Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Glueleg: Toronto Mike'd #1238

Episode Date: April 14, 2023

In this 1238th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Carlos Alonso and Christian Simpson, founding members of Glueleg, about the ongoing history of the band. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, the Yes We Are Open podcast from Moneris, The Moment Lab, Ridley Funeral Home and Electronic Products Recycling Association.

Welcome to episode 1238 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.

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And Redley Funeral Home Pillars of the community since 1921. Today, diving deep into the ongoing history of Glue Leg, including where that name came from, our founding members, Carlos Alonso and Christian Simpson. Welcome, Carlos and Christian. Hey, Mike. Hello. Great to be here.

I see you guys coordinated your wardrobes. You guys said, hey, are you wearing black? And Carlos was like, I'm going to wear black. And Christian said, I'm wearing black too. Carlos always wears black, so that's not really anything for him. And I have blue jeans on. Oh, that's true. Okay, so it's not all black.

But I would definitely prefer a pair of black shorts right now. It is warm out, eh? It's unreal, yeah. Not as warm. By the way, I don't know where you guys came from today. What neighborhoods did you come from today? I came from the harbour front. Okay.

Queens, Key and Bathurst. So, okay, so that's near like the tip top Taylor condos or something. That's right. Yeah. Just around the corner from there. So you came by the lake, but what about, what about you, Christian? Where did you come from today? Well, I came from the lake as well, but a little farther east, Cobourg, Ontario.

That, okay. And I'll bet right, I'll bet the beach is rocking right now. I'll bet you it is. It's going to be a crazy weekend now. Well, since you guys are late guys, there was a moment, I think it was yesterday. I want to shout out new FOTM Anthony Farnell for this tweet. But there was a moment where at Pearson International Airport,

it was 28 degrees. And at Billy Bishop Airport by the lake, it was 14 degrees. Like this was the same moment. So, you know, it gets cooler by the lake but good to see you guys uh a lot of people excited about the finally better late than never the glue leg episode of toronto mic thanks very much late and there are gifts coming i know that's why you're here but uh shortly i'll be giving you some gifts but maybe i dive in because we're gonna get the the origin story and play some new tunes and find out what's going on with Glue Leg.

But I got some questions that came in when people heard Glue Leg were finally making their Toronto Mike debut. So first question goes to T-Dot Resident. Will they be bringing the saxophone? Where's the saxophone? And just let T-Dot Resident know who's got the saxophone. Great question. And I would like to say that the saxophone is coming.

Not this record, but I'm working on a certain saxophone player that lives, I think he's in Fort McMurray or Saskatchewan. Oh, so it's not Kenny G. It is not Kenny G. But is he available? I don't know. Oh, so it's not Kenny G. It is not Kenny G. But is he available? I don't know. We'll make a call. Yeah, so I've been talking with Andy.

We did reach out, and he just has other commitments. And he said, you know, I don't have my studio set up. I'm working on that. So I am working on him. We've got an EP that we're going to release we're working on now and um i think we would really like to have get him on that um on a couple of tracks okay and he did say he did reach out to me and he said man this there's this track called hugo and the fish yeah i'm gonna play later and oh great and uh he said you know dude he goes were you guys like just channeling weather report

when you were doing this and i was thinking well no well, no, but wow, that's fantastic. I loved hearing it. He goes, I really wish I could have played on that track. Well, I kept asking. Anyway. So the next album. The next album. Hopefully the EP, yeah.

Okay, the EP. Norm DePasquale says, I love Glue Leg. I saw them quite a few times live. I feel very lucky about that. So let's tell Norm now, like, will there be more opportunities to see Glue Leg live? Because he's seen you live many times,

but I have a feeling he wants to see you live again. A year ago, I think that would have been just a hard, hard no. But I'm thinking uh i think that we both are on um the same page here that yeah we do want to um do some select shows i don't don't think this would be anything that uh we would tour but it did go from absolutely not to you know what i think that if we do get this you know worked out the live show worked out, I think bringing this album to just the live performance would be,

I think it would be pretty epic. So I think we need to do it. That's exciting news. I feel like things are warming up on that front. This is a good time for Glutig. Absolutely. Okay.

And I realize, the thing about Glutig, so my brother was over on the weekend. We were celebrating my third born's ninth birthday. Yes, that's correct. And I realize, think about Glue Leg. So my brother was over on the weekend. We were celebrating my third born's ninth birthday. Yes, that's correct. And I was telling him, yeah, we're going to do a Glue Leg episode. And he's like, Glue Leg?

And he's trying to remember. He goes, who's Glue Leg again? So I played Heroic Doses and I played some Glue Leg. And he's still kind of wondering. I think this is going to be a great primer for those who maybe missed Glue Leg because Glue Leg and I'm shouting out this band intentionally but maybe because they didn't become Our Lady Peace

right? So there's like let's go back and kind of build Glue Leg up and then we'll kind of get this new album discussed and kind of kind of give the i would say this is like the the deep dive into all things glue leg how does that sound to you to you two gentlemen great let's do it fantastic thank you very much well to prime prime the pumps here actually there's a i like this question it comes in from daniel davidson looking forward to

glue leg on toronto mic. I always wondered why, and here I'm going to try to cause a little controversy here. Let's see how I do. I've always wondered why Alan Cross didn't include them in his 90s CanCon alt-rock roundup. Okay, so it's a little context here. Alan Cross works at Chorus. There's an ongoing history of new music.

You guys have likely heard an episode or two dozen or whatever. But he did this like 90s CanCon alt-rock roundup, which sounds like it sounds wonderful and glorious to me. But there was no, Glulag didn't get discussed in these episodes. Are you aware you were overlooked? And how do you feel about that? I was not aware of that. You pissed off?

I want some anger over there. No, I'm not, because I have a follow-up to that. Alan Cross contacted us a few years ago and asked us to participate in their Where Are They Now show. So we did that. So although we didn't make the 90s roundup, we did make the Where Are They Now. And another follow-up, I did send Alan an, an, an email saying, I don't know, cause we just, we started to get the gears kind of rolling and put this whole thing, uh, into play after that show. So I just said to Alan, I don't know if, you know, I would give you a little bit

of credit here. There was certainly some motivation from, from that. And, i sent him the new record and he he just said wow cool man like keep me keep me in the loop let me know what's going on so he's a good soul but if he's uh if he gets too busy or whatever call me in okay i can get alan i connect ffotms together you guys are now fotms that means friend of of Toronto Mic'd. Thank you. Christian, you're going to get a tattoo. I think actually. I need the tattoo. I was going to say, Christian needs a new tattoo. How many tattoos do you got?

I don't know. Not that many. Okay. Okay. I see three. Like so. Okay. Yeah.

Maybe that's it. Okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Do you, Carlos, do you have any tattoos? I do not. Not yet anyway.

Okay. I don't have one either, Carlos. So you and I are the last two guys. The last two members of Gen X without a tattoo. Not yet anyway. Okay. I don't have one either, Carlos. So you and I are the last two guys, last two members of Gen X without a tattoo. You might be. I wouldn't be surprised. Right, right. All right.

So a little really quick housekeeping and then we're going to go back to the 90s. That's where I like to be in the 90s. So a little housekeeping here to say that TMLX 12 is happening May 11th at 6 p.m. So write me, mike at torontomike.com if you want the details. I even have a map.

We're all meeting in Marie Curtis Park on the Toronto side. And it's again, 6 p.m., May 11th. When I say we, I mean all FOTMs are invited. So it's just a low-key collective. It sounds like a cult, okay? This sounds like a cult meeting, but we're not, no're not no nefarious,

like intense here. So let me know if you'd like to attend TMLX 12 again, May 11th at 6 PM. This is 2023. If you're listening to this program, Mike at torontomike.com. And I will email you happily email you all the details. I might be sneaking some beverages to this park.

I won't be specific as to what beverages I'll be sneaking in the park, but I will coincidentally give Carlos and Christian some Great Lakes beer right now. So you guys are taking home with you some fresh craft beer from Great Lakes Brewery. Amazing. Excellent. Thank you.

Can't go wrong. And Carlos, I'm going to ask you this specifically. Do you like Italian food? I do. yes, quite. Okay, well, I'm also sending you home with a large meat lasagna from Palma Pasta in my freezer right now. You're going to have a full meal.

It's delicious. Yeah, I'm serious. I don't joke around about these things. Well, thank you very much. That's very special. Just did not expect that. It keeps getting better. I picked on Carlos, but Christian, you're also getting a lasagna.

What? Take it back to Coburg there. Is Coburg, please pardon my ignorance, is Coburg where the Big Apple is? No. No, no, no. That's Colburn. Is it? Yeah.

Okay. I don't even know. I know it's close, but that's off the highway. That's off Corbin. Yeah. We're down at the lake. There's a big beach in Coburg, and we're just right around the corner from that.

Amazing. And then if you stay on the 401 and you just keep going, you'll hit that apple. Okay, because I have, like, I'm on a drive to, I don't know, a drive to Ottawa or something. I've jumped off the 401 and gone to the Big Apple, and it was either a Coburg or a Colburn. And maybe it was a Colburn.

Yeah, it's not far. I mean, it might be just past the Coburg exits. I think it's in that neighborhood. Yeah, somewhere. It definitely is. Somewhere along that. And they have great apple pies. They have great apple pies, but they don't have

Great Lakes beer. You got to go to the LCB. No, they don't. I'm looking at this name. Octopus Wants to Fight. Oh, it's delicious. I'm looking at this name. Octopus Wants to Fight. It's delicious. IPA. It is delicious. Octopus Wants to Fight. Four boxing gloves on. One of my favorite

beers. Reminds me of one of our songs. Yeah. Well, let's get to the music here. El Popo. Okay. Carlos, are you the man responsible for the name Glue Leg? I suppose maybe partially responsible in a roundabout way and be accountable for your action the glue or the leg or the leg is the question

um wow that that goes back uh till i guess 1990 or maybe 90 or 91 um And as you tell me the origin story for the name, you can also give me the origin story for the band because it's you, Ruben, and Blake at the beginning, right? That's correct, yeah. Okay, give us the superhero story, how Glue Leg is formed and where that name comes from. Well, it was three friends in high school with similar interests

and the same strange bent and attitude, and certainly all three of us aspiring musicians, big fans of rock and roll and concerts, but the studious types. So, you know, we intended on creating some direction and our creative artistic expression with what we were doing. We began with, we used to be called Subject to Change, which it was apropos given that we hadn't chosen the name just yet. And in high school, we would play a lot of,

in the countryside where we grew up, just north of Toronto, a lot of field parties, high school, we would play a lot of, in the countryside where we grew up, just north of Toronto, a lot of field parties, high school field parties. What about north of Toronto? Like where is that, Maple? What are you talking about here? So in between the neighborhoods of Tottenham and Alliston, Ontario. Okay, 88? Yeah, 88 and 89.

And between Highway 10 and Airport Road. That quadrant was the breeding ground, the seeds of Glueleg. Okay, so you had two options. You were either going to work for Honda or you were going to start a rock band. Is that what happened there? Pretty much. Actually, in those days, I don't even think Honda was around just yet. They came around in the 90s.

This would have been the late 80s that we were beginning to do that. Anyway, we did start to play a lot of parties. And definitely we were more of a cover band then, but we were really bent on that whole power trio kind of thing. And certainly we had some of our favorites. Well, shout out your favorites. I'm very curious as like who inspired Glue Leg. Well, the very early days would have been certainly a band called Rush. And then, of course, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.

But we were also really big fans of Yes and Genesis. And then there was around those early days, some transformative bands that kind of pulled us from that into something else. And those were bands like the Beastie Boys and some electronic music. early days some transformative bands that kind of pulled us from that into something else and those were bands like the beastie boys and uh and uh some electronic music and that's why you remarked on the check check your head sticker that's right prevents uh rock stars like you guys from getting concussions in my basement exactly yeah that was a transformative album for us because it you know uh as musicians and as musos real kind of player guys we uh you know we realized that you know

music production and what the recording studio was about and and non-musical instruments how they could really you know shape the sound of of expression really kind of started to impact us. And I think that's where we began to change from being a cover band that was playing at parties to intending to be something other than that, which then the subject to change turned into, well, what are we? And I think the premise of Glue Leg was something like,

we'd read something about, and I can't remember which band, it may have been Pink Floyd, but I can't remember right now. The idea that, you know, there's a word or a collection of words and they're just an empty box. But when you put content inside of it, it begins to have meaning. So originally glue leg was, and I know that might sound kind of heady, but the idea was, well, what does glue leg mean?

Well, it doesn't mean anything now, but eventually, you know. That is heavy. We're purposed with giving it meaning. It's a bit of a cop-out too now. So at some point, I know you're coming off a pretty lengthy hiatus, but if you come back in, I don't know, 25 years, glue leg, you'll be like, I told you. So glue leg being something now. Okay.

In my head, I'm thinking it has something to do, I don't know why, I think it has something to do with like horses because they used to say, you know, they'd send a horse to the glue factory. This was like an old, I don't know, maybe that was true at some point. I don't think they do that anymore.

But I don't know, a horse breaks their leg and they become glue. I don't know what I was daydreaming about on a bike ride but uh now we know it really doesn't mean yeah it's not bad right why don't you guys i never ever thought of that change your story okay because i've been asked that question a thousand times i've never had a good answer to it somebody actually said hold on somebody actually said does that does that mean you know like at glue leg like after sex when you're you know your sticks to your leg? It's like, no, but that's also an interesting.

But also maybe at some point that's what it will mean. Possibility. See, Carlos, you're a gifted student, right, Carlos? I feel like we're operating on this whole different wavelength here with glue leg. Okay. But, you know, it's two words. You glue them. The pun intended, you glue them together and you got, you got glue leg.

So where, not where, when, when does my good friend Christian here enter the band? In what part of the history does Christian Simpson become a member at Glue Leg? I think it was probably 93 when I answered an ad in Now Magazine. Of course, yeah. You know, I was playing around in some cover bands at the time and I wanted to get into something, you know, original. And so I was, you know, just kind of looking at the wanted musician section and saw this ad

and it appealed to me right away. You know, these guys listed you know a few reference bands that you know drummer you know looking for a drummer right if you play yeah xyz and so I thought well this sounds like right up my alley so yeah I went down and auditioned it was Carlos's basement and they had like an old old kit downstairs uh and uh kind of hammered out a few tracks and i think it was kind of an immediate decision it wasn't you know okay well we've got a few other guys coming and we'll let you know kind of thing it was um okay you're a drummer and said okay you know let's uh let's do it yeah i was really impressed right off the

the top from just playing with the guys. And then I remember going and listening to the, the cassette, the angst cassette cassette. And I think, or maybe it was a demo. Fraz was on there. And I can't remember much else,

but I, I just thought, yeah, this is, you know, it was really kind of raw and it, you know, it, it could have been tightened, um, um, it, you know, it,

it could have been, uh, tightened up a little bit. And then that's what we did. Uh, certainly when, when we went in to do, uh,

the first recording that I did with, uh, with the guys was, um, Oh God, I'm always horrible in the names, uh, Park Alien.

The EP. The EP. Yeah. Yeah. Did that. And then immediately after that was released, um, you know, did a bunch of show of local shows and then went into the studio

and recorded Heroic Doses. Okay, we're going to play some jams from Heroic Doses in just a moment, but because this is the definitive glue leg history, we've got to get specific. So, Carlos, we now know, of course, that Christian comes in as the drummer, but what would you say you do for

glue leg Carlos Alonso now or then then and then maybe how it evolved to now well back then I was you know certainly one of the three key contributors and I started playing the bass, guitar, and also some synthesizers. And also I was one of the singers and certainly one of the songwriters. And then up to now, that's evolved to, because it particularly is just Chris and I right now,

that I'm playing everything from Chapman stick to guitar to bass guitar and synthesizers and some piano. And remind us, what exactly is a Chapman stick? Yeah, that's a good one. So that was part of the early days too, and Chris was part of that when coming in on that and really encouraging that part of it.

So a Chapman stick is an instrument that was invented in the late 1960s by an excellent genius named Emmett Chapman from Los Angeles, California. And it's essentially a 2x4. It's a touch string instrument with high output pickups. And it's got 10 strings on it and these big fat frets on it. And you don't pluck it. You just play it by hitting the frets, this hammer-on technique that you see guitarists do.

Well, this whole instrument's based on that. You tap it, but you've got strings that range all the way from the guitar range all the way down to the bass range and lower, actually. So we thought that would be an interesting and unique way to add to the sound of the band, and particularly because we had this other heavy edge, which was this hard rock guitar happening. And that's, yeah, that's still part of the sound, still one of my favorite instruments. Yeah, Chapman stick.

Okay, love it. Now, just for the definitive record here uh what was ruben doing in the band and what was blake doing in the band and then we'll play some old stuff and then we're going to get to some new stuff and this is going to be all encompassing all glue leg all the time i'm pretty jazzed yay uh so what what was ruben yeah oh okay so yeah well ruben was one of the original members of the band, as was Blake. Blake was the drummer at the time. So he moved over to a band called Guh.

Great, great local band at the time. I think they're still doing shows now. So yeah, they were a fantastic, fantastic live band, really, really excellent vibe they had going on. It was very out there. Like we were a bit out there and they were way farther out than we were. But so anyway, we did a bunch of shows with them, you know, back in the day. And so Blake decided to go and do that, but that opened the door for me. And so Blake decided to go and do that, but that opened the door for me. And Ruben was the guitar player, obviously, and one of the singers and one of the songwriters.

Okay, cool. So let's get to Heroic Doses and not just the album, but the actual single here. And then we're going to talk about, you know, the details of putting this album together and anything you can remember about writing these songs but here here's a taste of glue leg All right. I'm really engulfing I miss your pain Again Alright, I'll bring it down here because I get the... I've got members of the band in the studio here so what can you tell me about the, you know,

writing and creating Heroic Doses, the song? Well, this one came out of some jams and it was focused in as a group. And from what I recall, it was really based around this riff and particularly a groove, this very cool solid groove that Chris had. And then from the riff,

it evolving into having the counterpoint horn section, which was really something we had worked on featuring in the band. How do we get these kind of horns in there? We were kind of trying to get it a bit funk, a bit jazz, but keep it kind of like hard rock. And then that, we took it into the studio and worked with a fantastic producer who was

a big part of this, the evolution of Blue Leg at that point. A guy named, and a good friend, named James Stewart at Reaction Studios. Yes, sir. And he had a very good part in knowing how to balance this whole arrangement. Well, you know, it is a wonderful life, so I'm glad you've got

James Stewart producing heroic doses here. And it sounds great. I'll just tell you, so I've been revisiting a lot of this stuff. Sounds great. When you listen to it in the headphones now, are you like, yeah, we did that? How does it feel from your perspective? Yeah, I did a podcast a couple of weeks ago and i heard how dare you get i know i'm sorry mike i'm sorry i demanded exclusivity okay that was part of my deal so anyway i heard this track for the first time in quite a while and i was i was quite impressed yes i i loved it i think it's held up absolutely you know what

this still sounds great. And usually I... That person beat me by two weeks. I could have had that moment right now where you're hearing it for the first time. We'll blame Kara. We'll blame Kara. Yeah.

I would have changed things around to get that... Although I did play it to one of my neighbors a few weeks ago. He's, I guess, in his mid-20s. Is that a millennial? I think. It might even be too young for a millennial. But yeah, it guess, in his mid-20s. Is that a millennial? It might even be too young for a millennial. But yeah, it might be.

He had no idea. And I asked him what he thought. He said, well, this is math rock. And I thought, I don't even know what that means. I know what that means. I'm not sure if it was a compliment. I don't think it's a compliment. Does that mean it's a... But I don't...

It's also not... Nerd rock? What does math rock mean? I'm trying to connect these dots here. I have to ask a nerd. Yeah, we wouldn't know. Carlos? We wouldn't know.

We're a bit nerdy. I don't know. That's not math rock. Come on. No. We'd play some math rock right now and our heads would be spinning. No, come on. No. That was just a hook right now and our heads would be spinning. No, come on.

No. That was just a hooky little funky. It's a funky, jazzy. Funky, jazzy gem. Come on. Right. It's blue leg. Yeah.

So when you've got that single, because we can call it a single. I don't know. It was a single. Yeah. Yeah. Like, I'm sure you're trying to get, I'm going to guess,

you want 102.1 The Edge to play this single, right? And they did. And they did, right. So did you have a champion on the inside? I'm always curious, like with that,

our local alternative rock station in the 90s, CFNY, did you have a champion on the inside? Like that's back when they had actual music committees who would choose what we're playing.

Nowadays, it's all like focus groups. We had, I don't know, we had Denise Donlan on our side. Oh, at Much Music. At Much Music. And I remember speaking to her once after one of the award shows for the video for Heroic Doses that we were nominated for a, there we go, she was excellent.

Oh, she's, yeah. And I thanked her for the opportunity. She had us, I think at that point three times already in a year and a half on playing live on Much Music and she said you know Carlos every year we pick one band to lift them off the ground and you guys

were one of them I'm not sure how we got that figured out I don't know about any insider at I guess was it CFNY well it's always the call letters how we got that figured out. I don't know about any insider at, I guess, was it CFNY at the time? Well, that's always the call letters, but I think they were going at that time, it would be 102.1 The Edge.

Yeah, I'm not really, that's something I've kind of forgotten. Well, I have brother, brother Bill will be in the basement. He actually lives in White Rock right now, but he's going to visit and he's going to be down here in late May. I'll ask brother Bill,

because I've heard Glue Leg for sure on the Thursday 30. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We charted on 102 for a while. And we did some interviews on there, some live interviews as well. But I can't remember who specifically. Like live in Toronto interviews, maybe with Bookie or maybe with. It was Dave Bookman.

Dave Bookman. It was Dave Bookman that would make sense yeah he was a host of live in Toronto for a while after Kim Hughes and Kim Hughes was also she was a friend of James Stewart's who produced the record and she had gotten us the Now Magazine cover story in 95

that helped promote this album as well times were so album as well. Times are so different as well. To get a little indie band on, I don't, can you do that now? Where would it go? Are you going to pluck some little band off of Queen West

and support it? On this note, because just yesterday I was Zooming with Stephen Page from Barenaked Ladies and we were talking about how the early days, like when they were literally busking in Brampton outside the studio

of CFNY and then they end up winning a contest. Anybody that knows about the yellow tape and all that jazz and the rest is history. Yada, yada, yada, number one hit in the USA, right? Like you just gotta,

it's not easy. Hang on, if I can interject. You had Steven Page on here yesterday? Yes, sir. Did you tell him that Glue Leg was coming the next day? No, but I don't think it came up, but... So our first record deal was with Steven Page's father, if I remember correctly.

Page. Page Publications. And they put out the yellow tape. They put out the yellow tape and then they put out, was it Park Alien? No, they put out the first version or the first run of Heroic Doses. And so it was thanks to Stephen Page and those Barenaked Ladies guys that had seen us play at a show. Yeah. And talked us up.

See what's happening here. Did this happen two weeks ago on that other podcast? No, it did not. It's a big war out there. Okay. Who can get the most glue leg? I think a lot of our initial,

what would you, what would you call them? Moment, moment, moments that, you know, kind of got put, took us just up a notch was other bands seeing us

and opening up. I Mother Earth was a big one. We got a gig opening up for them. I think it was at the Opera House. And this was, we had the EP out. And those guys were, you know, on their way to becoming, you know, one of the, you know, big bands in Canada.

So anyway, they're headlining the Opera House. We somehow got on that show and they really loved us and called their manager. It was Bob Latella at the time and said, you need to come down and see these guys or book them a show and go see them. So, you know, he did. And, and, uh,

he ended up signing us, uh, on the spot. Um, so, you know, I'm out of earth. Big,

big help. Uh, the bare naked ladies guys, uh, the Our Lady Peace guys, the, the tea party guys were all great. And there's a,

I mean, uh, an original member of Our Lady Peace plays on the, the new, uh, glue Lego. Jeremy. Yeah,

that's right. Jeremy is an FOTM as well. Jeremy Taggart. Great, good to hear. We'll get to all that. I'm actually just going to start another jam in the background here

while we talk just because... Oh, dust. Oh, red. Is this red? Oh, yeah. It's red. guitar solo Thank you. It's all hell man like yeah kind of cinematic i was thinking this would be a great jam like you'd have it over your extra of your podcast or whatever it's got that uh yeah cinematics a good

way to put it how do you finance the recording of this album at Reaction Studios? Like, I'm into the nuts and bolts now of the 90s CanCon scene here. So, like, who pays that invoice? That was a great part of the story. The owner of that, so this is James Stewart, the producer. He was the head engineer at a place called reaction studios and the owner of that studio was a friend of his his name is ormond jobin um and they really liked the band uh they had seen us play i think opening

up for i'm other earth and when we had spoken to them about looking to make a record, they indicated that they would be happy to have us record it there on spec after hours with James certainly producing it and engineering it. And we said, yes, please, when do we start? Because it was a real studio. Oh, yeah, it was a great space. Well, it's like we said, it sounds great. This sounds like you went to a real studio and had a real producer. Like, it sounds great. Thank you, yeah, yeah. And we worked really hard on it and it was, you know, that

real rite of passage kind of process where, you know, we were in there from 9pm till 3 in the morning, you know, after the paying customers were there, to get it done. And if I remember correctly, we put so much into it that we actually realized that how long was this piece of string, and it was long enough that we had to remix the record twice

to arrive at exactly what we wanted. And then giving us that allowance, that ability to do that that was a real bonus. And I think one of the reasons why it's, in a sense, stood the test of time and still sounds fresh. Lots of work put into it. So now that we're, again, we are going to eventually get to 2023 because I got new music to play,

but now that we're in the mid-90s Toronto scene, can you name check, you've already done a few, but just name check some of the other bands of the time that were on the scene and even venues. I mean, a lot of them are still here, but a lot of them are gone. But just start name dropping venues and bands if you don't mind.

Well, certainly we played at the Rivoli probably more than any other club. Lee's Palace, of course. The Reverb. Sneaky D's. Sneaky D's a lot, too. Yeah. We were actually.

I have permanent hearing damage from Sneaky D's. Have you ever seen the T-shirt that says, glue-legs sucking and not allowed to play here ever again? That one sold well. Yeah, the Booker, I guess, we had a date there and I don't remember what happened, but I know there was another... I think we got a chance to open up for, I'm thinking the Bourbon Tabernacle Choir. It might have been them. Chris Brown and... It was a great venue as well.

I'm thinking that might have been it. So we kind of blew it off this the sneaky deuce thing and we used to hang out there that's where we used to to go right and so you know one night a couple of weeks after that we showed up and there was a sign on the door scotch taped up and it said glue legs suck and are not allowed to play here again and it was signed the guy's name was Lou or something and so anyway we took that took it down

we were like kind of peed out it initially and then we ended up making a t-shirt out of it we put it on the back of the t-shirt

I still have one yeah it's great now it's all jokes you know a little Mr. Pink here. I love that movie. Who's Shemmy with Mr. Pink, right? That's right. Steve Buscemi. You know, I love that movie.

My video store, my local video store, the owner, this is pre-Pulp Fiction. I have a, around the corner, I've still got a poster of Pulp Fiction I bought in 94. But he said, hey, you might like this movie. And he told me to rent Reservoir Dogs. And it just blew my mind. Anyway, just shout out to all the video store guys who are recommending them. Yeah, that was a heavy movie. Yeah, absolutely.

It's fantastic. Yeah. Who can tell me just a little bit about the creation of Mr. Pig? We're still, by the way, for you following along at home, we're still on heroic doses here, right? Which is technically your second album, even though I thought, for some reason, I thought it was your first album.

There was an EP before that. There was also a cassette before that, even. And is that Stephen Page's dad putting that out too? No, that's just this one. Okay. So this, it's funny

because I found a bunch of cassettes. Yeah. I have no cassette player to play them. There you go. Stuff that I haven't seen in decades. And I ended up getting my hands on no cassette player to play them. There you go. Stuff that I haven't seen in decades. And I ended up getting my hands on a cassette player

because it said Glue Leg, and I wanted to hear what it was. And I swear one of the cassettes, both sides, was full of Carlos and I playing this groove over and over. I'm fast-forwarding, and I'm like,

God, we're still playing it. And it was just this repetitive thing. You know, we're trying to lock it down. Yeah. We did a lot of that. Yeah. And that was at our good friend Louisa Salerno's basement.

And we were there, actually, one time. You remember when the police just walked in? Yeah. What? And the door opened, and a couple of cops walk in with the arms, like, shut it down. I thought it was the band

sorry the band walked in no well that would have been better wouldn't it sting what are you doing here as i heard he's grab a bass he's a good digger let's go all right cool so i have to ask you about a gentleman who has been on the show before. I think that's the last time I got to play some glue leg. But how does Bob McElwitz Jr. fit into the glue leg family? Well, Bob was... So on the EP, we decided that, you know, we had some tracks and decided that we wanted to... I was playing in another band at the time with Andy,

Andy Wise, who's the saxophone player. And we just thought, you know, why don't we try a horn line on this song? I think it was Cultural Faux Pas, and maybe on Cattle Hand? Is there a horn sound on that? Yeah. Okay, so we just thought, just let's experiment.

And, you know, so it was Andy and one of his buddies, this guy alex alex haired came in and um i can't remember the studio that wasn't it um at reaction and um signal to noise yeah and it was rob sanzo that was uh producing producing that session anyway um so we we loved like the sound we just it was immediate like this is really cool you know chapman stick. I had a real kind of wacky, uh, drum set that had this real kind of industrial sound and,

uh, you know, the big guitar and, uh, drop the horns on. And, and then Bob also brought, uh,

anyway, not, not quite there yet. So, uh, we did that recording and anyway, we thought, okay,

let's make the horn section a permanent thing so we started to um alex wasn't uh the right guy for the band i'm not sure what happened he was not into it or whatever it was uh so we again ran an ad and uh bob uh makowitz um called us and uh came and auditioned and, you know, he's a big, like a fire plug. You know, he just comes in and he's got big energy and he's a big personality. And he just kind of also became sort of a third singer. You know, he does some rapping on that particular track, actually.

I believe he wrote those. Did he write? I think so, yeah. On Mr. Pink. On Mr. track, actually. I believe he wrote those. Did he write? I think so, yeah. On Mr. Pink. On Mr. Pink, yeah. I think he wrote all of that stuff. The genesis of that song might have actually been Bob's idea.

Anyway, so he brought this, not only did he fill the trumpet position, but even more so, he just brought this character to the band. And it was really fun to watch on stage. He'd wrap himself in the Canadian flag and be naked jumping around on stage. I remember something about him undressing on stage. Yeah. And this is around the time his dad was the program director at 590.

Yeah. The fan. Yeah, his dad was the program director at 590. Yeah. The fan. Yeah, his dad was like the big time program guy. Bob Macko, yeah. He certainly lent us a hand and opened some doors for us. I'll bet he can make a few calls for you there. It's good to have Macko Sr. on your side. But around this time, Macko Jr. got an overnight show.

It helps when your dad's the program director. But it's Strombo, George Strombolopoulos, Jeff Merrick, and Bob Macco Jr. And then people like Elliot Friedman and Eric Smith, they're cutting their teeth on this. It was kind of an interesting time for young sports media professionals in this market. I remember Strombo Maco and Jeff Merrick, and they were on it.

The game. It was like midnight on Saturday night. Yeah. Yeah, that was a good show. It was really quite interesting. Maybe Jim Richards might have had a role in that too, actually, now that I'm thinking back. But yeah, it was entertaining.

Now they just do like syndicated ESPN programming or something or re-rolls or whatever like you don't get that playground to kind of have young broadcasters you know try different yeah that was a really fun show like they could spin right off of sports and go into the last rush record or something you know so america would be the real statics i think that's yes yes that's right a lot of real a lot of real statics. Okay, now we're going to just get you to the third album, and then we're going to get to the new album. But, of course, let me start this jam, and then we'll talk about... Hey! Pain that you're coming from, looking at your dreams

Makes you so understand it when it falls down to its knees Pain you used to write, come complete with what they used But you've got a right, it's sitting down between the pews Don't try to fuel your piss, step to the right, yeah Don't try to fuel your piss, step to the right Make up a reason for your mind to miss the point of spite Don't try to fuel your piss, step to the right Outro Music much in each other's shoes Don't try to fuel your past just with the right Don't try to fuel your past just with the right Make up reasons for your

mind to be so good as right Don't try to fuel your past just with the right Why do you wait? Why don't you say it? Why don't you mean it? Did you wait? Why do you meaning? Did you wait? Why do you wait?

What are you saying? What are you meaning? Did you wait? Did you wait? All right. Digging it, man. Okay, this is from Claude Hopper. This is the third album. This is Pistons.

What can you guys tell me about making Claude Hopper? Claude Hopper, we recorded, well well there's a lot actually there's some big changes that happened after Doses so we toured that album I don't know how many times we've been coast to coast

six or eight times and then there was a big change where this guy to my right decided that he was going to go on to some other ventures what other ventures were you going going to go on to some other ventures. What other ventures were you going off to, Perilous? Come on. Well, I mean, I was, like all of us, was growing and evolving.

And right around that time in the mid-90s, there was this thing called the Internet that was really starting to take off. I've heard of it. And I've always been a little bit techie that way, interested in innovations. And I had an opportunity to develop some cool software out of Boston, Massachusetts. So I made some decisions.

You sold out, you're telling me. You sold out. Right? No. There's no shame in that. No shame at all. Sometimes you got to cash a check so you can buy a house or two.

Whenever I heard that Carlos was driving a Mercedes, I think he had a Mercedes SUV, and I was getting a $15 a day per diem, and I, you know, I smoke cigarettes at times, so there's a pack of cigarettes

in there a day, and it was peanut butter and jam sandwiches, and Carlos was driving around in a Mercedes. So, you know, I smoked cigarettes at the time, so there's a pack of cigarettes in there a day. And it was peanut butter and jam sandwiches. And Carlos was driving around in a Mercedes. So, you know. And let me guess, you started up some software company and sold it to Microsoft for $500 million. Well, not exactly. How did you know? That's on your wiki page.

That's on the Carlos Alonzo wiki wiki page okay that is a big change you weren't kidding yeah so there there was you know a big big big spot to fill in the band we weren't sure what to do uh again i think it was you know back to now magazine and uh we got this guy, Andrew Charters, AKA Chowder. Chowder. Chowder. Chowder. It's Chowder. Miss you, Chowder.

So for that band, we had actually auditioned a few people for the position. Because that was, you know, at that time, you know, we were, we had a video on Much. We had a radio, you know, a song on the radio and, you know, lots of shows. And so we were kind of scrambling.

I remember we had one date booked and I think Bruce Gordon from My Mother earth played with us did a show uh and uh so anyway we auditioned a few guys and most you know guys would come in and go over to the bass amp and they'd turn it down you know um so you know they play and adequately get through the song and then you know okay thanks for coming out we'll let you know and then you know that kind of happened and nobody was really kind of took a breath away anyway uh so we're just kind of waiting out front for uh for chatter and this guy comes rolling up on a motorcycle with a bass slung around his i don't even know if it was in a case it must have been um so anyway he comes up and, you know,

he's just leather jacket and just looked like yellow hair and he looked really cool. He came in, cranked the bass up, like just turn the amp up like I'm, you know. To 11. Yeah, yeah. And started playing and I don't think he was 30 seconds in and he broke a string on his bass.

It was just, and he just put his arms up in the air, his face was all in and he broke a string on his on his base it was just and he just put his arms up in the air his face was all red and he goes i suck and we were just like you're hired we're in love because just the the 30 seconds we knew he could kind of you know he he was hitting it hard and he was jumping up and down and and you know he was just this kind of this kinetic energy flying around the room we thought okay so we hadn't experienced anything like that since really you know carlos because he brought a lot of fire uh to the band as well well carlos had the chapman stick can you ever hear the difference i went from the stick to when you go to oh yeah you know

yeah yeah the bottom end actually fills out well here i'll start another jam while we're on this album here before we get the new stuff. But... So, Carlos, you're not on this at all This album is Sans Carlos Correct So when you listen to these in the headphones right now What's your thoughts?

It's like, oh, it needs more Carlos? What's the thoughts coming out of you? I mean, I'll be honest For many years I didn't even listen to this record Because of those sorts of feelings. But I still do feel connected to it. And remember, you quit. You weren't fired from your own band.

This is you deciding to go make some money in Boston. Yeah, essentially. But, I mean, there was still that loss, that sense of, you know. To be honest, there may have been some sharp edges around the leaving. They're neither here nor there. But certainly when I hear the record, or did for many years, I thought, wow, that would have been nice to have been part of that. The good news is, I guess in 2017, I put together a solo record

and Chowder, who was, I suppose you could say, my nemesis, he ended up playing a whole bunch of live shows with me. And that was a real, you know, coming together. Yeah, that was fairly trippy.

Yeah, it was a cool thing to bridge. That would be like Sammy Hagar and David Lee Ross. It would, wouldn't it? On stage together. Which will you're quick. Which will never happen. Never say never. Yeah, you know, that's another thing. They might sell out.

You've done it, Carlos. They can do it too. Come on. I thought I was just being an innovator. That was insane. So Chris, though, I'm not trying to cause any trouble. You're back making new music, and here I am breaking up the band, but you must have been pissed at this guy. Who, him?

Yeah. Even though we now look at it like, I understand. It was an emotional time, for sure. I'm mad at him, and I just meant the guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going to give him a lasagna. Lots of people were disappointed. Yeah.

To be honest, I think he said it well, there's some sharp edges around that time. And, but you know what, that's being in a band. What band has not gone through that type of thing and, or had those types of, you know, even before that there was, you know, I think we were all very competitive by nature and, and especially when it's, you know, you have this kind of free, where everybody kind of has a say

and you're not being, there's not one guy that's sort of directing traffic. Democracy. Blue Leg was a dysfunctional democracy. It's difficult. But they all are. I mean, all bands and all democracies are. Except for Bon Jovi,

because that guy just calls the shots. I don't know if that's quite a democracy. Wasn't that the Guns N' Roses album? Chinese democracy. It took like 20 years to make, I think. Has anybody ever heard that? That's what happens. I'm sure it came out.

I didn't have an interest in it, because there was no slash on it. Now, permission to be frank. I'm an outsider. Never been in the music industry. I just talk to talented people like you. make permission to be frank i'm an outsider never been in the music industry i just talked to talented people like you but permission to be frank thank you be frank i thought you were frank right right so i'll have con i'm gonna just pick on because they become good friends of the show the acid test okay so acid test their acid test told me on this show they said we couldn't afford to tour anymore. Like it was we think us outsiders think, oh, you make money on the road.

That's how it works. Like you tour and you make money. And then you learn from, you know, people like Steve and people from acid test. They tell you, oh, no, like we actually it cost us so much money to tour this damn country. We had to stop touring because we were going broke touring and i'm just wondering because i'm listening to these jams and i'm digging them and i'm thinking like how the hell like how the hell was glue leg supposed to uh i mean no wonder you went to boston i'm saying carlos because where's the money in it for a canadian

band a talented canadian band like Glue Leg, that doesn't, who like doesn't, even Sloan struggles, right? And Sloan had all these monster much music hits. Like, I'm just curious if there was a time where you're like, oh, we need to get jobs. Oh yeah, for sure. I mean, it's almost an impossible business. There's very-

It's rigged. There's very few, it's feast or famine and most are in that famine position. Did I mention the peanut butter sandwiches and a $15 a day per diem? I mean, that was, that was life. And I remember once we left from, um, I don't know if you were on this tour, but we went from Toronto to, uh, deadheaded to Thunder Bay. Deadheaded to Thunder Bay. Did the setup, did the show, tore down, threw all the stuff in the van and drove to Winnipeg. Set up, did the show, tore down, got in the van, drove to Saskatchewan. Wow, that's a lot of driving. Well, we didn't see a hotel room, I think, until, didn't see a bed until Calgary.

Wow. That was a real grind. And that was to save bucks, right? Yeah, and you know, there's not a lot of food. It was sort of catering what the venue gave you. There really was no money. You could sell some T-shirts and that would get you gas. Yeah, that's where the money was, particularly with merchandising.

And then certainly bigger shows opening up for bigger bands. But everybody's done this, right? I mean, you know, the police did that. Right, until the Garys brought them to the, well, the story that the Garys tell is they brought them to the Horseshoe and nine people showed up pre-Roxanne, like before. Yeah, but, you know, there's 9,000 people that said they were there. That's true.

So you shouted out, speaking of these these bigger bands who you know gave you national exposure and stuff you mentioned I Mother Earth but we should also shout out

the Tea Party right the Tea Party absolutely great guys yeah we did you know

a few tours with those guys sweet oh the drummer's been on Burroughs Burroughs yeah Jeff yeah the other Jeff

Jeff Martin took a polite pass. You know, he lives in Australia now. That's right. Oh, I heard that, yeah. He's apparently enjoying life there. Our Lady Peace, this will tie in nicely to the new music

because you mentioned Jeremy Taggart plays drums on a new song, but Our Lady Peace as well, right? Supporting you guys. Oh, yeah, yeah. Offering you guys opening spots. Yeah, we did some national tours with OLP as well, right? Supporting you guys. Oh, yeah. Offering you guys opening spots. Yeah, we did some national tours with OLP as well. And I think Jeremy had quite a bit to do with that.

Well, he's got good taste in that. He does. Good taste in music. Yeah, he's a wonderful guy. Great guy. Funny guy. He's been on this show, right? Yeah, he's been on this show.

Yeah, yeah. He's been done. He also, hell of a baseball player. Yeah. Well, I didn't know. Yeah. He was signed to, I think,

the Atlanta, to the Braves. I think he had a minor, like, contract or something. He was a hell, I know he was a hell of a player. Yeah.

So you never know, Jeremy Tegger. And I, yeah, just a sweetheart. And he's got that podcast with Jonathan Torrens. And they've had that for, I don't know,

at least a decade, I would guess. We haven't been on that one yet? Well, I'm going to find out when. Well, we can't now. Well, no, because you did another show before mine. So you can do another show after. Actually, to be honest, I did three.

Really? Give me the names of these shows. Because I've been promoting this as an exclusive glue leg deep dive here. Okay. So to recap, because it's going to bring exclusive glue leg deep dive here. Okay. So to, to recap, cause it's going to bring us to the new music here. You mentioned the EP that was angst,

right? And then you had a park alien. No, angst was the first album, first album, but it was just a cassette. So back in the early nineties, that didn't even feel like an album.

Although now it would be quite exclusive. Right. Right. And then park it would be something quite exclusive right right and then park alien would be the ep you were referencing okay so heroic doses we all heard a bunch of those jams on cfny and you saw much music claude hopper we just played so uh which by the way i understand ashley mckissick is uh yeah he plays on one of those he did he performed on that and uh lenny jabbour i don't know if you remember her. And that was produced by Sylvia Massey, who had just come off of, that was a big score for us because she had just come off of Tool's Undertow record,

which we all loved. And she was working at Paisley Park for Prince. And so she had some great stories. Those are some drops right there. Holy you know, she had some great stories. Those are some, those are some drops right there. Holy moly, holy, keep that coming.

Okay. So Sylvia Massey, where did you produce, where was this recorded? Phase one. Phase one. Yeah. And you know,

one of the preeminent studios in Toronto. So it's one of those places you go into and there's just gold records all on the walls as you're walking in, you know,

it's very, quite impressive. Yeah. In 1997, when Claude Hopper comes out, I mean, you signed the distribution deal of EMI, right? We did. Yeah. All right. What does that, by the way, when you say it, it sounds exciting and I never know what that means.

It just means they will help get your album distributed in the United States or in Canada? Like what exactly? Oh, it's just Canada. It's just Canada. Yeah. Okay. It's such a big country, somebody's got to drive it around. But was there ever a nibble? I mean, because when I'm listening to my headphones, I always wonder, are my ears different than

an American's ear? I don't think it is, but was there ever a moment where it looked like there'd be an opportunity to break in the States, which I know is a, you know, could be quite lucrative to a band. We did have a bite from Roadrunner who was,

you know, a smaller label, but they were getting big. I think they had. We did a showcase for them. We did. In Manhattan. Yeah.

Oh yeah. We played at CBGB. At CBGB. Yeah. And it was, I think they were the only ones there. And I had a friend that showed up. In Manhattan. Yeah. Oh, yeah. We played at CBGB. At CBGB's 96. Yeah. And it was, I think they were the only ones there. And I had a friend that showed up. So I think there might have been.

It was a classic, you know, staffs like cleaning glasses. Couldn't Steve and Paige get Seymour Stein to show up? I feel like they were good, but Seymour got the Bredicked Ladies, their US record deal. Yeah. So Roadrunner, I think they had just signed Nickelback and who's that other band? Default? No, no, they were an American big band.

Greed? Greed. Yeah, so they kind of had those, you know, they were going that way. And I think they had some progressive metal and stuff. But yeah, we just kind of thought, I don't know if that's the right label. Let's maybe hold out for something else. I mean, in hindsight, you know, I think the last time I saw our manager, Bob, rest in peace. You know, we kind of talked about the old days and he said, you know, maybe we should have taken that Roadrunner offer.

Who knows what would have happened. Well, hindsight will kill you. It's 2020, but it kills you. It's a dangerous road there. All right, so here we are. We're going to talk about how the Hack Glue Leg came back together to create new music after a 25-year hiatus. But I just want to give you another gift, each of you another gift.

Okay, so you see these speakers. You got these. They're wireless speakers i thought it was soap that's awesome box and don't use that as soap okay box as speaking of the police okay so that's courtesy of manaris because with that wireless speaker which sounds great you're gonna dig it but you're gonna be able to play season four of Yes, We Are Open, which is hosted by award-winning podcaster, FOTM Al Grego. And he's been touring this country,

just like Glue Leg used to do. He's been touring the country. Good luck to him. Good luck to you, Al. But Al's got the big bucks of Moneris behind him, paying for his hotel rooms. But he's been having inspiring conversations with small business owners.

And if you want to get inspired, if you're a small business owner, an entrepreneur like me, season four of the Yes, We Are Open podcast. While I'm shouting out, because you can go to yesweareopenpodcast.com to subscribe, but you can also go to,

if you have any old tech, old technology, maybe you guys have a phonograph player or an old TV and you need to get rid of this thing, don't throw it in the garbage. That's how that garbage, the bad chemicals and everything

end up in the landfill. So go to recyclemyelectronics.ca and find out where you can safely drop off that old tech. So go to recyclemyelectronics.ca, find out where you can safely drop off that old tech, okay? Thank you to EPRA for recyclemyelectronics.ca. And last but not least, we have a brand new sponsor. I'm going to shout them out, and then we're going to get to the new album. But The Moment Lab specializes in public relations

and has a team of experienced professionals who know how to craft stories that resonate with your audience and generate positive media coverage. Whether you're launching a new product, building your reputation, or managing a crisis, they've got you covered. So let me introduce you to Matt and Jared at the Moment Lab, and you can learn more about how they can help you achieve your public relations goals. Okay, I'm going to start a jam and then we're going to get the story of how this came to be. This is where we're at. Thank you. We'll be right back. Carlos Christian, who wants to handle this one? 25-year hiatus for Glue Leg.

Is that long? I think so. I did the math. I did the math. But here you are. You got a brand new album, Horror Vacui. Vacui. Vacui.

Vacui. You knew I'd butcher that, right? Yeah, that's the fear. It's an Italian expression. The cuee. You knew I'd butcher that, right? Yeah, that's the fear. It's an Italian expression. It's an artist's expression about the fear of an empty spot on a canvas or on a piece of art.

Because nature abhors a vacuum. Nature abhors a vacuum. So, yes, it's just this fear. And, you know, I kind of dabble in that a lot of that type of art. I guess you will. I don't necessarily paint, but a little bit but work with other mediums but i always struggle with that i think a lot of artists do just when is this thing finished and i think it's a very appropriate title for this record as well because we just labored

over this and and it was just okay when is it going to be done well it's not done yet you know we keep going we just got to finish this, finish that, add this, add that. And, you know, we couldn't be happier with the end product. I mean, we love it as an artistic expression. I think it's the best thing I've ever done. 20 tracks and we're going to touch on a few more.

It's a lot of music, yeah. It's a heavy listen. Challenging. But for those, I think, that commit and just kind of dig in a bit, if you like the old band, I think you'll dig this.

You know, there's a lot of different things on this, so yeah, it's definitely a trip. So who initiated this? Carlos, Christian? Which one of different things on this. So, yeah, it's definitely a trip. So who initiated this? Carlos, Christian? Which one of you called that one first? Carlos initiated this. So what happened, Carlos?

You're like, I've got all the luxury automobiles. I've got the cottage. Sort of. Get back to the art. Yeah, but, you know, a slow uphill of that, essentially. I'd been making some solo records for a few years and really driven and prompted by the passing of James Stewart, who was a very good friend and

the record producer who worked on Heroic Doses. So that happened in 2016. So between then and 2020 I made four records and what had started off as these, you know, world music-y kind of classical guitar driven sort of things started evolving into the ending up at the last record

being something quite electronic and really ambient and deconstructed and, you know, lots of soundscape stuff. All along the way, I had playing uh shows and and and promoting this stuff and working with other musicians like i had mentioned a chowder for a while there and i'd been working on chris because although i'd been working with many drummers over these last few years uh there was only one christian thorne simpson particularly his his style of drumming. And although he had said that he had hung up his sticks, I could tell by his visual art that

he was as verbose as ever. The fire was still burning. The fire was still burning. You could smell those embers burning. You're like, no, there's still fire here. And I needed to just crack the nut of how to get him to play something. And there was a small exercise on the second last record that I did

that I wanted to just put a bit of drums on it that Chris might participate in. And I literally called him up. We got on FaceTime and we talked about it. He had heard the track and I said, you know, in this 30 second area. And we talked a bit about technically how to do it. And we both agreed to, you know, just use your iPhone and record it. And we ended up using that on the record.

And it was fantastic. And it sounded really powerful and energized. And it sounded like Chris. What a technological advancement since those mid nineties days when you guys were making music, it's like recording your iPhone. Oh yeah. Yeah.

Oh yeah. I remember, uh, back in the park alien days when we recorded, um, and we were always using modern tech. We recorded on something called ADATs back then in 93 that were literally VHS tapes that were being used as digital recording media.

And I remember at one point, it coming out of the tape machine, this VHS tape that was our multidracks, and it was just spaghetti. Wow. I'm thinking we're on the bleeding edge here. Wow. Okay, so the song you're listening to right now is A Zero Day.

Would you guys mind naming... We did drop Jeremy Taggart's name a few times because he's from a rather famous rock band, and he's a good guy, and he's an FOTM and a friend of yours. And a great musician. Yeah, great drummer, great drummer. Now, what other guest appearances would we find on uh horror vacui uh we had some great uh very very talented people

on this record so a couple of the members of saga you know prog rock canadian prog rock chorus i know because the cancon rules meant that we heard a lot of Saga. And still do, but for good reason. Oh, yeah. It's more than just the CanCon. Chris made a record with them, too. He was in Saga. I did play with him for a couple of years.

Amazing. Anyway, yeah, lovely guys, and hadn't spoken to them for a long time, but we started this project, and I just kind of reached out. Hey, would you mind

playing on this? It was during COVID, right? It was, yes. And so, you know, they're at home and they've got home studios. So I had Ian Crichton, just like a guitar master. I mean, he's just a brilliant guitar player. And Jim Gilmore on synth keyboards. Also played piano on a track.

So we had their input. The first track that you heard had a guy by the name of Christian Sesniak. He played bass guitar and some rhythm guitar on the Aegis. A fantastic player. I played with him and Edwin. That's where we met. And we've still been friends since then. You're still him in Edwin. That's where we met, and we've still been friends since then. You're still friends with Edwin?

Yeah, that's a great guy. He's just a salt of the earth, kind of lovely guy. I haven't seen him in a long time, but I'd like to, certainly. And then Becky Gainforth, who I think her contributions were just... There she is.

Certainly, that's her there yeah on vocals haunting yeah she played in um do you remember a band called sully back that was a 90s band sully and uh i kind of missed them back then but um i i since i met because becky lives in coburg as well and we just bumped into each other and started talking. And, um, so she told me she used to play in Sully and I went and listened to, um,

I couldn't find it anywhere. So at YouTube, uh, yeah, YouTube, there was some, some stuff on there and I heard her voice and I just thought, Oh my God,

this is the voice for the record. This is exactly what I want, what I want. And, uh, and uh and as soon as carlos heard her i mean i didn't have to convince him much i mean she had this it was this um cocteau twins uh stereo lab um dead can dance thing and she just like i i i love her. I love her. Her voice is just phenomenal, and I thought, okay, she's got to get on this record.

She was on more of it even, so we got her on four tracks, I think. Originally, it was going to be the one, Nina and Nana, Paradolty, which is an Ennio Morricone to cover song. Wow. Another name drop, big name drop. Was Ennio on this album?

Yeah, I wish. So, you know, it's a big vocal part in that track. And then from, you know, once we heard that, we've got to bring this, put this color and texture and, you know, on some of the other tracks. We referenced earlier Hugo and the Fish. Yeah. So I'm going to play some Hugo and the Fish.

But when you were talking about Christian Sersniak, you mentioned Edwin, but he also played with Celine Dion. Is that possible? Well, he's on one of her records. Okay. He was a session guy. He did a lot of sessions. That's a fun fact, though. It is, isn't it?

From Celine Dion to Blue Lake. That's what I say. Okay. And Gord finds... It's the Canadian experience. Oh, yeah. Gord played a bunch of percussion on the record. So if there... Not if, but when we do

get the live show together or band together because it's not just going to be Carlos and I there's too many moving parts

too many things going on so Gord is going to be a part of that dammit I think we have a commitment

from him to exciting time so you mentioned this is kind of like everybody's home studios is where this gets recorded, right? Like you don't know, not like the old days or whatever.

So everybody kind of does their part and then it all gets what? Carlos, you collect the parts and then you. That's correct. Yeah. Glue it, glue it together. Pun intended. As it were. Yes.

So, you know, it takes some technical wrangling, but it's all about Pro Tools, which is this great piece of software that most recording studios use, and cloud drives and the internet and funneling it all into the master files to mix it all down. Speaking of master files, who does the mastering? So that was, you know, the icing on the cake with this one is we took the opportunity to reach out to a fellow named Christian Wright, who's a mastering engineer at Abbey Road Studios in London.

The Abbey Road. The Abbey Road Studios. Not the fake one, the real one. A lot of Christians involved in the creation of this album. At least three. I thought of that. At least three. And I will say, now that we've got to know each other,

as we kind of wind down here, I can tell you that maybe Carlos, maybe he got the money, but I want to let Christian know he got the good hair. Yes. And I think I would rather have the good hair. Thank you. And I don't have any money either.

So I would take the hair over the money. He's being so humble that they just see the car he drove in in. No, I know. I'm going to have to recant all these.

What kind of car is he rocking there? Was he got a Tesla in my driveway? What's going on? Just a late model Porsche. Because he's a Canadian drummer, okay? I told you I hung those up

20 years ago. I had to completely reinvent myself or my wife was going to kick me out. How did you reinvent yourself? By walking away from the music business. But where did you walk towards? I walked towards the condo services industry. Yeah, so that's started up a business doing that.

I have a partner, and yeah. And he's done well. You've done well for you. So you've both done well for yourselves, and now you can afford to be Canadian rock stars again. Right? Just expressors, artistic expression. Yeah, that's it.

There's no rock stars here. I'd like to just offer this with regards to this record. You know, what was practically afforded here and really drove part of the sound of what this record and the production around it is Chris's home. And although it might seem a bit posh that he has an indoor pool on the lake. Well, that's cold brew for you. It's a fantastic live room

and that was one of the things that when we put his drums in there and we put some microphones up and that big body of water and the views, we really to me, I was like, okay, this is it. This is where this record is

going to be coming out of. Well, I'm happy for you both and love the new music. And I'm just, before I play some lowest of the low and we say goodbye here, although we need a picture, before you drive off in your Porsche,

we got to get a photo here, okay? But what's next for Glulag? What's the next move? You mentioned there might be some select live gigs. Give us a taste of what's coming next move? You mentioned there might be some select live gigs. Give us a taste of what's coming down the pipe. Yeah. We're talking about getting that together.

Now, Carlos, you're going to Spain for how long? A couple of months. A couple of months. So that's going to shut down. Put, you know, the windows, maybe end of summer. Right. So, yeah, we're going to, you know, again, try and just get this. I keep saying try.

We're going to get this live experience together. And when, I don't know. But we're still working on music. And we've got, there is an EPA I mentioned earlier that we're in the process of finishing off. So the stuff that would have been on this record, but it was just, we were just too long and what do we cut? And let's just,

we'll put it on an EP. It was another cover track and we're going to add a few other pieces to it. If we get some live glue leg at the end of the summer, will Bob Macko Jr. Be invited to the perform in the live gig? I would say absolutely. Absolutely.

I would love that. All right. Exciting. Exciting times. What a pleasure it was to meet you guys Carlos Christian.

Likewise. Thank you very much for having us. Love glue leg. The old stuff I love listening to the new stuff I

love listening to. We all need more glue leg in our diet. That's my my recommendation for all the FOTMs listening.

Just remember the fiber. That's my recommendation for all the FOTMs listening. Just remember the fiber. There's a bit of that on this record. And that brings us to the end of our 1,238th show. You can follow me on

Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Where can we direct people if they want to get those headphones back on and the important parts you got a website what are your social media handles just tell us how we can follow you yes absolutely the first place is

glueleg.com and that site will be up this weekend all fresh and new, with all the content and merch coming and vinyl and CDs and certainly some live shows once we've got that production put together a bit more. And then otherwise, at Glue Leg Music, which is the Instagram tag and also Facebook. You're actually on Twitter, too.

I don't know if anyone's manning the account, but you're there. Thanks for the reminder. I had no idea. Really? I'm still, you know, even though Elon's trying to chase me away, I'm still hanging on to Twitter. He's making it hard, isn't he? He's making it tough.

He'll be honest. Now, NPR is, I mean, just now it's like, get out of here. But then I don't know where to go. This is where I'm at. I don't like Instagram. He'll be honest. Now, NPR is, I mean, just now it's like, get out of here. But then I don't know where to go. This is where I'm at. Like, I don't like Instagram. There is Truth Social. No. Don't go to Truth Social.

I'm at Toronto Mike on Truth Social. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery, they're on Twitter at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Moneris is at Moneris. Recycle My Electronics are at EPRA underscore Canada. The Moment Lab are at The Moment Lab. And Ridley Funeral Home are at Ridley FH. We just dropped a fantastic new episode of Life's Undertaking.

Brad Jones from Ridley Funeral Home is joined by his daughter Jessica, who's going to follow in his footsteps, become a funeral director at Ridley. This is her goal. We talked about it. That's the latest episode. Subscribe. Enjoy. They're at RidleyFH on Twitter.

See you all next week. I wonder who Maybe the one who doesn't realize There's a thousand shades of grey Cause I know that's true Yes I do I know it's true Yeah I know it's true How about you? All them picking up trash

And them putting down roads And their broker in stocks The class struggle explodes We'll see you next time. I am, I guess I am Because everything is coming up Rosy and gray Yeah, the wind is cold But the smell of snow Warms me today And your smile is fine It's just like mine

And it won't go away Because everything is Rosy and gray Well, I've kissed you in France Cause everything is rosy and green 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 And I've seen the sun go down on Chaclacour But I like it much better going down on you

Yeah, you know that's true Because everything is coming up Rosy and green Yeah, the wind is cold But the smell of snow warms us today And your smile is fine And it's just like mine and it won't go away cause everything is rosy now everything is rosy and everything is rosy and gray guitar solo