Tracks From Abroad

While Tracks from Abroad has visited France before, today we are back with guest Baptiste on episode 109. Baptiste specifically shared his love for French hip-hop and gives us a musical tour from the early 90s to the new-wave gaining steam today. We briefly dive into Quebecois rap, and hope to return will a full episode on Quebec someday soon. Baptiste touches on the coldness of mathematics versus...

On the 108th episode of Tracks from Abroad we speak to Dipta from the Indonesian island of Bali. We learn about their traditional silent day, where everything on the island shuts down and pepole take time to reflect upon the year. We learn about why Dipta came to study in Toronto and also about traditional Balinese Gamelan music. We listen to a Canadian Balinese Gamelan group called the Evergreen...

On this week's episode of tracks from abroad we have a new host! Famous board tech Matthew hops on the mic to interview a friend from China, Arthur. They speak about linguistic varieties often supressed in China, as well as modern C-pop sung in Mandarin. We then take a listen to a wide variety of Chinese-Canadian musicians from Andrew Huang, a talented pianist, to Monsune, an up and coming indie p...

The 106th episode of Tracks From Abroad is all about Spain. We speak to U of T student Cesar who shares with us Spanish music with unexpected influences, from the bagpipes and fiddle of Celitc-influenced northern Spain to prog driven by Spanish guitars. Cesar also teaches us about the wild west of mathematics, including unsolved problems (which are really difficult to guess) and the bounties place...

This week on Tracks from Abroad we speak to Soliana, a student at the University of Toronto representing the country of Eritrea. She tells us about an event hosted recently by her student association, bringing people together from all across east Africa to enjoy a delicious meal together. She speaks on the similarities between Eritreans and Ethiopians, and describes a unique coffee ceremony that c...

On the 104th episode of Tracks From Abroad we travel to Kosovo. We speak to Vesa, who tells us about after-dinner walks, the growing Kosovar arts scene, and the recent split between traditional Kosovar folk and increasingly international pop. After listening to Vesa's recommended folk songs, we speak with Sahati, an upcoming pop musician and product of the Kosovar arts scene. She tells us about he...

On the 103rd episode of Tracks From Abroad we travel to Vietnam. Sing along to a collection of Vietnamese pop hits and much more as we travel through the karaoke capital of the world! Between songs we speak to Phong and Emily of the U of T Viet Student Association, and they were happy to shed light on the Vietnamese food, card-playing, and the interplay between music and business. Seth also brings...

On the 102nd episode of Tracks From Abroad we go to Georgia (The country, not the state! As our guest, Leli, reminds us).   She speaks about some of the misconceptions people have about the Caucasus nation and shares about her own experience coming to live in Canada after growing up in Georgia. We also speak about Georgian polyphonic singing and hear from classical Georgian groups as well as a sma...

This week Tracks From Abroad voyages to Hong Kong and speaks to Young Luk. Young reflects on the British influence that prevails throughout Hong Kong, from the education system, all the way through to music and movies.   We speak about the golden age of Cantonpop and hear tracks from some greats of the byegone era, including Leslie Cheung, Andy Lau and Susanna Kwan. We get an English language trac...

On Tracks From Abroad’s landmark 100th episode we take a trip to the small island country of Mauritius. We speak to Henny, who also happens to be a CIUT volunteer, helping around the radio station with various different shows.   Henny teaches us about a special type of music in Mauritius, Sega, as well as the rise in popularity of Mauritian DJs, spinning their fare at parties all across the island...

This week Tracks From Abroad visits Bulgaria. We talk to Mina and, having lived in Bulgaria, Switzerland, and now Canada, she provides a well-rounded perspective on Canadian culture. Mina contrasts Torontonian hustle culture with Bulgarian slow living, and she discusses how, in Bulgaria, it's not what you do, but who you do it with. But there is also much that Bulgaria and Canada share, as we talk...

This week, Tracks From Abroad stays local, in the sense that our guest comes from inside Canada. We talk to Cedric, a classical guitar student who hails from New Brunswick. We hear all about the interesting places he’s performed, the difference between playing classical and electric guitar, as well as his experience being in two bands. Across the episode we listen to a smattering of music from the...

During one of the coldest weeks of the winter, Tracks From Abroad takes you to the temperate Bahamas. We kick back with Adam Knowles, a student at U of T who enjoys both the complexities of neuroscience and the thrill of spear fishing. He tells us about what it's like to live in a popular tourist destination and how life on the archipelago is so closely tied to the climate, with hurricanes and cli...

Back from the winter break Tracks from Abroad returns with episode 96 on Estonia. We speak to a daughter-father combo of Kaisa Kasekamp and her dad, Professor Andres Kasekamp. First, Kaisa talks about growing up in Estonia and teaches us about the vibrant Estonian community here in Toronto. She speaks about slow Estonian living and the natural beauty of bogs located in the country. Professor Kasek...

Happy New Year from the team at Tracks From Abroad! On episode 95 we take you behind the scenes and into the minds of the wonderful people who work on the show. As Tracks From Abroad is a fully student-run show, we thought it would be nice to turn the spotlight inwards and hear what the crew has to say about the show they produce each week. First we hear from editors Simon and Rosa, as they debate...

As the year comes to an end during this wonderful holiday season, enjoy our highlights from Season 9 of Tracks From Abroad!

On the latest episode of Tracks from Abroad, we stay put in South America and travel across one border, to Colombia. First we sit down and chat with Nathalia, who studies linguistics and shares about her upbringing watching dubbed Spanish tv shows as a kid. She speaks about Colombian artists becoming more Americanized and also educates us about the many differences between Spanish spoken all aroun...

After a week in the Middle East, our Tracks From Abroad team is bringing you to South America on episode 92! For the first interview, our hosts speak to Giovanna from Venezuela. After moving to Canada at 16, she first studied architectural drafting and is currently completing another degree in architecture at the University of Toronto. Growing up in the music capital of Venezuela, Barquisimeto, sh...

Tracks From Abroad is beginning our 10th season this week with a new country! Today we visit Sudan with two U of T students who joined our hosts for a double-interview.  Omar speaks to his Sudanese culture regarding food, as well as his upbringing in Dubai, and the differences he finds living now in Toronto. Omar's friend Aly tells us about his father, a tour guide, and mentions his dream to open...

10 episodes down and new hosts Alex and Seth have traveled all across the world, listening to unique stories from the community at the University of Toronto. Today, landing in Kurdistan for episode 90, we hear from PhD student Sinem and learn about the field of Ethnomusicology. Focusing on non-western frame drums, Sinem studies the significance of these instruments in female led circles across Nor...

Episode 89 of Tracks from Abroad first brings us to Ecuador, where we speak to Tomas. He speaks about his love of the cello and his aspiration to play in symphonic orchestras. But it's not all strings and seriousness - we also hear about his affection for danceable Ecuadorian music, which he hears when he meets with other Ecuadorian-Canadians and which you will hear on this episode. We then travel...

Episode 88 of Tracks from Abroad brings us to Bangladesh, where we speak to Neha. She speaks about her interests while studying at the university and about how language plays a big role in Bengali culture. She reminisces on her time living in Bangladesh and later speaks to being involved in the community on campus, advocating for commuter students.   We hear some classic Bengali folk tracks as wel...

On episode 87 of Tracks From Abroad, we take a visit to two African countries, one on the mainland and another off the coast. We first speak to Skylar from Rwanda, who tells us about his journey moving to Uganda, and more recently about his time thus far in Toronto. He touches upon his love for film and fashion, as well as his artistic expression through writing. We then speak to Madagascar-born D...

Episode 86 of Tracks From Abroad starts in India, where we talk to Harman Grewal, a PhD student from West Bengal. While chatting with us, Harman describes how his his family journeyed through the jungle from Myanmar to their current home in India. We make a similar trek as we cross the border into Myanmar, where we talk to globetrotting photographer Bryan Dickie and Napas Thein, president of U of...

This week on Tracks From Abroad we speak to a Shaolin Kung Fu World Champion from Hungary. @misskisswushu  is an architecture student at  @uoftdaniels  at  @uoft  , and she sat down with TFA’s hosts to discuss Kung Fu competitions in China, the building of UFO-shaped homes in Hungary, and her method for goal-setting both in class and in the real world. On this episode of TFA you’ll be exposed to H...