Big in Canada

It's 1984 and you are watching MuchMusic. Metal is ascendant. You are 14. A video begins to play. "Metal Queen" Lee Aaron is holding a sword as tall as her, wielding a voice twice that size. "Is this metal?", you wonder. It doesn't matter - you submit to the will of your new Queen. Also discussed: metal, songs as boner metaphors, being sexy vs. empowering, hard rock tre...

Before becoming the Paula Abdul of Canadian Idol, Sass Jordan was known for her huge voice and bluesy disposition. But the further she leaned into the sleaze, the closer she got to Canadian reality television fame. Not everyone can be Robert Johnson at the crossroads. Also discussed: YouTube channel maintenance, cover bands, posting your Ls is CanCon, Xav at Shawarma Fest, Bündock, Taylor Hawkins,...

As Ryan Malcolm went from singing in an oldies cover band with his dad to becoming the Season 1 winner of Canadian Idol, he experienced first hand what it was like to be inside the guts of major label CanCon. Despite being the people's champ and having a number one hit single for several months (!), his place in the industry, as he tells us, came with an asterisk. Also discussed: reel estate,...

TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE VISIT OUR PATREON As the World Cup takes over Toronto and Vancouver, we discuss the Boi-1da album that was maybe supposed to feature Tragically Hip remixes but now just includes a rather drab cover of Ahead By Century that will surely soundtrack the montage of Team Canada highlights once they are eliminated. It also features CanCon artists known and unknown. We talk about...

McMaster & James check all the CanCon boy band boxes. And while they never reached the ubiquity of some of their contemporaries, their lone album might be the best boy band album this country ever produced. Woah woah woah yeah yeah yeah. Also discussed: the Bounce, tributaries, Sook-Yin Lee, the tyranny of "oh baby", songwriting, Canadian Idol, music videos, choruses and much more.

Today we are joined by multidisciplinary artist, musician, filmmaker, actor, journalist, broadcaster, Canadian icon, Sook-Yin Lee to talk about her time as a MuchMusic VJ, “democratizing the playing field”, and her new album 72RHR - out now via Hand Drawn Dracula. Also discussed: clowns, DNA, squatting, secret labs, Eyeball Theatre, Moses Znaimer, Vancouver's punk scene, making art, CanCon, ph...

Raised in Edmonton and Jamaica, Kreesha Turner bounced into the spotlight after winning the nation's most notorious radio-sponsored talent competition. Dubbed "the Canadian Rhianna", she scored a big hit with "Don't Call Me Baby" and was poised for a long career. Her second album, the very good Tropic Electric , didn't produce any hits and the wheels fell off. Why d...

In this wide ranging catch-up episode, we debrief our live show, discuss Drake's big three-album rollout, breakdown the Jackson-Triggs Summer Concert Series 2026 and the FIFA Fan Festivals and breeze through the other five or so Our Lady Peace albums. Which is all a warm up to talking about I'm Going to Break Your Heart, a documentary about, for and by Raine Maida and Chantal Kreviazuk and...

TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PATREON! For FIVE dollars a month you get acess to our Bonus Feed, a monthly playlist of new Canadian music and maybe even some gifts! Experience (or relive!) the magic of Big in Canada's live debut at The Burdock Music Hall in Toronto as part of Departure Fest.

Johnny Payne, musician and co-host of Impossible Way of Life, returns to the show to chat with Mac about his new album Dazzle Me and what it would take to become big on Vancouver Island, where the dream of the 90s is alive. Also discussed: mask to music ratio, AI, community, reggae, building, sounding Canadian and much more.

As their imperial phase reaches its Bob Rock-produced conclusion, Our Lady Peace make a concept album and lose a key band member on the road to their biggest hit yet. To help discuss this era of OLP, we are joined by Lindsey King , a Toronto-based writer and editor whose work can be found in Toronto Life, Maclean's and many other reputable publications. And, she once owned a Shrode t-shirt. Al...

TICKETS TO BIG IN CANADA LIVE @ DEPARTURE FEST Our Lady Peace appeared fully-formed at the crest of the alternative rock boom and became one of the most successful Canadian bands of all-time. Raine Maida's unique voice and dreamy stare captured the hearts of millions of Canadians. But did he have anything to say to them? Could he save them? Were they even real , man? Also discussed: Mac's...

LIVE SHOW IN T.O. MAY 10TH: TICKETS HERE! In the prelude to our multi-episode Our Lady Peace exploration, we talk about OLP's unofficial fifth member and producer: Arnold Lanni. By the time he hitched his wagon to Raine and the Gang, Lanni had lived several CanCon lives, deaths and rebirths. First, as a member of Sheriff, whose song "When I'm With You" became an unexpected chart...

We talk about albums by The Outfit, Arielle Soucy, Station Model Violence and Sluice! And then we talk about three of our favourite Big in Canada subjects with John Batt of @ canada.gov.ca !

After 20 years behind the board, mixing and producing artists as varied as Loverboy, 54-40, Sloan and Marilyn Manson, Dave "Rave" Ogilvie was handed the keys to his very own CanCon car. The result was Jakalope: an ambient-ly industrial pop band fronted by an unknown musician named Katie Biever. Oh, and then he went on to have a hand in making Call Me Maybe. Also discussed: The JUNOs (ad...

The Parachute Club seem to capture a certain era of 1980s Toronto with their eclectic rhythms, Toronto-centric videos and (sometimes) progressive messages. But what are the limits of a predominately-white group using the musical styles of different cultures and banking on politics for subject matter? We raise up the parachute and find out. Also discussed: Daniel Lanois, McCain Rising Crust pizza,...

Drake, Tate, Nelly, Joni: some of the stars were out in Hamilton on Sunday night for the 2026 JUNO Awards. We ride the ups, downs and the Big in Canada of it all of "Canadian Music's Biggest Night".

May 10th! Live Show! Tickets here!⁠ John Batt, the man behind the Instagram account @canada.gov.ca , has lived in Quebec for years, but the Atlantic Ocean is never far from his Maritimer heart. This week, John gets alllllllllll fired up with Mac and Laura to talk about The Rankin Family, what they mean to the Maritimes, family bands, regional differences and much more.

As the 00s drew to a close and all meaning was lost to an endless sea of vibe and aesthetics, one final Avril-lite managed to break through to tween Bluenotes shoppers around the country. We look at Shiloh's ska-infused "Operator", which made her one of the final almost-stars of the MuchMusic-era, only for the rug to be pulled out from under her ascendant Canadian fame. Also discusse...

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PATREON FOR FULL EPISODE For this month's bonus episode we are diving into the Canadian songs on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart for the week of February 28th, 2026. Find out what's changed since 2004 (not much), what's good (not much), what's bad (most!) and what it all means. Also discussed: our impending live show in Toronto, the difference between Modern Ro...

LIVE SHOW SHOW TICKETS! MAY 10 AT BURDOCK MUSIC HALL! On a cold February day in 1985, some of Canada's biggest music stars answered the vehement pleas of manager Bruce Allen and gathered in a Toronto studio to record the charity single, "Tears Are Not Enough". As the fate of Ethiopia rests on the shoulders of producer David Foster, the studio's air is thick with cigarette smoke a...

As the first Canadian rapper to break into the mainstream, Maestro Fresh Wes broke down barriers and changed the Canadian music industry. From his platinum selling debut smash  Symphony in Effect  to a more recent release that can only be described as the most CanCon album of all-time, Maestro stuck to his vision to become the Godfather of Canadian Rap.  Also discussed: Trate McRae, the ukificatio...

SIGN UP FOR OUR PATREON, THAT'S WHAT I KNOW Popular music in the 1980s was defined by the Video Star: Madonna, Michael Jackson, Peter Gabriel, Prince. But in Canada, it was Lawrence "Larry" Gowan, whose music videos, hair and musical prowess captured the imagination of a nation who needed their own version of these icons. Gowan is now known as one of the key members of Styx, but his...

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PATREON! Born unto a family of musicians, it was predestined that Halifax singer-songwriter, actor, and educator Melanie Doane would join the family business.  Fitting in perfectly with the folk-rock sound of "women's music", Melanie released two good records, one really great song, played Lilith Fair, and was crowned the Best New Solo Artist at the 1999 JUNOs. But w...

HEY! EVERYBODY! SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PATREON! We're going to Mac's memory palace to discuss the brief but potent popularity of Mississauga reggae-rock-ska-punk band illScarlett. Hit the bong and find out how Canada's Sublime became a brief major label success story. Also discussed: big to you bands, street signs, theft, Warped Tour afterparties, Supernova, Brad Rubens: Philadelphia lawyer,...