Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Toronto Mike on CBC's Here and Now with Gil Deacon

Episode Date: February 24, 2022

This is Toronto Mike's appearance on CBC Radio's Here and Now with Gil Deacon, recorded at 5:20pm on Wednesday, February 23, 2022.

It seems like just about everyone has a podcast these days, but few of them truly resonate in a field that's quickly become kind of oversaturated. But that's not been a problem for my next guest. Mike Boone has made a lasting impression with Audiophiles. He has just celebrated 1,000 episodes of his podcast, Toronto Mic'd, a podcast that celebrates, as the title might suggest, Toronto and its people. Mike has had just about every big name in this city interviewed on his podcast over the past decade.

He even talked to me. I had a chance to speak with him in 2017, but we're turning the tables this afternoon. Mike Boone, better known as Toronto Mike, joins me now. Mike, congratulations on 1,000 episodes of your podcast. That is no easy feat in the world of podcasting. How does it feel? Oh, Jill, thanks so much. What a pleasure it is to speak with you again.

Yeah, you know, when you start podcasting, you don't think about episode 1,000. It's not like you finish recording number one and you're like, 999 more to go. Well, especially given how long ago you started. I mean, you started 10 years ago. You weren't the first, but podcasting was still pretty new back then. Tell me about what got you into this game. still pretty new back then. Tell me about what got you into this game.

Well, I was a blogger, blogging about this city since 2002. And then if we fast forward to about 2006, I found myself technically producing Humble and Fred's podcast, because these were a couple of radio veterans who couldn't, quite frankly, couldn't get a job on terrestrial radio. So there was this burgeoning new format of podcasting, and I did the technical back end. And then about 10 years ago, I got that itch to see, could I handle the A to Z of podcasting? Could I, you know, speak into the microphone and carry a conversation with interesting people like you? And 1,000 episodes later, here we are. Yeah, it's really neat. And have you doubted your steps along the way? I mean, what's made you stick with it?

What do you love about it? To be honest, I just love the conversations. Like, there are so many fascinating stories in this city and beyond, and, you know, every story you capture leads to ten more. And, you know, every story you capture leads to ten more. So, I mean, I might, like, to be, like, a real example might be, I'll be diving deep into Tears Are Not Enough, the mid-'80s charity single for African famine relief. And then suddenly you'll ask yourself on the recording, why is there no Buffy St. Marie in the recording studio, and next thing you know it, you've got Terry David Mulligan on your show, who was in the room when Bruce Allen received a phone call and then basically said to the room, Buffy bailed.

And then you get the answer to the question, and next thing you know it, Buffy bailed becomes a catchphrase that you'll use when you're chatting on the show. It's quite something. You really have had sort of the who's who of Toronto royalty, if I could say that, on the show, and some big names from outside the city as well. Tell me, what Torontonians have you most enjoyed interviewing or learned the most about our city from?

What stands out for you? Well, I grew up listening to Tom Cheek and Jerry Howard call Blue Jays baseball games on the radio. And this was the soundtrack of my summers. And I'll never forget, you know, that day I had the knock on the door and I opened the door and Jerry Howard was there. And he's like, I'm here for, you know, 90 minutes, as long as you like. And I could ask him anything I wanted. And just to have that opportunity with somebody like a Jerry Howarth that you literally grew up listening to, it's just still mind-blowing to me. You've had a lot of CBC personalities on your show.

I understand Dwight Drummond, that conversation was particularly memorable. Well, okay, Dwight Drummond. Like, yes, we all know him anchoring the CBC News, but did you know, Jill, that Dwight Drummond appears in the video for Maestro Fresh Wes's Let Your Backbone Slide? I did not know that. And I love Dwight, and I know Dwight, and I know he's awesome off the air as well,

but I did not know that. Yeah, and not only that, but the follow-up single, which was also a big hit, Drop the Needle, he's in that as well. Dwight Drummond was working security for Electric Circus at this time at 299 Queen, and the creator of Electric Circus, Joel Goldberg, he directed the videos for Maestro Fresh West. So that's how Dwight got there. He directed the videos for Maestro Fresh West, so that's how Dwight got there. But not just Dwight Drummond, if I may, Tom Harrington. This gentleman was singing on the Tommy Hunter show.

And last summer, in my backyard, I was lucky enough to hear that voice, the voice of an angel when Tom Harrington started singing. And, you know, things like that. But I love just discovering this. I mean, you yourself, Jill, have a great voice, and you were in a band called Bag of Hammers, and I love chatting with you about that. I've got to say, you do some good research. Like, listen to all the details.

You know so much about this city and all the backstories of connections with one city person and another. It's, yeah, you've got a lot rattling around in your head and on, obviously, on record with your podcast. And you mentioned the backyard. I guess that was sort of pandemic circumstances where you've been recording, but you mostly record under normal circumstances in your basement studio. Tell me a little, I know what it looks like,

but give me a sense of what your recording setup is for all these years and how you operate. So I should preface this by saying I have four kids. So there's six of us who live here. And it's a typical three-bedroom home in South Etobicoke. So there's no room left. I mean, my 20-year-old sleeps around the corner in the basement. So what I found was I found there was one last spot that wasn't being used.

And it's sort of like a corner of this basement, sort of between where my son sleeps and where you wash your clothes and where the washer and dryer is. And it's where the ceiling dips. There's quite a bit of a dip in the ceiling where the ductwork, et cetera, exists. And in that corner, I basically built my studio. So I, you know, put together some Ikea tables and set up my studio there. So if you're over the height of, I would say, 5'6", you have to watch your head. And I've had people like Leo Roudens here who are like, I don't know, 7'9", etc. And yeah, you really have to watch your head when you visit the Toronto Mic Studio.

It's such an unassuming space, if I can say, as you've described. But you've created so many and such authentic, in-depth conversations with your guests. What is your secret, do you think? How have you accomplished both attracting so many interesting characters and making really interesting content with them for so many episodes? Well, firstly, thank you so much. That's very kind of you to say. But I think what I do is one thing is I always do my homework.

I grew up watching Brian Linehan as he'd interview people on City TV, and he always seemed to do his homework. So I decided from Episode 1, if I'm going to do this, I'm going to do my homework. So always do your homework. Be your authentic self. Like, I don't do any schtick. I'm pretty much myself. I'm myself, Mike, when I'm chatting with my guests.

And I really do enjoy the long form of conversation because you can't really get to the real talk in like a five to seven minute conversation, although we might be able to do that here now. But here and now, see what I did there? I know. I try, but it's true. Timing makes it a challenge. So imagine 90 minutes, right? That gives you a chance to build a rapport on the fly.

And then I would argue by the 60-minute mark, your guest is ready to share anything and everything. So that long-form style really does lend to the authentic real talk. What do you think it says about our city that you have created and been able to easily create a thousand episodes, a thousand, you know, great conversations and stories? And quite honestly, Jill, like it's the tip of the iceberg because there are so many stories I don't even know exist. So it might be like, for example, the 990th show, my guest might speak of somebody or something in the city that I'm learning about for the first time, and then you tug at that thread, right, the fabric of our city.

Next thing you know, there's these, you know, there's 12 other conversations I need to have all around that one little bit of the city that I just learned about. So the fact that, you know, you can do 1,000 episodes about the city and you're just scratching the surface really just tells you we live in a fascinating episodes about the city and you're just scratching the surface, really just tells you we live in a fascinating, interesting city and we should all be grateful that we have such a fascinating city here. Well, I guess you've answered any question as to whether you're going to keep going for the next thousand.

It sounds like scratching the surface is not enough for you. You're going to keep at it. Mike, all the best to you, and thank you for the conversation today and for all the conversations on Toronto Mike's podcast. Thank you, Jill. That's Mike Boone, host of the Toronto Mike's podcast. He's just celebrated his 1,000th episode.

You can find that wherever you get your podcasts.