Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Steve Fall: Toronto Mike'd #1098

Episode Date: August 12, 2022

In this 1098th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Steve Fall from Acid Test about his new band with Lucy Di Santo they call ON. Also, Mike shares details about his visit to the Blue Rodeo stud...io yesterday chatting with Jim Cuddy. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Canna Cabana, StickerYou, Ridley Funeral Home and Electronic Products Recycling Association.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to episode 1098 of Toronto Mic'd. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery. A fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times, and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. StickerU.com. Create custom stickers, labels, tattoos, and decals for your home and your business. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Electronic Products Recycling Association.
Starting point is 00:01:00 Oakville. Electronic Products Recycling Association. Committing to our planet's future means properly recycling our electronics of the past. Ridley Funeral Homes. Pillars of the community since 1921. And Canna Cabana. The lowest prices on cannabis. Guaranteed. Over 100 stores across the country.
Starting point is 00:01:25 Learn more at cannacabana.com. Today, returning to Toronto Mic'd is Steve Fall, but not Lucy DeSanto. Yeah. From On. Okay, On. I should have put a question mark on the end of that. On, we're going gonna get into it but how you doing steve i'm doing good buddy good to see you again so why is lucy not here why did
Starting point is 00:01:49 she stand me up lucy well yeah that you should definitely yeah we should definitely make the guilt happen um lucy was in rehearsals last night and she was screaming too much so she came up with like no throat like nothing or just like a raspy voice? Because I like that raspy voice. Oh, it was raspy. It was sore and cranky. And yeah, I was like, oh my God, oh my God, I can't talk. Yeah, okay. Well, Lucy, we're thinking of you.
Starting point is 00:02:16 We hope you feel better soon. And we miss you because now, as I told Steve before I pressed record, now I get to stare at him for the next hour. But good to see you again. Good, likewise. I didn't... Do you remember your first episode? I'm going to quickly, like in real time here, I'm going to dive into... So do you remember at all
Starting point is 00:02:34 the number? I don't remember the number, no, because there's a lot of stuff going on on this page. There's like, what, thousands somewhat? This is 1098. 1098, yeah. Okay, so I have it here now. It's important. So the first time I met you was April 20, 420?
Starting point is 00:02:51 Really? Shout out to Canada Cabana. So April 20, 2018. And I'm just going to read the description. In this 328th episode, so it's episode 328, Mike chats with acid test vocalist lucy de santo and guitarist steve fall about their sonic rise in 1992 the lengthy hiatus and triumphant return to take care of unfinished business so we talked for a good i don't know almost 90 minutes and then
Starting point is 00:03:20 you returned you and lucy it was a was nighttime because I'm looking at the photo. We're in the dark here. November 9th, 2018, you came back and we kicked out the jams. We did. And again, that was acid test. So I'm going to be grilling you. Absolutely. So I'm wearing my acid test t-shirt.
Starting point is 00:03:39 I see that. Thank you for the props. That's great. But you're not acid test. You're on. We are. So very confusing here. So let's start with here. you for the props that's great but you're not acid test you're on we are so very confusing here so
Starting point is 00:03:45 let's let's start with here let's start by playing a bit of a jam and talking about what you were and what you are and all that jazz so i think that the toronto mic listenership the fotms uh remember with great fondness this jam we'll just let it simmer for a bit, Steve. Sure. Takes me right back. I love it. I still love it.
Starting point is 00:04:11 We could do like a pop-up video that you tell me like where our sample's coming from, who's saying what. Sure. Where's Prepare to Tremble coming from? Well, that's coming from Earl Pascoe from Highway 61. Right. Because this is on the soundtrack. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:04:24 And it was our 30th anniversary of that jam drop. And yesterday I found out from Highway 61. Right. Because this is on the soundtrack. Yeah, and it was our 30th anniversary of that jam dropping yesterday, I found out from Scott Turner. Really? Scott Turner posted on his little page on NY History stuff. I get that sometimes. So I'm a big Scott Turner guy. Me too.
Starting point is 00:04:39 Listen, I'm a bigger Scott Turner guy than you. Get the hell out of here. Okay, alright. He bikes a lot too, by the way. Ah, okay. He also had quadruple heart, open heart surgery. Whatever the quadruple one. He's a good guy.
Starting point is 00:04:53 I get a lot of my on this day stuff from Scott as well. I'm trying to get him to podcast. I've been working on that for years. Now we're hearing Lucy's voice. Right? There's voice. Right? Mm-hmm. And there's Earl. And how did it come together? I know we probably covered this your first visit,
Starting point is 00:05:16 but I'm going to sort of talk acid test before we talk on. Absolutely. So how did this song, Mr. Skin, come together? Well, what happened was Bruce traumatized me. He basically, a friend brought me in to do some potential, you know, would you mind being hung up dying on the cross? And I needed money. He said, you'll get paid.
Starting point is 00:05:35 I'm like, all right, I'm in. So I went and met Bruce. And you're very young because you're still kind of young, right? Yeah. How young are you back then? I was pretty young. I was like real young. Yeah, I was like, yeah, young, of young, right? Yeah. How young are you back then? I was pretty young. I was like real young. Yeah, I was like, yeah, young.
Starting point is 00:05:46 1990 young. Right. Yeah. And Colin and Bruce, you know, they gave me the pitch. They said, do you want to do the cross thing? And I said, well, can I get something out of this too? Can I get music on the soundtrack? I mean, that's really, I'm a musician.
Starting point is 00:05:58 I'm really an actor. Right. And they said, well, if we like the stuff. So we were pitching songs and eventually they got one they liked. And then they said, look, if we like the stuff. So we were pitching songs, and eventually they got one they liked. And then they said, look, would you guys do some writing? And it kind of came together for Mr. Skin. They said, we've got this idea of doing like a remix around Earl and Mr. Skin. And so we went into our little spot with Dominic Macri and Chesswood up in the hood,
Starting point is 00:06:20 and this is the result. Okay, amazing. Now, where at the time, I believe, in fact, I know, I was hearing this on 102.1. So who would air this? Where would this play? This started with Hal Harbour.
Starting point is 00:06:35 Okay, who's, by the way, in the Toronto Mike calendar that he's making his Toronto Mike debut in September. Oh, wow. That's heavy. I like that. So he was first and then we just made a that. So he was first,
Starting point is 00:06:46 and then we just made our rounds. Back in the day, there would be different DJs who would just call our house and say, hey, do you want to come up and do whatever? We were just learning. We didn't know. So there was so many.
Starting point is 00:06:54 There was Scott. There was Scott. I want the full extensive list here. Okay, so Scott Turner. There was Scott Turner. There was Doug, which Hall Harbor. There was Danny Elwell. There was May Potts. There was Scott Turner. There was Doug, which, Hull Harbor. There was Danny Elwell.
Starting point is 00:07:06 There was May Potts. There was, my God, there was, Neil Mann was, I think he was running the gig, wasn't he? If I remember. You know, Neil Mann, okay, sore spot with me because we had a party for Marty. And by the way, we're going to shout out, right now we'll shout out the great Pete Fowler
Starting point is 00:07:24 because Pete introduced us. Well, Pete was there too and then so was Martin. The whole thing was just every week we'd get calls and we'd just go in and hang out with everybody and sometimes one would be DJing, there would be
Starting point is 00:07:39 Don Bernster, some of these guys would be jamming at the night and say, do you want to come in? And we had a DJ, Mike, and he would come in and spin with these guys. Or we'd go in and do something on the radio. Alan Cross even was in. Everybody was together. You know, it was cool.
Starting point is 00:07:54 Wow. Okay. So back to Neil Mann for a minute here. Yeah. Because, you know, I got a bone to pick. I got to pick at this thing. So, okay. Well, I'm at the, in fact, I mentioned this yesterday.
Starting point is 00:08:03 I'll get back to this in a minute, too. So, okay, well, I'm at the, in fact, I mentioned this yesterday. I'll get back to this in a minute, too. But I took this show on the road yesterday, and I was in the Blue Rodeo studio, which is called the Woodshed, and it's in Riverdale. And I was thinking, is this the furthest I've traveled to record to somebody on my bike, like having all this gear on the trailer, and I pulled it on my bike. and I pulled it on my bike. And then I remembered, yeah, well, the last time I was out east,
Starting point is 00:08:25 like east of Yonge, was the Opera House for the Party for Marty. So I set up the studio in the lobby and then people would come to celebrate the life of Martin Streak, you know, 10 years.
Starting point is 00:08:37 And Pete Fowler was instrumental in organizing this with DJ Craig G and some others. And, you know, I had, you know, Pina helped me quite a bit. The Inside Edge girl, wrangling people who were there, getting Scott Turner to come on
Starting point is 00:08:50 the mic, getting Alan Cross, getting Mae Potts, getting David Marsden and all these cool cats kind of jumping on. And the only person who said no was Neil Mann. Wow. I know. That's weird. I know. So there you go.
Starting point is 00:09:03 There you go. For what, and Danny Elwell was there. Maybe he found it difficult just to do it, maybe. No idea, but he took a pass, which is his right, and then it's my right to share this story. But all those other names, when Hal Harbour becomes an FOTM next month, they're all going to be FOTMs. And I'll just say I saw on social media that Danny Elwell made a trip to the east, I guess, Nova Scotia.
Starting point is 00:09:27 Yes, I am. And that made me very happy. And I saw my two friends cooking up again. And, you know, I met them together through my work. And it was just nice that we've all still been in touch. It's nice to hear these stories about like, and we're going again, is this like 92? Is that about what we're talking about? My history on that whole thing, 90 to 92.
Starting point is 00:09:45 I mean, that station, those individuals, I think, really were the station. And it was nice to see those people are still the individuals post the station because they're still around doing their thing and we're still in touch. So it was the people, the people from 90 to 92. And at this time, it was unusual.
Starting point is 00:09:58 I didn't know any better. I was just trying to get something going with my band and they were jumping in, along with, obviously, CKLN and CIT and all the, well, that's why I went in. So I want to, cause it's not just,
Starting point is 00:10:07 so, so, so like who on CKLN? So there's a early, I know I'm really testing you here, but because I'm in the early process of a shadow to VP of sales, a Mike you mentory on CKLN. And I'm just curious if you have any recollection of who or in or or ciut
Starting point is 00:10:26 well i can i mean i get people crossed but i mean bookman and of course david james those two individuals were instrumental with us um i keep getting those two stations confused because i was a halifax boy and i was like i would get the wrong person at the wrong station but those two individuals were were always around with us oh yeah they just uh dedicated a plaque to bookman at the uh horseshoe tavern so and my buddy james he's he's always around he's he comes to our shows and you know david has always been a supporter would he would he be a good toronto my guest he would be a great toronto my well we can make that happen i'm all into the like i'm just oh yeah he would be he's a he's like he's like musicologist of indie punk rock
Starting point is 00:11:04 he's i'm in hardcore like story collection mode you have no idea what's going on here like i'm just oh yeah he would be he's a he's like he's a musicologist of indie punk rock he's i'm in hardcore like story collection mode you have no idea what's going on here like i had this like vision of like the whole mind map of everything and how it all connects and i realized oh it's going to take me uh several decades and uh thousands of conversations but i like it no one else is doing it i'm doing it that's. Okay, and that's why you're here. Okay, so acid test. Please name check the members of acid test that are still with us here. Sure. Okay, so acid test at present is Lucy and myself. And that's pretty much it.
Starting point is 00:11:40 It's pretty much Lucy's band. Yeah, I was wondering how that works. Okay, so acidid Test, and who are the original members of Acid Test? Well, the original members were Lucy, myself, and then there was an a la carte for a while.
Starting point is 00:11:56 It was just myself, Lucy, and then Dominic in the studio. And Dominic was kind of like a third guy. And then he's like, I don't want to take this live, so you've got to get a lineup. So that was always the quest. And then the first proper lineup was Adam Percy, to take this live, so you've got to get a lineup. So that was always the quest. And then the first proper lineup was Adam Percy, who's got his own project, Calavro, now. And then there was Jim Malty. His nickname was Tree because he was 6'8". That was our drummer.
Starting point is 00:12:15 But prior to that was Pauline Herlock, our original drummer, mind-blowing drummer. She ended up playing out with Real Tech. And then, of course, Mike DG, Jess Wright right who passed away tragically in 2012 and when we got back together for our reunion and record that was that record just right was dedicated to him so acid test uh I'm curious where on comes from so uh what is the here this is the question of the day you ready you're sitting down readyve okay what the hell is the difference between acid test and on which by the way it's all caps right on on all cops yeah okay all caps we should almost call this band all caps on if we could what's the difference well the difference is we got off
Starting point is 00:12:58 touring in 94 i'm dating things but when we got off tour in 94 with acid test we were pretty fried we all separated. We just was on a hiatus, never really officially broke up. And it was expensive to tour, right? This is the tour where you just basically couldn't afford to do it anymore. No, couldn't afford it. Yeah. Back in the day, it was like labels would have to pay for everything.
Starting point is 00:13:20 And then you'd go and you're used to having a crew and your van and gas in the tank, the whole thing. It's the same as today. It was just, it's probably today it's even worse. But you would pay for it at the end of the day anyways that's the gimmick that's the gimmick yeah that's the idea but you had a little bit of an arm you know like a check would come in and you go okay let's go and when that runs out you're like oh we gotta do this ourselves okay let's just break up so so uh we kind of lucy and i missed it and she said you know i want something fresh i just want to like strip everything down you play guitar i play bass
Starting point is 00:13:43 and sing let's just like get a drummer and rock and uh i said okay and she goes i just want to like strip everything down. You play guitar. I play bass and sing. Let's just like get a drummer and rock. And I said, okay. And she goes, I just want something to the point. You know, you know, when you jump on stage and you're just like, you're, you know, you're together and you're just on. She goes, so that's the name of the band. I went, okay. So I, cause in my little brain, I decided it was some tribute to the province you now
Starting point is 00:14:01 live in. Well, we've been getting that. It's kind of fun. And it kind of is maybe, you know, it kind of, it kind of fun. And it kind of is, maybe, you know? It kind of can go there. Because Lucy, she's a Toronto gal, right? She is. Right, so you're the Maritimer.
Starting point is 00:14:12 I am the Maritime Transplant, yes. Transplant here. When was the last time you went home, by the way? Well, gee, I'm trying to remember. Is it pre-COVID? It was the break. I mean, it was what? COVID was like a storm.
Starting point is 00:14:23 It was like two or three. So there was a break in one of the weather i sort of say and i decided i i got a car uh that i bought a new car treated myself that that's it i'm driving to halifax straight so i did so i drove i i did it when you say straight though you you don't mean straight you mean like you slept somewhere a couple i slept i made it as far as new brunswick i i really yeah man i i went in i found a b&b on the road and went okay i'm coming in and i booked it off the side of the road and i just drove and then i went in to see my sister my sister said she needs her bro so i went and stayed there for a couple weeks and saw her yeah well that's that's nice you could be there for her uh for sure okay so then uh so so okay so i know i you've answered the question but i i feel like i need a little more here so is, so, okay, so I know you've answered the question,
Starting point is 00:15:05 but I feel like I need a little more here. Sure. So the rebrand, right? Because typically you're better to stick with the name Acid Test, I would think. Well, we still have that. And you see there's something that's leading to this. I guess I could drop it maybe, like on acid. But the idea is that we would take the live jams of on
Starting point is 00:15:28 and then remix them and maybe become something else. Okay, so there can be like a symbiotic relationship here where they feed each other. That's the idea. And it's the same human. Well, actually it's not because I know on is a trio. So I know also because I learned this back in school, that you and Lucy are a duo, because there's only two of you.
Starting point is 00:15:50 So who is the third member of On? The third member is Dan Cornelius, and he's been with us since the beginning. Dan went on to have a wonderful, fabulous career playing with everybody, like drummers do. He would pay his rent with playing drums. He would play with all kinds of different classic rock cats, and eventually he found his way onto Danko Jones for a while and did that.
Starting point is 00:16:09 Yeah. And then he came back to end up residing in New York City. He's still there. And he writes music for film and television and soundtrack stuff and plays with on. And this is all he needs. And I'm very happy. Okay. So now you're a trio.
Starting point is 00:16:22 It's you, Lucy, and Dan Cornelius. And not to be confused with the late, great Don Cornelius. No. That was a different happy. Okay, so now you're a trio. It's you, Lucy, and Dan Cornelius. And not to be confused with the late, great Don Cornelius. That was a different guy. Okay, so you mentioned New York City. Now, so we're going to hear some on and talk about, you know, the sound being different and the influences and all that jazz, right? And how, you know, COVID plays a role in all this.
Starting point is 00:16:39 We've got a lot of ground to cover here. But I'm going to just pause that to talk to you about my day yesterday okay so this is me sharing my story yesterday so yesterday i was invited to the woodshed which is the uh blue rodeo studio for a sit down with jim cuddy fantastic yeah and it came together because when uh not too long ago a few weeks ago, Steve Waxman and Kevin Shea came over to tell me stories about being like music, account reps or whatever it's called in the music, A&R reps, whatever it's called.
Starting point is 00:17:13 Love those guys. Those guys are cool. They're both, yeah. Yeah, solid guys. Great stories. Steve Waxman opens by saying that when he was with Warner, because he's no longer with Warner, but when he was with Warner. Who is?
Starting point is 00:17:24 I'm not there. Nobody's there. Somebody's there because... Is there a Warner? Is there still a Warner? I don't know. Yeah, there is still a Warner. Is there?
Starting point is 00:17:30 Okay. Yeah. Because I got a... They linked me to the Blue Rodeo bio page on the Warner website or something. And I was like, I don't need this. Like, who do you think you're talking to? Do you think I need to read the Blue Rodeo bio
Starting point is 00:17:43 from Warner Music? Please. This is Toronto Mike. I know what I'm doing here. Okay. But where am I here? Oh, yeah. talking to do you think i need to read the blue rodeo bio from warner music please this is toronto mike i know what i'm doing here okay but where am i here oh yeah so uh steve waxman's like yeah back in the day he wrote me about jim cuddy appearing on toronto mic and i did never i never replied this was the story that steve shared so we're in real time here i'm hearing the story which is i know it's a hundred percent ne. That's it. I did not pull a Neal. Okay. If you were offering me an artist I had never heard of and don't like or don't care about, I would still write you a polite reply, like thanking you for the offer.
Starting point is 00:18:15 Like, I'm not sure it's a good fit, but, you know, keep me in mind for other artists. Like, I would do something like that. You're always good that way. 100% of the time. Even if you pitched me the worst idea ever. I will support you with that. You've always good that way a hundred percent of the time i would even if you pitched me the worst idea ever i will support you with that you've always been that way can i come over and fart on your microphone for a half an hour i would write you back and go you know you know fred that's a great idea uh i love your creativity with this i'm not sure it's the right fit for me in my current project here but uh i wish you so much luck maybe farting on uh kiss or uh virgin radio
Starting point is 00:18:47 or maybe a chfi i don't know but you get a nice reply like 100 of the time so i'm live with steve waxman so i i go into my gmail i haven't deleted whenever gmail arrived i think it might be 2004 or something like that but i haven't deleted one because I have so much storage. So I searched for Waxman. I see all these emails and there's nothing personalized. There's one email ever personalized. It was Steve asking if he can add me to his email list so he could send me basically promotional stuff.
Starting point is 00:19:20 There's never anything from Steve Waxman over the years ever personalized other than that one email which I replied to with something like, it would be great to get some Warner musicians on Toronto Mic'd. And then he never replied to that. This is the true story. So I think Steve felt bad about this. So he reached out to the
Starting point is 00:19:38 current guy named Adam, I believe, a current Warner rep for Blue Rodeo and basically helped connect me with him so that i could get jim cuddy on toronto mic so that happened yesterday so i'm here to say okay so i arrive a lovely lady named jude opens the door and i bring in my bike and now i'm alone setting up my studio in the uh studio and i'm taking some pictures and i'm like it's a cool it's a cool scene absolutely cool vibe there i dug it but then at some point, Jim, I think, I don't know,
Starting point is 00:20:08 one o'clock, Jim comes down the stairs. He walks in. We say hi to each other. He sits down. So I'm now going to do my thing, which I've done a thousand times, right? Right. Okay.
Starting point is 00:20:18 So, and I haven't listened back yet, but in the room, the first five, seven, eight minutes of this, I'm getting like one syllable answers from jim and i get the feeling jim's like not in the mood i'm not gonna say he's grumpy because he's a lovely man so but but he was like um like one word answers almost like he's not sure what this is and what's going on but he's not into it yet like and i and i i decided my head, like, okay,
Starting point is 00:20:45 I'll carry the load at the beginning and then hopefully he loosens up and we can hear more Cuddy and less Toronto Mike. So I just start telling the origin story of how it came to be. I talk about, um, I don't know. I think I tell a story about Mike Baguski playing a diamond mine in my backyard.
Starting point is 00:21:00 And I started telling a few stories like this. Good stories. Yeah. And then I decided, okay, I'll play some like real pre blue rodeo stuff with him and Greg, uh, the high fives, they were called. This is like late seven. So I just, I throw on that jam and he starts his face. I see his face. I didn't record the video there, but he starts to like light up. Like you ever
Starting point is 00:21:21 see these videos of like guys who are suffering from like dementia or alzheimer's or something and then you play like the song they loved when they were a teenager and then the eyes have light in them and then they smile and then next thing you know it they're like they're back it's almost for a moment in time they're back it's like magic and then jim cuddy who just one syllable answers i'm like oh my goodness like i came a long fucking way i rode my bike with like 100 pounds of gear in the back for it was like 20k to get there and a lot of it on logan you're going uphill from the lake you're going uphill to get up to like danforth or whatever it's a hike and i was and i was hot and sweaty and tired and i'm now here to talk to jim fucking cuddy from blue rodeo and he not, I'm not feeling from him.
Starting point is 00:22:05 But that jam, he wakes up. Like I saw it. I saw the moment. And then he gave a very thoughtful and detailed answer. And then for the next 80 minutes, he's amazing. Awesome. I think it's great. So I don't know how it'll sound for FOTMs who listen back.
Starting point is 00:22:23 I'm actually now curious. I'm going to go listen back. But in the room, it was a rough start. And then it totally, and there's no editing. I didn't edit a stitch. In fact, I needed water because I was hot and sweaty. I need water. And I just threw on a Blue Rodeo jam
Starting point is 00:22:39 and went and got water from the water cooler. But music brought a musician in to speak, which is, I think, what he probably wanted, which is good. Yeah, and I think he was a bit surprised to hear high fives. Yeah. I think maybe he's...
Starting point is 00:22:52 You did your research. It wasn't going to be... I did... My second jam was Try. So I think he's like, oh, the first jam is always Try. Did you know, Steve? I don't know.
Starting point is 00:23:00 Were you ever a Blue Rodeo fan? Of course. So when... What's the first Blue Rodeo song you remember? Well, it probably would have been that commercially, but I remember seeing them in the clubs before the records, and, I mean, it was just everywhere. I mean, it was, you know, I grew up seeing those guys on the scene,
Starting point is 00:23:16 those guys in a neon Rome and Change a Heart and, of course, Oh, my God. So you heard the Ian Blurden episode. Of course I did. As soon as I hit my keyboard, oh like oh my god You know he was great Ian's awesome And then you mentioned you were going to say Pursuit of Happiness right Mo was great
Starting point is 00:23:35 And even Neon Rome Who's the guitarist Memory fades Al Nolan Is it Al Nolan Well Al no Al's a singer Al's a singer from Trigger Happy memory fades. Al. Yeah. Nolan. Yes. Well. Is it Al Nolan?
Starting point is 00:23:47 Well, Al, no. Al's a singer. Al's a singer from Trigger Happy. Right. But would that be a different? Was he also new in Rome? Okay. Was John Borah maybe?
Starting point is 00:23:54 Was John Borah in a neon? Okay. That name sounds fun. Again, it's foggy. Because then he also was in Change of Heart. I think there's a lot of. But I played, I used to play my first few shows and I came on the scene
Starting point is 00:24:02 with another hippie band called It. I played with Change Your Heart and I played with the Neon Role. All those guys, Jellyfish Babies, way back, way back. Okay, yeah. So when you referenced Blue Rodeo,
Starting point is 00:24:14 that's what I think of. And then when it did the whole water thing Well, he went and I thought it was very eloquent because we recently passed away. But Handsome Ned, he really gave a lot of credit. And I thought of the Jim Cuddy,
Starting point is 00:24:24 the reason I paused you is because you mentioned that your drummer, Dan, is based in New York City. But is he Canadian? He is, well, see, Dan was born in England, but he is Canadian, and I met him in Canada, and then, of course, he moved to New York. So now he's all three. He's a triad.
Starting point is 00:24:41 He's a triad, he's got them all. Okay, because the Blue Rodeo origin story is very interesting when you get the real details from Jim where you hear like, okay, so this band is struggling, not really happening here. I'm thinking the high fives or whatever. And then they go to New York City. Like they're going to go to New York City, the Big Smoke. No, we're the Big Smoke.
Starting point is 00:25:01 They're the Big Apple. Okay, got to keep these right. So he's in New York City, and they, you know, I think things happen there, but then they come back because it didn't, obviously it didn't completely happen there. He comes back.
Starting point is 00:25:12 But because they were in New York and they came back, they, you know, Jim felt like the band had this, like this cred, this like street cred, like it was a completely different respect factor and everything
Starting point is 00:25:25 for the band because they went to new york and came back it's this canadian mentality that like you know oh like the states is this big better place or whatever and then on the return and then he really really gave a lot of praise to uh handsome ned i'm wondering if you uh did you uh have any interactions with not directly but i mean, obviously know about them and respect, you know. But yeah. For sure. Yeah, absolutely. Okay.
Starting point is 00:25:52 Are you in the mood now to hear some on? I'm in the mood. By the way, that's, you know, search engine wise. I'm a fan of my band. You're a fan of your band. Yeah. All right. So let's hear some,
Starting point is 00:26:06 and then we'll talk about it further. Here we go. Oh, no. Marcus, countdown started. Get sick, get right on it. Never mind the doubters. Split the script upon it. Over and about it
Starting point is 00:26:27 Yeah, you got the flow Hold out, move out No sentimental burnout Short-handed gold shootout Cinderella's not out Still in it, contender Ultimate defender Yeah, you're in the groove
Starting point is 00:26:55 Laser focus Stinging eyes No past glory Yeah We gotta forget the hype And let go Against our lives and still, I don't know why But this is how we never, ever, never
Starting point is 00:27:40 Give up on it, ever, never forget what gets you through this round. Round. Fall out, not out. See, this is a jam right here, buddy. Oh, yeah, yeah. It's rocking. And this song, actually, just remember this. If you remember no other names from this conversation, this is Underdog.
Starting point is 00:28:09 And that's like, what is that? Is that the name of the album, too? It's a self-titled album that's coming out in September, September 16th. But this is our first single. And the song actually is referencing the Leafs, who haven't won a Cups in 67. And that's actually in the lyric. So when we wrote the jam, Lucy's like, listen, man, this reminds me of the Leafs who haven't won a Cups in 67. And that's actually in the lyric. So when we wrote the jam, Lucy's like, listen, man, this reminds me of the Leafs. So she's like, now that we got this done and we have to do some promo on it, she's like,
Starting point is 00:28:34 can we pitch this to like Maple Leafs Entertainment Limited and get it on that TV show, you know, that's always on that Warner owns on national television? I said, I don't know. So. Well, the problem is they're not underdogs. That's the problem with me. That's the problem.
Starting point is 00:28:50 They're just underachievers. You need to rename the song Underachiever. That's actually not a bad idea. If you think about it, if you name it, these are the top 10 paid players in the NHL.
Starting point is 00:29:03 You got like four Leafs on there. Like this is not an underdog make this is a we you know we spend it all that we spend the cap essentially we just underachieve every they're over there man okay we'll get a little leafs talking at the end here but uh okay so i'm hearing this in headphones yes it sounds like the music i listened to in the 90s and loved and i still come back to that music but it it's it's got a very like just balls to the wall 90s rock like like let me know like the inspiration what like what what music inspired this sound from on and tell me anything i can about underdog sure okay well basically you know um you know it's more direct it's more it's more direct with me being guitar player um and i really wanted to make a guitar
Starting point is 00:29:49 record so for me it was uh and you know the the uh you know you're pissed off sometimes and and so it just kind of came out that way um with the three of us just writing we have such chemistry the three of us we've been together on and off as as on for years in different projects we would break off and go on to other things. And, you know, we all write. We all write the arrangements. We all work on parts. So it's...
Starting point is 00:30:12 And the guitar is great in that jam. And I just remembered as we were talking that FOTM Stacey Thompson was telling me that you were teaching her how to play guitar. Yes. Yes. So I teach guitar lessons. I still have that. I have my studio set up where I can do it online or I can do it in person.
Starting point is 00:30:30 And even when I'm on the road, if I'm doing shows or whatever, if I'm writing in a different place, I will still teach online. So it's my gig. How did her lessons go? Great. She's a pretty good guitar player, yeah? She knows how to play some ACDC and some rock stuff.
Starting point is 00:30:43 She knows scales and she got good technique yeah she can jam some she can hold down a rhythm yeah here's a question so have you ever i mean you can teach guitar to anyone i suppose but have you ever said hey man like you got the wrong hands for guitar like i i i feel like the great virtuoso guitarists they seem to have these like longer like longer no no no no the hand size has nothing to do with it as long as not your fingers aren't broken like me when i used to play hockey but whatever yeah you're all right you know as long as you get your technique one two three i would love to learn to play guitar i don't know if you should pop over drive your bike over and we'll do
Starting point is 00:31:16 a crack you're in etobicoke right i'm in i'm in north york so north york i would i would ride to north you could get there yeah you could get there. Shout out to my buddy Mark Carey. I go to North York to visit him all the time. There you go. Okay, so, Underdog. So, you want to name check some bands, maybe, that influenced the sound of All In? Yeah, I guess, sure. Only if it's relevant.
Starting point is 00:31:38 Yeah, no, that's true. We always loved the Pixies. Oh, yeah. Yeah, we were totally into those guys. You know, some heavier stuff um i mean you know oh coming up after the fact um we got to be friends and the guys in quicksand and uh real good buddies of ours and and you know an ex-member tom capone who's in a band called blood clot um so you know we we've we've always been relative to the scene like we've been
Starting point is 00:32:00 influenced by sometimes like guys that were on the scene with you know um so i would i would sort of lean towards that kind of stuff and there's a tour to call so i know there's an underdog tour at some point but uh so give me some details on like where can we see sure on okay so if you want to check out our socials on music.ca that's where you can find where we're at um you can also go i'm surprised that was a post.ca okay because i was thinking it's amazing that's available but probably because it's on ca we got we got lucky yeah the ca was lucky for us to get that so we we point people there but we also have a youtube video that's kind of blown up a bit we're doing we're pretty excited about it so you can if you if you put in youtube on underdog you should be
Starting point is 00:32:44 able to find the video we're doing a little bit of a campaign where we're directing people towards that and we've uh we've got the record um coming out in late september and and right now that single is out we've actually been doing some some good traction in in europe funny enough with some radio play over there um we're number three in ireland on an indie chart which we're excited about so uh the the plan now is uh to do our ontario stuff do our touring here and and eventually if we can try and find an agent get over to europe and do our first european thing oh amazing i mean danko jones uh used to live off those european adventures so your drummer knows that well okay yes you know i'm sure that you're working on it but there's got to be
Starting point is 00:33:25 like grants, right? Government grants. There are. We got turned down for one. Yeah, they said we had a record out. We didn't. They said we tried
Starting point is 00:33:33 to get a little bit of money for this tour that we have coming up right now for Ontario, which we're self-funding, by the way, and we booked it with our friends
Starting point is 00:33:38 and Kyle and Kay and different people. And yeah, we didn't get the grant. And I mean, some of the, just to name check, some of the cities that'll be lucky enough to get the underdog tour.
Starting point is 00:33:51 So yeah, so Saturday we're in Paris, Ontario to Jeep Fest. We've got that. That's our little warmup thing. And then from there we keep moving east. Kingston on the 18th, 19th, Ottawa, 20th is Toronto at the Dakota Tavern. We got to have have plug that one.
Starting point is 00:34:06 So August 20? August 20. My wife's birthday. Yeah, you got to come out then. You have no excuses. Okay, yeah. So August 20, you're playing Toronto. Yep.
Starting point is 00:34:16 Then 23, we have Up and Barry, an acoustic show at Flying Monkey. We're going to be broadcasting that on Facebook Live. Yeah. And then 25 is Kingston, or sorry, 25 is Cambridge with Misconduct and Bio-Octopi and a number of other bands. 26 is Hamilton and then 27 is London. Okay, very cool. Very cool.
Starting point is 00:34:35 So here's what I'm going to do. With that YouTube video you checked there, the underdog video, I'll embed that video in the TorontoMic.com link. Lovely, that would be great. For sure, for this episode. the underdog video i will put i'll embed that video in the like the toronto mic.com link that would be great for sure for this for this episode and i'm gonna play another on song uh but we're gonna do a gift exchange you ready for a gift exchange i am this is cool okay so steve fall yes do you enjoy italian food i love italian food yes i, I do. Because Fall is an Italian
Starting point is 00:35:05 name, right? Yeah, it is. It's got that Irish-Italian thing. But regardless, I don't have an Italian name either, but man, that's my favorite food in the world. Oh, me too. If you want authentic Italian food, our friends at Palma Pasta will take care of you. But Steve,
Starting point is 00:35:21 I don't know, where are you on September 1st? September 1st, I think we're... Are you on the road? Well, I don't think we will be. I think we're going to be actually breaking, and I think we're going to be... We're actually going to be rebooking Ontario. So we'll be in Ontario.
Starting point is 00:35:35 Okay, because on September 1st, it's TMLXX. That's the 10th Toronto Mike Listener Experience. And it's at Great Lakes Brewery here in southern Etobicoke, 6 to 9 p.m. I will be there. Okay, all FOTMs are welcome. It would be amazing to see you there. Would Lucy show up? Because tell her, Palma Pasta's feeding everybody who shows up.
Starting point is 00:35:58 You're going to get a free meal out of this. I think that she would like that. I think she'd be totally down with that. She enjoys Italian food, right? Oh, yes, of course. Well, she's got mama's food. But yeah, she does give this prop. So she likes to give those on.
Starting point is 00:36:10 She's giving it a thumbs up, right? It is. Very much so. So thank you, Palma Pasta, for feeding everyone at TMLXX. Thank you, Great Lakes Brewery, for hosting. They've been amazing for this program. Everyone knows if you do enjoy craft beer, Great Lakes is the beer of choice of all FOTMs.
Starting point is 00:36:29 Thank you, StickerU.com, for several years of amazing support, helping to fuel the real talk here. They're amazing. Go to StickerU.com, upload your On logo, your image, and then they'll send you your quality stickers and decals and stuff and just plaster these on stickers everywhere steve that's the marketing the gorilla marketing campaign still down with that for you guys uh steve do you smoke weed i do not but i do put it on my arm i i have a pain medication that i use yeah there's so many benefits medicinally, etc. for cannabis.
Starting point is 00:37:05 You don't have to smoke it. You can drink it. It's a wonderful plant. Yeah, absolutely. And FOTMs know that if they're looking for cannabis or cannabis accessories, Canna Cabana will not be undersold.
Starting point is 00:37:19 Over 100 locations across this country. We love Canna Cabana. And I'm working on something with Canna Cabana. And I'm working on something with Canna Cabana for TMLXX as well. So stay tuned for that. Absolutely. And shout out to Ridley Funeral Home.
Starting point is 00:37:34 They've been pillars of this community since 1921. And Brad Jones there, he's not only the funeral director, but he's the host of his own podcast, Life's Undertaking. I'm lucky enough I get to be co-host of that show that sounds worth checking honestly i would like to check that he's good we did an episode recently uh about euchre and how it applies to life so uh
Starting point is 00:37:56 check it out it's always uh great when brad drops by to record a new episode and we have a new sponsor and i'm just like soft launching them, introducing them in the intro and outro. But there's going to be a lot more detail coming. But they're Electronic Products Recycling Association. Basically, they're all about how to safely and properly recycle electronics you don't use anymore. It's funny. I'm in the Blue Rodeo studio yesterday. And I'm looking around around taking pictures and there's like a lot of not old, old tech. Some of it's old tech.
Starting point is 00:38:27 They have like, just to give it like an older feel, old stuff and I'm thinking like, okay, this is where electronic products
Starting point is 00:38:34 recycling association comes into play. They make sure that you can properly recycle this stuff because you can't just throw it out. Like,
Starting point is 00:38:40 that's the thing about these old electronics. You shouldn't just throw them in the garbage. There's a proper way to recycle this stuff that's good for our planet and good for everybody. And they're all about that. So more detail coming soon, but it's awesome to have them on board. That sounds great.
Starting point is 00:38:56 I could use some cables to be disposed of. I think that would be a good education on that. And how many of us have had to replace a smartphone and then what do you do with the old smartphone? You keep it in your drawer. Or even old laptops. I mean, this is my daughter's old laptop. How many of us have had to replace a smartphone and then what do you do with the old smartphone? You keep it in your drawer. Or even old laptops. I mean, this is my daughter's old laptop, this one here. And it wouldn't update to the latest OS X.
Starting point is 00:39:16 I guess it's so old that it wouldn't update. So a lot of stuff wouldn't work, but enough works that I can use it. But at some point, this guy's got to go. This guy I'm touching now, they don't even see it. But how do you safely and properly do that? Because I think a lot of people get lazy and just, we're going to hide this in the garbage or something. And it'll just disappear. It'll disappear.
Starting point is 00:39:35 It'll be someone else's problem. Right, Steve? Right. Absolutely. Right. No, no, we're far more conscious. So I think you're doing a good thing by getting those guys involved. They're good people.
Starting point is 00:39:43 And we're going to talk more about them later. Okay, so I just played Underdog from On and now I want to hear some Soul Killer. guitar solo I won't be a stepping stone Even though you say you're not hurting anyone Feel your day with selfish love And call it something else to justify it all
Starting point is 00:40:54 Not sitting around any more and watching the playing Any boy watch in the play Just like the guitar That you never appreciated I'm just one All you need is one Just one All you need is one. Just one. So good. Steve, I'm digging it, buddy.
Starting point is 00:41:38 Thank you. Has Pete Fowler heard this new music yet? Oh, yeah. Pete was in early, of course. What's his review? What's his review? Well, he just basically, when I was mixing, when we were getting the record mixed with Darius and Drew and everybody,
Starting point is 00:41:49 I didn't tell my producers and bandmates that I was sending stuff to Pete, because Pete is right of passage, but I sent Pete demos, and as the records mixed, he was in right away. And he just went and said, thumbs up, you know, he picked Underdog as our first single
Starting point is 00:42:05 and he picked my second and my third and he's there. If you play your cards right, On can play Pete's Backyard. Like, Pete, you know, forget TMLXX. There's something happening there.
Starting point is 00:42:18 I got invited to a show up in his backyard. Well, that's an honor. I have not been invited yet to Pete's Backyard. You need to be, like, A-list. Oh, yeah. an honor. I have not been invited yet to Pete's backyard. You need to be like A-list. Oh, yeah. Not B-list.
Starting point is 00:42:27 I'm working on it, yeah. Stephen Stanley was there, for goodness sake. Shout out to Stephen Stanley, who's doing something with former Lowest of the Low bandmate Ron Hawkins, because Stephen's no longer with Lowest of the Low, but Ron Hawkins, Stephen Stanley, and Chris Brown from the Bourbon Tabernacle Choir.
Starting point is 00:42:48 That's a trio doing stuff together. That sounds happening. Yeah, I like that. So watch your back, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, okay? Because I feel like this is a big thing here. So, who will play this great jam?
Starting point is 00:43:03 Who the hell will play it? I'm curious how a musician today gets exposure. Well, you know, we have Shauna from Shameless PR. So that's Shauna. Shauna's, you know, she's pretty good at what she does. She helped me with the marketing on the band. And she's shameless. And she's Shameless PR, yeah.
Starting point is 00:43:22 And we... No, literally. Yeah, yeah. we got a little bit of a thing going and and i propped up my my i resurrected my old label indestructible which is me and that's the t-shirt you're wearing so when we take our photo by the tree yes so you own your label yes yes uh that's smart yes we had that back in the day and uh and we resurrected it and because shauna goes who's the label? I said, she goes, you. I went, okay, indestructible.
Starting point is 00:43:48 Bring it back. And here we are. Smart, smart, smart. Okay, the gift exchange, by the way, was a two-way street. I did skip over the fact that now I want something. Do you have anything for me? I do, and it's been gifted in a blue bag, because, you know, somebody's a Leaf fan.
Starting point is 00:44:03 Who folded them herself. Yes. And she wanted to give you these. And that she is Lucy. That's correct. Okay. I am now, everybody, I'm now going in the blue bag
Starting point is 00:44:16 for the Toronto Maple Leafs. And it's an Indestructible Records T-shirt. Yep. Awesome, buddy. Well, you know, I'm wearing my acid test shirt right now. You know I wear these with Pat. Oh, yes. This is taken out. records t-shirt yep awesome buddy well you know i'm wearing my acid test shirt right now you know i wear these with pat there's another one oh my goodness oh yes this is taken taken out you know what i went to jim cuddy's studio never got any parting gifts at all nothing nothing at all but
Starting point is 00:44:34 here i am with steve fall okay the new jam that's that this is the okay so this is the on and i love the logo with the bolt through the oh thank you yes lucy's cousin are you sure that's not like the toronto hydro logo well you know it could be it could be you know it could be a light switch don't of the bolt through the O. Thank you. Yes, Lucy's cousin. Are you sure that's not like the Toronto Hydro logo? Well, you know, it could be. It could be. You know, it could be a light switch. Don't get a cease and desist. Okay.
Starting point is 00:44:50 I love it, and I will wear it. I will, you know, I'll wear these with pride, and you'll see. I mean, ask Pete what it's like. Every third day, there's a photo of me in a gas wearing one of the four Lost Indy. Well, I have my collection of Lost Indy shirts, and I have to get on about
Starting point is 00:45:05 getting some different colors and mine are wearing out now well so is that these are wearing out because but I like I like how they wear and how they feel thank you when
Starting point is 00:45:12 they've been washed a hundred times like you know and you got to earn that I'm not going to fake that you got to wear these things that's right that's the idea and
Starting point is 00:45:20 I have to be list to last so thank you so much for that gift and so okay so back to the uh subject of the matter so shauna i know you're saying it's like that's her problem or whatever but like you you live in this city yeah will uh will indie 88 play that song probably if we got traction around elsewhere which is kind of alluding to our story about the new york thing so i i think you know at this point what we have to do is we have to earn our stripes so to speak traction around elsewhere, which is kind of alluding to our story about the New York thing. So I think at this point, what we have to do is
Starting point is 00:45:47 we have to earn our stripes, so to speak. We have to sort of get things happening in Europe. So we've got radio play, I will be honest, we've got radio play a lot in Europe right now, in Germany. Ireland's loving you. You're like David Hasselhoff for Ireland. This is all indie level,
Starting point is 00:46:04 but we've got some radio play in Portland. We have radio play in Iowa. We've got radio play in Boston and New York City and, you know, three different forest stations in Ireland. We've got 15 stations in the UK, four or five in Germany. We just started. We've only been out for two weeks, but the point is the plan would be obviously to be, we'd love to have indie eight players so then we could get more money for shows locally.
Starting point is 00:46:25 You know, that's sort of the idea. No, I mean, I've had over, I'm thinking, Mono Whales, for example, right? So, but then I have to ask you a question about ageism in modern alt-rock radio. I should mention one more thing. CIUT is playing us, but it's on a feed from an American coming in.
Starting point is 00:46:41 Or sorry, a local Canadian lady, I think, believe in, and it's American based. I'm not quite sure. Okay, a local Canadian lady, I think, believe, and it's American-based. I'm not quite sure. Okay, but you're on CIUT. CIUT, yeah, there's a show that's, I just got it. I looked at it, and I thanked her, but there's a show that's coming in. I don't know quite about the show, if it's a
Starting point is 00:46:58 Fed show or what. Okay, so okay, but let's also throw in the other old rock station in town, of course. Of course. We've been around for a long time. Well, let's also throw in the other old rock station in town, of course. Of course. We don't know what happened with them. We've been around for a long time. We don't know what happened with them.
Starting point is 00:47:08 Well, let's talk about this. So 102.1 The Edge. So you got Indie 88, you got 102.1 The Edge, and they're playing music that sounds like what we just played, okay? Yes. I'm wondering, okay, because you're not in your 20s. That's correct. Is Lucy in her 20s?
Starting point is 00:47:23 Because that would be wild. She might be. I don't really know. You know, I mean, I know that she's ageless. Okay. So in all seriousness, though, if, and I don't know your age. You alluded to ageism. Yes.
Starting point is 00:47:35 Is there ageism in commercial radio when it comes to new music? I don't know. I mean, you know, I just think that there seems to be a lot of other alternative ways of getting the music out. I don't really know how to answer that because I haven't been invited to that kind of radio. Well, who's the oldest artist they're playing? Like, I'm not talking about... And that's the other thing too, right?
Starting point is 00:47:56 If there's a band like, I'll pick on Pearl Jam right now. Okay, let's say Pearl Jam. And we're both Pearl Jam fans. Yes, of course. Yeah. say Pearl Jam and we're both Pearl Jam fans. Yes, of course. So they'll play Pearl Jam songs from 10 or Versus or Vitality or whatever but they're not,
Starting point is 00:48:12 they don't seem to be playing like new Pearl Jam. No. Maybe the new single gets a few courtesy spins or whatever and then it kind of drops off the rotation or whatever.
Starting point is 00:48:20 So I'm wondering like legitimately and I'm not even, I don't think, I don't know if I'm, maybe I am accusing them of ageism, but is there, what is the oldest artist that is heard on regular rotation on our two alt-rock radio stations? I really can't answer. No. Straight up, I don't listen to them anymore.
Starting point is 00:48:37 So, I mean, that's part of the reason, maybe. Like, I like Refused. I think, to me, they're a commercial band. I guess they're not really commercial, but to me, they are. I would like to hear that on the radio at 12 o'clock i don't know if i do no they're quicksand some old quicksand be nice so okay so if it's so then i'm wondering okay we don't we don't have this is gonna be news too as well but much music's gone man that's like that that's just it's gone so where where do you you know where do you get your exposure from for for me i i this is a world i've
Starting point is 00:49:08 been getting into because we've just been doing this campaign we get we're getting streaming radio and these online stations so it's kind of cool you can listen to a station here locally in ontario or if so if i was in somewhere in the states i want to listen to a cool jam in ontario i can listen to a podcast or i can listen to an online radio um i'm listening to some radio stations in england that are playing us and i'm getting up and i'm listening to it on my on my phone through my bluetooth speaker that's kind of neat you know so no it's all very neat i just wonder like how if acid test uh morphs into on and they make some great music uh and they're all in their let's say 40s or maybe even 50s i have no idea idea. If I'm pushing 50, I can do the math, right? Like, so, what the hell?
Starting point is 00:49:47 The game's rigged. What do you do? Does CBC pull its weight? CBC does. Yeah, we've been lucky with CBC. Yeah, we've been good there and there's been a chart.
Starting point is 00:49:56 I'm trying to remember when the last campaign we did. I think it was, I don't remember what it was. But yeah, listen, you're making great music. You'll let Shauna worry about all this hassle.
Starting point is 00:50:05 You're on Toronto Mic right now. We just heard a couple of great on tracks and we're talking. And I'm honored to be here. And a lot of people are like learning now that the dynamic duo from Acid Test is now making music as on. Like a lot of people need to be educated
Starting point is 00:50:19 that okay, this is happening and then they'll go dive in and then listen to some on. And again, I will embed that cool video that you got on YouTube. Yeah, that was Sean and Lucy's iPhone in a rehearsal space in New York City, Funkadelic Studios. Our friend Lindy Gordon, who I should credit, she did a photo shoot for us, and we said,
Starting point is 00:50:36 would you hold this phone while we do rehearsal so we can do a video? She goes, yeah, sure. So Lucy's cousin Mike did the editing on the video, and he did a great job. Okay, this Lindy Gordon, you said? Yes. Any relation to Cam Gordon?
Starting point is 00:50:48 We'll have to find out. Could be, I'm not sure. She lives in Brooklyn. She's a nice Brooklyn lady. Okay, but which Brooklyn? There's a Brooklyn in Whitby, or is it Oshawa? I think it's Whitby. No, this is Brooklyn, NYC.
Starting point is 00:50:59 This is a different, this is the other Brooklyn. Yeah, the other one. Okay, they got the nets there now. Okay, so now before we say goodbye here, I to find out uh like how the hell you're doing like we're coming off this pandemic it sucked for all these musicians like how was it for you guys it was it was brutal for us uh i taught music online um lucy is uh is a therapist she's a an addiction therapist so she was beyond busy um and she would do a lot of medical stuff off off that.
Starting point is 00:51:25 So it was tough. She was in her office and I'm in mine and I'm teaching and, you know, it was rough for us, but we had a break in the weather and we, we went South and drove to Florida actually for vacation, started recording there. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:51:37 And that's how this record started. We couldn't get it finished because Omicron hit, came back here, came back here and finished. We started in February and finished in June and here it is. But so that was, and then we talked a little bit before about me driving to Nova Scotia and storm number two or three. I don't even remember how many COVID situations we had.
Starting point is 00:51:55 I always wanted to, they kept saying, okay, this is wave five, six. And in my mind, it's all one big fucking wave. It was. There were parts where, you know, Omicron, for example, and we're like, oh, this is a lot. Oh yeah. Here is the where you know omicron for example we're like oh this is a lot oh yeah here is the game changer of omicron as i recall we all of us fully vaxxed people seem to be unable to get covid pre-omicron like it seemed like oh i can't even get this fucking thing with these vaccinations and then with omicron omicron's like nah man we infect you guys too like you're not going to get us sick.
Starting point is 00:52:25 And this was the whole point. We defang this sucker. You're not going to end up in the hospital or dead or whatever. But you can still get this thing. Oh, yeah. And I mean, so how many shots you got on you? I've got three. I got four, man.
Starting point is 00:52:38 I beat you. I'm waiting for the fourth. Yeah, I'm waiting for it. Oh, you have to. Did you get COVID? No. Well, I might have on the first wave. I don't even know.
Starting point is 00:52:46 Oh, no. Okay. Because you can get your fourth now. Oh, okay. I'm here to, this is like a public service announcement. Well, then I will go get it. I will definitely go get it.
Starting point is 00:52:55 So COVID was tough, but you made that road trip to Florida, you said? Yeah, we did a break. We went down there on a vacation and ended up recording the start of this record. And I i mean why not that's what you do right so we uh we came back played a couple gigs and that's when when when this virus started was march of 2020 we actually played two shows here as on to get warmed up and stuff and and the idea was to finish the record do more shows and then of course that lockdown happened. Then I took a break,
Starting point is 00:53:25 went to Halifax, see my sister. And then we went back to Florida to finish because now we've started down there. And then Omicron hit and we drove back and said, okay, let's bring our files back to Canada and just stay there and finish, you know,
Starting point is 00:53:36 recording, assuming that we're allowed to play outside. And, uh, yeah, it was rough. And that's, it's gotta be like,
Starting point is 00:53:42 this was a pandemic record for us. It's a pandemic record. Two and a half years. We spent making that record half years we spent making that record because of the virus. And the fact that you can now tour like, you know, Kingston, Ottawa, Baldwin. Oh. Where's Baldwin? Oh. Do you know where you're going?
Starting point is 00:53:56 No, I don't. Who's driving? Not me. Okay. So you're going to go into Google Maps and stick in Baldwin. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I'm just one. I don't know that name.
Starting point is 00:54:03 Paris, Ontario too. That's got me a little confused. See, Paris, I've been to a wedding in Paris. We've got a Jeep festival there Saturday, which is, what, tomorrow? Today's Friday. Like, when I'm doing QEW, kind of like you're going to Hamilton, but there's, like, a part where you go, like, more north. Like, it's not far from us, that's for sure.
Starting point is 00:54:18 Okay, well, that makes me hopeful. The problem is that we have to be there for soundcheck at 10 a.m. That's going to be rough for us. There's no traffic at that time of day maybe but okay you'll be that that's awesome but like niagara falls cambridge hamilton london like the fact that you're performing live like you guys are on stage yes making music yes there's people banging their heads up and down uh digging the jams uh that considering the two and a half years we're oh we're excited that's got to be amazing that's yeah it's fantastic.
Starting point is 00:54:45 We can't wait. The goal is to do it again in October, November, if they'll have us back. That's sort of the idea. You just want to play your music for people who love music. Yeah, worry about the rest later. And the rest will sort. The rest is Sean's problem.
Starting point is 00:54:58 Well, you know what? As we said, you were asking about ageism. We said, for us, playing music and touring is a lifestyle. And that's what it is for us. Well, the reason I brought up ageism, by the way, and I'm on the side of talent always. There's no ageism on Toronto Mike Tear. But when you think about the bands, the older guys,
Starting point is 00:55:17 the guys in their 50s and 60s that are out there rocking, I heard Change of Heart's going to make a new album. This bomb was dropped by Ian on the... I can't wait. So so they're gonna make new music and they're gonna play it live and i'm excited let's say they play the horseshoe okay i'm just guessing the future change of hearts at the horseshoe yeah you're gonna hear herstory and you're gonna hear a trigger and all that stuff but you're gonna hear some new stuff i'm like this is exciting but that's a legacy band right right that's a band from the 80s and 90s and just like a legacy band a limb lifter do you remember limb lifter i'm gonna do this play together yeah i'm
Starting point is 00:55:51 working on a limb lifter episode okay but limb lifter again legacy band all these guys grapes of wrath like you can go down the list here uh so but on is a new entity this is a 2022 brand this is a brand new thing and you're like this is a new thing yeah Yes. This is a 2022. Brand new. This is a brand new thing. And you're like, this is a new thing. Yeah, it's based on an old thing that you know and love called acid test, but this is a new thing.
Starting point is 00:56:12 That's right. So here we are, and again, I'm not going to age you, I don't know, but we know, let's say 50-year-old people are, we are 50-year-old people
Starting point is 00:56:19 and this is our new thing on. That's a whole different hill to climb. I'm hopeful because, you know, we've been getting some of the data and we found that what's been watching our videos and what's been downloading our stuff is between 22 to 64, which is kind of neat. It's a big range.
Starting point is 00:56:35 It is a big range. So we're happy about that. I mean, we think we're current with our sound. Maybe we're not current with our age, but we can. And you can't do anything about age. No. I just wonder if you can't... I play hockey twice a week.
Starting point is 00:56:46 That keeps me going. So, yeah. So, you're playing hockey twice a week. Did that shut down for the pandemic? Sure, right? Of course. Yeah, I just ran up and down my stairs. So, that's got...
Starting point is 00:56:53 I mean, I'm thinking you can't... I don't use my gym either. I would suck. I'm in a condo. Yeah. Oh, I did promise him. Maybe, Phil, I'm holding something that's a gift for you, man.
Starting point is 00:57:01 Oh. So, Ridley Funeral Home doesn't want you to fall in the dark or whatever. Oh, a yeah this is a flashlight that will go into my tech box for my for my yeah for my cables and stuff this is i think it's very helpful they had uh measuring tapes which is also helpful so but this is the the new thing from ridley funeral home uh flashlights great idea the idea is okay so you use that flashlight so you don't fall and kill yourself and then you don't end up at their doorstep. So Ridley Funeral Home just says, we're not ready for you yet
Starting point is 00:57:30 Steve. Use the flashlight. Be safe. Yeah, they're being proactive with safety. That's working against them, of course, because less clients. Well, they'll get you in the end. I mean, the idea is that they're just, you know, they're just sort of like prolonging the... The inevitable. Everyone dies. I'm watching, I'm re-watching Six Feet Under.
Starting point is 00:57:45 And fun fact, everyone dies. Okay, Steve? Yes. We just live your best life, play the best hand you can with the courage you have. That's why I'm playing rock and roll. And you're living your life. You and Lucy out there kicking ass.
Starting point is 00:57:57 And I'm rooting hard for you. But let's talk about the, we won't call them underdogs. We'll call them underachievers here. Let's do a little closing here. Let's talk about them. Yeah. So, I mean, are you at a point now, let me ask you,
Starting point is 00:58:07 that you're a diehard, so I bet you're not, but let's talk about this. So, like, let's say the Leafs are playing, let's say they're playing Nashville on a Tuesday night, regular season, obviously. Okay. Do you find it difficult to get up for the game? Like, if you have nothing else in your life going on,
Starting point is 00:58:21 there's nothing going on, flip it on. Watch your lead. See if Austin scores a couple of goals or whatever Mitch Marner does or whatever. See how the goalie plays. Whoever the hell is going to be between the net, whatever. This is a team that with such promise in the regular season has faltered in the first
Starting point is 00:58:40 round or if we remember Columbus, the not even first round. That was like a play-in to get into the first round. Right. But we can't win a series. This team hasn't won a series since 2004. Do the math on that real quick. Okay.
Starting point is 00:58:55 That's true. I did that math. That's 18 years. Yeah. I have an 18-year-old daughter moving to Montreal next week. Love you, Michelle. Congratulations. My 18-year-old, yes, it's exciting because she got into the program she wanted to get to at McGill.
Starting point is 00:59:06 But she's going to miss you. But she'll be home on the weekends, right? Yeah, yes. So tonight we're having a big dinner and she's announced to me that she'll be back for Christmas and Thanksgiving. And I think she said like that's going to be probably it. Because she's feeling the independence. I get it. But I got to plan at least one, maybe two
Starting point is 00:59:26 trips to Montreal to just hang with her there. It's an excuse for me. Just knock on her door like my sister did. She would just like show up. Oh, man, she'd kill me. I'm afraid of her. So all this is to say is that my daughter, born in July 2020, 2004, she
Starting point is 00:59:40 was born after the Leafs playoff success died. So there hasn't been a, and I'm not blaming my daughter, except imagine being somebody going to live in Montreal to go to school who has never been alive. Forget Stanley Cup. I don't know if you were born in
Starting point is 00:59:58 67. I was not. I was not. Okay, so that's one thing. Okay, the Leafs have never made the finals in my lifetime. Oh, join the club. There's millions of us, whatever. But imagine being an adult now, living on your own, and never being alive for a playoff round victory.
Starting point is 01:00:18 I think you would root for Nashville on Tuesday night. So can you get up for that game? Will you and Lucy be watching your Leafs? Well, last year I bought in. I was loving the season. I was like, oh, man, I hope they don't don't choke and you know what and this year i'm kind of 50 50 on it i mean i'm thinking like i want to see some plays i want to see i'll just look at watching the team develop and i think that'll be my interest because i kind of know develop we're developed it's like uh well you know i i speaking for myself am so fucking sick of watching a good regular season team, an exciting regular season team that doesn't deliver in the playoff.
Starting point is 01:00:52 How many times, shout out to Lucy, your Lucy, and then, of course, the other Lucy who would hold the football for Charlie Brown, who would run in to kick it. How many times does Lucy have to pull that ball away before Charlie Brown stops running to kick that damn thing? Because that's us. You got a point there. You know, I mean, we could philosophize and say that
Starting point is 01:01:13 they spent too much money on the top end and forgot about the back end, you know. So what do you do, right? I mean, it's hard to find a goalie. It's hard to find some proper D. But I was always taught that you start with the goalie out. But what do you do when you get Austinin you get austin and you keep going and uh it's a different mentality on that team i think i think it's a locker room thing too no i mean austin's great mitch marner's great and again i'm talking about regular season but okay who remind me again
Starting point is 01:01:39 i know the answer but let's hear from you leaf and who's between the pipes coming up well we have jeez that even that see look there you go i've already lost interest so you know at this point i think we have oh well i'm drawing a blank why am i drawing a blank on that because it's live we had the guy from we had the guy from washington don't we have isn't that yeah yeah there's two okay so um it's it's a russian dude i think I don't want to be disrespectful. We know, heaven forbid, we're disrespectful. So the guys are named, well, Samsonov and Murray are the two guys. Samsonov, that's what I was thinking of, yeah. But Matt Murray's the guy.
Starting point is 01:02:12 Matt Murray, yeah, from Ottawa. Matt Murray coming in. That was kind of a big sign. And then Samsonov, and I don't know how he pronounces that name. Samsonov, I think, yeah. So those two guys. I'm excited about Samsonov. Okay, but what has you excited about Samsonov?
Starting point is 01:02:25 Well, he's good for a first, second. He can stop the first one. He's got a good angle on him. He does his angles well. He's good for first two shots. I don't know about the third. But he's only good for $1.8 million contract. Like, I mean, and he's 20.
Starting point is 01:02:38 No, okay. I see here. Okay. So he's 25 years old. So that's not so bad. But Ilya Samsonov signed for a $1.8 million one-year contract. He was 23, 12, and 5
Starting point is 01:02:49 with a 3.02 goals against average with the Capitals last season. Okay, so the Campbells in Edmonton now, Mrazek was a bust and he's gone. So, yeah,
Starting point is 01:02:59 it's going to be Matt Murray and Samsonov carrying the weight. And I think their philosophy is just, you know, let's just get in and hope for the best. Yeah, that's always the philosophy. Well I think their philosophy is just, you know, let's just get in and hope for the best. Yeah, that's always the philosophy.
Starting point is 01:03:07 Well, that's what it is, you know. So you wonder if it's just a business, right? Maybe. I don't know. See, now you've got me upset, Steve, because I don't want to be that guy. I am hopeful about Samsonov. I don't know about Murray. I mean, I'm thinking if he's healthy, he could probably be a good
Starting point is 01:03:23 backup. Even though he's been signed he could probably be a good backup. Just remember. He's been signed to be a starter. Remember this, okay? Hope is a dangerous thing, okay? Be careful out there, Steve. I am not as hopeful as you are about the Leafs next season, but that's just because I pay attention to history. Okay.
Starting point is 01:03:42 And I live it, man. I'm with you. I don't, I mean, I just. History repeats itself. I think you're history. Okay. And I live it, man. I'm with you. I don't, I mean, I just... History repeats itself. I think you're right. Yeah. Dude, I hope history repeats itself with ON because the acid test was, is great.
Starting point is 01:03:54 Does acid test have a future still? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. You mentioned that, right? Yeah, we definitely got some more stuff. Okay. And ON, you're just getting started, but you're on the road,
Starting point is 01:04:02 and I urge all FOTMs to check out ON, and that was onmusic.ca? That's correct. love catching up with you man you gotta don't be a stranger and i can't believe i can start promoting that steve fall will be at tmlxx that's amazing love that yeah it's not amazing i mean okay no covid there we go we can go actually do things well we did last august uh where were you then come on i was looking for you in the crowd oh you know what yeah maybe i was a little bit shy. Okay. Well, we were outdoors, everybody.
Starting point is 01:04:28 That's the other thing, too. Everyone, you know, we're outdoors. But awesome. Give my love to Lucy. I will. And thank you so much for those t-shirts, buddy. That's amazing. Thank you so much for having me.
Starting point is 01:04:40 And that brings us to the end of our 1098th show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Steve, are you on Twitter? I am on Twitter. You are at Steve Fall. What is your handle? Oh, wait.
Starting point is 01:04:53 Let me just look that up. He's going to look that up. Well, he looks that up because we're going to do you last. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Now I'm hungry. Sticker U is at Sticker U. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta.
Starting point is 01:05:02 Now I'm hungry. Sticker U is at Sticker U. Electronic Products Recycling Association are at EPRA underscore Canada. Ridley Funeral Home are at Ridley FH. And Canna Cabana are at Canna Cabana underscore Steve Fall. I could probably find it before you can. You know what?
Starting point is 01:05:21 At On Band Official. That's where you can find me. And I'm linked to that myself, too. So OnBand, at OnBandOfficial is probably the easiest one to remember. Okay, everybody. Follow them. And remember, when in doubt, go to OnMusic.ca. And click on Twitter.
Starting point is 01:05:41 Click on Twitter. See you all next week. We'll see you next week. Well, I've been told that there's a sucker born every day But I wonder who Yeah, I wonder who Maybe the one who doesn't realize There's a thousand shades of gray Cause I know that's true, yes I do
Starting point is 01:06:22 I know it's true, yeah I know that's true, yes I do I know it's true, yeah I know it's true How about you? I'm 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
Starting point is 01:06:53 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 Yeah, the wind is cold, but the smell of snow warms me today. And your smile is fine, it's just like mine, and it won't go away. Because everything is rosy and gray. 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
Starting point is 01:07:27 And I've seen the sun go down on Shakhtar Khor But I like it much better going down on you Yeah, you know that's true Because everything is coming up rosy and gray. 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 now Everything is rosy and
Starting point is 01:08:05 Everything is rosy and gray

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