Witchpolice Radio

After years of changes, local alt-rock/dream-pop outfit Ozconscious is set to release a new full-length, ‘Nostalgia for the Moment’, at the Pyramid Cabaret on June 20 (that's tomorrow if you're listening the day this episode drops!) I sat down with frontman Tate Hiebert to talk about the record, different songwriting vunes, learning from busking and playing cover tunes (via Tater and the Tots), and much more! Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Trying something new on this one: you're probably used to my show's titles starting with the episode number (this one is #1026), but apparently that hampers a show's ability to be found be potential new listeners on certain platforms, so this time we're testing the guest's name alone.Here's my chat with local indie-pop artist Chandler Pretty about getting into the music scene backwards, the cinematic sound of her debut EP ('Act V: Bloom'), bringing dark motifs to an otherwise bright genre, and much more! This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company. Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

February is Black History Month, and among the many events happening across Winnipeg is Adele M. Wilding's ‘Steal Away: Songs of Hope and Resilience’, a concert focused around the tradition and history of African-American spirituals. Tune in for my conversation with Adele about honouring her West Indian roots, the way traditional Black music continues to show up in unexpected places even into the 21st Century, the importance of accurately preserving music history, and much more!‘Steal Away’ takes place Feb. 21 at Crescent Arts Centre and includes a star-studded cast of local players.Need more from Adele? Check out episodes #765 (Feb. 2023) and #866 (Jan. 2024), as well as her recent live performance at my day job (worlds are colliding). This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company. Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Now with repaired audio! Veteran Winnipeg MC Len Bowen has been steadily releasing inspired hip-hop since his early days as a member of local icons Shadez. In our latest (of many over the years) interview, we talk about his new record ('If You Don't See Me, You Saw Me'), representing Winnipeg on a larger stage, getting recognition for his efforts, his songwriting process, and much more!(Note: there was some weird echo/distortion on one half of of the conversation, so if you downloaded this when it first came out and haven't listened yet, go with this version instead. Thanks.) Need more Len Bowen in your life? Check out episodes #805 (June 2023), #647 (Dec. 2021), #475 (April 2020), #207 (Nov. 2016) and episodes #355 (Feb. 2019) and #101 (Nov. 2014) with Shadez. This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company. Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

This episode features an interview with singer-songwriter Kris Rendina, who you may recognize from previous projects like Gold Mountain! We talk about his imminent solo full-length, The Moonflower Express (which will be released Feb. 5 at Sidestage), as well as peaks and valleys in songwriting, deciding to come back to music in an uncertain time, and much more. Need more from Kris? Check out his appearances on the podcast with Gold Mountain: WR104 (Dec. 2014), WR264 (Jan. 2018), and WR498 (June 2020). This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company. Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Banjo-slingin’ death-song enthusiast Uncle Sinner is back with his first album in five years, the excellent ‘Everybody Wants to Know How I Die’. Listen up for a great chat about the record, taking cover photos the old-fashioned way, Manitoba’s influence on musical bleakness (and rebirth), and much more!Need more Uncle Sinner in your life? Check out episode #483 (May 2020) and episode #600 (June 2021), which is about his Star Thistle side project. This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company. Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening in the podcast's 13th year (and it will continue forever because I can't stop).

Just over a year ago, folk singer Fernanda appeared on the podcast for the first time. We caught up to talk about her newly-released concept album, ‘Deer Trails’, the name change from her previous Julie Fern identity, working with field recordings, experimenting with new genres, and much more! Need more Fernanda? Check out episode #953 (November 2024). This episode brought to you by our pals at Devine Shirt Company. Huge thanks to everyone who supports the podcast on Patreon. You can help out for as little as a couple bucks a month if you like the show and want to throw some change in the guitar case! As always, if you like the podcast, please tell a friend or 20! Rate and review on your podcast player of choice! Word of mouth is still the main way Witchpolice Radio reaches new ears. Thanks for listening.

For various technical reasons, no new interview episode this week... but I'm not gonna leave you hangin'. Instead, here's a bonus episode that was originally released exclusively on the Patreon page back in 2022: it's, essentially, the full discography of my old punk/noise/space music trio The Mouth-Boat, complete with my rambling recollections about the songs and recordings, etc. The Mouth-Boat was definitely not a successful band, per se, but it was a lot of fun. This Patreon bonus episode initially came out around the time of the Happy Days tape -- a collection of songs from all three Mouth-Boat EPs (and then some), remastered and re-released by Gimli cassette label Ancient Raven Records. Thanks to everyone who supports the show on Patreon, including the most recent patrons, Terrence and Maxfield, who signed up recently. There's all kinds of crazy bonus shit like this on there, plus you get advance versions of each interview and lots more. Back to regularly-scheduled interview episodes next week, and we'll close out the month with my traditional rundown of my favourite local records of the year. Thanks, as always, for listening!