Welcome with Karim Kanji

Zaki Ibrahim recently released her album, The Secret Life Of Planets and joined both Gregg Tilston and Karim Kanji on the show to talk about it. We also explore Zaki's musical inspirations and how growing up in South Africa, Nanaimo and Toronto shaped her identity and music. Stay until the end for a wonderful performance of her song, Gemini Moon.

Karim Awad's family is originally from historic Palestine prior to it being taken over by Israel. In this conversation, Karim gives me his family's history in Israel/Palestine. We also hear stories of the many times Karim went back to visit Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. We also take a deep dive into the ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel and look at things from both sides to better understand the motivations of everyone. In the end, Karim leaves us with what a solution for peace could look like in the future.

The Cabana Room, the upstairs venue of The Spadina Hotel, was the centre of the Queen West music scene back in the 60s and 70s and flourished as a place to watch indie acts before being turned into a youth hostel in 1997. In this episode, hosts Gregg Tilston and Karim Kanji debate which Canadian act should join The Band, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Rush and Leonard Cohen in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Then we get around to reminisce about The Cabada Room which Gregg played in many times.

Prior to the release of her new album, SET THE FIRE, Kandle joined Gregg Tilston and Karim Kanji from her home in BC to chat about music, her career, videos, her new music and her love of dogs and the comedy, Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Kandle’s mastery of music comes as no surprise, having collaborated with some of Canada’s finest songwriters, including Sam Roberts, Coeur de pirate, Peter Dremanis (July Talk) and Devon Portielje (Half Moon Run), in her impressive career to date — which also includes a Video of the Year JUNO nomination, a Prism Prize award for her Not Up To Me music video, and a Canadian Independent Video Award nomination for 2020 single, Lock and Load. Kandle also starred in Jack White’s 2018 video for Corporation, and her music was recently featured in Netflix's, Tiny Pretty Things. Growing up in the music industry as the daughter of Canadian rock royalty Neil Osborne of 54-40 has provided Kandle’s artistry with a unique insight. She brings a seasoned performance to every line and every word, channeling over a decade of touring the globe into music that’s familiar yet undeniably her own.

Farhan Lalji is the Vancouver Bureau Reporter for SPORTSCENTRE, Canada’s #1 sports news and information program. Lalji, who joined TSN in 1997, covers the Canucks, Lions, and Whitecaps FC, as well as other sports stories from around the Vancouver area. Along with covering the Vancouver sports scene, Lalji has reported from many of the biggest sporting events in North America, including the Stanley Cup Final, NBA Finals, Grey Cup, MLB and NBA All-Star Games, golf’s U.S. Open and PGA Championship, and the 2004, 2006, and 2010 Olympic Games.

Jeff Burrows is the drummer and percussionist for Canadian rock bands Crash Karma, and The Tea Party. Jeff Burrows begun drumming at eleven years of age and professionally since 1990 when he joined childhood friends Jeff Martin and Stuart Chatwood in forming The Tea Party which is celebrating their 30th anniversary in 2021.

Nothin' But a Good Time is the definitive, no-holds-barred oral history of 1980s hard rock and hair metal, told by the musicians and industry insiders who lived it.

Hard rock in the 1980s was a hedonistic and often intensely creative wellspring of escapism that perfectly encapsulated—and maybe even helped to define—a spectacularly over-the-top decade. Indeed, fist-pumping hits like Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” Mötley Crüe’s “Girls, Girls, Girls,” and Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle” are as inextricably linked to the era as Reaganomics, Pac-Man, and E.T.

From the do-or-die early days of self-financed recordings and D.I.Y. concert productions that were as flashy as they were foolhardy, to the multi-Platinum, MTV-powered glory years of stadium-shaking anthems and chart-topping power ballads, to the ultimate crash when grunge bands like Nirvana forever altered the entire climate of the business, Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock's Nothin' But a Good Time captures the energy and excess of the hair metal years in the words of the musicians, managers, producers, engineers, label executives, publicists, stylists, costume designers, photographers, journalists, magazine publishers, video directors, club bookers, roadies, groupies, and hangers-on who lived it.

Featuring an impassioned foreword by Slipknot and Stone Sour vocalist and avowed glam metal fanatic Corey Taylor, and drawn from over 200 new interviews with members of Van Halen, Mötley Crüe, Poison, Guns N’ Roses, Skid Row, Bon Jovi, Ratt, Twisted Sister, Winger, Warrant, Cinderella, Quiet Riot and others, as well as Ozzy Osbourne, Lita Ford and many more, this is the ultimate, uncensored, and often unhinged chronicle of a time where excess and success walked hand in hand, told by the men and women who created a sound and style that came to define a musical era—one in which the bands and their fans went looking for nothin’ but a good time…and found it.

Erica Ehm is a good friend of the podcast. She was kind enough to sit down with hosts Gregg Tilston and Karim Kanji a few months ago to help us think about our podcast differently. Out of that brainstorming session came a segment called, Lost Venues.

Lost Venues is a celebration of music venues from our past that no longer exist.

Sometimes Gregg and Karim will chat about venues that Gregg has played at. This episode features some past guests who shared with us some of their favourite Lost Venues.

Guests:

Justine Giles

Jonny Dovercourt

Zenesoul

Greg Godovitz

Danny Miles

Perdita Felicien is a third time guest. And third time's a charm! Perditia is officially now an author. I'm so excited for her. In this episode we talk about her car, her book, Catherine - her mom, her daughter Nova, her relationship with her dad and some advice for a young first time book author to be, Morgan!

ZENESOUL is a Soul artist from Brampton, Canada. Born in Nigeria, she began writing songs at 11 years old. Today, this love for writing plays a big role in her music as she transports listeners with her lyrics, the clarity in her voice and use of simple instrumentals. Incorporating R&B, Neo-soul and Afro-beats into her music, ZENESOUL creates a sound of her own.

In March 2019, ZENESOUL released her first EP titled Worth. including, Lost and fiery up-beat hit, Pricey. Later that year, she debuted Back to You, infusing Afro-beats into her signature soul sound. These projects gained the attention of one of Canada's biggest stages as ZENESOUL performed at This is Brampton: NXNE music festival.

ZENSOUL released How It Feels in early 2020. The single grabbed the attention of Rory Farrell from the Joe Budden Podcast and R&B Radar, along with multiple blog mentions. This allowed for the success of her following single, Wasteman in summer 2020, highlighted by Spotify with placements on major editorial playlists, further growing her audience.

In August 2020, ZENESOUL released her sophomore EP, Coffee including the tragic ballad Safe taking listeners through her experience with domestic abuse. Coffee demonstrated ZENESOUL’s growth and skill in song writing and composition. Coffee was featured on CTV Morning Live, EarMilk and several music blogs.

Leading up to her next release, ZENESOUL released the project's first single Love and Be Loved in early November 2020, featuring Aaron Ridge. The single quickly became her biggest hit gaining almost 400,000 streams since releasing, featured on major Spotify playlists and radio stations across North America and Europe.

ZENESOUL continues telling her story, aiming to empower music lovers.