The Ben Mulroney Show - Birdo. Who? Birdo! You should know who this mysterious artist is. Let's introduce you.

Episode Date: August 12, 2025

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That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P.com slash Mulruni. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney show. And there are a lot of reasons to love living in a city like Toronto. There are a lot of reasons where you want to pull your hair out. But every now and then there's something where you say, you know what, this happens because it's Toronto.

This happens because it's a big city. This happens because ideas are colliding with each other and creativity explodes from that collision. And if you have been walking around this city and noticed bright geometric designs on walls, colorful designs with birds on top of them, then you've seen the work of my next guest. Please welcome to the Ben Mulroney show.

Burdo, nice to see you, my friend. Thank you, good sir, for having me. Okay, so talk to me. me about, do you feel a certain responsibility, or what emotions do you feel when somebody allows you or asks you to put your vision in a public space that so many people are going to see and collide with? The word responsibility, that's a great, that's the word, because typically, I've been blessed, a great introduction, by the way, Toronto's the city, I live in and I love, but I've been

blessed to paint internationally. I paint, I groove, and then I leave. And it's there for the community. It's no longer in my hands. So responsibility is a great, great word. And I think it's, my promise is always like, I'm going to leave it all out on the floor. I'm going to give you my heart and soul. And I do my best. I mean, my whole, I'm just like, it's better than a gray wall, isn't it? Yeah, it is better. It is better. There's a connection to it. There's, there's energy that comes from your murals. There's bright colors. There's, there's optimism, which I think we need in this city. Take me back to your roots. You, you were a graffiti artist. Yes, sir. I was. And what is similar between the old days and today and what's different? The similar,

the 100% the similarity, you know, it's obviously a controversial subculture, but there's there's something about, I'm sure there's an addictive quality to graffiti, we call it getting up. So you just continually put your presence out there in the world. That's a similarity. I keep continuing to strive for my, as I've said, peace de resistance. And so it's like, okay, I've painted a 20-story building. What's next? Can I paint on the moon? Can I? So I think that's like definitely an overlap. I just want to keep going and growing. What's different is I paint in the day, listening to music, eating pizza, and enjoying myself without the cloak you know, in the darkness.

Was there a moment between those two chapters that sort of linked them? Was there one piece of work that allowed you to transition from one to the other? No, there was a moment. It was being placed in handcuffs and I'm a sweet boy. That's not the world I live in. So, you know, like it's there's a thing about maturity. that I think we've all navigated on earth. And it's,

it was, it's a subculture to, to get energy out, I think. And there is some graffiti that I think is important with its messaging. Um, but generally speaking, it's,

it's for the boys to, uh, get out there. So I made the choice to just being like, I'm tired of, I, you know, I want to,

I want to, honestly I feel like give back. Yeah. Um, and then we took off from there. So if, if, if,

public art, an art that you put out there for the public to consume in a city like Toronto, which you said is your home. Is it a reflection of you or is it a reflection of the city? That's, I hope I don't get too metaphysical here. The best compliment I ever received when I was painting was a lady. She was just like, I feel your, you know, like your inner workings in the work, your aura, your soul. So topically, no, I'm not like a deep artist. It's more to brighten a corner. I want people to just for a second kind of look over and be like, I like that. That's nice.

So that's reflective of me, but generally speaking with my aesthetic, you know, like, it's like, is there something that resonates with the community that's within my motif? Let's hit it. So, but when you go to a city like Miami or Detroit or Mexico City or other places, do you sort of do any research into that city to have that inform what you're going to be painting for them? Absolutely. I'm a research junkie. I'm terrible. What sort of research? I mean, it's just, it's, it's local, it's internet research. It's maybe is somebody there that I can just jump on a call with that. Obviously, like, the interpersonal is always the route to success. So. And why birds? Why birds, Ben? I love freedom.

Yeah. Yes, sir. I get it. I get it. You know, when my dad passed away, all of a sudden, as a family, we just started noticing. and cardinals, red cardinals, wherever we looked. And I'd never seen a cardinal before, really. I think I'm not two in my life. And now they pop up everyone. We are convinced that that is in some way a connection to my dad. I've heard that. And I just painted via Toronto community housing, which was a very special project.

And there was a, well, actually, to elaborate on your previous question, there was a whole community engagement. I went to the housing district and met the people and it was cacophonist. There was a lot of shouting and a lot of opinions. And I find that for me, there's always a moment, like a breaking point where I win the community over. And it's usually, you know, once I render something with heart and soul. And I was getting that type of feedback where like a lady would come to me and be like, I kid, you know, I'm not just saying this. Like my father passed away and it was a symbol of thing. And it's in the mural. And it's like, cool, success. Like that's that to me.

is a successful project. How long do you expect your works to live before they either, the weather takes them down or somebody defaces it? And are you precious about it? Do you go back and look at it, or do you say, you know what, it's going to live and breathe and die? It's, we have to grasp that it's ephemeral. Yes, I used to be more heartbroken in the earlier days.

Now, to harken back to my more rascal era, I was painting. on the Canadian freight trains and there was something like I would always rationalize I'm like ah there hunks of steel like it's all good but you would paint it and then it would go away you'd never see it again so I think sort of mentally that's that was where I started so I mean you don't love the I kid you the amount of energy that I put in it's hard work it's it's hard physical labor so you do it all yourself I do 90% of the things all myself but massive shouts out to you know, Jeff and Ryan recently helped me with this massive blue G. I just did, so I can't take that. Oh, I know. That's incredible.

Thank you. Thank you. So, you know, you said you're still looking for your Piaz de resistance, perhaps the moon, but probably closer to Earth. Is there a city that you've got your eyes on that you're just chomping at the bit to put your burdo pause all over? No, but I think with my journey, what's been, I'd say one of the funner aspects of my journey is I could bang off a list of 10 cities I want to go to and hang out in and take in the culture. But with the painting, I kind of just go where it takes me. And I think that's sort of the exciting nature because I would never, we talked about it before, like I would never go to Iraq, I don't think. And this journey brought me to such a place or Moscow. And so I

think I kind of like, I put it out there and we'll see where it takes me. Lastly, do you do do you do like if somebody looks sees a mural of yours and they say i need to get a burdo original do you do commissioned art on like on a smaller scale um yeah i do i do it's it's uh less less abundant uh just because of my time constraints but absolutely i think i think if i always say if someone takes an interest in me i take a massive interest in them and i think that's that's the artist's way it's such a blessing Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney show. Normally on this show you hear me as the old guy screaming at clouds complaining about some level of government, some contrived ineptitude.

And that's not what we're doing today. Today we are celebrating talent and we are celebrating the beautification of this city through art with Toronto's very own burdo. So tell me about the latest project in Yorkville. Oh, yes, sir. this is the one. How do I outdo this? I am affiliated with a wonderful gallery called Taglia Letella and they, my good friend, dear friend, the gallery owner and director created a mural for us, Yorkville murals. So it's, you know, it's like promotional and he is a brilliant, he's brilliant at what he does. And I believe a part of the dance with the arts is like give an artist an opportunity

to do their thing, to see their vision. And we've been kind of playing with this idea of painting a parking lot that can only be seen from above. And I was like, okay, I'll do it. It's going to be hard work. I've done it before. Yeah. How can I really, really push myself? So I rendered a Blue Jay like painterly as I would on a small scale on a canvas on a, like, it's the equivalent of a 20-story building on the ground.

It was laborious, in a heat wave, and I could not be more proud of it. I think I was there at the beginning of it. When did you start working on it? It was like, I'm foggy because it literally you're, it's the fog of war in a sand. So I was like, it was like a week and a half ago. Yeah, so I was there like two weeks, at least two weeks ago. And I saw, I was like, what are they doing up here? Because I'm just used to hash marks letting me know where I can park.

and there was so much more going on. I'm so glad I got an answer to that. I can't wait to, I mean, I'm not going to be able to see it from that vantage point, but I'm sure. You got to get a helicopter. Yeah, I'll get a helicopter. Yeah, speaking of which during the break, I figured out what your raison d'être chie d'oeuvre should be. Okay. Okay?

Because it's probably the most visible white canvas in the city. Can you think what I'm saying? 100%. I don't. Exactly. The south side of it, the rounded shell, that's just sitting there

with hundreds of thousands of people in their cars going by every single day. Well, I want to even like amplify. Remember mad fold-ins? Yeah. I want to do a mad fold-in so when it opens and closes, it blows my mind that they have not

offered that up to artists to do something every year a different artist. It would be incredible. I agree. Yeah. Yeah, hey, Rogers. Rodgers, hey, hey, look at this. There's our million-dollar idea.

It's my idea. I'm a gift to you. I think it would be fantastic. Another artist whose face is shrouded in mystery is Banksy. And a lot of comparisons there. Sometimes a comparison like that can feel heavy on the shoulders. How do you feel? I feel nothing.

I kid you not, nothing but gratitude. I'm a full-time artist. The cities embrace me. The country's embrace me. I've traveled internationally. I make a living. There is nothing. There is nothing but a daily sentiment of thank you.

But Banksie, Banksie's a Titan. Banksy is the top. He's the top of the pyramid. He's deserved it. And yeah, all the flowers go to him. Yeah. And, yeah. I mean, I would ask you if you've met him, but you might have met him and didn't even know it.

I might have met him and you didn't even know it. But what I find interesting is like within, especially, within anonymity, there becomes war. And you have to remember, like, Banksy's massive. And his energy's massive. And it's a thing. And it's a rippling movement. And how many people are Banksy and all these things?

Banksy is a guy. He's from somewhere in England. And, you know, I have been to his hometown painting. And you can meet dude that went to high school with him. Hold on. You've been to his hometown to paint? Yes. Yeah.

Tell me about that. Yeah. I mean, well, it's just a part of what I've done over the years is it's, you know, promotion the icky word for for uh uh artists you know part of the the mural festival so in bristol in england it's uh there's a wonderful festival and what a fun experience he's like paint and you meet locals and you you skill share and all share and then there's like oh did you hear buddy went to his like buddies with banksie whoa cool that's awesome is he in the room right now and when you do that is are you trying to get closer to him or his

energy? Am I? Uh, not yet. Not yet. That's more, uh, not yet. I'm waiting for the, there's that you're going to get, you know, like, I'm, I wonder if you can agree, like in life, there's, there's always opportunities. It's infinite. They keep coming, but isn't there like, isn't there a scale to them? Like, there's bigger ones and it's like, don't mess that one up. I think, yeah, I mean, so long as you, you truly believe you're on that track and that track is taking you there. And it's a straight line. And it's not, you're not going to Ui back to the beginning, you know, go, don't collect $200. And there are parts underneath the gardener, certain parts of the gardener that have got

some great art. Yes. Yeah. And so, so yeah, the public art is, it can be a statue and it can be, or it can be a painting on a wall. I mean, it's, but it's there to, it's honestly, when I see a mural anywhere in the city, almost always makes me stop because it's just not something that I take for granted, because I know that it could be gone the next day.

I love to hear that, sir. Yeah, it's the, it's, it's, it's, it's the, um, um, um, impermanence of it, uh, that makes me want to, uh, take stock of it. Well, what do you think of this? Because I, I, I agree in one of my, part of my ethos is, because I, I actually, here's a little hid bit into behind the mask. I used to work in advertising and I answered the call to adventure 10 years ago, best decision I've, I've ever made.

Um, we are bombarded by visual communication. There's adverts everywhere. And I think artists generally speak, generally speaking, it's like, we're not trying to sell you anything. We're trying to give you our everything we have. And I think that as just a sentiment alone is special. So does that mean you would rule out ever working on an ad campaign? My whole thing is, again, okay, artists have to make a living. But the, you know, I'm an old like 90s rap, hip-hop kid.

And we don't use the word selling out like we used to. No, of course not. We were very adamant about that. If I, like, in my day-to-day, am okay with the brand, yeah, let's have the conversation. I'll have a coffee with anybody. Yeah, no, there's no such thing as a bad conversation. That's right. Yeah, you got to keep that door open because you never know where a partnership could come together.

And sometimes you wouldn't even see it coming until it's actually put in front of you. Usually you don't. No, usually you don't, no. But, like, yeah, I could see, I could see you on, like, iPod cases. AirPod cases. Okay. You know, wherever I'm seeing

a white canvas. Yeah. Yeah, I think, but I'm telling you, that's Skydome thing, sorry, Roger Center,

we got to get, we got to make that happen. That blimp shot on a day where it's closed. Well, no, but I think, like anyone going up

to the CN Tower. Yeah. There's the right above it. Yeah. Let's go. Come on. Like, I cannot believe

it's been sitting there for so long. Yeah. It just, oh, oh, we ran out of time. See,

this is what happens with good conversation. Burdo, Thank you so much for doing what you can for this city. You're doing a great job. We'd love to see you again. My pleasure. Thank you so much, sir.

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