore
I guess
but he's been here
for about 30 years now
but
in the grand scheme
of the earth
he might go back
who knows
but learn
this is important Matt
learn how to plan invest and live smarter with the Raymond James The Advantaged Investor
podcast featuring insights from leading professionals.
The Advantaged Investor provides valuable perspective for Canadian investors who want
to remain knowledgeable, informed, and focused on long-term success.
So I want to shout out Chris Cooksey.
He's the host of this fine podcast.
And I learn a great deal.
I mean, his episode, his recent episode is on RESPs.
And I posted that on torontomic.com.
Find out what it means.
You know, that's an Otis Redding song, but you know that.
So your Bluetooth, yes, Manera sent that over
so you can listen to Yes, We Are Open.
I want my credit card machine.
You're also going to listen to The Advantage Investor.
Absolutely.
Because why not?
You got the Bluetooth hook up there.
I'm just going to walk around
with it on listening to his podcast.
What can go wrong?
And now the end is near
And so I face the final curtain.
My friend, I'll say it clear.
I'll state my case, of which I'm certain.
I've lived a life that's full.
I've traveled each and every highway.
And more, much more than this, I did it my way
You have to close with this song, right?
Because you can't do this song and then do anything else.
Dude, you're taking my gig.
I'm going to start a podcast.
And this could be your closing jam.
Well done, First League.
So, more Sinatra.
Beautiful song.
So, you legitimately love the the catalog of Frank Sinatra.
Well, I mean, Frank sang like, you know, 1,200 songs,
so it's kind of hard to miss anything that he did.
Oh, I got an idea.
Oh, he did it.
Oh, yeah, all right.
But this song has so much emotional connection to people.
And it's like if I close my show, everyone has a memory.
And it's like this moment where you
realize how important live
music is. It's like you walk out of the theater
and going it was worth
you know the two hours. Even if I didn't want to go
I'm glad it's over.
It's very the song and again
it's Paul Anka right? He wrote the song?
So this gentleman I think his name
was Claude Francois was originally a French tune called Comme d'habitude and then Paul Anka, right? He wrote the song? So this gentleman, I think his name was Claude Francois,
was originally a French tune called Comme d'habitude,
and then Paul Anka wrote the English lyrics that they awarded to him.
I think David Bowie wrote a set of lyrics, too.
When you play Ottawa, does Paul Anka join you on stage for this song?
Oh, always.
Really?
No, he doesn't.
Come on.
I thought you were being serious there.
How amazing would that be, though?
I think he lives in L.A.
Okay, this is how naive I am.
I just, like,
I assume you're all
living where you belong.
But you're all in L.A.,
except you.
You are legitimately
in Etobicoke.
How could I not love
the most amazing place
in the world?
But did you consider
sticking around Vegas?
I think I can see
you look like a Vegas guy.
It was fun while it lasted. You don't really have an NHL team, though. Yeah. I think I can see you look like a Vegas guy. It was fun while it lasted.
You know, they have an NHL team now.
Yeah.
And a football team.
I do have my good friends from the Nugget,
but outside of that, it is crazy.
You age very, very fast.
Is that because it's a 24-hour city?
Like, it doesn't, you know.
Yeah, where nothing is free and there's no booze and there's no people looking for fun. It's a 24-hour city. Like, it doesn't, you know. Yeah, where nothing is free and there's no booze
and there's no people looking for fun.
It's quite boring.
What's your favorite Frank Sinatra song?
This one.
Yeah, you know what?
I'm with you, man.
I'm listening to it now and I'm feeling emotional.
It's got that build, that swell.
You know, I tell the story at the end of my show
and it's like, you know, we equate the end to age.
But the truth is, though, so many things and so many people don't have the opportunity to live long.
And I've met many people who have been told, hey, man, you've got two years to live that are younger than us.
So why can't they sing this?
And it makes you think about you've got to be grateful.
So if tomorrow never came,
I think anyone can honestly sing these words.
That's what makes it so powerful.
Okay, big finish.
I took the blows
And did was my way.
Are you sure that was you?
Are you sure that wasn't Frank?
Are you kidding me?
That was Matt Dusk.
That was me.
Okay, man.
So you got these two volumes now of Frank.
But how did they become public?
Why are we able to purchase these albums
if they were a private recording?
Who does a personal private recording at a studio?
How much money do you have to burn over there?
Hey, man, it's art.
Why do people spend $50,000 on a painting?
It's the same thing.
Great question.
So you recorded, you got the material in 2019, it sounds like.
You record these 17 songs.
Funny enough, now that I think about it,
this was one of the ones after the pandemic.
Post-pandemic.
Are we post-pandemic?
Will we ever be?
It depends who you ask.
Is this the Spanish flu pandemic?
So what happened was we record all these songs.
I wasn't going to release them
um and then the pandemic happened and i noticed well i mean everyone's like oh we want to go back
to the old days and i was like oh my manager's like you still got that record and um i think
this is one of the songs that we added on where we literally had to record piece by piece by piece.
So it was, in my opinion,
a necessary addition to that great session.
And you released volume one.
It's literally called Sinatra volume one by Matt Dusk here.
That's his real name.
And that was released in 2020.
And then in 2021, you released Sinatra volume two.
Great names, great creative names. Now now matt uh what's your preference volume one or volume two if you had to choose which one
do i find my way on volume one okay yeah i'm still buying them both okay so i can tell you right now
i records actually do you not know what the internet is that's the vinyl over here i will
say i think steve paken's already making his purchase and
yeah it goes and where do i get tickets for december 9th if i want to see you uh at the
queen elizabeth theater there uh amazingly it's my name mattdusk.com it's listed on there um
mattdusk.com go there for all your matt dusk needs so my friend, I believe I promised this lovely young lady with you.
I think I promised an hour.
I got to tell you, I can do many varieties.
Like I can go into an episode with somebody like yourself
and I can do three hours.
I can do two hours.
This is the one hour version.
Episode 1726.
Before you go, anything you were thinking like on your drive here,
you were thinking, Oh,
I want to tell this story or I want to share this with Toronto.
Mike,
I don't want you to be driving home and thinking,
Oh,
I forgot to mention X,
Y,
Z.
What say you before I play some lowest of the low on our way out?
Why am I coming here on such a nice day?
This is what I was thinking,
but it was well worth it.
Listen,
we're going to take that photo.
So don't,
don't disappear.
I mean, I'm going to get your lasagna. We're going to take that photo. So don't disappear on me.
I'm going to get your lasagna.
We're going to take that photo.
Dude, this has been the best.
I've never done an interview where I get all this swag.
The CBC won't give you this, Matt.
I'm just telling you right now.
And you know what?
I am sick of turkey.
So I'm going to have lasagna tonight.
And a beer.
Yeah, I'm going to get you some.
And I'm going to eat something on my beautiful Bluetooth
while I think about my funeral plans.
While you stare at the sticker you.com front of my sticker.
No, no, no, no.
I'm charging for this.
We've got to talk about advertising.
What time should I be there?
Maybe you, me, Heather Bamberick and the fam, maybe we all just have this lasagna together tonight.
What do you say?
I say you are right.
Let's start at two.
What are you doing?
Look, I would cancel all my plans for you. Come on. Oh, you're so I say you are right. Let's start at two. What are you doing?
Look, I would cancel all my plans for you. Come on.
Oh, you're so sweet. We're going to be BFFs.
Romance. Romance in the night.
And that
brings us to the end of
our 1,125th
show.
Yeah, Joe Rogan got nothing on you.
Screw you, Joe.
Yeah, get out of here.
Toronto Mike's worth that.
You can follow me on Twitter.
I'm at Toronto Mike.
Matt is at Matt Dusk.
But go to mattdusk.com to find out where you can see him live.
And see him live because you can't see Frank Sinatra live.
He's dead.
That's why I have a career.
Honestly, you know what? That's what I always tell
people. I'm like, why should people
come see you? Well, because the other guy's dead.
Unless you have a DVD player, which I doubt you do.
Then that's not the same thing.
We learned that during the pandemic.
I was going to ask you more pandemic questions,
but then I was depressed thinking about it.
We're moving on.
Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery
are at Great Lakes Beer.
Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta.
Sticker U is at Sticker U.
Moneris is at Moneris.
Raymond James Canada are at Raymond James CDN.
EPRA are at EPRA underscore Canada.
And Cliff Hacking, who lives in your neighborhood, by the way.
We are hanging.
Is dropping by later this month
to kick out more
electronics jams
it's going to be amazing
he's going to tell us
more about what
EPRA are up to
Ridley Funeral Home
at Ridley FH
and I forgot to shout
about in the episode
but Canna Cabana
will not be undersold
in cannabis
or cannabis accessories
do you smoke weed Matt?
I don't inhale
are you going to plead the fifth?
Because this is not the court of law here.
I'm running for president, so I don't inhale.
See you all next week. But I wonder who, yeah, I wonder who
Maybe the one who doesn't realize
There's a thousand shades of grey
Cause I know that's true, yes I do
I know it's true, yeah
I know it's true
How about you?
Are they picking up trash and then putting down ropes?
And they're brokering stocks, the class struggle explodes
And I'll play this guitar just the best that I can
Maybe I'm not and maybe I am
But who gives a damn
Because everything is coming up
Rosy and gray
Yeah, the wind is cold
But the smell of snow
Warms me today
And your smile is fine
And it's just like mine
And it won't go away
Because everything is rosy and green
Well, I've kissed you in France and I've kissed you in Spain
And I've kissed you in places I better not name
And I've seen the sun go down on Chaclacour
But I like it much better going down on you
Yeah, you know that's true
Because everything is coming up
Rosy and green
Yeah, the wind is cold
But the smell of snow
Warms us today
And your smile is fine And it's just like mine Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow warms us today.
And your smile is fine, and it's just like mine, and it won't go away. Because everything is rosy now.
Everything is rosy, yeah.
Everything is rosy and great. Rose in gray.