August 6, 2025 • 35 mins
Step into the world of The Trews as they share the stories behind their powerful new album, The Bloody Light. In this emotionally charged episode, the band opens up about the moments music became their lifeline—guiding them through personal struggles, creative challenges, and the ever-changing landscape of rock and roll. From late-night writing sessions to stadium-shaking performances, The Trews reveal how their latest work became a beacon of hope and resilience. Join us for a candid conversation about finding light in dark times, the healing power of songwriting, and the anthem that invites us all to shine through adversity.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Music Saved Me.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
We just sing about what we're going through and how
we're feeling, and it resonates with people and I mean
it's incredible. It's I feel like humbled by it.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
I guess.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Welcome to Music Saved Me. I'm Lynn Hoffman and today
I'm so excited. We are joined by two members of
one of Canada's biggest, most electrifying rock bands, The Truths.
For over two decades, they've been delivering powerful songs and
unforgettable performances. They've shared the stage globally with the likes
of Springsteen and Aerosmith and The Stones and Kiss and
(00:36):
Guns and Roses, to name a few. They've won multiple
awards and reached platinum status congratulations, and their music has
been streamed. This just blew me away over one hundred
million streams around the world. When have you ever heard
of that? That's incredible. On this episode, we will dive
deep into the moments when music became more than just
(00:58):
a soundtrack for The Truths, when it became a lifeline.
We'll hear about the songs that help them through tough times,
and how creating and sharing music has shaped their journey
and the ways their art has touched the lives of
fans around the world. So whether you're a longtime fan
of their truths or just discovering their awesome and uplifting,
inspiring sound, get ready for an honest, inspiring conversation about
(01:21):
the power of music to lift us up, bring us together,
and sometimes even dare I say, save us. Colin MacDonald
and John Angus, Welcome to the Music Save Me Podcast.
So great to have you guys here.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
It's great to be here. Thanks for having us.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
First of all, I want to say congratulations because I
just found out you've released a couple of singles off
of soon to be released album call the Bloody Light.
But currently The Breakdown is number one on rock radio
all across Canada. I know that's still going to be
a huge feeling for you. Even after being rocking for
twenty plus years, it still must be an exciting feeling
(01:59):
to reach those heights agar with your fans.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
It almost feels even better now because it feels like,
you know, people still care after all these years, and
that's always really great, and.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
We still put a lot into it.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Like the first few times we had some major success
at radio, it was all such a It was also
new and it was exciting and we we really but
now it almost feels a little bit better because it's like, oh,
it's still resonating. That's that's really great.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yeah, you still have it. And it's a testament certainly,
not only to the skills and talents and the perseverance
of you as a band, but also your legions of fans.
I mean, they're still there and they're still strong, and
they love you so much.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
That's truly the humbling part.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
When you're a young man, you take so much for granted,
and like when you get to the top of the
mountain for the first time, you just think, hey, this
is just.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
The way it is.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
And then you realize, through all the trials and tribulations
of a long career, just how incredibly rare success actually is.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
And to get back there it speaks to a couple
of things.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
The support of our fans and the support of the industry,
and then the fact that we've kept up a you know,
if I may say so, like a fairly high level
of albums too. So all that takes so much work,
and it takes a team, and it takes you know,
a good loyal fan base to maintain it.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
That's for sure. And speaking of your fan base, it's
obvious that connecting with your fans is important to you.
And because I know time is of the essence with you, guys,
I want to get right into the meat of the
conversation right up front. Can each of you remember a moment,
whether it was during a personal struggle or a tough tour,
(03:32):
or a pivotal moment in your personal life, that music
truly saved you.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Colin, you want to go first. Yeah, Like I almost
way too many times to count. I think that's what
led me to want to do this for a living
and do it so. It has brought me back from
the brain, whether it was a teenage heartbreak or if
it was you know, major shifts in life as I
got older. You know, there's been many songs that have
helped me along the way. You Know, one that comes
(04:02):
to mind is listening to Clay Pigeons, you know, a
bunch of years ago, going through a bit of a
rough time, and just in that that those lyrics and
but both versions, the Blaze Folly in the and the
John Prime version, we're both very every They were everything
to me. It was like those songs that are written
that like they it's like songs that see you, you know,
(04:23):
in those moments of vulnerability and when you're kind of
just floating and they kind of bring it back down
to earth and remember and remind you that you know,
you're not alone in this in this sadness, you know.
And that's definitely always been one of my main focuses
when when working on a song, I'd like to provide
that kind of comfort for people, whether it's just when
(04:44):
they want to rock out and have fun, or when
when they need something a little bit more you know, emotional,
like to help them through a rough patch, you know.
And so that's just one of the moments of many
where a song has saved me. And I'll just listen
to it like fifty five times a day age, you know,
until I feel better, and I always do, you know.
So I think music's quite powerful like that.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
I'll go back to like my teenage years. Colin and
I are brothers, and we were raised a little bit
like military brats, even though our dad was he was
like an intellectually worked for the universities, but that kept
him moving around from campus to campus and taking all
five of his kids with him, and we ended up
down in Jamaica in nineteen ninety three, and I was
like thirteen years old and wrenched out of my social
(05:28):
life and put it in like a sort of foreign country.
Certainly felt foreign to me coming from the East Coast,
and all I had was like a Sony Walkman and
four cassettes. There were three Beatle cassettes, assess that the
Beatles and Rams automatic for the people. And every day
I'd get home from school and play all four cassettes
and my headphones front to back, and it just kept
(05:49):
me connected.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
To like my old life.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
You know.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
It just brought me an incredible comfort when I was
pretty lonely and out of sorts. And those records, like
to this day, they still they're like my comfort food,
you know, Like if all else, you know, I love
exploring and listening to other things and discovering things, but
if I can come back to these certain records and
they feel like home base, you.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Know, it really is medicinal. Yeah, in nature, for sure.
I'll tell you what. I was just going through a
really rough patch the other day, just a little depressed
over something personal in my life. A friend of mine
who's not well, and I am so fortunate to get these.
I got to hear your whole album before anyone else
(06:29):
because you're not releasing it until October. And I'll tell
you what song did it for me? It was Manifest
So wait until that one comes out and hits. That
was I don't even know what it was truly about.
But for me, when you look back in hindsight and
you see what you've manifested and you didn't realize you
were doing it at the time, that it really happens.
(06:50):
You can bring about what you want if you put
your mind to it.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Well, I'm glad to hear that you liked that one,
and yeah, nice to hear that, and I hope it
helped you out a little bit.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
It certainly did it, really did it? You know, just
something just clicks in your mind. And depending on how
many times you want to play it is how many,
like I would say, if you were going in a
medicine cabinet and how many advil do you need for
your pain? Exactly?
Speaker 3 (07:20):
The dosage is how many times you got to put
it on repeat. Yes, we should have.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Instead of drug commercials, we should have music drug commercials.
It would be so much better.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
I'll probably safer in the long run too, right, that's
going to not as many weird side effects now only happy.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Your state is going to call for seven everybody hurts
seven times, and the.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Side effects will be like you will develop more empathy, Like,
they'll be good side effects.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
You know. It may cause, may cause crying, may.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Cause spontaneous laughter and happiness.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Yeah, because healthy expressions of emotional baggage.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
I love it. Hey, after this, we should do that.
We should do a commercial for it.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Yes, I love it.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
That would be so fun band dynamics. I have to know,
you guys have been together a long time. In what
ways has being a part of the truth helped you
navigate life's challenges a lot of times? You know you
can being in a band. It's like a marriage. You know,
you're together more than you are with your families.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
It's very true.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
It's it's it's kind of our entire lives and a
lot of the way our lives shaped up because we've
been doing this for a very long time. They kind
of all came together through the band, you know, like
John I has met his wife and now mother of
his three children at Age tru Show in like two
thousand and five, you know, and and I mean, all
(08:44):
of our lives are kind they kind of revolve around
our career because it does take so much time, and
we have that very antient partners and lives and stuff,
and so yeah, the band's definitely shaped us a lot,
and in pretty much every way. So oh, hey there's one.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
Now, Hi, they won't and now they won't leave me
alone while I'm doing interviews.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
I love it. Family is welcome.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
Yeah, okay, if you guys don't mind, I think it's great.
I just pretty much to echo everything that Colin said.
It's like you learn a lot about yourself. The really
challenging thing about being in a band as you start
it when you're in at least in our case, you
start it as a teenager.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
You know, you start it like with an undeveloped frontal lobe.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
You know, like you're not you're not quite a man,
and you have to become men together.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
And a lot of people don't survive.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
That transition because it's really tricky, like it's not your
wholesale different people. By the time you reach thirty, you
know so, and then again by the time you reach forty.
So it's like just navigating those waters. I guess we're
lucky that we don't take things too personally. Yeah, I've
been through a lot together and we still managed to
come together over the music and love what we do,
(09:52):
and so that's that's good fortune. We've lost some members
along the way because it's really hard to keep everybody together,
you know, just really it's like life is demanding, and
life demands different things of different people at different times.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
So we're just I guess we have some good fortune.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
Going our way too that we were able still to
pull it together and do it, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
I mean, has there ever been a time where the
band sort of served as a support system for each other?
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Yeah, like so many times for me just going through
times in my life where you know, things haven't felt
very stable, and I've always sought comfort in writing and
working with the guys. The music has carried me through
a lot of times. So I always remember that when
things are kind of going really well, how much I've
I have leaned on this to get through a lot
of things. And unfortunately, because the music has always been
(10:40):
something that's driven me and something that's inspired me, it's
kept me sane. Actually, it's kind of funny to think
that you a rock and roll band can keep you
saying because it's kind of an insane profession.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
But I but I do.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
I am very grateful for those times where the band
has kind of carried me through, you.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Know, ups and downs.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
It's amazing to me. You were just talking about the
band and how members have come and gone, and you
two are brothers. I mean, you grew up together, you're
together all the time. I mean that can't be easy
in general as a dynamic.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Well, it's we're not quite as I mean, we know
some other brother bands that are a little bit more
tumultuous than we are. But the other thing about brothers
in the band is like, you know, we've been fighting
and making up since we were two and zero, do
you know what I mean? So and and I think
sometimes if it's not too much of a rift, and
(11:33):
it hasn't been yet, like we can have our our
ups and downs with you know, when your family you
kind of have to make up or like, you know,
there's the ramifications, you know, can be pretty dire, like
when families become like alienated from one another. So you know,
we've been pretty good, like Dot and and then Jack
who's been with us since we were we started as well,
and when he was a kid, my mom used to
(11:54):
babysit him, like so we were like Jack's brother as well.
And we've just been you know, I'll knock on wood
because you know, so far, so good, but we've been
able to get through some of the.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Rougher stuff.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
I'll say, so far, so good. Now. Songwriting and performing
two are probably I'm going to guess your most favorite
things to do. Would you find that they're therapeutic for
you as well?
Speaker 2 (12:20):
I mean one like for me, the making of new
music and writing and recording is my absolute favorite thing.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
And I love playing live.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
I mean, we have a great live show and we
have great crowds and stuff, and but my favorite part
is that excitement around writing and discovering new stuff. Like
that's always kind of been the guiding force for me
ever since I started. Just just the idea that you
know something's not there this morning, and you make it
there this afternoon, and if it's any good, that can
(12:52):
resonate with people and become something so beautiful and you
can connect with people, And that to me is the
closest thing I've ever brains to magic in life.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
It's very magical. Do you can you give an example
maybe of a song that was specifically you know, cathartic
to write. And also what's the hierarchy of the writing,
I mean, who does most of the writing?
Speaker 4 (13:15):
You should talk about the end and Once upon a Time,
which is coming up off of our next record, because
I think I wasn't involved in that one too much,
but I think you said it was the first one
you wrote when you started writing during the lockdowns.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Yeah, well, in terms of the writing situation in the band,
like we all, we collaborate genius Jack and myself and
then sometimes we'll we'll collaborate with whoever's producing, and we're
very we're very open. We always switch up producers between
every record because we're always looking for ways to shake
things up. And I think for me, I write every
(13:49):
day almost out of It's like it is like a
therapy to me just to create, Like I just believe
everybody should create every day. I even if it's not
a great song, when I go listen back, I still
get something out of it. And then sometimes even within
those songs that you work on that might not be
anything special, you bring that to I bring it to
Janigus or I bring it to Jack, or I bring
(14:10):
it to one of our producers we're working with, and
that can become this little, you know, acorn that becomes
this beautiful oak tree you know, in the in the studio,
And that's that's kind of really neat to me too, Like,
you know, it might just be oh, the second verse,
really something really happened there, and then you just take
that little bit and that grows into something.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
So that's usually the way all of our.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Songs come about in terms of of just you know,
I write every day and except for when I'm on
the road, but I write every day, and then I
bring it to the guys and we see if we
can make something great out of it.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
You know, I can I imagine that process, like I
got these lines. I just you know, you think of
things that, oh my god, I can make a T
shirt out of that, and you make an incredible song, yeah,
out of something which is amazing.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
But also like I think one of the things, I
think one of the key to our longevity has been
like not to get We try to keep our I
mean it sounds kind of cliche, but we try to
keep our egos in check.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
And like the idea is.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Look, it's not when your idea isn't well received, it's
not a personal attack on you. It's just we we
kind of let the idea be more important than the
three or four guys in the room. So whatever is
going to make that better is always what we try
to like. Okay, that's that's the goal, and however we
can get there.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
That's so hard, number one, But number two, what an
incredible exercise in life overall, just how to deal with people.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
It's been a long That was the thing we had
to learn. That was the kind of the hardest thing
to learn.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
But everybody's a bit every I think it's natural to
be a bit protective and precious of your idea off
the off the head. But I think we've all created
long enough.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Thank you about that.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
We've all created long enough to to see the results improved,
to see the idea go from being this little thing
to this flourishing thing that now two thousand people are
thinking back to you and that that we've all seen
the magic work. That we trust in that process, and
if it can get better, then it should get better
and it shouldn't stay the same just because you like
(16:19):
it a lot, you.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Yeah, and that's that's and that's the nature of being
in a band. And if you didn't want that, then
you have to be a solo artist, you.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Like otherwise, if you're in a band, you kind of
got to go all for one and one for all
and let's let's do it together kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Yeah, And there's nothing better than working with a creative
team of people that can do that. I mean, that
truly would be the penultimate way to be in any
group of creatives.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
I think when you have people that have that incentive
as like you can feel it, you know, like when
you're when you're working on the idea, everybody you're getting chills,
Like it's it's not it's not even a thinking thing. Eventually,
it's just a feeling and everybody's like, oh, we're all smiling,
we're happy. Time is going by quickly, And like, if
you have that, you have to like, that's the most
precious thing in the world. Now, if you're lucky enough
(17:04):
to be Bob Dylan and you just wake up in
the morning and that happens before coffee, but in a
band dynamic, you can you know, we know it and
like some nights, some days it doesn't work, but then
when it is working, we're like, this is the this
is it's right, you got chills, you're smiling, it's it's enthusiastic.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
So that's what we're kind of chasing.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
We'll be right back with more of the Music Saved
Me Podcast. Welcome back to the Music Saved Me Podcast.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Hindsight's always twenty twenty kind of like we discussed earlier,
But are there lyrics specifically in your back catalog that
stand out to you as meaning like new meaning to
you today than even when you wrote it originally?
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Oh yeah, all the time. Like there's there's songs where
even I'm on stage of the night. We have a
new song called Don't Get Lost in the Dark. We
played it at a show the other night and I
while I was playing it, I'm like, oh, I think
I think this song might be about this thing. And
it was just it was just something that had happened
on the East Coast years ago, and I was like,
and I just got chills.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
I was like, oh, I didn't even I didn't have
any intention of this.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
It's just it just caught fire in my imagination and
it made the song so meaningful to me, and I
was just so.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Impressed with that, like not impressed by me or the.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Song, but like I was like, oh, this is cool,
Like I feel like I'm getting something out of this
that I never thought i'd ever get.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
And it was a nice moment. You know.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
It's like those moments that people say to you cliche lines,
or you know, time flies when you're having fun, or
you know, just anything that comes to mind, and then
you're going through life and something happens here and you're like,
wait a minute, that's why that person said that to.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Me, or that's what that song meant, or those lyrics
meant clich cliches for a reason they that doesn't happen
to you.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Yes, yes, yeah. I'm just curious how you take care
of your mental health, both of you individually, when you're
on the road, when you're in the studio, I mean,
what what type of are there any rituals or habits
that sort of keep you grounded when you're out playing
for thousands of screaming fans and living that life that
almost seems like you're in a dream or it's you know.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Yeah, do you want to go in this one first? Surgery.
No you go, okay, Well, yeah, I had to, Like
I've had to do a lot for that.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Like I've been sober for four and a half years gradulations.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
That's a big deal.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Yeah, after many years, not quite four and a half
four for a couple of months, and I I've had
to do a lot. I have quite a few things
to do on the on the road to stay grounded
and stay you know. I you know, meditate and I
try to exercise it. I do a lot of reading
and writing just to stay grounded because I find, especially
(19:51):
when you're like performing for people and and like there's
there's so much like pressure, and then there's there's ego
and there's anxiety and.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
You're just trying to stay grounded by that.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
I don't always win the win the fight, but I
have to do a lot to keep to keep.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Regulated.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
I guess you could say when I'm out there, because
I can get kind of swept away in it for
better or for worse.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
I.
Speaker 4 (20:20):
Mean beyond Like I try to go for a run
every now and then, but you know, I keep myself
very busy. Now you could say that's like just a
big old distraction or or you know, maybe I'm putting
things off, but I do like to keep myself busy.
I like to have a lot of projects on the go.
You know, I'm producing this, or I'm hosting this radio show.
I'm raising three kids and dealing with a lot of
(20:42):
the band's affairs, and so yeah, I'll probably have a
breakdown at some point in the future.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
No, no, don't say that.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
We don't want that.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
But it's it's really good.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
That was That was a joke. That was a joke.
Guys didn't laugh because it wasn't a good joke.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
No, but I mean you have to laugh because you know,
life is just so it's so hard in general, and
then you pile on it success and you know, and
then issues that you may have along the way, and
it's just it's a lot to navigate, even for those
of us who aren't in a major rock band touring
the world, in which case I would love to know
(21:21):
your advice that you might have for someone who might
be struggling and needs to turn to music for solace.
Do you have any advice for them?
Speaker 4 (21:30):
The only thing I'll add is you said even if
you're not in a rock band. But I think that
the sort of inverse of that is like we get
to have that outlet and like people always say, like
life is so hard anyway, and you add the stresses
of performance. But at the same time, the flip of
that is like we get to wear our emotions on
our sleeves and sing them at the top of our
lungs for five to ten thousand to like up to
(21:52):
like sixty whatever, the biggest crowd we've ever played for.
And they're just our emotions, They're just our feelings in
the moment.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
I can might have had a bad day, I can
go guitar solo for an hour, you know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
Like, it's not this is like an unappreciated part of
what it is to express yourself in art. And I
think that my advice would be, if you really are
having a hard time chronically, then to try to find
that outlet. You know, it's it might be writing, It
might be writing a book or painting, it might be
Artisa will work, maybe maybe you're a wood work or
it could be like but try to find some method
(22:23):
of creative expression and I'm sure that will go a
long way.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
That's at least taking your mind to at least taking
your mind off of it. You know, that's for sure
good advice.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
And like there's a book called The Artist's Way, and
I always thought it was really great, and it's like
for anybody who wants to be an artist, and I
think everybody is an artist. I just think that, you know,
it's not all meant to be released to the public.
And there's this great book about just these things you
can do to feel a little bit more I mean
artistic in your life. You know, journal in the morning,
like there's things to do that are creative, that are
(22:56):
powerful outlets. And that book's a good one. So check
out The Artist's Way.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
I just wrote it down. I'm curious. I would like
to read that. That's I want so much more time
with you. I need to know just a quick guest
or note. Did you have mentors when you were growing
up that people sort of reaffirmed to you that you
were on the right track, or that you did have
these skills?
Speaker 3 (23:17):
Yeah, he did have. We had.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
We had many, like but they're unexpected. Like I think
of our old friend Ian McDonald, Ian Charles McDonald, who
we've lost a bit of touch with, but we grew
up with him and he really informed our playing style
in our teens because he had such a deep knowledge
of what we were going for. We had a kind
of a surface, like we knew our records, but he
had like a library of records that he was sort
(23:40):
of hpping us to and he really informed. It was
a guy named Blair Steve Boyer who believed in our
band and let us jam at his house. He did
our sound for next to nothing, and then eventually we
ran into like our business mentor was a guy named
Larry Wanagust who saw what we were doing. He was
managing Katie Lang for fifteen years and he managed Big
Sugar and other big Canadian act and he became our
(24:01):
business mentor. He'd manage our band for fifteen years, and
he introduced us to our first producer, Gordy Johnson, who
again was a tough love mentor. He saw what we
were going for and thought, I can I can improve this?
Speaker 3 (24:14):
You know, this is what harness it.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
Yeah, And he was right and he was rough honest,
you know, as a producer, he was right though.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
He got yeah, and.
Speaker 4 (24:21):
Sometimes you need that sometimes you need to, you know, yeah,
kick and sometimes you need to carry it.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
But he was the kicking kind. But it helped us
as a band for sure.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Well a lot of times, that's all somebody needs to
make a big change and an impact on them is
just to hear it from somebody who's doing it or
has done it, and then you're off to the races.
Speaker 4 (24:41):
And he took us on tour and he didn't have
to do that and gave us a lot of national exposure.
So and then then that list goes on. We really
really have always looked up to the Tragically Hip. Do
you know that Tragically Hip?
Speaker 3 (24:53):
Oh? Yeah, coming Canadian? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (24:55):
Okay, God, I don't know. When I'm talking to an American,
I never know, but.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
I never know.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
There's so big in Canada. They loom as large as
like our most famous prime ministers do. And we always
looked up to them as fans. And then they took
us under their wing and treated us kind of like
little brothers. And we eventually made music at their studio
and collaborated with their bass player, Gords and Claire, who
became a mentor on like how to be an adult
(25:21):
in this music business, you know, how to really navigate
yourself and compose yourself. And that band we just idolized
and looked up to and they became mentors in a
way too, so it never really ends really in that way,
you know.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
So do you ever really want to be an adult? Really?
I mean, come on, we all none of us.
Speaker 4 (25:39):
Want to grow up join a rock band and then
you know, at least to keep one foot and being
a teenager still.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
It's just I wish that I could be. I know that,
like just in a minor sense, the feeling it is
to be on that stage, and like you were talking
earlier about getting all of that out, you're giving it
to the audience too, and they're giving it back to you.
So it's like this huge, you know, cathartic session of inspiration,
and it's it's pretty amazing, pretty powerful, very powerful. Has
(26:10):
a fan ever told you a story, either one of you,
that how your music specifically has helped them through a
hard time.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
I was just talking to a gentleman at our gig
at a place called the Kid to Bala last Friday,
maybe it's up in like it's like a cottage country
Ontario gig, and he said he just got over about
with cancer.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
And he said he just listened to this our song
to break down over and over again. It really, really
helped him, and I was like, wow, that's I didn't
even know how to respond.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
It just kind of gave him a hug and a handshake,
and I said, I'm so happy to hear that the
cancer's gone. And I'm sure the medicine had a lot
more to do with it than the song, but I
think the song kind of helped in a weird way
for him. And he was like he really wanted me
to know that, and I was just kind of it
was just like one of those we were doing a
meat and greet with our fans and and he just
(27:02):
kind of sprung this on me. Like I was in
the middle of like, you know, people ask me what
song for playing that night and signing stuff, and he said, like,
you know, I'm just got over cancer. And I listened
to the Breakdown every day for months, and I was like,
oh my god, that's so incredibly heavy and amazing in
every way, you know. And so yeah, I've had a
(27:22):
few people tell me some very very similar stories, and
it's always it's almost too.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Much to take in.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Like at the time, you're kind of like, that's incredible,
and you know, my my first thought is I hope
you're okay. I hope you continue to be okay, and
I'm glad that our our music is helping in some way,
shape or form. But yeah, I've had quite a few
of those moments over the years.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
It's pretty incredible.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
Yeah, John, you Yeah, there is, there's a lot of them.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
You know.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
We have a song called the Highway of Heroes, which
is a trip to a woman we knew that when
to fight in Afghanistan was tragically killed, but it's resonated
much beyond her story. And we've had people show up
to our shows with like their siblings tags who are deceased,
you know, from from conflict, and like hand them to
us on stage and said we want you guys to
(28:18):
have these or something like that. It's just like the
power of those moments. It's like a little bit overwhelming
because it's enormous, But you know, you don't you don't
know these people the way they do. You know, the
tragedy is not the same for you as it is
for them. But they've connected your song to it, and
then they've connected us to it because of the song,
and it's it's just proof of how powerful music can be, truly,
(28:42):
especially in moments like that.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Did you expect that when you first got together as
a band those types of stories coming at you.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
No, not at all.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
And it's like, you know, we like music is our
is our profession, and we put everything into it, and
we like to write songs that are meaning to us initially,
and you never think in a million years that like, oh,
I'm I'm going to write a song that a guy
got through cancer, because like that, that would be a
(29:13):
weird thing to think, you know, for for the creator
of a song.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
But but I've you know, I don't know what it is.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
I just we just sing about what we're going through
and how we're feeling, and and it resonates with people,
and I mean, it's it's incredible.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
It's it's I feel like humbled by it, I guess.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
And I don't want to think like too much beyond that,
because I just I songs are songs and I love
them and they've gotten me through hard times too.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
But yeah, I don't know what else to say.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
Now I understand because it's not why you why you
do it, but then it becomes sort of self fulfilling.
Uh yeah, and it's amazing that there's more. This is
something that I always say we're all more alike than
we are different. So chances are when you're making this
incredible music and writing these words that they're going to
(30:07):
stick with a lot of people.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
And that's It's like I think with us, it's always
like how do we what's the best song? Like we're
always thinking what is the best song? And the best
song is something that Scott There's many elements. You know,
memorable is probably the first one, and then you know
a little bit of lyrical depths without being pretentious, and
then you know, and then a good groove and a rhythm,
(30:32):
and we kind of almost approach it like that, and
some of those creations end up really resonating with people,
and that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
It sure is. And I got a couple of quick
questions before I let you go looking forward The Bloody
Light is your album coming out in October. There's themes
of hope and resilience and healing in all of it
throughout Again, lucky me, I got to hear before anyone else.
And is there anything particular within the album that you
(31:05):
hope listeners really connect with? Is there a message that
you're trying to put out there that you want them
to know?
Speaker 3 (31:12):
I think that's kind of it, you know.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
I think it's like it hasn't been the easiest five
or six years between anywhere in North America, you know,
between everything that everybody's kind of gone through, and I
think the message we have is, Yep, it's not easy.
We're not going to pretend like it is, but we're
still going to try to make music and move forward
(31:36):
and move through it together.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
I think it's awesome. I mean, just the fact that
you are still doing it again, hitting number one after
all these years is enough for me alone. Just to
hear that story about you not even hearing your music,
it's a really incredible feat. Yeah, much less your sobriety,
which is another really big deal. I don't care what
anyone says. I really congratulate you on it, and I
(32:00):
hope they continue forward down that path. And you're certainly
helping a lot of people more than you know. My
last question to you, John and Colin is if you
could go back and play one song for your younger
self during a tough time in your life, what would
it be and why of any song? Of any song?
Speaker 3 (32:26):
Really, it's a very good question.
Speaker 4 (32:29):
I think the songs that really help me are songs
I might have already known then I you know, I don't.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
I'm going to go with one.
Speaker 4 (32:35):
Of our songs just because it's easier because those edwards
invented when we were on But like Between the End,
Once upon a Time certainly has and that's coming up
on our next record. It certainly has like a there's
like a totality to it. And I feel like if
you could have played that for our band when we
were first starting out and been like, you're going to
write this song in like third twenty five years however
(32:56):
long he was, I'd be like, oh, that's a reason
to keep going because it's not exactly the style we're
working in for a long time, but it has like
a depth of emotion and like a large scope to it,
and I really like it a lot. So I'm just
going to go with that. And nobody can even hear
it yet it's coming out in October, but you can
(33:16):
come back.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
It's funny because it's such an emotional question, but my
analytical brain kicked in, So I'm just going to go
with that. And so I've been listening kind of religiously
to the Anthology of American Folk Music this whole year,
and it's about it's a playlist on Spotify. I don't
know how long the original album is, but it's about
sixty five songs long on the playlist, and I've been
studying it.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
I've been listening to it. I've been learning it.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
I went online and wrote because it's hard to get
the recordings are some of the first recordings in American music,
so it's really hard to decipher the lyrics. So Spotify
doesn't even have the lyrics because they can't pick them up,
you know. So I had to go with cour the internet,
and I've written them all in my voice notes on
my phone. So when I'm warming up for a gig,
I'll go and listen to the anthology and just sing
the songs. And I wish I could go back to
(34:00):
me starting in a band and go like, you need
to listen to this phrasing because by the time you're
twenty one, you'll be the coolest fucking guy in the world.
And I instead, I was listening to like what everybody
was listening to, you know, alternative.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
And grunge and blah blah blah and whatever.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
But no, you should be listening to this right now
and you will kick so much as but I would.
That's my ambition is if I could go back to
seventeen sixteen year old me, like throw out the grunge records.
Those are great, we love them. Go listen to only
this record for four years and copy it and then
start your band.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
That's what I would do.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
I love it. I love talking with you too, and
I also wrote that down by the way. See, I
love learning new things from people and discussions. There's nothing
better yeah than that's and you certainly both have taught
me a lot and hopefully our listeners a lot as well.
Colin McDonald, John Angus McDonald, the Truths, thank you for
(34:54):
being on music save me and good luck with everything
in the future, and please come back and see us
maybe when you're a trave went through America.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
Und percent for having us m
Music Saved Me.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
We just sing about what we're going through and how
we're feeling, and it resonates with people and I mean
it's incredible. It's I feel like humbled by it.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
I guess.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Welcome to Music Saved Me. I'm Lynn Hoffman and today
I'm so excited. We are joined by two members of
one of Canada's biggest, most electrifying rock bands, The Truths.
For over two decades, they've been delivering powerful songs and
unforgettable performances. They've shared the stage globally with the likes
of Springsteen and Aerosmith and The Stones and Kiss and
(00:36):
Guns and Roses, to name a few. They've won multiple
awards and reached platinum status congratulations, and their music has
been streamed. This just blew me away over one hundred
million streams around the world. When have you ever heard
of that? That's incredible. On this episode, we will dive
deep into the moments when music became more than just
(00:58):
a soundtrack for The Truths, when it became a lifeline.
We'll hear about the songs that help them through tough times,
and how creating and sharing music has shaped their journey
and the ways their art has touched the lives of
fans around the world. So whether you're a longtime fan
of their truths or just discovering their awesome and uplifting,
inspiring sound, get ready for an honest, inspiring conversation about
(01:21):
the power of music to lift us up, bring us together,
and sometimes even dare I say, save us. Colin MacDonald
and John Angus, Welcome to the Music Save Me Podcast.
So great to have you guys here.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
It's great to be here. Thanks for having us.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
First of all, I want to say congratulations because I
just found out you've released a couple of singles off
of soon to be released album call the Bloody Light.
But currently The Breakdown is number one on rock radio
all across Canada. I know that's still going to be
a huge feeling for you. Even after being rocking for
twenty plus years, it still must be an exciting feeling
(01:59):
to reach those heights agar with your fans.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
It almost feels even better now because it feels like,
you know, people still care after all these years, and
that's always really great, and.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
We still put a lot into it.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Like the first few times we had some major success
at radio, it was all such a It was also
new and it was exciting and we we really but
now it almost feels a little bit better because it's like, oh,
it's still resonating. That's that's really great.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yeah, you still have it. And it's a testament certainly,
not only to the skills and talents and the perseverance
of you as a band, but also your legions of fans.
I mean, they're still there and they're still strong, and
they love you so much.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
That's truly the humbling part.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
When you're a young man, you take so much for granted,
and like when you get to the top of the
mountain for the first time, you just think, hey, this
is just.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
The way it is.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
And then you realize, through all the trials and tribulations
of a long career, just how incredibly rare success actually is.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
And to get back there it speaks to a couple
of things.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
The support of our fans and the support of the industry,
and then the fact that we've kept up a you know,
if I may say so, like a fairly high level
of albums too. So all that takes so much work,
and it takes a team, and it takes you know,
a good loyal fan base to maintain it.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
That's for sure. And speaking of your fan base, it's
obvious that connecting with your fans is important to you.
And because I know time is of the essence with you, guys,
I want to get right into the meat of the
conversation right up front. Can each of you remember a moment,
whether it was during a personal struggle or a tough tour,
(03:32):
or a pivotal moment in your personal life, that music
truly saved you.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Colin, you want to go first. Yeah, Like I almost
way too many times to count. I think that's what
led me to want to do this for a living
and do it so. It has brought me back from
the brain, whether it was a teenage heartbreak or if
it was you know, major shifts in life as I
got older. You know, there's been many songs that have
helped me along the way. You Know, one that comes
(04:02):
to mind is listening to Clay Pigeons, you know, a
bunch of years ago, going through a bit of a
rough time, and just in that that those lyrics and
but both versions, the Blaze Folly in the and the
John Prime version, we're both very every They were everything
to me. It was like those songs that are written
that like they it's like songs that see you, you know,
(04:23):
in those moments of vulnerability and when you're kind of
just floating and they kind of bring it back down
to earth and remember and remind you that you know,
you're not alone in this in this sadness, you know.
And that's definitely always been one of my main focuses
when when working on a song, I'd like to provide
that kind of comfort for people, whether it's just when
(04:44):
they want to rock out and have fun, or when
when they need something a little bit more you know, emotional,
like to help them through a rough patch, you know.
And so that's just one of the moments of many
where a song has saved me. And I'll just listen
to it like fifty five times a day age, you know,
until I feel better, and I always do, you know.
So I think music's quite powerful like that.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
I'll go back to like my teenage years. Colin and
I are brothers, and we were raised a little bit
like military brats, even though our dad was he was
like an intellectually worked for the universities, but that kept
him moving around from campus to campus and taking all
five of his kids with him, and we ended up
down in Jamaica in nineteen ninety three, and I was
like thirteen years old and wrenched out of my social
(05:28):
life and put it in like a sort of foreign country.
Certainly felt foreign to me coming from the East Coast,
and all I had was like a Sony Walkman and
four cassettes. There were three Beatle cassettes, assess that the
Beatles and Rams automatic for the people. And every day
I'd get home from school and play all four cassettes
and my headphones front to back, and it just kept
(05:49):
me connected.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
To like my old life.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
You know.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
It just brought me an incredible comfort when I was
pretty lonely and out of sorts. And those records, like
to this day, they still they're like my comfort food,
you know, Like if all else, you know, I love
exploring and listening to other things and discovering things, but
if I can come back to these certain records and
they feel like home base, you.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Know, it really is medicinal. Yeah, in nature, for sure.
I'll tell you what. I was just going through a
really rough patch the other day, just a little depressed
over something personal in my life. A friend of mine
who's not well, and I am so fortunate to get these.
I got to hear your whole album before anyone else
(06:29):
because you're not releasing it until October. And I'll tell
you what song did it for me? It was Manifest
So wait until that one comes out and hits. That
was I don't even know what it was truly about.
But for me, when you look back in hindsight and
you see what you've manifested and you didn't realize you
were doing it at the time, that it really happens.
(06:50):
You can bring about what you want if you put
your mind to it.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Well, I'm glad to hear that you liked that one,
and yeah, nice to hear that, and I hope it
helped you out a little bit.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
It certainly did it, really did it? You know, just
something just clicks in your mind. And depending on how
many times you want to play it is how many,
like I would say, if you were going in a
medicine cabinet and how many advil do you need for
your pain? Exactly?
Speaker 3 (07:20):
The dosage is how many times you got to put
it on repeat. Yes, we should have.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Instead of drug commercials, we should have music drug commercials.
It would be so much better.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
I'll probably safer in the long run too, right, that's
going to not as many weird side effects now only happy.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Your state is going to call for seven everybody hurts
seven times, and the.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Side effects will be like you will develop more empathy, Like,
they'll be good side effects.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
You know. It may cause, may cause crying, may.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Cause spontaneous laughter and happiness.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Yeah, because healthy expressions of emotional baggage.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
I love it. Hey, after this, we should do that.
We should do a commercial for it.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Yes, I love it.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
That would be so fun band dynamics. I have to know,
you guys have been together a long time. In what
ways has being a part of the truth helped you
navigate life's challenges a lot of times? You know you
can being in a band. It's like a marriage. You know,
you're together more than you are with your families.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
It's very true.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
It's it's it's kind of our entire lives and a
lot of the way our lives shaped up because we've
been doing this for a very long time. They kind
of all came together through the band, you know, like
John I has met his wife and now mother of
his three children at Age tru Show in like two
thousand and five, you know, and and I mean, all
(08:44):
of our lives are kind they kind of revolve around
our career because it does take so much time, and
we have that very antient partners and lives and stuff,
and so yeah, the band's definitely shaped us a lot,
and in pretty much every way. So oh, hey there's one.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
Now, Hi, they won't and now they won't leave me
alone while I'm doing interviews.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
I love it. Family is welcome.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
Yeah, okay, if you guys don't mind, I think it's great.
I just pretty much to echo everything that Colin said.
It's like you learn a lot about yourself. The really
challenging thing about being in a band as you start
it when you're in at least in our case, you
start it as a teenager.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
You know, you start it like with an undeveloped frontal lobe.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
You know, like you're not you're not quite a man,
and you have to become men together.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
And a lot of people don't survive.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
That transition because it's really tricky, like it's not your
wholesale different people. By the time you reach thirty, you
know so, and then again by the time you reach forty.
So it's like just navigating those waters. I guess we're
lucky that we don't take things too personally. Yeah, I've
been through a lot together and we still managed to
come together over the music and love what we do,
(09:52):
and so that's that's good fortune. We've lost some members
along the way because it's really hard to keep everybody together,
you know, just really it's like life is demanding, and
life demands different things of different people at different times.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
So we're just I guess we have some good fortune.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
Going our way too that we were able still to
pull it together and do it, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
I mean, has there ever been a time where the
band sort of served as a support system for each other?
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Yeah, like so many times for me just going through
times in my life where you know, things haven't felt
very stable, and I've always sought comfort in writing and
working with the guys. The music has carried me through
a lot of times. So I always remember that when
things are kind of going really well, how much I've
I have leaned on this to get through a lot
of things. And unfortunately, because the music has always been
(10:40):
something that's driven me and something that's inspired me, it's
kept me sane. Actually, it's kind of funny to think
that you a rock and roll band can keep you
saying because it's kind of an insane profession.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
But I but I do.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
I am very grateful for those times where the band
has kind of carried me through, you.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Know, ups and downs.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
It's amazing to me. You were just talking about the
band and how members have come and gone, and you
two are brothers. I mean, you grew up together, you're
together all the time. I mean that can't be easy
in general as a dynamic.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Well, it's we're not quite as I mean, we know
some other brother bands that are a little bit more
tumultuous than we are. But the other thing about brothers
in the band is like, you know, we've been fighting
and making up since we were two and zero, do
you know what I mean? So and and I think
sometimes if it's not too much of a rift, and
(11:33):
it hasn't been yet, like we can have our our
ups and downs with you know, when your family you
kind of have to make up or like, you know,
there's the ramifications, you know, can be pretty dire, like
when families become like alienated from one another. So you know,
we've been pretty good, like Dot and and then Jack
who's been with us since we were we started as well,
and when he was a kid, my mom used to
(11:54):
babysit him, like so we were like Jack's brother as well.
And we've just been you know, I'll knock on wood
because you know, so far, so good, but we've been
able to get through some of the.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Rougher stuff.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
I'll say, so far, so good. Now. Songwriting and performing
two are probably I'm going to guess your most favorite
things to do. Would you find that they're therapeutic for
you as well?
Speaker 2 (12:20):
I mean one like for me, the making of new
music and writing and recording is my absolute favorite thing.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
And I love playing live.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
I mean, we have a great live show and we
have great crowds and stuff, and but my favorite part
is that excitement around writing and discovering new stuff. Like
that's always kind of been the guiding force for me
ever since I started. Just just the idea that you
know something's not there this morning, and you make it
there this afternoon, and if it's any good, that can
(12:52):
resonate with people and become something so beautiful and you
can connect with people, And that to me is the
closest thing I've ever brains to magic in life.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
It's very magical. Do you can you give an example
maybe of a song that was specifically you know, cathartic
to write. And also what's the hierarchy of the writing,
I mean, who does most of the writing?
Speaker 4 (13:15):
You should talk about the end and Once upon a Time,
which is coming up off of our next record, because
I think I wasn't involved in that one too much,
but I think you said it was the first one
you wrote when you started writing during the lockdowns.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Yeah, well, in terms of the writing situation in the band,
like we all, we collaborate genius Jack and myself and
then sometimes we'll we'll collaborate with whoever's producing, and we're
very we're very open. We always switch up producers between
every record because we're always looking for ways to shake
things up. And I think for me, I write every
(13:49):
day almost out of It's like it is like a
therapy to me just to create, Like I just believe
everybody should create every day. I even if it's not
a great song, when I go listen back, I still
get something out of it. And then sometimes even within
those songs that you work on that might not be
anything special, you bring that to I bring it to
Janigus or I bring it to Jack, or I bring
(14:10):
it to one of our producers we're working with, and
that can become this little, you know, acorn that becomes
this beautiful oak tree you know, in the in the studio,
And that's that's kind of really neat to me too, Like,
you know, it might just be oh, the second verse,
really something really happened there, and then you just take
that little bit and that grows into something.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
So that's usually the way all of our.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Songs come about in terms of of just you know,
I write every day and except for when I'm on
the road, but I write every day, and then I
bring it to the guys and we see if we
can make something great out of it.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
You know, I can I imagine that process, like I
got these lines. I just you know, you think of
things that, oh my god, I can make a T
shirt out of that, and you make an incredible song, yeah,
out of something which is amazing.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
But also like I think one of the things, I
think one of the key to our longevity has been
like not to get We try to keep our I
mean it sounds kind of cliche, but we try to
keep our egos in check.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
And like the idea is.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Look, it's not when your idea isn't well received, it's
not a personal attack on you. It's just we we
kind of let the idea be more important than the
three or four guys in the room. So whatever is
going to make that better is always what we try
to like. Okay, that's that's the goal, and however we
can get there.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
That's so hard, number one, But number two, what an
incredible exercise in life overall, just how to deal with people.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
It's been a long That was the thing we had
to learn. That was the kind of the hardest thing
to learn.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
But everybody's a bit every I think it's natural to
be a bit protective and precious of your idea off
the off the head. But I think we've all created
long enough.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Thank you about that.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
We've all created long enough to to see the results improved,
to see the idea go from being this little thing
to this flourishing thing that now two thousand people are
thinking back to you and that that we've all seen
the magic work. That we trust in that process, and
if it can get better, then it should get better
and it shouldn't stay the same just because you like
(16:19):
it a lot, you.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Yeah, and that's that's and that's the nature of being
in a band. And if you didn't want that, then
you have to be a solo artist, you.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Like otherwise, if you're in a band, you kind of
got to go all for one and one for all
and let's let's do it together kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Yeah, And there's nothing better than working with a creative
team of people that can do that. I mean, that
truly would be the penultimate way to be in any
group of creatives.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
I think when you have people that have that incentive
as like you can feel it, you know, like when
you're when you're working on the idea, everybody you're getting chills,
Like it's it's not it's not even a thinking thing. Eventually,
it's just a feeling and everybody's like, oh, we're all smiling,
we're happy. Time is going by quickly, And like, if
you have that, you have to like, that's the most
precious thing in the world. Now, if you're lucky enough
(17:04):
to be Bob Dylan and you just wake up in
the morning and that happens before coffee, but in a
band dynamic, you can you know, we know it and
like some nights, some days it doesn't work, but then
when it is working, we're like, this is the this
is it's right, you got chills, you're smiling, it's it's enthusiastic.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
So that's what we're kind of chasing.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
We'll be right back with more of the Music Saved
Me Podcast. Welcome back to the Music Saved Me Podcast.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Hindsight's always twenty twenty kind of like we discussed earlier,
But are there lyrics specifically in your back catalog that
stand out to you as meaning like new meaning to
you today than even when you wrote it originally?
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Oh yeah, all the time. Like there's there's songs where
even I'm on stage of the night. We have a
new song called Don't Get Lost in the Dark. We
played it at a show the other night and I
while I was playing it, I'm like, oh, I think
I think this song might be about this thing. And
it was just it was just something that had happened
on the East Coast years ago, and I was like,
and I just got chills.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
I was like, oh, I didn't even I didn't have
any intention of this.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
It's just it just caught fire in my imagination and
it made the song so meaningful to me, and I
was just so.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Impressed with that, like not impressed by me or the.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Song, but like I was like, oh, this is cool,
Like I feel like I'm getting something out of this
that I never thought i'd ever get.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
And it was a nice moment. You know.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
It's like those moments that people say to you cliche lines,
or you know, time flies when you're having fun, or
you know, just anything that comes to mind, and then
you're going through life and something happens here and you're like,
wait a minute, that's why that person said that to.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Me, or that's what that song meant, or those lyrics
meant clich cliches for a reason they that doesn't happen
to you.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Yes, yes, yeah. I'm just curious how you take care
of your mental health, both of you individually, when you're
on the road, when you're in the studio, I mean,
what what type of are there any rituals or habits
that sort of keep you grounded when you're out playing
for thousands of screaming fans and living that life that
almost seems like you're in a dream or it's you know.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Yeah, do you want to go in this one first? Surgery.
No you go, okay, Well, yeah, I had to, Like
I've had to do a lot for that.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Like I've been sober for four and a half years gradulations.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
That's a big deal.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Yeah, after many years, not quite four and a half
four for a couple of months, and I I've had
to do a lot. I have quite a few things
to do on the on the road to stay grounded
and stay you know. I you know, meditate and I
try to exercise it. I do a lot of reading
and writing just to stay grounded because I find, especially
(19:51):
when you're like performing for people and and like there's
there's so much like pressure, and then there's there's ego
and there's anxiety and.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
You're just trying to stay grounded by that.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
I don't always win the win the fight, but I
have to do a lot to keep to keep.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Regulated.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
I guess you could say when I'm out there, because
I can get kind of swept away in it for
better or for worse.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
I.
Speaker 4 (20:20):
Mean beyond Like I try to go for a run
every now and then, but you know, I keep myself
very busy. Now you could say that's like just a
big old distraction or or you know, maybe I'm putting
things off, but I do like to keep myself busy.
I like to have a lot of projects on the go.
You know, I'm producing this, or I'm hosting this radio show.
I'm raising three kids and dealing with a lot of
(20:42):
the band's affairs, and so yeah, I'll probably have a
breakdown at some point in the future.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
No, no, don't say that.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
We don't want that.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
But it's it's really good.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
That was That was a joke. That was a joke.
Guys didn't laugh because it wasn't a good joke.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
No, but I mean you have to laugh because you know,
life is just so it's so hard in general, and
then you pile on it success and you know, and
then issues that you may have along the way, and
it's just it's a lot to navigate, even for those
of us who aren't in a major rock band touring
the world, in which case I would love to know
(21:21):
your advice that you might have for someone who might
be struggling and needs to turn to music for solace.
Do you have any advice for them?
Speaker 4 (21:30):
The only thing I'll add is you said even if
you're not in a rock band. But I think that
the sort of inverse of that is like we get
to have that outlet and like people always say, like
life is so hard anyway, and you add the stresses
of performance. But at the same time, the flip of
that is like we get to wear our emotions on
our sleeves and sing them at the top of our
lungs for five to ten thousand to like up to
(21:52):
like sixty whatever, the biggest crowd we've ever played for.
And they're just our emotions, They're just our feelings in
the moment.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
I can might have had a bad day, I can
go guitar solo for an hour, you know what I mean.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
Like, it's not this is like an unappreciated part of
what it is to express yourself in art. And I
think that my advice would be, if you really are
having a hard time chronically, then to try to find
that outlet. You know, it's it might be writing, It
might be writing a book or painting, it might be
Artisa will work, maybe maybe you're a wood work or
it could be like but try to find some method
(22:23):
of creative expression and I'm sure that will go a
long way.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
That's at least taking your mind to at least taking
your mind off of it. You know, that's for sure
good advice.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
And like there's a book called The Artist's Way, and
I always thought it was really great, and it's like
for anybody who wants to be an artist, and I
think everybody is an artist. I just think that, you know,
it's not all meant to be released to the public.
And there's this great book about just these things you
can do to feel a little bit more I mean
artistic in your life. You know, journal in the morning,
like there's things to do that are creative, that are
(22:56):
powerful outlets. And that book's a good one. So check
out The Artist's Way.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
I just wrote it down. I'm curious. I would like
to read that. That's I want so much more time
with you. I need to know just a quick guest
or note. Did you have mentors when you were growing
up that people sort of reaffirmed to you that you
were on the right track, or that you did have
these skills?
Speaker 3 (23:17):
Yeah, he did have. We had.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
We had many, like but they're unexpected. Like I think
of our old friend Ian McDonald, Ian Charles McDonald, who
we've lost a bit of touch with, but we grew
up with him and he really informed our playing style
in our teens because he had such a deep knowledge
of what we were going for. We had a kind
of a surface, like we knew our records, but he
had like a library of records that he was sort
(23:40):
of hpping us to and he really informed. It was
a guy named Blair Steve Boyer who believed in our
band and let us jam at his house. He did
our sound for next to nothing, and then eventually we
ran into like our business mentor was a guy named
Larry Wanagust who saw what we were doing. He was
managing Katie Lang for fifteen years and he managed Big
Sugar and other big Canadian act and he became our
(24:01):
business mentor. He'd manage our band for fifteen years, and
he introduced us to our first producer, Gordy Johnson, who
again was a tough love mentor. He saw what we
were going for and thought, I can I can improve this?
Speaker 3 (24:14):
You know, this is what harness it.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
Yeah, And he was right and he was rough honest,
you know, as a producer, he was right though.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
He got yeah, and.
Speaker 4 (24:21):
Sometimes you need that sometimes you need to, you know, yeah,
kick and sometimes you need to carry it.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
But he was the kicking kind. But it helped us
as a band for sure.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Well a lot of times, that's all somebody needs to
make a big change and an impact on them is
just to hear it from somebody who's doing it or
has done it, and then you're off to the races.
Speaker 4 (24:41):
And he took us on tour and he didn't have
to do that and gave us a lot of national exposure.
So and then then that list goes on. We really
really have always looked up to the Tragically Hip. Do
you know that Tragically Hip?
Speaker 3 (24:53):
Oh? Yeah, coming Canadian? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (24:55):
Okay, God, I don't know. When I'm talking to an American,
I never know, but.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
I never know.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
There's so big in Canada. They loom as large as
like our most famous prime ministers do. And we always
looked up to them as fans. And then they took
us under their wing and treated us kind of like
little brothers. And we eventually made music at their studio
and collaborated with their bass player, Gords and Claire, who
became a mentor on like how to be an adult
(25:21):
in this music business, you know, how to really navigate
yourself and compose yourself. And that band we just idolized
and looked up to and they became mentors in a
way too, so it never really ends really in that way,
you know.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
So do you ever really want to be an adult? Really?
I mean, come on, we all none of us.
Speaker 4 (25:39):
Want to grow up join a rock band and then
you know, at least to keep one foot and being
a teenager still.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
It's just I wish that I could be. I know that,
like just in a minor sense, the feeling it is
to be on that stage, and like you were talking
earlier about getting all of that out, you're giving it
to the audience too, and they're giving it back to you.
So it's like this huge, you know, cathartic session of inspiration,
and it's it's pretty amazing, pretty powerful, very powerful. Has
(26:10):
a fan ever told you a story, either one of you,
that how your music specifically has helped them through a
hard time.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
I was just talking to a gentleman at our gig
at a place called the Kid to Bala last Friday,
maybe it's up in like it's like a cottage country
Ontario gig, and he said he just got over about
with cancer.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
And he said he just listened to this our song
to break down over and over again. It really, really
helped him, and I was like, wow, that's I didn't
even know how to respond.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
It just kind of gave him a hug and a handshake,
and I said, I'm so happy to hear that the
cancer's gone. And I'm sure the medicine had a lot
more to do with it than the song, but I
think the song kind of helped in a weird way
for him. And he was like he really wanted me
to know that, and I was just kind of it
was just like one of those we were doing a
meat and greet with our fans and and he just
(27:02):
kind of sprung this on me. Like I was in
the middle of like, you know, people ask me what
song for playing that night and signing stuff, and he said, like,
you know, I'm just got over cancer. And I listened
to the Breakdown every day for months, and I was like,
oh my god, that's so incredibly heavy and amazing in
every way, you know. And so yeah, I've had a
(27:22):
few people tell me some very very similar stories, and
it's always it's almost too.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Much to take in.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Like at the time, you're kind of like, that's incredible,
and you know, my my first thought is I hope
you're okay. I hope you continue to be okay, and
I'm glad that our our music is helping in some way,
shape or form. But yeah, I've had quite a few
of those moments over the years.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
It's pretty incredible.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
Yeah, John, you Yeah, there is, there's a lot of them.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
You know.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
We have a song called the Highway of Heroes, which
is a trip to a woman we knew that when
to fight in Afghanistan was tragically killed, but it's resonated
much beyond her story. And we've had people show up
to our shows with like their siblings tags who are deceased,
you know, from from conflict, and like hand them to
us on stage and said we want you guys to
(28:18):
have these or something like that. It's just like the
power of those moments. It's like a little bit overwhelming
because it's enormous, But you know, you don't you don't
know these people the way they do. You know, the
tragedy is not the same for you as it is
for them. But they've connected your song to it, and
then they've connected us to it because of the song,
and it's it's just proof of how powerful music can be, truly,
(28:42):
especially in moments like that.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Did you expect that when you first got together as
a band those types of stories coming at you.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
No, not at all.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
And it's like, you know, we like music is our
is our profession, and we put everything into it, and
we like to write songs that are meaning to us initially,
and you never think in a million years that like, oh,
I'm I'm going to write a song that a guy
got through cancer, because like that, that would be a
(29:13):
weird thing to think, you know, for for the creator
of a song.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
But but I've you know, I don't know what it is.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
I just we just sing about what we're going through
and how we're feeling, and and it resonates with people,
and I mean, it's it's incredible.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
It's it's I feel like humbled by it, I guess.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
And I don't want to think like too much beyond that,
because I just I songs are songs and I love
them and they've gotten me through hard times too.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
But yeah, I don't know what else to say.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
Now I understand because it's not why you why you
do it, but then it becomes sort of self fulfilling.
Uh yeah, and it's amazing that there's more. This is
something that I always say we're all more alike than
we are different. So chances are when you're making this
incredible music and writing these words that they're going to
(30:07):
stick with a lot of people.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
And that's It's like I think with us, it's always
like how do we what's the best song? Like we're
always thinking what is the best song? And the best
song is something that Scott There's many elements. You know,
memorable is probably the first one, and then you know
a little bit of lyrical depths without being pretentious, and
then you know, and then a good groove and a rhythm,
(30:32):
and we kind of almost approach it like that, and
some of those creations end up really resonating with people,
and that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
It sure is. And I got a couple of quick
questions before I let you go looking forward The Bloody
Light is your album coming out in October. There's themes
of hope and resilience and healing in all of it
throughout Again, lucky me, I got to hear before anyone else.
And is there anything particular within the album that you
(31:05):
hope listeners really connect with? Is there a message that
you're trying to put out there that you want them
to know?
Speaker 3 (31:12):
I think that's kind of it, you know.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
I think it's like it hasn't been the easiest five
or six years between anywhere in North America, you know,
between everything that everybody's kind of gone through, and I
think the message we have is, Yep, it's not easy.
We're not going to pretend like it is, but we're
still going to try to make music and move forward
(31:36):
and move through it together.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
I think it's awesome. I mean, just the fact that
you are still doing it again, hitting number one after
all these years is enough for me alone. Just to
hear that story about you not even hearing your music,
it's a really incredible feat. Yeah, much less your sobriety,
which is another really big deal. I don't care what
anyone says. I really congratulate you on it, and I
(32:00):
hope they continue forward down that path. And you're certainly
helping a lot of people more than you know. My
last question to you, John and Colin is if you
could go back and play one song for your younger
self during a tough time in your life, what would
it be and why of any song? Of any song?
Speaker 3 (32:26):
Really, it's a very good question.
Speaker 4 (32:29):
I think the songs that really help me are songs
I might have already known then I you know, I don't.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
I'm going to go with one.
Speaker 4 (32:35):
Of our songs just because it's easier because those edwards
invented when we were on But like Between the End,
Once upon a Time certainly has and that's coming up
on our next record. It certainly has like a there's
like a totality to it. And I feel like if
you could have played that for our band when we
were first starting out and been like, you're going to
write this song in like third twenty five years however
(32:56):
long he was, I'd be like, oh, that's a reason
to keep going because it's not exactly the style we're
working in for a long time, but it has like
a depth of emotion and like a large scope to it,
and I really like it a lot. So I'm just
going to go with that. And nobody can even hear
it yet it's coming out in October, but you can
(33:16):
come back.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
It's funny because it's such an emotional question, but my
analytical brain kicked in, So I'm just going to go
with that. And so I've been listening kind of religiously
to the Anthology of American Folk Music this whole year,
and it's about it's a playlist on Spotify. I don't
know how long the original album is, but it's about
sixty five songs long on the playlist, and I've been
studying it.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
I've been listening to it. I've been learning it.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
I went online and wrote because it's hard to get
the recordings are some of the first recordings in American music,
so it's really hard to decipher the lyrics. So Spotify
doesn't even have the lyrics because they can't pick them up,
you know. So I had to go with cour the internet,
and I've written them all in my voice notes on
my phone. So when I'm warming up for a gig,
I'll go and listen to the anthology and just sing
the songs. And I wish I could go back to
(34:00):
me starting in a band and go like, you need
to listen to this phrasing because by the time you're
twenty one, you'll be the coolest fucking guy in the world.
And I instead, I was listening to like what everybody
was listening to, you know, alternative.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
And grunge and blah blah blah and whatever.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
But no, you should be listening to this right now
and you will kick so much as but I would.
That's my ambition is if I could go back to
seventeen sixteen year old me, like throw out the grunge records.
Those are great, we love them. Go listen to only
this record for four years and copy it and then
start your band.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
That's what I would do.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
I love it. I love talking with you too, and
I also wrote that down by the way. See, I
love learning new things from people and discussions. There's nothing
better yeah than that's and you certainly both have taught
me a lot and hopefully our listeners a lot as well.
Colin McDonald, John Angus McDonald, the Truths, thank you for
(34:54):
being on music save me and good luck with everything
in the future, and please come back and see us
maybe when you're a trave went through America.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
Und percent for having us m
Host
Lynn Hoffman
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On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!