Burn Out

"It’s crazy how much it’s still scary to stand out there by yourself." — SATE

Blues, band nerds, Tarot cards, Toronto nightlife stories, fear, laughter. This conversation with Toronto musician SATE has it ALL. The late jazz and literary critic Albert Murray wrote about the blues as an Indigenous American tradition of resilience, an active and ongoing process or mode of confrontation and improvisation. Resilience is the blues, the blues is resilience. In her own way, SATE weaves a story of blues as a kind of grounding: in ancestry, self-identification, and — yep resilience.

SATE: stateofsate.com

Salome Bey, "You're Gonna Fall (1970)"

Andy Bey & The Bey Sisters, "Smooth Sailing" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jDDtUFUgbM

We need to take care of each other. Learn more about Encampment Support Network Toronto: instagram.com/esn.to.4real

UNDER by Dyani is available now: dyani.bandcamp.com

Theme song, "Dark Beings" by LAL

Original music by Jahmal Padmore

Artwork by amad.studio

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"So many of my friends had pop star dreams and we're all at this age where we're building a life that can include our creative talents and passions in a sustainable way. It was sad for me for a bit, but now I'm ecstatic." — Matthew Progress

In this chat, Toronto-born multidisciplinary artist Matthew Progress talks about his short film TXN: A Decade In Review, commissioned by the Nia Centre, which culls the recent archive of images and sound to create a capsule narrative about Black Toronto. It had its public release (Zoom-style) the week that George Floyd's murder the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet enflamed the news cycle. It got me thinking about the way that the grace of time is often denied to immigrant and racialized communities, who are denied public histories and ensnared in cycles of outrage. Matthew and I talked about the making of TXN, our meditation and grounding techniques and, because he's also a musician, the slow unfolding of multiple creative voices.

Watch TXN: A Decade In Review: https://vimeo.com/421074565

Stream his music https://smarturl.it/t3pv65

We need to take care of each other. Learn more about Encampment Support Network Toronto: instagram.com/esn.to.4real

UNDER by Dyani is available now: dyani.bandcamp.com

Original music by Jahmal Padmore

Artwork by amad.studio

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"We're all out here trying to act like individuals [but] there is something about the individual that takes everything away from the community. We have to be aware of that." — Kris Harper

Meet Kris Harper of nêhiyawak, the excellent Polaris Prize-shortlisted band from amiscwaciy (Edmonton, Alberta). Kris talks about how the Idle No More Movement, which began in Saskatchewan in 2012, shook up his understanding of how music, made intentionally, can be transformative, why he believes that more people should identify as Indigenous, and the importance of self-determination in music-making.

Kris's Instagram post about skipping the Juno Awards: https://www.instagram.com/p/B9FXSs9Fky7/

Additional tunes: "ôtênaw" and "open window" by nêhiyawak

We need to take care of each other. Learn more about Encampment Support Network Toronto: instagram.com/esn.to.4real

ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐊᐧᐠ nêhiyawak: nehiyawak.bandcamp.com

Original music by Jahmal Padmore

Artwork by amad.studio

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"People talk a lot about the political potential of film, but they don't talk about the harmful effects and what happens when that image and that sound reaches you in the audience." — Sarah-Tai Black

Back at it with writer and film programmer Sarah-Tai Black, the brains and generous spirit behind the Toronto screening series "Black Gold." Sarah-Tai talks through the need for radical thinking around programming Black films, the perils and violence of institutional art in the name of social justice, what it means to be "politically bimbo” 💁🏾‍♀️ and much more. Apologies to the Britney stans for my brain fart — I absolutely am familiar with the Blackout-era track "Piece of Me"!!!

We need to take care of each other. Learn more about Encampment Support Network Toronto: instagram.com/esn.to.4real

Sarah Tai Black: sarahtaiblack.com

Original music by Jahmal Padmore

Artwork by amad.studio

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The new episodes of Burn Out (coming soon!) are a response to the protests for justice and police abolition in the United States.... *and* a continuation of what Burn Out has always been: a place for artists to talk about resilience, survival, pleasure, and sustainability within systems of oppression and dysfunction. I just wanted to make that clear.

Original music by Jahmal Padmore

Artwork by amad.studio

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It's a BONUS episode. Ft. voicenotes from artist pals about making shit (or not) during isolation.

Biggest of thanks to:

Casey Mecija: caseymecija.com

Jamilah Abu-Bakare: soundcloud.com/jamilahmalika

Noor Khan: noorkhan.co

Cadence Weapon: cadenceweapon.bandcamp.com

Nayani Thiyagarajah: 9knee.com

SFX:

> Street trumpet c/o Casey

> Nêhiyawak educator Dwayne Donald from the short film "ôtênaw" (2017) by Conor McNally

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"So much of my work, especially as I move forward, has been thinking about lateral violence or how we buy into white supremacy in the ways that we don't know how to support each other." — Vivek Shraya

Season finale chat with Vivek Shraya, a writer and multi-disciplinary artist from Edmonton who spent a number of years in Toronto and recently returned to Alberta to teach at the University of Calgary. I caught Vivek when she was in Toronto to premiere her recent solo stage show, How To Fail As A Pop Star, a deeply honest account of the dream that didn't come true. Vivek's best-known book might be 2018's I'm Afraid Of Men, but she also has a new book out called The Subtweet, that's about a fierce and ~very online~ friendship between two brown girls who love music. It's funny — we ran out of time talking about the play and failure and Vivek's shift from Toronto to Calgary life, so we didn't explicitly talk about the book but I think our chat ends up riffing on the themes and dynamics that play out in The Subtweet. A frank conversation from a Canlit darling, with just enough sweetness that I hope will hold you over until we meet again.

Vivek: vivekshraya.com

Theme song: "Dark Beings" by LAL

Original music provided by Jahmal Padmore

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"Any type of art, you sort of have to lock yourself up — just you and your brain — which can be scary. I do see the labor organizing and the wave of unions as a way for people to fight that. To be like, 'No, I'm not in this alone, it's not just me.' Giving up this idea that if you pull yourself up by your bootstraps, you'll get all the credit — because the credit is just not worth it." — Haley Mlotek

Very great episode here featuring writer and editor Haley Mlotek, one of the many Torontonians now living and working in New York City. Haley and I met when she was the publisher of the scrappy and beloved indie pub WORN Fashion Journal (RIP), and worked together when she was an editor at The Hairpin (also RIP? wow, I hate this!). The breadth at which Haley grapples with pretty much everything is inspiring, and comes from a love of deep research and contemplation. In the past couple of years Haley has offered me indispensable advice as I went through a self-imposed writer's rehab. This episode gets at why I wanted to have her on: I've long felt insecure about my educational and professional blind spots as a writer, and Haley has always helped bring me up to speed. This episode goes deep into her circuitous journey to writing, as well as her work with the National Writers Union Freelance Solidarity Project. I hope that this episode gives you some insight into why it's important for creative people to de-romanticize their pursuits, in order to have better access to material supports that help ease the big ideas into existence. Oh, and UNIONIZE SOUNDCLOUD!!!

Haley: twitter.com/haleymlotek

Theme song: "Dark Beings" by LAL

Original music provided by Jahmal Padmore

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"It's very different to be in such freedom. If I had released this music back home, I don't think anyone would play it. You have to keep it on the real real real down low for your own safety. You have to be careful because it can get real bad for you, because if you don't go to jail — someone is going to try to kill you." — Backxwash

This episode was recorded live on location at Long Winter, hosted by Workman Arts in February 2020.

Backxwash is any incredibly prolific rapper and producer from Montreal by way of Lusaka, Zambia. She first caught my attention in late 2018 with a record named "Black Sailor Moon," and then with her spiritual rap opus "Deviancy," which came out in 2019. Backxwash's music is equally inspired by punchline rappers like Papoose, the bravado of the Dead Kennedys, and the repetitive, revelatory chants of her tribe, the Tumbuka. We had this conversation in front of a live audience, so you can hear people laughing and shuffling, and bands playing next door. Even though she had a show to play a few hours later, Backxwash was in high spirits and game to chat about everything from her early love of backpack rap to making creative choices as a trans musician, as well as the legacy and impact of British colonialism and American imperialism on her home country of Zambia.

Backxwash: backxwash.bandcamp.com

Music: Backxwash, "Bad Juju," Backxwash, "HETERONOMY"

Theme song: "Dark Beings" by LAL

Original music provided by Jahmal Padmore

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"I think I've realized that I'm a very committed person. I love music and in love of something it's not going to be perfect — because it can't be. Nothing can be just good. You have to have moments of it being frustrating, and like, 'Why isn't it giving me more? Or why isn't it giving me less? Or whatever you think you should have in it." — Casey MQ

I hope this episode brings you some respite amidst the unknown xo

I've been wanting to chat with Casey MQ since I started this podcast. I've been a big fan of his work for a long-time. First, as a member of the intriguing soul-funk band Unbuttoned, then as a collaborator of some of my favourite Toronto artists like Zaki Ibrahim, Sydanie, and L Con, and finally as a solo performer in his own right. Casey's voice is insane, emotive and redolent, and also a little sexy. We talk about his debut EP Nudes, and inviting sexiness in, what it means to be inspired by the purity of your early fandoms, making solo music and balancing a million side projects, and what it means to be a collaborator in Toronto.

Casey MQ: caseymq.com

Club Quarantine: instagram.com/clubquarantine

Music: L CON Ft. Casey MQ "The Art of Staying Tough," Casey MQ, "Between Water"

Theme song: "Dark Beings" by LAL

Original music provided by Jahmal Padmore

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This episode is supported by FACTOR and Canada’s private radio broadcasters. For more details on how to access funding for your next project visit factor.ca.

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