Melodies and Menus: Talking food with Paul Langlois of The Tragically Hip and pop singer Ralph

It's an especially exciting episode of Melodies and Menus this week as co-hosts Dan Clapson and Madison Olds get to chat with musical icon Paul Langlois of The Tragically Hip and the ever-talented pop singer Ralph.

Both musical acts separately discuss their latest albums, touring, favourite eats and more.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Maybe I'll jokingly say that this thispodcast is brought to you by my cookbook.
Yes, today's podcast is brought toyou by Prairie Seasonal farm fresh recipes
celebrating the Canadian Prairies, written byTwilight Campbell and Dan Clapson. That's me.

(00:23):
It's available everywhere across Canada now anywhereyou find good books and not so
great cooks. But mine's pretty goodanyway. I am one half of the
cohost equation today, joined as alwaysby Madison Olds. That was the greatest
intro ever. Yeah. I thinkit was self involved honestly. Yeah,
but we love a selfish queen.Yea. So it's the year of like

(00:44):
you do you? And I'm reallyinto it. So yeah, yeah,
empowered, right, I feel empowered? Yeah, mine's the best. Well,
fall is more or less here.Well, if not, if fall's
not here, back to school seasonis here, which makes me feel it's
fall. So what changes for youwhen it turns to September? Like,
like does your mind sort of likerecalibrate and do you start feeling different?

(01:08):
You know what. I've been goingthrough these these weird emotions and I don't
like them because I'm such a bigfall. Person. My whole year revolves
around fall. I'm a white girl. It's my only identity, it's my
only season. Fall. I seasonedmy pies with fall season, my chicken
with fall. That's what I do. That's it. But that's it.
It's the only seasoning. Yeah,Carriet. But this year, I'm like

(01:30):
kind of bummed. I don't knowwhat's happening. Like I really got into
summer, and I really got intolike lemon and like really celebrating all the
fruits in season and just really enjoyingit. And this year I'm kind of
like, no, like summer isover, and this is the first time
I've ever experienced like coming into theseasonal blues, and I don't know what
to do about it. I wonderif it's because I don't know about you.

(01:53):
This summer had felt really gem packedfor me event wise. I mean,
of course the events I was puttingon, but in addition, they're
just felt like there was so manythings happening every weekend, like major festivals
are back. Stampede was almost arecord attendant since twenty eighteen or twenty seventeen.
I think I think everything was justso amplified that it was just every
day felt so exciting. Yeah.Yeah, it was like time just moved

(02:15):
at a rapid pace and there wasno moments to just like sit and actually
enjoy summer. And I feel likeevery year I get older. And it
seems so silly to say it atmy but every year I get older,
time does move just it's true,increasing like it's super My parents always used
to say it when I was akid, and I never understood it until
it started to happen. And it'sweird. It is super weird. Time

(02:36):
is moving very quickly. But Ithink I'm going to combat I'm going to
combat the seasonal blues with aging withbowtops or something. I mean, like,
no, nothing wrong with that,nothing wrong with that. I can't
afford that are joking. No,I'm going to combat the seasonal blues with
as many fall movies as possible.And I've heard ramblings that there's a hocus
Pocus three coming out. I reallycredit Mysel sost KJP. He's the Fall

(03:01):
King. Okay, so yeah,he's posts he's posted some sets being filled
in an island. Okay, SoI'm into it. I'm gonna pull up
my sweaters and my jeans and I'mgonna hide my hairy legs and I'm gonna
make my own could boom. Thatsounds great. I'm eagerly anticipating the release
of Sister Act three. You know, I was sucker for Sister Act one

(03:21):
and two as a kid that Ithink it's just in production hour, just
about to get into production. ButI mean that's probably gonna be Fall twenty
twenty four. But next fall I'llbe gung ho for for that perfect I'm
a big sucker for Sister Act two. I think I saw Sister Act two
live in LA It was like oneof the first things I had seen by
myself as like a young kid,so amazing. I walked out in tears.

(03:43):
Fish It's a it's a fun onefor sure. In the fall,
I find that I am I ammy own best home cook. In the
fall, I feel like that's theseason that I thrive in because I think
it's partially because I don't have somany things on the go as I do
in the summer, so I canreally commit the time to cooking at home.
And yeah, the fall this feelslike I mean, in the summer

(04:03):
you have friends over for dinner andwhatnot too and you have you've gatherings,
but it's more of like a you'rehaving like hot dogs in the barbecue or
you're sitting by the river, freshsalad and stuff. I feel like in
the fall, I can have peopleover for a proper dinner, you know,
something warming, something filling, andI think the fall is really great
for that. And I love makingsoup and soup. This doesn't hit the

(04:24):
same in the summer. So assoon as you get like this touch of
chill in the air, it's like, Okay, let's make a good soup
and just just enjoy that. Ihave a very overgrown garden right now.
I probably have twenty pounds of tomatoes. I have learned to love tomato soup
and making it from scratch with youknow, sauteing all my spices, and
I'm really getting into it. Soyou'd be very proud, Dan. I

(04:46):
love that I did an event inAugust with a couple amazing chefs from Top
Chef Canada, when Desiree Low fromVancouver and also Monica Waba from Toronto and
she runs an Egyptian restaurant called Mahasand watching her cook in Calgary and using
all these spices and blending spices togetherin a way like dry and fresh that
maybe I wouldn't have thought of.I am really excited. She left me

(05:09):
a whole bunch of Maha spice blendsafter she left Calgary, and I'm excited
to incorporate those into soups and whatnot. Because the just if you were there
and you could smell what the kitchensmelt like when she was prepping her food
for the event we were doing forPride, it was just like it smelt
so good. So I cannot waitto get inspired in the kitchen with that.
I love how warming spices can bejust from fragrance, like simmer pots

(05:31):
and everything. So combining warm soupand warm spices, that sounds like a
recipe for a perfect fall and aperfect Christmas. Okay, So from warming
spices to hot, hot pop music, I think it's time to chat with
our first guest. Yeah, thisis one of my favorite Canadian pop singers,
Ralph. I've been a long timefan of her. She makes some

(05:53):
amazing music and she even helps cowrite other songs for other performers as well,
and I'm by I think everything shereleases is is so catchy. And
she's released many songs have become mysummer anthems over the years, so I
am really excited to chat with herabout her album she released in the summer,
called two two two. Ralph hasalways been an inspiration, and I

(06:13):
think there's this weird taboo thing inthe industry where like female pop artists can't
be friends because it's a competition.But she is always at the top of
my Instagram list and I'm always followingher and I'm so excited to see everything
she's doing. She's really an inspirationto some emerging pop artists like myself,
and I know a lot of othergirls. So yeah, I'm super excited
to talk to her. I've beenin awe of ver since I first saw

(06:34):
her. One thing I love abouther is her active ability to incorporate drag
performers into what she does or collaboratewith them. She appeared on Canada's Drag
Race Season one as a vocal coach, so it's I just love that aspect
to her career as well. Andas of more recently, she's come up
publicly as being queer too, whichis amazing because I feel like the more

(06:56):
queer people we have in these inthe food space in the music space the
best her, so we're gonna talkto her a bit about that as well.
She's really paved and lays anyway,thank you for taking the time.
We know you're are very very busy. First and foremost, dis congratulations on

(07:16):
the release of your new album twotwo two. It's very much it's amazing,
Like I was saying before we hoppedon, and I've been a big
fan for a long time, andI know, I know Tommy came out
two and a half years ago,but it's still my summer bop like you.
That's nice. I know, wow, two and a half years ago
that it's like, it's weird.It feels like Tommy came out like last
summer, so yeah, kind oftime flies. One of the things that

(07:40):
I love about your music is thatyou you so much. You've You've beautiful
range in your voice, but Ifind you have a range of character also
in your songs, and each ofyour songs pop music and country whatever genre,
like, the melodies can get sopredictable, and what I like about
your music is that I never reallyknow what we're getting melodically until we're like,
you know, thirty seconds, andI feel like you keep me guessing,

(08:01):
and that's one of the reasons whyI love your music so much.
Oh, that's so nice to hear. That's like such a goal of mine
is to always be evolving and tryingnew things. And you know, like,
I think we all have artists thatwe love because of yeah, like
their melodies or they're like catchy pophooks. But I think that even as
audience members, like we love whenwe see our icons kind of trying new

(08:26):
things and taking risks. So it'slike I'm always thinking about you know,
I want to still be the Ralphthat my fans no one love, but
I also would never want anyone tofeel like I was predictable. That is
my nightmare. Do you do youhave a song that feels like a risk
that is still your favorite to thisday, I'd say that like just a

(08:46):
Rose on the Yeah, he feelslike one of the bigger risks that I've
taken in the past couple of years. It's great too, Like it's so
amazing. I actually co produced it, which is like my first time saying
that amazing. That is an amazingIt was actually the first song that like
a year and a half ago,if not a little bit longer now,

(09:09):
No, that's about a year anda half ago. When I was trying
to figure out what I wanted todo for this EP, I was like
doing sessions with producers, but yeah, it wasn't feeling like an evolution of
sound, like it was kind oflike producers who were like, well,
we know, we know what youdo, like let's do that again.
I was like, well, Idon't want to do that again, you
know. And I found that Iwasn't I wasn't able to verbalize though what

(09:31):
I wanted to do. It's likemy production language wasn't helpful enough to or
maybe I didn't even have a visualor a sound yet that I could actually
put into words. So I waslike, Okay, I think it's up
to me to actually figure out,you know, what gets me excited,
Like what am I looking to do? So I sat down with the keyboard
and with garage band, and andI'd always I have like a little list

(09:56):
of things in my phone that arelike things that I've always wanted to do
it in songs, key change,and then another one was like a little
kind of like talkie talkie moment,very kind of like Robin or Madonna,
and so I was like, Okay, you know, if I have full
freedom, if it's just me onmy laptop, I'm gonna do that.

(10:16):
And I found this, Yeah,it's like playing this kind of like progression
or with the chords in this highregister. And I was like, okay
again, like I don't feel likeI get to flex that I can actually
that I'm like a vocally trained singer, and I was like, it's kind
of fun for me to also singin a register that people don't hear very
often and then do this little likekind of like talkie rappy singing moment.

(10:41):
And yeah, just like also thelyrics of that song. Because I was
kind of feeling like bummed about mycareer and a bit like unfocused and unmotivated.
I basically was like I need towrite like a hype song that's about
an artist. It was actually originallycalled Backburner Baby, and it was about,
you know, it's about this artistwho like has a come back and

(11:03):
like when she walks in the room, everyone's jaws drop, and like,
you know, I needed to convincemyself that I could do that and that
I was, you know, thatperson. So like, not only do
I think sonically, it was arisk. I think, like me writing
a song about how great I amis like so not my comfort, you

(11:24):
know. But it was kind ofme just experimenting and being like I didn't
even think that song would necessarily beon the EP. I was just kind
of fooling around and trying to feelexcited about music. And then when I
wrote it, I was like,I think this is cool. And I
sent it to one of my producers, Jim, who's always down to like
try weird stuff and collab, andI was like, I don't know,

(11:46):
I wrote this demo, like letme know what you think, and he
was like, this is sick.I love. He's like, I love
the drums on this, they likesound really cool and kind of garage bandy
and like a cool way. Soa lot of the production on the track
that you hear now is just fromthe original garage Bandemo. That's amazing.
I do find in the higher register, it's it's quite uncommon to hear that
on any sort of mainstream pop playlistor anything. Right, like your woman

(12:09):
or a man going to higher registersis very rare. Yeah, for sure,
if it's not Ariana. Yeah,And even that's for like a little
yeah. I mean it guess fundamentally, yeah, that's true. You got
to hear it, well, Iguess who they're like a little run you
know, it's like you don't hearpeople sing. I think I was thinking
of like Prince and and how weused to you know, especially like within
like the sort of eighties and ninetiesthat like synth pop was so associated with

(12:33):
these kind of like lush, slowheld chords. And I think because music
nowadays is short, like songs areshort, people are thinking about you know.
I think TikTok is so relevant nowthat we think about like, oh
we've only got eight seconds to grabsomeone's attention. Well, it's about it,

(12:54):
you know. So I think it'slike everything obviously changes and you've got
to kind of work, like youcan't resist to change a certain point.
You kind of got a role withit. But I also think as an
artist, it's okay so not writean entire album that's like dedicated to going
by you know what, or likestrategy sometimes I h I think you can
lean into being like this also feelsreally important for me as an artist,

(13:16):
and you gotta super regret so havesome integrity. Well, I think It's
super funny that you mentioned that,because I think what's been rubbing me wrong
or rubbing me the wrong way aboutTikTok is that it is everything rubs me
wrong, I guess, but itis. It is super frustrating and the
fact that people are constantly writing foryou know, what they think people want

(13:37):
to hear, and it feels likewe've lost that authentic, iconic, you
know, musician that we used tolove. And I feel like this album
or this EP has truly brought backthat iconic artist sound and that authenticity that
we've been creating so much from artiststhat's so nice to hear. I think
like it is a really interesting time, you know, for musicians because there

(13:58):
is this massive push to write strategicallybecause you anybody can actually go viral.
Like that's the crazy thing. Mymanager actually has two artists that she manages,
and not just two, but shehas several other bands and musicians that
she manages, and two of herbands have gone viral in the last year.

(14:22):
And she said, it's like nightand day seeing the difference in you
know, yesterday and today from now. And I've even seen it, you
know, just watching them on socialslike their careers have changed forever. So
it's hard because you can't deny thatthere is so much power in the social

(14:43):
media outlets. But at the sametime, I think it's very dangerous because
then, yeah, I think thereis a little bit of authenticity that gets
lost. And I think that becauselike labels are pushing artists to kind of,
you know, write these catchy hooksor write songs that fee old TikTok.
Like that's a really hard thing.It's a really hard thing to balance

(15:03):
because like I feel like, asan artist who like loves doing what is
in my heart, I want tostay true to that and I kind of
want to be like an inspiration forother people to stay true to that.
But at the same time, inorder to be a successful musician at a
certain point, you do have tobe able to be smart and kind of

(15:24):
find that that sweet spot between yeah, like strategy, so staying true to
yourself, you know. So Idon't know the answer, and it's it's
an interesting Yeah, it's an interestingplace to be. I don't think there
is an answer. I think justhonestly following what your gut tells you and
your intuition is probably going to bethe most like longevity, you know,

(15:45):
like have the most longevity. Thesethese viral moments are so volatile, but
the artist that you see, youknow, sticking with it and having continued
successor obviously artists like yourself. Sotrue. Well, and I've always had
this feeling that like when I,you know, growing up, my parents
have this like massive record collection,and I always you know, listen to

(16:07):
that music, and I thought,wow, even though it's two thousand and
one and this album is from nineteenseventy one, this is timeless music.
Like a lot of that stuff,like I'll be listening to that in thirty
years from now. So the waythat I have always written is with that
in mind, this idea of makingtimeless music that doesn't feel overly rooted in

(16:27):
specific which is I'm picky about likelanguage, even like when I when I'm
writing with other writers, I amreally specific about not using overly like trendy
language or not overly sort of likedated language, because I feel like in
five years even like we're gonna belike what, like you know what I
mean. So it's just that's justtotally me, and I think, like

(16:49):
that's just my preference as an artist, I love the idea of writing music
that sort of spans all time andkind of can reach a multitude of audience
of listeners. Doesn't matter, age, doesn't matter, gender, you know.
So I was listening to a songoff a relatively new album recently of
an artist I won't name, andthere was a part of a song where

(17:10):
they referenced that this girl in thesong got famous on Snapchat, and I
was like, well, that's notthe reference that we use. Like this
sounds like a little bit outdated already. So yeah, totally. Yeah,
Like I'm like Snapchat people like,Okay, that's that's where that's references.
That's what I mean. In liketen years, Like I don't know,
like people are gonna be like snapchOh god, yeah right, you know
what I mean. Like, Ialso think that when you like again,

(17:34):
there are so many people that Iknow and love who reference Instagram and reference
likes and tweet, you know whatI mean. Like, it's whatever I
don't like. If it's your thing, then it's your thing and do it
with confidence. But I just feellike when I hear it in a song,
I note it and it kind ofpulls me out for a second.
Yeah, you know what I'm It'sjust like especially when it gets outdated,

(17:56):
but no one goes quite viral adrag queen does. And I know that
you have even lucky enough to bea music mentor on Canada's Drag Race and
you have relatively recent single out toowith Preanca that I just Don't Cry.
That is that. That is mycurrent summer bop. Tommy is on pause
right now. It's such a funsong. I just saw Panka performed at

(18:17):
a at one of the sort oflike the adjacent events during Stampede and performed
that song live and it was itwas tons of fun. And you want
to talk a bit about your relationshipwith working with drag queens, because I
feel like drag music is definitely sortof in a it's a subset of it's
it's a subgenre of its own.It can be a very different style of
writing and producing. It feel like, well, it's interesting. So I

(18:38):
met pre on Canada's Drag Race andwe had never met each other, did
not know each other. Met oncamera because you know, I wasn't there
was no like pre Meat. Itwas like we meet on camera and I'm
coaching them, and the moment thatI met pre we just like instantly hit
it off. We just have likecute, witty banter and I loved I
loved her energy, and we kindof like over the like two years following,

(19:02):
her management team kept reaching out andbeing like PRIs looking to, you
know, continue to do music andpop music. Would Ralph be interested in
writing with Prianka? And I wasalways like, oh my god, yes,
yes, yes, and then wewouldn't hear from them, and then
like six months later they'd be like, hey, checking in, like is
that still Like yes, yes,I'm damn. I had written a little
bit with Tynomi and I it's yeah. I feel like I had all of

(19:25):
a sudden kind of been like connectingwith a lot of different queens from the
series, like even with Cynthia Kiss, and I'd talked to Gia about writing,
and then me and pre finally gottogether and it was just like so
easy and fun. And we're reallysimilar in the way that we manage and
kind of visualize our projects. We'revery much in charge and it's very much

(19:45):
us, you know, creative directingeverything and going Okay, this is what
I wanted to sound like, andI have this whole vision board that I've
done, and this is what thevisual, the aesthetics. You know.
It's like Prianca like runs a verytight ship in the sense that she's so
she knows what she wants to allto look like. She also edits all
of her own music videos, whichI didn't know. Wow, I didn't
know that. Yeah, she wentto school for editing, so she's an

(20:07):
amazing, very quick editors. Andlike when I did the music video for
Bad Bitches, it was like prewas kind of like, O, hey,
you know what, We're gonna doa video. It's gonna be like
it's not gonna be too fancy,and we're gonna kind of throw it together.
And I show up and there's ahigh rotechnics, Like I'm sorry,
So the video's intense. I was. I just was watching it. I
like learned the choreo like two daysbefore on zoom and I was like,

(20:30):
sorry, there's dancing. I'm dancing. Oh my god. But yeah,
pre Pre is just like I reallywe really get along and we just I
think understand each other's like worth,work, ethic and drive. And it's
like everything that she does, likeseeing her perform and how often she performs
and how much energy goes into it, and the outfits and the dancers.

(20:51):
I'm like, just she deserves itall, you know. And now she's
gonna be one of the hosts onI'm Here. Yes, We're here on
the HBO. We are very veryexciting. I think that will be that'll
be very cool to see her onthere. I think she'll be a wonderful
addition. I'm kind of I waswondering how they're going to keep that show
going with the same cast. I'mactually happy. I don't want to go
too off topic here, but I'mI'm happy that they Yeah, yeah,

(21:12):
is amazing. Also a Sashabler andjadass whole, so that'll be cool.
Yeah. I was gonna say thoughabout you know, like drag music kind
of being adjacent to like pop musicinteresting well, because you know, like
on the show, like so manyof the lip syncs are obviously to like
epic classic pop music or ballads,and so it makes sense to me that

(21:36):
like a lot of the queens wouldthen you know, also use that moment
of fame to kind of be like, well, yeah, I want to
do music, Like what else canI what else can I use my you
know, like this image that I'vecreated and now people know, like,
how else can I kind of usethat? And but it's it's interesting,
And like working with Tynomi and thenwith pre both of them were like,

(21:57):
I want to make music. Idon't want to be a drag queen doing
pop music. I want to bea pop singer. I want to be
a pop singer who also happens tobe a drag queen. And like,
I think, you know, That'swhat I admire a lot about Pre Too
is that she was like, Iwant people to hear my music and even

(22:18):
if they don't know who I am, I want them to hear it on
the radio or hear it on Spotifyand go, that's a good song.
So you know, it's interesting whenwhen I was writing with Free Too,
like and she has a sound,you know, and it is it's can't
be, it's it's can't be.It's fine, it's cheeky. But at
the same time, like I wasalso encouraging her to be like, Okay,
if you don't want to be youknow, you don't want to get
too stuck in like the world ofjust being a drag performer doing songs,

(22:41):
like I think, because pre hasa great voice. She's worked for art,
she's done vocal training, and she'sgot a great voice. I was
saying live when I saw her lastweek, impressed. That's the thing.
I think people are surprised to hearthat, like that she's a drag performer
who sings her own songs live anddances a lot. This is a lot
too, Like she's not just lazynak, I know, I mean,

(23:03):
she works really hard. But Ithink I was like I was encouraging her
to, like, you know what, be be the artist, like ballad,
like do something slow, you know, do something that's unexpected. That's
what a true artist would do,is to like throw in a little risk.
So it's really cool to see,you know, more and more drag
performers trying to get get their footin the door of the music world.

(23:26):
Because it's true, like there reallyisn't really any drag performers who are you
know, on the charts. Notdefinitely not on the charts, no,
but some obviously have millions of streams. But it's I mean palably does as
well. But yeah, I wouldlike in that radio exactly exactly. I'm
really excited to see, like Ithink that there is obviously like constant change
and is being broken. So I'mdown. And in terms of the EP,

(23:49):
I know there's obviously you're addressing publiclyfor the first time that you're queer
in the song Crazy Hot, whichI thought was super cool. So did
you did Canada's Drag Race help youhave a bit of a queer awakening or
spending so much time with Drake performers. I know, I'm I'm joking,
but I mean, yeah, it'sit's cool to hear that song because it's
such a cool, sexy song andit's fun. But then at the end
it sort of has like a likea gender reveal really at the end aha

(24:14):
moment if you yeah, for sure, Well it's funny because you know,
like I've known and like been veryopen about it with like my friends and
like my family about like being interestedin I mean, for me, it's
really like just more about like aperson. It's not even like it's not
a man and woman. It's reallylike I can be attracted to anybody about

(24:36):
myself for like a very long time, since I was like thirteen. But
I think because I also have likebrothers, I was always surrendered by men
and I was always kind of likelike objectified, I guess by older guys
who were like hot older guys,and I just feel like I always had
guys who were like, you wantto date, and I was like that,
like guys, that's fine, youknow. I didn't really have a

(25:00):
opportunities to kind of like explore datingwomen. And then I was dating a
man for a couple of years whoknew that I was by but didn't really
I think wasn't super comfortable with it, just because I think it made him
feel like threatened, not like tryingto shit talk him and throw them under

(25:21):
the bus. I think it's justhard to know that, like, because
I'm someone who tours and connects alot with people, I think he was
like, oh, great, wellnow she's interested in men and women of
God. So I didn't really talkabout it out of respect for my partner
at the time, and I thinkalso like it's funny me and my girlfriend
kind of like joke about it now. But like I because I'd never dated

(25:41):
a woman, I had this thingwhere I was like, am I Like,
am I queer? If I likedon't have the proof, Like you
know, if a tree falls inthe forest, are you even bisexual,
you know what I mean, Like, like that's like I think I had
this, like I really had impostersyndrome where and then I was like,
you know, as a performer andas like someone who has a little bit

(26:03):
of a following, like once yousay something you can't then be like,
oh, actually, never mind,I take it back. You seen that
happen sort of in public eye withsome And it's hard because like you have
just so much more so many morepeople kind of like ready to to to
jump down your throat and kind oftear apart, you know. So it's
it's hard when you're trying to figureout who am I, How do I
want it to be perceived, howdo I want to put myself out into

(26:26):
the world. Do I have to? You know? And I remember,
actually I think it was last yearduring Pride, I was kind of having
like a crisis of like I thinksomeone had said to me, a friend
of mine had said, well,you know, maybe maybe you make a
post daring Pride about about being queer, Like maybe it's a good time for
you to let your fans know becausethere could be a lot of people out

(26:48):
there that I would feel even closerto you or could feel more, you
know, inspired by you coming outand and I was like, okay,
yeah, yeah, okay, Iguess I could because I was broken up
with my axe at the time,and I was like I could. And
I remember being really in my headabout it and pulling a friend of mine
aside who's a queer DJ in Torontoand like has a big queer publication and
it's just like just a smart personwho are really value and trust. And

(27:11):
I remember like pulling him aside andI was like, can I pull you
for a second? And he waslike, oh my god, what does
it feel like you're firing me?And I was like no, no,
I just I have like a questionlike do you think that you know,
do you think that me not postingabout it is like keeping this this information
that could help others. And hewas like, you don't have to do
anything you don't want, like,you know, if you if you don't
feel like you're ready, the communitywilling to stand that. If you feel

(27:33):
like you're ready, the community willunderstand that, like whatever, you don't
have an obligation to do anything.And I was like, Okay, maybe
I'm just not ready if it's notfeeling like and I think for me,
why scary hot it was fun towrite was because you know, I was
dating a woman and we had thisreally hot hook up and then I went
to this writing session with Devin Coleand my friend Michael gold Chain, and
Devin was like, Okay, whatdo you want to write about? And

(27:56):
she's so like she's so like she'llsay anything, like she'll just come into
the room and be like bhoo,like there's no TMI factor, which I
love so because we had this sortof like openness and we were all just
like sharing like safe space. Iwas like, well, okay, last
night I was in the car wewere hooking up in front of my parents
says, and then we went tothe like this like random parking lot anyways,

(28:19):
so we I had this whole storyand she was like, you have
to write about that, like that'sso hot. And I liked that.
And it wasn't that I was afraidto do it, but I was like,
I liked the dative of like revealingmyself audience in this way that feels
like, I don't know, likejust like not overly performative. You know,
it's kind of just like hey,if you're listening here's the thing.

(28:42):
So it was on your terms.Yeah, and it's like just this one
little drop from the bridge where Isay, girl, you make it so
damn hard to say goodbye. Andit felt just like the right way to
kind of like start incorporating my identityis my music in this way that feel
I just didn't feel comfortable like makinga big post and announcing it just for

(29:04):
me. That felt like, Ithink, because I'm so in my head
about making sure that I like I'mnot I don't know, yeah, like
that I'm being true to myself andtrue to my audience and kind of just
like I would never I had thisthis like fear that that the queer community,

(29:25):
who is my biggest fan base andhave always been like such a huge
support to me, I had thisfear that like if I came out,
it might seem kind of like strategic, especially because there was no proof of
me dating women, like haven't youalways dated men? And haven't you always
written about men? I just gotreally in my head about like I don't
want anyone to think that I'm aninsincere person or that I'm doing something because

(29:49):
it talks about its strategy, likeI think everyone is trying to find an
edge. Now, I just waslike so paranoid that like that people would
think that I was an insincere artistand that I would like hurt people.
So anyways, I think that thatfor me, it was easier to do
it in this way that just feltkind of like organic and kind of like,

(30:12):
yeah, here's a song about somethingthat is actually genuinely happening to me.
And I feel like that can't beinsincere if it's just an experience I
lived experienced, you know what Imean. Absolutely, we never talked about
food, and I'm so disheartened becauseas much as I love music, I
love food ten times more. Unfortunately, Wow, yeah, I know,
I know it's terrible, but doyou well I will not I will not

(30:37):
lie. I have food way more. We love an honest reveal. So
yeah, I mean, if ifI'm me saying it doesn't show my bikini,
certainly would. But what is whatis your go to summer you know,
comfort food? Right now? Iknow it changes seasonally for a lot
of people. I love popcorn,and I'll I like, I love there's

(31:07):
this like really expensive popcorn called likeNutch Girls that you can get at like
summer Hill Market. It's so good. But when I'm feeling like more of
like on the cheap side, I'lljust get like, you know, a
bag of popcorn thrown in the microwave, pop at myself and then put nutrie
yeast and tamari on it. Ohyeah, delicious, perfect, Yeah,

(31:30):
yeah, yeah exactly. I'm like, yeah, I'm like, I'm very
much like a snack I mean,I'm literally like always running around and eating,
Like I'm eating blueberries as we speak, and it's the first thing I've
eaten today. So I yeah,I am notoriously like a snack girl,
but I love popcorn. Well,thank you so much. I know you're

(31:52):
busy. We appreciate it. Andagain, congrats on the new EP.
It's a it's really wonderful. Thankyou, and thank you so much for
all those sincere words. And it'snice to feel like because I think such
a huge part of making this EPwas that I wanted my audience to feel
like there was this kind of likeevolution of sound and kind of like anation
of artistry. It's so nice whenI don't have to explain that, and

(32:12):
that's just like that you pick upon so I feel if it was that
my job is done. I'm sureeveryone everyone else that's a fan of yours
also great. So that's very thankyou. I'm sorry. I'll we only
talked about popcorn, but anyway,I have to go back to playing Tommy,
so I gotta go. Okay,all right, thank you, Ralf.
I appreciate it. Day by Iknow I mentioned it what we were

(32:34):
talking to Ralph, but I playher song Tommy all the time in the
summer, and even when it's notsummer, it makes me feel like it's
summer. So the next really coolday we get here, I think I'm
gonna crank it in my house.You're gonna make soup and you're gonna listen
to Ralph, and everything inside ofyou is gonna be like so like a
nice juxtaposition, you know, warmingsoup, like yeah, hot pop pop.

(32:54):
I love it. You're gonna bein your bathing suit, but you're
gonna be like shivering with a nicespicy Yes. I look forward to that
day. I look forward for youalso, Dan, I'll send you a
video I'll make at TikTok of medancing. Oh yes, actually, speaking
of your TikTok, I've been seeingyour stuff popping up on my for you

(33:15):
page. Really well, I've beenputting in the effort this summer, you
know, with my cookbook coming out, or when it came out on August
twenty ninth, I was trying tothink, what can I do on TikTok.
That is, it still feels likeme, but I think would appeal
to some people. And and alsohonestly, I just I wasn't using TikTok
enough. I understand how TikTok works. I think I do, but I

(33:37):
wasn't putting in the effort to createon TikTok. And yeah, with the
book coming out the lead up toAugust twenty nine, I had this grand
plan. I'm like, okay,thirty Prairie food facts in thirty days.
I'm gonna call it little Food Factin the Prairie. And I was pretty
good for like my first nine days. But if you don't, I'm sure
you would know this. You dolots of tiktoks, but if you can't
really do that kind of content onthe fly, I should have really batched

(33:59):
it because as I got busier inAugust with events and cookbook promo, I
just did not have time to doit. But but I definitely saw a
good response from a lot of whatI posted, and and I feel like
some of it is well at no, I'll say most of it is is
useful, fun food, fact informationabout Canada, and I feel like that's
just you have to lean into whatyou know on TikTok or what you think

(34:22):
you're good at and do it consistently, because unless you're uber famous, you
can't just be thrown out like randomvideos every five seconds, right, Like
that's that to me, is notthe strategy. So when I've heard that
the algorithm is changing a lot nowtoo, like they're not really interested in
these big put on videos. Theaudience is wanting something a little bit more
authentic, which is kind of whatI feel like your series is and obviously

(34:44):
could continue to be. But yeah, I thought it was great and I
love TikTok. But speaking of thingsopposite of TikTok times before TikTok, Yes
our next year. Yeah, Well, I cannot believe that we have this
Canadian musical icon on the show.Paul Lingua obviously guitar player for the Tragically

(35:05):
Hip. He has his own sideproject, the Paulingwa Band, who released
an album in July. The albumis entitled Guess What. So we were
lucky enough to chat with him earlierin August, of course about his time
in the music industry and how thingshave shifted over the years, because having
a career with that much longevity,it's hard in any industry, you know,
like to own a restaurant for fortyyears, thirty years, that's unusual.

(35:27):
To be active and prominent in themusic scene for that long is also
very rare, and I'm sure sucha wonderful thing to be able to say
that you've been able to accomplish.But with that, obviously a multi decade
career, and anything comes so manychanges, and i mean the world even
annually now there's so many changes.So found it interesting to talk to Paul
about what he's seen evolved over theyears and how he's adapted or not are

(35:50):
chose to not adapt and stick withwhat he knows, and how that has
seen him through. Yeah, andit's super Back to your conversation about like
having long chevity for that long,not only did he have it for that
long, but when they called it, the whole country mourned. It wasn't
like, you know, okay,you know, it's time. The entire
country was so sad to see themfinish. And I know my dad and

(36:12):
he has a little hobby band,and they were in tears they watched the
show, you know. So it'sjust really interesting too to know what that
feels like to be just so lovedby your country and to be so talented
too. I want to know whatyour dad feels like when you call his
band a hobby band. I'm goingto tell him to not listen. He

(36:32):
actually he tours with me, sohe plays professionally. But yeah, this
jockey, poor dad. Okay.Anyway, so this is our interview with
paul Ingwa. Oh, thank youso much for joining us. We appreciate
you taking the time. Let's let'sdive it in. First things. First,
let's talk about your recent album.Guess what that just came out last

(36:52):
week. Uh yeah, yeah,it just came out, and it's nice
to finally have it out. Likeevery album that everyone anyone who's ever made
one, it takes longer than youthink, not only to make it,

(37:13):
but especially to get it out.And so I'm very happy to be through
all the red tape and the artworkand you know, yeah, let it
fly free. So it's been tenyears since you released an album within your
own solo project before. What wasthe reason for that that time in between?
Just that you really wanted to dosomething a little bit different, or

(37:35):
do do this one right? Notnothing, the last one's wrong, I
mean, but like really take yourtime and like a masterclass of an album,
That's what I mean. Well,you know it was. I don't
know what the reason is. It'snot my inclination to make a record on
my own. I mean I wasvery used to and comfortable with making records

(38:00):
within the hip and being the hipand and sort of just being with the
five of us, and we allhad a extreme motivation to write and bring
good ideas in and and I wasvery comfortable with Gourd singing and Gored being

(38:22):
in the center. I was verycomfortable over on my side. And so
it's not really it just hasn't beenin my kind of nature to really want
to make a solo record. Imean I did a couple, but ten
years ago, you know, Ifelt like that monkey was off my back,

(38:44):
so I honestly didn't think I'd everdo it again. And then Gored
goes and dies, you know,then I was in a fog and a
grieving fog for you know, threeyears, and and then just gradually I
just started thinking, well, youknow, this is kind of all the

(39:06):
only thing I know how to do, and so, you know, just
a random gig offer led to meforming a band, which led to me
thinking, okay, I could maybeI'll try and write songs and and do
this again with these great bunch ofguys that I really really like or enthusiastic.

(39:29):
So it's turned out very positive.I'm very glad I did it,
but it's a very unlikely. Ithought it was very unlikely that I would
ever do it again. So I'mactually quite happy to have done it.
It's same thing and yeah, wow, thanks, So that's you know,

(39:51):
that's enough for me to have doneit. Obviously, I'm taking advantage of
opportunities like this to talk to peopleabout it and because they've sort of come
along when you're your first put outa record, as you might know,
Madison, and you know, soI'm just trying to really enjoy it,

(40:12):
and I am so far no matterhow hard I try, I'm actually enjoying
it. That's always good to enjoywhat you do every day. I feel
like you never really work a dayif you're enjoying it, it's it's yeah,
it's very true. And I hada fun day today. We're in

(40:34):
Toronto and one of the guitar playersin the band's a good friend, Greg
Ball. We did a couple ofinterviews, we did breakfast television, and
you know, it wasn't pretty toget up at five and arrive at six
am, but you know, wedid a song and we had fun and
did a couple more interviews, soyou know, it's, uh, yeah,

(40:59):
you're right, you're it's not workingif if you're loving it, I'm
really loving it. I mean,I've had to wake up early to do
cooking segments on TV and I hatethat always. I've never used but I
mean singing it singings tougher though,like when you wake up early, it's
not I always feel bad for musicianswhen they're on before eight am, because

(41:20):
it's tough to get your voice ready. You have to wake up even earlier
and make sure you're good to go. So well, Greg and I have
a good friend. Her name isChris Abbott, Chrissy Habbott, and she
plays in Pursuit of Happiness and shedoes a lot of recording and stuff.
She's like, the whole key witha breakfast show or a morning show is

(41:43):
yeah, doesn't it. Yeah,it just kind of calms you down.
It's not like a regular thing.I would normally have a coffee, but
it kind of put both Greg andI in the mold because we're both scratchy,
and we had the beer and thenyou, unfortunately had forty five minutes
before we had to start, andso we came out Okay, oh,

(42:05):
there we go. I feel like, if if anybody were to take Paul's
singing lessons, the number one,you know rule would be a breakfast beer
before any sort of performance, youknow, early performance for sure, you
know, I mean I really thinkit's no. I've only done at once.
I'm one out of one. I'venever played a breakfast television show in

(42:28):
my life. It just wasn't inthe hips sort of realm of experience.
But I does that makes sense?Yeah? I never thought about that.
They normally don't. Yeah, sowhat so what was that old experience like
for you? I'm sure you've doneobviously thousands of interviews in your career,
but going into a breakfast studio isa little bit different than other setups I
find. Yeah, it was veryexactly, very interesting. You know,

(42:50):
there are two people there when wegot there at six am. We got
there at five fifty eight. We'resupposed to be there at six. They
let us in and then just usuallywe didn't play until seven forty, so
an hour and forty minutes, andjust gradually more and more people and crew
and you know, it just theydo it every day, right, and

(43:13):
so it was actually very interesting towatch. And I was saying to Greg
Paul, my guitar player, thatI was mentioning, you know, the
hip never really like we'd be backin the green room and we had other
people to set things up, soit was kind of like we'd get the
call. We didn't do breakfast shows, but say we'd get the call like

(43:34):
five minutes before and you go outyou know, on the stage or the
floor or whatever, and it's allset up, and yeah, you see
everybody. But it was very interestingto actually watch the process and I watch
people show up and people some peoplehad to be there at quarter to seven,
seven, seven fifteen, and ittakes a lot of people to put
on a little thing like that.It's amazing. Do you feel well like,

(44:00):
it's been hard to watch the musicindustry change so much and so quickly.
I mean, you've been doing thislong enough to see a lot of
changes through the industry, and justeven in the last three years. I
know a lot of musicians have beensuper overwhelmed, but you you've seen so
many changes like that must be verydaunting at times. Yeah, it's you

(44:22):
know, part of me feels likewe got quite lucky. No to be
well, guy, you earned that, come on, well thanks, but
just timing wise, you know,to be sort of in the time period
where yeah, it changed from cassettesand vinyl two CDs and vinyl almost went

(44:50):
away, and I'm really glad it'sback. But then with you know,
you're streaming, I don't know,it just feels like it would be it's
it's so much more difficult to getnoticed. I mean, we did it
by playing live and just touring constantly, and there was a word of mouth
thing, uh, you know beforewe recorded, and we did years of

(45:12):
that across Canada, and you know, we were able to get a word
of mouth thing going so that whenwe made our first record or two,
there were people that had seen uson a Friday night or whatever, and
that it's just more difficult thing tocrack these days. I mean, I

(45:34):
don't know what the stats are,but it's like fifty thousand new songs a
day come out and worldwide on Spotifyor these kinds of services, and so
I just think it's hard to getnoticed, you know. And and I
do feel like people's attention spans areshorter. Yeah, there they are what
they used to be. So Ifeel for anyone that's trying to establish themselves,

(46:00):
you know, I would always saygo for it, And for bands
in particular, I would always say, it's more about the people than the
music. It's more about you know, getting along and being friends and being
kind to each other. But it'ssomething that I kind of feel like it's
just more difficult than it used tobe. I think these days, more

(46:21):
and more there's artists that perhaps havesome streaming success, but they don't actually
perform live. Like These are artiststhat have just just recording their house or
they use a friends studio, butthey've never sang in front of someone.
I find that that's more and morecommon these days. Yeah, I think
so too. And you know,that's okay, It's not my thing.
It's not what the Hipper about.We felt like the live show is the

(46:46):
most important thing. Yeah, Ithink it is too. Yeah, and
just you know, you want ithelps the recording too, because you're used
to playing together live and you gota new song, You're excited, and
there's a lot of energy created byplaying playing the songs live, even for

(47:08):
singer songwriters. I mean, Ijust feel like there's something magic about seeing
someone just play their song. Andyou know, with the trickery and the
access now to recording technological advances,yeah, you can kind of almost make

(47:36):
it up, you know, autotune yourself and you know there's an AI
tune for you, that kind ofthing. And so and I tend to
like music that that is, youknow, honest and raw, and I
like artists and albums that that reflectthat. In terms of watching live music,

(48:00):
obviously, Toronto has so many iconicmusic venues, some of them are
very long standing. Is there isthere a place that you like to frequent
to check out sort of up andcoming artists. Yeah, well, I
mean I live in Kingston, andyou know, there's no particular favorite venue
I have in Kingston, though there'sthere's a few good ones in Toronto.

(48:23):
You know, it was always theHorseshoe seemed to be where the excuse me,
the recording acts came. And thePhoenix Club in Toronto is cool.
I don't even know if it's stillopen, but it used to be called
the Diamond Club, and you knowthat was a big sort of milestone for

(48:43):
us to reach. And so,you know, I mean it depends that
they're the bigger venues and nice too. If someone like we have two daughters,
I'm at their house, they bothof them in Toronto and they went
to a concert last night. Hisname Sam Hunt, and he was the
Budweiser Stage, which used to bethe most an amphitheater. And you know,

(49:07):
those are good experiences too, liketo see like if you really love
the artist, there's a skill anda talent to playing an arena. So
what used to be the ACC Ithink it's Scotia Bank Center. You know,
we were lucky enough to play allthese places. And I enjoy going

(49:27):
to see someone like a big band, big artist, like I've never got
to see Pink but that I wouldlove to see her, and she's great
live. I mean it's aerial backflipsfor me that really really put it over
the top. No, I knowshe's great live. I'm our girls have
seen her and but you know thatpink just came to mind, But it

(49:51):
could be anybody. There are artiststhat can really make a venue big venue
like that make it intimate and so. But there's a lot of great venues.
You know, Vancouver at a wholepile for favorites for us, you
know Town Pump especially, but theCommodore as well, famous as well.

(50:12):
I wasn't planning on asking this,but you hear a lot of shit talking
about the Calgary Saddle Dome, buta lot of artists will actually play there.
Can you having played there, canyou comment on that? You know
what we played there? Many times? We were Flames fans. The thing

(50:32):
looks like a saddle. It's aboutto be torn down. It's gonna be
torn down building a new one rightin the same area. How do you
not like a an arena that lookslike a saddle and it's called the Saddle
Dome? Like it's really crazy insidetoo, you know, the roof comes
down. It embodies every every Calgarystereotype I've ever heard growing up. I

(51:00):
feel like it's it's found in thesaddle bone. It's very stampede. It's
very stampiede, and we always lovedit. We always had a great time
there and we were lucky enough toplay there many times and it was just
it was on fire when we played. You know, there's something it's a
bit of a it's almost feels likea smaller and like everyone's just right there,

(51:27):
you know, And it's funny itlooks like a saddle, like I
mean, no one would ever thinkof that. I mean the record that's
where I live, so okay,yeah, well that's why I'm being shady.
That's good, but I think it'llbe a sad day when that gets
knocked down because it provided a lotof entertainment, both hockey and musically.

(51:50):
A lot of memories there for sure. What was of Canadian history for sure?
Yeah, very neat Canadian history.Wow, how do you feel that
is shaped like a saddle? Andit's like no whatever, Like, how
did they even get that idea through? I mean, too many cowboys in
one spot, I think. Didyou know Alberta actually has a second saddle

(52:15):
dome in a town? You're kiddingme, I'm not kidding me. There's
a second one. It's I forgetthe town. When we do this edit,
I will talk about it in theintro. But there is another town
that has a saddle Doome as well. Oh really yeah, I just not
as big, but it's same designerand everything. I understand how I wouldn't
know that's I think that's great.Yeah, there you go, and for

(52:37):
you for someone like The Help obviouslyan iconic part of Canadian music history.
So how does it ever weigh onyour shoulders when you're releasing a project of
your own that that's separate from theHip, like do you There must there
must be some kind of pressure therewhen it when you're so strongly associated with
such an iconic band. Uh,I feel like it's you know, a

(53:00):
little bit, not a lot,but it's a it's a bit of a
leg up for anyone that does it. Are based pair Gord Sinc Ever put
it a solo record a few monthsago. I think it's a leg up.
The experience as a leg up.I mean, certainly, my experience

(53:21):
with the Hip taught me a lotand and I wouldn't be the same,
wouldn't be nearly close to the sameif I didn't have that experience. Pressure
wise, not really. I mean, I would like it not to sound
like the hip, but I can'tplay I honestly, I can't play any

(53:45):
different than who I am, Sothere is kind of whatever I brought.
It's sort of hard to avoid inmy solo material. That's totally fair.
That famous thing, if it's notbroke, don't fix it. I think
that that applies here. Yeah,yeah, you know, and that's how

(54:07):
I feel about it. It's justlike, you know, I wrote these
songs, and I play guitar howI play guitar, I sang how I
sang, And you know, forme, it's three chords and the truth.
And just as long as I canget to uh songs I believe in,
then I can go with those.And that's what happened this time around.

(54:28):
I mean, I believe all ofthem. I don't know, I
don't really know what I'm on about, but it feels like, hey,
you know, I like them andthey don't make me feel weird. That's
all you could ask for out ofa song. Yeah. I could honestly
talk forever about music with such aniconic legend such as yourself, Paul,

(54:49):
but this is about food and Ihave to sneak it in. I'm so
sorry. I didn't know. Iknow it's about food, so a food,
but you guys tell me. Ithink there's something so special about that
meal after a show at night,when you those endorphins of the fans screaming
your name, singing your songs,and that first bite tastes way better than

(55:12):
a bite if you were to takeit for breakfast the next day. What
is your favorite post show meal?That's a good question. Is it like
a greasy pizza, some sloppy likediner meal, or are you like a
purist? Do you like kale salads? Because this is really gonna this is
gonna sign if we like you,or an embarrassing question, I would be

(55:38):
honest. And certainly the early daysor gigs that where it was just us
and as we were kind of rollingalong. Yeah, it's kind of like
pizza and burgers if you can getthem. But no, we always enjoyed
going out after a show to adinner and where it's like, you know,

(56:02):
maybe it's steak dinner or you know, just kind of a touch more
higher level. We really got enjoymentabout going up for dinner, like there
was usually two of us you know, our crew as well, and eating
at a beautiful, nice restaurant andI bury it up. I mean,

(56:27):
I'm not too too much of afoodie, but yeah, I mean steak
or a great Italian place with greatdifferent sort of pastor choices, that kind
of thing. So pizza's, pizza, burgers or burgers, and you take

(56:49):
those if you can get them becauseyou're hungry after a show. But otherwise
we enjoyed the restaurant experience an event. Yeah, nice, a nice special
moment with the team after. Ilike this absolutely. I mean I feel
like steak. You like to sattledhome, I feel like Calgaries for you.
Yeah, we have lots of greatsteakhouses. We do. We really,

(57:10):
I think we own that part ofthe food scene in Canada. Oh
I know that. I know thatfor su And you know, I really
am not that big a steak youknow. I would have steak once every
two weeks or something, probably moreon the road if I think back,
more than once every two weeks.But no, liked all kinds of all

(57:31):
kinds of foods, really very veryup. We sometimes joke on the podcast
that Ontario residents are not super familiarwith Western Canada. In general or have
visited it, but I mean,clearly you've had the chance too many times
in your career. Is there acity that you visited for the first time,
even if it was let's say twentytwenty five years ago, that really

(57:52):
surprised you that maybe you had lowerexpectations of do you mean like food wise
or just culture or just city andgender overall. You know, Winnipeg,
Saskatoon. We found really great restaurantsin both those cities and ones that we
would return to and get to knowthe you know, either the manager or

(58:16):
a couple of the servers, andyou know, then we had an end
and it was kind of like,okay, we need twelve people on Thursday.
And because we would whenever we hada day off in a city and
we were playing there, the nextnight, we go out for dinner.
That was our main thing to do. We did it the whole time on
our last tour because it was fifteendays, fifteen shows day on day off

(58:39):
the whole way, so it wasthirty days and we went out for dinner
every night. We wanted, goredto have the best time, and that's
what we'd like to do, youknow, anything in the Maritimes. I
mean, I've had seafood in Vancouverand it's great, but I'm a little
more I started leaning a little moretowards Halifax and Charlottetown and you know,

(59:04):
those big kind of lobster dinners andmuscles and just so fresh. And so
we had a lot of great experiences, certainly especially in the Maritimes. And
I can say, because I amfrom BC, the East Coast they're way
nicer, they are way more welcomingthan the West coast people. So I

(59:29):
also would prefer seafood from the EastCoast. Well, I'm glad you said
that. I'm the only one inthe room that can and and I'm glad
I said it first, because wecan't all agree. But yeah, they're
terrible, not terrible, but they'reyou know, there may be a little
bit more in their own, theirown thing because there's lots to do and

(59:50):
you know, hiking, skiing andyou know all that kind of stuff,
and the Maritimes they're kind of peopleseem to be just they want to host,
They want you to be happy andwelcome. Welcome, guys. This
is you know, this is Charlottetownand this is a PI or Nova Scotia,
And you know, I would say, just a little secret thing,

(01:00:14):
I really feel like oysters and lobsterare better on the East Coast because I
think the water is a bit colder, and I think I hold the water
colder the water, the better theshellfish I support. I'm going to Pi
next week and I can't wait toseafood there is always it's amazing. Oh

(01:00:35):
it's amazing. Yeah, yeah,I mean it's it's I love it.
And then you're in Kingston, Ontarioor Calgary, Alberta and you're like,
oh, yeah, we'll have theoysters over from PI, and it's like
you just kind of imagine the tripthey had. I know, they're very
good at shipping them or the lobster, and yeah, when you get out

(01:00:55):
there, either East or West Coast, it's like, Okay, you can
only understand it if you're actually experiencingthat right out of the water. So
I can proudly say I popped myoyster cherry shucking my first oyster in Pei
with a local squeezing a lemon intoit for me, and it was probably

(01:01:16):
a life changing experience. I willnever eat an oyster anywhere else. Oh
well, it's great. I mean, I still when we order oysters in
a restaurant, which I did lastnight. I was out with my wife
Joanne and manager and his girlfriend andwe had oysters, a dozen oysters,
and I was just like them.They had five different choices, and the

(01:01:39):
server didn't say where they're from,and so I said, are any from
Pi? And she said, yeah, these ones, and I was like,
well, let's let's have those.Well, it's funny. What I
was going to say is if youorder them in Kingston or I'd said that
already, but just it's like I'min the seafood, I would say,
if I really had to pick,like, I get a seafood coast seafood

(01:02:05):
even in the middle of the country. But there's nothing like the coasts of
all Right, last question before welet you go. We appreciate you taking
the time to chat with us.Problem. Thanks for talking to me.
It's been fun. And I feellike I equate the hip with Canadian music,
you know, I feel like youare at a piece of the iconic
fabric that is Canadian music. Whatto you is the most iconic Canadian food

(01:02:31):
or a food item that you thinkof Canada? Right away? Well,
I'm not gonna say it lan air, Okay, thank god, I don't
like lan are you know? Speakingof these coasts never order, that's fair.
I hate them. Actually I gotdark. Okay, No, it's

(01:02:54):
only because you know, we're inToronto in greektown, and I also hate
I thought were called gyros, butthey're heros. Yeah, I oh my
god, those either No, no, no, I like. I like
schwarma. I like I feel likethey're all kind of the same thing,
though, No, isnt me justbeing tone deaf? Now, okay,

(01:03:16):
the same thing is a dollonnaire.They put on a sauce that is just
like, oh, it's like asweet sauce. It's a sweet sauce and
it's weird and eros or however yousay it. That's kind of saucy too.
With a shwarma, you get thething and you got your choice of
sauces are all on the side,and you know, dip it in great

(01:03:37):
sauces. I mean, we justalways leaned way toward, way more towards
swarmas. But that's obviously not aCanadian, yeh know. It's always like
donnut, it's maple Syrrah classics.Yeah, you know, I don't really

(01:03:58):
know. Why don't you guys tellme, like, what's the give me
a choice of a couple of Canadiandishes because I don't know that. I
don't know what they are Nanaimo barmy, my Dave is I'm going to
totally butcher this Tarta sukra my mom. Oh yeah, lived in Quebec for
a little while. It's literally sugarpie and it is so delicious. But

(01:04:18):
you know what's funny now thinking aboutit, the most iconic Canadian stuff is
either from Quebec or like the coasts. Well I would say that too,
because I would give two that aremy favorites. My dad is French fortunately
still with us hanging in there.And uh tor chair was a big deal

(01:04:42):
around and my Irish mother used tomake it, you know, to his
specificasions. And what was the otherthing I was gonna Oh? Pie?
Sup? I mean my favorite soupis pie soup and that has to be
a French Canadian. Oh, andthat's my favorite suit by far. Like
that. If that's ever on amenu, I'm getting that. And so

(01:05:08):
yeah, I like those Canadians.A hot dog Canadian it can be maybe
if you put poutine on it.Well poutine obviously, I had puccine last
night, really bad puccine, Iknow, because it seems like it should
be so easy. Yeah, andthe cheese. But yeah, yeah,

(01:05:30):
so poutine as well. See they'reall Quebec things almost at the steak of
Calgary of Alberts you know, that'shard to that's hard to beat as well.
We do have a good steak outhere and we'll give you that.
But oh yeah, Paul, thankyou so much. It was a really
fun conversation. And congrats on thenew album. You must be real excited.
Well, thanks very much. Yeah, I'm very excited. And it's
nice to talk to you guys.And a great concept for a show,

(01:05:53):
you Gotta go, we think sowe have fun. That's all that matters.
Yeah, absolutely, well, Iappreciate it and I can tell awesome.
Thanks for taking Thank you so much, Paul. Okay, thank you
guys. We'll see you later.Okay, that was a really fun interview.
And I was I was trying tobe shady with with the Calgary Saddle

(01:06:15):
Dome and he was he was notgiving me any shade. I was trying
to like this, offer it upon a platter, and he's like I'm
not taking it. Yeah, that'swhy he's so loved, because he's so
good, much like the band itself, the Tragically Hip. But we we
wish Paul all the success this yearon his solo project. And yeah,
I wonder if he's gonna release anythingelse. It sort of sounded like this
maybe be the final musical project forhim for now. And yeah, but

(01:06:40):
but what a joy to talk tohim about playing literally everywhere in Canada and
what a career that he's had,Yeah, which is not heard of.
I think a lot of Canadian artiststry really hard to break the Canadian ceiling
and to leave. But it's it'ssuper refreshing to hear a band so talented,
so successful, but just be ours. We don't. We don't get
that that often. So yeah,I'm really glad to for him to be

(01:07:02):
our Canadian treasure. Yes, metoo, not me as the treasure,
but like I appreciate your sentence.Thanks for listening. To Melodies and Menus,
a podcast mini series brought to youby Eat North. Today's episode was
brought to you by Prairie seasonal farmfresh Recipes celebrating the Canadian Prairies, released
by Appetite by Random House on Augusttwenty nine. It's available now in bookstores

(01:07:25):
across Canada and beyond. More informationon today's guests Paul Lingua and Ralph as
well as co hosts Madison Olds andDan Clapston. That's me At to Eat
nor dot com