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The Reckless Abandon Podcast ©️Episode 22! The Memphis Wrestling Hall of Fame 2024 inductions!We talk to Shelia Cary, Johnny Dotson, Tony Williams/Kid Wikkid, Danny B. Good, DJ Brown, AND have the ENTIRE Memphis Wrestling Hall of Fame ceremony! 3+ Hour podcast!
There's some spots that are hard to hear, and a lot of background noise, but this is a FANTASTIC episode!
2024-09-283h 22
the Wikkid podcastEpisode 61: I Live AloneIn the last, partly ChatGPT-scripted episode of season 4 of The Wikkid Podcast, and perhaps the last episode of the pod: Can one be happy, even when living alone without a bunch of bratty kids asking for money? Hatewatching nerd properties. Cats and car woes. Doubt. Animals who may pee on your stuff. How weird can you get, living alone in the woods?
Additional Musicians
Tyler King: bass guitar
Thanks for listening!
2023-06-071h 44
the Wikkid podcastEpisode 60: Except When We AreIn this penultimate episode of Season 4, we address the longing, but often the folly, of wanting to get back in touch with someone, a relationship with whom is demonstrably going nowhere fast. Going back for afters? Some folks are so determined to keep reaching back out, that restraining orders are required. Trying to leave a rough recording of an old song mostly the way it was to begin with, for once.
2023-05-2456 minthe Wikkid podcastEpisode 59: Three Chord SongMid-life crises. Car troubles. Painter's tape as a guitar-playing aid. I can't quit you: Relationships with people who aren't over their ex. Betweeness. What hath God promised? Gloomy, doomy piano chords.
Additional Musicians
Evan Sauve: drums
2023-05-101h 10the Wikkid podcastEpisode 58: IrrelevantDo our beliefs choose us, rather than the other way around? Doubt. People dumping you and getting right on with their lives like you never existed. Trying not to be superstitious as to one's belief in God. Car woes. From the darkness of future past: The return of Joel.
Additional Musicians
Evan Sauve: drums
2023-04-2648 minthe Wikkid podcastEpisode 57: FineTelling people at work you're fine when you're really not. Me and Bruce Lee. Cats might be love from God when your Kung Fu and your church upbringing aren't working out for you. How not to read the bible. A song with a whole bunch of eff words in the middle, but nary a corrupt communication in sight.
Additional Musicians
Evan Sauve: drums
2023-04-121h 15the Wikkid podcastEpisode 56: Had To Be This WaySome stuff in your life really didn't work out. So you have to wonder: did it have to be this way? Did people and groups help make it that way? Why does God let crappy things happen to sad people? What does He have to say for Himself, if anything? Susan Isaacs tells her "Central Park" story from her book Angry Conversations With God. Michael talks about what happens when you try to date people the collective doesn't approve of.
Additional Musicians
Evan Sauve: drums
Troy Tuttle: space guitar beeps
2023-03-291h 04the Wikkid podcastEpisode 55: What A Lovely UmbrellaThe Wikkid Podcast adds more cowbell and gets friendzoned this week. That is to say, it explores that experience of having grown very close with someone, a romantic relationship seeming to you to be starting out well, and suddenly being told you should be "just friends" instead. And then, instead of that meaning "sod off and leave me alone," it means you're around to provide the usual shoulder to cry on, the sounding board to sound on, and on and on. But you go along, right, because maybe she'll change her mind? Caryl says they never reverse this decision...
2023-03-1552 minthe Wikkid podcastEpisode 54: Everywhere I Go"I love you just the way you are. You're beautiful inside and out. Now... I was wondering if you'd mind changing a few things? I have a list." Dealbreakers vs. negotiables. More home drum recording. Church fashion doesn't fly in all venues. Looking for a fixer-upper?
Additional Musicians
Evan Sauve: drums
2023-03-011h 22the Wikkid podcastEpisode 53: Sara JayThis Wikkid Wednesday, we take a serious look at humour.Teasing: key relationship tool or a terribly dangerous thing to play with? The therapeutic powers of The Doctor Demento Show. Humour as shot of whiskey. Food sensitivities and emotional sensitivities.
Additional Musicians
Evan Sauve: drums
2023-02-151h 05the Wikkid podcastEpisode 52: Would That Make You Happy?A short one. Silliness and sour grapes. "Treat 'em mean to keep 'em keen"? Clockwork lupines. Do people really want what they tell Cosmopolitan they want in a relationship? George adds a lot to this song. Basing expectations for men on 80s sit-com dads. Being good at stuff men aren't supposed to be good at. Do nice guys finish?
Additional Musicians
George Turcotte: drums, banjo, bass guitar
2023-02-0158 minthe Wikkid podcastEpisode 51: Almost NeverSanta brings Covid for Christmas. Drums recorded in absentia. Barns burn down. Friends in neglectful, controlling and abusive relationships. The possibility of helping these friends with being drawn in too much. Is partner abuse something only men do? Trying to play guitar like Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols.
Additional Musicians
George Turcotte: drums
2023-01-181h 53the Wikkid podcastEpisode 50: (What To Do) With An AngelKissing and telling. Michael Vedder and I discuss what it is to be a fundamentalist lad trying to navigate hookup culture without exactly hooking up. Wife application forms. Meghan tells us how things ended up with her Brethren paramour. Anson and I talk about being in the same room as people, but with your attention in cyberspace. Trucks get stuck in snowy laneways. It gets a little country in here.
Additional Instruments
Evan Sauve: drums
2023-01-041h 38the Wikkid podcastEpisode 49: MoonlightWarning: the following program contains frank discussion of people trying to find sexual gratification in both church and hookup culture, within, and outside, the bounds of wedlocks both holy and infernal. Viewers are advised to thank me later. Meghan talks about sexual chemistry, and whether hookup culture serves dudes better than dames. Evan gives an economist's perspective on investing in a future with a good woman vs. short overnight transactions/evening deposits. Anson talks with his son about the birds and bees. George beats the hell out of his drums for me, to great effect. Real men sing standing...
2022-12-211h 51the Wikkid podcastEpisode 48: Nortel Love SongTrying to date irreligious or only semi-religious women without getting kicked out of one's church. A song written for a high tech honey, which was fairly well received. I turn my guitar amp all the way up to three (its highest setting is six). Meghan spills the tea on her secret trysts with a member of the mysterious Plymouth Brethren Christian Church/Cult. Susan and Anson weight in on workplace romances. Evan views bible conference dating as a flawed social system. Michael talks about his first kiss, which occurred a couple of years after his first serious relationship.
2022-12-072h 04the Wikkid podcastEpisode 47: Stranger LadyFlirting. With Christian girls? Can you win a woman's heart with a song? Michael Vedder shares some firsts, including first (church) girlfriend, and first dumping of a committed church girl so he could be free to get his feet dirty enough from walking around in the actual world to possibly need to wash them. Harold talks about how a man who was the only survivor of a car accident when he was five, and who grew up without a mother, grew up to be someone who goes around hugging and complimenting everyone he meets. Meghan talks more about being...
2022-11-231h 57
the Wikkid podcastEpisode 46: Too Much For MarriageThis week’s episode takes a frank, uncomfortable look at the mechanics of sexual attraction and mate selection, particularly in church communities, and an equally frank, uncomfortable look at the mechanics of trying to have spirituality despite the objections of… well… religious people
If you're 30 and you don't think you're ever going to have a bridal shower or any baby showers, can you just throw yourself a Spinster Party? Keren did...
Additional Musicians
Evan Sauve: drums
2022-11-091h 26the Wikkid podcastEpisode 45: VacuumingThis week's episode is about divorce: people who've been through them, and people not allowed to have them because church, stuff like that. Some homes manage all the domestic drama and drywall damage without the divorce proceedings.
Additional Musicians
Evan Sauve: drums
2022-10-261h 47the Wikkid podcastEpisode 44: I Just MightFor season 4 of The Wikkid Podcast, love is in the air (as things tend to be when they blow up). This episode explores that thing we tell young people that "there's someone for everyone," or in the Christian circles "the Lord has someone picked out for you to spend the rest of you life with." Author and actress Susan Isaacs (Angry Conversations With God) contributes to this season.
Additional Musicians:
Evan Sauve: drums
Bill Ranger: bass guitar
Adam Puddington: banjo
2022-10-121h 21the Wikkid podcastEpisode 43: Vultures in the BelfryThe entire host of Wikkid commenters weighs in about pointless arguments, and about whether they ever speak with, or listen to, people with whom they RILLY, RILLY disagree. Groupthink. George Carlin, Larry Norman and Faust are mentioned. Jam at George's new place. I get an electric piano. Jenny speaks Chinese for us. The huge, sprawling Death in Tiny Spoonfuls album is brought to an eerie, atmospheric close.
2022-06-222h 39the Wikkid podcastEpisode 42: The Talking DeadChurch zombies. Staff meetings and other endless sermons. Melody, Ruth and Emilee talk about what made these unceasing dronings so tedious. Michael remembers what it was like to speak up in bible study, and talk about talking about talking about the bible. Johann talks about how staff meetings should be run. Kim talks about what being a preacher's daughter was like (spoilers: it sucked) and what her preacher dad was like as a dad (spoilers: he sucked). I talk about the difference between educating people and indoctrinating them. Kim uses bible passages to write a punk song. Excerpt from "...
2022-06-082h 27the Wikkid podcastEpisode 41: The Dingo SongThey're everywhere. You want to do your day, and they want to pull you in, online or uptown, into some kind of lecture, sermon or talk. Putting on the full armour of God and then claiming to be as thin-skinned as the princess from The Princess and the Pea. Friends: The One Where Ross Does Something Problematic. The shameless use of describing one's self in "light" (vs. "dark") and "awakened" (vs. "still asleep") terms. Fellowship: it's all about coffee, somehow, isn't it? (I don't like coffee.) Do digital or organic chipmunks sing better?
2022-05-251h 41the Wikkid podcastEpisode 40: Beware the Cripple (part 2)Recording cello. With fireworks. An in-depth interview with John, raised in the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, the extremist offshoot of my own birth culture, which I have no real trouble calling an outright cult. Also much insight into the Mormon experience, from Natalie. South Park. Emailed drums. Spiritual cripples looking to hobble everyone nearby.
2022-05-111h 48the Wikkid podcastEpisode 39: Beware the Cripple (part 1)It's pretty hard to talk to people when they've got you cast in a different story from the one you feel you're living. Religious groups that split up family relationships. Trying to interact with family and friends from a group that's kicked you out of it. The difference between getting kicked out and leaving voluntarily. Playing with Plato. Narcissism and gnosticism.
2022-04-272h 25the Wikkid podcastEpisode 38: Friday NightIf you had a chance to sit down of an evening and have a chat with the residents of a community graveyard, what would you ask them? The Guy Code. GenXers sorry to get everything we always wanted. People who will move heaven and earth to avoid having conversations that need to be had.
Additional Musicians
George Turcotte: drums
2022-04-131h 48the Wikkid podcastEpisode 37: DisappointedWhat makes you really feel alive? What makes you feel like you're sleepwalking through a living death? The importance of play. What works when you feel like crap? Where does inspiration come from?
2022-03-301h 53the Wikkid podcastEpisode 36: Why Not?What's it like to experience suicidal ideation? Many people do. Finding a good answer to the question "Why not?" Why does writing and singing and recording about dark thoughts help them go away? Everyone needs to deal with death in some form, from time to time. What works? Jay Semko of The Northern Pikes and I go over songs he's written that tell "a pretty dark story, but with a happy tune." Where was all the bliss supposed to come from, in Christianity? Troy reveals his favourite jokey stuff I've recorded. I record George playing drums in my living...
2022-03-162h 26the Wikkid podcastEpisode 35: Please Come With UsGetting the boot or walking away from one's birth culture. Doesn't matter whether you're fundamentalist Christian, Orthodox Jewish, Muslim, Sikh or Mormon... it's quite the mind effword. A bunch of stories, including people who were excommunicated and shunned for being gay. An elaborate music collaboration manages to get the song done two hours before the podcast airs...
Additional Musicians
Guitar and riffwriting: Troy Tuttle
Drums: George Turcotte (YouTube music channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsYyXQ7ItRMjEN8FNn9LrPw )
2022-03-022h 28the Wikkid podcastEpisode 34: Get 'Em OutIs evil a thing? Are some people, and do some people do, evil? (What did John Douglas, the man who invented the profiling of serial killers for the FBI think?) When you realize your fear and disgust, respect and acceptance responses are programmed into you.
Additional Musicians
George Turcotte: drums and "alright!"
Dave Whelen and Joel D'amour: voices in sound montage
2022-02-161h 35the Wikkid podcastEpisode 33: Just A KidKids these days! Having your perspectives and concerns invalidated in a church circle if you were in your 20s, hadn't got married and had kids. Have modern kids been coddled? (yes). Can we do anything about that? (probably not.) The importance of bike rides. Boredom as the mother of invention, and if there's insufficient boredom?
Additional Musicians
Debbie Michelin: singing bowl and vocalizations
Evan Sauve: drums
2022-02-022h 21the Wikkid podcastEpisode 32: The Voice of DeathPleasure, joy and happiness. Targets for offense, shame and "correction"? Why? Is enjoying a thing "idolatry" and cheating on God?
Is getting annoyed about anything that brings other people joy, but not you, more common than we want to admit? Do we all have an inner Grinch? (we do.)
Pop music, Harry Potter, gym selfies, TV, comic books and pants... the things we gave up to keep our church status. If it makes you happy, it can't be that good, right?
Economist, Season 3 interview contributor Evan emails drum parts played on a digital...
2022-01-191h 56the Wikkid podcastEpisode 31: Red SweaterA silly little song, a violent bible reading and a very unfunny revisiting of messed up church attitudes about sex, with Angel DeSantis talking in detail in the middle of the episode about being born into and growing up in The Children of God/The Family, a pedophile sex cult. (warning, this episode contains a trigger warning, and trigger warnings in and of themselves are found to increase stress and alarm.)
Additional Musicians
My Washing Machine: percussion
George Turcotte: drums and additional percussion
2021-12-152h 19the Wikkid podcastEpisode 30: What You WantA fun one about high school, and what was cool, and why we weren't. Popped collars, Ralph Lauren rugby shirts, boat shoes, depression and all the rest of it. I got a real live professional punk bass player/Plymouth Brethren missionary's daughter to play on this one!
Additional Musicians
George Turcotte: drums
Kim "Like A Motorcycle" Carson: bass
2021-12-081h 52the Wikkid podcastEpisode 29: The Magic CastleDo you have a problem with rules, especially ones that have never been put into words? Is Christianity about hiding one's self away in a church to keep spiritually safe? What would Frank Zappa have to say?
Additional Musicians
Joel D'amour: additional voices
2021-12-011h 43the Wikkid podcastEpisode 27: The Walking DeadA whole bunch of musings on alcohol, from people who sell it, to rock stars who drank too much of it, to people who grew up in farm country where some people applied it internally, hourly.
Additional Musicians
drums: George Turcotte
2021-11-241h 58the Wikkid podcastEpisode 28: Vultures In The SkyDeath In Tiny Spoonfuls: An album/novel concept that centers around entropy, death and impermanence. The value of an outside perspective from someone new. How would your church have seemed to an outsider wandering in? Music production discussion with Jay Semko of The Northern Pikes.
Additional Musicians
drums: George Turcotte
slide guitar: Tim Ellis
2021-11-171h 26the Wikkid podcastEpisode 26: A Coming Together of LivesAn influx of new voices into the podcast is announced, including my elusive sister, my old bandmate Troy, and Jay Semko, singer, songwriter and bass player for The Northern Pikes, and a host of others. Three ways people tend to deal with conflict. Writing songs. A revisiting of what's been asserted by the podcast thus far.
2021-11-1051 minthe Wikkid podcastEpisode 25: How Long?Last episode of Season Two. I've always had a deep and abiding interest in evil. (Not in doing it. In how it's depicted one way in the bible, and a very different way everywhere else). Making self-fulfilling prophecies about other people. Homer, Virgil, Dante, Goethe, Milton and so on. All the guys. Spitting in the eye of despair.
Additional Musicians
Adam Cavanaugh: saxaphone sample
Tyler Irving: keyboard saxaphone
2021-08-0459 minthe Wikkid podcastEpisode 24: Maybe Some Day...Cars rusting in fields. Gene Simmons of KISS action figures. Bass players and pretty girls who alike don't show up. Being told you're laid off work. Again. Did I write this song or did Martin Luther, Fanny Crosby or Thom Yorke? Tyler uses whatever he's got lying around the house. Two main kinds of churches selling two main kinds of product. What suited me about my own church, in retrospect. When are you making things better, and when you gilding the lily? My most-requested (noncomedic) song.
Additional Musicians
Tyler King: upright bass, mandolin, piano
2021-07-2828 minthe Wikkid podcastEpisode 23: Promises (God's Country)I get some help to attempt an country song, sung by the Almighty. Life advice for me from an 80s hair metal shredder lead guitarist. Neon pink, bubblegum-flavoured church icing on your steak and mashed potatoes. Why doesn't Michael Sweet age? How much of Stryper is, as he claims, mainly just him? The Christian answer to everything (besides "go to church") is "surrender all to God." (Let go and let God.) Let God make all your life's decisions, essentially. Well, two problems: 1) if you grew up with your life entirely bound to church expectations, you have no say over...
2021-07-2158 minthe Wikkid podcastEpisode 22: Who Are You, Anyway?What if your church took everything, leaving you nothing to "surrender all" to God? If God's real, are we cool with Him being a person with a personality? If so, what kind of personality? What does He want? Some lions are "Born Free" (by Andy Williams) and others aren't. Slipping restraining bolts, dwarf-following and joining Starfleet through the wardrobe. People can make texts appear to have only one possible interpretation, but that's simple-minded. Attempting a wikkid groove.
Additional Musicians
drums: George Turcotte
2021-07-1429 minthe Wikkid podcastEpisode 21: A Chance To BackslideDrunks who get saved into churchified sobriety have to ensure they don't backslide into the gutter, the misery and the puke. But people like me? We had to ensure we didn't backslide into that grey, bland, paranoid, controlled, muted, competitive piety thing. The "everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you." culture, with people dying inside. Why you don't need to buy a 12-string guitar to get a 12-string sound. The rise and fall of Kevin Smith. Kids know EXACTLY what their parents are getting wrong, but will most likely repeat the same...
2021-07-0743 minthe Wikkid podcastEpisode 19: The EndWhat happens when people are "raised on rails," like locomotives on tracks that take them to church and nowhere else, and they jump out of the groove and start heading up the road at speed? How bad can things get? Was the Lord speaking? (If trigger warnings worked, this ep would surely have one.)
Additional Musicians
backing vocals: Debbie Moore-Michelin
keyboards: Harold Satomayor
painting on map: Michael Vedder
2021-06-3058 minthe Wikkid podcastEpisode 18: Proud SomedayExcommunicated! Shunned for Life! Unintentional fundamentalist outreach porn.
(The winner of last week's Retro 90s Trivia Contest is Evan Sauve, who wasn't born yet in the 90s, with Troy Tuttle being disqualified due to having been at most of the same concerts I was at, giving him, I felt, an unfair advantage. )
This week: Failing to meet parental fundamentalist expectations, and trying to maintain a relationship with them anyway. Having one's birth culture/a global Christian community excommunicate shun one worldwide, and for life. There's nothing spiritual in laughing at people. Not even the children of Israel...
2021-06-2338 minthe Wikkid podcastEpisode 17: Headfirst Into the WorldA Wikkid Contest: There's a 90s pop culture game in this week's podcast! Email me at wikkidperson@gmail.com with your best identification of the many 90s computer and video game sounds, standup comics and live bands in the montage that starts around 20min in. Winners will be mentioned by name (unless they request otherwise) in future podcast episodes.
Exploring the idea that The World, rather than being only a horrible, toxic trap for Christians, might also be a safe place to have some healthy fun.
Additional Musicians
vocals: Mindy Amelotte
techno beats/programming...
2021-06-1652 minthe Wikkid podcastEpisode 16: Killer Qualms From Inner SpaceThe giant killer conscience, created in the lab/church, goes on a rampage, stamping on pool halls, arcades, video rental stores, Dungeons & Dragons and other random things. Our church divides in two, and I try my first beer, movie at the theatre, and live musical act, at age 21.
2021-06-0932 minthe Wikkid podcastEpisode 15: Eugene's PoemSick of trying to sharpen iron on jello, our protagonist starts frequenting people who are smarter than he is, and crazier too. Looking for Mr. Miyagi. Poetry intended to cause offense. Too much thinking being done, in the opinion of the old folks at church. Stealth beer. Kids raised too blandly crave intensity. Scottish drinking songs. My best "fit" in a band. I don't sing the lead vocals on this one. I don't write the lyrics either. (Enjoying the wonders of collaboration.)
Additional Musicians
Tyler King: lead vocal
Danielle Leplante: backing vocals
George Turcotte...
2021-06-0236 minthe Wikkid podcastEpisode 14: HippipotameAs I grew up in Canada with a French-Canadian grandmother and a British one, and as Quebec is a short drive from here, as is America, there's a lot to say about that. Pretty short podcast episode, though. Stuff about all things French, having French Brethren who needed a translation other than the King James Version to read, and who were culturally fairly unBrethren. Les petit phoques suffoque sur les flocons de glace. Bleu Nuit. Cheech and Chong in French? Why I was somewhat chagrined to see Flight of the Conchords do a funny song in nonsense French about...
2021-05-2621 minthe Wikkid podcastEpisode 13: Hello, Down There!Girls. Chickadees. Depression helped along by a double-barrelled romantic failure to launch. Meeting Brethren creatives? Trying to sing like Robert Smith? A very silly song.
Addtional Musicians:
Ukelele: Mindy Amelotte
Tuba: Paul Norris
Michael Vedder vocals: Michael Vedder
Mastering: Ty Tabor
2021-05-1931 minthe Wikkid podcastEpisode 12: Intentions/Leathery WingsBy listener request, I break down the contradictory basic theology spoon fed to use as Christian kids. Also, I talk about vows made while drunk on the mountaintop experience of youth camp and bible conferences. A case against repression and denial of flaming youth. Sometimes you need more cowbell but you don't have one. It might get loud.
2021-05-1240 minthe Wikkid podcastEpisode 11: Bigger FrameIn order to grow out of things, you need to change, and change is hard and can be scary. I get my first multitrack recorder and explore various things that could be done with it. Home-made smurfs. Backwards guitar solos. Does Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" really say "it's fun to smoke marijuana" when played backwards? Meeting non-Meeting musicians. Why recording a band is hard. Why working together in a band is harder. Getting drums on my stuff. Did my late uncle's voice sound surprisingly like fellow Torontonian Jordan Peterson's?
Additional Musician
drums: George Turcotte
2021-05-0539 min
the Wikkid podcastEpisode 10: Words Cannot ExpressThe last episode of season one, about the last song on The Story of Peter Grey. It's about words helping, but not being enough. It has humpback whales.
Additional Musicians
Original Drums: Tim Searles
New Drums: Chris Metcalfe
RotoVibe Bass, electric guitar and backing vocals: Bill Ranger
Featured Guitar solo and Edge-work: Troy Tuttle
Choir: Debbie Moore-Michelin, Andrew "Mish" Michelin, Michael Vedder, Bethany Rule-Vedder, Bill Ranger, Cedar Knebel
Check out Mish's own work at The All Canadian Soundclash.
Coming soon: The Wikkid Podcast Season Two. Peter Grey Grows...
2021-04-2132 minthe Wikkid podcastEpisode 9: SolitaryThis Wikkid Wednesday, it might get loud. Why were loud music, loud clothing and other intense experiences, somehow threatening to our fundamentalist upbringing? Why did exuberance make the other folks uncomfortable? How did I find my way from Neil Diamond to White Zombie? A sad tracing of the attempts of a man with a smooth baritone voice to shred or otherwise do metal. Is it possible to do all of exactly the right things to end up single and alone? Singleness and solitude as a sentence handed down by church and mainstream society alike?
Additional Musicians:
...
2021-04-1456 minthe Wikkid podcastEpisode 8: In the HoleAn attempt at something more akin to cinematic score, commemorating the worst place I ever lived. I get a violinist and a bass singer in. Stories of trying to connect with Christians outside the church I grew up in.
Additional Musicians
Violins: Tanya Onysko
Bass vocal: Julian Kolbaiev
Featured Bridge vocal: Debbie Moore-Michelin
Blood-curdling scream: Bill Ranger
2021-04-0740 minthe Wikkid podcastEpisode 7: The Romantic SongThat special feeling when a relationship you were counting on fizzles out. Do hardships make depression worse? Layering things over a two-chord symphony. Mr. Wizard plays with dry ice into a microphone.
Additional Musicians:
Backing vocals: Debbie Moore-Michelin, Mindy Amelotte
Drums: Chris Metcalfe
Harmony: Chris Pasely
Additional electric guitar textures: Troy Tuttle
Playing the part of "Syd" Barrett the Cat: Nick "Mason" the Cat.
2021-03-3136 min
the Wikkid podcastEpisode 6: How Much?This week's episode goes into the lifelong, fruitless quest to bear fruit, to be someone who doesn't accept yourself, yet find someone who accepts you. Also, endlessly, obsessively messing around with songs that sound too much like other songs. In fact, this week's episode is very music heavy.
Additional Artists:
Featured Female Vocal: Mindy Amelotte
Female Backing Vocals: Debbie Moore-Michelin
Spoken Vocal samples: Anna Isley, Evan Sauve, Don Billosolly
"Late 90s" piano and guitar: Tyler Irving and Jason King
Bass Guitar on final version: Bill Ranger
Drum Loops from...
2021-03-2445 min
the Wikkid podcastEpisode 5: Woman (As Concept)Trying to start something with a woman seemed on a level with attempting a trip to the moon.
John Brereton holds forth on the evils of teaching contraception in sex ed class at school, all without uttering the words “sex” or “contraception.” Paul Washer insists that it’s definitely not poetry. Kris Priestap sings in 1989.
I discover that theremins are the most fretless instruments I have attempted (besides drums, of course). Can you tell whether my sister is singing backward or forward? Will all the spacey, beepy, funky stuff blend? Can I Barry White?
Personnel
Bass...
2021-03-1725 minthe Wikkid podcastEpisode 4: BitternessBitterness: like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die? A serious look at suicidal ideation, youthful resentment and a mania for bladed weapons. A church culture in which there were few worse sins than being resentful if they mistreated you, and "forgiveness" was your job, not theirs.
I was delighted to score a session player who could do Spanish guitar. Had to play conga drums myself. Had a teacher colleague add some chimey electric and soloing to my mudslide/ocean surf rhythm guitar sound. Tinkered with recordings of my sister doing horror movie style screams...
2021-03-1019 min
the Wikkid podcastEpisode 3: Digging For PrideA bit of an irate response to cheery folks who don't want the rest of us to bring them down. "Don't Worry Be Happy" was not my favourite song in the 80s.
Personnel:
Replacement Drums: Chris Metcalfe
Bass: Adam Fogo
Slide Guitar: Trevor Finlay
Johnny Rotten stand-in: Bill Ranger
Sean Connery stand-in: Dave Whelen
...with Mike Dubue and Suki Akemi Wellman playing the parts of "Ken" and "Jen."
2021-03-0339 min
the Wikkid podcastEpisode 2: Turning BlackWhat was adolescent depression like? How did school and youth group make it much worse? How to turn abject misery into something rhythmic and melodic. Learning about vintage tube amps, doubled tracks and odd percussion choices.
(Note, although seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is certainly a huge problem at Christmas time because it's December, many mental health professionals do not believe that suicide is actually any more likely during that month than any other. I can simply stand behind the idea that I associate Christmas with loneliness, darkness, cold and socially complicated and upsetting mandatory extroversion work and family...
2021-02-2435 min
the Wikkid podcastEpisode 1: Daddy's CryingThis episode is the "church background" one, making it the longest of this whole podcast series. I'm trying out the "chapters" function so people can skip bits if they like.
This one has to go into it all: Church intrigue. Weaponized bible. Personal and family sacrifice. Tradition vs. change. Competitive piety pageants. Does God really hate fun as much as we were led to believe?
Additional musicians: Debbie Moore-Michelin (backing vocals), Chris Metcalfe (drums and jaw harp), Andy Graham (bass guitar), Chris Carriere (electric rhythm guitar and initial recording engineering), Trevor Finlay (solo slide guitar...
2021-02-171h 02
the Wikkid podcastEpisode 0: PreambleEach episode of The Wikkid Podcast is me explaining what was going on in my adolescent life that occasioned the writing of a song from my unreleased concept album The Story of Peter Grey. I never released it as an album, but I wrote it as a book, and I guess, now it’s kind of a podcast. So, this is about church upbringing gone wrong, adolescent depression, and writing and recording music about it to try to make some sense of it all.
2021-02-1007 min