Gino Del Sole - The RIFF S1 ep.4

What does it take to play 800 live shows on a Norwegian cruise ship, hold down a pit chair for Mirvish's biggest Broadway productions, and dress as Angus Young for a living? Guitarist Gino Del Sole has done all of it — and he's here to tell you exactly what goes on behind the curtain.

In Episode 4 of The Riff, hosts Gary O'Brien and Jeremy Green sit down with Gino for a candid, hilarious, and genuinely insightful conversation about the real life of a working musician in Toronto and beyond. Gino breaks down what it's actually like to play in the orchestra pit for shows like Beetlejuice, Moulin Rouge, Come From Away, and Rock of Ages — including the split-second pressure of reading a conductor's cues while sight-reading charts, switching guitars mid-song, and performing for 2,000 people a night with only one rehearsal.

From his roots in Sudbury discovering Kiss Alive and AC/DC's Back in Black, through Humber College jazz training and nearly a decade of cruise ship contracts touring the Mediterranean, to co-founding ACDC Show Canada and Epic Elton, Gino's story is a masterclass in what it means to be a true professional musician.

We also get into:
- The Angus Young schoolboy costume — and why it never gets old (even if Gino's knees disagree)
- Why AI in music is exciting and terrifying at the same time
- The networking advantage of music school that Jeremy still regrets missing
- Drive, discipline, and what Wayne Gretzky, Einstein, and Gordon Ramsay have in common
- The food spotlight: Real Sports Bar & Restaurant in Maple Leaf Square — their salt and vinegar jumbo wings, garlic parm wings, and why the sound system in a 27,000 sq ft venue actually impressed a professional guitarist

If you love classic rock, behind-the-scenes music industry stories, Toronto culture, or just a great conversation — this one's for you.

🍺 Food Feature: Real Sports Bar & Restaurant — Maple Leaf Square, Toronto
🎸 Guest: Gino Del Sole — Guitarist | ACDC Show Canada | Epic Elton | Mirvish Productions

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🔗 Find us at mytoronto.ca

#TheRiff #GinoDelSole #ACDCTribute #TorontoMusic #MusiciansLife #ClassicRock #BroadwayPit #LiveMusic #GuitaristLife #TorontoEntertainment
CHAPTERS

00:00 Welcome to The Riff
02:10 Jeremy's New Album: Keith Carlock, Mike Stern & Will Lee
04:30 The Stranger Who Walked Into Gary's House
08:45 Hotel Bed Story: Jeremy's Wild Guys' Weekend Tale
11:00 Introducing Guest Gino Del Sole
14:20 Buying a House as a Self-Employed Musician
17:00 Growing Up in Sudbury: Kiss, AC/DC & the First Guitar
23:30 Joining the Band & First Big Break
26:00 Humber College & the Value of Music School Networking
31:00 Getting Into Theater: Stage West, Footloose & Mirvish
36:00 Inside the Orchestra Pit: Charts, Conductors & Guitar Switching
43:30 On a Cruise Ship During a Storm: Stage Falls & Broken Headstocks
49:00 The Real Sports Bar & Restaurant Food Segment
55:00 Switching Styles: Swiss Army Knife Guitarist
59:00 Angus Young, Entertainer vs. Musician & ACDC Show Canada
1:03:00 The Long and the Short of It: Past, Present & Future
1:07:00 AI in Music: Threat or Opportunity?
1:11:30 Closing Remarks, Blue Jays & What's Next for Gino

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Rich Brown - The RIFF S1 ep3

What happens when one of Canada's most accomplished jazz bassists sits down with his oldest musical friends and just gets real? This. Rich Brown — Juno Award winner, educator, bandleader, and one of Toronto's most versatile musicians — joins Gary O'Brien and Jeremy Green for an honest, hilarious, and deeply inspiring conversation that every musician needs to hear.

Rich walks us through the origin of his 30-year friendship with co-host Jeremy Green, from teenage garage jams in the '80s to building careers on the Toronto jazz scene. He breaks down the creative process behind Naiba — a groundbreaking all-electric-bass solo album with no other instruments — and explains why he turned down an opportunity to audition for the house band on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to stay in Canada. He also shares the story of how the Jeremy Ledbetter Trio won the Juno Award for Best Jazz Album — and how he almost missed the news entirely.

Along the way, Rich reflects on Rinse the Algorithm, his musical brotherhood with drummer Larnell Lewis, his friendship with Kim Mitchell, and the lessons he's learned after decades of teaching at Humber College, the University of Toronto, and Scott's Bass Lessons online. His advice to young musicians — "embrace the struggle, be comfortable being uncomfortable" — is worth the price of admission alone.

We also feature a food moment from Mary B Kitchen, a beloved whole-food restaurant in the Yonge-St. Clair neighbourhood of Toronto.

If you love jazz, fusion, bass guitar, Canadian music, or just great conversations between people who have been making music together for decades — this one's for you.

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💬 Comment below — what was your moment that made you want to become a musician?
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#TheRiff #RichBrown #JazzBass #CanadianJazz #TorontoMusic #JunoAward #BassGuitar #JeremyLedbetter #LarnellLewis #MyTorontoCa

YOUTUBE CHAPTERS

0:00 Welcome to The Riff
2:42 Introducing Guest Rich Brown
4:57 How Rich and Jeremy Met in the '80s
14:53 Van Halen's Unchained Changed His Life
21:41 Building the Band: Eclipse & Period of Denial
28:52 Car Rides, Deep Talks & Musical Growth
38:50 New Album Naiba: A Solo Bass Record
29:28 The Creative Process Behind Naiba
38:50 Rinse the Algorithm & Larnell Lewis
45:14 Food Segment: Mary B Kitchen
49:16 World Music Influence & Toronto's Global Scene
51:39 Winning the Juno Award (And Almost Missing the News)
53:33 Turning Down Jay Leno to Stay in Canada
57:45 The Brownstone YouTube Channel
1:01:17 Kim Mitchell Stories & Max Webster
1:17:57 Advice for Young Bass Players: Embrace the Struggle
1:41:40 Thanks for Watching

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Rich Brown — https://richbrownmusic.com
The Brownstone (YouTube) — https://www.youtube.com/@TheBrownstone
New Origins on Jazz FM 91 — https://www.jazzfm.com
Scott's Bass Lessons — https://www.scottsbasslessons.com
Humber College — https://humber.ca
University of Toronto — https://www.utoronto.ca
Jeremy Ledbetter — https://jeremyledbetter.com
Steve Coleman — https://m-base.com
Bruce Cockburn — https://www.brucecockburn.com
Kim Mitchell — https://www.kimmitchell.ca
David Clayton-Thomas — https://davidclaytonthomas.com
Terri Lyne Carrington — https://terrilynecarrington.com
Larnell Lewis — https://www.larnelllewis.com
Mary B Kitchen — https://marybkitchen.com
Juno Awards — https://junoawards.ca
mytoronto.ca — https://www.mytoronto.ca

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Staying a working musician for 30-plus years is harder than most people think — and Rick Menary has lived every part of it. In this episode of The Riff, we sit down with Rick, singer, guitarist, and co-founder of the Toronto blues rock band The Spitfire Kings, for one of the most honest conversations about the music life you'll hear anywhere.

Rick shares how a childhood Kiss performance sparked everything, how he learned to sing by screaming Led Zeppelin at full volume in an empty house, and the exact moment he knew music was going to be his life. He breaks down the real challenges of building a band — finding the right people, keeping personalities aligned, and surviving the long road from garage rehearsals to paying gigs.

Then there's the story you have to hear: the time his band drove all the way to Newfoundland, got fired after two nights because the wrong promoter pitched them as a Top 40 band, blew the motor on the truck driving home, got stuck in a snowstorm, and had to call their dads for credit cards just to survive. If you've ever wondered why the music business is brutal, this is your answer.

Rick also delivers genuinely practical advice: how to use Facebook, YouTube, and booking agents to get your first real gigs, why versatility is the most underrated skill a working band can have, the iPad debate for live performers, and why band politics never fully disappear — they just get easier to manage with age.

Plus, hosts Gary O'Brien and Jeremy Green break down the surprisingly dark underbelly of the classic '80s hit "Let's Hear It for the Boy," and the team samples authentic Thai cuisine from PAI Northern Thai Kitchen, one of Toronto's most acclaimed restaurants.

Whether you're a musician, a music lover, or someone building something creative in Toronto — this one's for you.

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💬 Drop your own band disaster story in the comments
📤 Share this with a musician who needs to hear it

PAI Northern Thai Kitchen — 18 Duncan Street, Toronto (Theatre District) | 2355 Yonge Street, Toronto (Yonge-Eglinton)
https://www.painorthern.com

CHAPTERS

0:00 Welcome to The Riff — Episode 2 Intro
1:30 The Passive-Aggressive '80s Song Nobody Noticed
8:00 Introducing Guest Rick Menary
9:30 How Kiss Changed Rick's Life at Age 10
13:00 Learning to Sing by Screaming at Full Volume
16:00 From Garage Band to Paying Gigs
20:00 Why Most Bands Never Make It
24:00 The Newfoundland Disaster Story
30:00 How to Book Gigs: Practical Advice for New Bands
36:00 The iPad Debate: Is It Cheating to Use One on Stage?
41:00 Reading the Crowd and Adapting Your Set List
44:00 Toronto Food Break: PAI Northern Thai Kitchen
48:00 Band Politics and Keeping the Peace
51:00 Passing the Torch: Musical Kids and Father-Son Jams
55:00 New Music Worth Knowing: Polyphia and Landreth Brothers
59:00 Toronto Events This Week and Show Wrap-Up

#WorkingMusician #TorontoMusic #BluesRock #SpitfireKings #MusicCareerAdvice #HowToBookGigs #TorontoFoodie #PAINorthernThai #TheRiff #MusicPodcast

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SamIAM - The Riff S1 ep.1

What do classical guitar, extreme metal, six languages, and Toronto's underground DJ scene have in common? Meet Sam Green — known on stage as Samiam — and this episode will completely change how you think about what it means to be a musician.

On this episode of The Riff, hosts Gary O'Brien and Jeremy Green sit down with Sam, a multidisciplinary Toronto artist who started playing piano at four, picked up guitar at seven, spent nearly two decades performing classical, blues, rock, and extreme metal — and then pivoted into DJing in 2024. What makes Sam's story so compelling isn't just the range. It's the discipline, the curiosity, and the philosophy behind every choice she's made.

We dig into how growing up in a small town with nothing to do became her greatest creative advantage, why boredom before social media produced better musicians, the surprising connections between metal and techno, what happens when your DJ screen goes dark mid-set, and why teaching the next generation of DJs might be the most important thing she's doing right now.

Sam also shares her community initiative Track Factory — open-decks DJ events designed to bring Toronto's electronic music community together — and her residency at Boxcar Social on the Harbourfront.

Plus: Tracy drops in with a world-class cheese tasting from Alex Farm Products at the legendary St. Lawrence Market, and we celebrate mytoronto.ca hitting 100,000 YouTube subscribers.

If you love Toronto culture, music education, and conversations that go deeper than the surface — this one is for you.

👍 Like this video if you learned something new.
🔔 Subscribe so you never miss an episode of The Riff.
💬 Drop a comment: What's one skill you picked up out of sheer boredom?
📤 Share this with a musician or creative who needs to hear it.

mytoronto.ca — https://www.mytoronto.ca
Boxcar Social (Harbourfront) — https://www.boxcarsocial.ca
St. Lawrence Market — https://www.stlawrencemarket.com
Free Play Toronto — https://www.freeplaytoronto.com
Ableton — https://www.ableton.com

0:00 Welcome to The Riff — Intro
0:45 The Home Depot Toilet Story
6:30 mytoronto.ca Hits 100K Subscribers
9:20 Meet Sam Green (Samiam) — Full Bio
11:00 Growing Up in Port Perry — Small Town, Big Creativity
15:30 How Boredom Made Her a Better Musician
18:00 Randy Rhoads, Ozzy, and Falling in Love with Guitar
22:00 How Guitar Training Made Her a Better DJ
27:00 The Busking Story — Funding Concert Tickets with Classical Guitar
31:00 Six Languages — How She Learned Them and Why
37:30 From Metal to DJ — The Surprising Overlap
43:00 The EDM and House Music Community Explained
49:00 When the Screen Goes Dark — DJing by Ear Live
55:00 Why Online Learning Creates Knowledge Gaps in Music
1:01:00 Track Factory — Building Toronto's DJ Community
1:08:00 Boxcar Social Residency and Renegade Beach Parties
1:14:00 Low-Res Party at Free Play Toronto
1:19:00 Motorsports — Rally Racing and CSCS Events
1:24:00 How to Stay Creative and Grounded
1:29:00 Building a Homemade Speaker During Lockdown
1:33:00 What's Next — Music Production, Ableton, and Touring
1:37:00 Cheese Tasting — Alex Farm Products, St. Lawrence Market
1:52:00 Closing Thoughts and Goodbye

#TheRiff #TorontoMusic #DJLife #MusicEducation #TorontoPodcast #ElectronicMusic #ClassicalGuitar #StLawrenceMarket #TorontoEvents #Samiam

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