The gang gets together to share suggestions on the perfect gifts for the songwriter in your life (let’s be honest, it’s you. You’re gonna by yourself this great stuff– and so you should!). Let us know what you want for the holidays in the comments below! Listen to the show The Lists note that we …
Shows
Amanie Illfated: Beats + Producer = Gold
Amanie Illfated is a South Sudanese born, Toronto based singer/songwriter working in a dynamic fusion of R&B, Reggae, Afrobeat and Trap. She was born in what is now known as South Sudan and immigrated to Saskatchewan with her family as refugees in 1992. At the age of 16, she left her family to pursue music …
6-Year Anniversary Special
We celebrated six years on Song Talk Radio with a little reminiscing, a few songwriting tips, and some random stuff. We talked about: Muse Songwriter’s Forum as a great online community for lyricists and songwriters (formerly known as the Muse’s Muse) What does voicings mean? Our Holiday Gift Guide show on November 19 – send …
The TV Theme Draft Show Extravaganza
Frank Horvatt joined in on our Favorite TV Theme Draft show, where we chose our fav TV themes of the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, 2000’s and the 2010s.
Beige Shelter: How To Write Within A Band
Beige Shelter is an ambitious and eclectic five piece band from Toronto that brings fire, passion and a political conscience to their music. Through electrifying live performances, the band showcases both original songs and interesting twists on cover songs. Beige Shelter is currently working on their 2nd EP release. Lead singer and vocalist Adi Aman …
Songs by the Hosts: how we wrote ’em
For this host’s show, Michael, Neel and Phil brought in a song each and discussed how we wrote and some cool approaches in the songs. AND, Vanessa was in the house!!! What a fun episode! Listen to the Episode What we talked about The 2nd Annual Holiday Gift Guide Blog post: Creating Lyric Sheets that Don’t …
Steve Koven – Play Piano, See The World
This week, SongTalk welcomed jazz pianist and teacher Steve Koven. Steve is a composer, performer, producer and educator. He has one of the longest standing trios in Canada, performing, touring and recording together for over 26 year. Aside from performing and recording with his trio – Steve Koven Trio – Steve also has other recording …
Bridging classical and pop music with Alex Whorms
This week singer-songwriter and Hamilton Arts Award for Emerging Artist winner (2019) Alex Whorms joined us to talk about her sophomore EP, Burgundy, and two of the songs. We talked about: FACTOR grants and Canada’s Music Incubator (check out our episodes on grants and music royalties) how long to take to get to the chorus …
The Beatles, who? Yesterday movie review with Emmanuel Lopez
Emmanuel Lopez, movie blogger and Social Media Wingman, joined Phil and Michael to talk about the latest Danny Boyle movie, Yesterday where a struggling songwriter wakes up in a world where the Beatles never happened. Is he the only one who remembers all those great songs, and what should he do. We Talked About: Emmanuel …
Making the most of your voice with Taylor Abrahamse
This week, professional singer/songwriter, voice actor & co-founder of Silverthorn Studios recording, Taylor Abrahamse joined us in the studio at SongTalk World Headquarters. Taylor was a Top 40 finalist on Canadian Idol, has performed on stages across Ontario, has also written & produced musicals, and music for animated series and viral internet music through Corus, …
Stark Naked and the Fleshtones: classic punk rock band
Stark Naked and Eugene Ripper of Stark Naked and the Fleshtones joined us to talk about their heyday in the early 80s as an awesome live band in Toronto. We talked about: how songs are shaped by band dynamics working with the “right” producer the punk music attitude live vs. recorded music Listen to the …
Favourite Movie Soundtracks!
This week SongTalk welcomed our pal Matthew Reid to our studio to talk about movie soundtracks. We chose our favourites and talked about why they made the cut and what were the runners up. We talked about: what are the criteria of soundtracks – are they a collection of songs from other sources, are …
How to write a Musical – it takes longer than you’d think! with Frank Horvat and Catherine Frid
Long-time friend of the show, songwriter and composer Frank Horvat brought in his musical writing partner Catherine Frid to explain all the steps it took to write and produce their Toronto Fringe hit Spend Your Kids Inheritance. Listen to the show: What we talked about: This Is It_Frid Horvat New Waters_Frid Horvat
Songs without a chorus
This week we talked about songs which have no chorus. First, we had to be clear about what does make a chorus. Then we deep dove on three songs we think don’t have one. What do you think? Leave a comment with your pick for a song without a chorus. We also talked about: focussed …
Creating Soundtracks with Jeff Alan Greenway
This week SongTalk welcomed Jeff Alan Greenway to our studio. Greenway is a film composer, singer/songwriter and pianist from Pickering, Ontario. He has written music for film, worked as a session player, orchestrator and arranger, released his own original album “Great Expectations” and wrote the score to the international documentary The Secret Life Of Frogs, …
Gigging on trains with Sarah Hiltz
Listen to the show: Sarah Hiltz is a contemporary folk artist based in Toronto. Her current project has her researching the ways Canadians experience, express and suppress anger in modern society, especially women, and creating a song cycle in response. Sarah’s last album, Beauty In The Blue, compiled songs and stories culled from her multiple …
Robert Cross: Leading With Lyrics
This week SongTalk welcomed Robert Cross to our studio. Robert Cross was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. He started playing guitar at 14, just so he could learn how to write songs. Cross is the singer and guitarist of the original rock band Satin, who released their first album Drop Dead Gorgeous in …
Music Royalties with Vel Omasic
Vel Omazic of Canada’s Music Incubator explains the ins and outs of Music Royalties and how to make sure you are getting what you should as a songwriter and/or a performer in Canada. Put simply, if someone is making money or conducting business based on your work, you’re entitled to a royalty. There’s tons of info in …
Rocketman: The Elton John biopic movie review
The Song Talk Radio Team discussed the latest biopic about Elton John in the movie Rocketman. Composer and Second City writer Matthew Reid joined us. We talked about: The framing of the story around Elton John’s addiction and therapy The depiction of Elton John as a musical child prodigy Similarities and differences between Rocketman and …
Robert Ball: Giving Voice To The Personal
This week SongTalk welcomed Robert Ball to our studio. A native Torontonian, Robert Ball is a multi-faceted singer who has traveled to and performed in over 60 countries around the world. His sound has been described as soulful, jazzy, Neo-soul and he is a much in-demand session singer. Most recently he toured his EP “Need” & single “Breathe” throughout Toronto, New York and many PRIDE circuits including Brooklyn Pride, DC pride and Jamaica Pride. Also making appearances on CTV, CP24, Bold TV, Rogers Nighttime & Daytime on Rogers, Casa Loma …
Shuffle Demon Richard Underhill on how to add horns to your songs
Toronto-based Saxophonist Richard Underhill talks about his work with Blue Rodeo, The Shuffle Demons, and how horns work within a song. We talked about: The Shuffle Demons – Spadina Bus lyrics Sell Me This Melodies creating chords Improvising Song Structures Horn Arrangements https://www.facebook.com/richard.underhill1 https://twitter.com/RichUnderhill https://www.instagram.com/richunderhill/
Songwriting for Beginners
We talked tips and tricks for beginner songwriters. Our producer Vanessa and techie Micah also joined in the conversation. Some of the stuff we covered included: Our Rocketman movie pre-screening contest How Phil and Neel got started on songwriting, and the challenges they faced Get yourself a decent guitar to start on (or a ukulele!) …
Matthew Reid: Music Composition – Live, recorded and improvisational
This week SongTalk welcomed Matthew Reid to our studio. Matthew is a critically acclaimed, award winning composer for film, television, games and theatre. His funny songs have delighted almost a million people during his tenure as composer for Toronto’s world famous Second City comedy theatre. His comedic musical, The Second City Guide to the Symphony …
New School R&B: Creating toplines with Kelsey Vaz
R&B singer/songwriter talks about how to work with beats supplied by producers and performing live. AND we announce the RocketMan contest: Win 2 free tickets to the invite only advanced screening of the Elton John biopic, Rocketman, Wednesday, June 29th in Toronto. The special email address is given out at the end of the podcast! …