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Ep. #121: Dave Ullrich of Zunior & The Inbreds

Dave Ullrich is the founder of Zunior.com, one of the world’s first digital distribution services for independent music, which celebrates its tenth anniversary with various enterprises, including a new tribute album by Tony Dekker and a big festival at Sandbanks Provincial Park on Sept. 13. He was also a founding member of the excellent indie-rock band the Inbreds. Here, Dave and I discuss Allen’s Pub on the Danforth in Toronto, Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip and the Inbreds, growing up in Oshawa but making the Inbreds in Kingston, hiding your Oshawa, k-os rapping upside down, Cuff the Duke owning Oshawa, my pilgrimage to Mike O’Neill’s childhood home and memories of that episode, playing cover songs at an O’Neill Collegiate Vocational Institute battle of the bands in an outfit called the Fresh Steaming Turds, the forgettable U2, I know the R.E.M. discography pretty well apparently, loving Zeppelin and Bonzo, why the complexity and fury of punk is often equated with simplicity and rudimentary playing, sincerity in music, Proboscis Funkstone Records, the rise of cassettes, the riff-y, fingerpicking early days, luck + preparedness = success, these are the breaks, I challenge you to dislike the Inbreds, Lewis Melville, Rheostatics, Guelph, when the Inbreds turned down a Foo Fighters tour opening slot to break up, sneaking low-profile records to Dave Bookman who got them to superstars, angering the Tea Party while Foo Fighters munched on KD, a circuitous route to scooping the White Stripes, starting the prescient Zunior.com digital music delivery service 10 years ago, vinyl sales and holding a piece of wood, leveraging the spirit of indie-rock computing, Zunior platinum, the top 10 moments in the history of Zunior, suprising Rheostatics, the Zune, solar power, Egger plays live, Peanuts, Boxing Day, patron saint Stuart McLean, making commercials with Scott Cudmore and Martin Tielli, the joy of the label and Wax Mannequin, getting into e-books and working with rock writer Martin Popoff, predicting the future for music consumption, flirting with Rdio and musical curation and discovery, vinyl might have a cost ceiling, major labels are like cockroaches, the new Tony Dekker Sings 10 Years of Zunior album and how it came to be, the Zunior 10th anniversary show in Sandbanks Provincial Park in Prince Edward County on Sept. 13, the song “At the Airport” by Old Man Luedecke, and then it’s the right time to say goodbye.

Related links: zunior.com inbreds.com vishkhanna.com

inbreds

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Ep. #119: Constantines

Constantines are a powerful and influential band who originally formed in Guelph, Ontario in 1999. After releasing four acclaimed and inspiring post-punk/rock ‘n’ roll albums, Constantines went on indefinite hiatus in 2010. The band have reconvened in recent months and Sub Pop reissued their classic 2003 album Shine a Light this past June. Constantines are playing a number of shows over the coming months, including stops in Sackville, NB (SappyFest, Aug. 3), Peterborough, ON (Peterborough Folk Festival, Aug. 22), Ottawa, ON (Arboretum Festival, Aug. 23), Toronto, ON (The Molson Canadian Amphitheatre w/ Arcade Fire, Aug. 29), Toronto, ON (The Danforth Music Hall, Oct. 2), Montreal, QC (Club Soda, Oct. 4), Vancouver, BC (Commodore Ballroom, Oct. 8),  Calgary, AB (Commonwealth Bar & Stage, Oct. 9), and Edmonton, AB (UPDT Festival, Oct. 11). Here, Steven Lambke, Doug MacGregor, Dallas Wehrle, Will Kidman, Bry Webb, and myself discuss playing “Keep On Rockin’ in the Free World” with Jack Layton, Olivia Chow, and members of Barenaked Ladies, Dallas Good calls Dallas Wehrle, the yellow tape, unsafe seasonal tours, the freak hail storm at the Sasquatch! Music Festival, Paul’s Boutique and shows at Who’s Emma, Mike Haliechuk from Fucked Up set up a Captain Co-Pilot show, hardcore bands from the 90s, Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton, the video for “One” by Metallica, Mats Naslund and Wayne Gretzky, skiing, Glenview Park Secondary School, Dallas won the gym award, Rob Pal, I won the French award, Tyler Williams, Dallas liked industrial music, the high school airband showcase and Nine Inch Nails, Ted Lambke, discovering music in skate videos, Doug’s band Shoulder, the Button Factory in Kitchener, Pain Don’t Hurt, Gaffer, “New School Calypso (NSC),” Rob Pal named Captain Co-Pilot, the London hardcore scene, Hoover and Lincoln, why Shoulder ended, why Captain Co-Pilot ended, tiny ladies are time-consuming, the 37 Elizabeth Street house, Tony the landlord, Tom McKnight, bouncer dudes from the Palace, how Constantines started, Cambridge eyeroll, excited about bands like ourselves, Three Gut Records origin show, the song “Arizona,” Dallas recalls the hilarious legend of crusty punk/European road manager Jörg, that Sasquatch! Music Festival hailstorm story again, Dallas thought he might die, Will climbs the rafters, Ayr and Cambridge, Southwood Secondary School, Ayr house show, Patrick Swayze and Road House, this guy Ryan, Cambridge shows would always get shut down, the Mighty Fishermen, that guy Brent who ripped us off, we all had a crush on Jill Holmberg, Dallas and Steve and I played in a band called Dioctave, the Unfuckable Cum Bums, the bands Curb, Ground, and the Mighty Fishermen, Mr. Gouveia’s French class and Tony Tabu, work on your scales, Mr. Carbone’s guitar class got Dallas playing music, judhaynes.com, Metallica again but also Ministry, adding a drum machine to a three-piece punk band, playing in Dallas’ living room and Ted Lambke yelled at us about Black Sabbath, Minnow was a big influence on Captain Co-Pilot, Will became a Captain Co-Pilot fan and gave Steve a tape of his music at that show, Dallas wasn’t into HPX, small women, how Will joined Constantines at a recording session, Who’s Emma, Cons reunion, the song “Insectivora,” Bry’s the most frequent guest on this podcast except for Jon Spencer, acting and fakery, everyone assumes Constantines are very serious, playing the first reunion show in Guelph in June, 106 Huron Street, shy guys, playing in a newly-invented eco-village in Sweden whose design was partially influenced by Guelph, a social night for Swedish teens, dreams come true, being scared to death about selling out, integrity and the end of the Cons, returning with sensitivity, contemplating writing new songs with the Cons, expanding the tour dates to play a show with Arcade Fire in Toronto on August 29 and across more of Canada, as well as Seattle and Portland, the Danforth Music Hall, dealing with Cons stuff and Bry Webb and the Providers at the same time, Sackville and Dawson City, Sandbanks Provincial Park, Massey Hall footage, the song “Time Can Be Overcome,” and then time can’t be overcome.

Related links: theconstantines.wordpress.com subpop.com/artists/constantines vishkhanna.com

constantines_huron_street

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Ep. #118: Steve Sladkowski of PUP

Steve Sladkowski plays guitar and sings in a Toronto punk-infused pop band called PUP. Originally called Topanga, PUP changed their name ahead of releasing their first, self-titled debut album, which is out now via Royal Mountain Records. PUP plays Guelph’s Hillside Festival on Saturday July 25. Here, Steve and I discuss staining fences in Toronto, living in Guelph and putting on shows and working for the Guelph Jazz Festival, touring the U.S. with the Menzingers, single A baseball in Iowa, America is weird, this is Texas, talking to Americans about baseball, the Oakland A’s and Moneyball glitches, regular seasons are a drag, why the Skydome sucks and seeing baseball in America rules, I don’t think I like Toronto, talking to people outside of Canada about Rob Ford, playing ska-punk, Protest the Hero, the 3tards, and the Reverb, working with Dave Schiffman on the PUP record, pathetic use of potential, Toronto punk is thriving, when Weezer was wonderful, my membership in the Weezer fanclub and contributing “Mykel and Carli” to its first covers compilation, Rivers Cuomo goes back to the shack, impersonating Fucked Up at the Halifax Pop Explosion, feeling honoured to get to do cool stuff, it comes and goes, self-promotion, not needing day jobs but working harder than ever, their Polaris Music Prize nomination, the status of hard music in Canada, Peter Bradley is in Alaska, Constellation Records, forced conversation, Tanya Tagaq should win awards, PUP’s new songs, throwing down, writing songs in extreme emotional places, marrying real-life with fictional narratives, the song “Guilt Trip,”  and then it is outta here!

Related links: puptheband.com royalmountainrecords.com hillsidefestival.ca vishkhanna.com

puptheband

 

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