PHOTO : JUSTIN BROADBENT
PETER KATZ
For the full conversation , listen to the Oct . 28 , 2020 episode
CM : You had this horrible accident that almost left you permanently unable to walk , but interestingly you came out of this experience with a poppier album . I would ’ ve expected a melancholy record ?
Peter Katz : Well , I didn ’ t want to listen to melancholy ! Being in my head was not a good place to be if I wallowed in it . The music that was helping me was the music that got me out of my head and into my body . When you say “ pop music ,” there ’ s a wide spectrum of what that is . Some of the most amazing songwriting is happening in pop music . As somebody who was always about , like , Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell and being the most dedicated songwriter ’ s songwriter , I was just so dismissive of pop music and was like , “ that ’ s not real music .” But then I actually dove into some of the greats and was like , “ Wow , look at how well put together this is .” Some of the limitations that pop music requires , where you have to keep it short and get to it , all of that became really intriguing to me . Also , just being able to write without a guitar in my hand and just have a drum beat or synth pad – it just opened my mind . I could now write a melody in a different way . It felt expansive rather than just like repeating myself .
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Pirates Blend Records Co-Founder
DAVE GUENETTE
For the full conversation , listen to the Nov . 11 , 2020 episode
CM : You co-founded the label with the guys from Bedouin Soundclash , so is there an advantage to the label having artists at the helm when dealing with other artists ?
Dave Guenette : Of course . We put ourselves in the position of , “ What would we want other people to do for us when we were 18 years old ?... It ’ s too much of a cliché to go , “ The record labels suck , and what do these guys even do ?” Then it ’ s , “ The band doesn ’ t have gratitude .” I ’ m over that .
Really , it ’ s more about , “ What is the function ?” Over time , to get direct and candid about it , it ’ s an access to a line of credit and a stamp of approval . I like being that honest about it , to say that what I get out of it is a little stamp on a record that hopefully stands the test of time . What the artist gets out of it is an access point to more resources to make their art . And there ’ s amazing examples of how this stuff can be done fairly . But because of technology and streaming and licensing music into film and television , artists are becoming savvier to the fact that they don ’ t necessarily need a middle person all the time to give them that line of credit because they can go and get it somewhere else . I ’ m more interested in those conversations and think it ’ s exciting because it means we ’ re going to have to stay on our toes .
Author & rock critic
MARTIN POPOFF
For the full conversation , listen to the Dec . 2 , 2020 episode
CM : In examining Rush ’ s career for your three-book biography , were there key non-musical lessons about how they conducted themselves and steered their career that could still serve as lessons for other musicians ?
Martin Popoff : There are so many reasons you could probably throw out some of the cool things they did and say they ’ re obsolete . One thing they did that was quite unique and interesting is that they kept investing so much effort and money and technology into their live show . They always had a massive show , to the point that once they became a headliner , they never looked back and never not headlined again . A lot of big bands will go in and out of popularity and stop headlining . But one thing Rush did is they got so massive and so good at playing live that they never had to go back , even though record sales would wane over the years or they weren ’ t part of the pop culture fabric nearly as much during Presto as they were during Moving Pictures or whatever .
So , there ’ s these business lessons , but the other interesting thing is that they ’ ve always been super mature and sober and not had a lot of scandal , to the point where they had the same manager since Ray [ Danniels ] ran away from home at 16 or 17 and starting managing them . So , they ’ ve had the same manager the whole time , the office has been in the same place for many , many years , most of the staff is all the same staff , and most of the people who worked on that massive show worked their way up through the ranks , from like a guitar tech or sound guy to higher up in the hierarchy .
Listen to new episodes of the Canadian Musician Podcast every Wednesday at www . canadianmusicianpodcast . com . All episodes can be found on the website or through Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Stitcher , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts .
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20 CANADIAN MUSICIAN