Putting It All On The Line With Singer Songwriter Christina Martin

A forgotten shore, a loud crowd, and a quiet life that fuels a very big record—Christina Martin joins us for an unvarnished look at building a career that actually holds together. From quitting university to nannying in Austin, signing a dead-end contract in Germany, and then getting invited last-minute to open for Wilco, her story moves through detours that somehow line up. The band drama that pushed her out of a 70s revival project became the nudge into solo work; the pandemic forced a hard audit of what pays and what matters; and the result is Storm, a sweeping album about gratitude, loss, and the people who stayed.

We dig into how Storm came together: strings that lift without clutter, live visuals built into the artwork from day one, and a filmed performance designed to sell future bookings. Christina is generous about the team—producer and partner Dale Murray, drummer power from Brian Murray and Jordy Comstock, and anchor lines from Jason Vautour—showing how collaboration shapes both sound and survival. She also keeps it real about money. Streaming pays pennies, full-band touring is a luxury, and sustainability often looks like a smart part-time remote job plus grants and meticulous admin. That pragmatism extends to tech: AI belongs in the paperwork, not in the lyrics.

There’s joy here too. Big Shiny Tunes in Halifax turns 90s nostalgia into a live-wire connection where audiences belt every word. That communal charge feeds the studio work and the small-town rhythm of a quieter life that leaves space to write. Christina’s takeaways land with warmth and steel: protect writing time, document your best shows, build real relationships, and choose a path with heart even when it’s not glamorous. If you care about indie music, creative careers, and how artists make lasting work in a noisy world, this conversation is for you.

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Transcript

Meet Christina Martin On The North Shore

SPEAKER_01 0:14

All right. Cheers. And welcome to the afternoon pint. I'm Mike Dobin. I am Matt Conner.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

I'm Christina Martin.

SPEAKER_01 0:22

Welcome, Christina. So I know you as a person in Nova Scotia. A little bit of a musical power I've ever had.

SPEAKER_00 0:33

I think we're stunning at a person in Nova Scotia.

SPEAKER_01 0:38

A resident in or near Tatamagush, is that correct?

SPEAKER_00 0:42

Yeah, in Port Howe.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Okay. I don't know where Port Howe is. Is that just outside Tatamagush? Is it?

SPEAKER_00 0:48

It's about 40 minutes out. It's in Cumberland County. Not that anyone's gonna be like, hey, she didn't like do a proper shout-out for her, you know, proximity or whatever, but yeah, I'm like, um North Shore in Nova Scotia. It's a forgotten shore. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

It's a forgotten shore, but also some of the warmest beaches in Nova Scotia are on the North Shore.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

North of the Carolinas, warmest beach. Yeah, you got that.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

Yeah, yeah, awesome. So yeah, so uh Christina, you're your music artist here on the East Coast. I had recently, you were recently on our show music wise, your show Sex, Drugs, and Christmas was on our Christmas special. And that showed.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

Sorry, but you just said your show sex drugs. And I'm like, I should have a show that's called Sex Drugs in Christmas time.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

So Matt should tell you now that I have a really hard time talking as a human being. I struggle a little bit. No, this is non-alcohol. This is not even drinking this month. This is I'm sober pretty well.

SPEAKER_00 1:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:49

Yeah. I think actually the so being sober actually hurts it more. Like it it it it yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

It's it's been hurting me the last few episodes. I've been a little off. Yeah, so I think I need the real beer to make the show work.

SPEAKER_00 2:01

I keep interrupting you, which I will continue to do.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

That's fine.

SPEAKER_00 2:07

Sex. Sex, drugs, and christmas time. Yeah, thanks for putting that in your in your episode. That's pretty wrapped.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

It did really well, and people love that song. And I got today to listen to a lot of your live album, your 2023 album, Storm, was done live with strings and guitars and all that. I I listened to it, I didn't watch it, but it sounded fantastic. It sounded uh it's a really good album.

SPEAKER_00 2:31

Thanks, buddy. Yeah, thanks.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:33

I uh actually can send I'll send you the we we actually I invested way too much money to film it too. So when people buy the album on my bandcamp, I send them a link for the full performance, but I will send that to you because let's admit, I mean, the visuals and the music, it kind of changes the experience for a lot of people. And I grew up with music videos, as I'm sure y'all did as well. And and that's how I like fell really hardcore in love with some of the artists I like. So, you know, watching the music videos and and then being obsessed with their with their music, you know, on cassette tapes.

SPEAKER_02 3:08

Yeah. Yeah, I'm at that age now. Yeah, was like had to watch that every single week, right?

SPEAKER_00 3:15

Yeah.

Big Shiny Tunes Tribute In Halifax

SPEAKER_01 3:16

Yeah. I got the surround sound at home too now, so I like listening to concerts at home. It's actually kind of fun, right? Like you can listen to like a show that was recorded and you can have it all around you. You feel like you're there, kind of. Not quite there, but you know, you get a get a vibe of it. So that's pretty awesome.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

Rich.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

And and you're doing Big Shiny Tunes in Halifax. Tell us a little bit about this tribute show. I mean, obviously, we all know what Big Shiny Tunes is.

SPEAKER_00 3:41

It's so much fun. It's produced by my friends uh Stephanie Purcell, Mike Farrington Jr., and Dave Sampson, who's an artist, and so is Mike's a musician as well. And I think it's the fourth or fifth year, sorry, this year. I just did a podcast chat focusing on it and the origin story of it with Steph Purcell. And so basically it's two nights in Halifax at the marquee ballroom, and it's just this incredible, incredibly wild and positive experience for everyone, the musicians, the audience, the staff.

SPEAKER_01 4:14

It started after around COVID, she said. I watched that clip this morning. So uh around the COVID thing, and the guys created this.

SPEAKER_00 4:22

Yeah, they they did. So they I wasn't involved in the first two years, and I I kind of regret not saying yes uh early on, but I was kind of terrified and going through my own, like, I don't want to be around a bunch of people and get sick. You know, how every everyone just kind of like, you know, your mental health was I wasn't in my right mind and I didn't I feel comfortable for a while. I don't care anymore. I'm more than happy to be in in you know, around people and I'm not paranoid about getting sick, but but yeah, it's great because the band is super hot and they have two bands, one for the first set, one for the second set. And the the singers do a song in the first set and then do a different song in the second set, and everybody just really goes out of their way to like, you know, dress the dress appropriately or whatever. And it's a very powerful experience as a performer. I one one that I I don't think I've ever quite had that opportunity to be before. And the first time I did it, I was just blown away. And you hope that they'll ask you to come back and sing the next year, but they rotate the artists every year, so it's no guarantee, you know. And I'm just so thrilled to be back.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

Yeah, to be back this this year.

SPEAKER_02 5:35

Oh sorry, Matt, go ahead. I was gonna say I I mean Marquee Ballroom is such a great venue. It's so it's uh such a great venue to experience music. And I mean how what better, like I mean, Big Shiny Tunes, everyone knows what I mean. I think Big Shiny Tunes 2 is like the goated of you know, kind of best of albums, kind of the com the combined on whatever they call them, those type of albums. It's like the goat, right? Big Shiny Tunes 2 is legendary status, right?

SPEAKER_00 6:03

Yeah, and like have you guys been in the audience before for it?

SPEAKER_03 6:07

No, I haven't been. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 6:09

Well go get your tickets because it's just I mean, it's unbelievable. Like, I mean, I I was shocked when I first the first year I did it, I did a killer song and Alanis Morset song. And you know, as a singer, you hope that someday the audience will know some of your lyrics and whatever, but even though we didn't I didn't write the songs, you know, being able to perform them and and move around the stage and reach out to the audience, and they knew every single lyric.

SPEAKER_02 6:36

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

You know, so you can kind of imagine what it would be like for those famous artists who So who else did you cover other than Alanis Morset for the big shiny tunes thing?

SPEAKER_01 6:46

You must say you did it a couple times now.

SPEAKER_00 6:48

Yeah, the first year I did the killer song and then the Atlanta song, You Ought Know, maybe? No, you know what? I don't now it's I'm blanking. But the second year I did Rob Zombie.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

Whoa, nice.

SPEAKER_00 7:01

I may have done another, did I do another killer song? Oh, I can't even remember last year. And I can't tell you what I'm doing this year, even though I want to. I'm especially excited about this year. Yeah. Uh last year with Rob Zombie, I like I went all out and got like a five.

SPEAKER_01 7:18

Okay, Matt Matt and I, we should go get tickets for this. This uh it's gonna be the day the show comes out on our podcast, it's commonly gonna be this Friday. So if you if there are any tickets left, check it out, guys.

Performing Iconic 90s Songs And Stage Energy

SPEAKER_00 7:28

Yeah, sounds like there's I think about half of them right now are sold for the Saturday night, which usually sells out pretty quick. So the difference between Friday and Saturday is Fri Friday you get that initial, like kind of nervous energy where we're all doing the songs for the first time in front of the audience. So it's special in that regard. And then the artists are a little more relaxed, and so you get kind of a different, even a different performance from them on Saturday night. But go get your tickets, Ticket Pro or my website, or probably a lot of the artists that are yeah, it's pretty rad.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

Thanks, yeah. So I want to talk a little bit about your music career because it's pretty interesting. Like you moved to Austin back in 1999.

SPEAKER_03 8:10

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:11

Right? So you hadn't picked up a guitar yet. Is that is that accurate? You didn't play guitar when you went down there, and and so you went down just your voice and you the dream of being a performer. Is that kind of the vibe? Or what was the story back in 1999?

SPEAKER_00 8:29

No, I quit university. I was super depressed, and I wanted to go away and I have my dual citizenship because I was born in Florida. And I got a job as a nanny, and I almost went to San Francisco to work for a family, but I ended up going to Austin, and I didn't know it was the live music capital of the world. So like early on in my life, it was as if like these choices I was making, I was just making the only decision I knew. I need I knew I wanted to go away and I wasn't in my right mind, you know, and I needed I needed a change, and I I was really, you know, depressed and struggling. And so, but I but I wanted, you know, I I wanted to be feel like myself again and and figure out what it was I I wanted to kind of. How old were you then?

SPEAKER_01 9:15

Like when you moved out? It was just a kid, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:20

Yeah, and then I then I after a summer in Austin, I figured I discovered, oh my god, like this is incredible. I a place, but I needed another job. So I got a job as a nanny in Germany. Well, when I went to Germany, I was studying German because and I had no background in in the German language, so I was learning German. I just so happened to meet these pop producers that lived in this neighborhood I was working in, and it was in the middle of like nowhere. And I actually signed a recording contract with them. I still have the contract, and it didn't pan out, but that was my first experience as a vocalist, like in a professional studio with these two pop producers who had had some success with uh a dance single, and they were, you know, anyway, it didn't work out. So after that year, I actually moved back to Austin and things grew from there. By that point, I I had bought an acoustic guitar. I started writing my own songs. The first summer I was in Austin, I discovered singer-songwriters, and I was like, what is this? Like, is this something I could do? Because I did like to sing, but I was I would only sing if I was intoxicated or like someone asked me to sing a national anthem at a hockey game at SMU in Halifax. That's where I went to school. And I sang in high school in a in a cover band called Head Rush. It was a French cover band, and I did the English songs. And I took music as a kid, but I was quit and like, you know, went into sport I basically focused on sports in in high school and and junior high. And and so I was kind of I figured I was a late bloomer. I taught myself acoustic guitar, I taught myself how to write songs, and then when I moved back to Austin the second time in two thousand uh sorry, two thousand, I I really kind of I was working many jobs, I had a full-time job and part-time jobs, and all that money and my spare time went into playing open mics, writing songs, recording my first album, which is called Pretty Things, and and getting just getting experience. So that's kind of how that all started. But it in the beginning, I had no idea where I was going, what I was doing. And I would meet these people and just kind of say yes to whatever the hell was going on.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, to stint as a vocalist and a dancer too, and that probably taught you a lot of the things behind it. Is that right?

SPEAKER_00 11:37

Like Right. I wasn't like a trained dancer, but when I lived in Austin, in the first year that I moved back, I was invited to be in a band called Young Heart Attack. And my job in that, my role in that band was backup singer, dancer. Me and the other, the other backup singer, dancer, we kind of asked or begged if we could do choreograph moves, like and you know, play tambourine and and make because it was like a 70s rock revival kind of situation. That's the the music at the time. And and they said yes, they thought it was really cool. And I was a big fan of like Ike and Tina and the Ikez, and that was my dream come true at the time. I was like, well, I've made it. I'm in a band until I got kicked out, and that's a whole longer story. But like that would to me, I was like, I've never dreamed I I I wanted something like this to happen, but I never I don't mind hearing the kicked out story if you got time to tell it.

SPEAKER_01 12:27

What's the what's the gist of it, or unless you don't want to, that's cool.

Early Career: Austin, Germany, First Record

SPEAKER_00 12:30

Well, it's funny because no, it's interesting because this is like keep in mind, this is my perspective. And memory is reconstructive, although I've been telling the same story, you know, when people ask me for years. But yeah, yeah. So I was in the Young Heart Attack in its initial, like its inaugural or the first crew that was I was one of the newbies in a group of friends that was like a super group in Austin at the time. And and you can look up Young Heart Attack and find the names of I think two of the lead, the original crew are still running the band. And I'm not sure if they're an active band or not, but in any case, I was in the band, we had weekly rehearsals, you don't get paid, you show up and do your job, and that's what I did. And and I felt it was doing a good job. And and my friend Jennifer was in the band at the time. And one day the boys came to my place and said, you know, we were gonna kick Jennifer out. And they said, they told me that I was rock and roll and that she wasn't. And I was like, well, I really like Jen. Like, I'm I don't this isn't my band. I didn't feel like it was my band. I felt like I was just kind of along for the ride. So I felt that I I voiced it, you know, I didn't agree with them, but I it's their band, so they're gonna do what they want to do. And Jennifer, they had a meeting, and and Jennifer managed to convince them to stay, which I was really happy about. Things started out pretty clean in the band. Like a goal, like I remember the first meeting where I was interviewed basically, and they were like, you know, we're all we all tried to clean up our act. There's no more drugs, no more this. And that was kind of my speed at the time because I was so busy and I I wasn't I wasn't doing any drugs or drinking. It wasn't I just didn't have that. I've never really been able to work all the jobs I had to work and do anything and and be doing like drugs or drinking a ton on the side because of my, you know, I wanted to make it all work. And so that was yeah, I don't know. So that kind of changed at at some point. I think people started staying later after practice. I never could. I had to work the next day at 7 a.m.

SPEAKER_03 14:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:32

And I stopped getting calls and and I I think it was Jennifer that actually told me because I was like, Do you know what in our next practices? And she just said that they booted you out. And I was like, wow, I didn't even get a call. And that's brutal. I did this is my hunch. Now there was someone in the band who let me know that they had a crush on me and I nothing happened. I had a boyfriend at the time, and I said, you know, I'm not interested, and but I liked them as a friend, you know. Obviously, we were all pretty friend friendly uh together.

SPEAKER_01 15:02

And he was butthurt.

SPEAKER_00 15:04

The person that I believe replaced me was dating this person all of a sudden. I think there may have there may have created some drama.

SPEAKER_01 15:14

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

This may not be true, but there may have even been an impregnated person involved. And it wasn't it wasn't me. So the story, which may or may not be accurate, is I got booted out for someone who was pregnant with with the child of the person that that had a crush on me that I didn't, you know, there you go.

SPEAKER_01 15:33

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 15:34

It could be true, it could not be true.

SPEAKER_01 15:36

So that's a little lot of drama from from getting into it to kind of a fun 70s revival band that you probably weren't anticipating.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

I know it was really fun, and everyone wa up until that point that I was kind of booted out without really having a meeting, and I was I was really hurt because it I loved that band and what we were doing. But at the same time, I had just finished recording my first album, Pretty Things, and it did force me to focus 100% on my own solo stuff. Because that I needed that was really raw. Like it was pretty raw. I mean, you can hear how young I am and maybe inexperience too, in my first record. You know, a lot of new artists come out today with a new record, and it sounds killer right out of the gate. And I really love the production. And rest in peace, uh Darwin Smith, who produced that, he was a good friend of mine in Austin. Uh, he just passed away last year. And, you know, nothing like he was incredible, incredible to work with, wonderful playing. But my songwriting, I still if I listen to it, like my songwriting and my voice are so you know young and kind of underdeveloped, but I could hear I'm like, okay, well, I can see that this person is capable of being a songwriter some someday. It's like a better there's a room to improve.

SPEAKER_01 16:50

For sure. Yeah. Did you you open for Wilco at the beginning?

SPEAKER_00 16:55

Okay, so yes, around that same time.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

I love Wilco. My brother is a huge Wilco fan, so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:01

This is another one of those things that like it all happened in Austin, but it was around that same time. I was recording my first album with Darwin. I had been kicked out of the band uh around this time, or maybe it was like a couple months before. And I got a I had just played a bar called uh the Mercury Club on Sixth Street. And it there weren't many people there. It was with me and a couple other artists, and the manager was very nice to me and he liked my songs. I was just playing solo. I think I was even sitting down, I don't think I knew, like, could stand and play at that time. And uh he called me and asked me, he said, Tiff Merritt, who I did not know who she was at the time. Tiff Merritt was opening for this band Wilco. They're doing a surprise show for like an opening thing for the Austin City Limits Festival, the first one. This was around, I think, October to that. So I knew I did not know who Wilco was. I was listening to the Jayhawks at the time. I did not know who Wilco or Tiff Merritt were, I didn't know they were, but Tiff was sick, had to cancel, so they were looking for a replacement. And he for some reason called me. I said, Well, let me check on something and I'll let I'll let you know. I called my producer Darwin Smith and said, Hey buddy, like someone's asking me to do this gig. It doesn't pay very much, like I'm really busy. What do you think? And he's like, he just thought I was a total like idiot. He was like, Are you kidding me? Like, yes, you have to go call and say, Yes, you'll do this gig, and I'll be your guitar tech. And I remember he found me a guild guitar from Sila, our friend Sila, to play, and he he he didn't accompany me, but like I mean, he came to the gig with me and was like my sidekick. And and so I got to open for Wilco, and it was uh one of those experiences that made me absolutely like want to do my own thing because their audience was so incredible. Like, here I was this new singer-songwriter. The room was packed. I mean, it wasn't like there were probably 400, 300, 400 people in there. It was a small room, standing room.

SPEAKER_01 19:01

Yeah, yeah. They filled they feel auditoriums now, Wilco. Like, my God. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:06

Yeah, and this was a surprise thing. Like, there were some celebrities in the audience, like I think Cheryl Crow was there with at the time dancing or dating Lance Armstrong. The Jayhawk members of the Jayhawks were in the audience. Like, I didn't know all this until after, but they they you could hear a pin drop. They were just so receptive, and it wasn't because I was awesome or anything like that. It was like they were just generous and respectful.

SPEAKER_01 19:31

Probably a blessing for you that you didn't know anybody or anyone in the room, so you weren't freaking out. Like you were just kind of like, oh, whatever.

SPEAKER_00 19:40

I would have freaked out. Yeah. And I was backstage, I was sitting at the top of the stairwell. Uh, because I I didn't want to go into the green room. There was only one room, and I didn't feel comfortable, like that wasn't my room. Jeff Tweety was like not feeling very well, and he was going back and forth, probably to puke in the out of the way. I don't know. Glenn, who was a new drummer at the time, was sitting with me in the at the top of the stairs, and we were just chatting, and I was like, Can I just play can I just play my song for you before I go out there? Because I'm so scared I'm gonna fuck this up. And he was so Super nice and, you know, respectful and generous. And yeah, it was kind of a trip. I have pictures from that night and just the memory of like a lovely, warm audience. And it happened really quick. And and uh that was it.

Band Drama, Getting Kicked Out, Refocus

SPEAKER_01 20:30

That's amazing. Something we never got a chance to talk about before, Matt. We've had a few artists on over the years. Uh we don't do artists all the time. We do a lot of entrepreneurs, and really being an artist, in our opinion, is being an entrepreneur, right? You gotta get out there, you gotta find a way to make a living or survive off your arts, right? So there's nothing more entrepreneuring than that because it's not an easy thing to do. But what I wanted to ask you about in particular, instead of going into the business, is just more about your songwriting process. Because that storm album, we won't go too deep into it. I don't know if people have heard it or not, but like there's a lot of really deep messaging in that album. I just kind of got a vibe that that probably was a lot of like how how are you putting these songs together today? Maybe even versus the the kid that went to Austin so many years ago.

SPEAKER_00 21:46

All right, half of you cut out, because my internet is probably terrible, but Okay. Why don't you repeat the bit about like is there a specific album that you wanted me to talk about the process, or just in general?

SPEAKER_01 21:58

Let's talk about your newest album, Storm, the one that you've just kind of recently released live last year. Like, what was some of the the writing process behind this album? Because it's it seems very like a very big it felt like a very big record when you were listening to it. I mean, I that was just kind of high level the way that I felt. They felt the sound felt very big. Where did you start on this album? Where did it all come from?

SPEAKER_00 22:22

Oh, that's a good question, a big question. And you're right, it was like for me personally, the I knew it was gonna be the biggest album and endeavor, like everything around it that I would embark on, and and and then I also knew that everything after I like that not that I didn't care, but I was like, I can relax a bit and and maybe just have a different approach to everything after this. Like, but I really approached Storm as this holistic project, and and I knew I wanted it to be about my life, you know, almost from like out of the gate. And there's that's why there are a couple songs that I wrote while I was in Austin, like still in LA, and songs about painful periods, songs about my brother, and then songs about overcoming, you know, kind of moving past grief and saying thank you, having gratitude for all the shit and and the ability to kind of learn and grow and all this thing. I mean, Storm is a is an album about gratitude and celebrating too the some of the musical relationships in my life that have been so important, like with Dale Murray, my my husband and my best friend and my musical, you know, my producer. He's so he's been so important. He's produced, engineered, and performed on every album since my first album, other than my first album, Pretty Things. So from Two Hearts Onward, he's he's by my side. And allowing me the space to evolve as I want to evolve, and also happy to take the reins if I'm like, I don't fucking care. You know, like what do you think, you know? And you know, Jason Vautour. We worked my bass player and and friend, your friend, who has been playing bass in my albums for years. We had two drummers. One is one was uh Dale's brother, Brian Murray, who is one of my favorite drummers. He has such great feel and instincts and on songs like uh Ink Control and I can't I'm blanking right now on the others, but it was just wonderful to have him involved. And uh Jordy Comstock is another incredible musician who played on the other songs on the album and did the live performance with us. And then from the beginning, I when I was putting together like song lists, I mean some of the songs were completed during the pandemic. And I don't have specifics about writing all of them, but I knew that the the visual there was a visual component I wanted to achieve. So with the artwork, I started playing around with ideas and mocking up ideas for Nicole Alain Legault, who uh worked with me on the album artwork, and every single element of the artwork had to be animatable. So we had layers that we I could then someday perhaps animate for a show or for my social media, and she so those would be there, and I could use them as I suffered. So a bit of a it was and then I knew I wanted to do this big ass show. I didn't I didn't think I could take it on tour because of the cost. I knew how I really believe in paying my musicians for practices, for obviously sessions, for live performances at rehearsals, and so with the at least the way my career's worked out, like I don't make enough money to take strings in a full band on tour. But I really wanted to invest. I'm I'm big on like no one's handed me anything in my life. I've really had to work hard for it and creating creating experiences for myself. It's cost me a lot of money. I have debts to pay, but I believe in it and I believe in filming what I can. It's challenged me to be a better musician and a performer. You know, it's like you put all this time and energy into something, you wanna you wanna capture it so so you can have a professional recording online that could potentially sell you you could sell to for corporate gigs or for festivals. They want to see and hear you, but you know, it's not feasible to be traveling all over the world and playing conferences and and it's exhausting doing that. So I wanted to record the show and do it really well. And so we we've done that, we've had some experience with that over the years, but that was part of Storm as well.

SPEAKER_01 26:32

And if I haven't exhausted you yet Let me ask you this like the song Storm itself, the title track. So what's Storm to Christina? What does that mean?

Opening For Wilco And Finding Confidence

SPEAKER_00 26:42

It's it's it's a song about gratitude, and looking part of that song was written as a there was just a little melody and a and a line, a few lines that I wrote when I was my first marriage, and we had just gone through Hurricane Juan in Halifax. And there were and I had no more to the song. We did a couple bits and I kept on I held on to it for years. You know, you go through divorce, you lose people in your life, then stuff just happens, and and eventually you get to a luckily I've gotten to a point where I just I love my life, I love the people in it. I worked really hard to be healthy and happy. You know, I'm in I'm 40, my body's age, as my friend John uh would say, is 46 now, and I love my life. And so in the pandemic, I was able to sit down and finish that song, and it's just a song about gratitude and looking back on the side. Cool song.

SPEAKER_01 27:33

And you people can watch that one online too. Maybe we could play that at the end of this episode. I thought it was a pretty cool track. Yeah. So thank you for that. Thanks for sharing all that.

SPEAKER_00 27:42

No problem. I'm I'm talking too much.

SPEAKER_02 27:45

No, this is great. We're enjoying this. The one thing uh I would ask is you were talking about how like how much work it can go into be traveling and and paying musicians and all that stuff. But do you find with the the way the world is kind of working in the music world now, because Spotify pays literal pennies on the dollar and things like that, we've seen uh now that you have to be on tour. Like, that's how musicians are making money now. Like that that creates an even further burden for people like yourself. Like, it's it's easy for the Taylor Swifts of the world to say, like, I'm going on tour, and you know, she can afford everyone all the time, but and and and and obviously she'll see a return. But for you know, local musicians, you know, people who aren't the ultra mega stars and things like that, talk about the obstacles that that brings for you guys to try to get your name out there and actually earn some money for you and the people who work for you.

SPEAKER_00 28:42

It's been a lot of trial and error and a lot of work and a lot of grant writing and a lot of reporting and playing shows to full rooms, playing shows to nobody, and going overseas every year since 2011, up until the pandemic. And I finally hit a kind of a wall. The pandemic really for me allowed me to go, what do you really want? You know what's working. You've been doing this for a while, is are these, you know, what is working and what is not? And and in this time and age, I guess. So I won't, I mean, there's a lot to unpack there when it comes to trying to make a living. But for me, what's working right now is having, and this is another thing I'm grateful for, but I wasn't initially. You know, I found a remote job that I could do from anywhere 20 hours a week that I love. I love the people. It's it's kind of in weirdly in my background, because I used to be a tech aide, and so it's it's in tech. And then it allows me to be home. I'm not, you know, driving around to work every day, spending two hours in traffic. And it's a it's a consistent income. And then I can focus the rest of my day on rehearsals with my partner for the upcoming shows.

unknown 29:58

No.

SPEAKER_00 29:58

Any business like right now we're uh spending, we've been spending a couple weeks reporting all of our, you know, recent new recordings to the royalty collection agencies, and that's all like just business admin stuff that companies not just, you know, it's not just musicians that have to do that bullshit work.

SPEAKER_01 30:15

It'd be so cool if we could just all do the 20-hour work week, though, and then get to pursue our arts and our passions and stuff like that. Maybe like as a as an internal optimist, maybe the AI will grant us that, right? You know, 20-hour work weeks. They can do all the admin stuff and we can get out there and create some things.

SPEAKER_02 30:33

Well, still while salaries stay the same.

SPEAKER_00 30:36

Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, AI can be a great tool, as you probably know, for sure, helping with tasks that people like myself, like, look, I would I would hire humans to do a lot of the things that I have to do if I could afford it, but I can't, and people aren't paying for music and they're not buying enough tickets. So I have to find a way to do a lot of it myself. And I use AI as a tool for that, not for songwriting, although some people might be doing that. I don't know, and I don't want to sure they are, yeah. But not for the creative stuff, but for the business stuff. Oh my God, it's been incredible. And I dare I say fun at times using AI for some of the business admin kind of tasks and numerical shit that is just.

SPEAKER_02 31:38

How does the whole AI music make you feel as an artist?

Writing Storm: Gratitude, Grief, And Growth

SPEAKER_00 31:42

I'll be honest, like I know people are freaking out about it. I don't even I don't care what other people do. I mean, people say, oh, it's gonna take your job. I think people will always want the real deal. I think building an audience is about is about getting out of the house and being in front of other humans. Or maybe you maybe you are lucky and you can find an audience online that it loves you and because you're human and likes your personality. But for me, all I can think about is what the fuck can I do? How do I play to my strengths? Relationships like are important to me. And and I think as long as I spend time at least like going out and doing a great job at Big Shiny Tunes with you know, with the audience, with the musicians I'm working with, show up and then the next show and the next show and those kinds of then I have nothing to worry about and kind of have this radical acceptance, like if I am not earning enough with my music, I've got to get another job. I mean, that's how I started in Austin. I had four other jobs, and so a I don't know, like I mean, I I don't I don't love that people are you know taking up space online when they're it with inhuman creations, but there's plenty of other stuff I could complain about. Like I wish people would just pay remember when people paid 99 cents for a song? That was actually good for artists, and now now they just stream and I've done it too. I've streamed too, although to be honest, I canceled all my memberships because I I did in these small ways, I try to stand for something, you know.

SPEAKER_01 33:12

But I think one person bought our Christmas song. That's congratulations. We put out a Christmas song for fun, it was 99 cents so on iTunes. So we made her probably was my mom. I don't know who it was. I I didn't I just noticed this thing, I didn't even look at it, but I saw the email thing, but like that's amazing. We made it up 30 cents, Matt. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:35

Cheers. Yeah, cheers to that.

SPEAKER_01 33:37

Our first country music single, Matt, was uh was a huge success.

SPEAKER_00 33:41

So you guys where that came from.

SPEAKER_02 33:46

Yeah, thank you. You know what? You know what? Throw it on the resume. We're we're an actual we're a musical yeah that there you go. Sold something musically. There you go.

SPEAKER_01 33:56

100%. Yeah, we did it. My brother played guitar. It was it was it was terrible, but it was beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 34:01

Amazing.

SPEAKER_00 34:05

But yeah, you guys gonna start fighting about this?

SPEAKER_01 34:08

We gotta split over 35, I think. But about 30 cents when she's all said and done. So we got about a dime each. So all right. Yeah, and we could we could that's that's pretty good. Throw it in with the cans.

SPEAKER_00 34:19

If you write another 20 or so, and then that'll add up. Like, that's right. We just need to do it.

SPEAKER_01 34:24

We just need to do a double album.

SPEAKER_00 34:26

Who's the person who bought it? That's who you gotta hone in on.

SPEAKER_01 34:29

I I I have no idea. I didn't I'm just not gonna let it bother me because I don't want that to get in my head. But I mean, just back to what you just said though, I loved your answer about AI, how it's not really you're not really super mad about it, in the sense that you know, people are always gonna value that human experience, I think, over what they hear, and there's an audience for both in some some circumstances. So that's all very cool. It was a great answer. And I also love what you said, and I gotta give a shout out. I I had this a note to write this down. Your friend Stephanie, a person.

SPEAKER_03 35:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:03

So she is like in the background, helped us a few times here guests on this show. Of course, yes, super quick, super fast on an email, didn't know me through a hole in the wall, but when I asked, like, oh, we'd like to talk to this person, it was like set up that day. So she's on it, man. So shout out to Stephanie, and I think what she's doing here with this big shiny tunes thing and is an example of how you can get a bunch of artists together and just help them get recognized. And if that's through somebody else's music at first, so be it. That's not a bad thing. I think that's a really cool thing because you're still seeing an artist express themselves in their own way. So totally love what you guys are doing there. So I think it's really cool. So please let her know to at least listen to this part of the show that we we think she's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 35:46

I will I hope she doesn't know you through a hole in the wall. And yeah, she's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 35:51

That's an old maritime expression, my friend. I I should be careful how I say that now. Yeah, I never thought about that term until the way you just put it back on me.

SPEAKER_02 36:00

She just messed that all up. What? No, no, it's it's not. She doesn't know me from a hole in the wall.

SPEAKER_00 36:06

How that's exactly yeah, you said through a hole in the wall.

SPEAKER_01 36:10

So of course that puts it really a nasty touch on it, doesn't it? I'm sorry. Now we're talking about glory holes here there, Telvin.

SPEAKER_00 36:17

Yeah. And that's that's basically what my podcast is like. We focus on guests who've known each other through holes in the wall.

SPEAKER_01 36:25

Okay, well, that sounds lovely. So that's a great segue. Bright, tell us a little bit about your podcast.

SPEAKER_00 36:31

My podcast, which you guys you might want to be on it sometime. That'd be so funny.

SPEAKER_03 36:35

I'd love to. Yeah, yeah. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 36:37

Yeah. It's called a chat with heart, and it's literally just a chill chat and with people I like and can talk to you, and that's it. That's in summary. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:47

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 36:48

Yeah, like I want to on my deathbed be able to listen back and be reminded of the people I love in my life and and the people I've met and encountered, like you guys. And it's yeah, that's not that wasn't part of the goal initially, like I when I die, like a plans to do that.

SPEAKER_01 37:05

Do you have a kind of a secret goal with the show or a kind of mission that you kind of keep in your head? You want every show to be like our show is about like bringing people together. So we try to make sure that we're being a little bit kinder and more open with our thoughts towards each other, and like people we disagree with and stuff too, sometimes, right? So that's that's kind of this one. I go off tired sometimes. What's that?

SPEAKER_02 37:26

Yeah. Go off on tangents sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 37:28

Well, yeah, yeah. He gets into it sometimes, yeah.

unknown 37:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:31

I think that's part of the like spontaneity. You come in prepared, but then like spontaneity is kind of magical. Or sidetracks, whatever you call them. Initially, like one of the big things I wanted to one of the goals was like, let's talk about pivotal moments and how people have how they've kind of lived through those pivotal experiences, good or bad. I guess I've kind of let go of that over time, and now and now it just seems to be an exercise in being myself and then having some kind of a like having that human connection because we live in a rural area, and if we don't have a gig, we don't see people and really like no one wants to call anymore. I mean, I've I've really had a few friends now that we actually phone call and like I send voice messages instead of texts, and and so it's yeah, it's helps me stay real, stay human. And like I just had a Dave Gunning on my he's been a friend forever, but like we don't get to hang a lot. And an hour focused on someone one-on-one is a it's a joy, like it's a it's a gem, really.

SPEAKER_01 38:34

It's a totally different experience, and you always learn something. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:38

Yeah. So I don't have like the other thing is like I mean, I guess I used to have too many goals and it stressed me out. And one of my other goals is like to stay chill, calm the fuck down.

SPEAKER_03 38:49

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 38:50

So I used to like it's my life goal, man. To prep for my podcast, like I would just do too much. And then it took me out of relaxing and and being more present. And so I've found a bit of a sweet spot. Like, it's not that I don't get nervous anymore, I still do. I mean, with technology, right? Because I have shitty internet, like it still gets stressed that it's just not gonna work out or something. And but anyway, it's all good.

SPEAKER_01 39:17

Awesome. Well, what's this about? Like, you're pretty outspoken about oh my gosh, this is a word I can't say, Matt. Could you check the notes? Accessibility. Accessibility. Accessibility, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:30

Accessibility is cool too. Like I'll just start saying that.

SPEAKER_01 39:34

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I also like when I get mad at my uh like Gracie, when she gets into trouble, okay. I can't say what's the word that I can't say, unacceptable, and then she just makes fun of me.

SPEAKER_00 39:44

I like that.

SPEAKER_01 39:45

Then she just makes fun of me for not saying the word right, and then I lose all power as a parent. Right?

SPEAKER_00 39:50

Well, is that like something you've had your whole life? Like or do you have missing are you missing a tooth or something?

SPEAKER_01 39:57

No, all they're all. No, it's it's called being a Newfoundlander. No, that's not true. No, no, that's not true. It's not about being a Newfoundlander, but yeah, it's something some some bonics thing or something. I don't know. Cool. The other one, I gotta tell you another one real quick, Matt, because I didn't think I told you this one. So I'm at the dentist the other day, because you know, and they're doing the x-rays because I hadn't had the x-rays done in a while, and they put that little thing in my mouth, and she's plastic thing, yeah. And she's like, You have a small mouth. And I'm like, Okay, I never but like Gracie, when I get like when she gets in trouble again, she goes, because I purse my lips when I get mad. I'm like, go, like, come on, stop that. Right? And then she's like, You have a small mouth, and she always just cracks up laughing, and then again I lose all power as a parent. I'm just terrible at it. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 40:43

You know what? Also, Mutt, that that small mouth doesn't help you with the whole mole.

SPEAKER_00 40:47

Yeah, I was gonna say that's what she said.

SPEAKER_01 40:50

Small mouth or he.

SPEAKER_00 40:52

That's what he said.

SPEAKER_01 40:52

That's gonna be the name of my next podcast, Small Mouth and a Hole in the Wall. There you go. Sounds lovely.

SPEAKER_00 40:58

I love it. I hope your kids listening to this.

SPEAKER_01 41:01

Yeah. No, I don't think they will.

SPEAKER_02 41:03

No. Yeah.

unknown 41:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:08

Good.

unknown 41:10

Good.

SPEAKER_02 41:10

At least that's what the demographics tell us.

SPEAKER_00 41:13

Yeah.

Building The Show: Strings, Visuals, Filming

SPEAKER_01 41:13

So, Matt, I think it's a good time to jump into. We do a lightning round where we ask 10 silly questions at the end of every episode. Yeah. Okay. And uh they're just fun or philosophical or weird. So we can get into those here now. And then uh yeah. And then I think we we probably uh you know go our own way.

SPEAKER_00 41:32

Say good night. Yeah, gonna go eat dinner and do something.

SPEAKER_01 41:37

Cool. So, Smack, do you want to start them off, Boy?

SPEAKER_00 41:40

Sure, all right.

SPEAKER_02 41:41

We'll start with I'll start number one of our ten questions. So, what belief did you hold as a new musician that you're almost embarrassed by now?

SPEAKER_00 41:53

That I would be famous someday.

SPEAKER_02 41:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 41:56

Because people would tell you that. They're like, look, you know, for years and you're emerging artists and like industry people and all the comfort, you know, are saying X, Y, and Z. And so you kind of start to believe in what they're saying. Also, your audience, like, people will say that, and then after a while, you're like, it's not happening.

SPEAKER_02 42:15

That's that's kind of where like like music/slash arts and like athletics are very similar. Yeah. Very similar, right? Everyone's telling you every every parent and things like that are telling you you're the next Sidney Crosby, right? And everyone's telling you you're the next Taylor Swift, right?

SPEAKER_00 42:34

It's uh I don't think people should do that. Like, I don't think people should be like, you know, watch her while you still can. It's like, really? Like, I mean, it just sets these expectations that that can affect you mentally. Like, you know, like what if you don't get a Juno or you don't get nominated for you don't, you know, stuff like that. And it's like, why don't we just be a little more real with people and be like, you know what? Is this gonna be a hard go? It's like overnight success is 30 years in the making, like that kind of stuff, I think, should be more practical kind of advice, yeah. Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 43:10

That makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 43:10

I like that.

SPEAKER_00 43:11

You're never gonna be famous.

SPEAKER_02 43:13

Everyone needs a Simon Cowell in their life.

SPEAKER_00 43:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:17

That's a great lead-in to question two. So if you had an inner critic, like in your own head there, like what would its name and job title be?

SPEAKER_00 43:26

Its name would be shit on you.

unknown 43:30

Name.

SPEAKER_00 43:30

Wait, name and title. Is that the same thing?

SPEAKER_03 43:33

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 43:33

I mean, and its job is to uh it's to whisper things like you are replaceable, which is true. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:42

Yeah, we're all replaceable, yeah, to some extent.

SPEAKER_00 43:45

You know, quit resting on your laurels. It would kind of whisper those kind of which it still does, and like, you know, don't be uh oh, my grandpa used to say don't be too proud.

SPEAKER_01 43:55

So that's not shitting on you. That's good advice. That's not that is good advice. Those are those are golden turd nuggets, I'd say, instead of like something. Yeah, they're they're they're good, that's good wisdom there. Yeah. Okay. Well they're I like those. Don't rest on your laurels. They're all good. Yeah. Yeah. Cool.

SPEAKER_03 44:12

Okay. Question number three.

unknown 44:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:15

What's a small moment in your life that ended up changing everything?

SPEAKER_00 44:20

Well, there's been so many. You know, my my small moment would have been when I a small moment, Jesus. What do you consider a small moment?

SPEAKER_02 44:29

Like It's open to the, you know, the receiver of the question.

SPEAKER_00 44:34

Yeah, because like is it like something happens in an instant, which often things do?

SPEAKER_01 44:38

Or well, it's kind of back to your question. The theme remember what you thought the initial theme of your podcast was?

SPEAKER_00 44:44

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:45

You know, that defining moment? That's what we're looking for. What was your defining moment?

SPEAKER_00 44:48

Oh, defining moment. I would I would say quitting university because I was always so school and academic driven. And then the decision to quit was very difficult, but my mother was very supportive. But I mean, who cares? Like a second year university. I ended up going back eventually, which did help me to get an actual undergraduate degree, but it's just an undergraduate degree. I mean, everybody's got a couple of those. Yeah, so like quitting, but quitting and getting the job in Austin changed my life for sure. It put me on that what I call like the as cheesy as it sounds, uh, path with heart, I guess. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 45:26

Question four. Four? Okay, thanks. Do you think people have a true self or are we just the story we keep rewriting?

SPEAKER_00 45:38

I think, I mean, I do want to believe that like the essence of like of our spirit or whatever the hell is inside us. Like, I mean, we're all just bodies on the outside, right? Like this is my I believe this is like my shell. You know, and you guys, you're in your your pods or whatever, and whatever's inside, like the I mean, my belief is that at the core of it it's all good and love, and then it gets clouded by, you know, like the whatever shitty things humans do to each other. But I don't know if that answers your question.

SPEAKER_03 46:16

I don't know if that's all that's like I'll be honest with you.

SPEAKER_01 46:19

I also don't disagree with what you said.

SPEAKER_00 46:22

So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:24

I asked you a question, you got me thinking. That's what happened there, I think. You just you just you just 180 us, so that's all right.

SPEAKER_02 46:30

Yeah, okay. So Google question number five. Yeah. This this is a lob ball. We're lobbing an idea. This is this is a fun one. Easy. What's your all-time favorite meal?

SPEAKER_00 46:42

Spaghetti and meatballs.

SPEAKER_01 46:44

Simple textbook. Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_00 46:47

Love it.

SPEAKER_01 46:47

Do you know why? Do you is there a story there? Did somebody make it in your life?

SPEAKER_00 46:51

Yeah, my I mean, okay, uh, the meatballs I kind of added on because I do like my mother, my grandmother both made an grandma's dead, mom's still alive, made incredible spaghetti sauces. I actually like to as well, but we don't eat a lot of pasta at home because my husband's gluten intolerant, and any kind of pasta just gunks us up for some reason. But my mom made spaghetti the other day with meat, not meatballs. But meatballs are awesome. Like, I don't know.

Money, Touring, And The Modern Music Grind

SPEAKER_02 47:18

Meatballs are one of the best things to eat, period.

SPEAKER_00 47:21

It was a big meal we at least once a week or when in my family growing up, and there was always a lot, always enough. We'd have it, then we'd eat it for breakfast as leftovers. And nice. I love it. I love it. I loved zoodles and like pasta. Yeah. So it just is a fulfilling, it's definitely a comfort food for me. And even when we were vegan for five years, I we I made a version of it that was like satisfied my craving for spaghetti and meatballs. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 47:50

So weird, weird, weird fact, I'll tell you about me. I like eating spaghetti sauce the next day cold.

SPEAKER_00 47:58

Interesting. I like pizza cold, but I've never done spaghetti cold.

SPEAKER_02 48:03

You like spaghetti sauce? Spaghetti sauce and chili cold the next day. Like my wife thinks I'm so weird, but I love weird, dude. I didn't know that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:12

You know, I apart from the cold pizza, I think I'd be too scared to do because they took that, you know, you've to work in a restaurant or like cook for people in group homes, you have to take a food prep course. And so after taking that, I think I I'd be too scared to eat eat spaghetti sauce or chili raw if it had meat in it. But now I'm curious. So I might just do it.

SPEAKER_03 48:35

Pretty good. Just saying.

SPEAKER_00 48:36

Yeah, I believe you. I totally believe you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:38

Question number six over to you, Tobin. If you could keep only one sense, sight, hearing, touch, taste, or smell, which would you keep? And what does that say about you? I guess which sense would you be able to part with if you had to part with one?

SPEAKER_03 48:57

You mean keep one or part with one? You gotta get you gotta Say them again.

SPEAKER_00 49:03

There's sight. I don't want to get rid of that because I'm too.

SPEAKER_03 49:06

Hearing.

SPEAKER_00 49:07

Hearing, I think.

SPEAKER_03 49:08

That would suck for you, I think. That would kinda suck for you. Okay, what else? Touch, taste, or smell.

SPEAKER_00 49:17

I gotta give one up. I'm gonna go with smell, even though I know how that affects your memories and like it would affect my taste, but I'll get rid of the smell.

unknown 49:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 49:30

Cool. Alright.

SPEAKER_00 49:31

Hey, hey, there's a hey, there's a public chat in this. Did you know that?

SPEAKER_01 49:36

Is anybody talking?

SPEAKER_00 49:37

I was strolling lives and found this one. Hey everyone, by Game Changer5450. Like, are you still watching? And then Village Food Something Says Hi. Yeah, two people.

SPEAKER_01 49:50

Wow, that's cool. Well, let's just go. What up?

SPEAKER_00 49:54

Yeah, hey, yo.

SPEAKER_01 49:55

I don't know what sound cool if I got some new gamer friends. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:59

Yeah. Hey, what up, dogs? Oh, that was you.

SPEAKER_02 50:03

Or like now we're I don't play games. I I'll I'll just, you know, since they're listening, I'll say download Christina's music and download our music apparently now.

SPEAKER_01 50:12

Yeah, he's a game changer, so he might not play video games. He just changed the game. Sorry. So I got that.

SPEAKER_00 50:17

I'm gonna put I'm I'm putting in my website, promoting myself.

SPEAKER_01 50:20

There you go. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 50:22

Because that's where the tickets, that's where the tickets for the big shiny tunes are.

SPEAKER_01 50:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:26

If you if you're in Halifax or Germany, there's some tour dates there.

SPEAKER_01 50:30

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 50:32

Vil Wilkommen.

SPEAKER_00 50:33

Yeah, Wilkommen. There's no one, there's no Germans watching, but so question number seven.

SPEAKER_02 50:40

We'll go question number seven. Yeah. So what do you think is more important? Being understood or being felt?

SPEAKER_00 50:48

Like felt up? Like touch me? No.

SPEAKER_01 50:50

Whatever. However you want to answer that question.

SPEAKER_00 50:53

We'll just I feel you kind of felt it's that for interpretation.

SPEAKER_02 50:57

Connecting with someone, like someone like really feels what you're going through. Like empathy versus like logic.

SPEAKER_00 51:04

I think understood. I don't care that somebody empathizes or feels like. I'm with you on that one. 100%.

SPEAKER_01 51:11

I think I just you're 100% on board with that. Yeah. Yeah. You're not an empath.

SPEAKER_00 51:16

Yeah, it's it's also valuable to like I understand where you're coming from. I don't fucking agree. I don't even empathize with you, but I understand, and then I can, you know, maybe there's more room for acceptance or forgiveness, or like just shutting the door and walking away.

SPEAKER_01 51:30

Yeah, that's more rationalist. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:32

Yeah. Are we rationalists? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 51:34

Guess so.

SPEAKER_03 51:35

Guess so cool. Question number eight over to you, Tilden.

SPEAKER_01 51:38

I like this. What's an album or a movie you enjoyed most reasonable? Question number eight. Okay, thank you. You're you're highlighting that and everything.

SPEAKER_00 51:47

You really fucked that up, Mike.

SPEAKER_01 51:48

Alright, well, that's okay. I'm used to it. If you could send one sentence to your future self ten years from now, what would you send?

SPEAKER_00 52:00

Please don't give up. And I don't mean like taking my life or anything. I just mean like that to me means like I didn't mean to laugh at your answer there. Don't kill yourself. And that was that was not in the plans, you know.

SPEAKER_03 52:14

And I I just mean like that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 52:18

I did.

SPEAKER_03 52:19

I did. I sent a message.

SPEAKER_00 52:21

I sent a message to myself that only I would understand. Don't do it.

SPEAKER_03 52:25

Yeah.

AI As A Tool, Not A Muse

SPEAKER_00 52:27

No, but like, you know how easy it is to lay in bed an extra couple hours or like not write a song and not I really I know that so much now that like I my biggest regret is that 10 years will go by and I won't have written any more albums or songs. And so now I have I actually put it in the calendar, like, you know, you're gonna be songwriting this morning, or you're gonna make a date with someone to co-write. And I am in a songwriter's group, so we at least write we have to write one song a month there, and that was nothing I did in the past. And so years will go by, and I'm I know it might seem like I have a I do have a catalog, but like, you know, by this point, Dolly Parton had, you know, a million more songs than I did because she focused on songwriting. That's like every probably every day or every other day, she's writing tunes, and a chunk of her day is carved out. It's easy to get distracted. Keep your blinders on and and just keep doing what you love. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 53:27

That is good. So question number nine so what's an album or movie that you have enjoyed in the last year?

SPEAKER_00 53:36

I'm gonna go with a movie because I haven't listened to a lot of albums, to be honest. That's something I should do, spend more time with and a movie that I enjoyed in the last year. Like, can I say a movie that I've been watching I've watched as a kid too, like Dirty Dancing?

SPEAKER_03 53:51

Sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 53:53

I'll go with Dirty Dancing. I just something about that. Great songs, great dance. I love I'm not a dancer, but like great dancing and you know, Patrick Swayze, isn't it? I don't know. There's just something nostalgic about that one, I think, is cool.

SPEAKER_01 54:09

Cool. Good answer. All right. If the if the universe forced you to pick one, would you rather live a peaceful, quiet life or a disruptive, meaningful one?

SPEAKER_00 54:22

I'd probably say peaceful, quiet.

SPEAKER_01 54:25

Peaceful quiet?

SPEAKER_00 54:26

Disruption, not great for my nervous system. I've done that, but like I like peaceful, quiet, and it allows me to create. So it's a great answer. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:36

Do I hear your son under the desk there, Matt?

SPEAKER_02 54:38

I heard honestly, I could I could guess that she was gonna say that based on like where she lives.

SPEAKER_00 54:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:46

Oh yeah, yeah, that's a nice peaceful, quiet place, I think, for the most part. Oh, yeah. Very well.

SPEAKER_03 54:51

So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:52

It is. And we don't have to do that. We get a new last call. Yeah, we have this last call. So last call, we have a new last call question. I don't have it written down, Matt. So, but but well, I'm gonna try to say it. You say it because you might probably say it better. Okay, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 55:07

Okay, so last call, it's a new question that we started doing this year. So the previous question, just so you know, kind of thing. The previous question was actually we'd ask people for advice, but I think you gave us some really good advice earlier. So I think well, that's that's a great idea. Like, so the new question, last call for this year is what is something that you can do this year that can help others around you.

SPEAKER_00 55:32

I think my podcast does that. I think your podcast does that. I think it's like sharing being yourself and sharing people's stories. So I'll just I'll keep doing that. Is that cool?

SPEAKER_01 55:43

That was an answer. Yeah, that's a cool answer. You guys too.

SPEAKER_00 55:46

You guys too. Like keep doing fun stuff like this and connecting with your friends because I think it I think it matters. And I think in I was talking we had a friend over yesterday to talk about a fun project, uh creative project, and one of the things we were talking about, how how important it is to in this, you know, there's so much scary shit going on and and evil stuff, and that it makes it even more important to continue to have these platforms for each other and support each other so that we don't go down that dark, dark rabbit hole of evil death and let it consume us. I think that might be one what evil wants is to overtake our us, the the light and the la and love, and maybe I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 56:29

Agreed. I agree. That's great. Anything that you if you think that uh you have anything creative going on that we can help out with or we can contribute to, just ask, and you know, vice versa.

SPEAKER_00 56:44

Will you guys buy all my clothes, my used clothes on Poshmark?

SPEAKER_02 56:48

I don't even know what Poshmark is.

SPEAKER_01 56:50

No, I I won't do that. But it but but I think they're the same size, you guys. Come on. I'm probably close. But but it was really nice meeting you. So cheers to you, Christina. I wish you much success, much success in 2026. Um Yeah, you too, guys. Thanks. I think this will be the last show that I have to not drink real beer on. So so dry john you'll be over after this one.

SPEAKER_00 57:14

Woo! Oh, I'll have to come. I want to come back when you guys are wasted.

SPEAKER_01 57:18

We we only get wasted once once a year or twice a year, but you're actually pretty civil with it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:23

Can I smoke while you drink? Like not cigarettes.

SPEAKER_01 57:26

Yeah, it's a free world. Yeah, we can do that. Maybe what we'll do is we'll bring back in the summer, check in on you. We'll do like a Sunday coffee type of show, and we could do a little old wake and bake.

SPEAKER_00 57:35

I'll do some wheat. I don't even do I don't I'm such a lightweight they call me too toke tina, but like for this, I think it would be fun.

Hosting A Chat With Heart

SPEAKER_02 57:41

I don't really extreme lightweight. Like, I don't I don't smoke anything really, but we'll I like cannabis drinks once in a while or edible or something like that. Yeah, and I would I'd totally be down.

SPEAKER_01 57:53

Let's do it. I haven't smoked anything since I quit smoking cigarettes. Like, well, maybe you shouldn't smoke either years ago, yeah. Like cigarettes.

SPEAKER_00 57:59

What if you did it, Mike? What if you did a gummy, Matt? You do the drink, and I'll just smoke, and then we'll see and I'll bring some questions too for you.

SPEAKER_02 58:09

Christina Before we take off, there's one thing I gotta tell you. So, like one of our like loyal listeners, and I think you'll really like this, is is my cousin Tim. He listens to every episode. I think he listens every episode three times, and he he has this thing where he calls he has stink nights. And these sync. So like S-Y-N-K. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 58:29

Okay, because the stink night is not something that you want to do.

SPEAKER_02 58:33

It's like you know, syncing something together.

SPEAKER_00 58:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 58:35

And basically, everyone who's involved will partake in cannabis, and sometimes it's people out in Calgary, like he has a friend in Calgary who participates, and basically they all listen to the same song at the same time. They press play at the same time, they have a group chat, and then they just talk about the song and how they're feeling as they're I'm telling you, it I've done a few of them. It's actually pretty freaking awesome.

SPEAKER_00 59:01

Yeah, can you can you can like anyone join?

SPEAKER_02 59:03

Why not?

SPEAKER_01 59:04

Can we set up a riverside chat like this and stream it, Matt? Because that'd be kind of cool.

SPEAKER_02 59:08

I will definitely talk Tim into like doing like a sync night music. And the YouTubers can do it. What can we do with Kendrick Lamara? He tracks everything. I just got his list, I just got his list yesterday. He tracks everything. He they give a gold, silver, bronze award for best album of the year, best song of the year, wow, best songs of songs, like everything. He actually he tracks everything. He takes it very seriously for a Friday recreational thing. That's pretty cool, man.

SPEAKER_00 59:34

Yeah, that's really cool. I'd do that.

SPEAKER_02 59:36

Yeah. All right.

SPEAKER_00 59:37

Hey guys, cool. Keep me posted, and like if this is on YouTube, like I can share it with my uh followers and my Patreon.

SPEAKER_01 59:46

And it'll be out again in a couple of weeks. So there you go. They'll hit all of our other listeners. Thanks, guys. Take care. Thank you. I don't know how to hit the end button. Oh, there we go. Okay. All right.