Explore every episode of the podcast Witchpolice Radio

I sat down with Mark Klassen from experimental art-rock quartet Cantor Dust to talk about the upcoming LP (and there is a vinyl release!), ‘The Anatomy of Malevolence’, which drops Oct. 2.

Here's our conversation about the record, the expansion of the group from a solo project to a duo and now a four-piece, concept albums, tackling serious subject matter, and much more!

Need more Cantor Dust in your life? Check out episode #462 (Feb. 2020).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

I sat down with folk singer-songwriter David Alpert for an episode that you're hearing a few days after the release of his debut EP, 'Late September'.

Here's our conversation about the new record, developing the confidence to pursue music professionally, writing deeply personal songs that can appeal to a wide audience, the benefits of busking… and much more!

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

Delightfully avant-garde Winnipeg weirdos Savant Flaneur have a new record ('Hocketus') coming out on New York-based free jazz label 577 Records, so we caught up on the latest in their experimental universe.  

Tune in for a conversation about the ‘antagonistic’, performance-based ‘Hocketus’ album, finding inroads to the avant-grade for casual listeners, a punk rock aesthetic despite being a violin/cello/electronics duo, and much more!

Need more Flaneurification in your life? Check out episode #850 from December of 2023.

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

Country music purist Sean Burns is set to release his excellent new record, ‘Better Off In Time & Other Songs For The Dance Floor’, on Sept. 18, so he popped back onto the podcast to talk about it! 

Tune in for our chat about deep-diving into hyper-specific country subgenres, the trajectory of the Sean Burns sound, what he’s learned from his day job playing bass with Corb Lund, and much more.

Need more Sean in your life? Hear his previous appearances on the podcast: episode #460 (Feb. 2020), #572 (March 2021), and #833 (Oct. 2023).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

They were a last-minute addition to Sunday's Propagandhi bill at the Burton Cummings Theatre (see all of you there!), and now they’re a last-minute addition to my podcast schedule: it’s OP-ED! 

I sat down with Tarek (vocals) and Jay (guitar) to talk about the big gig, and how it mirrors their first-ever performance, the way Tarek’s lived experience as a Palestinian refugee informs the band’s music and message (and how that message will expand with future songs), the upcoming vinyl release of their debut album, and much more.

Note: We had a bit of an audio issue in the first few minutes of the conversation, but the quality clears up considerably after that.

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

Eight-piece party funk outfit The Remedies are recognizing 10 years since the band’s first release with a new album celebrating that history. Here's my chat with the group's frontman about the importance of staying friends with your bandmates, Manitoba festivals, blending synth-pop, Latin vibes, and horn-driven funk… and much more!

I flubbed the timing on this one, so even though we're talking about the album ('Ten Years' Time') as coming out imminently, it was actually released a couple days ago, so check it out now wherever you get music!

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

I recently saw Until Defeat at a show at the Handsome Daughter and really enjoyed their set, so we set up this interview, which is now available to insert directly into yer earholes!

Tune in for our conversation about defining (sort of, let’s just go with ‘LOUD’) the band’s sound, finding inroads into the local music scene, the physicality of live performances vs recording, and much more!

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

This episode features a fun conversation with local Afrofusion artist Whealo! 

We talk about his new three-song ‘Unlearn’ EP, Winnipeg’s cultural and musical diversity, prioritizing lyrics, and more!

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

…so by complete fluke, I’ve had two episodes with singer/songwriter/engineer/man-about-town Paul Hodgert that were released on the exact same day in different years. We decided to (deliberately) go for the trifecta this time and completely mess up my release schedule to make it happen. 

There's a legit reason Paul's back on the show, though: we talk about his work restoring the lost-for-30-years record by DUD (feat. members of the Bonaduces, I-Spy and the Weakerthans), its upcoming release on vinyl, and the potential for his One Friday Music label to remix/remaster/reissue more out-of-print (or never-heard) Winnipeg gems in future. He has the technology.

Need to hear more from Paul? Check him out on episode #920 (Aug. 2024) and #996 (Aug. 2025), as well as a special livestream he did from my dining room on episode #960 (Dec. 2024).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

The Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival is well underway, and well-known local purveyor of musical comedy J. Williamez is hitting stages with his Mr. Loopy Pants project! 

Tune in for a fun conversation about the one-man (plus a possibly alive loop pedal) multimedia show, why he’s so proud of this project, toxic positivity vs. heckling, music videos, and much more!

Need more loopiness? Check out the J. Williamez interview on episode #622 back in 2021.

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

We interrupt your regularly-scheduled programming with an episode from the vault, featuring the first appearance of (now sadly defunct) Winnipeg punks Union Stockyards on the show, way back on episode #079! 

For those unfamiliar with the archival episodes -- when I moved all of my episodes from one hosting provider to another, years ago, I accidentally missed the inclusion of a couple dozen episodes from 2013-14. They're not currently on the feed if you're scrolling through the episodes on Apple Podcasts/Spotify/whatever.

I've been slowwwwwly re-releasing these over the past few years, and here's another. 

Here's what we said about this one back in 2014:

Four guests join us in the basement this week as Winnipeg punks Union Stockyards hang out to talk the “hairstyle” theme. We reminisce on the good old days of the local scene and talk about their new EP (which is available free on Bandcamp), “Tracks.”

Need some more Stockyards in your life? Check out episodes #147 (Sept. 2015), #199 (Sept. 2016), and #211 (Dec. 2016), plus hear guitarist Ryan Nash on episodes #237 (June 2017) and #434 (Nov. 2019), and frontman Tony Beaudoin on #382 (May 2019). Tony also guest-hosted a handful of episodes back in the day!

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

Letellier, Manitoba’s Bankside Music Festival is a long-running summer event aimed at giving rock/punk/metal bands from the province (and beyond!) an opportunity to play on a festival stage.

I sat down with Bankside mastermind Richard Houle to talk about the event’s DIY roots and this year’s stacked lineup (July 17-18), which includes a whole bunch of past Witchpolice interviewees, including the Bloodshots, One of Us, and Econoline Crush. Other local acts include apple peeler aficionados Toaster Bath, plus Leddwyn, Penny-Sleeve, Seventh String, Lost Planet Airmen, and Cory & the Convicts.

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

After years of changes, local alt-rock/dream-pop outfit Ozconscious is set to release a new full-length, ‘Nostalgia for the Moment’, at the Pyramid Cabaret on June 20 (that's tomorrow if you're listening the day this episode drops!) 

I sat down with frontman Tate Hiebert to talk about the record, different songwriting vunes, learning from busking and playing cover tunes (via Tater and the Tots), and much more!

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

Technical difficulties meant this one comes out a few days later than anticipated, but thanks for your patience. 

Here's a fun conversation with singer-songwriter Masak about her 15-years-in-the-making, genre-diverse album ('Masak's Unassorted Flavors'), getting inspiration from her late friend and collaborator Kelly Fraser, coming back to Winnipeg after a few years in (very) rural Manitoba, and much more!

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Previous Episode

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

Long-running emo punks Screaming at Traffic recently dropped a new EP with the excellent title ‘Songs to Steal Copper Wire To’. 

I sat down with (co-) frontman Jacques Richer to talk about the record, the band not taking itself too seriously, regrouping after some time off, and a whole lot more!

Need more SAT? Check out episodes #243 (Aug. 2017) and #416 (Sept. 2019), plus you can hear Jacques' previous appearances on the show as a member of Greek Riots on episodes #099 (Nov. 2014) and #132 (June 2015).

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

This one's jumping the queue because it's time sensitive. It’s the end of an era! Frequent Witchpolice interviewee (this will be his sixth appearance in the past decade) Ed Durocher and his merry psychedelic fusion big band Apollo Suns are calling it quits. 

Here's our conversation about the band’s last show (May 29 at the Park Theatre, see you all there), the realities of the music industry as an independent touring act, reclaiming time with family and community, and much more!

Apollo Suns are (almost) dead. Long live Apollo Suns!

Need more Apollo Suns in your life? Check out episodes #226 (April 2017), #375 (April 2019), #506 (July 2020), #645 (Dec. 2021), and #828 (Sept. 2023).

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

Winnipeg’s Strawberry Punch is a self-proclaimed 'all-femme queer indie/pop/twee/punk rock band' who just released a deadly debut record and has all kinds of cool shit on the horizon. 

Tune in for our chat about the origins of their (don’t call it a) supergroup, bouncing around swapping instruments from song to song, appealing to a very diverse crowd, and much more!

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

What the hell is going on here? It’s guest hosts Sean and Todd McGinity (of SeanGeek and Fastfret Podcast) giving me a bit of a break and interviewing two-thirds of alt-rawkers Crooked Ice for Witchpolice Radio! 

Tune in for their chat about the soon-to-be-released ‘DarkStars’ full-length (which was actually the previous name of their band) and much more!

Fun fact: Crooked Ice's bassist (who doesn't appear on this episode) is also a local podcaster, hosting the show Head Full of Radio. He guest-hosted an episode of Witchpolice in 2024, featuring his bandmate James Debrecen talking about his production studio and solo project. Hear that on episode #939.

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

The man, the myth, the legend… Greg Rekus is back on the show for his seventh appearance over the years!

Tune in for my chat with the hardest-working man in folk-punk about playing a show with his heroes The Bonaduces (May 8, at the West End Cultural Centre, also feat. Mise en Scene), U.S. touring challenges, reintroducing ‘The Dude Abides’, and much more!

Greg is a true Winnipeg original and one of a handful of local artists with carte blanche to appear on the podcast anytime he wants.

Need more Rekus in your life? Check out episodes #930 (Sept. 2024), #718 (Aug. 2022), #584 (April 2021), #450 (Jan. 2020), #218 (Feb. 2017), and #056 (Jan. 2014).

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

In the most Winnipeg series of events ever, I randomly bumped into sax player/singer-songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist Serge Paul downtown recently, which led directly to us doing a podcast interview about his new record, ‘Gut Love’.

Tune in for a conversation about saxophone, Franglais, resurrecting old songs, and much more, in Serge’s first appearance on the show in a literal decade!

Need more Serge in your life? Check him out on a very early episode of the podcast as a (then-) member of Jeremie and the Delicious Hounds, episode #174 (April 2016).

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

Long-running indie rock duo Mise en Scene are back with a new record (and back on the podcast after a few years)! 

Check out our conversation about ‘Drive-Thru Confessional’, putting out the album *before* the April 18 release show, why they work so well together creatively, defining — or, rather, not wanting to define — the Mise en Scene sound (Mise en Sound?) and much more!

Need more Mise en Scene in your life? Check out their appearance on episode #636 (Nov. 2021).

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

I’ve been doing this podcast for eleventy trillion years and somehow — despite enjoying many of their various projects for the past three decades — I’ve never had either member of Poison Suckers on the show. 

That changes now! Tune in for a chat about their brand new 7" EP ('Charmer') on Transistor 66, Winnipeg trash, pro wrestling, watermelons, the power of the train whistle, and more!

Plus you get to hear me prattling on (again) about how much I love the Quiffs, in light of the upcoming reunion show with the Suckers on the bill. It’s a hoot.

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

Singer-songwriter Jacob Brodovsky is set to release ‘Tell the Kids We Tried’, his new LP, later this year. He came back for an interview on the podcast to talk about the record, changing artistic (and life!) priorities, and much more.

Need more Jacob in your life? Check out episodes #371 (April 2019), #687 (May 2022), and an even earlier appearance on episode #314 (Sept. 2018) as a member of the band Kakagi.

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

Dogs and Winnipeg Beach and writing folk songs, oh my! 

It has somehow been five whole-ass years (!) since the fantastic Two Crows for Comfort were on the podcast, so we caught up about their touring adventures, new (and old) music, and much more.

Need more Crows in your life? Check out episodes #330 (Oct. 2018), #573 (March 2021), and a live performance they did in my backyard for #404 (July 2019).

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

Trying something new on this one: you're probably used to my show's titles starting with the episode number (this one is #1026), but apparently that hampers a show's ability to be found be potential new listeners on certain platforms, so this time we're testing the guest's name alone.

Here's my chat with local indie-pop artist Chandler Pretty about getting into the music scene backwards, the cinematic sound of her debut EP ('Act V: Bloom'), bringing dark motifs to an otherwise bright genre, and much more!

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

When Dog Pops were last on the podcast, they were a brand new band. Fast-forward to today, and they have the excellent ‘Good Pudding’ long-player out in the world and are playing their jangly little songs about animals and food all over town.

Tune in for my conversation with Top Pop Marshall Birch, right here and ready for your earholes!

Need more Dog Pops in your life? Check out episode #713 (Aug. 2022). Marshall was also on the show way back on episode #59 (Jan. 2014) as a member of the Unbelievable Bargains.

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

February is Black History Month, and among the many events happening across Winnipeg is Adele M. Wilding's ‘Steal Away: Songs of Hope and Resilience’, a concert focused around the tradition and history of African-American spirituals. 

Tune in for my conversation with Adele about honouring her West Indian roots, the way traditional Black music continues to show up in unexpected places even into the 21st Century, the importance of accurately preserving music history, and much more!

‘Steal Away’ takes place Feb. 21 at Crescent Arts Centre and includes a star-studded cast of local players.

Need more from Adele? Check out episodes #765 (Feb. 2023) and #866 (Jan. 2024), as well as her recent live performance at my day job (worlds are colliding).

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

Great conversation on this episode with Neville Hamilton from Steinbach reggae outfit Yaadies! 

We talk about coming to Canada and bringing Jamaican music to a very unlikely location, getting his kids involved in the family band, spreading Caribbean culture across Manitoba through IRAL Music & Arts Festival and much more!

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

Now with repaired audio! 

Veteran Winnipeg MC Len Bowen has been steadily releasing inspired hip-hop since his early days as a member of local icons Shadez. 

In our latest (of many over the years) interview, we talk about his new record ('If You Don't See Me, You Saw Me'), representing Winnipeg on a larger stage, getting recognition for his efforts, his songwriting process, and much more!

(Note: there was some weird echo/distortion on one half of of the conversation, so if you downloaded this when it first came out and haven't listened yet, go with this version instead. Thanks.)

Need more Len Bowen in your life? Check out episodes #805 (June 2023), #647 (Dec. 2021), #475 (April 2020), #207 (Nov. 2016) and episodes #355 (Feb. 2019) and #101 (Nov. 2014) with Shadez.

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

I listen to a pretty wide variety of music, so it’s rare that I get stumped on a genre, but J-Rock was a new one on me!

Tune in for my conversation with locals Solaire about anime and video game music, Paramore tribute sets, their upcoming EP release (Feb. 7 at the Handsome Daughter), and much more!

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

This episode features an interview with singer-songwriter Kris Rendina, who you may recognize from previous projects like Gold Mountain! 

We talk about his imminent solo full-length, The Moonflower Express (which will be released Feb. 5 at Sidestage), as well as peaks and valleys in songwriting, deciding to come back to music in an uncertain time, and much more.

Need more from Kris? Check out his appearances on the podcast with Gold Mountain: WR104 (Dec. 2014), WR264 (Jan. 2018), and WR498 (June 2020).

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

If you've been listening to this podcast for any length of time, you're probably familiar with my year-end rundowns of my favourite local (and local-adjacent) releases of the year. Usually it's this big, lengthy thing over multiple episodes, but this time I tried to keep it nice and concise.  

Here are just a few of the 2025 releases I really dug last year. Some are full-length albums, some are EPs, one, I guess, is technically a two-song single, and one is even a collection of songs recorded years earlier, but it's all really good stuff.

Of course, I listened to way more local music in 2025, a lot of which is also fantastic, so this is just scratching the surface. Along with songs from each of the releases, you'll hear clips from interviews I did with the artists -- or relevant clips from other interviews -- from 2025 or earlier. 

If you need it in list form, my favourite records (from #1 to however many I did... I think nine?) were:

Propagandhi - At Peace, Rob Crooks - Unhomely, JayWood - Leo Negro, Orelands - Secrets and Select Missions, INGIA - Genesis, Claire Morrison - Where Do You Go At Night?, Scott Nolan - Man on a Wheel, Irvin Miller - Make Room For..., and Uncle Sinner - Everybody Wants to Know How I Die. 

Dig deeper: Propagandhi (episodes #922, 624, 100)/ Greg Soden (988, 620); Rob Crooks (#1013,  968, 916, 853, 773, 657, 527, 346, 285, 189; JayWood (#1007, 824, 708, 589, 308, 255), 
Orelands (#965); INGIA (

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

Banjo-slingin’ death-song enthusiast Uncle Sinner is back with his first album in five years, the excellent ‘Everybody Wants to Know How I Die’. 

Listen up for a great chat about the record, taking cover photos the old-fashioned way, Manitoba’s influence on musical bleakness (and rebirth), and much more!
Need more Uncle Sinner in your life? Check out episode #483 (May 2020) and episode #600 (June 2021), which is about his Star Thistle side project.

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

Folk artist Ben Stopfel spent the majority of his musical career here in Winnipeg, before decamping to Nashville a couple of years ago and plying his trade as a songwriter in Music City. 

He’s back home for a show at Public Domain on Dec. 28 (which means this one is time-sensitive and jumped the queue).

Here's our conversation about the two cities, coming back to Winnipeg, the differences between being a songwriter and a performer, and much more.

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in 2025 (and beyond)!

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

Just over a year ago, folk singer Fernanda appeared on the podcast for the first time. 

We caught up to talk about her newly-released concept album, ‘Deer Trails’, the name change from her previous Julie Fern identity, working with field recordings, experimenting with new genres, and much more!

Need more Fernanda? Check out episode #953 (November 2024).

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.  

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

It's another 'Manitoba-adjacent' episode! Shoegaze-inspired singer-songwriter Kevin MKAI may be based in Toronto these days, but he cut his teeth in Winnipeg’s music scene of the early ‘90s. 

Here's our conversation about his new music, his early experiences here in his hometown, poetry open-mics, having to change the spelling of his own name due to a DJ issuing a cease and desist, and much more!

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.  

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

For various technical reasons, no new interview episode this week... but I'm not gonna leave you hangin'. 

Instead, here's a bonus episode that was originally released exclusively on the Patreon page back in 2022: it's, essentially, the full discography of my old punk/noise/space music trio The Mouth-Boat, complete with my rambling recollections about the songs and recordings, etc.

The Mouth-Boat was definitely not a successful band, per se, but it was a lot of fun. This Patreon bonus episode initially came out around the time of the Happy Days tape -- a collection of songs from all three Mouth-Boat EPs (and then some), remastered and re-released by Gimli cassette label Ancient Raven Records.

Thanks to everyone who supports the show on Patreon, including the most recent patrons, Terrence and Maxfield, who signed up recently. There's all kinds of crazy bonus shit like this on there, plus you get advance versions of each interview and lots more. 

Back to regularly-scheduled interview episodes next week, and we'll close out the month with my traditional rundown of my favourite local records of the year. Thanks, as always, for listening!

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

The new record by rapper/producer/singer/songwriter/Winnipeg expat Rob Crooks is a layered, cinematic meditation on grief. 

Here's our conversation about the four-song ‘Unhomely’, taking creative liberties with deeply personal stories, sonic experimentation, Winnipeg from an outside perspective, and much more.

Need more Rob Crooks in your life? He was an original co-host of this podcast way back in 2012-13, but he has appeared on the show as an interviewee more than pretty much anyone else as well.

Check out episodes #968 (Feb. 2025), #916 (July 2024 with Epic), #853 (Dec. 2023 with Kitz Willman), #773 (March 2023), #657 (Jan. 2022 with Yy and Gruf), Bonus election episode (Sept. 2021 with Cam Scott), #527 (Oct. 2020), #346 (Dec. 2018 with Bazooka Joe), #285 (May 2018), and #189 (July 2016).

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! I have some new patrons to thank, so stay tuned for that next episode!

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.  

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

This is a bit of a different episode than you're used to on the podcast. As many of you know, in addition to releasing new interviews every week, I also have a Patreon page. 

Basically, that exists as a way for people who want to support the show, throw me a buck a month or whatever they want to donate, and they get to help out the podcast, keep the lights on, keep things afloat, but they also get access to a bunch of bonus content. 

The type of bonus content I post there changes now and then, but one of the things I liked to do for a number of years was to ask an extra question in most interviews that didn't make it into the main podcast. 

When I started doing these extra questions around 2022, I was asking people for recommendations of Manitoba-related albums that really meant a lot to them, their favorite records that were put out by local artists or artists with a local connection. This episode showcases a small selection of those answers.

A similar episode came out in June of last year. This one features bonus clips from artists including Pink Snot, JayWood, Desiree Dorion, Pip Skid, Tod Hughes, Jerry Sereda, Freddy and the Fire Nation, D.B. and the Deadbeats, Satanic Rites, Fox Lake, Patrick Michalishyn, Car287, Shay Wolf, The Thrashers, Stiff Wiggle, Begonia, Campfire Sigh, Adele M. Wilding, and JP Hoe.

Back to regular episodes next week! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.  

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

Last time Show Pony was on the podcast, they were juuuust starting out, and in those early days, they were playing alt-country… but times have changed.

I sat down with the band’s core members to talk about the shift to high-octane rawk sounds, harnessing their live energy in the studio, their excellent merch designs, and much more.

Need more Show Pony in your life? Check out episode #560 (Feb. 2021).

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.  

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

Really interesting conversation on this episode with Good + Plenty Arts Collective's Amber Neufeld and Mckye Hildebrand, all about the upcoming ‘Music Cocoon’ show at the West End Cultural Centre (Nov. 16)!

The event, which features performances by local artists (and past Witchpolice guests) Ila Barker and Two Crows for Comfort, is a family- and sensory-friendly matinee.

We talk about the show, creating inclusive, all-ages opportunities within the local music scene, some of Good + Plenty’s other initiatives, and much more!

Because of the time-sensitivity of the upcoming show, this episode jumped the queue and is coming out now!

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! Shoutout to our latest patron, Chris!

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.  

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

Country singer-songwriter Chris Micheal was on a path to success a few years ago, until the momentum he had built was suddenly derailed and he all but disappeared from the music scene. 

Tune in to our conversation about the way back from health problems and addiction, and his newfound vulnerability as a songwriter and a human being. This is the first in-person interview I've recorded for the podcast in quite some time, and it it includes a couple of live performances!

Need more of Chris? Hear his previous appearances on the podcast on episode #388 (June 2019) and #590 (May 2021).

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case!

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.  

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

Gettin' spooky on this one (just in time for Halloween) with Trevor and Mike from Omens!

Check out our interview about the (deliberately) slow roll-out to their second album, navigating the world of streaming and weird Google censorship, emerging from the Jet Set Satellite shadow, Halloween songs, and much more!

Need more Omens in your life? Hear Trevor on episode #904 (June 2024).

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.    

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.  

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

One of the coolest things about doing the show for eleventy trillion years is I get to watch interviewees’ careers grow and develop, and in some cases — like with JayWood — I get to see that hard work pay off with well-deserved critical acclaim and success. 

JayWood sat down for a fifth Witchpolice interview (six if you count his appearance at a 2017 live event) and we talked about his new ‘Leo Negro’ LP, musical nebulousness, all roads leading back to Winnipeg -- where the album will be released Oct. 20 at the WECC -- and much more.

Note: A battery issue meant about halfway through the interview I had to switch to my backup recording, but it's not really all that noticeable. Hooray for technology!

Need more JayWood in your life? Check out episodes #824 (Sept. 2023), #708 (July 2022), #589 (May 2021), #308 (Aug. 2018), and #255 (Nov. 2017).

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.    

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.  

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

It's a return appearance on the podcast by singer-songwriter Doug McArthur! Tune in for a great conversation about collaborating with other writers, shifting his sound away from the alt-rock thing, unconventional ways to promote his new single, and much more! 

Note: early on in the episode there are a couple of weird artifacts -- sounds almost like a weird computer voice muttering some gibberish. No idea why that's there, but it doesn't take away from the conversation and is very brief. 

Need more Doug? Check out episode #830 (Sept. 2023) 

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.    

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! 

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.  

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

Caught up with the fellas in Car287 to talk all about the new record, ‘Through the Lens’, the band’s recent upward trajectory, navigating acoustic versions of their songs, and much more!

Note: this was recorded a couple of weeks back, so some of the things they mention have already happened... like the new record, which has already been released. Get it now!

Need more Car287? Check out their previous appearances on episodes #757 (Jan. 2023) and #931 (Sept. 2024).

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.   

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case!

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening. 

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

Great sitdown on this episode with the big homie Jeff Darichuk of new Portage la Prairie folk-punk outfit Chucky and the Cheapskates! 

Tune in for a chat about getting back into the game in your 40s, the imminent new Cheapskates record, three chords and the truth, his old band the Naked Midgets, and much more!

Need more Chucky? He was on episode #561 (Feb. 2021) with the Naked Midgets!

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.   

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case!

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening. 

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

I sat down with BreakOut West executive director Michael Dawson to talk about the festival/awards show/music industry conference, which will take over Winnipeg beginning later this week!

Tune in for all the details!

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.   

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case!

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening. 

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

I caught up with all-Ha(i)ley classic rock/pop/alt-rock trio The Haileys to talk about the band’s upward trajectory, collaborating with outside writers, the dad crowd, their first time at the Royal Albert, and much more! 

Need more Haileys in your life? Check out their appearances on episode #796 (May 2023) and episode #590 (May 2021)! 

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.   

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! Shoutout to the latest patron, Andrew!  

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening. 

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!

Andrew Ritchot, a/k/a Lifte, is back on the show to talk all about 'How Strength Creates Tolerance', his new and deeply personal record that closes out a series based on his experiences as a caregiver for his late wife. 

Tune in for our conversation about music as catharsis, the future of this project (if there is one), and much more! 

Need more from Andrew? Check out his appearance on episode #760 (Jan. 2023), as a member of Boss Logan on episode #345 (Dec. 2018), and his spot as a guest host on episode #939 (Oct. 2024). Also give a listen to his podcast Head Full of Radio and his UMFM show, Alphabet Soup. 

This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company.   

Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case!  

As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening. 

Follow the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube! You can also support on Patreon... and do us a favour and leave a rating or review on your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening!