The FM Podcast

The topic of this week’s show is HOW TO RETURN TO MUSIC AFTER A HIATUS and joining me on the show is Winnipeg blues guitarist and singer-songwriter Romi Mayes.Romi just released a new single on May 17th, after not releasing any new music for 9 years and she also has a new album coming out at the end of June! We had a great conversation about what led to her extended break from her music career and how she made the decision to come back.It was a really great chat and I hope you enjoy it!...

The topic of this week’s show is CHOOSING A CREATIVE LIFE and joining me on the show is Vancouver musician Etienne Siew.Etienne and I had a great conversation about how he made the decision to quit his 9-5 job to become a full-time musician. And we discuss what it actually means to live a creative life. It was a really great chat and I hope you enjoy it!FRESH CONTENT LINKSEtienne Recommends: Chris Stapleton - Devil Always Made Me Think TwiceJen recommends: Bon Jovi documentary - Thank You, Go...

The topic of this week’s show is MUSIC COMPOSITION FOR FILM + TV and joining me on the show is Film Composer, Singer and Vocal Coach - Red Janes. We had a great discussion about how she went from musician to film composer, how AI is affecting the film composition world, and how one becomes a composer for film and TV. It was a really great chat and I hope you enjoy it!Content Warning: Just an FYI that there are more F-bombs that usual in this episode, so be careful where you're list...

The topic of this week’s show is MUSIC PRODUCTION + SONGWRITING TIPS and joining me on the show is British electronic musician, producer and podcaster Marc Matthews.This was a really fun conversation because I was a guest on Marc’s podcast - Inside The Mix - last month discussing music promotion and social media, which is a great ep by the way, and it was great to switch things up to interview him on my podcast. We had a great discussion about the basics of music production and writing songs,...

The topic of this week’s show is TOURING AS AN INDIE BAND and joining me on the show is Vancouver Island-based musicians Andrew Baskin and Lucas Antoni from the indie-rock band Vogue Villains. When we had this conversation, the guys had just finished a tour supporting their new album Built on Bones so they definitely had a lot to say about life on the road. We had a great discussion about the pros and cons of touring as an indie band in 2024, what kind of challenges they’ve faced, as we...

The topic of this week’s show is SPEAKING UP FOR SOCIAL CHANGE and joining me on the show is Victoria-based indie-pop musician, Alexandria Maillot, who is an artist that isn’t afraid to speak up about social injustice or political issues, particularly on her social media. We had a great discussion about the importance of musicians speaking up for social change and how many artists don’t understand the power they have and how they can actually use their platform to fight for social justic...

The topic of this week’s show is DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS FOR MUSICIANS and joining me on the show is Peter Carruthers, who is the former Marketing and Digital Manager at Arts & Crafts where he worked for 7 years, so has quite a bit of experience to share with us!We had a great discussion about the current trends in digital marketing and what musicians should be thinking about when it comes to their digital marketing plans when releasing new music this year. It was a really great cha...

The topic of this week’s show is GENRE FLUIDITY IN MUSIC and joining me on the show is Yukon-based singer-songwriter, storyteller, and contemporary guzheng player Erica Dee Mah.Erica and I had a great talk about how more musicians are creating music outside of the traditional genre norms, what her experience has been like making music that is “outside the box," and how audiences are embracing new (and sometimes unexpected!) music genres a lot more these days.It was a really great chat and I h...

Welcome to Season 5 of the podcast! I’m so happy to be back! I really missed you guys!For our Season 5 premiere, we have our very first return guest to the podcast! This week, I’m talking to Tyler Bancroft who is a guy that wears many hats in the music industry - he’s the lead singer of Vancouver indie rock band Said The Whale and he’s also a music industry professional who runs a record label and manages artists, among many other things. And we’re going to talk about where we think the indus...

Hello! Just a quick check-in to let you know that we're back baby! Season 5 of The FM Podcast will premiere next week - on Tuesday, March 12th. I've really missed y'all, so make sure you tune in + join us!

The topic of this week’s show is CARVING OUT YOUR OWN SPACE and joining me on the show is Toronto musician Sandra Bouza.Sandra and I had a great chat about how it can be hard to find your place in the music industry when you don’t fit into one specific genre. And how she decided to carve out her own space by SPOILER ALERT: just being herself. I really felt a connection with Sandra on a lot of her experiences, you know just by being a woman in the music industry, so it's a great conversation a...

The topic of this week’s show is THE ROLE OF MUSIC LAWYERS and joining me on the show is musician and entertainment lawyer - Kurt Dahl. Kurt and I had a great talk about what exactly it is that a music lawyer does, when is the right time to hire a music lawyer, and how being a musician shapes his work as a lawyer. (ICYDK, Kurt is also the drummer in Canadian rock band One Bad Son.) It was a really great chat and I hope you enjoy it!FRESH CONTENT LINKSKurt recommends: Joni Mitchell at New...

The topic of this week’s show is KEEPING A POSITIVE MINDSET and joining me on the show is Vancouver musician and all around positive person - Beau Wheeler. Beau and I had a great conversation about how hard it can be to stay positive as an artist in the music industry and how music helped them to overcome struggles in their life!It was a really great talk and I hope you enjoy it!FRESH CONTENT LINKSBeau recommends: Charlotte Cornfield - Cut and Dry / New Boygenius album Jen recommends: Li...

The topic of this week’s show is PRODUCING MUSIC ON A BUDGET and joining me on the show is record producer, songwriter and recording artist Winston Hauschild, who works out of The Treehouse Studio on Bowen Island here in BC.Winston and I have known each other for a long time, so prepare yourself for a good ol’ back in the day discussion from us, and we also talk about how to stretch your budget when producing an album or single. It was a really great talk and I hope you enjoy it!FR...

The topic of this week’s show is THE IMPORTANCE OF CAMPUS RADIO and joining me on the show is Jasper Sloan Yip, who is the Programming Director for CITR here in Vancouver and he’s also an indie artist himself. We had a great chat about whether Campus Radio is still relevant in 2023 and he gives us some great tips about how to pitch and service campus radio here in Canada. It was a really great talk and I hope you enjoy it!FRESH CONTENT LINKSJasper recommends: Devours - Homecoming QueenJen rec...

So the topic of this week’s show is SURVIVING AS A WORKING CLASS ARTIST and joining me on the show is Montreal-based musician Russell Louder who just released their new single Movie Queen a couple months ago and has a new album coming out this summer. We had a really great conversation and talked about how hard it is to survive as an independent artist in 2023. We both get fired up and pretty radical, idea-wise, on this one - so brace yourself!It was a great talk and I hope you enjoy it!...

The topic of this week’s show is CONTENT CREATION FATIGUE and joining me on the show is Vancouver musician Ché Aimee Dorval, who released her new full-length album The Crowned earlier this year. And since she’s just coming off a cycle of album promotion, she definitely knows a thing or two about having to churn out content to promote an album. We had a great conversation and discussed how hard it can be for indie musicians to do all of the things that come along with promoting your music...

So the topic of this week’s show is HOW TO WRITE A MUSIC GRANT and joining me on the show is Jessica Hoefsloot who writes a lot of funding applications through her company Sad Kids Collective - an artist-friendly management company offering services from digital marketing, grant writing and day-to-day business management for artists & industry. And by day - Jessica is also an Account Executive for Influencer Marketing at Viral Nation. We had a great conversation and discussed many ti...

The topic of this week’s show is HOW TO DIY IN 2023 and joining me on the show is Shawn Petsche who recently created Trickle Down Music which is a great online resource for indie musicians. Shawn is also a musician and was Festival Manager for the Sled Island Music and Arts Festival in Calgary for over 10 years. We had a great conversation about the struggles independent musicians face these days when they try to "do it themselves" and what led him to create his amazing new website to he...

Welcome to Season 4 of the podcast! I’m so happy to be back!For our Season 4 premiere - I’m talking to Shawn Hall who is one half of the blues duo The Harpoonist & the Axe Murderer and we’re talking all about recording a live album. We had a really great conversation about their experience recording their live album and concert film Live At The King Eddy, whether live albums will continue to be relevant and much much more. It was a great talk and I hope you enjoy it!FRESH CONT...

Hello! Its's bonus episode time! We decided to put together a BEST OF SEASON 3 episode to get everyone fired up about Season 4 which starts next week! We went through and found some of our favourite moments from Season 3 which was super fun to do - it was great to relive the conversations and it got us really excited about doing Season 4. We really hope you enjoy it and we'll see you next week for the premiere episode of Season 4!Learn more about The FM Podcast: thefmpodcast.comLearn more abo...

Just a quick check-in to let you know that Season 4 of The FM Podcast will premiere on May 9th. And to get you fired up and ready to go - next week we’ll have a bonus episode featuring The Best of Season 3! We're back, baby!

The topic of this week’s show is Honouring The Past and joining me on the show are musicians Ndidi O and Trish Klein, who recently joined forces to create the musical project The Blue and Gold.The Blue and Gold is a musical collaboration that celebrates the musical artistry and legacy of pioneering female blues musicians. Their self-titled debut album (which just came out on April 29th) is a musical homage to the profound influence of Black female artists on 20th century country / blues tradi...

The topic of this week’s show is Building The Story and joining me on the show is Juno-nominated musician Nuela Charles!Nuela and I had a great chat about how to effectively build your story as an independent musician. And how, sometimes, no matter how much planning you do, it can often just come down to timing and luck. Like, sometimes it’s just about which way the wind is blowing. This is a really great talk and I hope you enjoy it!FRESH CONTENT LINKSNuela recommends: Amber Mark - Blis...

The topic of this week’s show is The Power of Community and joining me on the show is Leonard Podolak who is the Executive Director of Home Routes.We had an great conversation about how Home Routes has helped to create communities for musicians across Canada over the last 15th years, how things have shifted for them with the pandemic, and we also discuss the Home Routes 15th Anniversary Tour which wraps up this Friday with a virtual show in Winnipeg featuring Del Barber, Double The Trouble an...

The topic of this week’s show is Creating Change and I’m talking to Keziah Myers - who is someone who is doing a lot to create change in the Canadian music industry!Keziah is the Executive Director of ADVANCE - which is Canada's Black Music Business Collective and she also sits on the board and is the spokesperson for the Black Canadian Music Awards which just started last year. We talked about how music industry professionals can help to level the playing field when it comes to diversit...

This week on the show we’re discussing a topic that musicians always want to know about... and that’s the wonderful world of Radio Promotion!And joining me on the show is radio promoter Oscar Furtado. Oscar has been working in the music industry since the early 2000s and he founded his company Tandemtracks Promotions in 2007. As Director of National Radio Promotions (in Canada), he’s worked on national campaigns with many great artists including Pitbull, R3HAB, Carly Rae Jepsen and Run The Je...

So this week’s show is a fun one! I talked to West Coast singer-songwriter WiL and we discussed the ups and downs of his long career and how to stay relevant in the music industry. I’ve known WiL for a long time and he loves to chat so you’ll notice that this episode is a bit longer than normal but that’s because we had a lot to cover! We talked about how WiL got his start in music, his career over the years and how it all led to him releasing his new album The Gold Mine, which is coming...

On this week’s show, I’m talking to Vancouver singer-songwriter Haley Blais about her transition from YouTube influencer to musician. This was a super interesting chat but it wasn’t without its challenges because Haley did the interview from her tour van in Austin, Texas. This obvs made things a bit more exciting - so you’ll get some nice background colour on this one! We talked about how things started with her YouTube channel and how musicians these days have to be content creator...

This week’s show is all about branding for musicians and joining me on the show is musician AND designer - Alexis Young. Alexis and I had a great conversation about how important branding is for musicians and since she’s a musician - she’s the lead vocalist in Blonde Diamond - as well as a designer, we talked about how her musical creativity influences her design creativity and vice versa. We had a really great chat and there's lots of great tips in this one, so get ready to take some notes!F...

This week’s show is all about musicians creating art in other spaces. And joining me on the show is musician and podcaster Jolene Higgins, who is also known as Little Miss Higgins. Jolene and I had a great conversation about her new project The Fire Waltz which is both a 5-part mini-series podcast and a full length album. The final episode of The Fire Waltz podcast was posted yesterday (March 14th) which also just so happened to be the release day for the album! Good timing, right? We ta...

Welcome to Season 3 of the podcast! We're so excited to be back!For our Season 3 premiere we’ve got a good one for you! I'm talking to Adam Bentley who is a music publicist and the owner of Auteur Research, and we’re talking all about the state of music publicity in 2022. We had a really great conversation which I’m sure you can tell judging by the length of this episode. It’s always nice to talk to someone who does the same thing as you do because you can totally speak the same language and ...

The topic of this week’s show is a roundup of social media + digital marketing tips and trends for musicians. And joining me on the show are 2 ladies who’ve been on the show before - Danielle McNeill + Phoenix Bain from The Social Circle. Danielle, Phoenix and I have worked together on many social media + digital marketing projects here at Fritz Media and we’ve definitely learned a lot over the last couple of years, and we thought it would be great to share some of that wisdom with you....

The topic of this week’s show is globalization and collaboration in the music industry and joining me on the show is Teon Gibbs. Teon is a rapper and producer based in Vancouver, who is quickly becoming one of the most recognizable and influential voices in Western Canada. Born in Botswana, Teon lived all over the globe before settling in Vancouver and he’s been involved in production, sessional musician work, songwriting and engineering for almost 10 years. Teon recently released a coll...

The topic of this week’s show is one that I’ve had many people ask me to do. We’re going to be talking about NFTs in the music industry + joining me on the show is "Parkside" Mike Renaud.Parkside is the Executive Creative Director at Hidden Pony Records & Management and he’s also a consultant for Slaight Music, and he has a lot of insight into why NFTs matter for the music industry. This was a really interesting and informative chat and I hope you enjoy it!FRESH CONTENT LINKSParksid...

The topic of this week’s show is Release Planning and Strategy and joining me on the show is artist manager Jeff Ojeda from Phase Management. Jeff and I had a great discussion about the best ways to plan and release your new album or new single or new video or whatever you're releasing! And there’s definitely a lot of great tips, so if you’re an artist with new music but don’t know where to start when it comes to releasing it - this is the show for you. It was a really great chat and I hope y...

Hello! The topic of this week's show is LGBTQ representation in the music industry and joining me on the show this week is actor, musician and filmmaker Sunny Chen who is also known as Sad China for their music projects. Sunny and I had a great chat where we talked about more than just LGBTQ representation. Because they are a non-binary Asian Canadian, their experiences in the music industry involve more than just their gender identity - so we covered a lot!We had a really great chat and...

The topic of this week's show is How To License Your Music For Film + TV which I’m sure will be of interest to all of the musicians out there - since it’s one of the only ways to make money as a musician these days! And joining me on the show is Music Supervisor Kaya Pino - a music supervisor and curator at The Wilders in Toronto. Kaya and I had a great discussion about how there’s so many film + TV licensing opportunities out there due to the amount of streaming content we have these d...

The topic of today’s show is Creating Community + Excellence in the Studio and my guest is producer, engineer and musician - Jane Aurora. Jane wears many hats in the music industry and one of those hats is as the host / program curator of Producers Lounge which is a popular Vancouver-based creative workshop and conversation series that elevates women and non-binary producers.We had a great discussion about how things are shifting globally when it comes to creating more equity in recording stu...

With my job, I talk to a lot of independent musicians on a regular basis and I’ve found over the years that many of them don’t realize what an incredible resource their provincial and territorial Music Industry Associations are. MIAs can provide musicians and music industry professionals with funding opportunities and they also provide things like educational workshops and are a hub of information and connections. Joining me on the show today is Kentya Kurban who is the Community Engagement C...

The pandemic has forced a lot of us in the music industry to pivot and get creative in the last year and a half. And today on the show I’m talking to artist manager Alex Wyder from High Tide Artists about how he’s had to get creative with his artists during this crazy time. Like what do you even do when your artists can’t tour?Alex has been working in the music industry for about 10 years and has built an impressive resume across Canada with experience touring and working with established and...

Well hello hello hello! It’s so good to be back for Season 2 of The FM Podcast. And this week on the show I’m talking to singer-songwriter / producer Leeroy Stagger about Career Longevity. I’ve known Leeroy a long time + have worked on many albums of his over the years. And it’s been pretty cool to see his career trajectory and the many ups and downs, he’s experienced along the way. And so we had a great talk about his long career and how he’s managed to stay in the game so long. And we ...

Bonus episode time! We decided to put together a BEST OF SEASON 1 episode to get everyone fired up about Season 2 which starts next week! We went through and found some of our favourite moments from Season 1 which was super fun to do BTW - it was great to relive a lot of the conversations and it got us really excited about doing Season 2. We really hope you enjoy it and we'll see you next week for the premiere of Season 2!Learn more about The FM Podcast: thefmpodcast.comLearn more about Fritz...

Just a quick check-in to let you know that Season 2 of The FM Podcast will premiere on November 2nd. And to get you fired up and ready to go - next week we’ll have a bonus episode featuring The Best of Season 1! We're back, baby!

OK so brace yourself because things are gonna be a little crazy this week! First of all, I have to let you know that this week’s show is the final episode of Season 1 of The FM Podcast and we’ll be back with Season 2 in a couple of months. Make sure that you stay subscribed to the podcast though because we’ll be sending out updates and letting you know when we’ll be back. So, our guest on the show this week is someone who I’ve known for a long time - Geoff Goddard - who is a managin...

This week on the show we’re discussing a topic that has become increasingly important over the last year - Mental Health Resources for Musicians. And joining me on the show is the Executive Director of the Unison Benevolent Fund - Amanda Power. Unison is a non-profit, registered music industry charity that provides counselling and emergency relief services to the Canadian music community. They help professional music makers in times of hardship, illness or economic difficulties. We are ...

This week on the show we’re going to talk about how indie artists have to DIY it at the beginning of their career which can seem like A LOT when you’re just starting out! And joining me on the show is Edmonton indie pop musician Kaeley Jade. When Kaeley released her 1st single a couple of years ago, she immersed herself in the music industry and began learning all aspects of the business. I met her earlier this year when she started working with Fritz Media and I was so impressed with how muc...

So this week we’re going to talk about Rights and Revenue Streams For Musicians + joining me on the show is Rebecca Webster who is the Director of Industry Relations & Communications at the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency ( or the CMRRA). And before Rebecca joined the CMRRA in 2019, she was actually an independent music publicist like me + she ran highly-respected music public relations company Webster Media Consulting Inc. for ten years. Music Rights and Royalties ...

The topic of this week’s episode is COVID vs Summer Music Festivals and joining me on the show is the Artistic Executive Director of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival - Debbi Salmonsen. We all know that things have been extremely difficult for the live music industry over the past year and Debbi and I discuss how the Vancouver Folk Fest adjusted their plans in 2020 + 2021 and how she thinks things will look for all music festivals in the future. Debbi and I had a great chat + I hope you...

We all know that Branding is something that is very important for musicians. It’s one of those things that can feel like just one more thing to add to the list of all of things you have to do as a musician in 2021, but it is one of the most important parts of being a musician. Figuring out who you are as a musician and how you’re going to express that to the world, as an extension of your music, should be one of the first things you do in your music career. So the topic of this week’s episode...

So this week’s show is all about Social Activism in Music + joining me on the show is Vancouver rapper Neon Empty (aka Bryce Lokken) who just released a single last week called 'Red Lives Don't' a song that he describes as “an expression of frustration and disgust with white Canada’s hypocrisy about racial inequality during the summer 2020 - the summer of Black Lives Matter.”Neon Empty, who is Métis, uses shocking language on 'Red Lives Don't' to get people’s attention in order to highl...

This week's show is all about singing, which is something I pretty much have ZERO experience in. And joining me on the show is someone who thankfully knows more about singing than I do - Greg Barker - who is one of the founders of Singdaptive. Greg is going to tell us all about Singdaptive, which is a multi-instructor online learning platform for singer-musicians. As well as his new venture - Exchangely which is asynchronous + team-based 1-on-1 coaching for singers.So if you’ve been sit...

Social media is something that most musicians struggle with. Both on the organic side - that is just creating content for all of their social channels each week - and on the social advertising side. It’s something that we see our clients struggle with here at Fritz Media which is why we added additional services last year, including social media strategy + digital advertising. And joining us on the show this week is one of our very own digital strategists here at Fritz Media - Phoe...

The COVID pandemic has not been great for the music industry and I think it’s fair to say that the live sector of the industry has been hit the hardest. In fact, since March of last year the live music industry in Canada has suffered a 92% average revenue loss + 64% of the industry is at risk of permanent closure which is scary for all of us because the live sector is the backbone of our business. So the topic of this week’s episode is Pivoting and Touring and joining me on the show is Grant ...

So a few weeks ago we did an episode about the state of music journalism in Canada + I talked to Mike Devlin who is an arts reporter for the Victoria Times-Colonist. And this week’s episode is sort of a Music Journalism in Canada Part 2 episode, where we take a look at music journalism in the digital age + explore the online side of things since we mostly discussed music journalism at traditional media outlets on Mike’s episode. And joining me this week is Sajae Elder who is a Toronto-ba...

The theme of this week’s episode is Artist Management + I talk to Savannah Wellman from Tiny Kingdom Music. Savannah runs Tiny Kingdom with her business partner and best friend Meagan Davidson + their company not only manages musicians but they also do grant writing and they recently started their own record label which just released ‘Boxes’ - the killer collab from Vancouver musicians IAMTHELIVING + Teon Gibbs. Savannah’s experiences in the music industry have seen her on bot...

On this week’s episode I talk to Vancouver musician + Fritz Media client Bukola about what it’s like to be starting out your career as an artist in the music industry right now. Bukola is releasing her debut EP Chronicles of a Teenage Mind this summer + her first single/video is coming out this Friday (March 19th)! Bukola is only 19 years old but she’s been pursuing her dreams of becoming a professional musician since she was 9 and has been building momentum ever since! In fact, the CBC ...

So it’s now officially a full year since we’ve been living with the COVID pandemic + it obviously has had a very detrimental effect on the music industry. It’s affected everyone in the business, from record labels to booking agents to managers to promoters to publicity companies like mine, and of course, the musicians themselves. Everyone has had to pivot to figure out different ways to bring income in. Many musicians are trying different things to see what works, like ticketed live streams +...

When I started working as a publicist in the music industry, my job was a lot different that it is now. When I started, there were fewer outlets to pitch for coverage because music blogs were barely a thing AND there were local music writers at nearly every print newspaper across Canada. Which is crazy to think about now, but that's how it was. And out of all of those journalists that I used to call up on the phone, there are not very many that are still working in the industry in the s...

Here in Canada we are lucky to have a lot of different options for funding our arts projects. And the music industry in particular has an incredible national foundation called FACTOR which is a public/private partnership that supports the production of sound recordings by Canadian musicians and helps Canadian music companies make recordings available to a wider public. We also have funding available through our Music Industry Associations (MIAs) in each province and territory, and some provin...

Although things are moving in the right direction, the lack of diversity in the Canadian music industry is still a problem, not just for the artists trying to gain access but for those that work within the industry as well. This week on the show we discuss diversity + education in the music industry. Jen talks to rapper, motivational speaker, and author, D.O. Gibson, about how he is creating change within our industry. We discuss his conference - The Northern Power Summit - and their up...

When you choose to have a career in music, you often end up wearing a lot of different hats + learn about many different aspects of the business. And Alberta-based singer-songwriter Ryland Moranz is definitely an artist that knows all about this. Ryland releases his own music as a solo musician, is a part of Leeroy Stagger's band The Rebeltone Sound + he's even worked as a tour manager. Jen talks to Ryland about his experiences in wearing all of these hats, to see if he could share some of th...

The COVID pandemic has had a huge effect on the music industry + without live shows, many artists + businesses have had to pivot in order to stay afloat in the last year. And who better to talk to about pivoting than Vancouver indie musician Dan Mangan. Dan is not just an artist, he's also the co-owner of Side Door Access, a business that Dan describes as "Airbnb but for shows" + they obviously had to pivot big time last year + have become a lucrative + solid platform for musicians to d...

For the very first episode of The FM Podcast, Jen talks to digital marketer Danielle McNeill. Danielle is the lead digital strategist at Fritz Media + also runs her own digital marketing firm, The Social Circle. Great conversation about how to navigate social media as a musician in 2021! Follow Fritz Media: Website Twitter Facebook Instagram