Q Live at the Junos

0:00Looking for soccer analysis more knowing than a Carlo Ancelotti eyebrow raise with the World Cup around the corner, join me, Max Rushton and the Guardians expert soccer journalist on football weekly for all the latest soccer action and news throughout the week. We'll cover more ground than Drew Bellingham and a Champions League final with conversations sharper than an Arsenal set piece for fine margins, fun debates and full blooded tackles football weekly. Listen wherever you get your podcasts and watch the full episodes on YouTube. Hey, I'm Tom Power. Welcome to Q. Today you're going to hear something really special because last night in Hamilton, Ontario, had you walked into theater Aquarius, you would have been confronted with 700 people all eyes on the stage watching some Juno nominees perform and do interviews, do some stand-up comedy as it was Q live at the Junos in Hamilton today. If you couldn't be there, you are going to get to hear some of the highlights of last night's show. We hope you enjoy it. It's our big annual Junos spectacular. Here's Q live at the Junos.

1:00All right, all right, all right. Do you ever feel nostalgic for the music of your youth and when you hear those songs now, you wonder why they still aren't pumping out a car windows decades later? This next artist found himself in that position. He's a critically acclaimed hip-hop and R&B artist from Brampton, Ontario, and when he was working on his latest album, he made an intentional choice to give flowers to the artists who shaped him as an immigrant kid new to Canada by way of Nigeria. So you were about to see for the first time ever a live performance of his Juno nominated single Who's Driving You. Because on the recording that you'll hear on the radio, all over the radio, he was only able to sample the two voices from the original recording. But right now, for the first time, those voices will join him on stage in real life, featuring two true legends of Canadian hip-hop and R&B Julie Black and Socrates. Please welcome Toby.

2:03Yeah. Whoo! How are we feeling tonight? Hey, we having a good time. Whoa, whoa. My baby. Who's driving you? My baby. Who's driving you? My baby. Who's driving you? My baby. Who's driving? Then you, my baby. Let's give them a try. Then you, my baby. Baby. Driving you, my baby. Don't you try to hit you, my baby, baby It's beautiful love, you real point your rules to your cuticles love The double untitled monster is the one you're in If they don't get it, got it, Google it love Middle finger erected to what they expect The proper crown on me got me hell in my jersey A cup round the globe because I'm covered in blessings Staying one with the S-C You should've sellin' the scene Ain't not a UF or me

3:05I'll tell you if you're stappin' the rain Damn it man, you better come see Anytime you pay respect You should never chant the receipt You know that I'm pressing the pedal I know that hell of freeze I'm the dick except the defeat Who's driving you, my baby? Who's driving you, my baby? Come on, who's driving you, my baby? Who's driving you, my baby? Who's driving you, my baby? Who's driving you, my baby? Who's driving you, my baby? Who's driving you, my baby? Who's driving you, my baby? Who's driving you, my baby? And you, my baby? Drive me, you my baby, baby! Drive him, drive him, baby! And you, my baby! Drive him, drive him, my baby! I'm a double untitled monster Blowing greed till my eyesquiera Small dark rose needles ON I need having a real one by my side, we side means I got you through it all up

4:06I pray we never fall off, fall off So people hanging a look cool Some of them hanging for their life, oh Lord, I bet my food and my feelings to make you screaming I heard you're here and I've had this expression, I gotta bring it out I need to keep a secret, I'm gonna speak my mind Who the realists want, breathing underneath the sky, need a piece of the pie, keep it peace, get rid of this When my hands go up, gotta keep them high, yeah I need you my baby, yeah I need you my baby, baby I need you my baby, yeah I need you my baby, baby I need you my baby, take a dip inside my station, hit the app, hit the app, go crazy Let's stick to a new location, who's driving you my baby, take a dip inside my station Hit the app, hit the app, go crazy, let's dip to a new location

5:12I need you my baby, take a dip inside my station, hit the app, hit the app, go crazy Let's dip to a new location, who's driving you my baby, take a dip inside my station, hit the app, go crazy I'm driving you my baby, take a dip inside my station, hit the app, hit the app, go crazy Let's dip to a new location, who's driving you my baby, take a dip inside my station, hit the app, go crazy Let's dip to a new location Come on one more time, soccer teams, go, be, go, fly Come round with one We're going to pull out the stops now, come on one more time, see we're going to bring some cheer

6:13That was amazing. That's amazing. Have a seat. Have a seat. Have a seat. Have a seat. Boys, that was incredible. Give it up. Come on. That was amazing. So, Toby, like, when would you have heard that song? Like, when did you first start here in Julian Soxon on the radio or like start hearing them in general? Man, when I was 10 years old, you know, I'm sorry. I'm sorry to do that to you. No, no, no. They say black don't crack. Julie, black don't crack either. Yeah, yeah. Good place. But it's love, though. You know, I was, honestly, you know, I was, I was literally 10 years old, listening on the radio and my mom's car hearing their voices playing through the speakers. So this is like, it's surreal. It's unreal. It's beautiful thing. Julie, can you tell us the origins of the original, the origins of the original song? You really, you want to hear the true story? Yeah, we heard the true story.

7:14So I was dating this guy in Buffalo, right? First mistake. Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait. And I found out he was cheating on me. Right? Yeah, true story. So I drove the bus. Yeah, that's right. Come on. So I drove the bus. But then he wanted to come back. He wanted to come back for that good, good. You know what I'm saying? So I'm Jamaican and there's a song called, you know, Raleigh Bach. Like right, it's like a, it's a tennis term. Like you Raleigh. But I was like, you know what I'm talking about? Super, super, super. So I said, you're not going to Raleigh Bach. You're not getting none of this good, good. So then I brought it to socks and then chase at the time. And here we are. 30 years later. Come on. Just, just the dude. Yeah, yeah. Just the dude in Buffalo know that this incredible kick. I'm terrified. I remember we're terrified of my life. Does the dude in Buffalo know the songs about him? Yes, yes. He does. I didn't know that. What did it be cool? What did it be cool if I was like, here he is. We changed the name. We changed the name from Johnny. He has another name. We took Johnny. We gave him a generic name because he gives generic love.

8:16Socks, what does it mean to you? Like what does it mean to you when you, when you find out that, like, Toby's coming for this song. He wants you back in the song. Like the sample of the song is, is taking off now in 2026. So what, what's your reaction to that? Well, the coolest story about it. First of all, my reaction was, thank you. And please applause to that. Thank you. Thank you. My first reaction to that to Toby was, thank you. But my second reaction was the story. Now, Don Mills and Ill-Mine, shout out Don Mills and Ill-Mine, right? Don Mills from Toronto, living in Miami, Ill-Mine from LA, right? G-Unit, producer, exp producer. Talented guys. They played them to beat that they made. He loved it. He wrote to it the same day. He recorded it. They said they loved it. And then they told him that the original was Socrates and Julie Black. And the universe don't work any better than that. He didn't even know. That's, that's my favorite part of this song. He didn't even know. He just chose it because he liked it. So Tom, like that, that's it. That's gorgeous.

9:17It's hard to get any better than that. I mean, it's such an affirmation, it's such a validation of the great music that you made. You got it. All those years ago, and not that many years ago. And then, so Toby, what's it like to have Julie and Socrates, like, along for the ride on this, I mean, this Juno nomination now? I mean, it's beautiful to me because, you know, they are the epitome of, I think, longevity, you know what I'm saying? And the way I look at music is, you know, it's a, it's a cultural conversation between generations, you know. We sample music to introduce the current generation to what gave birth to what we're doing. And the goal is to advance that, you know. So, yeah. Julie, I noticed you nodded as soon as Toby said the word, like, these people mean something to me in terms of longevity. Why was that meaningful to you? Because we came up in a time where there wasn't social media. There wasn't about likes, views, and follows, and streams, etc. And so, there's a lot of times opportunities now that are set for the emerging.

10:18And I say, but what about the legacy? What about those who've already emerged? And just need the opportunity. So, you're built, you're extending the bridge. And I really appreciate that. And it's more so to celebrate. And black music is still very young in this country. I say straight up black, we make black music out of these black faces. And we need to make sure that we celebrate that. You know what we've been doing. We noticed she didn't use the word urban. But we want to dwell on that. She didn't use the word urban. She told the truth. But the cool thing about black people is we invite y'all. That's why we call it urban because everybody's allowed to join us with this song. That's right. That's absolutely right. But I think what's worth touching on there is that like, yeah, we're here to celebrate the Junos and all that. But like, the Junos recognition and love for black music has completely changed since you guys first started. I mean, agreed. Sox, tell me about that. For the better. Like, pioneer of Canadian hip-hop. How do you see the differences between the way hip-hop was treated then and the way hip-hop is treated now in Canada and by the Canadian music industry?

11:21Well, what I like about it is the level of independence, which means we don't have to depend on y'all no more. Yeah. That's right. I want to fix something else. Right. Secondly is back in the day because Julie and I are crew the circle, which includes Cardinal Opechel, Shocklayer who's right up there. Shocklayer's in the out. Where is he? Stand up, Shocklayer. Stand up, Shocklayer. Where is he? Come on. Can you give him a round of applause? Oh, he's going up. Round of applause. Oh, there he is. There he is. There he is. There he is. Turn it on. Light it up. You're... Next thing that again. Turn it on. Light it up. We're going to set this on fire. Shots. Now, what's cool, Chuck? I listened to Rubin three days ago, but Rubin's out here. Right? Now, here's the cool thing. Back in the day, because we put the work in,

12:22I'll make it short. Even though we're independent, we got major deals. We're able to put records out. And Shocklayer is a four-time Juno winner in the house. Because of the work that we all put in, Julie, how much you get to three? We're not bragging, as we put the work in, right? Yeah, but I'm going to say this. I'm not going to make this into a... You know, I'm not going to disclaim. It's great to have the trophy. Like, I can hang my panty on them to dry. Ultimately. Ultimately. We still need funding. We need funding. We need support. We need investors. We need seed money. We need to be able to have the careers like... Like Blue Rodeo. And Tom Cochran. And Celine Dion and Shania Twain and all the rest of them. So this is what I'm saying. We can have all these awards. It's great. But what is the biggest reward? It's to be able to have a sustainable income. A life that we end up living and be able to pass the baton. Like this. The way Toby. Toby actually went like this and passed it back. Pass it back. So many people don't do that.

13:22So I beg you up, Toby. Because there's a level of ego where they're like, who are they? Who cares? Let's go. Tom, Tom. Real quick, though. It's Toby. We had this conversation. The conversation was you asked, traveling, you know, and business and how does it feel like what you've had to do. And one thing we have had to do was leave. And that's the point Julie's making. We hadn't had enough support. So we all had to leave in the 90s. Get signed in America and sell it back to you all, like the Canadian invasion. It was crazy. The American invasion. And Toby asked me that question. He has to travel to maintain his life, not lifestyle, to be stable in a music business. He cannot stay in Canada. And that's tough. You won't change that, right? Yes, tough. Yes, yes. You won't change that. So Toby, what goes to your head here and everything that they've just said about how far they've come? Yeah, I mean, I think back to my earlier point about cultural conversation and dialogue, if we don't have these conversations, how is my generation and the subsequent ones supposed to know even what to do?

14:23You know what I'm saying? Yeah. So even here, sitting here, I'm re-contextralizing all these things that they're saying in my own life. And I'm saying, OK, so these are some things that I should keep in mind for myself and for my peers as well. You know what I mean? Because my peers are doing the whole brain drain thing sometimes. Yeah. And it's not, I don't like it. I can tell you this, not only did you make, like I think what's very important, like this is a very CBC thing to say, like a very important cross-cultural song. Yeah. But you also just made a jam. Look, the great tunes, great songs. And thank you so much for performing it. That was amazing. Yeah. We call it the phone. The phone. Yeah. If you in-care phone, give it one more time for Big Sock Sock for Dees for Joey Black. For Joey Black. For Joey Black. We got more KM coming up. Let's love Hamilton. Big ups. All right, you all read the poster.

15:25You have some idea who you're going to see on stage tonight, but we thought we might give you a surprise or two as well. This next guest, you're going to see not a musician, but was named professional women's hockey league defender of the year in 2005, and a finalist for the Billie Jean King MVP Award. Not a singer, but who here watched the Winter Olympics? Well, not a singer, but as assistant captain for Team Canada, won an Olympic silver medal last month to go with her gold and silver. She's got at home that home being Burlington, Ontario, just down the road. She's presenting a Juno Award this Sunday night, which is here right now. Canada, put your hands together for one of our greatest Olympians. We're not a fast. Yeah, I'm a fast. Hi. How are you?

16:25Nice to see you. Oh, I'm fantastic. Thanks for having me. Don't you have a game? Yeah, I have a game tomorrow. You have a game tomorrow when you're here right now? I know, right? It's or some sort of pregame ritual. We're interrupting right now. No, I like to keep it low key. So this is perfect actually most before most of your games you Talk to newfoundland public radio host totally totally Future green bars backstage. This is how you prep. Yeah, that's it. I'm available and very affordable if you need me to do it Is that the metal? It is No really can't see it Oh, I'm gonna drop this I Have never held an Olympic medal. It's pretty heavy isn't it? It is a lot heavier than I then I thought it was gonna be I know the first one I got it went around around my neck and I was like oh I hope someday I can say the first one I got Like it's very good. They've changed over the years. They've degraded to be honest

17:27It's absolutely beautiful. Thank you for that unless it's for me to keep How are you I mean you guys have been on my mind? Can I just ask how was how was the experience just broadly how how was the experience of being in Milan? It was exceptional. Honestly everything was amazing. I mean, we're in Milan at the end of the day Like it was just beautiful stunning the food was great And like my last Olympics in Beijing we won gold which was incredible, but our families weren't there But your families weren't weren't in Beijing. No, so Milan was so exciting for us because all of our families could be there And what's better than being in a European city where they can just go enjoy themselves all day and then come to the game and just have fun Right, so our families had so much fun while we competed it was so special to share with them How was it? How was it for you? How was it for the team? How was it? It was good. Yeah, there was there was a lot of pressure to be honest Did you read it was there? Yeah, there was a lot of negativity towards our team heading into these games Just because we had an older an older group. Yeah a veteran group and team USA or our number one rivals

18:33Had a very young group and in the lead-up during our exhibition games didn't go as planned for us But we had so much belief in our locker room But there was a ton of outside noise from media And that's not something I dealt with my first two Olympic games. So this was really unique How do you turn? How do you tune that out? Yeah, it's tough But we have such a good group in the locker room and we honestly leaned on each other and We would talk about it like we would we would just be open and honest about some of the stuff we are reading in the media or some of the questions We'd get asked but at the end of the day like we just knew what we had in the locker room and and we knew we were going to make the The gold medal game really close and we did and we just fell a little bit short. It was so close I hope you yeah absolutely On the other side Like this is going to seem like a line, but You feel the pressure and you and you feel the sort of negative noise around you Do you also sort of feel the pride like I feel like the entire country was was so behind your team

19:35More than ever everyone, you know waking up everyone working so everyone really rooting for you everyone taking a very very seriously Do you feel like can you tangibly feel that over there at all? Oh, yeah, you totally can Sometimes when you're like actively competing you try and just being your own little bubble to minimize distractions But I the coolest part about it like we were very disappointed in a silver medal And I know it's hard to say, you know you win an Olympic medal You should always be proud and you are and and I'll I'll appreciate this more and more the longer You know we get away from the games, but the coolest part about it was coming off of a silver medal where we were so disappointed and To just hear the support from back home and how proud they were of the way we represented our country And you even felt it when we were in Milan There was so many Canadian fans in Milan and we were getting stopped everywhere The next couple days just saying how proud they were despite the results So you really feel it Which makes a disappointing outcome feel a little bit better when you know you inspired a nation I mean absolutely

20:38It's I mean, it's also so interesting to see How much change there's been to women's hockey since Beijing, you know like the league that you playing in right now Didn't even exist when you were when when you were in Beijing. What's that been like to see? It's hard to even imagine right like oh It's been amazing like I never thought I'd be able to play in a league like I'm playing in right now and to play for Toronto So close to home is so special, but yeah like when we we came out of the 2022 Olympics We didn't have a league to play in and we were just playing exhibition games around North America kind of trying to patch together A little bit of competition It definitely hurt our development as players, but I'm so proud of that time we took Away from having a league and waiting for the right investors and ownership group to come in and to create the PWHL because What we've you know built in three years as a league is exceptional just yeah What's the I don't know I don't want to put you on the spot You do a lot of fan events. I think you had a over a thousand fans just show up to

21:42The the meet and greet you did with your sectors teammate Emma Malta. This is this has been so meaningful to so many people across the country Can you name for me the most meaningful thing someone said to you at one of these meet and greets or or one of these meetings For me there's so many little moments that stand out But the one that just like stands out to me so strong just from the event we did last week in Burlington Emma Malta and I both from Burlington and the city held a little Olympic celebration for us. We had no idea what to expect We got there the lobby of the arena was full. They had to open up another pad. It was It was amazing the turnout, but what I thought was so cool was Coming through the line to sign autographs. There were so many little boys that came through And they were so excited That was meaningful to you and it was meaningful to me because Um, it it was just kind of a realization to me that they are growing up in a world where the PWHL is on the TV every night for them to watch The Olympics are on TV every four years and they don't it's no different for them

22:44So they watch you know the NHL players their idols And to know that they're going to grow up in a world where it's no different for them to see PWHL or NHL It's it's a huge step and that's just something little there's so many Moments where you feel that from from um people, but just those little boys really stood out to me last week Um, I know you said You felt you felt a certain amount of almost there a little bit On the flight on the way home, but you also knew you you felt the the pride from the country I hope you feel it from the folks here in this theater Definitely will pride We feel in you and your team and all the incredible work you're doing Thank you so much for coming on and congratulations again. Thank you so much You That is the first part of our Q live at the Junos in Hamilton, Ontario

23:46There is more to come right after this including this is very exciting a conversation with the director And then the writer of a new musical based on the music of the tragically hip. I'm compower more Q live at the Junos after this Looking for soccer analysis more knowing than a Carlo Ancelotti eyebrow raise with the World Cup around the corner join me Max Rochden and the Guardians expert soccer journalist on football weekly for all the latest soccer action and news throughout the week We'll cover more ground than Drew Bellingham and a Champions League final with conversations sharper than an Arsenal set piece for five margins Fun debates and full blooded tackles football weekly listen wherever you get your podcasts and watch the full episodes on YouTube You Welcome to Small Talk with Sheila. This is a podcast for anyone chasing joy craving creativity and learning to love their messy magical life Each episode is a bite-sized blend of stories and misadventures

24:46Rom calming your life even when things feel awkward new episodes drop every week So hit subscribe and never miss a juicy story. I promise it'll feel like an unhinged voice note from your most honest and hilarious friend Listen to Small Talk with Sheila on Apple Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts I'm Tom Power you're listening to Q last night in Hamilton, Ontario at theater Aquarius We did a show to a sold out 700 seat room featuring some great Juno nominees performers and singers and songwriters and stand-up comedians So today you're hearing some of the highlights of last night's show So what you're about to hear is more from that night without further ado Here's the rest of our Q live at the juniors You know those parts of yourself the major field different growing up. I think everyone has them For this next artist she's made a career of taking those things and really embracing them It's become like a superpower

25:48She lends into the bright colors and the weird and whimsical parts of her life and she's built a rapturous fan base across Canada for it So much so that she's been described as a mix between Chapel Rowan and Jim Henson She's currently We didn't make that up. She's currently nominated for an adult alternative album of the year at the junos for her latest album fantasy life I will tell you for this next artist I have only met Fans of hers and those who haven't heard her yet Would you please welcome from Winnipeg, Manitoba Pagonia Thank you We're done just kidding

26:52Hmm The pounding in my head The making of my bed Some things I'm quick to tend to others overwhelm me I'll often therapist Then intellectualize Why there's some thing inside that makes me want to hate myself my need for the Edition led to a self-exphyxiation which made me up my medication Oh Every Dissidation fueled my by sexual frustration So I bought six at service stations Till the novel T-Wars and

28:00La I'm coming up for it Change the color of my hair Brought a bag of what I used to wear into the salient Cuz moving on for me Felt just like gratitude I pulled the arrow back in a swore I had a bull's eye Yeah, I fear of everyone Let to a lack of having fun And then it got me feeling I Had such desire for control and it made me scared of getting old But now I finally let that go So

29:09But never made I get people paid Play the deal games Then take you to the hamster living in my brain All around me Clown for Harder than the sun No ceiling to the woman that I will become My bed's never made but but I get people paid I play video games yeah Now I'm having fun call me the clown for everyone I'm hotter than the sun I'm every one Oh

30:10Oh Oh No No No No I'm not done, I'm not done I'm not done, I'm not done Give it up for Bagonia Give it up for Bagonia Give it up for Bagonia Give it up for Bagonia Give it up for Bagonia

31:12What happened there? My nail fell off What are your nails fell off? My little toppers You know The little butterflies fell I was on the fake nail lifestyle train for so long I could barely do it my pants anymore I have to just like So I have these little toppers now I just put them on top but then they fling all over the place I really can't win here with these nails I'm just glad you and I talked before the show Because I was going to wear the exact same thing Oh my gosh How embarrassing It would have been so embarrassing Everyone says we look alike Yeah, everyone That was beautiful Oh thank you How are you doing? Are you doing alright? I'm doing alright Tell me a little bit about that song What about that song? Where did that song come from? In the community Imposter syndrome But then also like just being a woman in the industry And just And just like getting older and not being so afraid of it It's kind of like

32:13There's this pervasive thought that as you age As a woman in the industry that you're kind of like depreciating And I've definitely sometimes internalized that in the past But then on this album I was like Screw you everybody But like not everyone But like No, no thank you so much Really, really Was there a precipitating event that led to you writing that song? Was just do something that like do something go down that made you want to write about? I just general living Do you remember when you wrote it? Do you remember? Okay, so I wrote the majority of this album With two of my main collaborators, Matt Peters and Matt Schellenberg They are my guys And they're actually here this weekend which is so special Because we don't all live in the same city anymore Anyways, they make me feel so comfortable to be vulnerable We were like let's write a upbeat pop song We always try to give ourselves that brief of like let's write something really fun Because generally I'll come to the table and be like Everybody dies Or something

33:13By the way, my favorite Leonard Cohen song Yeah, Leonard really is She died No, I thought it was from my Leonard Cohen song You're wearing a black shirt actually So in some ways it is Leonard Cohen shirt So hold on and help me understand what you said before you said Up until now you have internalized a lot of the things in the Canadian music industry That would make you feel very insecure In general industry I guess at large And growing up being so television obsessed, so pop culture obsessed It's like that's something that's kind of thrown at you From the time you can Taddle into a Magazine store Yeah, you can feel pretty crummy about yourself Yeah, absolutely And then you said something happened on this album where you went Yeah, just kind of I went to the No More scenario And just having written, this was the third album that I've written Those collaborators, the Matt's as we call them dead men, is their production name And I just felt so comfortable to just share exactly how I was feeling Whereas maybe before I would have felt like

34:14I don't want to sing about that, nobody wants to hear about that But what happened to you that the No More started that you stopped internalizing? What happened that you started saying No More? I turned 35 And I didn't care anymore Is that true? Kind of, I had a friend that was always like when you turned 35 So I'm getting comfortable now Take a snooze You don't care anymore and I was 27 when she told me and I'm like PUSHER And then I turned 35 and I was like there's part of that that's true I definitely obviously care about many things Getting anxious about things, whatever But there's certain things that have just slid right off my back now And if people want to say you're too old I'm not going to stop So that's kind of their problem, not mine So just kind of with age, just kind of with age You just sort of It was just like a, I guess a majority thing And I would consider myself maybe a late bloomer a bit in my career I was in bands forever And then starting the solo project I only started at 27 My old band had ended And I thought what's next for me

35:14I'm already like close to 30 That is the age out of life I didn't know when to talk about age of this whole time But let's just talk about it And then I'm 27 now Oh yeah, no obviously Literally the same two who cares I don't care if you don't care And then I was 27 And I remember thinking to myself If you stop yourself now Because you think you're too old You're going to be 37 looking back and being like your child Because I've always felt that Like when I was 15 I started playing acoustic guitar And then I met Joey Landrath an amazing guitar player And he's like I'm playing so strong And I was like I'm too old You feel behind And I think that's the thing It's not necessarily an age thing But just like yeah like I was kind of trying to catch up But now I kind of feel like I haven't doing this for long enough So Must be working or something I mean not only is it working but like I feel like in this new record I can really feel you being exactly who you are And having that kind of confidence

36:14And sort of being on a apologetic yet sort of vulnerable at the same time Yeah, I definitely feel that And I just feel so excited for the future Not as like For the future of my career I know for me regardless of what happens I'm going to make art forever So that doesn't matter then I think it made an incredible record Congratulations on your Juno nomination Thank you I can take no more Don't go away Don't mind me I just bet those kids I can show and see I can show and see That's a little bit of Calgary's Tate McCray who is tired For most nominations of this year's Juno Awards With a song called Sports Car

37:14I'm Tom Power, you're listening to Q I hope you're enjoying some of the highlights from our Q Live at the Juno's show Which we recorded last night 5 audience at Hamilton Ontario's Theatre Aquarius, big sold out show It was fun What you're about to hear right now is pretty cool I don't know if you knew about this But there's a musical coming to stage Actually at Theatre Aquarius soon It's a good life if you don't weaken And if you're a Canadian music fan You may know or guess It's based on the music of the tragically hip So we have the director and the writer behind that production Join us on stage To talk all about it Well, we are coming down to our final couple of guests tonight Here in Hamilton for the Junos Before we get going I just want to say thank you to Theatre Aquarius for having us tonight This isn't just a venue for theatre It's also home to the National Centre for new musicals

38:14Meaning this is where the next big hit Canadian musicals get developed A boy or boy do they ever have a big one coming up It's a good life if you don't weaken It's a brand new show Which tells a very Canadian story But a new kind of Canadian story Using the beloved songs of the tragically hip It opens this April here But for the first time ever You're going to get a sneak peek tonight But first to tell us about it Please put your hands together for the show's director And the show's co-writer Mary Frances Moore And Jesse Lavercom Thank you Well, first off, congratulations I can't wait to see this show Can I say you picked a nice low stakes project Last week my brother said I feel so sorry for the director of that show Because all eyes are going to be on it And I said you know I'm the director right

39:14Which he didn't What was it about this project that got you interested in? And what hooked you about this story? Well, it's the tragically hip It's the soundtrack to many generations It feels like it's the soundtrack to this country in many ways And when Michael Rubenoff had this idea for the show He's the producer He's the enhancement producer of the show We were down a good speed musicals working together And he said I have this idea And the more he talked about it, I said you know if you workshop it at theatre Aquarius We could give you the space And if it's a good idea it'll go And the wheels were already spinning And here we are two years later And we're thrilled to be here Jesse, this is an interesting story So you and your longtime collaborator, Ahmed Monika, came up with the storyline for this production Help me out here So it's a rocky journalist in exile Finds a new home in Kingston, Ontario Finds a community through a girl he meets at the record store Is that pretty much it? Yeah, it's really really good I'm very employable, I can do it

40:16Low rates? Yeah, I mean... Is that a story? That is a story It's about someone finding home And I think what's exciting about having this story support this music is that this music There's a few other artists I think who have Celebrated so boldly, so authentically And the place that they're from And the place that we all call home And Ahmed and I are both from other places I'm American, he's an Iraqi And so we bring this like we really... We've come to the tragically hip music And gotten to see this response We've been here a long, long time And so it's really exciting to be able to share it through this vehicle When did you first hear the music of the hip when you came to Canada? Pretty soon after I got here What did they do right at the border? Absolutely, completely They gave you... When I became a citizen, I did like check off lyrics and stuff Checkerboard floors

41:16Yeah, exactly So you heard it pretty quickly when you became... Yeah, I did, I heard it through friends, I heard on the radio And even in the past months as we've been working on it, I mean as I'm like in bars And I hear it, I'm like, is this song in there? Should this song be in there? Like a lot of people come up to you and you know say like... Like quiz you on it, so we've really been put through the paces a little bit and it's been amazing But it feels like a very authentic or maybe like appropriate way to tell this story Because I know from like getting to talk to Gord Downey, the Lake Gord Downey, that like... I think he would be disappointed if this was a very ra ra ra You know Canadian only patriotism, like only from the Canadian perspective story Like what was interesting to you about telling it from the perspective of someone coming to Canada? I think that's it exactly, the band were very clear about that you know we could have the rights to the songs But they didn't want it to be a biopic, they didn't want it to be a celebration of them and their legacy And also with the work Gord was doing with Truth and Reconciliation

42:16Not to make it to ra ra Canada, the show starts in 2002 And we explore what it is, what it is to come to this country from the outside and what are the things you discover And what it is to be a newcomer and have a foot in each country and to have people you love in one place as you fall in love with people in a place of a new one So to me it's really about, it's a celebration of humanity, it's a celebration of what we are when we are at our best And Ahmed's story of coming to Canada is so inspiring So it's been a great team and we've only been in rehearsal three days We started on Tuesday and we're going to perform for you tonight after three days And we can't wait Jesse, scale a 1 to 10 Musical in Canada, using the music of the tragically hip, how nervous are you 1 to 10? Honestly

43:17I'm pretty nervous Yeah, it feels high stakes and it should And at the same time, we have an amazing team and it's one step at a time And we have an amazing cast, an amazing director So like an 8 and a half That's pretty good That's pretty good Mary Francis, we're going to see the opening number of the musical in a moment It's courage, the tragically hip song courage, why is this the song to open the show? Why is this the song you wanted to share with us tonight? When you come and see the show and you see how we stage it There's a moment and we have the first chord of the song And we know that it's probably one of the most recognizable chords in the Canadian music canon We want to shoot, we want to start with energy, we want to start with the favorites

44:17And we want the audience to know that they're in for a ride and we are saying to our choreographer today When you see the choreographer, blow your mind And I'm saying to our choreographer Mark Kimmelman I want the audience to go like this, the second the show starts And what better song than courage So what you're going to see is a truncated version without the scenes and without the dialogue inside But it's an honor to share this music And it's such a thrill as artistic director of this theater to share it with Hamilton audiences Before we take it to Kingston with Thousand Isles Playhouse Well, let's do it then, we're going to hear a song from the show Please give it up one more time for Mary Frances Moore and Jeffrey LaGuerreca The dancers quickly follow the unknown

45:17With something more familiar Quickly something familiar Courage my word, it didn't come, it doesn't matter Sleep walk so fast asleep In Motel, it has a lay on home And piss on all your background And piss on all your surroundings Courage my word, it didn't come, it doesn't matter

46:17Courage your word, it didn't come, it doesn't matter And that is it, some of the highlights from our cue live at the Juno show From last night at Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton, Ontario We hope you loved hearing it as much as we loved having the experience of being in that room You're going to be hearing more from that show as the week go on here on cue But I want to say thank you to everybody who came out I want to say thank you to everybody at Theatre Aquarius I want to say thank you to all of the performers and everybody at CBC Hamilton I also want to thank the incredible team of producers The best team in radio and podcasting who work on this show every single week Simee Bassy, Ben Edwards, ZN Eros, Vanessa Nygrow, Corned Jowen, Knees & Nando, Liv Pascarelli, Aja Souter, Adriel Smiley, Catherine Stockhausen, and Caitlin Swann Our digital team is Julie Grossman-Grey, Vivian Rashott, and March Mercante Julie Grossman-Grey, this is her last show with us as she's starting a brand new adventure If you've found out about us through TikTok or through Instagram or through YouTube

47:21Shorts like if you have come across our digital presence at all and it has sucked you in That is all thanks to Julie Grossman-Grey, who is one of a kind and I have no idea what we'll do without her But we're so incredibly proud of her, Julie if you're listening to this and I know you are We're all in your corner, we're so excited for you Thank you for everything Our production assistant is Zoe Morris, Simee Hashamy is our engineer Our director is Gloria Amatayo, our senior producer is Matt or Matthew Murphy Baza Safa is our executive producer and a special thanks to our producer listening from Home Mitch Pollock We'll see you soon, later on For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts