Canadian Musician Podcast

Producer and Toronto Raptors official DJ, 4KORNERS, tells his story, from journalism student to DJing NBA games and parties for A-list celebrities. He has just released his highly anticipated debut full-length album 4KORNERS of the World . This new album is destined to make waves not just throughout Canada, but around the world. In this chat with Canadian Musician Editor-in-Chief Mike Raine, he tells the story of becoming only the second official team DJ in the NBA, the behind-the-scenes trick and stories, and a whole lot more. This is definitely a fun conversation!

On the podcast this week, Canadian Musician Editor-in-Chief Mike Raine welcome David "Gordo" Strickland, one of the pioneers of hip-hop production and recording in Canada. He’s an Indigenous, Toronto-born and based award-winning engineer, mixer, producer and DJ. Known for being behind the boards on iconic hip-hop and R&B records for over two decades, his work has graced seminal tracks by the likes of Pete Rock, Erick Sermon, EPMD, Keith Murray, Redman and Method Man, to records by ground-breaking Toronto hip-hop acts, including Drake, k-os, Ghetto Concept, Jelleestone, Kardinal Offishall, Jully Black, and Choclair. David's two most recent collaborative albums, Spirit Of Hip Hop (2020, Entertainment One) and Spirit Of Hip Hop: Elements (2022), highlights some of North America's hip-hop progenitors and innovative Indigenous artists alike to share an embodiment of the teachings, art, traditions, and music of the community, aligned with his Indigenous heritage. In this chat, David tells Mike about how he got his start and built his engineering skills, being thrown into the fire as a newbie on an album by Saukrates, and working his way through the industry from there.

This week on the podcast, Canadian Musician Editor-in-Chief Mike Raine welcomes Thompson Egbo-Egbo, a celebrated and internationally acclaimed pianist and composer from Toronto. His new album, What Remains, is out this Friday, October 28, via MNRK Music. Born in Nigeria, moving to Canada at age four, and learning piano at age six, there was concern that the renowned jazz pianist wasn't adjusting well in school. His mom decided to enroll him in music lessons. At Dixon Hall, a community centre down the street from where Thompson grew up in Toronto's Regent Park neighbourhood, he was able to take piano lessons at two dollars a session. Growing up in subsidized government development area of Toronto, Thompson was inspired by Dixon Hall’s mission to build a musical school gave neighborhood kids access of affordable music lessons. Thompson went on to earn degrees in music from Humber College, and music production at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and has released numerous works and collaborating with some of the world’s most renowned artists. In 2021, Thompson portrayed a young Oscar Peterson in an episode of Historica Canada’s Heritage Minute, honouring the artist’s life and career. While he was set to cross the pond for a recording opportunity at Abbey Road Studios in London, UK, Thompson was still able to proceed in Toronto to write and record Oddly Familiar – an album released and archived with Audio Network’s sync library.

Joining Mike on the podcast this week is Josh Neuman, the president and co-CEO of MELON, a powerhouse metaverse game development studio focused on Roblox. Josh explains why Roblox offers a lot of untapped potential for virtual music events, as well as a platform for audience growth and engagement, revenue generation, and more. He also explains why he thinks a lot of metaverse music experiences are misguided.

Before arriving at Melon, Josh was an artist manager for major artists like Tiësto and Fall Out Boy and and built major artist management firms. He also founded Recreation Worldwide, a brand creative agency and the THUMP EDM content platform, which were acquired by VICE Media in 2016. Josh has been at the intersection of celebrity culture, media, brands and marketing throughout his career and has architected some of the most innovative partnerships in the space.

The development team at MELON has been behind numerous music events on the immersive game platform Roblox, having worked with artists including Tai Verdes, Ava Max, KSI, and Zara Larsson on their Roblox events, as well as experiences for clients like the NFL, Chipotle, and Mattel. In July, MELON announced a $5 million seed round, which included investment from the likes of Crush Ventures (the investment arm of Crush Music), Deborah Dugan (former CEO of Product (RED) and the Recording Academy of Music), Spencer Baim (former CCO of VICE Media), and Gene Salomon (partner at leading entertainment law firm Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman).

Back on the podcast this week is Music Canada CEO Patrick Rogers. With Canadian Musician Editor-in-Chief Mike Raine, Patrick gets into the weeds and behind the scenes on Bill C-11, aka The Online Streaming Act, in which the federal government aims to bring streaming companies like Spotify and Netflix into the CanCon regulatory regime. Patrick has been one of the music industry representatives to testify before the Senate Committee on Bill C-11 and Music Canada has been vocally supportive of the Bill, though it also has a couple important concerns, which Patrick gets into. In this conversation, Patrick brings some fascinating and important insights based on his many years working on legislation in the federal government. Prior to joining Music Canada in 2016, Patrick worked in Stephen Harper’s Prime Minister’s Office from 2010-2013, and then was the Director of Policy for the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages from 2013-2015. Based on that experience, Patrick offers some insight as to why Bill C-11 is constructed like it is, for better or worse, and shares some anecdotes from his appearance in the Senate.

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Why do music supervisors choose the songs they do for TV shows, movies, and commercials? And how do those songs get licensed, and for how much? How do music supervisors even do their job? How do indie artists pitch to music supervisors? For Canadian Musician and NWC's free September 2022 webinar, Editor-in-Chief Michael Raine was joined by one of Canada's most esteemed music supervisors to answer these questions and lots more. They address all aspects of music supervision and sync licensing from both the artist's and music supervisor's perspective. This week on the Canadian Musician Podscast, we're sharing that informative conversation, including the audience Q&A.

Cody Partridge is the President and Lead Music Supervisor at Pear Tree Music Supervision. With close to a decade of experience in the industry, his 150+ credits help demonstrate his versatility in navigating music clearances and placements over all forms of media. Cody prides himself on being an Indiana Jones of music clearances, constantly finding the hidden gems, and never allowing rights holders to go undiscovered. In addition, he is also well versed in navigating Unions implications when placing any affiliated recordings, assuring clients a pleasurable, worry-free experience in all aspects of authentic music use. Some highlights of his recent credits include: Letterkenny, Schitt’s Creek, and various advertising campaigns, including Telus, Canada Life, and Scotiabank. Cody is also on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Guild of Music Supervisors, and acts as the Treasurer. At the 2022 Canadian Sync Music Awards, Cody took home four honours for: Best Sync – Sports Program or Sports Promo; Best Sync – Soundtrack, Original Film or Episodic Series for Streaming Platform (for Letterkenny); Best Sync – Soundtrack, Episodic Series (for Letterkenny); and Best Sync – Scene, Feature Film or Documentary Film (for Wildhood).

First up this week, one of Canada’s leading experts on internet regulation and e-commerce law, Michael Geist, returns to the podcast to dissect Bill C-11, aka the Online Streaming Act, as Senate committees get underway. Geist, who often butts heads with the music industry, explains where there’s agreement and conflict between entertainment companies, streaming services, and the government with regards to the new law, how it could be implemented, which aims to regulate streaming services such as Spotify and Netflix in order to promote and fund Canadian artistic content.

As well, guitarist, songwriter, and producer Jeff Gunn returns to talk about his own musical and professional evolution, music education, playing at Ringo Starr’s birthday party, and a lot more.

On the podcast this week, Canadian Musician Assistant Editor Manus Hopkins shares his recent conversation with Dallas Green and George Pettit from the mega influential post-hardcore band, Alexisonfire. This is one of the conversations with the band the Manus had for the latest cover story in Canadian Musician magazine. In it, George and Dallas talk about the band’s early years, their, breakup and time apart, their recent reunion and new hit album, Otherness (Dine Alone Records), and their influence on younger bands.

Enter CM's Alexisonfire sweeps at pages.nwcworld.com/alexisonfire for a chance to win one vinyl copy of Otherness, one Otherness star t-shirt in a size of the winner’s choosing, and one Otherness keychain.

Check out the full Alexisonfire story in the September/October 2022 issue of Canadian Musician, alongside other great features, columns, and more! CanadianMusician.com.

First up on the podcast this week, Canadian Musician Editor-in-Chief Mike Raine chats with award-winning country artist Jason Blaine about his shift away from mainstream, radio-focused music to a more soulful alternative country sound with his latest album, Diamond in the Desert. It earned him a 2022 Canadian Country Music Association Award nomination in the Alternative Country Album of the Year category. Jason gets into the songwriting and recording of the new album, and also how he has managed the shifting expectations from fans and industry, as well as himself.

The second conversation this week is with Rich Chambers, a rock and roll artist out of Vancouver who, after decades raising a family and in a professional academic career, has thrown himself into a music career. Rich wrote an interesting email to Mike that caught his attention, which Mike shares here and explains why he thinks Rich’s story will resonate with a lot of listeners. It’s an inspiring conversation about art, dreams, life, and growing older in this world of music.

Now 36 years old, and just a year removed from winning the Polaris Music Prize, Rollie Pemberton (better known as Cadence Weapon) is able to reflect on the significant highs and lows he’s had in his career. From a rap-obsessed Black kid in Edmonton who shared lyrics on early internet message boards, to a teenager with critically-acclaimed albums but stuck in an exploitive label deal, to an entrepreneurial independent artist navigating the business on his own terms, Pemberton has lived multiple lives in the music business and has the lessons to prove it. He shares his story and all the lessons learned along the way in his new book, Bedroom Rapper (Penguin Random House Canada). It’s both an illuminating memoir and a guidebook to the music business for independent artists. Here, Pemberton chats with Canadian Musician Editor-in-Chief about his career and shares many great stories along the way.