Q with Tom Power

Machel Montano is known as the King of Soca, and is widely credited with bringing Soca music to the global stage. In 2025, the Trinidadian singer, songwriter and producer became the first Soca artist to perform on NPR’s Tiny Desk, garnering over a million views. But he also took time off from his music career to get a master's degree in Carnival Studies from the University of Trinidad and Tobago,...

Ebril is an Iraqi Canadian artist who blends a range of influences into her music. Her debut album, In Copula, took six years to complete because she taught herself to produce, sing and write songs by watching YouTube tutorials. But it paid off: the opening track, Stranger in You, has taken on a life of its own, surpassing one billion views on TikTok. Ebril talks to Tom Power about her personal gr...

Mac Barnett did something he said he never would: he wrote a book for adults. Make Believe is the award-winning children’s author’s newest book about how kids' books deserve a grown-up conversation. Mac joins guest host Gill Deacon to talk about writing for adults, why children’s fiction deserves more respect, and why he has such a problem with didacticism in kids’ books. 

When the Nova Scotian writer Graeme Bezanson sat down to write his new collection of poetry about boyhood and toxic masculinity, he drew inspiration from two unlikely sources: the changing positions of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites and an interview transcript between manosphere influencers Tucker Carlson and Andrew Tate. Graeme sat down with Tom Power to discuss his debut poetry collection Ultra...

For three decades, crime writer and forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs has been writing novels that bring the science behind solving crimes to the fore. She’s the bestselling author of the Temperance Brennan series, which is the inspiration for the TV show Bones. Back in November, Kathy released the 24th novel in the series, Evil Bones. She joined Tom Power to tell him about the book and the sur...

Sandy Pandya is a music industry veteran who has managed musicians like Serena Ryder and Jully Black. At this year’s Junos, she was honoured with the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award for shaping the Canadian music industry. She joins Tom Power to talk about growing up in Regina, running a café which became a hub for artists in the city, and founding ArtHaus, a multi-purpose live-work space a...

Arlo Parks is a Grammy-nominated artist from London, whose career launched after she submitted her demos to the BBC. Since then, she’s opened for artists like Billie Eilish and Harry Styles, and even co-wrote a song for Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter record. Life has been busy for Arlo thanks to all the success, but she knew she needed to take a step back to enjoy being a 20-something. So she did, and he...

In just four years since Aysanabee left his day job to pursue music, he has played over 400 shows, toured all over the world and was shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize. He also made history as the first Indigenous artist to win the Juno awards for both alternative album of the year and songwriter of the year. Aysanabee joins Tom Power in the Q studio to talk about his new EP Timelines, his re...

Acclaimed Canadian stage actor Peter Fernandes is making his directorial debut at this year’s Shaw Festival, with a remount of the play Sleuth. This Tony Award-winning show, and later Oscar-nominated film, is a work that both has a lot of love for the mystery genre, and picks apart many of its tropes. Peter joins Tom in the Q studio to talk about why he wanted to take on this project, and how it f...

Country musician Owen Riegling went from playing the local pub in his hometown of Mildmay, Ont. for his buddies, to hitting the stage at iconic venues like the Grand Ole Opry and Massey Hall in just a couple years. His new album contends with that feeling of hitting the stratosphere, while also missing home — and the people who make it home — at the same time. He sits down with Tom Power to talk a...

In a long-awaited catch-up, singer, songwriter and actor Josh Groban stops by the Q studio to talk about his upcoming album Cinematic. The record is a tribute to the iconic soundtracks of some of his favourite films, from The Lion King to James Bond. He tells Tom about his touching collaboration with his father on the record, what it was like to play Sweeney Todd on Broadway given his lifelong lov...

On their new song Had It, Toronto indie-rock trio Dumb Crush tell the story of a modern-day guy who’s dealing with the pressures of hyper-individuality and the feeling of never being good enough. Owen Hooper, a bass player and singer in the band, joins Tom to talk about the inspiration behind the song, and how the band feels about the constant pressure to maximize your potential.

Arkells are at a stage of success where they can easily sell out large amphitheatres across Canada. But with their new record Between Us, the band has chosen to do something different with the tour: city takeovers. Instead of booking large venues for one night, the boys are spending multiple days in Canadian cities, playing smaller stages and more intimate shows. Arkells frontman Max Kerman and gu...

When Alberta filmmaker Jody Wilson was working on visual effects for CSI Miami, she didn’t know the Hollywood gig was also laying the groundwork for her future in filmmaking. From The Avengers to The Last of Us, her on-set observations all came in handy when she finally decided to make her own feature film, The Bearded Girl. It’s a coming-of-age story with a twist and, as Jody tells Tom Power, its...

For nearly 40 years, Ziggy Marley has built a legendary career across music, writing and philanthropy. Now, the eldest son of reggae icon Bob Marley returns with Brightside, his ninth studio album, which was produced entirely by him and his brother Stephen. He chats with Q’s Tom Power about what happens when he records with instruments tuned to a lower frequency, the spiritual place he seeks out w...

Best known for her tapestries and textile paintings, Paulina Constancia’s latest series, MOMents, reflects the early days of motherhood, celebrating the small, special moments that happen when you become a parent. Speaking with Q guest host Gill Deacon, Paulina gets into her own experience as a mother, why she urges parents and caregivers to stay present, and what it’s like being a self-taught “na...

Riz Ahmed is an Oscar and Emmy-award winning actor and rapper, known for pushing for more nuanced portrayals of South Asians, and especially Muslims, on screen. In his most recent projects, he’s shaking the foundations of British cultural mythology by taking on two roles that have long been definitive for white actors: James Bond and Hamlet. He joins Tom to talk about his new series Bait, where he...

After winning the prestigious Polaris Music Prize for a second time, Jeremy Dutcher decided to do something he’s never done before: score a film. He composed music for the Canadian thriller At The Place of Ghosts, which follows two estranged Mi'kmaq brothers who become haunted by a malevolent spirit and must reunite to face their demons. Jeremy sits down with Tom Power to discuss the importance of...

During the pandemic, Kashus Culpepper learned to play the guitar on YouTube, and soon enough was performing covers for his fellow sailors in the United States Navy. Now, after sharing some of his covers online and moving to Nashville, Kashus’s soulful blend of Southern sounds has caught the attention of music veterans like John Mayer and Elton John. He joins Tom Power to talk about his unique jour...

Brittany Allen has been a working actor and composer for over 15 years. Her breakout role as Marissa on the long-running soap All My Children earned her a Daytime Emmy Award. Now, she’s getting a lot of critical acclaim for her role as a cancer patient on the second season of the hit show The Pitt. She joins Tom Power to talk about her acting journey, and how playing a cancer patient has impacted...

The Big Five answers the most pressing question of our time: what are the “Big 5” of any given category? Not the best 5. Not the top 5. Not anyone’s favourite 5. But objectively, the Big 5. In each episode, Donovan Woods, Tom Power, and a celebrity guest tackle new topics and debate things like: what are the Big 5 farm animals? Types of hats? Slang terms for “butt”? Ways to cook a potato? Guys nam...

Eight-time Grammy winner Kacey Musgraves is back with her seventh album, Middle of Nowhere. The record looks at where she’s from, transitions and being comfortable alone. Kacey joins Tom Power in the Q studio to chat about the new album, what it was like growing up in Texas, and her breakthrough fourth album Golden Hour.

Canadian songwriter Cat Clyde, known for blending rockabilly with modern Americana, just released her fourth full-length album, called Mud Blood Bone. She joins Garvia Bailey to talk about what inspired her new song off the album, Man’s World, which tackles the frustrating limitations of living in a patriarchal society.

Without Tiga, the vibrant dance party scene in Montreal wouldn’t exist. The DJ and record producer pioneered the first club, first parties and the overall EDM explosion in that city. Tiga tells Tom Power about his new record, his early childhood sneaking into raves in Goa, India, and what it’s like to see the world through its nightlife.

For decades, Parisa Karimi Molan was banned from singing publicly in her homeland of Iran because she was a woman. But, Parisa found her voice in Canada, and now she’s released her debut album Unveiled. She tells Tom about the secret singing she undertook in her homeland, and what it meant to sing in public for the first time after moving to Montreal.