Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Tara Slone: Toronto Mike'd #322

Episode Date: April 5, 2018

Mike chats with Tara Slone about her years with Joydrop, her experience on Rock Star: INXS, co-hosting Rogers Hometown Hockey with Ron MacLean and more.

Welcome to episode 322 of Toronto Mike, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery located here in Etobicoke. Did you know that 99.99% of all Great Lakes beer remains here in Ontario? GLB, brewed remains here in Ontario. GLB. Brewed for you, Ontario. And propertyinthesix.com. Toronto real estate done right.

And Paytm. An app designed to manage all of your bills in one spot. Download the app today from paytm.ca and our newest sponsor Camp Tournesol the leading French summer camp provider in Ontario. I'm Mike from torontomike.com

and joining me is singer broadcaster and host Tara Sloan. Welcome. Hey, thank you. I didn't know how to bill you because as I tweeted the other day, you are multi-talented. Well, I've had a multi-faceted career at the very least, yeah.

Well, I want to hear all about it, but first, I need to play one of my favorite 90s CanCon rock songs. And it's No, It's Not what you're thinking it's going to be. I still love this song. Me too, big time. How many years later?

I almost don't want to talk over it. It's the early 90s. This was, yeah. 93 or something? 92 maybe? I don't know. Early 90s. It was when Halifax was dubbed the Seattle of Canada, the new Seattle. I hate to name drop, but I'm going to do it quite often, I think, this episode. But Chris

Murphy's been on this show. So we talked. This is his song. He wrote this one. Still, it's the first Sloan song I ever heard. And it's still my favorite Sloan song. I think it's definitely one of my favorites too. I grew up knowing those guys, so they have a special place in my heart for sure. We're going to get to it. I have a special song I play when I identify Maritimers that come on the show, so that'll come very, very soon. Sloan, of course, you spell it S-L-O-N-E. Yep.

So it's a little different. And your name, so I call you Tara because you're Tara. I'm Tara. I go by Tara. My parents actually call me Tara. Tara. But nobody can say that, so I kind of just call myself Tara. But I bet you hear, every day you hear Tara.

I do. Every single day. And you probably are a nice Canadian gal who does not correct them. You probably just let it go. Yeah, I am now. I used to be much more indignant about it when I was young and now it's just, it's a losing battle. So I try, obviously if I'm working closely with somebody, you know, if Ron kept calling me Tara, which he never would. No, because he would do his homework. Yeah. He's attention to detail guy, but yeah, for sure. I, you he would do his homework. Yeah, he's an attention to detail guy. But yeah, for sure.

I would make that request, but I have bigger battles to fight. That's right. And in your little club of Taras that are tired of being Taras called Tara, there's probably Tanyas in that club too. You'll meet a lot of Tanyas, and you're like, I'm Tanya.

There's Tanyas and Tanya's and it gets for us mics there's only mics or mics we try our best but excuse us when we trip up now and then there are Lara's and Lara's and Cara's and Cara's yes I get it, I totally get it before you go a second further I've been neglecting to thank somebody

who was kind enough to drop off like three old CHCH posters. They're right behind you, by the way. This is not a visual medium, so no one will see it but you. That's awesome. Aaron Barnett. So Aaron Barnett said, hey, I found these old CHCH posters. And when he thought of like old nostalgia GTA stuff I was top of mind and he's like hey he couldn't think of who else would want this crap

but of course I would want this crap so he dropped it off so thank you Aaron for thinking of me and dropping off the old CHCH posters because I'm on a very short list of people who might actually want to receive such a gift that's excellent that's so cool you're on the list

with me that's really cool it's you me and retro ontario on that very shortly okay speaking of name dropping former guests i need to ask you about sarah boesveld oh yeah did you uh live in like like are you the kramer to sarah's jerry uh like yeah i don't know who was who at that time of our lives, but yeah, we, uh, I used to live right at, at Dover court, uh, in between college and Dundas. And I, it was an apartment that I held onto for through several roommates. Um, and then my boyfriend turned husband moved in and Sarah lived next door or sorry, downstairs.

And it was actually not only, uh, the place where I was pregnant. Uh, it was the, the place where I actually gave birth to my daughter. I gave birth to my daughter upstairs from Sarah Boesfeld and who, by the way,

but she wasn't the midwife. She was not the midwife. No, but she could have, I think, I the midwife she was not the midwife no but she could i think i feel like she could have been the midwife like she's kind of a talented gal or so yeah she's the coolest for yeah for those who don't know she currently is a journalist for chatelaine and a real feminist trailblazer so um i feel really lucky to know her well you should because like like you she's a great singer like because she came over here to kick out the jam so and she sings along to her jams like for you you probably don't

know but people send me their list of their 10 favorite songs of all time and we just play them and then the guest tells us like why they love that song but when she's she's uh like when bob seger's playing she's harmonizing with bob and i told her and this is the truth, when I hear that Bob Seger track now, I hear Sarah's voice with, like, I hear it now in my head. Like, that's the only way I can hear the song now. That's how good Sarah is as a singer. Yeah. You know what? And I keep, they have this sort of, uh, this media, um, rock band competition thing every year. And I'm, and I'm, I've been asked to, to be there and I'm always away with hometown hockey. So I, uh, I regret that.

I heard they're going to move it to summers just to get you there. Oh, perfect. I hear a lot about Newzapalooza. Yeah. And you would be amazing there. I think that's where Lisa Laflamme will come and rock it out. I've heard she's kick ass also. Yeah.

A lot of good singers in this city and media but uh and you're an amazing singer we're gonna get to that very very shortly but so you're uh neighbors of sarah so sarah's like you got to get uh tara sloan on and i'm like and this sounds got shoes i'm like well i would love i would love to have tara sloan on like you are on my list of people i have to like like capture uh because you you're all over the place like you're you're part of the uh sports media world now you're uh uh like nine speaking of 90s can con you're a singer of a band with big radio hits like you are somebody i've wanted to have over for a long time so thank you sarah for helping to make this happen. Yeah. Thank you, Sarah. And thank you.

No, my pleasure. My pleasure. And just since he's in the news lately and he's a friend of the show, been over a couple of times, you, your buddies with Steve Anthony. Yeah. Am I allowed to say that publicly or do I have to edit this out? No, I've known Steve for a long time. I'm friends with Steve and his, his wife, Tanya, not Tanya, not Tanya. Yeah, they're dear friends. And, you know, I don't get to see, really, I don't get to see anybody as much as I would like to,

given my challenging schedule. Not even my family. But yes, dear old friends of mine and my husband's. And his big thing now is, of course, he uh quit his job as a break i'm sorry i gotta get this right he'll get pissed cp24 breakfast host yeah you know like i don't even know i i hosted a morning show for five years and it is a that's a punishing schedule and he managed to do it for so many years so you know kudos to to him for being able to put in that time and to have the career that he's had. But I'm hoping this means that, you know, he doesn't need the money anymore. He can voice track and live in Prince Edward County and hang out. Well, he's Steve Anthony, so he can just be Steve Anthony. So when you have a get together at his

house or whatnot, how many Coke Zeros does he go through? Do you count them? No, because I'm just too busy drinking wine with Tanya. Because if I have 90 minutes with the man, it's several, several bottles of Coke Zero will be emptied in front of me. Yeah, he's a Coke Zero fiend. This is the good Coke to be addicted to, which is better than the old Steve's.

Exactly. Yeah, it's not the old Steve's. Exactly. Yeah. It's not the 80s anymore. No, it's not. And, you know, Toronto is a city of neighborhoods, which is, I like Toronto. So you're in now, you're in New Toronto, which isn't that new, but it's called New Toronto. But you live in, is it Bloor West Village where you're coming from? Yeah, we live in Bloor West Village, which is actually, it's funny.

you're coming from? Yeah, we live in Bloor West Village, which is actually, it's funny. I lived in Toronto for three years when I was a kid through sort of whatever they call it here, middle school, junior high. And I spent one year in your neighborhood. So I lived just two blocks over from you. And then I spent two years in my current neighborhood when I was younger. Can I blow your mind with a Bloor West Village fact? Yeah. For 18 months as a teenager, I worked at the McDonald's at Runnymede and Bloor. Oh, my goodness. That would be a tough place to work.

There's a lot of traffic in that place. Yeah, but there's no drive-thru there, first of all. That's what's a little different than other McDonald's. But yeah, you get that subway traffic there. So that's sort of middle of Bloor West Village, I'd say. And I went to school, you speak at a primary school, because I don't know what this middle school, junior high stuff, I never knew any of that growing up. But for like primary school at Jane and Bloor.

Oh. So like i know bluer west village that's the hood yeah that's the hood yeah i love that neighborhood no good for you and a short drive for you unlike uh others who have come from like ajax and whitby and uh the last guest came from ajax and he's like oh it took me 90 minutes to get here i feel like i feel bad now i'm feeling i'm apologizing that i made him come here. But for you, it's not too bad. 17 minutes. And do you speak French? No, not really. I mean, there was a period in my life where my French was probably passable.

I always had a good base in it. My mother always spoke French and now lives in France. So she's really fluent. That's real French. Real French. But I wish I spoke it better. Did you consider putting, because you have a daughter, right? Yeah.

Did you consider putting her in French immersion? I did. We kind of missed the boat just due to our moves from Calgary. So, yeah, I've been trying to convince her to go into the advanced French program. Well, here, I have a pro tip for you. No pressure to follow through, but noodle this for a little while. Seriously, if you want to, you know,

have your child enjoy herself this summer and then all of a sudden, like, come home as, like, a French expert who loves French, what you do is you send them to one of the Camp Tournesol French. You watch your child's French skills skyrocket over the summer because Camp Tournesol, they provide French camps in the GTA for tens of thousands of children ages 4 to 14.

They got programs for the Francophone kids, the French immersion kids, and even the kids who have no French experience. So they have a day camp or an overnight experience for everyone from 4 to 14. So go to campt.ca to see what's going on this summer. And if you use the promo code Mike, Mike, one word there, Mike, M-I-K-E, you get $20 off your first order. So campt.caca send your child to french camp tara no pressure but i think that's what you need to do it's sitting bunny day it's

a good idea okay good thank you for translating that because i was gonna i was being exposed as a guy who desperately needs to go to french camp uh gourd depth from the spoons was just here and i told him that uh camp turnusel has this 13 day trip to quebec Spoons was just here and I told him that Camp Tournesol has this 13-day trip to Quebec and he's enrolling and I told him you got to be four to 14. He's going to lie and fudge it. He's going. So I might join him on that adventure. Do you drink beer? I do drink beer. Yes, I enjoy beer. Would you like a free six-pack of local craft beer? Could I talk you into taking that home with you? Yeah, it's not going to take much arm twisting. I will happily

take that off your hands. And you're not going to share that with your husband or anything. Oh, I'm not. I probably should. Well, he likes beer too. I won't interfere if you do. It's fine. But that is courtesy of Great Lakes Brewer brewery and they're in this hood so uh you were too young when you lived in new toronto but it would have been a short short jaunt for you they're near like queensway and rural york area queen elizabeth boulevard by the costco is how i always uh describe it so take that six-pack home enjoy and uh when you're pouring that beer into a pint glass, you're going to be like,

I got a new pint glass just for going on Toronto Mike because I'm giving you, courtesy of Brian Gerstein, at propertyinthesix.com. That's yours, pint glass. Thank you, Brian Gerstein. Brian has a message for you with a rather hard-hitting question at the end of it, so you need to pay attention to this.

So let's hear from Brian. Property in the six dot com. Hi, Tara. Brian Gerstein here, sales representative with PSR Brokerage and proud sponsor of Toronto Might. I hope you enjoy my pine class. I have a limited supply left over

exclusively for Toronto Mike's listeners. In order to get one, just give me a call at 416-873-0292 to meet and discuss any real estate needs you have as spring has sprung. Maybe not weather-wise, but by the calendar. And now is the best time to list. My listings include a pre-sale home inspection, professional floor By the way, it's Ron who's too old, don't you? I just want to point that out. Wow, that is a hard-hitting question. And there will be a Ron McLean segment later, so maybe

we'll high-level. Have you made Ron McLean a better broadcaster since you started working with him? Oh, boy. I mean, I think it would be presumptuous to think that I've made him a better broadcaster. I, I do think that our values align. Um, and I think because of that, we hometown hockey has become a very ethical show. Um, and you know, I do, I think I've had something to do with that. And I

think he would say the same thing, but I think it's because we are, we are aligned in our views of the world. He's a very ethical guy. Like he reads very thick books full of words about ethics. Yes, he is. He's interested in the philosophy of many things. I might be, yeah, I mean, I read also, but I don't think I am. I like to dig into the philosophical tangents quite as much, but I think I'm a little more grounded and sort of what I believe to be right and wrong. And thank you for answering Brian's question, even though he did say your name wrong. No,

he said it. He said it right. He actually said it right. Right. Like he said it like my parents say. Oh my God. He said Tara. Cause he's from Montreal.

That's right. Yes. He told me he, yeah, he's from Montreal and it changed. He would know this stuff and I thought he was butchering it. And I was like, Oh Brian,

you messed it up. Not as good as I am, but he got it right right. He got it right right like my parents did. And I'm doing it like when you anglicized it for us idiots in Ontario, I got it that way right.

But that's not right right. That's like your reformed right. It's, you know, yes, the Montreal version is Tara, but yes, it's fine. Good for you, Brian. Honestly, I'm impressed. This guy keeps impressing me.

So, Brian, way to go. That is super impressive. Say it again, proper, proper. Tara. Tara. Tara. Like, say cat. Cat.

I can say cat. Cat. Tara. Tara. Yeah. Tara. Tara. Like cat. Oh, my. It was easier when I had say cat. Cat. Tara. Tara. Yeah. Tara. Tara. A cat.

Yeah. Oh my, it was easier when I had it like the tar sands. I had a Tara, but it's Tara. Yeah. Tara. Yeah. Can I call you T? Yes.

Yes, many do. I'm going to call you T. Well, T, listen, if you want an easy way to manage all of your bills in one spot, you want PayTM. PayTM is what I use when in one spot, you want PayTM. PayTM is what I use when I pay all my bills through PayTM. I do what I call double dipping because I use my MasterCard, which gets me points on the MasterCard.

And because I do it through PayTM, I get my PayTM cash. And if you use the promo code TorontoMike, one word, on your first bill payment with Paytm, you get $10 in Paytm cash to use towards your next bill. So there's $10 of free money just sitting there. Use the promo code Toronto Mike, all one word, and you can thank me later. I get very excited when a Maritimer comes on because it lets me do the acid test here.

Let's see if this works. Oh, the year was 1778 How I wish I wasn't sure right now You are a Maritimer. Doesn't all of Canada know that? I don't know. I just know that if you go somewhere, a crowded place, and you scream out,

the year was 1778, somebody who responds is a Maritimer. Very good. Sean O'Rourke, via Twitter, asked you a question. It was very interesting. So this is what Sean wrote. He wrote, Tara grew

up in Wolfville. As an Acadia U alumnus, does she have any good stories about the Anvil beverage room? Not sure if she would have been old enough to go in. I wasn't. Also, has she ever tried Scott skins from

Joe's? See, I don't know what any of that means. Okay, I know what he's talking about. So I lived in Wolfville. I've lived in a lot of places. I lived in Wolfville through elementary school. My stepfather was the dean of computer science for a time.

So I was there from second grade through fifth grade. I was aware of the Anvil, which is a bar, but of course I was much too young to even be interested. That's right. I went to Wolfville Elementary School. But I of course have been back since. And are the Scott skins, I'm assuming that those are like potato skins from Joe's. I have been to Joe's a few times, so it's possible that I've had them. Okay, here's a stupid question.

This is Nova Scotia? Yeah, Wolfville, Nova Scotia. I should know where Wolfville is, right? Yeah, you should. It's in the Annapolis Valley, so probably about an hour from Halifax. Beautiful, beautiful part of the province. I know I did a whole, I've been to Halifax

in the last couple years, and I did the whole Cabot Trail. I don't remember this word Wolfsville. Did I miss it maybe? Well, the Cabot Trail is through Cape Breton. Cape Breton, yes. So, yeah. The Annapolis Valley is a different direction.

I think I have to go back and get to Wolfsville. Yeah, you do. It's a really interesting sort of climate and geography there. When you were a musician, did you consider covering any Stan Rogers tunes? Not in the context of my band, but my dad and I did a version of a Stan Rogers song. Northwest Passage? No, but for my grandparents' 40th wedding

anniversary. So yeah, my dad plays music too. So Stan Rogers is definitely an artist that he and I would play together. So you said you grew up in lots of places. And you even mentioned you were in New Toronto when you were a kid for a brief period of time. So like all over the country? when you were a kid for a brief period of time. So like all over the country? Well, so my parents split up when I was quite young and then they lived in different places and my mom moved around a bit more than normal. So yeah, I was in Montreal.

I was born in Montreal. I lived there for a couple of years. I lived in Toronto when I was like four and five. I lived in Kitchener when I was six. I lived in Wolfville I was like four and five. I lived in Kitchener when I was six. I lived in Wolfville when I was seven through ten. That's three different provinces. Then I lived in Toronto again

for like 11, 12, 13 and then I was in Halifax through the end of junior high school and high school and the beginning of university. And then you make your way to the big smoke, I'm guessing. No, then I went to theater school in Montreal. All right.

And then in 1996, I moved to Toronto. How does Joy Drop come to be? What's the origin story of Joy Drop? The origin story of Joy Drop is that I was, when I moved to Toronto, I was actually, I'd come through theater school and I was looking for acting work, but music was always my passion. And I was looking through the back of Now Magazine, and there was an ad that was, they were looking for a rock goddess, believe it or not.

And it said, call Tony at blah, blah, blah. And so I called Tony and I met with the band at Cherry Beach Rehearsal Studios. And it really was love at first listen. I think we all kind of knew right away that it was going to work. That's the first time there was an ad at the back of Now Magazine for something like you could show your grandmother or something. Yeah, no, I had gone through a couple of those actually

and, you know, exchanged some demo tapes with people and... Rock goddess. Yeah, but the rock goddess advert worked. Well, prior to you, I'm trying to think, I guess our rock goddess was Biff Naked, I think. Yeah, she was, she was a, we were parallel rock goddesses. She got there a little ahead of you. A little ahead. Yeah, a little bit.

That's funny. So, Love at First Listen. And I'm going to play your first hit here. And maybe you can tell me a little bit about how this song comes to be. Because this song... Get the right one here. Hold on here. Here we go

if i was beautiful like you all the things I would do Those not so blessed Would be crying out murder And I'd just laugh And get away with it too Like you do If I was beautiful like you So am I supposed to talk over it? Or am I supposed to let it breathe?

Just breathe a little bit. Let's get to that kick part. The heart rate goes up. Yeah, the chorus is big. Yes, ma'am. All right. Great jam. Great jam. It is.

You know, and I can say that, well, because I believe it, but it was written by our drummer, Tony. And actually, this is the song that they played for me when I met with the band for the first time. But it was in sort of demo form and much more mellow, but I knew that they were special songwriters. So this was our first single from our first album metasexual and yeah it was actually it did well in canada but it did really well in the states so we was a top 10 alternative

single on billboard and you know on the back of that we we sold a lot of records and we got to play a lot of cool rock shows and got a lot of radio play. Well, they're smart. I mean, it sounds like they had the song written. It has a great hook in it, but they needed that charismatic front person, right? You needed the rock goddess to complete this. I think that's it, yeah. And you're the rock goddess.

It's the missing link. Marriage made in heaven here. You're the missing link. That's right. And yeah, so tell me about the success in the States. So I have a lot of guys in here, and we have the same, Chris Murphy's a good example,

or Gord Depp, or the guy from, the chap from, man, I'm blanking. Hold on here. We're going to, who's the, oh, terrible.

90s rock band, I Will Give You everything skydiggers oh my god oh they just played hometown hockey they're so great still yeah there's all these examples of bands of great materials great canadian bands great material great songs and stuff but for whatever reason like label issues or this and that political stuff whatever breaking the state seems to be the challenge so tell me what it's like to have your song actually played south of the border. Well, it's funny because, yeah, I mean, you know, the states, there's so many markets. So you can, you know, you hit a town. I remember playing Augusta, Georgia. Actually, it was Masters weekend.

So it was the worst possible time to play a rock show. And our song wasn't played on the radio. And we literally played for bar staff. And that's kind of how it was, right? If you're rolling into a place where nobody's heard of you, then nobody's coming to see you. And then I remember going to Denver

doing a soundcheck at a venue that was like a 2,000 person venue freaking out because like, oh my god, what if it's empty? And then we go away for a bite to eat, come back, and there's a lineup around the block. And that was like a 2,000-person venue, freaking out because like, oh my God, what if it's empty? And then we go away for a bite to eat, come back, and there's a lineup around the block. And that was representative of what radio play can do. But I'll say this because you brought up the Skydiggers. We actually had a similar experience to them.

One of their albums sort of was buried because their record company went under and their catalog was sort of lost with it. Yep. That happened to us. That happened. We put out two albums with Tommy Boy Records. Tommy Boy was the biggest American indie label at the time specializing in hip hop. But we were a few one of a few of their rock signings.

we were a few, one of a few of their rock signings. And then shortly after our second album came out, they were absorbed by Warner and their catalog was relegated somewhere else. And our album was completely unavailable. So for the last 15 years, our two albums disappeared and they're just now, Tommy Boy has repurchased their entire catalog so they've kind of risen from the ashes and they've re-released everything so all of our music is finally available for the first time since like 2002 yeah that's what I mean by these label things because it sounds like the skydiggers they can't even access like the master tapes. Like you don't, which I,

as an outsider, I have no idea how it works. Like, so you, you write these songs and you record these songs, but you don't have a ownership of the master tapes. Like to me, that's,

it's very, always an education. When I talk to somebody about how this works, it doesn't, I guess you need to be big already in order to let use your your fame as leverage or something to make sure you own your stuff or something like you're up and coming once upon a time it's this is how it always worked you know if you were going to sign with a label then the terms were it was as if even if you sort of made back all of the money it was like you pay

off your mortgage but you still don't own your house. Like in perpetuity forever and ever, amen, they own the master. And I think that's a model that still exists, but it is changing because people are more able to control their own catalog and their own recording. Recording, you know, also once upon a time you had to go into a big studio to record and it did did it cost much more money than anybody had access to but now with technology you know if you got pro tools and you have some stuff then you can make a record on your own and so you can own it i'm so disappointed in myself that i couldn't come up with the name sky diggers i can't tell you we have to start again you don't mind myself that I couldn't come up with the name Sky Diggers. I can't tell you. We have to start again.

You don't mind? Because Andy Mays, who's been here, was the nicest guy I've ever met. Just a sweetheart. I have always admired him. He has sort of the same freedom on stage like Gordani had, you know, just this, he just danced like nobody's watching is i was at his christmas show this past 2017 december i saw them at the horseshoe so good and so good uh absolutely like just and that's and i mean they're sort of canada's little secret now whatever like look at this great band whatever and i never understood how can those songs those wonderful songs not be big in the states like it never made sense to me like don't we we're pretty similar we watch the same tv shows pretty much same movies like what's going on here yeah i don't know what i mean you know we as the terminology goes like we we broke um a little

bit but we still you know we got top 10 we didn't make it to number one and that's like an uh an alternative music chart or yeah yeah the alternative billboard and like i guess it's certain like in denver for example if the local alt rock radio station is spinning your record and people are like wanting to hear it maybe it's in their top 10 or whatever having that one radio hit locally will bring people to your your local show and that's the big difference but yeah i mean it's so complicated you know it costs it really in most cases costs so much money to break a record you have to have a record company or at least that was the model when we were out um you had to have you had people whose job it was to phone and bother the radio stations and the program directors. And,

you know, we would do promotional tours. All of that costs money, right. To try to, to have a lunch with a program director and hope that they like us and, you know, get them to promote the song.

It's, it's big business. Yeah. That's why all the DJs had so much swag, right. Cause like you can't pay someone to pay a song. That's payola and that's against the law or whatever. But you can like, here's tickets to the football game or whatever

and come to the open bar or whatever. And yeah, you could do that kind of thing. Yeah. I mean, I think that preceded us a little bit. But at the same time, DJs, you know, didn't have a lot of sway. It was more program directors. So I don't know how it works anymore. And I'm glad I don't. how it works anymore and i'm glad i

don't because i'm i'm glad i'm not concerned about it anymore because it's hard it's a it's a tough um business uh yeah i can imagine so that first album has the the one big single beautiful and then the next album so the the follow-up album has another big single and uh it can in lots of ways if this single might be better than Beautiful, maybe. I don't know. Let me play this next big hit and then we'll talk about it. Let's do it. Don't worry about one thing, don't worry about nothing She said, I'm not gonna let this one go

Nobody's on my side, nobody seems to see How much, how deep, how far these things can be My eyes are dry and I My eyes are dry and I, my eyes are dry and I, I still don't even know you. I, I still wish that I could hold you. I, I, I sometimes want to die. So who wrote this one? So this one was written by our guitar player, Thomas Payne.

And this one had an interesting story. This one did really well in Canada. Top five. Like top five radio player. Shortly after it was serviced to radio in the United States and was sort of starting to climb the charts, 9-11 happened. And they took any song off the radio that had any reference to death or airplanes or... So actually, I mean, in the bigger picture, okay, you know, my radio play isn't the real problem um but yeah i mean it

was quite it was quite a blow to uh to a song that could have um you know maintained our shelf life you know that's typical shit luck for these uh great canadian bands but when you started the story and then you mentioned 9-11 the light went off my head because i had never really never really thought of that or whatnot. But you're right. I Sometimes Wanna Die would not get any radio play for a while after 9-11. No, it was completely, everything was removed from all the playlists. So, yeah, it was disappointing.

So we had a number one video with this song in Canada. We had a top five single. And then our next single was slated to be actually a song that I'd written called American Dream Girl. And that's when the record company went under. So that's when all the funding went away. The record just died. This is why you're in sports media today. I guess so, yeah.

Yeah, I mean know that's just what happens you know sometimes the everything aligns and and you know in some ways they did but you get curveballs sometimes it was yeah that was a pretty big one what was who's the band i can't remember the name of the band right now but the uh the and the bodies hit the floor remember the song bodies that was i remember that because that was kind of a cool, heavy rock track at the time. And then 9-11 happened and you weren't going to hear the bodies hit the floor anymore. That's for sure. Was that Disturbed also?

No, it wasn't Disturbed. It wasn't Disturbed. That was... But this band, yeah. Oh, Disturbed because Disturbed had multiple radio hits. And this Bodies, I think... I know. I remember that song.

Yeah. It was sort of our era a little bit. Sure. That's the post-grunge kind of... New rock? Like this is a Limp Bizkit time? New with a song. Yeah. It was sort of our era a little bit. Sure. That's the post-grunge kind of new rock. Like this is a Limp Bizkit time. New with a U. Right. New.

And then boom loud. I did an episode recently on Guilty Pleasure Jams. And I threw the Limp Bizkit cover of Faith on my list. Because I don't even care. You're allowed. You're entitled. I still love their cover of Faith. And just blast that sucker and go.

You know, I don't care how uncool that makes me. It doesn't make you uncool. Thank you. Is it uncool that I saw Limp Bizkit at the Dome in 2000? I think it was 2000. Chalk it up to youth. I'm not sure I was young enough to get away with that. But yeah, fantastic.

So Sometimes Wanna Die. I have a note here from, and I want to ask you about the video in a second but michael uh moniz on twitter says sometimes want to die is still a favorite of mine never get tired of hearing it a pop rock masterpiece of a tune i think he's right oh well uh we appreciate that. And yes, Thomas, our guitar player, is a fantastic songwriter. How did you get Tommy Lee for the video? It was just one of those things. You know, I actually had resistance initially to the idea because Tommy had kind of, even though I was a Motley Crue fan,

he had kind of a sketchy past and had been in trouble with the law because of his wife. And, you know, like it was, it was, I didn't love the idea. And you have to get your shots before you film a video of the guy, right? I never got that close.

But, you know, we had, it was just a matter of like, we knew somebody who knew somebody like our video director was friends with his manager sent tommy the song he really liked it and it was as simple as that i i don't know really what was in it for tommy not much but um you know he does like an attractive uh canadian woman. Yes, that's true. But yeah, he just loved the song and wanted to be a part of it. And, you know, he turned out to be a really, he's a sweet guy. I mean, he's, you know, I can't speak to his past criminal behavior.

And, you know, honestly, I think I probably would have stood my ground more had I been a little bit more mature. That's, I mean, you know. But he was a famous person. Like, so you get, you get having a famous person in your video like that will get you noticed. I think that's the goal there. Yeah. I mean, our record company was like, listen, it's, this is a big break for us.

So let's do it. Just don't film the video on a boat. There was, yeah. Molly Crew, that Dr. Feelgood album, maybe I was the right age, but I spun that CD over and over again, loved every track on the Dr. Feelgood CD. I remember actually living,

like it was in this neighborhood that in grade six, where I heard Shout at the Devil for the first time. And I was like, wow. And if I played for you now, i don't have it queued up you don't have to worry but if i played for you now home sweet home for example uh you would be singing along and you would love it yep yep not even a guilty pleasure just a pleasure kick stack my heart yeah it's great great band uh well great for the hair metal bands of the 80s but uh that's the so that video was the uh sometimes want to die video uh you might be some say i wouldn't put this on you but i've heard

you might be the greatest victim of 9-11 that was a terrible happen no definitely not the greatest victim of 9-11 but it was yeah it was just one of those things just bad bad timing bad timing and so i is there only the two albums for joy drop yep that was it we sort of um when the record company went under we kind of rallied and started to make some demos and you know started to look for other opportunities but you know we we i think as a unit were not particularly strong at that point. Touring is hard and it's like being married to, you know,

three other people. And, um, within that, we just, we kind of just said, okay, let's just go our separate ways at this point.

Shashina. I hope I said that right. Shashina writes on Twitter to you. Uh, and I'm doing that trick you taught me cat. So I'm trying to do it in my head real quickly. Hey Tara. Hey, Tara. Hey, Tara. Do you keep in touch with the guys in Joy Drop

and any chance of new music in the future? Also, that's a two-part question. Okay. Pay attention. What are your thoughts on how the Canadian music industry has changed since Metasexual's release? Okay.

And before you even reply, Shashina did not do her homework because we saw you guys perform on Hometown Hockey. So clearly you're in touch. Yes, we're in touch. So three out of the four of us remained very, very close friends. And in fact, I would say our friendship improved post-band because we didn't have the stressor of working together and essentially living together on a bus. So we have always kept in touch. Thomas, you know, he kind of went his separate way and that's fine.

But, you know, the three of us have become have always been committed to making music together. And when I moved back to Toronto a couple of years ago, we started to do a little bit of writing. Nothing has been completed, but we also, yeah, we've played a few shows. We played on Rogers Hometown Hockey last season and we've done a couple shows we actually opened for 5440 at the horseshoe in toronto we played a solo show in toronto we played kingston and we're hoping to line up a little bit more for the summer and do some more writing so come play my there's a big uh what they call lakeshore mardi gras that's what they call this thing it's every year uh at the Sam Smith Park,

which is not too far from here. Because I saw 5440 one Saturday night. You Joy Drops got to play the Mardi Gras. We totally would. I got to put you, I think it's the counselor, Mark Grimes, you got to talk to,

but you'd be perfect. But you played the horseshoe, right? With 5440. Little plug that if anybody wants to hear the history of the horseshoe, which just turned 70 years old, I had a gentleman in here, David McPherson, who wrote a book about it. And we just talked for 90 minutes about the greatest shows in horseshoe history,

the top 10 shows. And it was really interesting if you want to listen to that. If I had time to do an 11th, I would have stuck on the Joy Drop 5440 show. It's just on the cutting room floor. I'm not sure it was legendary, but I mean, listen, 5440 are still amazing live. And I think I had the experience of listening to them

and going, oh my God, they had so many hits, but they're all, they're so awesome. And their new stuff is really awesome. So it was a real thrill for us. And they had an American success when Hootie and the Blowfish covered I Go Blind. So there you go. What is it? You don't have to produce, although I did make the request of you.

I noticed you don't have a folder with you. You aren't going to produce the T4s from your JoyDrop ears. That's fine. But having a couple albums with a kind of a hit on each uh whatever level hit that is uh like is that uh paid does that pay the bills is that tough going for a canadian band you know it's tough going um we i think in our kind of heyday when we had the record company support and we were able to sustain ourselves and pay ourselves kind of just enough. Um,

and beyond that, no, I mean, it's, it's a tough, it's, it's tough to make a lot of money. So,

you know, you can, it's, it's an illusion. Shashina's second question though, what we ignored completely because we were so excited about the first one. like i mean other than the internet showed up uh that's one thing i mean it was already there but in its infancy right uh what are your thoughts on how the canadian music industry has changed since metasexuals released do you have any thoughts on that you know i actually i don't i

don't really know um you know the obviously the industry as a whole has changed and yeah we were just kind of at the beginning of that whole Napster era um and I actually have some people have sort of surmised that maybe we were part of that you know the demise um but I don't I don't know I mean we definitely were at the tail end of like the big record deal era where it's just like it seemed like everybody we knew was signing big old record deals and big old publishing deals um your late 90s early 2000s so yeah you're napster that's napster time right i should know this yeah i'm your age i should know these things yeah uh but i don't know i don't know how it's changed ultimately. I mean, I would just say that it looks like bands are able to own their own material more and do a lot more on their own just because of the internet, right?

Well, sort of like how we're doing a broadcast right now. I couldn't have done this with you in the late 90s. Exactly. I would have had my tape recorder maybe. It would have been awkward. And where would I put that? I'd just sell it at Young and Dundas or something. But yeah, you can roll your own now.

So you can be, you have, yes, you can kind of distribute your own music and you can roll your own where you couldn't do that before. Not that it's particularly lucrative unless maybe you're Ed Sheeran and you can parlay it into something massive. But now that you have control of the masters or

that's the record company no we still don't no i mean we'll never own them um but for us i mean at this point it was just really about uh the music being made available to our fans you know for 15 years people are like why can't i find a JoyDrop record? So it was very frustrating. Like people would just have to go to YouTube. Well, let's talk about that really briefly here, which is, oh, because you're right. It is tough to find your music because I wanted to play your two big hits. Not anymore. Now you can download it on everything.

When did this start? This must be super fresh. A few weeks ago. Wow. Okay. It's on Spotify, on Google Play, on iTunes, everything. Cool. Because we had like, these were not an official

YouTube channel of JoyDrop. These were like a fan who ripped it from MuchMusic or something like that. So even when I listen to your two songs there, I can tell that the quality is not very good. It's compressed and everything. Tell everybody. You can

stream, you can download, buy. Right, because that's not giving you any money when we all play that version. Exactly. So at the very least, you need to,

your record company, whoever controls this, now needs to put your videos on an official channel so at least it's monetized for you good people. And then at least we get an HD version

of the song when we want to watch it on YouTube instead of what we have right now. That's true, too. Yeah. Well, baby steps.

Who knows? At least the songs are available to listen now. That's very good. And I've heard this from other artists. They'll tell me about, oh, yeah, we were streamed on Spotify and here's my check for 78 cents or whatever. Yeah, it's not about the money. It's tough going, right? It's not about the money. It's tough going, right? It's not about the money. And I do, I do, you know, I don't know when there will be, um, an artist friendly model.

You know, I don't know. I'm not educated enough to know what it will look like. Um, I do know enough to know that it's not quite there. So, you know, it continued, artists continue to be undervalued. Luckily you have another career but but you did try solo right you tried a solo career yeah and that was you know what i i don't think i've ever been more proud of anything in my life than the solo album that i made um and i it i haven't been more disappointed than when it didn't really do anything. It's a fickle industry. I waited a long time to put it out.

But I still love it. And that is also available for purchase. Is it because, let's say Toronto, right? This is the big city. This is where we both live. And we have these radio stations. where we both live and we have these radio stations and they really, uh,

trying to get like your song played on, you know, 104.5 Chum FM or CHFI or Virgin or whatever they were back then. That was only about 10 years ago, right? Uh, the record came out in 2007. Yeah.

Yeah. Okay. So, uh, but it's, is it, is that part of the challenge is getting these stations to play your darn song? Yep.

Absolutely. And, you know, I waited, um, you know, Is that part of the challenge is getting these stations to play your darn song? Yep, absolutely. And, you know, I waited, you know, Joy Drop broke up in 2002. I waited until 2007 to get a record out. It was five years. It's a long time, you know, sort of a whole generation of music and style. So, and yeah, just, I mean, my videos uh, my videos did okay on much and much more, or much more music and much loud actually. Um, but yeah, the radio play just wasn't there. Some, some people remembered and, and played, but that's, you know, it was, um, it's sort of

what prompted me to move on to the next phase of my life, but it remains an album that I'm very, very proud of. When did you, you know, you have like an extensive IMDB biography. You pop up in lots of things. So when did you realize you could act? Well, that was sort of in the in-between. I went to theater school at Concordia University in Montreal. And I mean, I, that was almost a contingency plan. I had started my degree in music at Dalhousie and Halifax and just blew it. Um, I was studying, it was classical voice. I, you know, what, what was sort of passable in high school, um, was not passable in university

and that I just, I just didn't have the discipline to work as hard as I needed to work. And so I kind of left that behind. And then when I thought, God, what am I going to do next? I thought, well, maybe theater school would work. So not at all to, to take away from the skill that it takes for people to act. And I never had the passion for it, which is why I think it's just that never really took off for me. But I sort of, I moved to Toronto to do some acting. So it was sort of in that little pocket between theater school and Joy Drop that I landed some TV stuff, but it was never my passion. And it was why I was always looking in Now magazine to try to find a band. Well, one of the bigger roles you had was Nikita, right?

Yeah, I was on the Femme Nikita recurring character. I was one of the characters' love interests. So that was, yeah, it was, I mean, it's fun. It was a nice surprise to land something like that. I'm just reading your credits here. So yeah, you had an appearance in the newsroom, which I quite liked. You know that guy? Who's the gentleman behind that series?

Ken Finkelman. Right. My buddy Andrew Stokely tells me a great story. Ken Finkelman wrote Airplane 2, like the sequel to Airplane. That's right. He's got a great story about it. There's a bunch of money on the table, and I don't know, Airplane 2 wasn't quite Airplane. That's right. He's got a great story about it. Like it was, there's a bunch of money on the table

and I don't know, Airplane 2 wasn't quite Airplane. Let's put it that way. But Ken Finkelman's The Newsroom was great. I thought it was fantastic. Yeah. It was a new kind of situation comedy for this country.

I think ahead of its time for sure. Yeah, for sure. For sure. Cool. Now I have a question here from a guy who calls himself Jason from Sudbury. You gotta try to find out

what happened between Tara Sloan and Dean Blundell. This goes back years and years when Blundell worked at The Edge. I remember him saying that she didn't like him for some reason or she was pissed at him but when Joy and Drop were in the studio, he apologized to her on air.

What happened with you and Dean Blundell from the old Edge 102 morning show? Actually, our beef goes back further. So our beef goes back to Dean working at a station called 89X out of Windsor, but it's Detroit's modern rock station, big station. And actually that was one of our biggest markets. And I met him, we were playing some big outdoor show. Kid Rock was headlining. We were on, you know, earlier in the afternoon and I met Dean and he was drunk and lascivious. And I was just like at the end of my rope having, you know, constantly in the rock world just meeting douchebag dudes, you know. And so it was actually on the way back from Detroit in the van that I wrote the song American Dream Girl, which ended up on our second Joy Drop album. American Dream Girl, which ended up on our second Joy Drop album. And so when Dean came to work at 102.1 The Edge, I was like, oh no. So eventually, you know, he found out that that song was about

him. And then we had a little bit of a public feud, which I can't quite remember how it played out, but I think. Well, that was the real talk we're looking for here. The feud, yeah. A little bit of a... Yeah, like I think there was him calling me out and vice versa. But then he did apologize. He does call lots of people out. That's sort of his shtick, I think, is to call people out.

He says some horrible things about lots of lovely people. That's for sure. But you know what? He did apologize. And we never looked back. I mean, I just, you know, I did his morning show when he was with Sportsnet

and water under the bridge. Do you think, because I mean, when it comes to Canadian New Rock stations, Edge 102 was probably, it's definitely the biggest, I'd say, in the country, right? Yeah, I would think so. I can't imagine there being a bigger one, but how, like, do you

feel you got enough support from that station, Joy Drop? Yeah, I mean, they were with us from the very beginning. I remember, you know, hearing, like, they were, they had like a new music show and like, wow, they were one of the first to play Beautiful. And yeah, they were right behind us for sure. Good, good, good. Because your sound would fit those, especially those two singles would fit right in with that new rock scene of the late 90s, early 2000s on Edge 102. Yeah, they totally played.

Which I was told, I always call it Edge 102. And I don't know why. I think it's because there was a short period of time where they were billing themselves as Edge 102. And then I have a buddy who worked there for 25 years and he would always correct me you know it's actually 102.1 the edge it's not edge 102 right but in my mind it's always edge 102 so maybe they had a week where they were edge 102 i don't know in my day it was cfny like i remember listening to Take the Skinheads Bowling. And I mean, that was, you know.

Well, that's the David Marsden era. That was a big station for me. Well, that was the play. David Marsden's thing was the DJs could play what they wanted. They had certain rules to follow. But within reason, they could pick out the vinyl out of the shelf and play the track they wanted to, which is long gone now. Yeah. But yeah, that's a very cool station.

Absolutely. And you were... Here, let me play something. Here, let me play a little bit of you. Give it up for Tara Sloan! Did she say it right, Tara? She said it right. She had it spelled phonetically.

I should have done that. That's a good tip. I should do that next time. Now we can talk over this one. This is, of course, In Excess' Mystify. Speaking of albums, I had this on cassette though.

Kick. Every song was good on Kick. Yeah, they were a great band. And Michael Hutchins had this rock star charisma. He was the next coming of Mick Jagger. He was just a cool guy. Yeah, which is why he was ultimately irreplaceable. But you tried.

I tried. We all tried. Okay, so how do you end up as a contestant on Rockstar in Excess? It took some arm twisting, actually. I remember hearing that they were coming through Toronto and going across North America with their open auditions. And honestly, it didn't even cross my mind to be a part of it. And I wasn't.

And then a woman named Chris, who was a super fan of Joy Drops, she lives in New York and she used to come to all of our shows in the Northeast. She sent me a note and she's like, you know, I think you should try out for this show. And I was like, I can't. And actually I was in Europe visiting my mom and she's like, listen, I know InXS is another one of my favorite bands. I kind of know their management. Would you mind if I put together a package and just like made them aware of you? And I was like, yeah, knock yourself out. So they got the package.

They obviously thought highly of it and they got in touch with me. So it wasn't I wasn't immediately given the entry. I got right into the top 50. So I skipped the open audition part. But I still had to go to LA for a week while they whittled it down to the top 20. So the series that would air, and this was a big deal, I remember,

that was top 20? And then they started eliminating each week? Yeah, no, they started, I think, with top 16. I think they had four alternates or whatever. But yeah, I actually liked that about the show, is that everybody who started in the competition was good, and they weren't looking for these sort of embarrassing moments, you know. Oh, American Idol style. Right.

They skipped that. So it was all just about good quality performances. And honestly, everybody on that show was really, really talented. How did you do? Like, where did you finish? I finished ninth. Which, I mean, in the grand scheme of things pretty good i lasted you know about a month on the show it wasn't um i would never do it again it was hard it's hard to be publicly judged in that way especially i'd

never done covers in my life right excuse me i'm's okay. There's water if you need it. I poured that just before you got here. Yeah, I had never done cover songs, so it wasn't an area of comfort for me. And it was weird. It was like the early days of reality competition shows. We were sequestered completely our telephone conversations were monitored we weren't allowed to watch tv or listen to radio or get any newspapers or like pay attention to anything current so we it was like the truman show like the oj the oj jury yeah we had no we were sequestered so it was very strange because this is a mark burnett production right he's the survivor guy

yeah he's probably using his blueprint yeah that's guy. Yeah, it was a huge show. Yeah, it was a huge show. Interesting. But, you know, we were treated like rock stars, that's for sure. We were at this giant mansion in Silver Lake. And, you know, in spite of, I think,

their best efforts to try to get us to be in conflict with one another. Most of us got along so well that we ended up just playing music and writing songs together. They must have been disappointed. You should have put Dean Blundell on there.

They had JD Fortune who ultimately won the show and he was the wrench. He's a Toronto guy too, right? Is he Toronto guy? He's actually a Nova Scotia guy. Originally he's from Pictou County but he lived in Toronto. Interesting that, were you

the only two top ten people from here? No, there were four Canadians included and the other two were Deanna Johnson and Susie McNeil. Susie finished fourth. Yeah, Susie later became my roommate. Look at that.

What's your favorite In Excess song? Oh, man. Which is tough to answer when you're listening to an In Excess song because you're going to have a natural response. It's going to be I Need You Tonight. I actually do. I mean, Never Tear to be, I need you tonight. I actually do. I, I mean, never tear us apart.

I think for just nostalgia from a nostalgia point of view. Um, it's my favorite in excess song is never tear us apart. It's such a beautiful song. Like, um, I always loved mystify too. I don't know.

I'd have to look at a list. So did you choose the songs you cover? They gave you the list and said, you're covering those songs I'd have to look at a list. So did you choose the songs you covered? They gave you the list and said you're covering those songs. No, they gave us a list. And is it tough to, I know you don't do covers, but is it tougher to do a cover from a male singer? Does that make any difference at all or no?

Maybe a little bit. We work, their house band, who is most of the same house band is now playing on The Voice. They're like unbelievably good musicians. So no, we always would jump. It's not like we would jump right in and sing them. We'd rehearse and then change the key as necessary. But obviously they went with the contestant who was closest to Michael Hutchins in sound.

Interesting. They weren't really looking for somebody who sounded different. My buddy, who is, he records music as custom. He had a big hit, Hey Mister, which CFNY used to play. Anyway, he directed movies for a while

and he was directing a movie called Limp, which starred Michael Hutchins shortly before Michaelael hutchins death oh wow and the movie was never released it got held up in some litigation and it never saw the light of day but i've had lots of discussions with uh his name's the real name is duane uh custom about michael hutchins and just how good how what good spirits he was in how he was positive you know know, my friend is convinced it was an accident, this death.

Oh, I think it was an accident. I remember being at the time, it was great. I know there was some, yeah. Yeah. Yes, but yeah, that it was an accidental hanging. Yeah.

Yeah, it's super sad. I mean, it's sad. It doesn't matter who it is, it's sad. But he was a very unique talent. And I think that Bob Geldof ended up raising his daughter, I think. If my memory serves me correctly. Yeah, there was a very complicated personal life in there. Because the mother was his ex-wife.

Yeah, there was a whole thing there. Yeah. But this jam, as I listen to it, still great. I don't care. So good. So good. Feel free to sing along. No pressure. You don't have to be a Sarah Boesveld No pressure

We were there Two worlds collided And they would never tear us apart You were standing Sun TV. I'm trying to remember Sun TV. I kind of do because Channel 15. It was 15. Yeah, it was.

I don't know how it ended up there in the dial. What was there before? It was Toronto 1 for a minute. Where Roz Weston was. Roz Weston was on Toronto 1. Dina Pugliese started there. I think Tracy Moore started there. A bunch of people started there, but they

were very short-lived. Because it became sun news network at some point yeah that was i was not involved yeah the conservative the fox tv north or whatever they were yeah i don't know what happens i i guess my my sort of impression slash recollection is that sun media purchased this property and held on to it for a while not knowing what to do with it. And so when I was there, it was in that weird limbo time when they just ran like reruns and movies. They ran, Super Dave Osborne was on after our nightly show every night.

Dave Biner. I love Super, yeah, I love that stuff. Yeah. So it was just- Oh, no, that was Bizarre. Okay. Yeah. Because he started on Bizarre. Oh, I know Dave Biner. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right, right, right. The Super Dave Osborne, I love that stuff. Or no, that was Bizarre. Okay, yeah, because he started on Bizarre. Oh, I know Deep Butter. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right, right, right. The Super Dave Osmond was after that. Sorry.

But Bizarre, I think they would run on Sun TV also. Just weird shows. Young Mike was watching Bizarre one day and there was an attractive woman

with a large endowed woman who had a t-shirt and she'd remove her t-shirt but there'd be a t-shirt under it and she did it like 30 times and there was always a t-shirt underneath the t-shirt.

How disappointing. Yes, it drew me. I went crazy. True story. That's bizarre. I remember it was. And Ziggy, do you remember Ziggy from, of course you remember Ziggy from Much Music?

Yeah. She came over and told a story that she got fired from being one of the gals on Bizarre. Oh, really? Because they were filming that thing in aging court. Oh, funny. Where the CTV people are. Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. Okay, really? Because they were filming that thing in aging courts. Oh, funny. Where the CTV people are. Yeah, that didn't surprise me.

Okay, so yeah, there's a lot of stuff on Sun TV. So yeah, Sun TV, so it was just this weird station that sort of had, they were just holding onto, but because of Canadian content regulations, they had to have some original programming. So there were three shows.

One was The Grill Room, hosted by Gareth Wheeler. So it was sort of a sports talk show. One was Canoe Live, which was a nightly current affairs show. And one was Inside Jam, which was a weekly entertainment show. So that was my first TV job when I sort of went, okay, I need to just get out of the music business for now. And I'm going to try my hand at this TV thing. And so. But first of all, two things. One is good. You parlayed your exposure on television on

this In Excess reality show into something, hosting duties at Sun TV. And it sounds like you were, like, it sounds like I might've been able to get a show there. Like this is a chance. It doesn't sound like there was anyone watching or caring and you got to kind of hone your skills on television. On the job. Yeah. I mean, you know, there were very qualified people working there. So my producer, Paul Schmidt was like, yeah, I know who you are. You seem smart. Like, sure. I'll give give you a try and obviously entertainment was the world that I was comfortable in so it was a good place for me to start in tv but yeah I would say ultimately it's sort of it's the best way to learn I mean I going to school is a good option but I didn't have that so I learned on the job and I wrote and produced and hosted on the job with not that many people watching and how how long were

you at sun tv um i was only there a couple of years uh and then i went on mat leave so i was there for i think two years and then i was on a maternity leave year and trying to figure out what i was going to do and actually at the time when I would have come back is when they switched to Sun News Network. So that was clear. You were too liberal. They said, get out of here with your progressive views. I certainly, I wouldn't have been invited to participate,

nor would I have wanted to. So, but then my boss from Sun TV moved to Calgary, got a job as the executive producer of Breakfast Television in Calgary. They needed a host. I auditioned and I got that. So that was sort of the, that was, that was the biggest step. Okay. So are you, are you married to a Toronto guy at this point? So my husband is actually from St. Albert, Alberta, but yes, he's a Toronto guy. He's a camera guy.

Is St. Albert near Edmonton by any chance? Yes. Okay. Because I'm married to someone from Edmonton. Oh, yeah. St. Albert is just north, just to the north. So he knows Alberta. He wasn't freaking out when you said, hey, we got to move to Calgary. No, he wasn't, but I was. Because I really had only come through with the band. I didn't know Calgary well, but it was ultimately a really good experience. And you spent five years at BT Calgary.

I did. Waking up at 3 a.m. Yeah, I mean, you got to do what you got to do. And that was great exposure. This is part of the Rogers Empire, right? And you're doing good work. You're popular, popular in Calgary.

Uh, so you do that from 2010 to 2015. And, uh, before we get you to, to back to Toronto and Rogers hometown hockey, uh, cause I don't want to get too far from this date.

Cause this is a 2000 reference I'm dropping. And here we are at 2015 already. But I have a note that you were, uh, that in coyote ugly the movie coyote ugly which everybody's seen there's a one second newspaper advertisement i think so i saw it a one second newspaper advertisement is showing for the songwriter showdown and it features uh joy drop playing at the bowery ballroom but with a bunch of other bands. Yeah. That's a fun fact, I guess. I think they just picked up a Village Voice or something

and they just happened to take a look at that ad. But what that means is every time you're at a cocktail party or whatever and somebody organically brings up Coyote Ugly, you can say, oh, here's a fun fact for you and you can tell that story. You know, I was asked to audition for that movie, but I wasn't allowed to. The record company didn't want me to. Really? They should want you to.

More exposure is good for the band. They made a couple of bad decisions in that area. Who are the actresses? Do you remember any of them? I can't remember. I remember one, but I can't remember her name. Julia Stiles? Was she in that?

Or am I thinking of the wrong movie? Maybe. I don't know. Piper. Piper. Piper. Piper or something. There was a Piper in there.

Yeah, there's a Piper. She was like the lead. Piper or something. Not Parker Posey. That's somebody else. No, because she does good movies. I like her. She does all those Christopher Guest ones with the improv that are good.

The best show and everything like that. Okay. So you leave BT Calgary because, you tell me, did you get an offer you can't refuse from Rogers Hockey? Like what happened? So while I was at Breakfast Television in Calgary and this whole time, I love sports. Like I should sort of preface like my whole thing with, I really love sports and in particular hockey. So while I was doing BT Calgary, you know,

I was always kind of angling to try to do some sports stuff and ended up being put in last minute as a last minute host to host for the Canada's Sports Hall of Fame induction awards in like 2011 or 2012, maybe 2012. Anyway, long story short, the big boss from Sportsnet

saw me, thought I was good, said, hey, do you like sports? And I was like, yes, I really do. Did he give you any follow-up trivia questions? No, I think I had proven myself with my interviews, perhaps. And so actually from then on, I started doing little this is and that's for Sportsnet while I was in Calgary. So I did provincial curling.

I did some junior hockey. I did some soccer even. I would just do, you know, whatever came up. And then when when Rogers landed the NHL deal, it wasn't exactly clear what this show Rogers Hometown Hockey was going to be, other than it was going to be a show featuring Ron McLean that traveled across the country telling community stories about hockey. And so I actually wrote a fairly impassioned letter to the boss, the big boss in Toronto and said, I think this is a show that I'd be well suited to be a part of. Well, I have the letter here. Hold on. Let me read it out.

Yeah. Right. But they said, yeah, they said yes. So the first season I actually was still at BT Calgary. Um, and I did about half of the dates on hometown hockey. And then year two, I graduated to full time and moved back to Toronto. So did that make, was that, this made your husband and you, you were happy to come back to Toronto after you served your five year tour duty in Calgary? Yeah. I mean, I think we, Calgary surprised us both, you know, in that it was incredibly welcoming. We made incredible friends. My family is all East. My mom's in Europe. My dad's in Halifax. I have siblings in Montreal. So for me, you know, everything was sort of Eastern focused. For him, obviously, we got

further away from his family. But for him, he's a camera guy. So there was more opportunity in Toronto also. So from a career perspective, it seemed like the right move. No, I mean, to me, it's an offer you can't refuse. You're back in Toronto. This is a national show. You know, we don't see Calgary's breakfast television here. No, no. It was a big, you know, this is a big break for me.

It's a big deal. Every hockey fan in the country knows your face and voice. And yeah, to me, this is a high profile gig. Yeah. Yeah. You're co-hosting ambassador Rogers Hometown Hockey. And you're working with Ron McLean because as I recall, and we all recall, they removed Ron and Ron's been on the show. We've talked about this. They took him off the hosting duties and replaced him with some guy named Strombo, as I recall. And then I guess this was something new for Ron to do since he'd have some more time on his hands

at Rogers Hockey. Is it Scott Moore? Is that the guy you wrote the letter for? Yep, I wrote the letter to Scott Moore. That's been a hell of a letter. Yeah, I mean, I think he and I had discussed trying to find the right fit for me at Sportsnet.

And this, I think he had faith that I could do this. So I do, I owe him a debt of gratitude for this job. And it's like a transfer of sorts because you're already working for Rogers. Now you're just, yeah, it's a different division or arm or whatever. And okay, so that tells us how you got the gig. Now the gig, now people, this is Sundays. There's the hometown hockey yard, a different, like a different small, people, this is Sundays. There's the hometown hockey.

You're at a different, like a different small, not always a small town, but you're at these different, you know, Canadian cities or towns every single Sunday. So you're not home, you're not here much. So, yeah, it's the entire regular hockey season. So it's six months. season so it's six months um we are every weekend um we are at a different in a different community um they vary in size this year our smallest community was halliburton so like 5 000 people or maybe even less um and then we also did montreal we finished in montreal so and we were in vancouver this year you shouldn't be allowed to do cities that have NHL teams. Yeah. And honestly, my favorite ones are the small ones, but, um,

and so this year at 24 stops, uh, our broadcast is on the Sunday, but I'm usually in the market shooting and, you know, send reporting and doing puck drops and various community outreach things, um, from Friday onward. So yeah, it's, it's my, my family has been incredibly accommodating. It's challenging. You know, we have an eight-year-old daughter and my husband has taken on a lot when it comes to her and he's amazing to let me do this. So, but the payoff is that ultimately, you know, like right now we just wrapped up last weekend. Um, I'll have a, you know, I'll have some work to do between now and June, but then I'm going to have the summer off. So that's one of my questions. One of my questions is what the heck

do you like? Like, you know, you got teachers and they got the whole summer off and it's like, you're jealous of these teachers. I can't believe they get the two months off or whatever, but you, you work hard for six months and then like what the next six months teachers. I can't believe they get two months off or whatever. But you work hard for six months. And then the next six months, you can't have a lot of Rogers hockey duties. No, I mean, I'm not on the playoffs because the workforce starts to whittle down, in fact. No, I mean, right now, I mean, I'm fried. So I'm going to take some space. But there'll be stuff kind of creeping in over the next month.

June is totally spoken for. I do the draft. So that means I'm at the combine. It means I'm doing a lot of prep. I'm at the draft and doing some other things. So June will be full on. But, yeah, I feel like I deserve that two-month break in the summer. No, you definitely, definitely deserve it for sure.

And that's cool. And then it lets you reacquaint yourself, although it sounds like you do have a lot of time during the week. But with your daughter, you can say, hey, it's weekend, Mom. I don't, though. I don't get back until, like, you know, I don't get back until usually Monday afternoon, evening. And then I can be gone again as early as Thursday.

But luckily, I noticed some of the small towns are like Brampton. Yeah. Those are nice breaks when we're close to home. Brampton's all right for you. That's cool. Now, Ron McLean. So did you have to do some kind of a chemistry test of Ron before you got the gig? It was the funniest thing, actually.

They basically just sent us out for coffee. But it was just like we weren't really told like we didn't even know if our boss was going to show up like we were just like go meet and so we just did um you know i don't he's not the type of guy who would have said no don't give her the gig like he he's a very accommodating person he would never stand well that would be unethical of him yeah well he would never stand in anybody's way um you's way. I think that the fact that I'm now his co-host speaks to the fact that we get along well and are aligned in that way, but he never would have stood in my way at the outset.

Now, I went through his episode. He's been here, and we had a lot to cover, as you can imagine, of Ron McLean. So we should have had a larger Tara Sloan section, but he did reference a fun fact that he shares with you here, a commonality. So let me just play a couple of seconds of Ron McLean. You and Lombie are good pals. Very good friends. In fact, I think Julie LaFontaine, his wife, represents Tara Sloan. I have to ask Tara this.

I keep forgetting to ask, but I think she's a Fountainhead client, which is a small world. Are you a Fountainhead client? I am. I mean, I was more before

when I sort of did voiceover work. Now, I just don't do much else other than hometown hockey, but yes, I I am I guess technically so the small world story there of course is so Jeff Lumby

who's been on this show too and Jeff Lumby does a lot of voice work himself a lot of interesting he's got a he's just great he's a great Don Cherry too but Jeff Lumby's best buds with Ron McLean and Jeff Lumby's I guess it's his wife who is Fountainhead.

And then you're, so there you go. Yeah, it is. Of course, you were going to pass the audition. It's a fix is in. We're on to this. You know what? I mean, where we have the most in common, I think, is our love of music. You know, Ron's love of hockey is perhaps eclipsed by his love for music.

And he's a big Tragically Hip fan. And are you a Tragically Hip fan? I was always a... Are you allowed to say no? No, I'm always a fan. And most of all, always a fan of Gord. And, you know, what I said about Andy Mays, for me, applied. You know, I remember seeing the hip for the first time. I was probably still in high school in Halifax. It would have been the Pub Flamingo, I'm guessing. And I always just wished as a front person that I could have had that freedom.

There's just no self-consciousness. So I always aspired to that. Yeah, speaking of tremendous front front men of bands yeah for sure uh gordon was my favorite band of all time that and then joy drop it's like a 1a 1b there you can now you can re-equal you can just you don't have to be a huge fan okay it's nickelback but now you can now you can listen to our albums in their entirety cool yeah i know cool i'm it's uh can hear it in HD instead of the crappy YouTube audio

that we were forced to have for all those years. So where do I want to go with this? Ron McLean. So when Ron McLean... So what happened? At Strongbow, they decided to part ways.

I don't know if you heard this, but then Ron McLean became the host again. Yes, I know. I know. And to everybody's surprise, he still wanted to do hometown hockey too.

That's what I'm saying. So when Ron went back, because that means Ron has to be in Toronto on the Saturday night. I'm smart, logistically. But Ron, I guess when he's negotiating his return, he says, I want to keep hometown hockey. I always wonder in the alternative universe where he's like, I can't do both. I have to give up hometown hockey. I guess they slide, you get another co-host, I guess would have been the plan if that had happened. I don't know both. I have to give up hometown hockey. I guess they slide. You get another co-host, I guess, would have been the plan if that had happened. I don't know what their plan would have been, actually. Because I kind of feel like the show

doesn't really exist without him. You know, at least in its earlier years. No, I don't. No, I don't think it exists without him. It's his show. So his insistence that he continued to do, because he was adamant, I'll come back, but I'm going to keep doing

hometown hockey. In a way, it preserves your role. Preserves my job. I was trying to be more delicate than that, but thank goodness for this fountainhead alliance that has occurred here.

Just kidding. The Lumbee comes through again. So, yeah. I mean, Ron loves his beer. You owe him a six-pack of Great Lakes beer. I'll give it to him. I have one right here. Oh, yeah.

By the way, I don't know if I'm... I know that you guys have beer sponsors on the program and stuff. So, it gets all intertwined. We don't. No, he does on Coach's Corner, though. Oh, on Coach's Corner. So, this is another beer company that ron has likes lots of different types of beers that's what we can we can say fair keep them in a shovel yeah uh the one thing about hometown hockey uh that you must hear a lot from torontonians fellow torontonians is that there you know there's

not very many uh hometown hockey with leafs like the leafs don't play a lot on Sundays. NHL scheduling is its own world, which truly I don't know the intricacies of. But typically, because the Leafs have such a huge audience that they put them on the marquee night, which is Saturday, so

they don't often play back-to-backs like that. and that makes sense yeah uh yeah because yeah your biggest uh you want your your viewership saturday night has to be maximized as they say exactly so we wish believe me we wish we had more leafs games but well i'm saying some torontonians are like what's hometown hockey because that's when like the the sands play the flames or something like that or whatever and they're like what's that i only watch the leafs but But yeah, fantastic. And Ron, I've told this story before in the podcast,

but just like Andy Mays, one of the nicest guys who's ever visited me. Like I know he can probably, I've heard from insiders, he could be demanding in his role, like demands, which is fine. But as a person I was meeting for the first time, he couldn't have been more gracious and kind and giving.

You know, I don't think you get to where he is without being demanding and his work ethic is unparalleled. And I think it's fair for him to request, you know, as close to perfection as possible, or at least maximum effort from everybody around. He just, he wants the end product to be fantastic. Would it be tough to, is it difficult to produce Ron McLean? Probably. Yeah. I mean, you know, he and I, we have a really good working relationship. And so the content that we turn out on the show, we agree upon, you know,

and sometimes it's not until the very last second, but we are rarely at odds about that. But, yeah, I mean, I think, luckily, this show in particular is a very collaborative effort. So, you know, if Ron doesn't want it to be on the show, it won't be on the show. But, I mean, I probably have as much say as he does. Cool, cool. Now, before we kick out a jam, we're going to kick out a jam in a moment here,

but can I ask you a question about religion? Is that permitted here? It's such a difficult subject, religion. You got to be careful here, but because you, you're a Buddhist. Did you know that? I did. Yep. I know. You and Richard Gere. Yeah. Yeah. He's a student of the Dalai Lama. And Lisa Simpson, by the way, because I'm a diehard Simpsons fan. And she became a Buddhist, I remember. Yes, she did. I think Richard Gere made that happen, actually, as I recall. I can imagine.

He's quite convincing. Does this mean, and pardon my ignorance, I don't have any religion in my life, but I know that there's meditation involved with Buddhism. So you meditate every day? I try to. Yeah, I mean, it's definitely part of my practice, and I try to make it part of my daily practice. And the root of my Buddhism is I grew up in a Buddhist family.

So both of my mom and my dad became Buddhist practitioners when they were in their early 20s. And when they remarried, they remarried other Buddhists. So my whole sort of family upbringing has been sort of within the Shambhala Buddhist community specifically. And so, yeah, it's just, I mean, really part of the fabric of my life. And I became sort of a more devout practitioner, my life. And I became sort of a more devout practitioner, you know, doing a lot more in my adult years, but I've always identified as such. Now here, my question as an outsider is, is there a, like in Buddhism, there's lots of this, you know, spiritual stuff and Zen and the meditation and the music and okay, it's all good.

But is there at some point, is there a God, like, is there a God in Buddhism? So is Buddhism the religious gateway to atheism? Is that what we're looking at here? No, definitely not. It's non-theistic. But it's, well, I mean, I guess maybe it's atheist. But yeah, I mean, that's sort of what separates a lot of Eastern from Western religion. But yeah, I would say,

I mean, it's hard to distill into like a really pithy little sentence, but you know, it's the, maybe the onus is more on sort of self realization, um, you know, cause, cause and effect, my action will produce a reaction. Um, so there's no sort of overarching deity that's going to create, you know, there's, it's you create your own reality, basically. Well, then let me tell you, I mean, being, being complete honest here, if somebody comes to me and puts a gun to my head and says, Mike, you have to pick a religion right now. I'm picking yours. That's the one I'm going with of all the religions out there. I'm picking yours. It's pretty earthy. Seriously, to me, there's a religion I can get

behind. Let's kick out. Now, so everybody listening at home, I asked Tara to pick a jam that we'll kick out and chat about briefly here. I actually picked two, but let's pick the one. Start with the one that you sent me, and then I'll surprise you with the other one.

Okay. Here we go. The middle of the road Is trying to find me I'm standing in the middle of life With my pants behind me I gotta smile For everyone I meet As long as you don't try I got a smile for everyone I meet

As long as you don't try dragging my baby Dropping a bomb on my street Come on, baby She's my lady Forgetting the road Come on now In the middle of the road, yeah Speaking of songs on Friends,

because she performed on Friends, right? Chrissy Hines? Did she? I'm pretty sure. Maybe. The cat song with the blonde woman. I didn't watch a lot of Friends, actually. With Phoebe?

Yes. Didn't they do a cat song? Dinky Cats or something? Maybe. Chrissy Hines, The Pretenders. Middle of the road wonderful jam tell me why as if i as if it needs an explanation tell me why you love this um well first of all yeah i love the pretenders chrissy hind you know there was sort of a group

of women in my early formative years that really had a big influence on me. Chrissy Hynde, Annie Lennox, Debra Harry. And I just feel like she's the biggest badass of them all. She showed you that woman can rock too. Yeah. And I shouldn't forget Joan Jett. Joan Jett was in there too. But yeah, Chrissy,

she's always just felt like my spirit animal. And we share, I think we share a birthday too so must mean we're like best friends i wish we were best friends yeah she's very cool uh patty smith's cool too if you're looking for more but but chrissy heinz yeah uh does she have a relationship with tom petty or am i confusing people now maybe i'm confusing people i don't know if she ever did i'm all hazy here. But fantastic.

Yeah, the Pretenders. And every Christmas, that 2000 Miles song shows up on my playlist because it's one of my favorite Christmas songs. That's a great band, the Pretenders. Great. And she's still going strong. And I think that's another thing. She's always been a trailblazer,

but now they don't allow women to age in the same way that men do in the media. And she's just still rocking in her 60s. They don't allow women to age in the same way that men do in the media, and she's just still rocking in her 60s. They don't. And the other thing I've noticed as a longtime fan of rock and roll is new rock's gone, some exceptions here and there, but it seems like kids aren't listening to rock and roll like they used to. You have an 8-year-old who has a very cool rocking mom, so maybe she's a bad

sample here. she loves pop music. Yeah, my 13-year-old daughter, it's lots and lots of pop music and my 16-year-old son is all about rap music,

but there's no rock being played when these kids are choosing to sing. You know, I hope to influence my daughter more strongly. Good luck.

I tried. I tried. I tried. I will continue I tried. I tried. I will continue to try. I tried, but this is a great jam for sure. And, um, And I promised you a second jam here,

so I'll just start it up as we play ourselves out. But I heard that you love this song. Talk about guilty pleasure now you're telling everybody I like it so much normally I close with Rosie and Gray from lowest of the lowest but I normally close these episodes with

but today we're closing with Cascada evacuate the dance floor I'm dedicating this one to you you do your research too well yes this is my guilty pleasure. It's fun to work out too. No judgments here. Are you kidding me?

Listen, I like music and just wait till the chorus kicks in. It's a good one. I'll jack it up then. It sounds a bit like Britney Spears. I know it's Cascada, whoever that is. Yeah, I know. I don't know. I'm in. I love it. It's great.

Where do I put you? And I have a sheet of notable episodes of Toronto Mike. Do I put you under music or do I put you under television? Oh, I don't know. Where do you want to be? I'm going to let you decide. Do you want to be put under music or television? Telemusic. Done. Thanks so much for doing this. Loved it.

Thank you so much. It was awesome. And that, it's so strange talking over this jam, and that brings us to the end of our 320 second show.

You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Tara is at Tara Sloan. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Propertyinthesix.com is at Raptors Devotee. Pay TM is at Pay TM Canada.

And Camp Turnasol is at Camp Turnasol. See you all next week.