In this episode of Undercurrents: An Artist's Artist Conversation, Simone Atenea Medina Polo is joined by the one and only Shad to discuss the release of Start Anew. Shad is a Juno Award-winning rapper from London, Ontario and the host of Netflix’s Hip-Hop Evolution. His albums have been recognized for their sharp lyrics and soulful arrangements.

This season finale brings together the theme of the podcast since Shad offers a thoughtful and informed outlook on the communal evolution and history of hip hop. The conversation proceeds by breaking down the themes of Start Anew which converges into a chat about Shad’s then-upcoming lectures on the history of hip hop at his alma mater (Wilfrid Laurier University).

In this episode of Undercurrents: An Artist's Artist Conversation, Simone Atenea Medina Polo is joined by Toronto’s Eliza Niemi to discuss the release of Progress Bakery. Eliza is a well-known multi-instrumentalist powerhouse of the Canadian music scene with several appearances in CBC’s Polaris Music Prize nominee lists over the years. Eliza offers a vignette of the Toronto music scene and paints a picture of the kind of communal spirit that fuels her music endeavours.

In this episode of Undercurrents: An Artist's Artist Conversation, Simone Atenea Medina Polo is joined by Montreal’s Bells Larsen to discuss his sophomore album Blurring Time. Bells’ album is defined by an unique angle in musical form by creating a dialogue across time between his current post-testosterone voice and his pre-HRT voice under the guidance of fellow musician Georgia Harmer. This alone sets up for an incredibly intimate and thoughtful album exploring the liminal space that ambiguates identity, love, familial dynamics, and queer-world making.

In this episode of Undercurrents: An Artist's Artist Conversation, Simone Atenea Medina Polo is joined by Calgary’s Robert Adam to discuss their debut album Governed by the Seasons. Robert is an up-and-coming non-binary entity making a name for themselves in country music, a sound which they have cultivated with a tender poetry of queer resilience through conversational and narrational songwriting.

In this episode of Undercurrents: An Artist's Artist Conversation, Simone Atenea Medina Polo is joined by Alex Hudson (aka. Rec Centre) following the release of his sixth album, Squash. As in many of Rec Centre’s recordings, the process involved overdubbing over and over with a single microphone, building up arrangements that are lush and layered while retaining its iconic homemade candour — often in collaboration with Energy Slime’s Jay Arner.

For this episode, Jeff and Atenea discuss the following artists:

Scott Hardware: https://scotthardware.bandcamp.com/album/overpass

Future Star / beuatiufl: https://futurestar.bandcamp.com/music | https://beuatiufl.bandcamp.com/music

Jane Inc: https://janeinc.bandcamp.com/music

Rec Centre: https://reccentre.bandcamp.com/album/squash