In this final episode, I give some insight into why this is the final episode and thank listeners, supporters, guests and our fearless editor Todd Donald for a great 65 episode, nearly 2 year ride. --- AND SOMETIMES ... WHY?: ANDSOMETIMESWHY.COM EMAIL IG FB TWEET...
SUPPORT THIS PODCAST: CLICK HERE Mako Funasaka is passionate about interviewing musicians. He hosts the Talkin’ Blues Podcast & hosted the TV show and has been documenting music since 2001. He explains his goal of reaching 300 episodes with Talkin’ Blues and extolls the virtues of self imposed deadlines. We talk about his reticence to include himself as part of his video interviews and he describes the experience of initially hearing himself speaking on his podcast as “torturous”. He shares ...
SUPPORT THIS PODCAST: CLICK HERE Bob Barlen is the writer of PAW Patrol: The Movie, Bigfoot Family and Escape From Planet Earth among many others. We dig into his life writing movies and talk about the huge success of PAW Patrol. We also talk about his time working on the George Stroumboulopoulos show and his love of magic. He shares insights about the benefits of having a writing partner and the importance of working without ego. “The best idea wins. It doesn't matter who's suggesting it. It's ...
SUPPORT THIS PODCAST: CLICK HERE Christine Bird is the Community Engagement Coordinator at the University Of Waterloo School Of Pharmacy. She describes her role helping students think about better serving vulnerable populations and shares challenges working from home over the lock-downs. She talks about how she became known as “the bully lady” when she was speaking to grade-school kids in her work for John Howard Society and we touch on her work with people who’d been convicted of DUI and strate...
SUPPORT THIS PODCAST: CLICK HERE Timothy Abraham is a Juno winning producer, engineer, mixer and composer. We dig into his creative process and the meditation-like alpha wave brain state he gets into when working on a mix. He stresses the importance of setting up plugin chain templates and workflows that allow him to work fast and stay in this purely creative zone and how, as a mixer, one of your most valuable tools is the mute button. We talk about the confidence it takes to stay open to other ...
SUPPORT THIS PODCAST: CLICK HERE Caroline Marie Brooks is a singer songwriter and 1/3 of the Juno-winning band Good Lovelies. We dig into her life in music and her fantastic new solo album Everything At The Same Time. She describes how she’s been wanting to make a record of very personal music for a long time and that making this album was in a way an act of self-care. We talk about her life with Good Lovelies and how she sees her doing a solo album as being “lifted by”, as opposed to “stepping ...
SUPPORT THIS PODCAST: CLICK HERE Mike T. Kerr is a world-class guitar player going through a creative renaissance. We track the evolution of his creative spike from early lock-down inability to finish any project, to releasing an album per month in 2021. He shares some ups and downs as a gigging musician, the “aha moment” he had around being able to optimize creative input and output simultaneously and he schools us on some of the history of guitar playing as he plays on his newly beloved tenor ...
SUPPORT THIS PODCAST: CLICK HERE Alicia Comer is an executive assistant supporting C-suite executives, and has been for over 10 years. We dig into her work life as an EA and she emphasizes the importance of multitasking and staying flexible amidst the constant changes and interruptions. She shares tips on getting things done, dealing with difficult personalities, and explains the importance of building morale and keeping teams happy. We also dig into the evolution of her work life: from working ...
SUPPORT THIS PODCAST: CLICK HERE Christa Couture is an award-winning performing and recording artist, non-fiction writer, and broadcaster. We dig into her new book How To Lose Everything a self-described "grief bio" which she describes in point-form as "cancer, amputation, death, death, divorce and more cancer". She shares her life’s losses from having her leg amputated as a cure for her cancer as a teen to losing 2 sons as babies to her divorce to her 2nd episode of cancer. We discuss the need ...
SUPPORT THIS PODCAST: CLICK HERE Andrew Katz is an English and creative writing teacher at Dawson College and the author of several children's book including: How To Catch A Bear Who Loves To Read , I Just Want To Be Super! and the upcoming A Starlit Trip to the Library . He shares the joy he experiences in the process of finding just the right word and muses about humans' metaphorical minds. We discuss how his experience of remote teaching during COVID lifted a curtain for him on the inequality...
SUPPORT THIS PODCAST: CLICK HERE I'm off. I'm camping. I'll be back next Wednesday Aug. 4th with another great guest. Check the links below for other stuff to listen to as I mentioned ... Thanks for giving a shit! Rob --- OTHER STUFF TO LISTEN TO: Todd Donald Show Finale Episode w Rob Szabo CLICK HERE TO LISTEN Todd Donald's New Show Prime Time Flies CLICK HERE TO LISTEN Audio Drama "Lights Over Darlington" (incl Aliens!) w/ YesYesMatt CLICK HERE TO LISTEN --- AND SOMETIMES ... WHY?: WEB https:/...
SUPPORT THIS PODCAST: CLICK HERE SATE is an internationally acclaimed recording artist and songwriter. We dig into her musical history and bond over our shared love of Black Sabbath, Fishbone & Living Colour. We re-live our first meeting and the song that came out of it and she talks about her role in the COVID-postponed Scott Joplin opera Treemonisha featuring a predominantly black female team and ensemble. We also dig into her family roots: both her parents made enormous contributions to b...
SUPPORT THIS PODCAST: CLICK HERE Brad Freiheit is a luthier who builds the most exquisite stringed instruments. We talk about how his humble beginnings ripping apart his first Kent guitar in grade nine led to the genesis of Freiheit guitars and he explains how the skills he refined working as a pattern maker in a foundry brought his guitar building to a new level. We dig into his musical history and he tells stories from playing the circuit in Southern Ontario and he shares how his fanatical dev...
SUPPORT THIS PODCAST: CLICK HERE Stacey Cooper is the Town Clerk and Deputy CAO for the Town of Penetanguishene. We dig into her role in local government and her commitment to roots level democracy. She shares her excitement for the first Climate Solutions Park in Canada, to be built in the Ecology Garden in Penetanguishene and she details the Community Well Being Committee initiative which brings together representatives from previously siloed councils. She also emphasizes the importance of rel...
SUPPORT THIS PODCAST: CLICK HERE Pat Lackenbauer is a man of many passions: podcast host, visual artist, lifelong salesman, zine publisher & indie music label head. We talk about his “Movin’ Air” podcast and Rob fesses up to freaking out and bailing as a guest. We dig into his life as a salesman, positivity & confidence, and hash out our differing views on the law of attraction. We also chat about sharing inspiration through our friendship, his visual art, his zine “The Wandering Artohol...
SUPPORT THIS PODCAST: CLICK HERE Nicole Palmquist (a.k.a. booleep) is a visual artist who works in many mediums: she does murals, she draws on paper, she paints people’s bodies and she is the studio manager at JSA Studios. She shares the roots of her fascination with anatomy (working with the REAL body parts of cadavers!) and describes the process of using other people’s bodies as a canvas in her body painting work. She also shares the magic of living in L.A., taking part in the art scene, getti...
SUPPORT THIS PODCAST: CLICK HERE Brad Marshall is a true iconoclast. He’s a mainstay behind the scenes in the KW music scene and he is a tech pioneer and newly minted ice-road trucker. We dig into his history in music including time with reggae band Crucial Vibes and our time together in KW music in the early 90s. Brad shares regrets over being very early to the streaming game but not capitalizing on opportunities and also shares his recent victories in his weight loss journey: losing over 100 l...
SUPPORT THIS PODCAST: CLICK HERE Jen Ochej is a tour manager for touring music artists including Lights, Jessie Reyez and The Good Lovelies. She gives us a behind the scenes peek at her tour experience from van tours in clubs to festivals & amphitheaters. We talk about how she got her start tour managing, the power of persistence and how she deals with unforeseens by planning meticulously knowing that nothing will go according to plan. She tells tales of waking up on a broken down tour bus s...
SUPPORT THIS PODCAST: CLICK HERE Jeff Bryant is a musician, actor and standup comic. He is formerly one half of the folk-pop duo the Human Statues and is now forging out on his own as a solo singer-songwriter. We chat about gaining wisdom around achievement as we get older and letting go of externally imposed ideas of success. He shares experiences of heartbreak and a health crisis that added up to a “now or never” moment in his life. We also dig into ideas around letting go of certainty of outc...
Samantha Martin is a Juno-nominated songwriter and singer with a voice of unmistakable texture and power. We talk about her new album with her band Delta Sugar "The Reckless One" and the trials and tribulations that informed the songs including a grueling few years of touring that put an immense amount of stress on her and caused her to “almost mentally breakdown”. She gives advice on making tours work financially, the upsides of European touring including trying local cuisine like Swedish horse...
David McPherson is an author & freelance writer. His writing has appeared in countless publications including: the Globe & Mail, No Depression & Paste. His 2017 book is The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern: A Complete History and the follow-up, scheduled for 2021 release, is Massey Hall: An Enduring Legacy. We talk about high points in his life as a music fan and writer, the magic of the legendary dive bar The 'Shoe, and why he quit drinking 5 years ago. He also explains why he's grateful ...
Cara Luft is a folk warrior who’s been living and breathing music for over 25 years. She’s a solo artist, founding member of the Wailin’ Jennys and one-half of The Small Glories. We reminisce about meeting 20+ years ago, nerd out about guitar playing and discuss why Winnipeg is such an arts hub. I gush about how much I love The Small Glories and badger Cara about their version of her song “No Friend Of Mine”. We talk about her various musical incarnations, how she was burning out as a solo touri...
Mike Miller is the songwriter and leader of Endless Mike & The Beagle Club. He’s a social worker, husband & father of 2 boys. We discuss his outlook on American politics at this pivotal time in history. Mike explains how he doesn’t see his music as activism(even though Rob kinda does) and he laments the increased political polarization in America. Mike & Rob also deconstruct Rob’s song “The Johnstown Kids” 15 years after the fact and Mike fondly remember the heyday of the Johnstown, ...
Deanna Knight is a singer, songwriter and fronts The Hot Club Of Mars. We chat about her evolution from her roots in choir and musical theatre through Grateful Dead influenced jam band the Fat Cats into Django styled hot jazz. We talk about her experience doing singing telegrams & the serendipitous events that moved her life from her native Ontario to running a B & B on BC’s Sunshine Coast. “If you have gifts as a young person, it’s important to listen to that. And as hard as it is to be...
This 2020 Holiday Show features 2 guests(!): Steve Strongman is a Juno-winning blues guitar wizard and my 30-year musical brother. We chat about his life over the past year now that touring is off the table. We also give the low down on our upcoming Virtual Acoustic Holiday Show. Emma Julien is the #1 most-listened to guest thus far on ASW. We talk about how that is a recognition of Emma and her magnetism and charisma as a person and conversationalist and also for the original concept of ASW whi...
Sabina Singwell is a writer, social scientist and creatrix of the School Of Bitchcraft. She helps her clients “who are trapped in weight loss hell” achieve a healthy relationship with their bodies & food. We talk about the word “bitch”, Feminism & The Patriarchy. She describes her disillusionment with academia after getting her PHD in Political Science and shares insights on disordered eating, meaning-making & choosing new narratives for one’s body. She also relates how she took her ...
Dave Bidini is a founding member of The Rheostatics, an author of 12 books, and Editor in Chief of Toronto’s community newspaper The West End Phoenix. He is the only person to have been nominated for a Gemini, Genie and Juno as well CBC's Canada Reads. We talk about his brainchild The West End Phoenix and he highlights the importance of having an analogue hard copy paper that has a local focus in the 21st-century. We discuss documenting Toronto as a changing city and how people are leaving the c...
Roger Travassos is a real estate agent who started his career after over 20 years as a session drummer. We talk about his experience as a drummer for hire with international touring acts and how he overcame adversity and imposter syndrome on the “Chitlin’ Circuit” with Motown artist Remy Shand. He describes how his life changed when he adopted his daughter, his early days in real estate and how he learned that “you get what you bring to the door” while knocking on over 100 doors/day. He also sha...
Alysha Brilla is a 3X Juno Award nominated artist & music producer who’s been singing since she was 3 years old. She describes how music has been therapy & comfort for her throughout her life, her experience as a young teen with the sometimes predatory & exploitative nature of the music business, and how she cares less whether people “get her” as she gets older. She also shares her profound conviction that music does have the capacity to change the world and explains how she encourag...
Shea Stewart is a partner at Toronto-based tech consulting firm Arctiq. He describes his delight at watching team members flourish and champion the company culture he and his partners fostered through distributed authority and accountability. We talk about what makes a good mentor, Arctiq’s new Dive Bar DevOps Podcast & how improv classes helped him overcome a moment of crisis when presenting at Google Next. He also shares his life-changing experiences at both a Buddhist silent meditation re...
