The FM Podcast

The topic of this week’s episode is COVID vs Summer Music Festivals and joining me on the show is the Artistic Executive Director of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival - Debbi Salmonsen. We all know that things have been extremely difficult for the live music industry over the past year and Debbi and I discuss how the Vancouver Folk  Fest adjusted their plans in 2020 + 2021 and how she thinks things will look for all music festivals in the future.

Debbi and I had a great chat + I hope you’ll enjoy it!

FRESH CONTENT LINKS
Debbi recommends: Allison Russell - Nightflyer
Jen recommends: The Beaches - Let's Go

SOTW
Alex Beraldo - Southern Heat

You can find Debbi at thefestival.bc.ca
And learn more about Fritz Media at fritzmedia.ca

We all know that Branding is something that is very important for musicians. It’s one of those things that can feel like just one more thing to add to the list of all of things you have to do as a musician in 2021, but it is one of the most important parts of being a musician. Figuring out who you are as a musician and how you’re going to express that to the world, as an extension of your music, should be one of the first things you do in your music career.

So the topic of this week’s episode is Branding and Content Creation and joining me on the show is Brandon William Fletcher. Brandon is a Vancouver based art director and filmmaker and he runs his own Creative Studio called Faked Potatoes. His images and work have been commissioned by a wide range of clients including M83, Manila Grey, James Reid, Scott Helman, Warner Music Group, Universal Music, and Blonde Diamond. He’s also a Board Member at Music BC and he recently made the Long List for the 2021 Prism Prize for "Best Music Video of the Year".

Brandon and I had a great chat and I hope you enjoy it!

FRESH CONTENT LINKS
Brandon recommends: Technicolor Paradise: Rhum Rhapsodies & Other Exotic Delights
Jen recommends: Foundering Podcast S2: The TikTok Story

SOTW
Kandle - Misty Morning

You can find Brandon at fakedpotatoes.com
And learn more about Fritz Media at fritzmedia.ca

So this week’s show is all about Social Activism in Music + joining me on the show is Vancouver rapper Neon Empty (aka Bryce Lokken) who just released a single last week called 'Red Lives Don't' a song that he describes as  “an expression of frustration and disgust with white Canada’s hypocrisy about racial inequality during the summer 2020 - the summer of Black Lives Matter.”

Neon Empty, who is Métis, uses shocking language on 'Red Lives Don't' to get people’s attention in order to highlight a very important problem that we have in Canada - anti-Indigenous racism. He uses it to be heard in the same way that Black Lives Matter activists use "Defund The Police”. 

And to quote Neon Empty: “This song is a callout to Canada's hypocrisy. You can't tackle systemic racism in Canada without addressing our deepest-rooted, bloodiest, most vulgar problem: the hatred of Indigenous people and our constant attempt to silence, destroy, and minimize those who look like my grandmother.” His grandmother by the way is a residential school survivor + we’ll get into that during the interview.

This is a really great chat + just a heads-up that there are a few more f-bombs than usual in this episode, so it’s probably not suitable for work or around the kids, etc.  I hope you enjoy it!

FRESH CONTENT LINKS
Bryce recommends: Hamilton on Disney+
Jen recommends: Doja Cat ft. SZA - Kiss Me More

SOTW
Neon Empty - Red Lives Don't

You can find Neon Empty at neonempty.com
And learn more about Fritz Media at fritzmedia.ca

This week's show is all about singing, which is something I pretty much have ZERO experience in. And joining me on the show is someone who thankfully knows more about singing than I do - Greg Barker - who is one of the founders of Singdaptive. Greg is going to tell us all about Singdaptive, which is a multi-instructor online learning platform for singer-musicians. As well as his new venture - Exchangely which is  asynchronous + team-based 1-on-1 coaching for singers.

So if you’ve been sitting at home during the pandemic wondering how you could become a better singer, this is definitely the show for you! 

FRESH CONTENT LINKS
Greg recommends: Maytree - iPhone Acapella + Playing For Change
Jen recommends: Billie Eilish - The World's A Little Blurry + TINA (Tina Turner doc)

SOTW
Quinn Pickering - Grapefruit

You can find Greg at singdaptive.com
And learn more about Fritz Media at fritzmedia.ca

Social media is something that most musicians struggle with. Both on the organic side - that is just creating content for all of their social channels each week - and  on the social advertising side. 

It’s something that we see our clients struggle with here at Fritz Media which is why we added additional services last year, including social media strategy + digital advertising. And joining us on the show this week is one of our very own digital strategists here at Fritz Media - Phoenix Bain!

Phoenix has over 8 years of experience in digital ads management, social media marketing, email marketing, event planning and execution, and grant writing in the non-profit and for-profit sector. She’s been an incredible addition to the Fritz Media team, creating amazing social media strategy + advertising plans for our clients, + she shares some of her secrets with us, including lots of social media tips + tricks for musicians. 

FRESH CONTENT LINKS
Phoenix recommends: Umi - New album promo campaign on Instagram
Jen recommends: Lil Nas X - Montero (Call Me By Your Name)

SOTW
Carolina East - Hunger

For more info on Phoenix, check out her bio here
And learn more about Fritz Media at fritzmedia.ca

The COVID pandemic has not been great for the music industry and I think it’s fair to say that the live sector of the industry has been hit the hardest. In fact, since March of last year the live music industry in Canada has suffered a 92% average revenue loss + 64% of the industry is at risk of permanent closure which is scary for all of us because the live sector is the backbone of our business.

So the topic of this week’s episode is Pivoting and Touring and joining me on the show is Grant Paley. Grant is a music industry veteran with over 20 years experience in the business. He started out as a musician, as the frontman & DJ of Moses Mays, and after a decade of touring, he transitioned to behind the scenes + became a music agent and he's never looked back. Grant spent 12 years at Paquin Artists Agency where he developed his own unique roster of live and electronic acts, and he left last year to co-found Midnight Agency with Nick Middleton (who you might know from The Funk Hunters and Westwood Recordings), which is launching this week!

FRESH CONTENT LINKS
Grant recommends: Silk Sonic - Leave The Door Open
Jen recommends: The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart

SOTW
The Funk Hunters &  Chali 2Na ft. Tom Thum - Word To Spread

You can find Grant at midnightagency.com
And learn more about Fritz Media at fritzmedia.ca

So a few weeks ago we did an episode about the state of music journalism in Canada + I talked to Mike Devlin who is an arts reporter for the Victoria Times-Colonist. And this week’s episode is sort of a Music Journalism in Canada Part 2 episode, where we take a look at music journalism in the digital age + explore the online side of things since we mostly discussed music journalism at traditional media outlets on Mike’s episode. 

And joining me this week is Sajae Elder who is a Toronto-based culture writer + content creator for The Fader, Complex, Vice, Buzzfeed + many others. Sajae + I discuss what music journalism looks like in the online space in 2021, whether music journalism is still relevant, and what it’s like to be a Black woman working as a culture journalist in Canada.

FRESH CONTENT LINKS
Sajae recommends: serpentwithfeet - Deacon
Jen recommends: St. Vincent - Pay Your Way In Pain

SOTW
Matt Storm x Ivan Hartle - More To Find

You can find Sajae Elder's Deep Work playlist on Spotify
And learn more about Fritz Media at fritzmedia.ca

The theme of this week’s episode is Artist Management + I talk to Savannah Wellman from Tiny Kingdom Music. 

Savannah runs Tiny Kingdom with her business partner and best friend Meagan Davidson + their company not only manages musicians but they also do grant writing and they recently started their own record label which just released ‘Boxes’ - the killer collab from Vancouver musicians  IAMTHELIVING + Teon Gibbs. 

Savannah’s experiences in the music industry have seen her on both sides of the curtain. Her journey included a degree in music, followed by years of performing + touring in various projects, and continued at Music BC where she was the project manager for artist development initiatives including the PEAK Performance Project. 

Savannah + I had a great chat about what it’s like to be managing artists in 2021 + how her business has been affected by the COVID pandemic. 

FRESH CONTENT LINKS
Savannah recommends: IAMTHELIVING x Teon Gibbs - Distance
Jen recommends: Serj Tankian interview on WTF with Marc Maron podcast

SOTW
IAMTHELIVING x Teon Gibbs - Boxes

You can find Savannah at tinykingdommusic.com
And learn more about Fritz Media at fritzmedia.ca

On this week’s episode I talk to Vancouver musician + Fritz Media client Bukola about what it’s like to be starting out your career as an artist in the music industry right now. Bukola is releasing her debut EP Chronicles of a Teenage Mind this summer + her first single/video is coming out this Friday (March 19th)! 

Bukola is only 19 years old but she’s been pursuing her dreams of becoming a professional musician since she was 9 and has been building momentum ever since! In fact, the CBC recently named her as one of the Top 10 Soulful Female Artists in the 2020 CBC Searchlight competition! Bukola calls her musical style Acoustic Soul - blending contemporary R&B and Jazz music to create her own soulful sound. 

She's been deeply influenced by artists such as India Arie, Daniel Caesar and H.E.R. and with the amount that she’s already accomplished at such a young age, I’m sure she’ll be the one influencing artists in the future!

FRESH CONTENT LINKS
Bukola recommends: 2Pac - Keep Ya Head Up
Jen recommends: Mother Mother - I Got Love + Stay Behind

SOTW
Bukola - A Good Thing

You can find Bukola at bukolamusic.com
And learn more about Fritz Media at fritzmedia.ca

So it’s now officially a full year since we’ve been living with the COVID pandemic + it obviously has had a very detrimental effect on the music industry. It’s affected everyone in the business, from record labels to booking agents to managers to promoters to publicity companies like mine, and of course, the musicians themselves. Everyone has had to pivot to figure out different ways to bring income in.

Many musicians are trying different things to see what works, like ticketed live streams + some artists are dipping their toes into recurring revenue streams + trying subscription models like Patreon. And one of those bands is Vancouver band + provider of The FM Podcast theme music - Said The Whale! And our guest on the show this week is Tyler Bancroft. Tyler is the vocalist/guitarist for Said the Whale + he also runs Be Good artist management, which manages acts like Titus Bank + Big Kill, along with his own band Said the Whale. Tyler + I discuss their recent launch of a Said The Whale Patreon page for their fans + what they’re doing to find recurring + sustainable income for the band during this crazy time. 

FRESH CONTENT LINKS
Tyler recommends: Before The Data
Jen recommends: Hole - Live Through This

SOTW
Said The Whale - Mother

You can find Tyler at saidthewhale.com 
And learn more about Fritz Media at fritzmedia.ca