Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Gene Champagne: Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 1490

Episode Date: May 18, 2024

In this 1490th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with founding member of The Killjoys and current drummer for Teenage Head Gene Champagne about the batter with COVID-19 that almost ended his life, The Killjoys, Junior Achiever, Gene Champagne and The Un-Teens, Teenage Head and 90s Canadian alternative rock. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, The Advantaged Investor podcast from Raymond James Canada, The Yes, We Are Open podcast from Moneris, The Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball Team and RecycleMyElectronics.ca. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail]

Welcome to episode 147 of the I'm from Toronto where you wanna get city love I'm a Torontoite and wanna get city love My city love me back, put my city love on me Welcome to episode 1490 of Toronto Mic'd Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery A fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities Good times and brewing amazing beer Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Palma pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. The Toronto Maple Leafs

baseball team. The best baseball in the city outside the dome. Join me at Christie Pitts June 2nd and Rod Black should have his mustache in full effect. RecycleMyElectronics.ca, committing to our planet's future means properly recycling our electronics of the past. The Advantage'd Investor podcast from Raymond James Canada. Valuable perspective for Canadian investors who want to remain knowledgeable, informed, and focused on long-term success. Season six of Yes We Are Open, an award-winning Monaris podcast hosted by FOTM Al Gregor and Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of the community since 1921. Today making his Toronto mic debut is Gene Champagne.

Welcome Gene. Well, thanks for having me. Well, I'm sorry about the shit show that is the QEW. You drove all the way to South Etobicoke from the hammer. Is that right? I did, but it was opened up on this end for whatever reason. The hammer was just locked down. Okay.

It just sounds like a nightmare to me. Like I just feel terrible. So I just want you to know, you won't be going home empty handed. So we're going to have a good convo and you'll take home a large meat lasagna from Palm pasta. Okay. So it'll be worth the drive. That's awesome. More than that. I feel like a Monty hall here. Okay. I got a some fresh craft beer from great lakes brewery. Oh, beautiful.

Look at this. My wife's going to make me come back here. You're going to move in with me. She me she's gonna be like just bring me back the little you know who's a huge fan of the Pomme a Pasta lasagna Tom Wilson. Oh boy. What's your relationship like he's the mayor of Hamilton right? Kind of sort of. Tom and I go way back believe it or not I first met Tom when I was probably 11 years old in one of my first bands we played a festival in St Tom when I was probably 11 years old. In one of my first bands, we played a festival in Stoney Creek. I was 11 and just starting out on drums.

And there was a young teenage Tom Wilson on the stage with Jason Avery. I think they were doing an acoustic thing. And that's how I first met Tom. Was he with the Florida Razors at that point? No, I think it was Pre-Razors. Pre-Razors? Yeah, he was just a young team.

He was just doing like folk music, like in coffee houses and stuff like that. Yep. All right. I was, when we were talking about you coming over, I asked if you were at that media premiere or whatever, the premiere of the Beautiful Scars musical. And you weren't there. No, you know, Dave Rave asked me to go with him to join him that night.

I saw him there. Yeah. And know, Dave Rave asked me to go with him to join him that night. Yeah, I saw him there. Yeah. And I just wasn't able to go. I said I had to pass on that one, I'm afraid. I'm not a hundred percent sure Dave Rave recognized me, to be honest. Like we'd spent like 90 minutes doing what we did. Well, did he have his glasses on? That makes all the difference, right?

Because I went up, I went, well, Dave, good to see you again. And he kind of looked at me and he kind of was polite, but I could say, oh, he doesn't remember that we spent a quality, you know, 90 minutes face to face just like a couple of weeks ago. You should have held him. You should have held him tightly for a while. All right. We're going to have, we're going to have a lot of, we're going to talk about teenage head. And of course, again, I'm going to try not to dwell on it for like an entire 90 minutes, but I have killjoys questions. I'm a big killjoys fan. I got music. You heard the cold open and we're going to talk about your new stuff too. You know, on Teens, we're going to cover a lot of ground.

There's a lot of ground to cover. A lot of ground to cover. So I hope you've got to. You know what? I don't want, you know, you, you gifted me when I sat down. I don't, I don't want you to go empty handed. Oh wait, I'm getting something. You're getting something too. So I'm giving you a pair of Teenage Head jeans, champagne sticks, bright pink to go with all your paraphernalia over there. Have a special spot in the TMDS studio here. And then when people point out, I'm going to say Jean Champagne gave me that.

I don't want you to forget me when the door hits mass on the way out. I would never forget you. I'm not going to forget you the way Dave Ray forgot me. Okay. It's a thing. I'll fix them. So, okay. So it's his birthday today, by the way. Yes. Happy birthday, Dave. That's an, he's actually now I feel bad for putting them down and Dave rave. All is forgiven. Okay.

I'm not a memorable guy. We'll see if Jean Champagne can remember me after this conversation. I did get a note from someone named Scooter Dobson and he just said, Jean's a good guy. So I feel like, I don't know, I don't know Scooter Dobson, but like if a name like Scooter, if he just said Gene's a good guy. So I feel like I don't know. I don't know Scooter Dobson, but like if a name like Scooter, if he's saying you're a good guy, I think he must be a good guy. Scooter must be a hell of a guy. Scooter is a great name, right? Like it might seem like it is a hazard or something. It is shut out the scooter dobson and just know, you know what? I'm going to hold on to this elephants

and stars question because I'm going to open with, I'm skipping ahead to a note I got. So we are going to cover a lot of music. We're going to play music and I'm going to ask you so much questions about teenage head, killjoy, so many, so much un-teens, you know, we're going to talk about like all this ground we're going to cover, but we're opening with something.

This is Pete Fowler from the lost Indy city. I love the lost Indy city. I'm wearing a T shirt. Yeah. Just for this Pete Fowler here. Obvious question. He says, so he wants me to ask you about something I'm very interested in. How close to death were you? Can you talk about your battle with COVID 19? I can. Okay. Bury me in the details. I need to know if I'm in the presence of a ghost here and I'm just grateful I'm not shouting out Ridley funeral home. Me too. Where do you want to begin? Well, tell me like, like you got it and what, give me the story. Well, this was all pre-vaccine when I contracted it and I was at home and all of a sudden I got sick fast, very flu-y, very achy.

Not the typical thing you think where, okay, I'm sneezing and I'm coughing. It wasn't like that. It was just more nausea, flu-like symptoms. And I thought, well, you know what? We're in the heat of this. We're going to go get tested. Went and got tested properly, okay so I went back home we're gonna ride it out it's just a flu right I kept getting worse and worse to the point where I could mean you just you just felt like how did you feel just like a bag of shit like a bag of shit like I had no energy like I was starting to get super dehydrated like a bad flu real bad flu really bad flu and then it just got worse and worse and worse to where I couldn't get out of bed.

I couldn't move, um, not to be graphic, but everything coming out both ends like a flu. That's never good. No. And, uh, it got to the point where I could not move and my wife decided, she said, I've got to get to the hospital because I can't move you now. And we got to move now. Okay.

And this is Julie. This is Julie, my wife, Julie. And so we ended up going, but it took me literally four hours to get out of the house. That's how I couldn't move. Wow. Took me four hours and she took me to, um, Joseph Brant and Burlington.

And we went in and they, you know, as precautions, they treated it as COVID right away. They put me in emergency. She wasn't allowed in. So I was there by myself in this awful room, sitting there. They gave me some oxygen. They put an IV in me because I was really, really dehydrated. And I was there probably for eight hours.

At one point I was sleeping on the cement floor with a coat on me. Uh, finally a doctor, uh, finally the story, the X-ray came, they took the X-ray. He disappeared again for hours. I was still on the floor and finally they came and saw me and they said, you know what you're, we're going to admit you. Um, your, your chest is full and we are going to treat this as COVID because we believe this is COVID, even though it came

up negative. So away I go, I'm, uh, they finally got me some, a room somewhere back in emergency. Now I'm getting more delirious as this is going on and, uh, it starts getting really foggy at this point. Yeah. Sorry, I'm just trying to recollect. No, it's okay. At this point, you're probably relying on like Julie's take on all this, right? Because you're out of it, right? You're pretty, you must be. Well, there's more about that on the recovery end. She had to fill in a lot of gaps for me that just completely went missing.

But were you on a ventilator at any time? Well I got to that, yes. Wow. So going back to they put me in another room, back in the emergency, then I ended up on a floor and I kept declining, declining, declining. They'd keep upping my oxygen and declining and then I heard the words I was afraid of most. We have to interpete you. Wow. And I recall it, but it was very foggy. Pre even any of my hospitalization, I used to watch the news obviously,

because it was so big in Europe and China. And we were seeing news about people on ventilators and just death everywhere. And- Yeah, yeah, that was, I remember, I remember thinking if you can avoid the ventilator, you might be okay. But once you go on the ventilator, I don't know, 50, 50 or something, it just seemed really scary to be on the ventilator.

It's worse. And I didn't realize this until I recovered. It's 30% survival. Right. Wow. And you're just, so we have a little context here. You're like, what you're like 52 years old when you get COVID, right? When you have this experience. So, okay. So that's a little context here. You're like what? You're like 52 years old when you get COVID, right? When you have this experience. Yes. So, okay. So that's a young man and you don't have any underlying, uh, no, you're healthy 52. Yep. I don't, I don't smoke. Um, I drink occasionally and uh, social, social drink is not going to kill you. Okay. And uh, the reason I made it is because they said I had a really strong heart, but yeah, you know,

So you did make it. Okay. Spoiler alert. I am here. No, you didn't walk through me. I'm here. Here. I'll move this box. Can you see it moving on its own? I see dead people. We almost lost you though. Yeah, you did. And the sad part about that is, is I have a friend that was in the hospital just about a week before me with

COVID. And when I woke up, I learned that he didn't make it. Oh no. Okay. Listen, I'm so, so firstly right off the top is a wow, 30%, you made it. Your heart was strong. That's good news. And you're still with us. What was the recovery time like? Was the recovery a long process? Like, are you still like, how do you feel now? I feel probably better than before. COVID, believe it or not. We should all get COVID, you're telling me.

Well, it's just, I don't mean to laugh, but it's just, I've had friends that have COVID that had like non near as long as long or hard as me. No ventilator for them. No ventilator. And they are still having long covid symptoms Wow, yeah, and I feel great. So you feel like a hundred percent now. Yeah, did you consider biking from Hamilton? Okay, how good you Could don't don't take that QEW. No, but okay, so this made the papers of course, I remember But okay, so this made the papers, of course. I remember reading about your battle with COVID in the newspapers.

Well, that kind of freaked me out too, because when I finally was up and able to sit up and whatnot, my wife was able to come to the hospital. Now she couldn't come in, because I didn't have any visitors. It was very, very lonely for a month in there and I didn't see faces. All I saw were eyes and masks.

Honestly, it was, it was scary. Um, but she came and she said, um, there was one time where she could come in the room. She was masked up, triple masked. Had to stay away from her. She says, there's something I have to tell you. And she says, you're all over the news. And I'm groggy and you know, I'm not with it.

I'm like, what are you talking about? She says, well, I don't, I just want you to know, because if you get out, you're people are going to start talking to you about this. You're thinking they've seen, they're seeing a ghost. So, yeah. So she did. She showed me everything on her phone. I'm like, oh boy.

But I could see strange things when I was in the ICU, people would have walked by and stare at me. Well, listen, Jean, you're a founding member of the kill joys. Of course it's going to be huge news if you are in the hospital on a ventilator. Like that's going to be massive news. Okay. Well, the funny thing about that is before I contracted it, you know, we always talked about, it was something that you heard, well, my uncle's second cousin had

it, it was no one in our circles. Nevermind our music community. It was just Tom Hanks, right? It was Tom Hanks. Yeah You and Tom Hanks are two most precious resources. Oh, sorry. No, no bang the table. You're alive, man This is the you're just the ghost every time you hit the table and you feel the pain You're like I'm alive to feel that pain So so basically you come out of this thing, you recover, you're a hundred percent now,

but do people like, I noticed there's conflation with news and things when people are like on death's doors. Sometimes people don't seem to realize you may have survived. Like are people like, Oh, I thought he was dead. Like Jean Champagne, I thought he died. Didn't he die of COVID? I don't get that. Only you.

Thanks. Thanks. Well, you know what? I didn't think you died because I was expecting you at 7 PM tonight here in South Etobicoke. So I would be like, I think, you know, I don't think I see dead people, but so congrats on surviving COVID. And, man, I guess that was scary for your, your, your, your loved ones, but you know, the Hamilton community, there's been some, you know. There's a member of Teenage Head died fairly recently. I feel like the community would be rallying in support of Jean Champagne.

You gotta make it, buddy. That's a tight community, right? That Hamilton music community. Well, the crazy thing is it went beyond Hamilton. It went nationwide. I had people from the smallest bands to the biggest bands reach out to me. There was such, it was really mind blowing actually.

Well, does it make you feel loved? It does. Maybe this is what everybody should do. Like you need to get close to death to be for people not to take you for granted. Like, is that a good idea? Maybe, maybe I should try. It's good way to sell records. I was gonna ask you, like, this is free press.

Like, so good PR, you know, what do you call that? Earned, earned press. Like, you didn't have to pay for these placements in our newspapers. Everybody kind of, even people are like, oh, I don't know the name Jean Champagne. That's a cool name. Oh, he's the drummer for Teenage Head. Like, it's good awareness for you. What an awful way to get there.

Isn't it? It's kind of like your soul, isn't it? I am looking for bright side to everything, but okay. So you made it and now you're a hundred percent. This is good news. And you're making new music. I am. And I'm excited about it.

All right. So there's so many places I got to go. I've been warned by a couple of people not to spend all my time on the Killjoys. I have a bad habit, okay? Sometimes I think it was pointed out, I know it was pointed out by Gino Vanelli. Like he said to me, can we get off Black Cars already? Because I was hyper focused on Black Cars because Black Cars was the song that kind

of brought me into the Gino universe when I'd hear it on CFTRTR like in the mid eighties and I couldn't get off it and I'm going to be very careful not to spend all my time on the kill joys, but maybe I'm going to read the note from elephants and stars right now. Do you know the band Elephants and Stars? I do Manfred is the the FOTM, the lead of that band. He wrote in and don't forget, because I just said, you know, I mentioned the Killjoys and I mentioned, of course I mentioned Teenage Head and he said, and don't forget the un-teens. Why didn't Elephants and Stars open for the un-teens in Hamilton at Bridgeworks? Why didn't they?

Well, you tell me. Who did open? I'm trying to remember who opened at that show. Maybe I should play a little like, okay, so we're going to go out of order. So this will prevent me from spending all my time on the killjoys here. We want to listen to a little music here. Sure. Okay. This thing called a soul kind I just wanna be alone I drink some drugs Ain't in my league but I was going nuts There's nothing for the fuck-a-puss

I just wanna be alone I'm coming over cause I need you well Look at crying cause she made this and said, I think we should become unfriends I think we should become unfriends I think we should become unfriends I think we should, I just wanna go where I can be Get the matches, get the games, get the games Because I never see

Because I never see Because I never see Because I never see Become Untiends. Untiends. Tell me about Untiends. Untiends, well, Untiends is a band that I put together just to kind of keep playing some rock and roll really. Before I did my new record Let's Jet, that was sort of what I was going to do and then those people, the guys that I play with now, the UnTeens, heard that and they wanted to re-record some of this stuff. And we became a live band, being the UnTeens. Okay, so this is your active side project, I suppose, when you're not

releasing solo material? Yes, so I was doing that between Killjoys and Teenage Head. It was my own outlet, where I get to step out from behind the drums and actually write and Create and sing and play I'm digging it. Thank you. Sounds great a Little more and then I got a question from Hamilton Mike that's gonna lead to another band I think we should become unfriends I think we should, I just wanna go I think we should become unfriends I think we should become unfriends I think we should become unfriends I think we should, I think we should I think we should, I just wanna go

Yeah, yes guy. Okay. Hamilton Mike knows me all too well. He writes, when he heard you were coming on Gene, he said, nice, make sure to really push on his solo slash on teens music, not just kill. Joy's nostalgia. See, I warned you, I got lots of notes. Like they just think I'm going to just only talk about kill. Joy's my reputation precedes me.

But Hamilton Mike goes on. Oh, go ahead. I have to digress because I was racking my brain while the song was going. It was Luke Bentham from the Dirty Nail that opened for us up at Bridgeworks. That's better than Elephants and Stars, right? Well, no. You know, we didn't choose the opener actually. All right.

So how come sometimes the venue picks the opener, sometimes the band does the... Yeah, the promoter sometimes picks, puts that all together and you know. Okay. Is what it is. It is what it is, okay. Hamilton Mike says, Gene's music is so great.

Please ask about his overlooked power pop band, Junior Achiever. Their one album is all killer, no filler. Gene, may I play a little Junior Achiever here? Sure. Alright, you told me there'd be some music here. I'm a cheater, I'm a loser I feel like a fallen user In a world so full of pain I can sink myself in too I'm ashamed to hear my name

Next to yours I'm ashamed to hear my name You've got the big house Drive in your fancy car Living on the quiet street Who do you think you are? You remove yourself from social disease Way out in the suburbs, suburbs

Did you trade in that smile With a heart that hasn't been around here in a while It got lost way out in the crowd Yeah, it takes a little time to try to figure it out I'm ashamed to hear my name next to yours I'm ashamed to hear my name You've got the big house, driving your fancy car Living on a quiet street

Who do you think you are? You live yourself in social disease Well, in the suburbs, suburbs Who do you think you are? You live yourself in social disease Well then let's suburb's, suburb's You got a burn down where you've been Are you happy in the place that you're living in? Or did you move away to lose all your friends? Well then let's suburb's, suburb's So I'm admiring my new drumsticks over here, but this is some power pop, Gene. So who's Junior Achiever?

How many side projects do you have? What's going on here? Oh, probably too many. So Junior Achiever came about when the Killjoys took our first hiatus way back in the end of the 90s. So this is an early 2000s band where I just started. I seriously needed an outlet at that point. So I wrote some songs and they kind of had their own legs.

All the songs that that song there was featured on a huge scene in Degrassi and it kind of really opened the next generation, the next generation with Drake. This was a Drake scene and a wheelchair yet or before wheelchair? No, I think it was wheelchair scene. I think it was the wheelchair days. Wow. Okay, Jimmy, that was his character, Jimmy.

And then, so what happened is a lot of our music got put onto Degrassi, which ended up kind of funding the record. And even though we didn't do much here, we toured Japan with it. So it was interesting. I heard you're big in Japan. Everyone's big in Japan.

So my most recent guest is Rob Salem, who for decades wrote about entertainment for the Toronto Star. Rob Salem also did a little acting on the side. He played the minister that married acting on the side. He played the minister that married snake and spike on Degrassi, the next generation. You're the second guest in a row with a direct connect to Degrassi, the next generation. Are you going to sleep tonight? I don't know. I just want to know, can you text Drake? Like will Drake answer your text? Probably not. I don't think he did. No, I don't think so. No, you can certainly not going over there. You get shot. Yeah, I hear there's bad stuff going down. There's some ruckus. You got to be careful of this stuff, but that's a fun fact. Okay. So

junior achiever that's after. Okay. You said early two thousands early two thousands early two thousands. Okay. Let me get back to my letters here. We got all right. That was Hamilton Mike, by the way, and Hamilton Mike, I'm talking to you specifically here. I know you're, you'd also have to deal with that shit show that is the QEW to make your way to South Etobicoke, but I hope I see you on June 27th because that is T M L X 15. That's six to nine PM at the Great Lakes Brewery South Etobicoke location, 30 Queen Elizabeth Boulevard.

Just show up. Gene, you're invited too, man. Palma Pasta will feed you. Great Lakes will buy you your first beer. And we just hang, it's amazing. It's gonna be great. All this pasta, so much pasta. Listen, we gotta feed the people, right?

We do. Gotta feed the people. Quick, more gifts. There's a wireless speaker right there. So that card there has a QR code where you can subscribe to. Yes, we are open. Season six is dropping now. Not too far from you. Al Gregor went to Niagara Falls and he visited with Andrew Virgo Lee Lito who owns Italian ice cream. It's a business that his parents started 47 years ago.

And Al and Andrew, they talk all about it over some delicious espresso and gelato. So you can hear that story and many other inspiring stories with small business owners on, Yes, we are open. So you got your marching orders. This is like going to the Emmys and getting those gift baskets. Have you ever been to the Emmys? It may be that your music being in Degrassi, the next generation gets you an invite to the Emmys. My ringer might've been off.

I don't know. I didn't get that call. Maybe the Canadian screen awards. I don't think they give you, I think they charge you money to go to the Canadian screen awards. I don't think they give you anything. I'm not even done yet, man. Uh, while you're subscribing to podcasts, Eugene are going to subscribe to the

advanced. Gene or Eugene? Eugene's on your birth certificate. My neighbor kept calling me Eugene. But what's on your birth certificate? It's just Gene. Is that right? Yeah. Well, my neighbor kept calling me Eugene, but I kind of let it go cause she

was good looking. So I just thought, Oh, you know what? Ooh, I'm not going to mess with that. But most genes are Eugene's, right? Are they? I think so. I'm surprised you're not a Eugene. I almost thought you know what? Oh, I'm not gonna mess with that. But most genes are you genes, right? Are they I think so. I'm surprised. You're not a Eugene. I almost called you that now I'm pretty sure mean gene. Okerland was a Eugene. Were you a big mean gene? Okerland fan? No, you know who I'm talking about. You're talking about but no I thought maybe you gravitated towards all the gene Well, you know what some genes are genos like gene overellie only the good genes are just genes gene Krupa anymore let's go on Gene Simmons is he good though I don't know Jim Simmons he's a good marketer

right he'll put his logo on anything right Gene Kelly is he just a gene or is he Eugene Kelly I don't know and by the way way gene champagne does sound to me like a fake name Like is that I get that all the time like a really crappy sit lounge singer Well, would you produce a birth certificate for me and maybe dispel the rumor? I will do that. I try I want people to hear this That's my wallet. I'm gonna everybody listen. This is a big moment in Toronto Mike is Jean champagne really a champagne? Let's have a look. Okay.

Now I'm going to hold it far away. Don't make fun of like my kids. Okay. But if you legally changed your name, you would get a health card with a new name, right? I might need like the birth certificate issued when you were born. Where were you born? Hamilton? Where were you born?

Hamilton. Okay. So did they give you a birth certificate at birth? Produce that? I'm like the birther theory here. I trust you. You're a champagne. But it is a convenient last name for like a rock star, I think. Right. It's interesting. I like it. Yeah. I mean, I'm, I think it's a little too convenient, but we'll discuss this offline when you produce the birth certificate. It's better than Mike. I mean, I mean, your first name's Toronto, Mike. Isn't it Toronto Mike?

My first name's Toronto. My last name is Mike. Yeah. I'll produce my birth certificate when you produce yours actually. So, at least see I've taken care of you, but I actually want to give you a measuring tape from Ridley Funeral Home, which I'm glad you didn't

show up there. Do you know what though? Is this to measure your own casket? I don't understand. You can get a kiss casket, right? That's what Gene Simmons, he has a kiss casket. Well, you always need one of these. Well here, let me tie it to the hammer.

Brad Jones, who's the owner of Ridley Funeral Home, he's from Hamilton. See, it's all about the hammer here today. Thank you, Brad. So you got your, so shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. One last gift here, and then we're going to get back to the music. There's a book, and it's under all your stuff, but that book is The History of Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball.

And I can tell you, funny, Stephen Brunt was just at Christie Pitts with me on Sunday, and he had to drive from Hamilton, and he was cursing me out for making him drive to Christie Pitts from Hamilton. But, and I saw Brunt actually at that beautiful Scars premiere. Now all my Hamilton friends were there, but I would just like the listenership to know that I'm gonna be recording live from Christie Pitts on June 2nd and come on out hang with me and even if I'm not there it's a free baseball, delicious beer, good food, good times. It's a great vibe.

So come on out to Christie Pitts and catch some Maple Leafs baseball this summer. Got it, Gene? I vote for that. Gene, Gene approves. Okay. Gene approved. All right. Do you want to do the talk a little bit about the new album and then we'll go back and then

we'll, if you don't mind, we'll do a deeper dive into the, the kill joys. I did load a new song. You ready for this one? Sure. All right, let's get man. But there's a girl dancing to my favorite song I wanna ask her to come for a ride My knees are shaking, feel like I'm gonna die I'm walking over, I'm really on my way, way, way Let's get, baby let's get way Let's jet gene. That's jet

Not you gene, but gene i've been educated. Okay, tell me about the new album. Give me the details. This is a solo effort. It's a truly solo effort in that I played everything on it. I sang it. I wrote it. I recorded it. I produced it. It's just self-indulgent fun. You're like Billy Corgan. Right? Didn't he do everything on Siamese Dream? I have more hair. And he likes wrestling more than Eugene. Well, does he? You're like Billy Corgan. Right? Didn't he do everything on Siamese Dream? I have more hair. Billy Corgan. True.

And he likes wrestling more than you do. Well, does he? Well, you weren't that into me, Gene Oakland. So... No, it's just, it's my solo effort. You're like Dave Grohl. Dave Grohl? Well, he's pretty good.

I don't know. So when does it, when's it available? It's actually available now. You can please go listen to me on Spotify. If you're in Toronto area, you can pick up your copy at Sonic Boom. Boom. And I've got some Sonic Boom. That's not Sonic Boom.

That's Pat Boone's studio. No, Sonic Boom. He's in a heavy metal mood, Pat Boone. But please go pick up a copy. And yeah, I know I'm excited about it. This is the first record that I've ever done that's being heard around the world right now. Is that right? Yeah I'm getting I'm charting all over the place. Like where like like in Germany? Like a lot of indie radio? Are you like David Hasselhoff? You're big in Germany? I'm not I wouldn't say I'm big but I'm

just getting some charts. Okay give me some details there. Like, where are you charting that's not Canada? Los Angeles, France, UK, various US. Well, they think you're like a lounge singer, Jean Champagne. That'll do it. You know, in Paris they love that stuff. Okay. Honestly, congrats, man. Thank you. I bet you that part of this is the bounce from near-death experience.

I feel like when somebody almost dies but doesn't die and then they put out new music Everybody is like just more receptive to it There's that funeral sign behind you that goes in the car, you know, I'm gonna put that on my car on the way home Can I have that? I always want people to open up their eyes. You know, they're at 14th and Lakeshore. Why not instead of going back to Hamilton, let's just cut out the middle man. Go get your own. Take it straight. You know, let's just take it straight to Ridley, you know, call it a day. Okay. All right. I got to thank them for the tape measure anyway. You did everything. I did everything. You play all the instrument. You're writing the music, you're playing the music yes I wrote it played it recorded it Wow mixed it I did it all you did it all yes did

you do they the cover art no I didn't had a graphic designer do that okay well you know what you blew it but it is me on the cover though more self-indulgence and there's no no no Photoshop touching up that photo. That's the real you. Now I do feel like if you want to say you did everything, you should have done the, uh, the graphic art too. I should have. You blew it man. Next album. I want you to do everything and including the, uh, the cover. It will be, it'll be hand drawn, hand drawn cover. Sure. For you.

Would you mind Mr. Champagne taking taking me back to the early 90s. I'm going to just close my eyes and remember the early 90s. I was a very young man. In fact, I was still a teenager in 1992. And I loved, I absolutely loved my Canadian alt rock. Like that was my music, especially in 91, 92. Can you please regale me with tales of how the killjoys are formed in Hamilton, Ontario, back in 1992? 92, well, Mike and I were in a band called... Mike Treblecock. Mike Treblecock.

Who's an FOTM. Do you know what that stands for? No. Friend of Toronto Mike. Do you know where you are right now? An FOTM. F-O-F-F-T-M. Friend of a friend of Toronto Mike.

I'm a little punchy. I'll tell you the truth. I'm a little punchy because this afternoon I was recording the Great Lakes Brewery has a podcast called Between Two Fermenters. And whenever Troy comes over to have these long form interviews in the basement here, he always brings over a bunch of cold beer and I just sit here recording and I just crack open beers. I'm a little punchy, but you are an FOTM. So tell me more. You and Mike are buddies.

Very much. I've known him since I was 11. He was in the band with me when I knew Tom Wilson. So did he. So did Mike. Love these connections here. Okay. Now, so tell me more. You and Mike just decided, decided hey we should make music? We were in another band before the Killjoys called the Monday Nuns and we just played around Hamilton a bit and then it was like a switch one off. We you know Mike wrote a whole bunch of songs and we decided to make a record back then when it was a little harder and you had to scrape up money and go find a studio and do it.

And that's exactly what we did. And Shelley was on board at that point. We were a three piece and it was like, it's like all of a sudden we were a real band. You know, we were making music and it felt like we had some, some wheels turning and it was going to maybe do something. And it did. It just slowly did. was going to maybe do something and it did it just slowly did I mean thank you to CFNY because they were the the the catalyst for that. How did you get let me play a little uh I did tease them off the top here but let me play a little Killjoys and we'll get back to the the you know the ongoing story of the Killjoys here. There's some days that I want to stay another day

There's some days that I just want to escape And every day just gets a little bit from where I want to be I just want to sit alone and contemplate my fate But I dare hate everyone, woo I dare hate everyone There's a shadow creeping slowly over everything And one more shadow won't help anything to go away And if I hurt you well I'm sorry that was not my intention So Gene, when you hear this in the headphones, what are you thinking when you listen to this song?

It's old. We're all getting older, Gene, okay? Quick shout out to Jeremy Hopkins, who's on the live stream. That's live.torontomike.com. He writes that you, Gene, are a champagne supernova. That's what he writes. And then he says, I love the humans that Toronto Mike introduces me to forever in debt. So remember that, Jeremy, you owe me forever.

You're forever in debt because I'm introducing you to some Jean Champagne and he also says this song is bringing back many high school memories Listening to CF and why that's what it's doing for me But how did you get? Starry is the name of the album right the first album right? How do you get it played on CF and why? I'm just trying to think back to that. Sorry somebody walking into it into the studio in Brampton or something, or you got a rep or something? And, uh, no, I think it was actually entered into a radio contest. This wasn't the song that really, uh, opened up the eyes to Toronto.

It was actually, uh, Dana. What's trouble in Dana? Yeah. That was the song that was on CFNY. It was part of a, like a call in contest and I can't remember what you would win. Was it like a new music search or something? I think so. Yeah, they used to do new music searches.

I believe that's what it was. It's funny how memories are so faulty because my memory is this one first and then Dana. Yeah, but it's actually the other way around. That's wild. Well, that's because Today I Hate was sort of our big... That was the real first single when it was out on Warner and we had the video. So that's what people remember. And I also will shut out, uh, this place here again, this is an audio presentation, but, uh,

I used to, I remember you guys would get your videos played on, uh, much music all the time. Yeah. That made a huge difference. Well, that's what I'm curious. So, so I often have this chat with like, I don't know, uh, who will I pick on today? Mo Berg, okay. From the pursuit of happiness. And he'll talk about like what it meant to him when, uh, I'm an adult now got played on much and suddenly, you know, you're on the popular radio station across the entire country. What did it mean for the killjoys when the videos for today, hate everyone and Dana are being played on much music? Well, you could see the huge lift you could feel it before you'd go and you'd play your music and you know, someone might hear a song and

No, you wouldn't get the attention until they saw that or heard that song but with with You being on the TV that was that was everything television was everything it would just lift you You know, you could really feel it. Lest we forget, we need to tell the kids out there. There was no internet back in the nine in 1992, 93, 94. You had to find the flicker, the TV flicker. Flicker. I called it a clicker. I think Hamilton calls it a flicker. And so it's across the lake.

Toronto was calling it a clicker here, but how important was it for the kill joys at this point to break in the United States of America? Was this on? Was this the goal we always wanted to yeah, of course we wanted to, but with Warner, we had to be signed to an affiliate of Warner's and we had a real struggle with that. I mean, we played the US just the border towns, but we never captured over there. Tell me a little more about that. So you're signed with Warner Music Canada, but that doesn't mean Warner worldwide no gives a shit about the killjoys.

But here's my question. This is my ignorance here. Born in Toronto, still live in here. I'm stuck. I can't seem to, although you're stuck in Hamilton. So we're all stuck, right? I'm here now. Have you always lived in Hamilton?

Yes. Yeah. Sometimes I think so. I've always lived in the same city and I'm like, what's wrong with me? Like this people, I go live in Europe or whatever, or they go live in the States or whatever, like we're just fine where we are. We don't feel the need to like the, what do you call that? The, to wander lust or whatever.

Well, I've had that opportunity. I've traveled everywhere. So coming home was always great. True. Home is where you hang your hat there. Okay. So. When the Warner in the States, they must be aware of what's signed by Warner music Canada. Like when they listen to starry, for example, Canada, like when they listen to starry, for example, don't they hear like a great, great fucking alt rock sound that would fit right in with what's a hitting in the States back in 1994? Oh, maybe, but maybe because there's 10,000 other bands like that over there that are American, why wouldn't they do that?

I never really thought about it. Like maybe you're talking me out of this. I'm trying to figure out why that today hate everyone isn't a hit on MTV. I don't know. You're just making me sad. I don't want to make it sad. You beat the ventilator COVID like, and you got great new music and you look like a happy guy living happily in Hamilton. You don't want to be some Los Angeles douche bag. You know what I mean? You want to be able to look in the mirror and say, this is Jean Champagne. I like this guy. Yeah. See?

I feel great. I know. I like me. I like you. I'm not trying to make you feel bad. I don't think money is everything. Like, I don't know what you're driving, but would I think any less of you

if you were driving a beat up old Corolla? Or the bicycle I'm going to ride in on next week. I'm going to be biking to visit you. Yeah. I do ride a bicycle. Okay. It's not the car you drive. to ride in on next week. I'm going to be biking. Is it you? Yeah, I do ride a bicycle. Okay. It's not the car you drive. You're having a good life, but it is interesting to go back and see like what had to break how, like I'll just point out, like for example, Berenica ladies, similar CF and Y thing, right?

They're like a local band here in Toronto and then CFY starts playing them and there's the yellow tape, blah, blah, blah. But at some point, a few years later, they have a number one Billboard Hot 100 hit. So what is, you've got to think about like, what is the difference between what happened there and what happened to you? And it sounds like no, no label in the States wanted to push your single. Yeah, I think that's what happened. Well, fuck that man. Fuck that. That's their loss as their loss. I can tell you that we talked earlier about how you didn't design the cover art for let's jet. Is that the name of it? I want to make sure that it is jet right. But somebody who designed the album for Starry got nominated for a Juno Award.

Antoine Moonen? Antoine Moonen, yes. Him and Mike Treblecock, your friend. FOTM. FOTM. I'm just the F-O-F-O-T-M. No, you're an FOTM now. Okay.

You don't need the F-O-F-O-T-M. You, you're an FOTM now. Okay. You don't need the F-O-F-O-T-M. You're an FOTM. Right on. Yeah, they both wanted, oh, sorry, Juno nomination for it. Got a nomination, okay, for best album design for Starry. And you were nominated for a rock radio award as an independent artist of the year.

So can you help me out? You're independent and then you're signed with Warner Music, so Starry's an independent release? It is too, yes. We put it out prior to Warner picking it up. So I'm gonna say it was probably out six months maybe, maybe even a year before Warner picked it up. And then when Warner picked it up, we just did a couple fixes just to make it a little better for radio because we actually recorded in an eight-track studio above a shoe store, like a shoe shop. Yeah. And we'd have to take breaks between the him hammering downstairs. You got to keep that in the track. Bus is going by. It's got to have more

shoe hammering. Yeah, a little more. That's great. That's great. Can I play a little more of, again, I'm going to sink into an hour on the Killjoys here because I can't help myself, but can I play another jam from the Killjoys? Okay, here we go. Come undone, wound too tight I know that I'm wrong and you were right I can't look you in the face I settle with my normal grace You can't put me on the shelf Then take me down again when you feel like myself I come undone, well too tight I know that I'm wrong and you were right And settle with my normal grace You can't put me on the shelf And then take me down again when you feel like myself

It was just another cure Never bother, just ignore Okay, it won't be champagne Jean's about to drink, but he's about to crack open a Great Lakes beer. Right on the mic, Jean. Here we go. I love that sound. isn't that great? Okay cheers to you my friend. Cheers to you. Now you're gonna tell me it sounds old if I ask you what you're thinking when you hear this jam but fucking I don't know I love it. I'm enjoying hearing these again because I don't listen to these often.

You don't go at home like in Hamilton and put on Raven Drool. No this has been a long time since I've heard this in, you know, actually not us rehearsing, but the recording. Right. And you hear it in the headphones. I'm really enjoying it. Yeah. Well, you should enjoy it.

It's fantastic. And this is the lead single from the second album, Gimme Five. Correct. Okay. So just some highlights here because now for this album, I think you're going to get an actual Juno award Okay, we're not talking a nomination, but you actually get an award for best new group, right? Yep. So how is my question? Okay Starry has hits on it like Canadian radio hits

Ray so gimme five is the follow-up. How are you still eligible for best new group in 1997 are you trying to get my Juno back do you want it I should have brought it where is your Juno well funny you ask we were just talking I always ask you know it's it's on my mantle but I'm not gonna lie I've been trying to figure out how to put it in a fish tank it won't rust right well no it shouldn't just, if the letters come off, I can put anything on it. You know what I mean? It might decay. I don't know, but I think it'd be great with some goldfish and some stuff swimming around

it. Oh yeah. If you do that, will you take a photo and send it to me? 100%. That's wild. Okay. So at least I'm glad it's on your mantle right now. I always ask where it is.

Sometimes I hear it's in a box or my mom's got it or whatever, but it's on your mantle right now. Okay. I hear it's in a box or my mom's got it or whatever, but it's on your mantle right now. Hmm Okay, so your best new group in 97 even though you released starry in 1994 I would like that, you know back you are ineligible in my humble opinion The wonderful killjoys are ineligible for best new group in 1997 This is worse than milly-vinyly winning maybe the American labels caught wind of that and said, this is bullshit. Yeah. And just said, forget it.

We're not dealing with this. Right. This is like when they said, Alanis Morissette was a new artist for Jagged Little Pill. And we're like, where were you when she was never too hot, never too cold. She took her best shot too hot to hold. Right?

You remember this? Come on. She was like our Debbie Gibson for a while there. Okay. So back to Gimme Five. That's the excellent Raven drool, which is on the very first big shiny tunes. This particular podcast is mildly obsessed with big shiny tunes. There's a number of episodes about big shiny tunes. Do you have any insight into how the hell you got Raven drool on big shiny tunes? No. You got no info on that. No idea.

It's there. What would you say you do for this band, Gene? We never did cover that. Well, I load the gear. I do a lot of driving. Are you sure you work for Killjoys? No, but just because I don't even think we've said it yet, but you gave me the drumsticks so maybe people clued in, but you play drums for the Killjoys.

Yes, I do. Drummer, look at you go. That's him, not me. You know what I've never had like I've never owned drumsticks like you could this could I could be like a drummer. If you give them away to your next guest. No. That's it we're done. I'm not giving away. I will just tell the listenership that they've got the teenage head logo on it so no freaking way am I giving these away. And yes we will be talking Teenage Head shortly. But so your label did that, I guess.

Are you still with Warner? No. So. Well, no, that's not true. Even though we're not. Don't lie to me, Gene. We're not actively with Warner. They do own those recordings.

So that being said, no, they still own all the rights to those records. Because a big shiny tunes is a much music thing, right? Yes. How many big Chinese were there? Was there like 40? Cause I dropped out, but the first few I loved very much. It was like survivor. They're probably still still pumping these CDs out at some, uh, some warehouse in

North York or something like that. But, uh, you're on the first big shiny tunes and every, uh, I would say if we're speaking again, this podcast appeals to people of all ages But particularly Gen X and I think if you're a Canadian Gen X er you who likes rock and roll you were buying Big shiny to everybody had a big shiny tunes. It was a movement Were you I mean you must have been proud to be represented on that first one. Absolutely Were you, I mean, you must've been proud to be represented on that first one. Absolutely. 100%.

Because it was the nineties. Oh, I don't know. Now you say the nineties, like your parents said back in the fifties, it's kind of like that. I don't know. It's a whole era. It's a whole genre. The nineties is a vibe as my daughter would say. It is. Is nineties a genre? To me, nineties, Cancon, Alt Rock absolutely is a genre to me. I think so. And you guys are key members of that genre,

the Killjoys. Thank you. Along with Junkhouse. Junkhouse too, yeah, The Odds. Absolutely, we wanna keep doing it. Pursuit of Happiness, Mo, we're talking about Mo. Yeah, we can put like our lady piece in there. A Sloan is like a...

Bare naked ladies, everyone from the Trans Canada Highwaymen. You know what who I love? I love Rusty. I love Rusty too. Everyone from the Trans Canada Highway, man. You know what? Who I love. I love rusty. I love rusty too. Okay. And Scott lives in Hamilton now. Scotty Mac and Scotty Max and FOTM the whole Canon, the whole, the whole band was in this space. And I'm an F O F Tim with Scotty. No, listen to me, Gene, you're an actual FOTM. Okay. You're not three degrees.

You tried to buy me off with all these gifts. Is that what this, you were buying my love. I gave you a measuring tape for really, do you think I give every guest a measure to measure my own casket? You can measure whatever you want. It's none of my business here. Uh, gosh, I want to, uh, find out why you, uh, need to form junior achiever. Okay. But I while I'm talking this excellent follow up,

cause I really love gimme five, I'm going to play another song from gimme five. This is another, and by the way, I bet you the listeners follow-up, because I really love Gimme Five. I'm gonna play another song from Gimme Five. This is another, and by the way, I bet you the listenership's like, oh, I fucking love that song. Killjoys have a sneaky number of great radio slash much music singles. Like they're kinda like, you don't even, oh yeah, they did that one too, they did that one too.

And they did this one. ["Gimme Five"] They did that one too. And they did this one. She's got bedroom eyes in the shifty. Yeah, I know. I know. But she's got a little pound and she's pretty. So I won't let her go. No, I won't. I won't. I won't. I won't.

I won't. I won't. I won't. I won't. I won't. I won't. I won't. I won't.

I won't. I won't. I won't. I won't. I won't. I won't. I won't. I won't. I won't. I won't let go No I won't get soaked No I won't get soaked She's got American size but they're creepy

Yeah I know, I know But she's got a little power and she's pretty So I won't let her go No I won't Get assault Soaked! By the way, as we're running off all these fantastic 90s Canadian alt rock bands, we didn't mention iMotherEarth. And you guys toured with iMotherEarth, right? It seems like we did a lot of touring with iMother Earth. Our Lady Peace, we toured with

them a lot. You name it, we played with them. Finger Eleven? Finger Eleven, yep. Absolutely here. 5440? Love 5440, absolutely. Oh, man, I'm telling you, man, that's my genre. So as far as I'm concerned, 90s Canadian alt rock is a genre. I need the true story here. I tried to get this out of Mike. He gave me his take on it. Now I'm here to get Gene's take on it. What the hell happened in Mexico? Okay. So now I'm okay. So this, this song we're listening to, we're still on Gimme Five, but then you have a third album. I never know how to say it. Melos Motos? Milos Motos. Milos. See I scooted up. Okay. Another win for Milos. Remember this one? Okay. The story that floats around because it's on Wikipedia is that you're filming the video for I've Been Good, which is the lead single from Milos modos. And the film

is stolen by a crew member and they hold it hostage and they basically they want ransom if you want the footage. Gene, give me the full full story what the hell happened in Mexico? That's a hundred percent true story. We were filming in Mexico and there was a lot of crooked stuff going on but there was a crew member it was all sort of Mexican crew and you know not wealthy, there's a lot of poverty there. He was having some trouble I think his wife got into a car accident, there was some issues, some money issues, he saw opportunity, he knew we were finishing up

and going back to Canada, it was gonna be gone, so he took his opportunity, stole the canister of film, and basically held it ransom. How much money did he want for that film? I don't remember that, to be honest with you. Okay, my sources say $13,000. It could be. It was a pretty big number.

Who has to pay that? Because it was paid, right? Well, it was. So we had to deliver it to Warner and I'm just trying to think how this worked. So we had to actually have it delivered. So, and we had a due date to make everything work. So if we basically said you've got to get it back, it's not gone. So it was up

to us to possibly sue the production company to get that money back because we're out completely. And so they ended up actually paying it to get the film back See that number thirteen thousand. I don't know if that's the number though. I don't recall right But if that's an if that's the number that's kind of a good number I think because it's not so high that you're gonna say fuck it. We'll just film something Back in Hamilton will borrow someone's camcorder and film whatever like but that's a number compared to what it probably might pay $13,000 for that footage, right? Well, the video itself cost a lot more than that. Right. So it's like, you cough up another 13 grand, this poor, uh,

why am I having pity for the crew member who stole your, your footage? Like this is an ass. It was having a bad day. I know. I try to put myself by other people's shoes. Like, you know, would you be mad at somebody who stole bread to feed their starving family? That's a real question, Gene, would you? Oh, was it good bread? As long as it's from Loblaws, right? Well, don't steal Palma pasta because that's a family run business. Palma pasta. I'm excited

about the pasta. You're going to love it. Ask Tom, ask Tom. All right, so that's a great story from, from Mexico. Now you mentioned about a half an hour ago, we talked about junior achiever, man. That was some great power pop we played there. Now you formed junior achiever because the killjoys, what did they do? They just kind of stopped.

We didn't, we didn't break up. We didn't quit. We just finished a final tour and we kind of thought we just had enough a bit. We finished the tour, Mike got out of the van. We said, see ya. And we just kind of went on a merry way. We didn't know what we were going to do. At that time, we kind of wanted out of our management.

We kind of wanted out of our record deal and it just kind of happened that way. You just went to do work on other things. Other things. Exactly. We didn't, there was no animosity. We didn't say. I was going to ask, like there wasn't a big

fight or whatever? No, not at all. Mike did a storm off and say, I'm done with this. Would have been great. No, that didn't happen. We're still very friendly and we, we're still, we're still actually playing. In fact, um, I did want to mention

that it's the 30th anniversary of Starry and there's a reissue of vinyl coming out this year and I'm going to tell you how you can pre-order yours. It's kind of special because... And thanks for bringing me a copy. It's not out yet. It's not out yet. I'm just busting your chops. I know, but I will when you will trade for more lasagna. I'm going to start to find the link here. It's a quid pro quo, but you did bring me drumsticks, which I love very much by

the way. So it's, it's vinyl. And the cool thing about that is we, in our time, uh, vinyl wasn't really a thing. We were in the CD age, right? And we, we kind of came out of the cassette age as well too. All our first records were cassette and vinyl, or sorry, cassette and CD. So this is the first time for vinyl. Pursuit of Happiness is out there too.

And you can pre-order it now at recordrecordlabel.com. Recordrecordlabel.com. Okay, so recordrecordlabel.com. Yep. .com. You can pre-order your, so Hamilton Mike, I want everybody here. Jeremy Hopkins, everybody go get the 30th anniversary. Is that right? 30th anniversary. It's weird how time works, right? Like it can't be 30, but of course it's 30, 1994 was 30 years ago.

And we recorded two brand new songs that are bonus. Killjoys. Yep. Two brand new songs. Are these out yet? Um, yeah. Like I can play a new Killjoys right now. You brand new songs. Are these out yet? Um, yeah. I can play a new Killjoys right now. You should be able to find it. I'm just trying to think you could probably find it on a Killjoys bandcamp. All right. Look, we're doing this a real time here. I haven't looked. I think they're there. Hold on here, everybody. Bear with me here. Bandcamp.

Killjoys bandcamp. There we go. Let's see we got here. I'm gonna tell you what you got here What do I got here this is exciting so it's goodbye is what I see at the top here that's not it here Okay, well, you know what? This is a something. I'm going to seek out and listen to It might be by any chance is it on YouTube or is it going to band camp? Of course, no, it's band camp right now, but this, I did hear rumors about this. So I'm on social media following Mike trouble cock and things and I did hear rumors about new killjoys, which got me, you know why that's a different killjoys. Do you ever have issue with that? We did the Australian

killjoys. This is where I'm at. I'm at the Australian killjoys band camp. Yeah, there was some going back and forth back in the day. So we thought if we came out over there, we'd be killjoys 90210. Is it called Turmoil? No, Ice Cream? Nope. Still the wrong one.

It's terrible these guys are stealing. Killjoys by the way, also a TV show, like the name Killjoys lost a lot of its SEO with a bunch of Killjoys lost a lot of its SEO with a bunch of killjoy stuff that kind of arrived I'm going to take one last shot at this and then I think we're all gonna be sick of Mike doing real time But I'm gonna go to one last place. I got the right one now because I can see stories on this Starry starry starry. Okay, so I don't want starry I'm just going to go to the killjoys music I believe this is you guys the killjoys music

Dot band camp calm, but it does then auto redirect to the starry page So I have the right killjoys, but I don't have the new stuff here. There's no new stuff yet so no you can pre-order it though and I'm sorry. I can't play it right now, but I will definitely be checking it out. I love me some killjoys So I'll be checking that out. Okay. So it's not a breakup. It's like, you guys just agree to like go on like leave pretty, pretty much. Yeah. It was kind of like a huge hiatus, but we, we returned a few times. We,

I think we've kind of came back together, um, three, three or four times. Last year we did a bunch of shows. We did, uh, like a little Ontario run. We did Ottawa. He did horseshoe Tavern. Yeah. Horseshoe Tavern bridge works. Right. Cause you, yes. Bridge works. Kitchener Oshawa. So there was a, there was a small run. Yeah. Okay. Amazing. So that's kind of what conclude the kill joys portion because of course we played some Junior Achiever But only one album for Junior Achiever, right? Yeah, interesting. Okay, this sounded fucking great But the untamed sounded great too, and that's kind of like your current band, but you're doing the solo work We heard let's jet so really what it is now

so it's I sort of changed it to Jean Champagne in the unteens because It's just people find me more now because all the bands that i've been in it's not so cloaked Right. So Jean Champagne is truly you should have your name in the band's name when you have a phony name like mine Of course Diana Ross and the supreme's right. Am I right? Right? So I've seen your birth certificate that's not a phony name. No, it's not so Basically, the unte teens are still my band We just kind of go under my banner Love it so much now when we think of the Hamilton bands, okay, we think about teenage head So Dave rave was on Toronto mic'd I'm going to say six weeks to two months ago

And we really did and again Dave rave not like he was around the band and now he's the singer for the band not an original member there's been some loss in this band but how do you become the drummer for Teenage Head and Gene before you answer I'm just going to play a little Teenage Head if you don't mind. I'm gonna have some kind of fun I do the wobble and the wop-to-de-to Love the motion and here we come I'm gonna have the same kind of fun Pissing now over and I'm shitting every day guy I see you skinny waddle waddle and you're moving like a dildo boy I'm gonna choose gonna start with you

I do the wobble and the walk to the tune Life's a motion, here we come I'm gonna have the flu, that I'm on, let's go And that was a great loss for the Hamilton music community. Huge. Huge. Do you mind, cause you probably are less familiar with Frankie Venom, is that right? Cause you weren't with Teenage Head at that point. No I wasn't. I didn't really know Frank that well. Right.

But talk to me about Gord Lewis if you don't mind. Just the worst news when I heard that one. Holy smokes. Well Gordy was a good friend. And kind of, first I just want to say listening to this because I don't listen to this music so much anymore because I play it, but this kind of gave me goosebumps because I'm listening to it the way I did when I was younger, when I was a huge fan and it kind of, it's bringing me really, you know, it's bringing it back.

I'm glad you shared that. I was a huge fan of the band and they were, they were my band growing up and to live in the same city, you know, I lived at one end of the city. So I'd go downtown and that was like, Oh my God, my favorite band in the world lives here. It's, it was just unreal when you were a little kid and, um, you know, fast forward to the nineties, Gord was actually a fan of the Killjoys and

he would come out to the shows and I was a fan of his band he was a fan of ours and that was very cool so I got to know him fairly early on at one point he had asked me to join the the Shaken Heads which was the Shakers and Teenage Head and I remember that was like just an ah moment for me but I had to say no because the Killjoys were going on tour and I was like just an awe moment for me, but I had to say no because the Tilt Killjaws were going on tour. And I was like, oh shit. Okay. Fast forward to, I don't know, a decade ago, I suppose.

Yeah, around 2016. Gord was, you know, not in a good place. And we were friends and we were talking and he knew I recorded at home and he said, so you have a studio, eh? And I'm like, yeah, come on down, Gord. I knew that he needed an outlet to, he had songs and he wasn't used to, it was just a different way for him to be able to write and get these songs out of his head in the not traditional way of taking it into a room with the band and jamming it out. And he did that and it was a, it was a

magical kind of thing. So we, we worked on songs together and truth be told, let's chat that whole EP came out at that time, I was writing in tandem with him. So on my own time, I was taking all the, the, the energy, the muse of, of Gordian trying to do my own thing because we were set up anyway. So we were kind of recording in tandem at that time.

In fact, you were really close of Gord. Yeah. Wow. So my condolences, man. Thank you. Continue. But I want to say I'm sorry for your loss. Thank you. I don't know where we were. No, it's okay. Because the terrible news about gourd lewis is from that's 2022 but you join the band in like 2016. Yeah, jack was the they had a festival date and I knew this stuff from playing with gourd and Jack fell ill but he fell ill in a way that he wasn't gonna be able to play for a long time. So I Said yeah, I'll do it. I jumped up and just kind of fit like a glove and here I am still. You're still here. I'm still here.

So is this around the time when Dave Rave becomes the like the returns as lead singer around the sort of in the band? Yeah, well just prior to me joining the band and when we were working on the songs together we we put we did put these songs together Gord I and I asked rave to come down and sing on them because we had guitar we had drums Gord played bass eventually we had some really cool guys play on the recording we had Dennis Dunaway from Alice Cooper we had Andy Chernoff play on it from the Dictators Jack from the Trues Shelly from the Killjazz we had different bass players on it but we needed a voice and I said, I'm going to call Dave. Let's get Dave down. Gordon said, yeah, okay, we'll do it. So we did that. Then we kind of went and played out as the Gordon Lewis

band for a bit. And that was, uh, who do we have on bass? Paco Cameron, um, that's escaping me now, but I could call him Paco all the time, but he played bass and we did some shows in Ontario. We played with the Diodes, Montreal, some Ontario stuff. Sure. And then when it was kinda time to, after I did the festival show, it was kinda time to rethink things.

And I think Ray, we did a show with, they were doing a benefit for Jack and Dave came up and sang with the guys while they were playing and I think that was just when they had the eye-opening thing that it was like, it's time. It's time. It is and rightly so. Dave has always sort of been the voice behind the voice. He's been on every record. Excuse me. And he was there in the beginning.

He was there in the beginning. Yeah, the mid 70s or whatever. Absolutely, but he also sang for them from 1985 to early 90s, people forget about that period. He did a record with them, Electric Guitar. It's a great record. Right, right. So it was a natural thing.

I don't know if anyone could come in and do the job that he's doing with just a stranger. I just don't think, because it's such a family. It feels right to me. I think it's a good fit. And I think it's wild that you're the drummer now for for teenage head considering You were such a fan of the band. Yeah How many people can say that right? Yeah, it's crazy

It's like a pearl jam called me up tomorrow and said we you know, we're just Cameron guys not working out You want to be the drummer? I'll be like, yeah Just got my new drumsticks Yeah, absolutely from Jean Champagne man. My teenage new drumsticks. Yeah, absolutely. From Gene Champagne, man. My teenage had drumsticks here. I want to shout out a couple more 90s alt rock bands that I loved. There is no Rusty, you can argue there's no Rusty without the Doughboys.

Right. Doughboys. Because they're part of the origin story. I love the Doughboys. And John Kastner, he's in town for something. I'm trying to get John Castner on a Toronto mic'd, uh, just putting that into the universe. But here's a guy I love. I just want to shout him out.

Ian Blurton. Yes. He's an FOTM like you. I think change of heart is grossly underappreciated and underrated. Big time. See, we agree on this. Good. You know, and because I'm not in the city much,

I never see Ian, never see him. I literally sometimes, well, sometimes, at least once in the last like 18 months, I was biking on the waterfront trail near Harborfront here, and I biked by Ian Blurton. Like, and I remember yelling out to him, it's just wild to see him in the wild. So Ian Blurton in the wild.

Yeah, you gotta be on the waterfront trail there. I, I bike bump, but I think he's, he's fantastic. Love, uh, love change of heart. I still spin them all the time. Just like I spin the killjoys. You're with teenage head. So I know I have a note here about a, uh, album release party on June 29th. Right?

Yes. So this is for let's jet. Yep. For my record. Let's jet, uh on June 29th, right? Yes. So this is for let's chat. Yep. For my record, let's jet, uh, June 29th. It's at Hamilton at the cork town. Uh, yeah, please come out. Tickets are on Eventbrite. Is Tom Wilson going to be there?

He might pop by. He better pop by. He's everywhere, right? But I do want to say I'm in Toronto at the Bovine, uh, Friday, June 14th. I'm opening for the Black Halos, pals of mine. And I'm in London, June 15th, at Palisades Social Bowl, again with the Black Halos. Amazing.

I'm just trying to track everything just before we say goodbye with another great Canadian alt rock 90s band, Lois O'The Lo. Love Lois O'The Lo. They play us out every episode. Did you know, I don't know why I didn't learn this till the documentary, but Kids in the Hall, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, Having an Average Weekend is the song,

speaking of the theme song for Kids in the Hall. Did you know they played it live every single episode? No. They played it live. I didn't. I know, I just figured it's the same theme they candid and they played it every episode, but no, shadowy men on a shadowy planet

played having an average weekend live every single episode of Kids in the Hall. That's very cool. I was lucky enough to catch an episode live. Was it at the Rivoli? Where were you? I don't recall. I just remember going to it once so, so long ago.

Love those. That really shaped my sense of humor I was a massive fan still am of kids in the hall only one members in FOTM though Kevin McDonald I have so much work to do to collect the the other four Did you offer lasagna? Well, I'll put a call out to Kastner now put the call at the Kastner and then get me Scott Thompson from kids in the hall Okay, I'm giving you some assignments here. Okay, But here I'm trying to track everything on our way out. How did I get to that? Oh yeah. I was going to make a joke that Lois of the low are in the next room and they play Rosie and Gray live every time I finished.

See, that's where I was going. Shadowy Minute, a shadowy planet are playing live for kids in the hall Louis of the lower plane live for Toronto, Mike. Okay, Jean, you're not in Hamilton anymore. Okay Listen, let's keep track here. Your solo work. Let's jet is Now available and there that's what this album release party is for on June 29th at Corktown Hamilton The Jesse James medicine show and yeah, they're gonna open up on for it. They've offered her opening. Yes. Okay, cool. Meanwhile You've changed the name of this one, right? It's the Jean Champagne and the unteens correct and what are the plans for them? It's it's basically Jean Champagne. Yeah, I'm teens of the guys behind me Would you know a member of this band not Canadian Canadian, but Five for Fighting? No. Okay.

So just having a chat about Five for Fighting earlier today, and I referred to Five for Fighting as they, but Five for Fighting is one guy. Like when these guys have like, you know, just to confuse things, it's just one guy going by the handle. Remember the monks? Yes. It was a guy. Just a guy.

See? Just a guy. I didn't know that. Love that record. Yeah. Well, Nine Inch Nails is just a guy, right?'t know that. Love that record. Yeah. Well, nine inch nails is just a guy, right? Like technically it's not nine of them. There's not nine of them. Get, get out of town here. And also we have the metric system here. They're not even nine inch nails. They're like, do the math on that one, Gene. I can't do it. I can't, I can't do it. Okay. So the un-teens, Jean Champagne, the un-teens, that's a going concern. We got your, your solo stuff and when can we see teenage head next?

um TML X 15 at June 27th at Great Lakes Brewery. Will you guys come down and play sure? Well, you well you could play it now you have the sticks you do that I don't want to take a job away from Eugene not that I could pay you if lasagna and beer by the way How is your beer delicious? That's great. I'm gonna thank them too. Great lakes, thank you. And you're bringing some home too. But this was awesome. How did it go for you?

It was great. It was fun. Was it worth the drive from Hamilton? It was. It was only shitty for a minute. Oh good, because I was worried like, oh, I'll see Gene at like 9.30 PM or something. No, I made it in good time.

Early, we started early. And that never happens. And look at the rewards books and tape measures and pasta and beer. Well, I'm glad You actually gave me a gift I want all future guests to listen closely to me and that includes Scott Thompson and Dave Kassner You got to bring me something to Jean brought me these drumsticks. I will cherish them. Thank you so much I appreciate it and before you drive off back to Hamilton, make sure we get a photo by the Toronto tree

as is a tradition around these parts. But I want to thank you so much for the convo. I loved chatting with you and I'm so glad you didn't die. Cause you were on a ventilator, Gene. I'm glad you didn't die. I'm here. I don't know if it sounds like that, but take off my mask so I can see you with my own eyes or something like that. But thank you, Gene Champagne. And now we can dispel the myth that that's a fake stage name.

You are really a gene. I'm really a gene champagne, not Not you Jean, just Jean. Just Jean. And that brings us to the end of our 1490th show. You can follow me on Twitter and Blue Sky all over the place. I'm at Toronto Mike. What's the best way to follow the ongoing adventures of Jean Champagne? You can find me at Jean Champagne underscore official on Instagram. You can find me at Jean Champagne underscore official on Instagram. You can find me at Jean Champagne on Facebook and Jean Champagne music on Facebook. Okay all those places find out what's going on in the world of Jean Champagne. Much love to all who made this possible.

That is Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta. Don't leave without your lasagna. It's in my freezer. Beautiful. Recyclemyelectronics.ca. If Eugene have any old electronics, old cables. What did they call you? Did they call Eugene? He started. If you, if you, Comma Gene? No, you need the break. You need the break. Eugene. Yes. You got the break. Gene. Yes. You got to pause. Right. Good.

I wouldn't screw that up. But if you have cables, old devices, old phones, old electronics at your home in Hamilton, do not throw that in the garbage because those chemicals end up in our landfill. Go to recyclemyelectronics.ca, put in your address and it'll be like, hey, drop them off here, Gene. Beautiful. We will properly recycle these bad boys. Okay. Shout out to Raymond James, Canada and the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team Get your ass to Christie Pitts. You'll love it. You can thank me later Menaris, of course season 6 of yes, we are open is dropping now and

Ridley funeral home pillars of the Community since 1921. I will see you all next week. I got to go to my calendar here, Gene. Who's my next guest? Who should it be? I think we should get Dave Rave again, just because you think he doesn't know you. He just texted me. He said, say hi to Toronto Mark for me. Hi kid. No. All right. Jeremy Hopkins. Funny, because the guy I was just referencing on the live stream is actually, he's the official Toronto historian of Toronto Mike.

He's back to talk about 10 buildings that we did not demolish in this city because last time he talked about 10 buildings we did demolish but should not have demolished. Looking forward to that. See you all then. Well, I've kissed you in France and I've kissed you in Spain And I've kissed you in places I better not name