Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Splash'N Boots: Toronto Mike'd #263

Episode Date: September 6, 2017

Mike chats with Splash'N Boots about the big yellow boot and so much more.

Welcome to episode 263 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a local independent brewery producing fresh craft beer. And propertyinthesix.com, Toronto real estate done right. I'm Mike from torontomic.com and joining me is Splash N Boots Hello N not end

That was good, I liked how you said that I don't want people to hear me say end, I know it's N It's like guns and roses Very similar Guns and roses, exactly That's exactly what I thought, when I think of Splash and Boots I think of GNR. And when I saw you at the X, and I'll play this in a minute, I heard you play a little

Guns and Roses. Yeah, that's true. There's a taste of Guns and Roses in there for the parents. Little hint. Right. You gotta throw something in for the parents. Absolutely. Your names are not really Splashin' Boots.

Ooh. No, correct. This is the first... Okay, because this is real talk. We don't hold back on this show. I like that. No. We're into that.

Your birth certificate... So, the female to my right is... Yes, that's me. Your real name is Tess Levitt. Yes, it is. Love it or Levitt? Levitt. Both.

No, love it or leave it. Love it or Levitt. Okay. But you're also... You're better known to toddlers and children throughout the world as boots. Yes. But you're not wearing your boots today. No, you know,

I thought I'd give them a break. They're pretty hot. I mean, like temperature. Which way? Because I agree on both counts. But like, do you have to lace them up or is there a zipper hiding in the back?

Here's the thing, is that there's a zipper, which was a really good discovery. They were actually made in Toronto here. Yeah, they were. So they're custom made, your big yellow boots. How many holes do we got going on there? Like 18-ish.

So they're like yellow docks. Basically. I looked into getting yellow docks. But that would be too controversial, maybe. Yeah, it's not quite the look we're going for. And beside you, to your right, is Nick Adams. That's right. And you're better known to my kids as Splash.

That's exactly it. We didn't always, when we first started, we didn't know that there was going to be such a demand for us to be either Splash. Who's Splash? Who's Boots? We came up with the name first, and then the kids were like, well, who's Splash? Who's Boots? So at the very beginning when we started, I was actually Boots. And I was Splash.

I did not know that. And I didn't even wear boots. Is this an exclusive? It is. We've never talked about this online or in the media, really, because it makes no sense now. I don't even know why we decided that. I think I just wanted to be first so I was like I'm going to be Splash. I think it's because on first glance Splash

if you had like in certain languages when words have to be a certain gender Splash would be like feminine maybe. Maybe that's it. I thought Boots was more feminine but I also liked Splash because it reminded me of Slash. Right. Guns N' Roses again.

Back to Guns N' Roses. So I think that's what happened. So there you go. There's initially a very... There it is. All right. Why would I wait to say this? Okay.

Yes. So you guys should cover this song. I know. Have you considered it? Actually, you know, it's not a bad idea. Wait for it. And it's a children's song.

It actually, I mean, the theme is kind of positive. Like, you could change a little bit of the words maybe, but Eyes of the Bluest Skies. Yeah, and Sweet Child. Right. Essentially.

Right. And like, I mean, I'm going to guess only because I am a parent. You got to like, it's almost as important you kind of, you have to be appealing

to the parents on some level. Like, you have to be appealing to the parents on some level. Like you gotta give the parents something, right? 100%. Yeah. This is for us. That's been a focus for us

from day one. There's been no, they're half our audience. You know what I mean? And I think there's an idea that- And we control the remote. Exactly.

And the ticket sales, you know? Oh yes, we pay for the tickets and buy the CDs and the car trips you know this is an important

part of our our fan base is parents so like that's we don't just we don't consider ourselves children's entertainers we think we're

you know it's for the family for the family that's cute alright and before we get into that you're I mentioned this

before we started recording but I'm mentioning it again for the subscribers that you're the first duo to use the new swing arm. I've never had all of it. Yes, I feel very excited. I know, we're not sharing a mic. No, this is like...

I feel very... And before, I had three microphones since the beginning, but I had a stand for this one because I rarely had two people here at the same time. So whenever I had a duo on, one had to kind of like I had Alan Cross and Michael Hainsworth on recently. And Alan had to use the stand. It's kind of tough on your back. Well, this is really nice.

I feel like now there's no you don't have to differentiate who gets to stand. Right. Everyone's equal here now. Which I like. I appreciate that. And I want to say like i got the new swing arm because i knew uh splash and boots were coming on but at the time i did not know that but i knew jay and dan from tsn were coming on so i'm like a guy named doug mills contributed a

great amount uh to the patreon campaign and i i had the money to buy the extra swing arm so jay and dan were gonna get this and dan ghosted oned on me. I think he's doing okay. I saw he's on the air, but it ended up just being Jay. So you're the first to use this swing arm test. And Jay's quite tall. Oh, 6'6". I'm not quite that tall.

No, you did not bump your head here. You should have seen Jay sitting there. I'm sure. It's like we had to get a crowbar to get him in there. It was tough. Well, we feel honored. Thanks for the swing arms. I feel very like we're, you know, entering new levels here on the podcast.

Well, you should feel honored, aren't you? Splashin' Boots. So just to set this up for everybody, you... And I think if you don't have young children, you're not going to have a clue who Splashin' Boots are. Like Splashin' Boots, the young people, though, you're the Beatles to young people.

Is that fair to say? Well, I like that. I like where you're going here. This last week, we did get rushed a couple of times. Like it was very funny during the show. There was,

the kids like ran on stage. I got like a flying hug from like, took me out from the back of the legs. I know. It felt like a little Gallag running on oasis like but our our fans are it's all very sweet it's never feels like we're in trouble but there was a couple moments i'm like okay well this could go either way right now hundreds of kids you know slowly all hugging approaching us like oh here we go how many hogs okay so yeah you said noel gallagher

and it automatically started playing wonderwall so when when I saw you, I saw you, your first show at the X. Yes, that's right, yeah. Because you were off with Freddie Penner. Yes, the big feast of all. You know Freddie Penner's been on this show? Yes. And he let me wear his hat. See, he did his homework.

Tess had no idea. Typical. So, okay, I'm playing this because, okay, so I mentioned you have to bring the parents into it. So you do this bit, which I quite like, which is like you talk about like is there any i don't know i think i'm gonna get you'll tell me how you do but you is there any two-year-olds or three-year-olds and all the kids get excited when they're aged just for the for the kids but then we kind of move into the parents like because then you go like uh is there anyone in their 60s or 70s and 80s and then you do 90s yeah and then you play this is that right do i have that right that's

exactly you nailed it that's the shtick that right? That's exactly. You nailed it. That's the shtick. It was accidental when it happened. When it happened the first time, it wasn't planned. It was an improv moment,

but now it's kind of remained in our show. It's a staple. It is. People demand it now. They do. They do. Where's Wonderwall?

Do it. The reason I was paying attention, I was already in line. So during your performance, where my one-year-old and three-year-old were in front of the stage, because it's like the Beatles,

I'm telling you. Especially for my three-year-old. But then I'm in line for the meet and greet afterwards. Like, I had to get a good spot. So then my son, Jarvis,

who's the three-year-old, when, Boots, I guess there was an opportunity to hug you. And he had this massive hug. I got a good photo of it. How many hugs did you give out during the X? I don't even know. But like hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hugs.

I'd say over a thousand. But what's that like? Like I said, honestly, you're a celebrity to these kids. It's the best part of the entire job. Like just, like one of my favorite things is when I crouch down and I watch like

a two-year-old run towards me and reach my arms. It's like life doesn't get any better than this moment. I got a hug from you outside just before you came in

and it was pretty good. Like I can see the allure. You're a pro hugger. I consider hugging to be one of my top qualifications to be boots you know it's it's interesting to go on that point yeah and nothing against the wiggles because we think they're like they are like the standard of awesome um but i remember reading one time why they always do a picture with their thumbs and pointing because

they don't they're they never want to touch that like the thing. But we kind of did the opposite right away. We're like, ah, you know what? They want to hug. You know what I mean? Like that's not a I'm also like a hugger in life. Like I'm the person, someone puts their hand out to shake it and I'm just like, no, I'm going in for the hug. Yeah, there are some people who are just huggers. I miss a hugger.

But when you meet someone who's not a hugger, who wins that battle? That does happen, right? Occasionally, I'm like, oh, maybe this was not a hugging moment, but I did it anyways. I like hugs, to be honest. I think in me, there's a hugger trying to come out. I think I should start giving more hugs.

You should. This whole handshake at the door I've been doing. Jay comes over, 6'6". I should have hugged you. You should have gone right in, just laid your head on his chest just a hold you know what i could i'm just hoping i could reach the chest i'm just visualizing but uh okay so you see any and you played how many times a day did you perform at the x two two times a day yeah yeah two shows two and you do like a meet and greet after each one every single one so you're just like the x only just ended right monday so

you're still coming off this no that's gonna be tiring right yeah I used to work at the X I know what it's like working every day but I didn't have to perform yeah 18 straight days it's a lot but you get in a zone and it's great like we do the shows were when we first started the X it wasn't as easy because you didn't know if there's gonna be a crowd or not so that's the hardest point I think it's like now it's like we go out there it's like here we go it's when there's only 10 people that it's it requires more energy that's why we can kind of go out and and the audience gives us as much energy as we give them so it works that way right has there ever been like a rainy like stormy day at the x when like nobody showed up

and you had your 10 people yeah you always think that not this time not this time no but no in the past for sure and then what ends up happening is that they come people? Well, yeah, you always think that. Not this time. Not this time, no, but in the past for sure. And then what ends up happening is that they come right up to the stage. So you end up doing like more of an intimate kind of show for them. We just take all requests kind of things. If nobody shows up, do you still have to perform? Is that like a contractual obligation? We have done that.

We have done that so many times in our career early on. Oh, yeah, absolutely. You never know who will walk by and want to check it out. That's right. But you got to earn it. Those are the kind of shows that kind of make character I think sometimes. So when I'm at your show at the X, did I mention I saw you at the X?

So before you guys came on, I was in line because Jarvis wanted to meet Chase from Paw Patrol. Yes. And that could be anybody in that thing. But you guys are like really you.

Like no one else could be you. It's true. We're trying to find other Sundays, but. The tribute Splashy Boots band already. Yeah. Well, you could franchise this thing. Yeah. We'll see. Yeah, we'll talk.

I think it would be very popular in Sweden. Yes, I know. Our colors would do well. People would just assume that we are just from their native land. So it's good. I always think of Matt Sundin when I see you guys. Oh, I'll see. He's a good guy.

Or Nyelander. Okay. So we're going to do a deeper dive after the break here, but I should point out Tess. Yes. Like a regular person would spell Tess, T-E-S-S. They would. But you don't do that.

You're not a regular person. No, I'm not regular. My parents, not regular either. So spell your name for us. It's T-A-E-S. It's actually seat backwards. You never want to remember it. Seat backwards.

Yeah. I would have called you Taze if I had no direction. Yes, most people do. Maybe you should take a hint and change it to Taze. Maybe that should be the name. It's nice. It has a nice ring to it. Why are you being difficult?

Taz. That's not Taz. I've seen Tess. That's not Tess. I've seen Tess. Just call me Taze. And Nick. That's a strange name. That's a boring common name, Nick. Boring.

I should spell it with a K at the front. Like Knickerbocker or something like that. Knick. Knick. Do you guys drink beer? Is Splashin' Boots allowed to drink beer? Yeah. We do.

Yeah. And I like this Great Lakes Brewery. We have six in front of us. Not open, by the way. Six each, by the way. I don't want people to think I'm being cheap. No, and I like this Great Lakes Brewery. We have six in front of us. Not open, by the way. Six each, by the way.

I don't want people to think I'm being cheap. I appreciate that a lot. We actually, our tour manager, used to work for this

fine company. Yes. Is that right? Yeah, true story. What's the first name of your tour manager? Andrea.

Andrea. Andrea used to work at Great Lakes Brewery. Wow. I actually have Great Lakes Brewery glasses at my house because she gifted them to me.

And I have a shirt. So Great Lakes Brewery, we do like what you do. We like what you're throwing down. We will be sharing this, but we won't be giving it away. And we will not be drinking it right now. Are you saying you're probably not, you can't drink it in your costume? What do we call it? You call it a costume?

Yeah. So out of costume, you can drink the beer. In costume, no beer, right? No, we have a pretty strict rule. In costume, because you're not wearing your costume today. I'm a little disappointed. No, I know. We don't always wear it.

I'm going to guess like no swearing, no smoking, not that you smoke anyway, but nothing like that. No, our tour like when we go on tour it's it's pretty like what happens like between the hours when we show up at a theater and when we leave it's it's all really like great like we're you know it's a it's a family show and we we take that really seriously of course because you don't know who's going to come around the corner absolutely and in our personality you know we're not in the back corner like you know the mickey or anything like that it's uh no for sure yeah well if you did that i'd just be discreet but uh i worked for a very short period of time at the runnymede and bluer mcdonald's

yeah and they have this like they have um you uh i think it's a ukrainian festival for a weekend every summer okay Okay. So we sponsored, McDonald's sponsored this thing where Ronald McDonald would talk to the kids. Okay. So I had an encounter with Ronald

in full makeup and outfit where he went out of character and it still, it traumatized me. And I was a teenager at the time. I feel like that is traumatizing. Like, because he's got the makeup on

and he always has a certain persona always. But now he's with a teenager inside the McDonald's but in the back room. No one else except me. And he dropped out of character, okay?

He dropped out of character. That's a weird moment. And it was a weird moment. I'm sure that. And then I had this like, oh yeah, like, there's a real guy in that makeup who might...

What did he do? What did he say exactly? He said, can you check on my rides here yet or something like that? Like, it wasn't swearing or anything, but check on my rides here.

But it was in his normal deep voice. Oh yeah. A little bit like a demand like that. Like it wasn't swearing or anything, but checking my rides here, but it was in his normal deep voice. A little bit like a demand or whatever. And it's like, I wanted the Ronald persona to ask me that. You're like,

this isn't working. I think the good thing is like our onstage and offstage selves are basically the same. That's the secret to success. I think so. I don't feel like we,

I'm like, oh, I need to go be Boots now. Right. Because I feel like Boots is like a, oh, I need to go be Boots now. Right. Because I feel like Boots is like a part of who I am. Unlike Uncle Bobby who had,

do you even know who Uncle Bobby is? I realize there's young people here but Uncle Bobby, there's Uncle Bobby. He was a long time children's television host

on CFTO. Okay. Okay. Yeah. So, I grew up with Uncle Bobby. He was like the Mr. Dress Up for CTV. Okay. Is what I described him as. Okay. Like he was a big, for guys my age, we grew up with Uncle Bobby. He was like the Mr. Dress-up for CTV.

Okay. That's what I described him as. Okay. He was a big... For guys my age, we grew up with Uncle Bobby. What a name. So on the air, there's a birthday song and Uncle Bobby, a nice British fellow. But then I had a guest on.

His name's... He goes by the name Retro Ontario. And he was telling me stories about Uncle Bobby, about Uncle Bobby and his trailer and everything. And I realized there's two Uncle Bobbies. Oh, so much adult woman, I'm going to point out. But you guys are always consistently nice, which just makes life much easier for you than Uncle Bobby.

Yeah, that is a true story. I hope it's not a stretch. I think that's the idea. Okay, I'll let everybody know how you were during the photo we take. Yeah, that's right. All right, so that beer, back to the beer. You're getting each a six-pack. Thank you.

But you need a pint glass to pour your beer into. So you're also getting pint glasses. Oh, stop it. Look at these. And they're from propertyinthesix.com. And that gentleman's name is Brian Gerstein. Thank you, Brian. Do you want to hear from Brian? Yes, please. Let's hear from Brian. Let's Gerstein. Thank you, Brian. Do you want to hear from Brian?

Yes, please. Let's hear from Brian. Let's hear from him. Hi, Brian. Property in the 6.com Brian Gerstein here, proud sponsor of Toronto Mic and sales representative with PSR Brokerage, with offices in King West and the Annex. PSR specializes in new condominium sales with the hottest projects in the city,

including Kingley in King West and 2-1 Bloor West. For VIP Toronto mic access, just call me at 416-873-0292 for renderings, floor plans, and pricing. Any real estate consultation in person with me will also get you my propertyinthesix.com pint glass and a six-pack of GLB. There's Brian. I like that music. Nick, you're the musician. So Nick, you're always on the guitar.

Was that a good jingle? Yeah, that's good. Repetition is key there, and it's in a nice key that I think people can just sing along. Yeah, it's good. Repetition is key there, and it's a nice key that I think people can just sing along. Yeah, it's going to be in my head all day. You got to remember, you got to start with

propertyinthesix.com. That was nice. I like that. That's good. No, that was a very nice jingle, Brian. Like it. We like it. I need the origin story here,

so we have to go back and do the origin story, but even before I ask you about the origin story, Brian. Like it. We like it. I need the origin story here. So we have to go back and do the origin story. But even before I ask you about the origin story, I have a question. The first tough question of the day is, are you a couple? Oh, this is such a good, well-asked question. Right out of the gate. We are best friends. Let's get that out of the way. Best friends.

Yep. So you friend-zoned Nick. Is that what you were telling me? We're friend-zoned. Yeah, it's the world we live in. The world we live in. No, we used to be a couple. So you friend-zoned Nick. We're friend-zoned. The world we live in. The world we live in. No, we used to be a couple.

We did. Oh, you want the full story? If you don't mind, because... No one ever gets the full story. Three-year-olds don't know how to download a podcast. Come out with it. Well, hashtag real talk. Right, that's exactly right. Let's hear it.

So we did used to be a couple initially when we started Splashin' Boots. And then we realized that we are best friend material. Yeah, it's better to be on the road with your best friend versus somebody you're with. And that's what we discovered. And it wasn't that we don't love each other because we really love each other. But it was just that we did all of that really early and then realized that best friends is the way to go. But what came first, Splash and Boots or being a couple? They were the exact same time.

The same moment. The same moment. I can't even tell you. No, literally we're kind of like, hey, it was a date, I guess. And then we start singing, hey, dum diddly dum. You know that? It's like Chandler's and Bramley. Hey, dum diddly dum. Because I was like, you know Shannon was a brand name. Hey Dumb Diddly Dumb.

Because I was like you know what we should just try to do this because I always wanted to sing for children. It was like my thing. And then I knew

that Nick played guitar and we kind of had been talking about doing it. And then we just started playing that song and then we were like ooh this is maybe a thing we could do.

It came out of that song in that moment after that date. So kind of hilarious. So it was the moment after that date so kind of it was the same time but it was like it was all very much at the same time but did he get a second date how long yeah he did yeah he got lots of dates lots of dates and so uh was there any moment where when you had that whole like hey let's just be friends uh was it was there any awkwardness in the band splashing boots like was there any anything awkward about the band Splashin' Boots? Like, was there anything awkward? By the band, you mean us?

Well, there's a piano as well. But at some point, he hasn't come to later. We'll get to that. That was years later. Yeah. No, I think it was actually the transition has been,

I think from the get-go of what we've always done has been smooth. And I think it's, sometimes I think it's weird for other people. Like, we get asked if we're together, like,

by every parent in meet and greets. Which is hilarious. And there's always a debate. Either both parents come up and say, so, we've been thinking during the whole show. They really want to know. There's that bit where your arms

are... Oh, yeah, right. In the TV show. I have to describe it to people who don't have a toddler children, but Nick's arms go through your shirt and does stuff like with... Yeah, you do a bunch of stuff and it looks like, for the kids, it looks like Tessa's arms, but it's arms go through your shirt and does stuff like you do a bunch of stuff and it looks like for the kids it looks like Tessa's arms but it's a funny bit or whatever

so it's I don't know for some reason I always assumed you were a couple I don't know where I got that actually I don't know maybe all of the above you only do that move with your partner it seems a bit intimate I think that's where it comes from.

I think that the love, because we don't, we're not acting on the TV show, nor are we acting on stage. I think the mutual respect and love for each other is legit. So you still get hugs from Tess. Well, Tess will hug anybody. That's a silly question. I have to do my own meet and greet now. After the show, I'm like, you have one more hug from me.

Alright, okay. So when you have this date, this infamous date that spawns the Splash and Boots personas, if you will, like, is this, you're at Queen's? University, yeah, in Kingston, Ontario. Alright, so how do you evolve it

from this idea, like, what if, you know, you play guitar, I want to sing for kids, like... Yeah, there was no... There was actually no process, and we still think it's really funny because neither of us have ever known what we're doing. We just know we have to be doing it. So it was basically like, oh, we really like singing this song together.

Let's write some songs and record an album next week in your uncle's basement. In one afternoon. In one afternoon. And now you can use my basement. Yeah, exactly. Oh, great. Okay, we'll be here next week.

The acoustics are actually great. So I don't think there was ever a moment of, I think we always, like what Tess just said, I think we always knew we had to do this. I don't think there was a question of if we were. It was like, yep, once we did that first show, and I think we kind of, we were hooked. And, you know, we tried to find books

on how to be a children's, you know, entertainer. How to make it into music business. They don't exist. Yeah, that don't exist. There's no roadmap, right? With anything. Who are your children performer heroes that you would emulate?

Drop some of those names. When we first started, we went to see a Wiggles show at the ACC at that point. I think so. We sat in the back with no children to like a sold out show and we were like,

okay, what are they doing that's working and how can we like take that kind of like business model and like what are we going to do to be more like the Wiggles?

Right. Well, you probably had this moment of we should be Canada's Wiggles, right? Because they're Australian. Yeah. We just said,

why not? They're kind of a big deal. It's like a band going to see, you know, Metallica. And they're a garage band. And they're like, how do we become Metallica? There's no way to get there. But you just know there is a way. Why not?

I mean, if they did it, why not us? That's kind of what we thought. And we also, like, I, you know, grew up with Fred Penner and Sharon Wilson Bram. Sure. like I you know grew up with Fred Penner and Sharon Wilson Bram and all and so like kind of like getting that really that Canadian children's feeling has been always really important to us like we have like a really great history of children's entertainers in Canada who are incredible yeah it's sort of like like carry on that tradition um has always been really important to us are you too young for Raffi? No. We met Raffi as well in New York. Yeah, we went and saw

him. Wasn't it as big a fan? I mean, just growing up, wasn't... Baby Beluga was sung, I remember, a lot in elementary school and stuff like that. But I think what was about, say, the Fred Penner and the Sharon Lewis and Bram was that warmth, that authentic feeling you get when you see

them live. And you still continue to see that. We actually were really lucky to see Sharon Lewis and Bram's last concert together. Right, because who passed away? Sharon or Lois? Lois did. Lois, yeah. So we got to see their final. And it was great to talk to them and they knew who we were too.

Oh man, I met them and I was just like, I'm going to burst into tears and I want to hug everybody. That's a big deal. It is. Skimmer or Rinky Dink, am I doing that right? I know. That's a big deal, right?'s, it is. Skimmer rinky dink. Am I doing that right? Yeah, I know. That's a big deal, right?

Yeah, totally. Speaking of the Beatles, come on. Yeah. And Fred Penner, like I, I guess I named her off earlier.

I had to tell you, Fred Penner sat in that same seat that Nick's in right now and he had his pork pie hat and he whipped out his guitar and he was strumming along to Brian's jingle. Oh, see? And I was, yeah. So that was the first child's entertainer that appeared on this show. And now Splashin' Boots are here. So

it's, I can shut the whole thing down now. Where do you go? I got nowhere to go now because Raffi's on the West Coast. So I'm done now. I'm done now. Okay. So you tell me though, okay, how do you get this idea? You're going to do this, but you, but at some point you end up on Treehouse television. So can you help me get from there to Treehouse? Like where we all kind of get the exposure. This is like how it went down. We were like playing in libraries, street corners, like basically anywhere we could.

Birthday parties, like all the things. We were just trying to make it. Oh man, I can't even tell you the things. We were just trying to make it. Oh man, I can't even tell you the costumes that we had on were epically horrible. Still the yellow and blue, but just wow. Just like Crocs. We had Crocs. And at one point we thought we had to wear

exactly the same thing. So I was wearing a boy's pants. And it was a very interesting time for us. So then we were like, you know what? We need a TV show because why not? So we went to the head of Treehouse and we were like, hey, we should have a TV show.

And she was like... We'd filmed something. Oh yeah, that's what we did. My dad's chicken barn. We filmed some music videos and a TV show pilot-ish. He's not joking with the chicken barn. You made them a part of the bit, right? Like, hey, the chickens are here too.

Luckily, the chickens were not in. It was also in December in freezing cold. That's funny. But we kept submitting things. So I think we got on their radar fairly early, but they kept going kind of pat on the head. Like, that's nice, you guys. And be like, what about now?

Yeah, you're really trying. I appreciate that. I think we didn't go away. We came back every year. With a new kind of concept. And it was persistence. Persistence. We were.

And when we finally got on Treehouse, we had built the big yellow boot, the TV show we have now, in my brother's garage up in Newmarket. That's kind of our thing. And we actually, Fred Penner came and was in the pilot episode. So he came down. Get out of here. Totally. Freddy P was there. It was really cool

so yeah you can check it on youtube uh and we designed this big yellow boot concept and then we got into treehouse we kind of submitted that to them and they went oh here's your own show we're like okay yeah we were like finally thank you treehouse you know we've only been here nine times well there's i was gonna say there's a fine line between persistence and stalking. That's true. You've got to walk that balance, right? Oh, yeah. Did Chorus own Treehouse at the time?

They do, yeah. Okay. So they could have had a Chorus headquarters. They could have had your pictures. Yeah, exactly. Do not let them in. For security, do not let these guys in. Splash boots keep knocking.

And if they're wearing yellow and blue, then for sure not. Lock the Chorus. Hey, before we proceed, let's hear a promo for Splashin' Boots on Treehouse TV. Do you know where to find prancing

puppies? Or how about kooky costumes? I'm a superhero Daisy Badminton player wearing glasses. If your guess was

the big yellow boots, then you're right. You can jump up and join Splashin' Boots as they sing and dance on Treehouse every day. We're dancing in the boots, in the Wow, I've never heard it without the visuals. What a line to keep in. So I noticed the difference between you and your costume.

And this is for Tess. Your voice is a bit more, more range. Like you go up a bit more, like you're more excited. Than I am right now. When you're in your boots. Yeah.

Maybe that's the thing. I also have like 18 day C&E voice right now. So it's a little husky. It was 20 days when I used to work there. Back when I was a worker but you're 18 hole boots i'm going back real quick there's a zipper on the back yeah so people think you're tying 18 holes but that would take a long time yeah no i don't know why i'm so i'm almost like uh like it's almost like i'm disappointed to learn you're zipping up the back of these boots well look

are all big boots like all women wear boots like that. And I just now realized, are they all cheating with the zipper? There's a lot of zipper cheating going on. Yeah. That sounds like a whole album. And I had a neighbor, I saw a neighbor recently wearing Converse All Stars

that went up really high. I bet you she has a zipper in the back. Oh, the Converse have zippers. Because I used to have the Converse version and they had zippers. Wow. Yeah, I know. Wow. Okay. i'll digest that so you get on treehouse and you're on every day are you on uh

all day long i every time i go to treehouse i see you guys we're back five to six times a day i think they should rebrand it the splash and boots' Boots Network. They really should. We're working on that. That's our next proposal. Hey, Treehouse, new idea. We filmed over 100 episodes with them. So they're on heavy rotation right now, which is great. And we just filmed a bunch of new music videos from our new album. And then those are getting released on Treehouse.

Well, that's great. So we have a good relationship with them. And your new album is called Big Yellow Tunes. the guys and uh people will remember of course big shiny tunes from much music i know and it's the same kind of font and style big yellow tunes that's for the parents again it's not an accident no it was a big it's a wink and a nod to i knew that wasn't an accident whoops also their lawyers we call that a parody i think it's all good so yeah i'm pretty sure there's a loophole there so okay evolution of the outfit uh how long into your like did you all this current outfits you wear is that what you started with on treehouse or has it

evolved since treehouse launched no that uh what we wear now is basically just what we started out with on treehouse they did a couple changes when we first started. It was basically like I had the same dress, but Nick was wearing jeans. They kind of just made it a little bit more costumey, I guess. Just more a little bit. The blue pants and the blue hat. Big cleaner. How many pairs of those pants do you have?

Just two. It's just dangerous. We need to get some more. Yeah, we need some more blue pants. You can spill coffee on there. Oh, man. You can splash your boots and drink coffee. Just some more blue bands you can spill coffee on there you can splash your boots and drink coffee just no beer but you can drink coffee trust me we can drink coffee

when all of our kids start asking for coffee we'll know why they're heroes for drinking coffee there are two other people that showed up at some point so I have to ask you when did you add Charlie, the giant dog?

Yeah. Season two. Yeah. Is that, was that it? Yeah. So season two and on tree house and the piano was there from the beginning from the pilot episode that we did in my brother's garage,

not in its form now, but you should like, literally we bought an old piano from a junk store, hollowed it out. We got a puppeteer to make eyes on it. So the original keys looks hilarious. It's great. Keys, the name of the piano for those who puppeteer to make eyes on it. So the original Keys looks hilarious. It's great. Keys, the name of the piano for those who don't know. Keys. Clever.

And I thought you were Tees. No. Tess. The original Keys was not as smooth. No, but she was cool though. Keys is a female.

Okay, they. Keys is a female. Oh, well, okay. They. Keys is a they. Because it's fluid. Yeah, Keys is fluid. That's what we were going for. Somebody actually, like a little kid called Keys a boy the other day,

which I love. And then like sometimes kids just ask us like, is Keys a boy or a girl? And that's the thing about Keys. Genderless Keys. You turn it around and you go, what do you think Keys is? What do you think it is exactly?

Yeah, that's exactly it. Child psychology 101. Very good. Splash and boots. Splash and boots. If you can't afford real psychology, splash and boots

will do it for you at their meet and greets. Exactly. Those hugs can cure a lot of, they can change a day. Yeah, can change a day for sure.

Now, okay, so, now, I saw, yeah, I'm trying to think where I go up these, Charlie and the piano. So, did they just, you always had Now, okay, so now I saw, yeah, I'm trying to think where I go up these Charlie and the piano.

So did they just, you always had keys, but... Yeah, for the TV show purposes and then we added, they wanted us to add a character, another character

for season two and they wanted something, they kind of, we really wanted a dog and they kind of wanted something... Canadian. Canadians were like a moose

or what do you mean? A fox or a beaver. Yeah, right? Like, so, I don't know. So we really pushed for the dogs as we're both much... Well, people like dogs. Canadians were like a moose? Or what do you mean? A fox? A may believer? Yeah, right? I don't know. So we really pushed for the dogs. We're both much... Well, people like dogs.

Well, yeah. And they're like, oh, it's been done. I'm like, well, not like what we're about to do. So... Because Charlie's so cute, right? We fought for a dog. Charlie's cute. I'm trying to think if there's a comparable...

Maybe in Fraggle Rock, they had that big dog. Do you remember? What, the old guy in the real part of the world? That's right. Yeah, yeah. Gogo would go out there. Yeah, it's... You want to the world? That's right. Yeah, yeah. Gogo would go out there. Yeah, it's a huggable character. Yeah, or a never-ending story, but not quite.

But you're trying to think of giant dogs right now. I'm out now. That's it. Yeah, no, I'm sorry. Except for that red one. Clifford. Okay, so you wanted to add a new character. You added Charlie.

Charlie showed up in your live performance. Yes. And for those who don't know the premise is that you're you mentioned this before uh but you're in a giant yellow boot is that right like you're in there yeah that's our fort like our you know we are in the the kids always want to know how i'm just trying to imagine if i didn't have younger kids because i have two older kids who don't know who you are because they would never watch treehouse and why would you know this, right?

Sure. But my two younger ones, like I said, you're the Beatles. They're Beatles or whatever. Yeah, yeah. And so I'm going to set it up for everybody else who doesn't have kids or grandkids or whatever that you're in a giant boot and you're singing and dancing and there's a giant piano.

And who's in it? Because there's legs. The piano's got human legs. Yeah, it's a real person in there like it's not um it's not voice over it's like live and and it's cool because the real person does the legs and they also press the buttons to make the keys move and they move the eyes and they do this all while doing all of the voice work live off the floor so it's like it's not an easy job to be the piano no it. It doesn't look comfortable. The legs look like they're in a weird position.

Are they comfortable in there? No. It's like a full workout for her. And we're bringing Keys live on this next tour that we're doing in the fall. Keys comes with us live on stage as well. Oh, cool. Yeah. So we're going to do that.

Yeah. Coming up in like two weeks. Cool. I'm going to play a song. And is is this let me look at my big yellow tunes yes this song is on the new album big yellow tunes and then i'm going to ask you about the bit i've seen a few times on treehouse uh my favorite bit maybe in splash and boots history possibly let's play a bit of this and we'll talk about it. Okay. What is it? What song are you going to play?

I think I know. I didn't realize. Oh, sorry about that. Oh. Jumping Jack Granny. Right. I got some. Actually, the whole reason you're here is because I saw the granny bit again. And then I started tweeting all these open questions I had about the granny bit.

And at some point I had a picture. I had a picture of boots. And if you don't, if you're out of context like in an adult world or whatever, I said, I got questions for this chick. This is crazy. I need to talk to these people.

Anyway, here we are. Shake your bum. Kids love this song, by the way. Shake your bum. Shake your bum. And bum is not a swear word. No. Absolutely not. Nope. I like that.

Not even a little bit. Not even a little bit. So here's my question. So in true polka dot door fashion, okay, and I know this is probably the inspiration here. I'm not saying you ripped them off, but I get a big polka roo vibe. So boots will leave.

Maybe, oh, usually somebody drops a word that makes you think. Usually a word like crunch or something. Yeah, she always gets hungry. Crunch is like a trigger word. The Boots has to get out of here. She's fixing. Yeah, I gotta go drink my tea. And you leave the Boots.

Shortly thereafter, Granny shows up. Granny looks a lot like you. It's so sneaky like that. Yeah. But just a little older and her... A little curvier. A little curvier. In all the right places, though.

Granny's hot. Yeah, Granny. See? Wow. I like it. Granny. So, Granny shows up. And this song is performed.

Yeah. This is the Granny song. This is a brand new song, but she just has her bit of the chorus. But now we made it into a full-fledged song. Yeah. This is the brand new song. This is a brand new song but she just has her bit of the chorus but now we made it into a full-fledged like song. Yeah.

She always just like she teaches the dance and then she ends up shaking her bum at the end of every dance move. She even sounds like you to be honest now that I'm listening to her.

Surprising. Hold on. We'll let this finish strong here. We're all shaking our bums in here. It's cute as heck when my one-year-old shakes her bum, I gotta say to this song. It's pretty nice.

So Shake It is the name of that song. I'm a little disappointed you didn't name that song Shake Your Bum. That's the name for that song. You think? You think? We didn't know if that was like too obvious. On that note, okay, so there's a granny there doing this stuff, and then granny leaves, and then shortly thereafter, Boots returns.

See, in my humble opinion, and I'm an old guy. I remember the Pokeroo years, whatever. That's it. Now the joke is in play now. But what you do is you go one more step here this is where you go you tip i mean the one i saw most recent is uh you boots then crunch on an oh yeah so granny has to go eat an apple i'm missing part of the story she has a daily apple that's right so she gets hungry right so granny has to go get her daily apple yeah yes so yeah then you sorry yeah then you

uh boots come back you don't mind i call you boots instead of tests no no that's okay i'm pretty used to it good so you boots come back yeah and then in my opinion that's a great bit the kids love it it's all good we're done but then you go that one more step and you crunch into an apple yeah do you think it's too far too far and i know you're dealing with one year olds okay go ahead so i i hear you okay but so the thing is like one year olds still don't get that i'm jumping jack even after you crunch the apple no oh no no no i had so we had a we did a baseball tournament for autism last summer and i went as jumping jack granny to play baseball which is one of my life highlights i have to say like. Like I've never had more fun. So, but kids came and they were very, very upset

that Boots wasn't there. Like to the point where there were tears. Two or three-year-olds. It wasn't just the babies. No, they were like, where is Boots? Like, why isn't she here? And they were crying. So I had to run into the bathroom

as Jumping Jack Granny, throw off the costume, throw it in a garbage bag and come out as Boots carrying the garbage bag with my bum in it. So I had to run into the bathroom. I was jumping Jack Graney. Throw off the costume. Right. Throw it in a garbage bag and come out as boots carrying the garbage bag with my bum in it. That's hilarious. And then they got really happy. So the thing is that they don't, they still like, they're still like, sometimes they don't forget it. And the crunch of the apple is supposed to help clue in the clever ones in the group.

Well, that's the thing. Because there's, you know, it's, it's, I think it's okay to give the kids clues. I feel bad busting your chops on this because you're right you're dealing with i know and you know we like constructive criticism that extra step though and why i'm a 40 year old guy like this is not for me that's right that's not for me come on yeah you know i'm talking to myself right now with my mirror i've had a mirror like it's not for you leave it alone but you come back and it's like oh granny was here oh yeah like you know

and oh yeah and then you crunch on the apple right after we heard granny left to get an apple like let's give the kids some credit here fair

I think we're raising these kids because here's my thought let's say you don't get it and you don't clue in and I'm sure a lot of one and two year olds don't clue in

but then they have that moment when they're like three or four they'll have that moment how many times did we have a moment even the pokeroo thing at some point we all had a moment of like oh my gosh like uh the guy i missed him again that was pokaroo like we all have this aha moment

you're depriving this aha you're taking away the aha moment by dummying it down so much with the crunch you know what mike next time we film it we're gonna do one without the apple send it to you would you yeah oh that'd be like a dream you? This episode goes out to Toronto, Mike. And then Great Lakes Birds And I'm just going to come back in and I'll be like, oh darn, I miss Granny. But that's great. I enjoy it.

I got to be honest, a lot of shows that the kids watch, I can't handle it, but I enjoy the splash and boot stuff thank you i could get into that yeah i can get into that excellent you mentioned the wiggles before there uh it's like a crossover episode of like so how does this how do you make that happen because the wiggles are like uh they're all driving around and they're like uh lamborghini coon tashes or whatever like like, how did you get the crossover episode?

Did Treehouse arrange that? Yeah, definitely. We had the idea and then they reached out. They were on tour in Canada two years ago, one year ago, and reached out and we had this idea of the episode. And they said yes. And we'd met them before in a live concert at the Molson Amphitheater. Now the Budweiser stage.

The Budweiser stage. Yeah, so we had done two shows with them at this point so they knew us and we had developed this great relationship with them. We were pretty nervous though. It's an odd thing to have the Wiggles on your TV show.

Only one guy is an original Wiggle. I see those on the Trio's too. There's that one old grey haired guy and the other guys are all a franchise of sorts. It's a bit of a the gray-haired guy, and the other guys are all like just like a franchise of sorts. It's a bit of a franchise now. I must give them credit because that brand of the four guys,

it was going down, and they knew it, and they retired, and the one guy stayed on, but they brought these new characters, including the first female Wiggle, and they... They're just using the formula. Now the kids don't even know the difference. They don't know. They don't know.

No. Kids don't know that's not an event. Exactly. That's our fun fact. That's the original wiggle. They were different wiggles before. Yeah, that's right. We're the original Splash Boots though.

Well, so you say. I have to compare the photos. I'll tell you. I'm going to play the theme song to your fantastic show on Treehouse. Okay. And then the real talk continues. So let's hear it. Real talk.

Complete with the jingle there. Five, six, seven, eight! Hi, everyone! Ooh, welcome to the Big Yellow Boots! Hit it! We're dancing in the boot, in the Big Yellow Boots. Like, this is your big jam, right? This is your...

This is a pretty good anthem. People know this song. So who wrote this song? I usually write the music part, and then Tess and I will get together lyrically, and nothing gets... Like, if I have an idea for a song, I run it by Tess the first one. And each of you can tell

either it's a winner or a loser right away. Just by my face. There's a good, honest approach to the songwriting because, you know, it doesn't go, if it doesn't pass the test, test. It doesn't make the album.

Well, then I just realized you're kind of explaining the whole premise in this song here. Excellent. I don't think I've ever analyzed this song before. Okay, Dancing in the Big Yellow Boot. And that's great. Let me say, so let me Big Yellow Boot. And that's great. Let me ask you this. There's a great controversy

in the global children's music world. Are you aware of this? No, tell me. I have to say, what year does that song debut, that song we just heard? We're going back, what? How many years ago?

Approximately. Three? Two? You're not on the stand, I should point out. You don't need to lawyer up at this point. But a couple years back? Yeah. Okay. So can I play you the song from this Dutch group called...

Okay. I can't even say this. Snolabolikies? Are you aware of this? Can I just play it and then we'll just chat about it? Okay. This is as tough as it's going to get today. All right. I forgot. There's a little intro here that I forgot.

I took a mental note to clip this out and I did not. So if you can bear with me 10 seconds here. Okay. We'll let this brew up. They're speaking dutch what are they saying i don't have a clue bam bam bam i think see okay but you can see what i mean right oh yeah i'm not trying to cause any trouble here someone had to come first but you've never you never heard this before you wrote yours. No, but someone has posted this. Yeah, I totally saw that coming.

And then we were like, oh, wow. And I don't even know definitively which one came first, so I'm not even... I just find it cute that there's controversy. I know, I kind of like that, though. Of all the countries, right? Canada and the Netherlands. You should probably do like a mashup of this guy. I looked. I kind of like that, though. Of all the countries, right? Canada and the Netherlands. You know, and... You should probably do, like, a mashup of this guy. I looked this guy up after the fact, and it's like...

I like that part. The video is... It's not kid-friendly. Is that right? The Snålebollig. No. Snålebollig. There you go.

So there's great controversy. It's not all fun and games here. Oh, well. After, you know, 11 albums, it's going to happen once in a while. And you don't, you know, the Dutch kids will listen to this one and the English kids will listen to yours.

It's not a kid's song, though. That's what's funny. Is that right? Oh, no, it's very much not. What is the video? I didn't watch it. Oh, I don't think we should go down that road. Oh, don't, yeah.

Kids, never Google this snarl of Bollie's. You know, I should have paid more attention to the video. I will be doing that right after. That's right. Great. Love is healing. The Junos recognized you for Children's Album of the Year. They did.

In 2014. Yes. 15, 16, and 17. But you actually, you won in 2014. No. No. You just owe your nominee. Who's beating you?

No winnings. Who's beating you? Well, it's really interesting. Is it that Fred Penner? He did. He did. Yeah. No problem.

That year, there was Rafi and Fred Penner in the heavyweights. So we really didn't stand a chance. Yeah, it was like, okay, well, just let's hand it over. It's been funny.

It's an interesting category, I think, because there's some people that cross over into the children's album world that I would say that that's not where their passion is. And they can throw a one-off album out and then...

And then they go back to making the theme song to a big American sitcom. Right. And in fact, I wasn't even actually going there. But you're absolutely right because they have passion for everything no I know Snack Time is an amazing album no but it's so yeah like

sometimes there's been the odd so it's album of the year not group of the year which we totally get like that's a interesting thing but I wish I do wish that the Junos I think there should be more kids involved in the choosing process. Because it's the only category

that is actually, it's specific to a group of people. And you can, you know, anyone can judge a jazz album, which is cool because jazz is jazz, but the kids' music, I think.

But is there a Paw Patrol soundtrack, I should be aware of? Because that's just going to win every time. There should be. I don't know. I don't know about the Paw Patrol. But I think there hasn't been... Nobody's won consistently over the last couple of years.

Well, you keep getting nominated. To me, it's an honor just being nominated. It's an honor entirely to be nominated. And man, is it a fun weekend. Oh, we love it. Anyway, so where is it? In 2014, it was Coconuts Don't Fall Far From the Tree that got you nominated. Yes, our first one. In 2015, it was Coconuts Don't Fall Far From the Tree that got you nominated.

Yes, our first one. In 2015, it was Happy Times. Yep. They weren't all happy times. That'll be our last album. Yeah, they're not all pleasant kids. When Snolabolix lawyers up and you find out you're living under a bridge.

In 2016, but remember, you might have come first. I know. We don't know. Yeah, we don't know. In 2016, which means you might be owning their... Lawyer Up. Yeah. In 2016, Songs from the Boot.

Commonly confused with DOS Boot, which is a completely different thing. U-boats in World War I. And then, of course, the brand new 2017. You've already been nominated for Big Yellow Toon. When did that happen? Last year.

We already had Junos? Yeah. So you go to these Juno Awards because you're nominated. Oh, it's the best. So tell me what, like you hobnob with Shania Twain and Drake.

You guys all just party together. Yeah, totally. Well, actually, the parties, the Warner Party in particular is so fun you hobnob with like uh uh with shania twain and drake you guys all just yeah yeah totally it's well actually the parties the the warner party in particular is so fun because at the junos they kind of bring all these artists together on stage and everyone just jams it's the best and oh cool you know we've been lucky enough i think when we take the junos uh junos are what they are i think it's a big party of all these canadian arts that get together and it's fun to be included in that and uh we jump right in it's fun but do you ever okay so arts that get together and it's fun to be included in that and we jump right in. It's fun.

But do you ever, okay, so what Fred Penner did recently is he recorded with pop stars that aren't children performers. Yes.

But I was thinking like, for example, I'm going to make it up, the Strombelas, okay? Yeah. Why isn't there like a Splashin' Boots

Strombela project in the works? it's funny you mentioned that. It's so funny you mentioned that because we were talking about it last week because we played at Feastival. With them on the main stage. In Oro Medante?

No, not. Yes, in B. In B. Oro Medante. We were watching their adult set and we were like, oh man, because we love the Strombellas and they have kids now

and they did sing a song about a shark. We were like, this is a children's song. So I feel like they're maybe making an album. I've seen Strombellos perform on Kid CBC. Yes. So they have dipped their toes. They can cross over for sure.

So we're all about it. We want to get Alan Doyle on the line. Alan Doyle would be great. We have a lot of East Coast influence in our music as well. No, we are all about it. I think there's just a point where, you know, you get to Fred Penner's level and, you know,

those kind of guests can come on. But I can help a bit. Here's how I can help. Okay, tell me. Sloan, for example. Great. We've done shows with them

in Barrie, New Year's Eve. I can... Chris Murphy takes my calls. Okay. I'm just dropping some names. We can do a Sloan Splashin' Boots thing. It can happen.

Do you want to do something with Maestro Fresh Wes? Yes. Or, you know, just a little change up because you canons thing. It can happen. Do you want to do something with Maestro Fresh Wes? Yes. Or, you know, just a little change up because you can't have a change. Just drop the beats. Right.

And he's still, he records new music still and he's very active. Yeah, we're all about it. And they can be on a TV show. Look, there's the opportunities. There's many opportunities.

They're endless. I want a piece of this though. Can I be the guy in the, can I be the Charlie guy? Like somebody's Charlie. Can I be Charlie? Oh man. Can you please be Charlie? Just guy like somebody's charlie can i be charlie no there's

already a charlie just for like one episode one show where do you record your show um last few seasons were filmed right at the chorus building the new building of course key of course where the ctv news is in now or global okay so chorus bar global that's right so that is the the news so we just did a news bit there and it was our old studio area. It's cool. Okay, I mean, I bike to there because my wife works at 1 Young Street.

Oh, okay. It's right there. It's right there. Right. And I do that bike ride to the Port Lands a lot because you've got to waft through that... They have the sugar factory there, so you've got to...

I know. Right there. I know. I guess in Sugar Beach, of course. Sugar Beach. But yeah, I'm happy to come over and be Charlie one day. Okay, perfect. And yeah, to finish that point, if anyone hears this podcast that, you know, they want

to collaborate, we're all about it. We're in. Come to the booth. I'm trying to think of who else I know. You know, well, Lois de la Loa are coming over tomorrow. I know you guys might be a little young. I'm not going to ask your ages, but I get a vibe like you missed Lois Delos Hay Day. I'm going to Google that, though.

And I'm going to get caught up. When you Google, you'll be like, oh, my God. Well, you know what? At the end of this episode, I always play a little. You're going to hear a song. Okay, great.

Good, good, good. Ron Hawkins, I could see him doing something with you guys. And yeah, we're going to do, yeah, I'll get like an executive producer credit. We're doing a new album right now. It has to be recorded before we go on tour.

In two weeks. In two weeks. No big deal. No big deal. So we're writing it right now and it has to be finished. But that's all right. But we're using... Eric Ratz is doing this.

He's producing this album, which is cool because he is known. He's won a couple of Junos now for producing. But he's just done the last Arkells, stuff like that too. Arkells. There's a great one for you. Yeah. So we're going to, we're kind of dipping into some other people to,

to do some work with us. So that's kind of cool. And we're doing a love songs album. Yeah. For kids though. Yeah. Yeah. Like it's like lullaby slash like,

yeah. Every song is about hugs. Yeah. Call it hugs and stuff. Hugs and stuff. Hugs and stuff. That's cute. Thank you.

I just realized, I also, Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker is a modern rock band that's kind of popular now. You hear their stuff a lot on 102.1. Yeah.

They'd be kind of cool. I go in with them. I like it. You're like the matchmaker for us. I'm just, I was, Musical matchmaker. Yeah.

Musical matchmaker, Mike. Thank you. You got to sell us pretty good because some people hear the word children's music and they go, come on, you know? We've been fighting that our whole career. So, you know, you have to make sure

it's a hard sell. I feel like they're pretty cool. Yeah. I can be very persuasive. I can be very... So let's talk about... So I'm looking at the big Yellow Tunes CD in my hand

and I'm looking at, you know, you're prolific. Like, I'm seeing from 2003 to now uh i don't know how many there are there's like uh well you mentioned coconuts being your first album but you did have a bunch before the first album that was nominated nominated so you have like getting her feet wet and then you have manatee bay popcorn pickles and parrot parrots that's a great album it's a great title razoo back in yellowoo, yeah. Back in Yellow, which is like Back in Black.

See, I'm with you there. All your albums should have been spins on it. Coconuts Don't Fall Far From the Tree, Keeping It Green. Oh, yeah.

I forgot about that one in existing. I got to find that experimental album. Happy Times, Songs from the Boot. Yep. Not Das Boot.

And Big Yellow Tunes. But these are all independent, right? They are. So just tell me a little bit about the business side of all that. You've got the content, but how do you make it...

I'm holding this CD with professional graphics. How do you get from there as an independent artist? How do you get here? Yeah, that's a great question. I think, well, again, like I said,

it all starts with the content. If you can figure out how to record it, that's the one thing. But then to get it into a, you know, a slick package as an independent artist, you have to do everything. Like, I mean, you have to find the right people, I should say. So that's been a big thing about us is like finding the right people. You got to spend some money, too. And we've always kind of whatever money we made as Splashin' Boots, we've always just kind of continued to dump it into Splashin' Boots.

So we invest in ourselves, essentially. And then we own every song now. That's the bonus part, right? Right now we're talking to different people now. Things are moving in a direction in a good way. But one of the questions people ask, do you own your stuff? That's a common question now for the bigger people.

And when you can say yes, that's a great thing. Because you own the likeness and the branding of Splashin' Boots. That's correct. Yeah, Chorus does not own that. They license it from you or whatever? Yeah, essentially. That's exactly it. And your deals with Chorus, you don't have to show me the contract,

but are these like year by year? Yeah. I asked Jay Onright for his T4 slip. I want to see what's going on. I know. Did you pay in U.S. taxes now? Yeah, so it's like season by season. And I think we're gonna

we're working on some new things right now that are exciting. It's too early to tell us. We're looking to move internationally. We want to go to Sweden. They already think you're Swedish. We may as well just run with that.

So when Nick had hair, what color was it? Brown. Okay, he just shaved it off yesterday. Yeah, no, everyone thinks I'm bald. He's wearing a hat. I assumed he was bald. He's not bald. No, no, it's actually, that's another hot tip from, you know. Hot tip. So yeah, it's funny because Lash has hair. When we throw

back Thursday pictures on our Facebook or whatever, when we first started, there was like, I didn't wear a hat. And then there's a lot of people saying, you know, splashed head hair, lol. And then I was like, well, maybe I do. And so I actually grew it. But he grew it like long. Yeah, it was like down to my, like, almost to my mouth.

I was like, I gotta get a haircut. So I just shaved it off again. But there's a hot tip. It's another exclusive. You're getting all the inside scoop. If you look Swedish and you wear yellow and blue all the time, you know, it's another exclusive. I just collect these. You're getting all the insights. Because if you look Swedish and you wear yellow and blue all the time, it's a big market. Sweden, you can

own Stockholm. Yeah, and then the US too. Of course. That little market. Those guys too. I'm going to play another track. This is also from Big Yellow too. It's just a little bit and then it's called Jump. Oh, yeah. Come on, let's wave our hands. I could hear this on Indie 88.

Why are you sticking this to kids? Come on. Listen to that. So Jump, which is a cool track, like I said, sounds catchy, but there's a lot of other great tracks named Jump. Do you want to name a few with me really quickly here? Well, there's Jump Around, there's Jump by Van Halen, there's... I'm having a total blank.

Okay, well, Jump by Van Halen, definitely. I'm not allowing Jump Around because it's not called Jump. Oh, you want Just Jump. Do you have a list over there? Yeah, I made a list of a few popular Jump songs. Okay, so Van Halen, obviously. Sure. Criss Cross. That was called Just Jump?

I'm pretty sure it was called Jump, right? Criss Cross will make you a jump, jump. Maybe it's called Jump Jump. I think it's called Jump. Now you've got me second guessing this. We need to Google this. Let me do it now. Go ahead, yeah. Maybe it's called Jump Jump. I think it's called Jump. Now you've got me second guessing myself. We need to Google this. We'll Google that one. Do you want me to do it now? Go ahead, yeah. The Pointer Sisters

had a popular radio hit called Jump. Jump for my love. Do do da da da da da da da da with the bang bang. Yeah, no. Jump. I can't.

Obviously, this is why I'm in the dog suit and I'm not sane. Guys, it's just called Jump. Oh, there you go. Yeah, see? Chris Cross will make you jump.

Chris Cross. And that was a big hit. Yeah. Daddy Mac will make you jump. One, it's just called Jump. Oh, there you go. Yeah, see? Crisscross and Makia. Crisscross. And that was a big hit. Yeah. Daddy Mac will make you jump. One of those guys has passed away. Crisscross and Makia. Sadly.

Sorry. Yep. We got dark. Yeah, we got dark. You never know when it takes a dark turn. And then Rihanna and Madonna have jump songs as well.

They do? This is a great jump song. There we go. It's kind of nice to be included in these. Maybe one day when, you know, 15 years from now when maybe you're still doing this podcast or maybe someone else named

Mike's going to do it, maybe someone else will come up with a jump song and then they said, well, do you know Splashin' Boots has a jump song? No, that's exactly what I'll do by the way. If I record tomorrow, if the word jump is uttered at any time, did you know Splashin' Boots have a song

called Jump and so does Van Halen. So does Van Halen. And Chris Cross. And Madonna. And Madonna and Pointer Sisters. That's quite an eclectic crew. I kind of want to put House of Pain in there. Now, one more track. Not from the new album, I don't think, but

the title reminds me of another song. I'm just going to play a little bit of Go With the Flow. So what album is Go With the Flow on? That's on Happy Times. Happy Times. They weren't all Happy Times. If you're a penguin, go ahead and dance like a penguin. Whoa, whoa, whoa.

And if you're a bunny, go ahead and dance like a bunny. Whoa, whoa, whoa. It's the interactive. That's what works with the toddlers. They like that interactive nature. Yeah, absolutely. Penguin and bunny dancing. Yeah, I almost danced like a bunny.

You just held yourself back. When you feel like dancing like a bunny, you just got to do it. If this was, yeah, well, I do normally, but I couldn't go off mic or they wouldn't hear me. Do you want to hear the story behind this song? Yeah, of course. Because this is one of your biggest hits. Yeah, for live it goes really well. But people like this song.

It's one of our bigger songs. After reading an article about the family that kind of, you know, it's more of a hot topic now. But a couple of years ago, it was kind of new a bit in the news. But just letting their child decide their gender. That was kind of a hot topic now, but a couple years ago, it was kind of new a bit in the news, but just letting their child decide their gender. That was kind of a thing. And I think it was a boy that wanted to wear a dress to school. It was like kindergarten or daycare. And I was quite, you know, taken aback.

I was like, that was cool. I thought it was really neat. So this song literally was based on maybe you're a bit of both. Maybe you're both. Just go with the flow. Find a dance that works for you and just let it go, which is just about being real. That's great.

So there you go. There's the deeper message behind this song that's all about a bunny and a kangaroo, but it's actually just being true to yourself. I like that. Cool. And now I know the rest of the story. There you go.

So the chorus goes, boom, shalaka, boom, boom. I remember we had to Google that to make sure it didn't mean something. Oh, because speaking of House of Pain, because we just talked with John Brown, one of their other big hits was Boom, shalaka, boom, boom. Oh, really? Really.

That didn't come up in our Google search. Boom, shalaka, boom, boom. Boom, shalaka, boom, boom. Go with the flow. Yeah, in fact, here, let me... Close, but not quite. Close, too close for comfort. You don't want Everlast coming after you

holy man all these people are going to come after us this is the worst decision you made real talk more beer for this real ending boom let me see what I got a lot of boom songs my definition of a boombastic jazz

style is a great when I last saw Maestro Fresh West, he was with... Hold on here. What are they called? Dream Warriors. And that was their big hit. But I'm looking for... Hold on here.

Let me change this to House of Pain. Standby here. Boom, boom. Boom, shalaka. Boom, boom. You know whatalaka, boom, boom. You know what they called it? They called it shamrocks and shenanigans. So me searching for the word boom was never going to work.

That's probably why they didn't come up with an answer. That's right. And here, I'll say Go With The Flow, by the way, I was going to say, reminds me of Queens of the Stone Age had a big, great track called Go With The Flow. Oh, did they? Yes, they did. Here, so hold on here.? Yes, they did. Here. So, hold on here.

Oh, right. It starts like this. I remember that. This is the House of Pain? Right. Oh, yeah. I just get a little taste of it. Oh, yeah. You know, I quite like these.

I kind of like this whole old Irish music with hip-hop kind of cool right great lyric if I was a Jew that I light a menorah and it's clean once we get to the ref, I'll unveil it. I need to talk to you about this tour. Now it's MP3s. We're almost there. I thought you were going to give a shoop-shoop-a We're almost there. I thought I was going to go to the Shoop Shoop-A-Doop there. Yes, the kiss song.

Boom shalock lock. This is great. I didn't just dream this. No, no. Never heard this song before. It was a big hit. I know. It starts with...

I wonder if they know who we are. Should we tell them? How could they not? Well, it depends if they have kids or not. They might. That's the trick. I'm telling you. I'm telling you,

this episode will be very popular with parents of toddlers there you go or grandparents we find that grandparents in fact know us a lot actually it's fun because uh when the kids when they're tired they just stick the kids in front of tea time you're a big fan of tea there's some fun facts on your website by the way well because it was like a thing with my mom. We'd always have tea at around three in the afternoon. Because you're British. Isn't that what the Brits do?

No, apparently. Because you're Swedish. Yeah. Obviously. And your name was practically Tease. Yeah, so it all goes together. That's funny. Okay, I had a tweet yesterday from somebody.

I don't know if I wrote it down. Hold on. Oh, yeah. Russell. Russell. Russell. What does Russell say? I think he thought he was talking to you guys when he was talking to me. But he said, what are your plans for Barrie or Toronto?

I don't have any plans for Barrie myself. But then he says, my kid met you at CNE and can't wait to see you again. Great. I tweeted at him the information because I have all your dates. Thank you. Amazing. And I'll repeat for everybody now.

In Toronto, you are performing at the Al Green Theater. We are. Yeah, October 1st. Yes. Soon it will be called the Scotiabank Theater.

I hope so. No, I made that up. So where is it? Remind me where the Al Green Theater is. It's at Spadina and Bloor. Very convenient. Yes. Yep. Close for everybody. Is it named for the Al Green Theater is. It's at Spadina and Bloor. Very convenient. Yes. Yep.

Close for everybody. Is it named for the Al Green? We should get tickets, Mike. Could you? Yeah. Because I would bring the two little ones to that. Yeah, okay, we're going to give you those. Is that a done deal?

Let's talk after this. We will. Okay. Al Green Theater, so Sunday, October 1st, 1 o'clock p.m. and 4 o'clock p.m. Yes. And that's good because some kids have to nap. That's right. It's a tricky thing.

We think about these are the things that we think about when we're planning a tour. And we don't really know when kids nap because we don't have any yet. But kids nap everywhere. I mean, some parents go like, you know, it could be different for every. It's not a generic time. You said, did you say we don't have any yet? Yes. We, you two, are you guys getting back together?

We don't have any together or separately. The band is going to stay together. I'm just trying to create some drama. See if I can get you guys back together. Imagine though. Imagine? If I got you guys back. A you person?

I just realized. Oh, Mike. Wait. This has probably happened a million times, so this is going to sound stupid, but when one of you has a significant other that comes to your shows, does that throw off the dynamic a bit?

No. No. No, definitely not. Is that too personal? No. We are good with each other's having significant others. Because you're best friends. Or not.

So it's not weird at all. Yeah. In fact, it's like the opposite. Yeah. I think it is actually weirder for everyone else. Weird, totally good. Okay, because I don't know who's in that dog costume, right? Like rolling over the baby.

We'll keep that in this tree. Oh, the stories we can tell you. The road stories of the dog. So if you want the specifics on where you can see Splash and Boots in the GTA, go to Splash and Boots. Don't go to Splash N Boots. Go to Splash... I think we bought that domain. The Property and the Six guy

bought Property and the Six spelled three different ways. Brilliant. It was my idea. Splashinboots.com slash tour. And I sent that link to Russell because Russell's going to take his kid to the Barry or Toronto show.

I feel like that's what you got involved in our fans' interaction with you. Yeah, thank you. Do you want to take over our Twitter for us? Sure. Great. I'm Twitter friendly. I normally at this time

would kick out the jams with you, but I had a correspondence with a nice lady named Danielle. Yes. Daniela or Danielle? Danielle. And then I said, Danielle, could you please ask Splashinboots what their favorite. Daniela or Danielle? Danielle. And then I said, Danielle, could you please

ask Splashin' Boots what their favorite song of all time is? Yeah. And I never heard back. I don't know. She said she asked you guys, but I never heard an answer back. Yeah, she said that she sent that email. That's fine. This is the kind of stuff I usually say off air, but you know, whatever. No, no, that's fine. It's okay. So I'm going to read a nice

email from Becca and then find out what's next for Splashin' Boots. Okay. So members of my... This is Becca talking on Twitter. Members of my family adopted a special needs boy who currently thinks the world of Splashin' Boots. They post about it all the time

and it's so sweet how much they mean to him. How does that make them feel making such a difference in children's lives did they imagine the this impact that's nice i feel choked up i know i feel like i'm gonna cry go ahead i encourage honestly i feel like um uh i'm always a little bit surprised at how how doing what we do can actually impact individuals a lot. And we do a lot of work with special needs children and, and children's hospitals.

And it's very, very important to us. And we always do pre-show meet and greets with kids who either are autistic because it's often too much for them to be waiting in line and stuff. But it is, it's an important part of what we do. And we really love hearing stories about kids who are impacted by our music or by the show

and we will consistently do all that we can for them and their families. And I think that it's a big part of what we like to do is connect children to their parents and children to other children. And I think that music is a really good tool for that. So yeah, we meet a lot of special needs kids. I don't think we even realized the impact we were having

until recently, I don't think even. Like I think we've been always doing this in the sick kids hospitals because I think that's just what we knew we had to do. But just of lately, it seems like we're getting more of these stories. And it's cool, even from parents. We got an email the other day just of a mom that went through some pretty depression, like after postpartum, after a child and said, like, thanks for your music, because you were able to say the things in your songs that I

wasn't able to say to my child. And you got me through some really tough times. So it's like, holy, I didn't, you know, you don't realize this. Like in Spider-Man, we learned like with great power comes great responsibility. That's a lot to say. We created this and we had no idea. But we do take that responsibility. I think we take that really seriously. And that's

a part of us that has grown and will continue to grow. That's beautiful and sweet. That's great. No, like you're out there making a difference with people in their most formidable years. Like, you know, you got that kid for the first five years, like that shapes their whole life,

their whole adulthood. Sure. And it is like a responsibility, which I don't think we knew we were getting into, but we take it. We love it. Very good. Now tell me about the future.

So like, okay, obviously you pump out albums. You got all these demands. You got two weeks to put together this new album. Yeah, no problem. So yeah, album. Well, we think too, if we get nominated for Juno again, if it's five nominees

in a row consecutively, that equals one. I've talked to the Juno people about that. That equals one win? One win, you mean. You're due, you mean. Let me ask you this. Is Penner going to put up his new album that he was pushing?

Oh, absolutely. But Raffy, he's busy going after Trump, right? He doesn't have time for kids. We were up against Raffy last year again. He's still releasing them, too. I'm actually impressed. I was going to say, that generation of children's entertainers,

I think they're still putting albums out. Game on. It's great. His Corner Grocery Store, that was my white album or whatever. That was a big one. That was a huge album. Totally.

Speaking before, when you mentioned regular pop artists or popular musical artists who go out and do a kid's thing and then they go off and do their normal stuff, Anne Murray put out this album, Hippo in My Bathtub. I spun the mess out of that. I destroyed the vinyl

on that one. That's a great cover too. Yeah, that's right. Was it an album or a song? It was an album because it had the big thing on there was the teddy bear picnic that she covered. Yes. Yeah, that's a huge album. I used to love that album.

Yeah. Anne-Marie. In fact, I grew up thinking Anne-Marie was like a children's performer. It was like when I was older and I had the aha moment where, oh my goodness.

Yeah, she didn't actually start out like that. Right. That's an epically good album. Hippo in my bathtub. Yeah, and that cover is so good. Cover's good.. The other one, since we're on this topic,

very important topic. There was a Saturday Night Fever spin-off, like a parody album of Saturday Night Fever with Grover on the cover from Sesame Street. I think it was called Sesame Street Fever. That was a big time on my record player. I don't know that one.

Like I said, you guys are like, you're like, what, you're 25 years old? Yeah. How would you know about the Saturday Night Fever stuff? And what's the objective here to take over the children's, like, you want to be the Wiggles. Like, you're almost now you're like Canada's Wiggles, but you want to be

the world's Wiggles. You want to be the world's Splashin' Boots. Yeah, we want to tour. We want to tour the world like 100%. And that's the goal, is to take what we can do and just reach as many people as we can. So in the process of doing so, then we're up for all the touring. Yeah, so we're working on new projects that will, like filming projects that will take us out of Canada, which is the goal. And then we can tour out of Canada and, you know, just kind of...

We've been out of Canada before. We've been to Middle East, Australia, and like different... But nobody knows of us, right? I mean, we can tour outside and then when we do a show, even the States... Like no one there

is going to see Splashin' Boots. No. We're here. It's like the kids are like, we got to go to the X because Splashin' Boots is there. Yeah, it's in the TV thing. We've been at this for over 12 years.

So the grassroots part of it is a big deal. but when you show up at a brand new community and you can do a show and everyone knows your name, that's huge versus going somewhere else. Every other band has to do that anyways. Yeah, you get a hustle

like anyone else. Exactly. I gotta say, though, it's great that you own everything because you licensed the show to Treehouse, so they probably have some territorial monopoly on the brand or something like that but out of territory or whatever

you could sell it to some PBS or whatever. Totally. No businessman but I just know there's a lot more people in the States

than there can be. It's the numbers. It's the markets. Totally. There's other markets for sure. So I got you at the right time

because soon I could never get soon we'll be at a point where I couldn't get Splash and Boots to come to my basement. No, we're always coming back. Will you? Yeah. I want that video. We're coming back to your basement for sure. So I got you at the right time because soon I could never get, soon we'll be at a point where I couldn't get Splash and Boots to come to my basement. No, we're always coming back. Will you?

Yeah, we're coming back to your basement, for sure. You're going to stop crunching that apple? Crunch, crunch, crunch. Oh, any final remarks before I play? Maybe for the first time

you'll be hearing some Lowest of the Low. I'm going to play, I always close out with Rosie and Gray, which is off their Shakespeare My Butt album. You need to listen to Shakespeare

My Butt. You got it. You got the bum song. It should be called the bum song, but it's not. Shake it. Shakespeare My Butt was like one of the finest Canadian albums from the 90s. I'm not kidding. Cool. Okay. On it. So any final remarks? Final remarks. Thanks for having us.

Thanks Great Lakes Brewery. And thanks for Property in the Six. No. Yeah, propertyinthesix.com Don't drink them out of the can. I only learned this recently. You gotta pour it in the pint glass to break up the CO2. Otherwise, that's why you feel bloated and gassy sometimes. It went viral, I believe, but there was a video where someone explains

this. So I drink it out of the bottle. I drink it out of the can. You break it up somehow. That's why you get all the head and stuff and then it's better for your stomach. Okay, well, this is good to know. We are learning so much today. Yeah.

You didn't realize how educational this would be. No. I've now got over my disappointment that you didn't wear the boots. That's fine. My zipper broke. I got it. They're in the store.

You only have one pair. So I actually have two pairs, but I only have one pair that I really like the best. They fit better. I don't know why. Because they're custom made, so they're a little different every time.

We're going to get Nick a third pair of pants. Yeah. Because you never know. Kids are dirty. When they hug you, don't you think they just ate like a who knows what?

Candy. Oh, I know. There's all sorts of things. I can't keep a shirt clean if I hold my daughter. Face paint? Try hugging 300 children. Dang. Yeah.

I believe that number, by the way. It's my favorite. I know. It's probably about accurate. When I post the picture of us that I'm going to take after the episode, I'm going to post a picture of Jarvis hugging you boots at your meet and greet. It's the sweetest thing ever. He just ran to you and held you.

Absolute favorite part of this work. So thank you guys for coming. This was great. Thank you. When I tell my kids who was here, they're not going to believe me. That's why we did the picture. I was hoping they were going to be here,

but I guess they're at school. We can walk down the street to their daycare and you can do an impromptu show for all the toddlers if you want. Did you bring your guitar? Is that where they're at school. We can walk down the street to their daycare and you can do an impromptu show for all the toddlers. Did you bring your guitar? Is that where they are? Yeah, the two little ones are in daycare down the street. Just right close.

Very close. I dropped them off this morning. And that brings us to the end of our 263rd show. Wow. Congrats. You never forget your 263rd. That's what I always say. That's a hashtag trending, I think, right now.

You can follow me, and I would have had you as my second or third or maybe first guest, but I didn't think you were attainable. Oh, really? Wow. We're attainable. Let's pretend. Let's be honest. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Splash and Boots are at Splash and Boots. Good on you for getting that handle.

We got them all. Good. Keep them. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. And propertyinthesix.com is at Brian Gerstein. See you all next week. Thank you. I like the song.

You know that's true because everything is coming up. Like the song. Thank you. ¶¶ ¶¶ ¶¶ ¶¶ Maybe the one who doesn't realize there's a thousand shades of gray. Cause I know that's true. Yes, I do. I know it's true. Yeah. I know it's true.

How about you? Are they picking up trash and they're putting down ropes?