Bob's Basement: A Podcast About Change

Joel Carriere is responsible for bringing us some of the most iconic music in modern Canadian music history.  His record label and launched the careers of bands like Alexisonfire, City and Colour, Arkells, Monster Truck, The Dirty Nil, The Sheepdogs and many many more.  He has a unique viewpoint on how radio and records and band management have changed over the last twenty years.  O...

About Karl Wolf: Karl Wolf is a Lebanese-Canadian musician raised in Dubai and based in Toronto. He is a singer, songwriter and producer who has released 5 certified Gold singles in addition to his 4X platinum international hit, “Africa”. Having collaborated with the likes of Timbaland, Juicy J, Fatman Scoop, among others, the MTV Europe and 6-time SOCAN award winner has now released 9 studio albu...

Jeff Domet and Bob began their broadcast journey's as interns on Edge 102's Humble and Fred Show.  Listen in as they discuss changes in the media landscape and changes in their personal lives.  Shawarma - is the first person to actually record INSIDE Bob's Basement.   A momentous occasion to be sure! That was the original description of Episode 66.  &nb...

A few weeks back Nails joined Bob in his basement virtually from his home in Malta. Malta and Zoom do not get along - so forgive the technical issues/edits. Nails is a long time radio guy who just wants to help announcers/presenters make entertaining radio. He and Bob discuss the ever changing world of broadcast from the technical side to the details of what really resonates with today's radio lis...

Sebastian Clovis has had a lot of change in his career. From being a Grey Cup winning Defensive Back in the CFL to the host of very successful HGTV Home Reno Shows he has adapted to whatever life has thrown at him. He and Bob sit down and discuss what it's like to come to a new country at 6 years old and the journey and changes that need to happen to "fit in". Side note of the "small world" nature...

Paul Bellini is an award winning comedy writer and performer. But more importantly he used to work for Bob on PROUD FM. Join Paul and Bob as they discuss the art and science of sketch writing and comedy, Paul was a writer of two of the most successful comedy shows ever to come out of Canada: The Kids In The Hall and This Hour Has 22 Minutes. He also has a band with Scott Thompson called Mouth Cong...

Collectively Craig Venn and Mike Luck have over 50 years radio experience. Together they have been doing mornings on "The GTA's Rock Station" 949 The Rock for nearly a decade. Bob worked with them for a near four year span doing middays and music at 949 The Rock. Listen in as they discuss the changes in morning radio over the course of the past 10 years and more in this radio centric episode.

Dave Trafford is probably best known to Toronto radio audiences as a host and news director on Newstalk 1010 CFRB. Dave has recently left any kind of a "regular gig" in terrestrial radio behind and entered into the world of Podcasting and content creation with his daughter Erin. Dave and Bob talk about the many changes in media in depth in this episode. They also talk about how the are sort of rel...

You might know Mike Wilmot from "Just For Laughs" and "The Nasty Show". You might know Mike from "Corner Gas". You might know Mike from his starring role in the cult classic "It's All Gone Pete Tong". Bob knows Mike because one of Bob's closest friends is Mike's little brother, Mark. Bob and Mike laugh a lot in this episode. They talk aout how the stand up game has changed, They talk about comedy...

Some people say drummers are strange people...some people say lawyers are a unique breed. Well Kurt Dahl is both. He's been the drummer for Canadian Rock Band ONE BAD SON for nearly 18 years and he's been an entertainment lawyer for a good portion of that as well. While some rock stars party in the back of the bus - Kurt negotiates deals. If ever there was someone qualified to talk about change wi...

Lori Gibbs has been described as a human anti-depressant. She is a rare commodity - a stand up comedian with a sunny disposition. She and Bob talk about how she knew at 20 that she wanted to be a stand-up - however she didn't take the plunge til after her 40th birthday. Lori has also been a morning show host in Calgary over the years. If you want to hear Bob give a curse laden rant about what is "...

Bob and Dave Kaufman do not know each other at all at the beginning of this episode. They have merely "liked" each other's Tweets along the way. By the end of the episode something has changed...they seem like friends. This might be the episode in which the umbrella of change is spoken about the least, but if you want to listen to two grown men exchange passionate stories about music and broadcast...

Bill Welychka was likely a staple on your television through the 90s and 2000s on Much Music and Much More Music - he has interviewed (and hugged even) the likes of David Bowie, Prince and Shania Twain. He is currently the morning host/producer in Kingston Ontario (where Bob works) for Global News CKWS. They talk about Bill's career arc and the changes it has seen and they even delve into the the...

Greg Brady is a veteran broadcaster who has recently made the change from sports talk radio to news talk radio. He and Bob discuss Greg's time as a host on an American sports station covering teams like the Detroit Lions but also doing play by play for an OHL Team. Greg did have one request when he came on the show: he wanted to talk music, even though he's never worked in music radio. Warning: th...

The second MacDonald clan member to join Bob in the basement is Colin. The Trews have a new album out (Wanderer) and a new beer (Trews Tone: Brewed for Wanderers). Colin and Bob exchange Tragically Hip listening stats and they compare Maple Leaf Fandom. Colin talks about how he keeps his voice sounding so strong for the Trews live shows.

Damian Rickards is a long time radio announcer who has been heard all across Ontario for the last 20 years. From his early days as an intern with Mix 999 in Toronto to his current gig hosting evenings in several markets for Corus Entertainment "Mr D" can comment on change with a lot of experience. Also - this may be the only podcast you listen to with two grown men being very excited to discuss a...

He was trading on the floor of the Toronto Stock Exchange at the age of 21. He was a Dragon. And now he is the owner of one of the most iconic clubs/concert venues in Canada - The El Mocombo. Michael Wekerle has a very unique perspective on change. He shares some of the ups and downs of being a "Bay Street Suit" here on this week's episode.

At 17 years old Michelle Treacy found herself on stage with Lady Gaga singing in front of over 20,000 people. And her life changed forever after that. Some good...some bad She won season two of the CBC singing competition show The Launch and had a song on the Billboard Hot 100. And her life changed forever after that. Now she is Bob's Basement - will her life change forever after this? Probably no...

Talk about someone who embraces change. You might know Dave Bidini as the founding member of The Rheostatics. You might know him as the award winning filmmaker. You might know him as the author of 13 books. Or you might know him as the publisher of the upstart broadsheet "The West End Phoenix" - featured just this week in the New Yorker. Listen as Bob tries to keep up with someone who is infinitel...

The food industry changes at a remarkable pace. Change in the restaurant industry is rampant all the time. You may know Chef Ted Reader from his appearances on The Humble and Fred Show or Derringer in the Morning or Rock Mornings with Craig Venn and Lucky. Or you may have one of his cook books (he's written over 20). Ted joins Bob this week to talk about how the pandemic helped bring BBQ (aka smok...

Rob Daniels is what you might call a "journeyman" announcer on radio. Approaching 20 years in the business he's worked with some of the biggest names in Canadian radio including Tom Rivers, Tarzan Dan and Roger Rick and Marilyn. He and Bob worked together briefly as well. Rob has written a book called "Beyond The Mic" where he talks about all the changes in his life around radio and more. Mental h...

James Sharman came to Canada from England when he was 16 years old with a love of sports and what turned out to be a passion for pie! James joins Bob this week to talk about change from being a "Headline Sports" PRE-day-oner to now proprietor of Sharman's Proper Pies. From Footy to Flaky Crusts and everything in between this episode is tasty!

Chris Brodbeck is the lead singer of See Spot Run. A lifetime musician Chris has had a "masterplan" that has had plenty of change. Chris and Bob discuss the ever changing role radio has to play in the success of a band. They talk about how to deal with label issues as a musician and what it is that gets Chris "through" the tough times.

You probably know Paul Romanuk best from his days as the play by play man for the World Juniors Hockey Tournament. He has been play by play for The Raptors and the Olympics. Paul talks about coming home to Canada from London England to take on his dream job as a play by play announcer on Hockey Night In Canada and dealing with the change of losing that position only four years in.

Rob Snoek has called play by play for over 20 Olympic events for the CBC. After his own successful career in track and field at the Paralympics Rob called his first events at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. He's called over 1000 OHL hockey games. He is the sports director at Durham Radio. This guy knows broadcast and knows how it has changed.