The Todd Donald Show

Natasha McKenty is host of Rogers (Waterloo Region)’s In Studio with Natasha McKenty. We found each other online, and I loved what I was able to see of her show on instagram clips and photos.. I suppose it was natural for me to show whatever audience I have, what a legit broadcaster sounded like, so that you could hear more easily how un-professional I am. Natasha is an all around wonderful person, with an interesting back-story, so we dove into that, her history in media and her life-long fascination with hearing others’ story. I can only hope she enjoyed my use of off-collar b.s. in the mix, as much as I enjoy subjecting my guests to it. At any rate, much admiration for this woman and her amazing work!

Sylvia Pond and Dan Grace are two lovely people I spent a few months regularly seeing and chatting with at the Rhapsody Barrell Bar open-mic Mondays, in Kitchener (Ontario). Sylvia a prominent local photographer, and Dan a loveable Canadian-rock nerd and musician.. It was hard to go back to my job after the teacher’s strike of Autumn 2017 and not see them anymore. You can hear in these chats that they’re both warm and funny people. Sylvia Pond in her own right, is a fantastic local photographer, who reluctantly is learning guitar, loves cheese and works for herself. We talked about that, and the most cheesy thing we both love, 80s hair-metal. Dan Grace was often host or ring-leader of the open-mic nights at the time, I didn’t have direction at all with this interview, Dan and I kind of just goofed off and then I recorded him playing three of his favourite Can-rock songs that are in the same key.. a WONDERFUL coffee chat collection, both! Much love.

Vienna D’Amato Hall is a singer/songwriter and more, I think the term ‘Artist’ better encompasses what she does, both in her approach and in general. I can’t even imagine how early it started in her life, but she strikes me as both intelligent and thoughtful - with everything shared with the world coming from a place of intention and planning - while still following the winds of existence. I’m not so deep that the previous sentance is well put, but Vienna doesn’t seem like someone who’s just having fun with their music, nor is it all so serious that she can’t handle having a warm conversation with ol’ goofy-ass over here. As someone who lives in-the-world, occasionally in KW, I had the fortune of meeting Vienna and seeing her perform at an art show/open mic in 2015. We scheduled her 2016 podcast record via email, and when starting The Todd Donald Show I was overcome with a desire to catch up with and feature this exsquisite and true artist once again. We talked allot about thought process, creativity, philosophy, existence and soy sauce.

AntiSocial Surf Club makes infectious and exciting poppy, punky, beach/mall music… that level of talk is the same accessibly and easy-going description they would give. I would say they’re triumphantly badass, which is also lazy, on my part. At any rate, this Kitchener (Ontario)-based 20-something foursome make music in-the-room, no fancy add-ons, nothing digital, and they do it like it ain’t no thang. I couldn’t help but spend most of the interview stunned, coming from highschool-a world full of music like theirs, while they were being born. Though instead of making me feel old and obsolete, they had fun with me, and we all had fun learning how they approach music! I met these guys in the modern age of exploring instagram and other things to see what’s out there. They were kind enough to send Matt and Bennett over for the experience, and not only did they deliver their interview & live songs, way earlier in the morning than they’re used to doing stuff, but they and I rehearsed and recorded a live performance of “Surf Wax America” by Weezer. I might put that back up online someday.

Vacuity & The Human Statues are two former bands, Vacuity from Kitchener and The Human Statues from Toronto/British Columbia; and both bands that I had and still have an enormous affection for. Vacuity’s brand of rock was very atmospheric and alternative in the best way possible. We performed a few shows together by this point and I loved their newest album. To counter the seriousness of the music, both this podcast and the radio show I.R.I.S., they were guests of, and it was full of seriousness and goofing off. This early podcast appearance in May 2008, was proof to me that the best way to sell a band to the public, was to show a band and I literally just hangin’ out. I’ve been delighted to run-in to members of this band here and there since, wonderful guys. PS: Somewhere in the mix of their song “Beckoning”, they had me join them on my 12-string guitar, try to listen for it behind Rob’s dynamic vocals, the accordion, and the glockenspiel!

Paige Warner is a ridiculously talented singer & songwriter, from a musical family, based in Kitchener/Waterloo, Ontario. She is destined for stadiums and crowd sing-alongs with her varying array of musical styles with strong soul roots. I had the privilege of interviewing Paige the first time, shortly following the release of her debut EP, and in promotion of her upcoming performance at Kitchener’s Summer Lights event. Upon starting this podcast, I couldn’t help but invite her back on, to catch up, and record some new and bodacious live performances!

Ophelia Syndrome is a fantastic and diverse rock/pop group from Ontario. They’ve released some outstanding albums and have toured internationally. This episode includes archived material from prior podcasts/projects by Todd Donald; beginning with their 2016 interview & performances on The iTodd Lounge, their 2008 interview on The iTodd Lounge and 2 live performances, recorded in 2017. This is only the beginning of ‘treasures from the vault’ style supplements you can expect!

Shannon Godelie, along with husband Justin Godelie and their friend Justin Briner have been showcasing acoustic songs and bantering in-between for several years. Their hilarious and fun podcast Pull The Plug has become well established and is a staple of Ontario’s indie music collective. Shannon originally knew Todd from the broadcasting program in college, when the FM radio versions of each of their shows were airing. 10 years later, it’s only fitting that she give The Todd Donald Show a send-off!