Corner of Hunter and George

In this episode, we return to the Peterborough arts scene to speak with Brooklyn Doran. Brooklyn is a queer singer-songwriter, originally from Kenora but became a staple in the Toronto folk scene for ten plus years. She now resides in our lovely Nogojiwanong. Her “vulnerable lyricism and haunting melodies” appear on her third album “Fixer Upper.” We discuss this album, what brought her to Peterborough, various musicians she has worked with and her viewpoints on being able to get by in todays music industry. She is a great guest to have on and I hope you get to know her as well. Stay in touch with her on https://brooklyndoran.bandcamp.com/, brooklyndoran.com/pages/tour and https://www.instagram.com/brooklyndoran/?hl=en. Tracks: “Michigan State”, “Wasted My Twenties”, “This Town Won’t Miss You” and “Fuck That Guy.” Closing: Guided Voices-“Buzzards and Dreadful Crows”.

Dr. Naomi Nichols, from Trent University, had led research into youth homelessness through the community-oriented collective Research for Social Change Lab. Nichols worked at McGill till 2020 and came to Nogojiwanong/Peterborough during our Covid lockdown. Under the dire but unavoidable context of homelessness, we discuss the work of the Research for Social Change Lab, the problems with Peterborough’s By–Name List in actually helping find housing for those in need, how our problems today often come from the financialization of housing, the deadly cycle of many either being in jail or out on the streets, examination of other communities outside of Peterborough and how they deal with the issue, the lack of both accountability and expertise in our various levels of government, technology eroding “transparency”, the role of the police and these continual encampment clearings, the relation of sex trafficking or sex work to homelessness and overall, what is considered criminal is only because it is happening in public instead of in private. Thanks to Naomi for speaking to me. Tracks: Sean Beaver-“Where Is My Mind”, The Cure-“Push”.

We discuss with writer and long-time analyst of modern suburbia, Stephen Dale, on his 2021 book “Shift Change.” The book is quite relevant today as we look at modern homeless crisis and the forced gentrification on places such as Hamilton and elsewhere. As Sarah Schulman says, gentrification is a “concrete replacement process.” While the past Hamilton was the undefined “gritty”, it had a sense of community. Dale recounts important historical events such as the 1949 Stelco strike and the egalitarian age of the 1960s. We take on Richard Florida’s “creative class”, which is always enjoyable for me. The “creative class” seems to be limited to finance, insurance and real estate who find ways of making passive profit out of todays late capitalism, instead of what we think of as artists. Out of duty I point out the industrial linkages between Hamilton and Peterborough. The shifting of industrial to post-industrial is quite difficult under our current economic system with issues such as brown fields, abandoned buildings and the loss of residential communities in the neighbourhoods around the past factories. Hamilton also has faced a Toronto immigration during the past ten years that has helped to escalate the gentrification process. Gentrification often thrives when there is an economic, environmental or medical crisis. Tracks: “Ambient”-Tim Hecker, “Disgusteen”-Teenage Head, “In The Morning”-Junior Boys. I suggest Sarah Schullman’s “The Gentrification of the Mind” as additional reading. Stephen Dale’s “Shift Change” can be found at Between The Lines: https://btlbooks.com/book/shift-change

Ellen Froese is a folk/country musician from Saskatoon. She recently played in Peterborough(April 7th at Jethro’s) and for this month, is in residence at Cameron House in Toronto. Her latest album is “For Each Flower Growing”, that is “more thought out” than her previous releases. The album was produced by Sam Corbett of Sheepdogs. She is heavily influenced by acclaimed musician Arthur Russell’s folk drum machine. She was also heavily influenced for this album by Carl Sagan’s “Cosmos.” We talk about how she dealt with the passing away of sound engineer Jill Mack in the middle of making the album. Overall, she is wanting to take folk music in her own innovative form. She has a deep love of horticulture and is perhaps there as a post-music career. Musical tracks: Ellen Froese-“Long Division”, “Like You’re Looking At Me”(Live), “For Each Flower Growing”(Live), “Everybody Knows”

Today we head out to Haliburton to meet the production manager of Ctrl-ART-Del(https://www.haliburtonarts.on.ca/our-members-1/ctrl-art-del)Amy Leis. It is an arts collective out of Haliburton that is attempting to perform modern theatre for the town. They want to perform plays that were written no earlier than 2000. Their first production is this weekend. “Cherubs” is a black comedy somewhere between “Beetlejuice and Blackladder”. You can see it the Northern LIghts Performing Arts Pavillion. Tickets can be found at evenbrite or at the door(https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/cherubs-the-canadian-premiere-on-march-31st-2023-tickets-510225697797?aff=ebdssbdestsearch). We discuss the play, the arts collective and how it fits in the modern age. Musical tracks: Elliot Smith-“Ballad of Big Nothing”, “The Biggest Lie”

Hugh Hodges is the Chair of Cultural Studies and Associate Professor of Cultural Studies and English at Trent. In the past he has written extensively on African and West Indian music and literature, with topics such as Fela Kuti. “The Fascist Groove Thing: A History of Thatcher’s Britain in 21 Mixtapes” is a political study of Thatcher’s England through the soundtrack of the mixtape singsles relevant to the topic. It is amazing how relevant Thatcher’s policies correspond to not only today’s Britain but as a model for the neo-liberal, late capitalist model of governance all across the Earth. Like it not, Thatcher transformed what she denied existed: society. Musical Tracks: Heaven 17-“(We Don’t Need This)Fascist Groove Thang” and Sex Pistols-“Problems”, The Clash-“Should I Stay or Should I Go”. We maybe need more smokes to deal with our stressors…..

Two of Trent University’s grad students, Meaghan Ward and Sasha Newar, have started a podcast in which grad students involved in research projects get to share their findings to a wider community. Guests are currently only Trent students but in the future you may see them reach out beyond Ptbo/Nogo. This gives the long, lonely life of grad students an opportunity to hear and find community. I discuss the early days of the podcast with Meaghan. To quote, both her and Sasha “love science communication.” Find Fellowship of the Research on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/fotrpodcast/ and if you have any of your own proposals for the show, you can contact them at [email protected], plus listen to them on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/1ccfJIW4Dz98s4njpcxbXM. Musical tracks: archives assistant-“Smash Everything” and Babe Chorus-“Nosedive.”

One of many emerging artists in Ptbo/Nogo is Emem John(SJ). Emem is a multi-faceted artist and a third-year psychology student at Trent. To quote Electric City Culture Council: ” As an artist, Emem John (“SJ”) is not tied to any one particular discipline. She is interested in many aspects of the arts, including music, spoken word poetry, and a variety of visual arts forms: painting, graphic design, fashion design, customizing jeans, and photography. She has been working on creative projects since she was a young child, singing in her church choir at the age of 10 and discovering writing as an escape from life’s mental cage. For Emem, art is a way to work through anxiety and express herself. She writes about everything from mental illness to the Black Lives Matter movement to the beauty of nature. She surrounds herself with, and is artistically inspired by, a creative community of friends and collaborators who challenge her to expand her practice and push herself into new disciplines – including a performance at Trent University’s Black History Month Blowout, a collaboration with fellow writer Laurin Isiekwena, and set design and costume design for music videos (Joey Jaey’s “Bam Bam” and JefferyBenson’s “Body Talk”). Emem came to Canada at age 16 in 2019 to further her education, and is currently studying psychology at Trent University. After her degree she wants to work with kids and create a program to benefit people back in her hometown in Nigeria, helping young adults who are trying to get their lives together and need sponsorship to further their studies.” Musical tracks: “BAM BAM” Joey Jaey and “Body Talk” Jeffrey Benson. You can see her on https://www.tiktok.com/@ememwrld_

On Episode #45, we talk with one of the greatest stalwarts of our musical scene in Peterborough: BA Johnston. Hamiltonian BA Johnston was a past resident and for a long-time has remained on the list of upcoming acts for venues such as the Red Dog. Which, by the way, he will playing at on March 31st with the Mickies and the Beef Boys. I love his biting sense of realism combined his hilarious sense of humour. During our lockdown period, he played in many people’s backyards and continues that service till today, giving you his spandex outfits, Casio keyboard, along with good rocking fun. We discuss among other things his love of the Pigs Ear Tavern, Oshawa, the hated necessities of No Frills and Tim Hortons, his relationship with Peterborough, his Valentine Song A Grams, his Ham Jam sessions and briefly, Doug Ford, among other things. Tracks by BA Johnston: “This Pink Eye Has Got Me Down”, “I Don’t Want to go to the No Frills”, “My Last Shift At Timmies”, “Deep Fryer in my Bedroom(Live)”, “Only 2 Things I Wanna Do(Doritos N U)”, “Peterborough Love”. Follow BA on https://bajohnston.bandcamp.com/album/werewolves-of-london-ontario, http://www.bajohnston.ca/ and https://twitter.com/bajohnston.

Harbhajunkie(aka Mridul Harbhajanka)has blessed Peterborough/Nogojiwanong/Trent with her multiple levels of talent for the last few years. She recently released an album called “Making Tunes and Eating Fruit” which is now available on all major streaming services (https://open.spotify.com/artist/2T4ZfVes6EkjEMbUb5p83W). She has produced the soundtrack and been a part of a number of short films, which are available on YouTube(https://www.youtube.com/@mridulharbhajanka). Her films do an excellent depiction of what it was like to live during our lockdown period of 2020-21. It also has to be noted that she is an international student from India and has achieved all these artistic feats despite the adversaries that international students face these days. Her sound has a dreamy feel to it that has both mystery and ease. Lets hear about her work with Effigy Girl(aka Hazel Dreslinski), her vegan diet, how she coped with the lockdown, her various films such as the brilliant “Isolated”, her Trent Radio programs, how being a student in Canada has affected her relationship with her mother and her future plans, Before she leaves us in Peterborough, I think its best we pay tribute and recognize her talent. Who knows what she can become? Correction: I mention in the podcast that 33% of Trent students are international students. According to Trent, it is around 13% for 2022/23. My apologies. Tracks: “want u”, “may(ft. Effigy Girl)”, “Marie in my kitchen”, “girl in the maze”, “it’s you I like, but perverted”, “anything u wanna do”.