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A Human Being In Conversation

Author: Steve Waxman

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The Creationists has pivoted into Human Being, a conversation with a different human talking about the road they travelled to get to where they are.

Host: Steve Waxman

51 Episodes
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Way back in 1988, guitarist Rik Emmett stunned fans when he left the successful Canadian rock group Triumph to pursue a solo career. He left many questions on the table in the wake of his departure, most of which he answers in Chapter 5 of his autobiography Lay It On The Line.   Now, when I call the book an autobiography I’m using air quotes because this is also a self-help book and an instructional guide to song writing and making your way through the music industry. Lay It In The Line is also much like Riks career. Why just be a rock star when you can also be a columnist, a jazz guitarist, a baseball coach, a teacher and a poet, as he proved with his 2021 book of poetry, Reinvention.
Jane Harbury has been a beloved figure in the Canadian music industry from her days washing dishes at Toronto's legendary Riverboat Folk Club to acting as publicist to some of the world's most revered musicians. A couple years ago I met Jane for coffee where she shared her origin story growing up in England. That afternoon has stuck with me all this time so recently she and I arranged to record our conversation so that we could share her story with the rest of you. In part one of our interview, Jane talks about growing up in England where she worked as a child actor, an au pair and a matron in a boys school.
Welcome to episode 50! When I started this podcast  I had no idea whether anyone would listen or how far I’d be able to take it and yet, here we are.  For this episode I reached to an old friend, Jeff Woods, to talk about his longtime love affair of writing and telling stories to turn people on to the things he loves. Many of you who are listening will instantly recognize Jeff’s voice from his days at rock radio and hosting his syndicated Legends of Classic Rock radio program. Most people might think of Jeff as the guy with those amazing pipes. But as we discuss in this episode, there are a great many people who under estimate Jeff’s other talents, not the least of which is writing, a talent his grade school teach recognized earlier on.Anyone who read Jeff’s book Radio, Records and Rockstars can already attest to his talent as a writer. It is a fun read. As you’ll hear from our conversation, Jeff is passionate about many things in life. After radio he continued to turn people on to music with his radio and records podcast.  On his Instagram he shares his passion for music, art, motorcycles and beautiful women. Which brings us to his latest project. As host of The Blue Hotel podcast, Jeff interviews a different guest each episode to talk about life, love and sexuality and then ends the conversation with a self-penned story Jeff’s talent as a writer is why I asked him to be the 50th Creationist.Discover Jeff Woods at jeffwoodsradio.comFollow the Creationistspodcast on Facebook and Instagram as well s your favourite podcast platform.The Creationists is created, produced and hosted by Steve Waxman (that's me!). 
We all tell stories in our daily lives.  Some are just the mundane answers to the question "How was your day?" But others are the stories we use to try to entertain or convince people of something. Whether it's a sales person presenting a product or an artist doing an interview, there's a story to convey and the best way to tell it is with authenticity. But not everyone is comfortable sharing their story and, in some cases, they don't think they even know what the story is.Erin Rodgers is a story coach, someone who helps people get to the authenticity of their story and then coaches them on their presentation. If you or someone you know have a hard time expressing themselves, Erin might be able to help.  Give the episode a listen and then contact Erin at:storystarcoaching.comPlease follow The Creationists podcast on your favourite podcast platform, Facebook and Instagram.You can reach us at thecreationistspodcast@gmail.com
Gordon Valiant is a bio-mechanics engineer and 30+ year veteran at Nike where he helped develop ground breaking athletic footwear.  In this episode of The Creationists, Gordon talks about what goes into the research and development of new products and shares some of his experience as a part of the team that helped build the Nike Shox, a unique shock absorber first introduced in 2000.Please follow, rate and review The Creationists. You can also follow thecreationistspodcast on Facebook and Instagram to find out about new episodes.The Creationists is mastered in post-production by Paul Farrant.Hosted and produced by Steve Waxman
Tim Sommer has had a remarkable life in the music industry. He became a rock journalist at the age of 16 writing for Trouser Press and then as the New York correspondent for Sounds Magazine in the UK. He was the first American to interview U2 and Henry Rollins called him out in print for a negative review Tim once wrote. He hosted an influential hard core punk radio show on WNYU and then learned how to play bass and became a recording artist in the art rock band Hugo Largo, working with Michael Stipe and Brian Eno. He’s worked at MTV and in the mid-90s he became, because of his background, perhaps the most unlikely of A&R people to sign Hootie & the Blowfish. With the release of Only Wanna Be With You, The Inside Story of Hootie & the Blowfish, Tim can now add author to his resume. His background and relationship with the band made him uniquely qualified to write this book. Here is some of what I learned after reading the book: before they ever had a record deal, Hootie & the Blowfish were making close to one million dollars a year as a cover band; if they could be any other band in the world, they would be REM; once signed to Atlantic they were victimized by label politics; their 25th Anniversary tour in 2019 was more lucrative than when the band was in their heyday; and Darius Rucker finally speaks out about his experience as a black man in America. This music biography is unlike any other I’ve ever read before as Tim is able to write from the perspective of an outsider as well as an insider and a music historian. After reading his book, I told Tim that it could have been subtitled, How To Make It In The Music Business and Not Die Trying.The first time I heard the name Hootie & the Blowfish was over a dinner I shared with Tim in Toronto a few months before the release of the band's major label debut.  He had recently signed them to Atlantic Records and he explained that almost no one at the label believed in Hootie and then he laid out how the plan for how the record was going to break - and it did, big time, just like he said. If you’re interested in insider stories, you’ll really dig this one and stick around for Tim's thoughts on the responsibility of music journalism - lessons he learned from his own experiences.If you enjoyed this episode and want to read Only Wanna Be With You, The Inside Story of Hootie & the Blowfish, you can buy it HERE from Amazon.com. You can also read some of Tim's more recent entertaining and sometimes controversial musings in Rock and Roll Globe HERE.You can follow The Creationists podcast on Facebook and Instagram.The Creationists is mastered in post-production by Paul Farrant.The Creationists is created and hosted by Steve Waxman.
There’s that old saying “Do what you love, love what you.” When Tim Pierce moved to LA from Arizona, he hoped to make a living as a professional musician not knowing the path that lay ahead.  It took a decade of hard work but he eventually became one of the town’s most in demand session guitarists playing on records by a wide range of superstars including Michael Jackson, Phil Collins, Joe Cocker and Bob Dylan among countless others. Tim is now enjoying a much simpler life as a YouTube creator, sharing his knowledge with anyone interested in learning how to play guitar at every level.There’s another old cliche, “It’s a small world” and that’s what I found when I signed up for Tim’s online guitar course.  It turned out that Tim played on many of the records I promoted in my time at Warner Music so I reached out to him to say that and we ended up connecting on the phone.  Over the course of our conversation we realized that, back in the early 80s, when I started my career working for manager Bill Aucoin in New York, Tim came to our Christmas party at the invitation of John Waite who happened to be an Aucoin client at the time.  See, small world. In this episode Tim and I talk about how he turned his passion for guitar into a lifelong career.You can find hundreds of Tim’s entertaining and informative videos by searching him out on YouTube. You can also sign up at timpierce.com for a free trial of his online Master Class series that includes close to 1000 videos for guitarists of every level including beginners.I hope that enjoy this episode of the creationists. If you’re a first timer, please check out our library of previous episodes. I’m sure that you’ll find something you like.  You also might want to subscribe to receive future episodes as soon as they’re released. If you’re so inclined please rate and review the episode, it helps us find new listeners this way and don’t forget to share the pod with your friends. The Creationists is mastered in post production by Paul FarrantThe Creationists was created by Steve Waxman.
I think that it's probably fair to say that Bernie Finkelstein is one of the architects of the Canadian music industry. He's well known as the founder of True North Records and for managing people like Bruce Cockburn, Murray McLauchlan, and Dan Hill, among many others, but what's the lesser known story is how he started his career managing the Paupers with a $74 loan for his father.In this interview, Bernie and I only scratched the surface on some of his incredible experiences. I highly recommend that you go more in depth and read his book True North, it's incredibly entertaining and well written, and it really fleshes out the stories we just barely touched on today. He's been a manager, a producer, a record company owner, and, in this episode, he gives us the scoop on his "second act" as a documentary film producer. It's been quite an incredible life.If you have suggestions for future episodes, please email thecreationistspodcast@gmail.com and follow us on facebook and Instagram.The Creationists is mastered in post production by Paul Farrant.The Creationists was created and is produced by Steve Waxman.
One of the reasons that I started The Creationists podcast was in hopes of inspiring listeners to explore their own creativity. Over the past two years, I think that we've all come across friends and acquaintances who have finally taken the plunge, to do things that they always wanted to do but always made the excuse to not pursue. One of the biggest obstacles to get over is time. If Julie Adam had used the excuse of lack of time, it would have been understandable after all Julie is the president of News & Entertainment for Rogers Sports & media, one of the two largest broadcasters in Canada. But Julie didn't let time stand in the way of writing her book Imperfectly Kind.I've known Julie Adam a very long time. She's come a long way from her days as an radio station intern, working her way to the very top of her profession.  She is held in the highest regard in the broadcast industry and as long as I've known her, Julie has always conducted business with a smile on her face. When I heard that she had written a book, I quickly downloaded the preview and after reading the introduction I knew, right away, that she would be an inspiring guest on the pod.Imperfectly Kind is definitely a must read for anyone who manages people. Frankly, if you report to someone you think isn't kind, you might want to think about gifting them Julie's book. Imperfectly Kind is available digitally on Kobo and Kindle.  Physical copies are available through Indigo in Canada and Barnes and Noble in the US or you can link through julieadam.ca
I've worked in the music business for over half my life. One of the great privileges is to hear an amazing unknown artist and then have the opportunity to introduce them to the world. So I can only imagine what Jonathan Poneman was feeling the first time he heard Nirvana.Before Nirvana literally changed the fortune of Sub Pop Records, Jonathan and his partner, Bruce Pavitt, were rolling right along putting out records by Soundgarden, Mudhoney and Green River who featured future members of Pearl Jam. Eventually, the label and its artists created a musical and cultural revolution. If I gave my episodes a name, I suppose that this one would be called Sleepless In Seattle. So sit back and listen to how a kid from Toledo parlayed his bar mitzvah money into one of the world's coolest record labels.In 2013 Jonathan started talking to the press about how he discovered that he had contracted Parkinson's Disease. It's obvious that Parkinson's never slowed him down or curbed his enthusiasm for music as Sub Pop continues to find and release the music of great indie artists.  You can check out the current roster and their latest releases at subpop.com.  While you're there, sign up for their newsletter and get the latest Sub Pop news delivered right to your inbox.Follow The Creationists podcast on Facebook and Instagram.  You can reach us at thecreationistspodcast@gmail.comThe Creationists is mastered in post-production by Paul Farrant.
Over the course of his 45 year career, Doug McClement has established himself and his company, LiveWire, as the go to for capturing live audio on location for broadcast or recordings. He’s had a number of dream gigs over the years but in 2010 when the Winter Olympics were awarded to Vancouver, he thought that his ultimate dream of working the games was about to come true.  In Canada, when you want to capture live sound you don’t say “call LiveWire” you say “call Doug McClement”.  Doug is one of the good guys in the industry and he did eventually get to work the Olympics a few years later but the story of how he got there is truly fascinating so I started our interview at the very beginning. Before we started recording our conversation, Doug caught me up on some of what his upcoming schedule looked like.  Like everyone else in the industry, the 20 months of COVID lockdown pretty much shut down his business but now that events are starting up again, he barely has time to breathe. In addition to his broadcast work, Doug is running the sound studio at the newly reopened El Mocambo club in Toronto where he is capturing live recordings multiple nights a week providing content to artists of every genre and level of success. Remember, The next time you’re watching an award show coming from Canada, you're probably listening to the work of Doug McClement.Please rate and review The Creationists on your favourite podcast platform.  You can also follow The Creationists podcast on facebook and Instagram. You can reach us with comments and suggestions for guests at thecreationistspodcast@gmail.comThe Creationists is mastered in post production by Paul Farrant.
Toronto’s Massey Hall joins Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall and Boston’s Symphony Hall as one of the world's classic concert venues. But as author David McPherson discovered while researching the history of Massey, the hall has hosted plenty of events over the years in addition to iconic concerts it has been  associated with. In 2018, Massey Hall closed its doors for a long overdue massive restoration which promises to bring the hall into the 21st century and at the same time retain its charm and restore some of its hidden beauty. Around the same time, David McPherson and his publisher Dundurn Press met with Massey Hall’s management team to propose a comprehensive book chronicling its 125 year history. Whether you’ve only been to Massey Hall once or you’ve enjoyed dozens of nights in the venue, the experience is one that you’ll never forget. I have so many of my own fond memories such as seeing Elvis Costello there in 1978 or LL Cool J bringing  in the first full production hip hop I ever saw. I sang (poorly albeit) with Brian Wilson in one of the tiny backstage dressing rooms and I saw AC/DC for the first time in 1979. As a matter of fact, a photo I took of singer Bon Scott that night is included in David’s book. The plan is for the lights to turn back on at Massey Hall this November. Naturally the first live show will be with Gordon Lightfoot. When the total renovation is finally finished, in addition to a refurbished concert hall, there will be an expansion next door called the Allied Music Centre which will include a state of the art recording studio, a nite club, a performance theatre and collaborative workspaces for artists. In the meantime, David McPherson’s book chronicling the history of Massey Hall is in stores in early November and is available for pre-order now HERE. Please rate and review this episode, apparently it helps new listeners find us. If you have suggestions for future guests on the pod, please email thecreationistspodcast@gmail.comThe Creationists is mastered in post production by Paul Farrant.Steve Waxman created this podcast.
In the early 2000's, Geoff Tait was running his fashion forward golf apparel company Quagmire.  The business was flying and Geoff was hanging out at the Masters with golf icons Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus and partying with Kanye, Jay Z and John Legend.  And then it all came crashing down.Like any good entrepreneur, Geoff picked himself up, dusted off the disappointment and found a new venture to dive into. This interview is about that journey.  Anyone who knows me knows that I’m an avid golfer. I had the good fortune to watch the growth of Geoff’s Quagmire brand and I remember the early days when he first introduced Triple Bogey as a beer for golfers. Recently I was on the course and one of my playing partners asked the cart girl specifically for a Triple Bogey. That’s when I thought that, though I don’t drink myself, you might like to hear the story of how Geoff went about creating a beer. If you want to find out more about Triple Bogey and their products, head over to triplebogey.com. In addition to information about their drinks, you’ll find a listing of all of the locations they are being sold.  I’m told on good authority that the taste is great.
In the late 1980s and early 90s, Kurt Swinghammer’s artwork became synonymous with the city Toronto as well as the Canadian hip hop scene. Art critics dubbed it  neo-primitive and his abstract work could be found on radio station logos, business signs and in music videos. His bold improvised artwork eventually  became ubiquitous and a go to stile in the advertising world. Kurt Swinghammer has had an extraordinary creative career that has encompassed both the visual arts and music. The artwork he first gained recognition for took visual clues from folk art from around the world and Saturday morning cartoons of the sixties. Over the past decade he has developed a more mannered graphic of painting that began with his Red Canoe series.  Kurt was kind enough to invite me to interview him in his downtown Toronto studio which is where we sat surrounded by paint splattered easels and original works of art, paintings of melting icebergs, canoes floating by forests, a psychedelic portrait of Scotty, the mascot from the Canadian Tire hardware store, a painting from his Red Canoe series and his latest work of wood carvings hung on the wall. Over the course of our wide ranging interview Kurt shared stories of his sister taking his cardboard sculpture of a telephone to school for show and tell when Kurt was 4. He also shares the story of selling his first work when he was 15 and why art and music became his salvations.If you would like to check out Kurt Swinghammer’s art, I’ve posted photos of a number of pieces discussed in this episode on The Creationists Podcast page on Facebook and Instagram. You can purchase his work through inabstracto.com or you can visit his website kurtswinghammer.bigcartel.com. Also, Kurt’s music can be heard on all streaming platforms.Read the transcript of this interview at imstevewaxman.comIf you have any questions, comments or suggestions for future guests, please contact us at thecreationistspodcast@gmail.comThe Creationists is mastered in post production by Paul Farrant.The Creationists is recorded and edited by Steve Waxman. Theme music performed by Steve Waxman.
As a member of the Canadian rock trio Triumph, Rik Emmett has sold millions of records and toured the world performing for millions more. Since leaving Triumph in 1988, Rik has enjoyed a successful solo recording career and, until recently, spent two decades as a faculty member at Humber College in his hometown of Toronto where he taught Songwriting, Music Business, Creative Development and Directed Studies. Writing has always been a part of Rik's life whether as a songwriter or as a regular contributor to Guitar Player Magazine. In 2001 he self published Bric-A-Brac, a book of short stories, poems and unreleased lyrics but now he has taken a unique approach to writing a memoir as a book of poetry called Reinvention.With 56 poems collected in seven sections, Reinvention shares stories from Rik’s life as well as his thoughts on religion, politics and the general state of society today. The book also features tributes to a number of important people in his life which is where we started our interview with Rik reading the poem about his grandfather titled 11,11,11,12. In his lifetime, Rik Emmett has been a son, a husband, a father, a guitarist, a songwriter, a rock star, a columnist and a teacher. And now, add to that, a published poet. Reinvention is available through ECW Press as of September 14, 2021. Pre-order Reinvention HERE. If you want to find out more about Rik, his career and the music and books he has created, simply visit rikemmett.comRead the transcript of this interview at imstevewaxman.comPlease follow The Creationists on your favourite podcast platform to get new episodes as soon as they go live.The Creationists podcast is also on Facebook and Instagram.The Creationists is mastered in post production by Paul Farrant.
How did his music get to one billion streams?Why is he not interested in signing with a record label?Why won't he show his face in photographs?People are motivated to create for many different reasons. For some, it’s merely self-satisfaction and an escape from the rest of the world. Some people use creativity as a way to find new solutions. As a teenager, Florida based rapper and producer Josh A turned to creativity as an outlet to escape the harsh realities of a troubled home life. With it, he found the kind of success that he hoped would take away the pain he felt inside, but he discovered that success wasn’t the answer he was looking for. This might be the first time you’ve heard of Josh A. If so you might be shocked when I tell you that his music has been streamed  close to one billion times since he first started posting tracks on SoundCloud and YouTube in 2015. Diving into his work in order to battle his inner demons has been an all consuming process for Josh who, at 25, has already released an astonishing 16 full length albums including his latest, Lonely Vibes. A large part of Josh’s success stems from the personal nature of his lyrics which provides a voice for his fans to relate to with their vulnerable tales of self-doubt and lost hope.Listen to Josh A on SpotifyRead full transcript at imstevewaxman.comYou can follow The Creationists podcast on Facebook and InstagramThe Creationists is mastered in post production by Paul Farrant
Marci Segal was the first Canadian graduate of the International Center for Studies in Creativity program at the state university in Buffalo. She has the distinction of being the first creativity specialist hired on staff at an international advertising agency as well as being a creativity consultant at NASA, Bosch, Ricoh and CIBC among many others. She has been featured in Fast Company, Best Health and Strategy magazines and, in 2001, Marci and some colleagues established a day to acknowledge the important contributions creativity and innovation make in our lives. In 2017, the United Nations officially designated April 21st as World Creativity and Innovation Day and it is now observed in over 90 countries around the world.One would think that you shouldn’t need a special day for creative thinking in your life or business but isn’t it nice to know that there is one out there? If you want to find out more about World Creativity and Innovation day and Week, please visit wciw.org. Poke around the site for some inspiration and new approaches to thinking. You can watch a video highlighting the UN’s 17 sustainability goals HERE.Read the full transcript of this episode at imstevewaxman.comThanks for listening to The Creationists podcast.  This is the final episode of Season 4. If you've enjoy what we're doing, please rate, review and share the podcast and follow on your favourite podcast platforms to be informed when new episodes go live.  We're lining up guests for Season 5 now.You can also follow The Creationists on Facebook and Instagram.The Creationists is mastered in post production by Paul Farrant.
Anyone who knows Vince Ditrich probably knows him as the merry mirthmaking drummer of Canada’s wildly popular Celtic rock band Spirit of The West. With the days of long haul touring behind him, Vince has settled into a much quieter life on the West Coast. As you’ll see in our interview, Vince has always had an interest in writing and has kept up the practise with his blog Random Note Generator. But  it was the encouragement from some friends that led to Vince creating wannabe rocker Tony Vicar who lived an ordinary life in the imaginary BC town of Tyee Lagoon until something magical happened that turned his life and his world upside down.Stick around to the end of this episode to hear Vince read and excerpt from the book. The Liquor Vicar comes out in Canada on August 17 and in the UK and the US in September. You can order your own copy of The Liquor Vicar now on Amazon.caYou can read the full transcript of this interview at imstevewaxman.comPlease follow, rate and review The Creationists on your favourite platform and share episodes on your social feed, it helps us build our audience.You can also follow The Creationists podcast on Facebook and Instagram.The Creationists is mastered in post production by Paul Farrant.
If you been listening to The Creationists for a while, you know that I like to ask my guests about the inspiration for their creations. Sometimes it's a lightning bolt of imagination that gets a creation started, but sometimes it comes out of the tedium of a slow work day.  Indie filmmaker Justin McAleece and his friends began developing the mockumentary Brick Madness while they worked as hired techs on another film. Brick Madness takes place during a scandalous LEGO competition, but we can’t say LEGO, so forget I said that. What started as a joke concept to distract them from a slow day of filming, turned into a 10 year passion project. In this episode of the Creationists, Justin shares the odyssey that Brick Madness took from its birth during downtime on a film set to its premiere in his hometown of Fresno, California.If you're looking for a few good laughs and want to support independent filmmaking, you can rent or buy Brick Madness now on amazon.com. Read the full transcript of this episode at imstevewaxman.comMaterials related to this episode can be found on The Creationists podcast feed on Facebook and Instagram.The Creationists is mastered in post production by Paul Farrant.
Though I’ve known Eric Samuels for several years, I never really knew the many roads he’s travelled to get to where he is today. When I first met Eric he was one of Canada’s leading radio programmers.  I thought he was a little buttoned up the way he was always quoting market research as the reason not to play a record I was promoting at the time. As a result, finding out that he had tried his hand at being a stand up comedian shocked me.  Of course, I knew he loved music but I had no idea that he was also a musician.  And years after he had suddenly left the music business, I was startled to find out that he had not only pursued a career as a mentalist but had become among the finest in his field. Even magicians Penn and Teller loved his act when he performed on their popular TV show, Fool Us. I had so many questions for Eric, but I first wanted to see if he could explain the difference between a magician, an illusionist and a mentalist.If you'd like to find out more about Eric Samuels or see some examples of his work or maybe even book him for an event, please visit this website, Ericsamuels.com. Read the full transcript of this interview at imstevewaxman.comFor more material on Eric and other guests on The Creationists, please follow The Creationists podcast on facebook and Instagram.If you like what we're doing, please rate and review us on your favourite podcast platform and share episodes on your own socials, it helps us reach a wider audience.The Creationists is mastered in post production by Paul Farrant.
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Joel Lambert

Great podcast Steve. Love it.

Jan 29th
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