Fake Shark new monster

ep22 – Fake Shark new monster

[00:00:00] One of my greatest curiosities of late has been the story and human narratives driven by story on a deeper developmental psychology kind of brain kink, but also in a generative culture kind of level. I’m interested in where the story really is, or more so who is the storyteller, the story excavator, who is responsible for exposing and presenting the story and how much of a role the intention and bias and perspective of that person plays in shaping the stories we come to know and believe.

Consider how powerful the editor is in the history of journalism. The writer chases what they believe the story is, the angle of unique interest for their audience, and use their personal art of fashioning the words. But the final outcome of that story was always filtered through an editor. Who really held the power of influence on the culture of journalism.

I’ve been [00:01:00] fascinated in sharing stories of people who chase the dream, seeking similarities, nuances, the fine print that has slipped between the editorial cracks that might impact me and you in ways we weren’t expect. Recent guest, Mike Noble of Hotel Mira recommended to me to interview Kevvy, of Fake Shark, and connected us in a gesture of knowing better than I would’ve guessed.

The story of Kevvy seems to have escaped the editorial clutches. If you read the story of Fake Shark. And this is the core of Almost Famous Enough, I peel off the layer of what I think I know from hearing their songs and in conversation, I am forced to peel off the layer of my researched, editorial, and to a degree self-curated information.

In doing so, I began to see a bigger story of someone who shares the experience of a relatively small [00:02:00] human population who have worked with pop stars owning the biggest known hits, while also scrounging for crumbs at a party to survive turning small skills and open hearts into essential relationships and opportunistic performances and into careers.

The sum of the articles is ironically completely uncurated Kevvy is the founder of Fake Shark, a Vancouver based alternative pop rock act and producer songwriter to a list of past and present artists making their mark on the music scene. Fake Shark’s biggest hit was Loser in 2021 and current release Monster has been a strong presence on the alt rock sharks.

Fake Shark’s Biggest hit was Loser in 2021 and current release Monster has been present on alt rock charts all summer while other Kevvy,

while Kevvy also finds his name in the credits on other. While Kevvy also finds his name in the credits on another four top 10 alt rock hits, while Kevvy finds his name in the credits on another four top 10 alt rock hits at the same time, the summer of Kevvy couldn’t be more well deserved. My name is Glen Erickson.

This is Almost Famous Enough. [00:03:00] Thanks for spending your time with us. This is Kevvy. of Fake Shark.

 

Glen: Yeah, absolutely. Well, I mean, part of the disappointment last time Kevvy was like, I really liked how the conversation had gotten started. We were a good 12, 13 minutes into, into talking, and we hadn’t even like hardcore talked business yet, just catching up on trading stories about. Gigs in Canmore and uh, and all kinds of things, which was really fun.

So I was like, obviously I’m disappointed. That’s the stuff I like to, to get going and get talking about. But, anyhow, like all to say, I, I knew it was gonna be a good conversation with you. I’m like, oh, damn it. But, I know, uh, I’m happy that we get this chance again. So, since we talked last, which was the end of July, now we’re kind of facing the end of August, might as well [00:04:00] catch up what’s happened in the last month.

Has it been stay at home, doing that kind of work stuff or have you have, has there been summertime shows kinda running?

Kevvy: I think where we left off was my band had just done a long US tour,

Glen: Yeah.

Kevvy: and now we’re doing a show every other month in Seattle, which I really like. Um, we had just done this Calgary Stampede. With Marianas Trench,

Glen: Yep.

Kevvy: that was awesome. Their fans are amazing. Uh, we’re lucky to get to play in front of them. and

Glen: Can you explain every other month, what is, is that like a standing gig?

Kevvy: yeah, yeah, there’s a place called the Central Saloon, um, that have asked us to, to play their, like, a bunch of dates throughout

Glen: Yeah,

Kevvy: Um,

Glen: I,

Kevvy: just a fun way to go work on new stuff with a really cool crowd and venue. Um, and, uh, we, we’ve played so much Canada in the past, uh, and we still love to, but we we’re, we’re doing more stuff [00:05:00] in America and we have an American agent and uh, it’s an easy gig that’s not in our hometown.

And, uh, it’s

Glen: hmm.

Kevvy: of a nice fun way to, to like try new versions of the set. Like we’ve been doing a version of this same set list for. About a year now. So we wanted to try working in the new songs, but not in our hometown. And they’re like cool enough to like stick us on a bunch of bills and build a little audience out there.

There’s KEXP out there, which is a wicked radio station

Glen: Yeah,

Kevvy: Rock.

Glen: favorite. My favorite, in fact. Yeah,

Kevvy: Yeah. So my shout out to Abby from KEXP. She’s awesome. She came to our last one. like a lot of our friends just go play there a lot. Like, uh, the Vancouver band actors go, go there a lot and, um, Frankie and all these, it’s kind of just a cool scene and they do a lot of cool festivals. This guy out there, Michael, who, uh, he’s, he’s been cool enough to like help us get our work visa and everything. Um, he puts on all, all kinds of festivals. Uh, and so yeah, we’re just kind of focusing on that and like making Seattle our home away from home and it’s fun.

Glen: Yeah, [00:06:00] I mean, if there’s ever a great city in the states to try to make your home away from home, that’s,

Kevvy: Mm-hmm.

Glen: I mean, there’s, there’s a, you, there’s a number of them, but that’s, uh, top of the list. It’s nice to have that within a, a day’s drive for sure. you said KEXP, ironically, so I, I started taking some big swings, bigger swings at some guests I would love to talk to.

And John in the morning has been a hero of mine for like 20 plus years.

Kevvy: Yeah.

Glen: I actually dmd him on Instagram and he actually responded and said, send him an email. So I’m, I’m yet to get a response from the email,

Kevvy: Yeah.

Glen: yeah, hopes and dreams, right. Maybe I’ll get to talk to somebody. That was a big part of influences on me like 20, 20 years ago.

Kevvy: That’s so cool.

Glen: So you’re always busy. I mean, I, I like to go back. I like, you’ve got like, you’re a certified Canadian music industry veteran. Like you started this band 20 years ago. [00:07:00]

Kevvy: No, that’s a misconception

Glen: is Wikipedia wrong?

Kevvy: always. fake, fake shark

Glen: love it.

Kevvy: ended in like 2013 and then I started a new band with different people and like different sound. and then they were like, let’s just call it.

fake shark. uh, I kind of wish I didn’t ’cause ’cause this keeps happening.

Glen: Yeah.

Kevvy: so it’s different.

It’s, it started our fir, the first fake shark song came out in 2015. So 10 years.

Glen: Okay.

Kevvy: The

Glen: Okay. I love that.

Kevvy: Yeah, Yeah.

Glen: Yeah, it was definitely different. I, I remember. okay, I’m gonna, I’m gonna put a pin on that and circle back and I love that you corrected that. So, um. But, where I was going at first, definitely music industry veteran. having been done this so long, still, still doing it.

making the music, obviously doing the entire music, making, performing career, but obviously you’ve got your hands in a lot of other things, and this is pretty common in the [00:08:00] business. I think when people hang around that they develop skills and realize where they might fit in. So this actually ties into where we actually left off in our first attempt when, when everything went to shit was, you kind of just dropped in there on me that you actually sort of side hustle, uh, doing audio production for, for comedians and, and comedy specials.

And, and you drop the name Nate Bari, who’s a fantastic comedian, one of these guys who obviously has been doing it for a long time and then somehow just. That, you know, how careers can go as in the arts. Like all of a sudden he’s

Kevvy: Yeah.

Glen: blown up out at this stage after doing it for so long. Uh, so very cool guy and very cool.

So why don’t we just jump right in there, that, that you’d, you have this side hustle, curious again how you, how you got the side hustle. And I’m always sort of interested about just talking about what the life in music really looks like. And I [00:09:00] think, you know, there’s the cliche when you’re first starting out, how many people still have their day job or working at Starbucks or every time they get off the road they go back and work at the bar or some version of that.

But it, it evolves when you’ve been doing it for 20 years. So I’m curious sort of what your side hustle to keep the bills paid, blah, blah, blah, looks like in your life.

Kevvy: Well, it’s interesting because I don’t really need to do comedy because I, like I was able to quit my last day job in 2000. 12, which was HMV. Um, and it’s because I started writing uh, and producing music. and, and like, and one of the artists that I worked with was Carly Rae Jeffson. And then she blew up. and then I was able to just get, um, production gigs since then in music to, to, uh, to be able to like make a living. so that it was like her. And, uh, there was a, a person, uh, a great artist named Louise Burns [00:10:00] who, um. Suggested to my now manager, Jonathan Simkin, like, you should, you should hire this guy.

He is. He’s like really hard and, and writing with everybody. And then Carly also was like, like my, oddly enough, fake shark, real zombie, my like heavy band. So she, they both told Jonathan about me. Uh, and so he hired, he signed me first as a producer for 6 0 4 records. And then, and that, that was, I, I got like one, uh, it’s funny, it seemed like all the money in the world to me at the time. Um, it was like a check for like three grand or something for like producing some music,

Glen: Yeah, that would feel like a lot of money. Yeah.

Kevvy: That was the most money I’ve ever had in my life. And, uh, I just quit HMV and I was like, I, I have been surviving on floors and everything for, for years. Totally uncomfortable. Uh, I can make, I can stretch this out for like months, so I just

Glen: That’s, that’s so good. Kevvy, like,

Kevvy: yeah,

Glen: I’m [00:11:00] just imagining, I’m hoping everybody else is picturing what I’m picturing,

Kevvy: Mm-hmm.

Glen: which is kind of a little Hollywood cliche of like, you got your first $3,000 in the actual business and you walked in and said like, screw you. I’m outta here. And

Kevvy: okay. So kind of, here’s what’s funny about it. Um,

Glen: I.

Kevvy: I could like, dude, like I.

was so destitute, um, that I would go over to people’s places and I’d go in their kitchen and they’d have like. Made brownies and eat, and like all of them are just crumbs. And I would secretly eat the crumbs. Like I, I was so broke and like doing music all the time and doing these international tours. So broke, like fake Shark rail zombie, did a tour once that was over a month long in the uk and we were just borrowing back line everywhere and taking the greyhound everywhere. And I got pneumonia, like I got so sick and

Glen: O

Kevvy: like, people were smoking all the time and like we were staying on people’s floors and they just wanted to party all the [00:12:00] time.

And I, I like, thought I was gonna die. And then it was crazy because we fake shark girls zombie just got signed in Japan. So the week we got back from that crazy long tour where I was like so sick, then got on like a first class flight to Japan and got treated like so well. But I still had like no voice kind of.

Glen: hmm.

Kevvy: and uh, yeah, I was like, we played like two weeks of shows there and then came back and I, like I I, I was like, can you see photos of me from back then? I was like. skeleton. It was bad. But, but anyway, so I was used to being broke. Um, I kind of didn’t care. Like, you know, some, some money would’ve been nice just so I could not be so stressed about rent all the time and everything. Um, just ended a relationship and she moved out and I, we were, we were living with a roommate another, like another roommate, and I like stayed. And that guy, it, it was like cool enough to like let me pay like less than normal rent. Uh, and it’s because he, uh, had a band in the eighties called Strange Advance, shout out Drew.

And he was like, [00:13:00] Hey man.

I get it, but uh, I’ll pay, I, you can pay less rent if you like, helped me with some, some of the music I’m working on stuff. And so I didn’t even end up doing it that much. He was just like, cool. He’s so awesome. and, and then so I, yeah, I got that first check, went in to HMV and I gave my two weeks notice. Um, and, uh, the, the manager at the time like, F basically told me, I’m fucking up. He was like, okay, well, you know, this job will be here when it’s, when you, you know, I, I wanted to be in a band too. And, uh, you know, it’s, it’s not easy. And like, uh,

Glen: man.

Kevvy: in, I was in such a good, good mood that I was like, whatever, like, you know.

Uh, so, so I left and then, um, I was on like cloud nine for like months. I was like, I can’t believe I get to do this at this cool studio. And then Carly and I were like, making all this music and, uh, and then she made call me Maybe and like blew up. And, uh, yeah. Ever since then I’ve been like [00:14:00] able to, to do music production and, and co-writes and stuff, like pretty consistently.

But what happened was. I made friends with some comedians. I was actually, I was actually producing song music for a singer named Kate Morgan, and she was dating a comedian. And I just like, went to a few shows and I became friends with this comedian named Ivan Decker. And then, um, I think like the second album I ever did was Ivan Decker’s first album, which won the Juno for, um, comedy album of the Year.

And that, that hadn’t been a category since the seventies. In fact, the last time it was a category, the winner was the Strange Brew soundtrack. So, so,

Glen: Which ironically, I just saw a George Strombolopolous post like two days ago where he said, people always ask him what the greatest Canadian record was, and he actually pulled that record

Kevvy: there he’s

Glen: out, so that’s funny.

Kevvy: Yeah. So,

Glen: awesome.

Kevvy: Did that one. And then it led to doing, um, this comedian [00:15:00] Sophie, but, and then that one, uh, Juno. And then, um, Jacob Samuel, which one of Juno, and then Andrea Jin, which one of Juno. So I have four Comedy Junos for that. And then the owner of 6 0 4 records around that time was like, why don’t you just start your own division of the label?

That’s just comedy. And so I did, which is comedy here often, which I’m the GM of, and I produce all the specials and album for. but, but along alongside that, when I would be recording these other people, I would inevitably meet like American comics. And one of them was this amazing comedian who I think is the best comedian in the world.

His name’s Dan Soder, and then he’s from New York, like That’s where he lives. Uh, and we just kept in touch. And then when it came time for him to do his. Special. Um, he had me come produce audio and do the music for it. And that was done, at a place called Helium in Portland. awesome.

venue. Uh, and the director of the special was, um, a guy named Mike Lavin, who goes by Homeless Pimp on Instagram.

And he’s, [00:16:00] he got asked to do all of specials for his new YouTube channel. So we hit it off and great working relationship on Dan Soder special. So now I do all, everything that Homeless Pimp does. So That’s how that happened. And uh,

Glen: amazing.

Kevvy: last year I did two Colin Quinn specials with him. I love Colin Quinn. Um, a Jim Norton special. Uh, I did some stuff for this comedian, TJ Miller, uh, which was unrelated to that. And then, yeah, it’s just, it’s kind of like, it’s kind of like never ending. Like I’m not careful, I could just do comedy like

Glen: Hmm.

Kevvy: uh, one knows, no one can name a, a comedy producer. Uh, so it’s

Glen: A hundred percent. That’s, that’s why I am so curious. Like it’s like.

Kevvy: yeah,

Glen: You almost, you almost take it for granted. You almost stop to think like they’re still doing a production and a live production at that, which is a very unique way. I’m sure you maybe are doing things that aren’t, I don’t know, maybe, is it all [00:17:00] live comedy special productions?

Yeah,

Kevvy: but that’s, that’s what, uh, makes it difficult because

Glen: yeah,

Kevvy: it’s like don’t get it in the two to four shows that are taped. Then it’s a lot of, it’s a lot of work for me to make it feel like seamless. Like if you’re editing

Glen: yeah. I bet.

Kevvy: and then like, a lot of people like, like, you know how if you go to a, like a, you know, a, a show at the Biltmore or something, the, the live sound person there is excellent, like, they’ve been doing it for years. They understand outboard equipment, they know miking techniques. That is not the case at standup comedy venues. It’s just someone, it’s the person who’s just learned how to turn on the Baringer mixer and push the fader up. And then, so a lot of times I’ll go there and it’s just like such a mess. And like, um, and, and also everybody fancies themselves like an audio file.

And then, like I was doing, um, an album at this place called Little Mountain [00:18:00] Gallery. Um, which was in a different spot then than it is now. And, uh, between the two shows, uh, a friend of mine who’s like Tinkers in audio was like, yeah, I thought it was a little boomy sounding in here. So I went and changed all the EQ on the,

Glen: Oh, oh

Kevvy: mic, and it was like, now the fucking two shows aren’t gonna sound consistent.

Like, like, things like

Glen: yeah.

Kevvy: don’t really know. And then, know, there’s, there’s, uh, people I know who don’t, they just care about the video and then, and then like, it’ll be like this nice looking video with like, camera audio. And it’s like, well, the best way that comedians can make money is by getting played on SiriusXM.

And, and now they have really high standards, so they’re just not gonna play your album. So you just have this like thing on YouTube that you could be making a living from. But because no one really understands the audio side of it,

Glen: Hmm.

Kevvy: it’s, it’s, it, it could have been on the radio is what I’m saying. And it’s not ’cause.

Glen: And comedians, I, I mean, if I’m, if I’m remembering this correctly, [00:19:00] even experienced ones don’t always show, like a lot of, like the experience doesn’t always show in mic technique. Like I’ve seen ones in their shows that forget that they’re wearing a lapel version of a thing and then they’re slapping their chest while they.

Do some comedy bit or, or, or they’re the, they think it’s funny to just have the loose wrist with the microphone and,

Kevvy: get me started on lav mics. Lav mics are useless. and,

it’s like first of all, it’s, it’s not directional enough to be just picking up here. It’s picking

Glen: yeah.

Kevvy: crowd too. So it’s just kind of useless. Like at least, at least a, you know, an, an SM 57 is like cardio, so it’s at least just picking up this way. So like one of my favorite comedians, his named is Anthony Zelnick, but he holds the microphone like way down here. Like that would,

Glen: Yep, yep.

Kevvy: would be a hard, a hard mix. I just did this awesome comedian, Mike Veon, but he perform. specials two shows in Nashville at a place called Zanies, and it has a tin [00:20:00] roof. so for one of the shows it

Glen: Wow.

Kevvy: really hard and the other show it didn’t. So the microphone is just picking up the rain, like it’s, oh my god. It’s, it’s, there’s so much more to it than people know. And like

Glen: I know, right? Like I.

Kevvy: Yeah.

Glen: Yeah, I mean, I’ve noticed lately, it feels like most of the time their microphones are wired too, so they end up having these 50 or 60 foot long

Kevvy: oh, yeah,

Glen: cords, and I’m like, nobody trusts wireless, I guess, for these, for these shows, but

Kevvy: I just, I just did some stuff for, um, a comedian named Mark Norman, who’s really funny. And, um, he, the, the, like it was at the Vogue and the, the XLR kept cutting out on his mic of all the like,

Glen: Oh,

Kevvy: amazing how. And it’s good sound people there really good. Um, but it’s amazing how it’s this one simple show.

They have a week where they literally, their equipment is one microphone and one cable, and they just happen to pick the cable. [00:21:00] That was like cutting out, like, so

Glen: oh, of course.

Kevvy: yeah, it’s, it’s tough wire wireless mics are, are good. But, um, I have done specials where someone put in what they thought were new batteries and they were old batteries and it cuts out like, it’s, it’s tough. I’ve, I’ve actually, I did, I did a comedy taping with a lav once for Apple TV and I literally had to have the come come in and do a DR. Like, it was just so bad.

Glen: Wow.

Kevvy: Yeah, it’s

Glen: Um, yeah, that’s quite a business. Uh, that’s pretty interesting. You could probably talk for a long time about all of that.

Kevvy: Yeah.

Glen: Uh, I think it’s pretty cool. I mean, I love seeing when, um, artists have obviously found a balance for you to keep going this long of, um, you know, pursuing these things. I, by things I mean,

Um, you, you talked about you quit the day job, which is HMV, which is funny ’cause it’s still a little bit music adjacent and it still kind of fits that, um, [00:22:00] like a little Hollywood take scenario to have your boss being like, oh, I tried to take music once. As if that was like the, the logic to convince you to stay when he’s actually saying, you know, look how exciting my life is not, and this is what you’re doomed to.

Like, that would be my reason to, to move out faster,

Kevvy: So I

Glen: but.

Kevvy: terrible employee. I was so bad. Like I would, I, I got to, it was actually a great gig ’cause I got to work in the Jazz and classical department, which was its own room. And I would literally just post on Facebook like, I’m gonna be in jazz and classical. Come hang, come hang out. And like my, one of my bosses was like, see you in there. It’s like, oh, I

Glen: That’s funny.

Kevvy: here.

Glen: That’s awesome. I mean, I, I, so what I’m really get interested in is, and so you developed skills and being able to sort of like, let me, let me frame it this way for you, [00:23:00] because they’re not distinct, right? There’s so much overlap. Does it, do you get into ever a place where you just feel like you’re literally 24 7 breathing this all the time?

And does that ever, I mean, is that just a comfortable place for you to be in, or does it ever, you know, I, I think a lot of people would imagine their day job, they can’t imagine if it was more than the five days a week. Nine to five and, and instead, you and a lot of people I know in similar worlds are Yeah.

Uh, on it all the time. What do you, how do you, how does that feel for you and what do you do about that?

Kevvy: I get, I get like so burnt out. Um, and, and like you said,

Glen: Yeah.

Kevvy: work all day every day. Uh, I mean, first of all, like, you know, my, my principal of. Skillset, I think is music producer slash writer. Um, and so I could be making songs for myself or other people all day long, like, um, and I have a [00:24:00] guilt complex about feeling like I should too.

Um, I hate when I feel like people are waiting for me for their thing, you know? I’m also dealing with people’s, uh, hopes and dreams. So there’s like a lot of pressure to, to do things well. but also I’m inspired all the time and like I get inspired really easy. Like, here, I was listening to the new Haley Williams album.

She’s a singer of Paramore and, uh, she released a Soul album and it’s excellent. It’s like trip hop. It’s so good. And I was

Glen: Hmm.

Kevvy: oh my God. Uh, I, there should be a Fon song like that Fi is a band i I work with. It’s like, okay, well I know what to do and I, so I could just get here and start like making the thing before they even hear it or. You know what I mean? Like, I, I could, I could like work all the time. I have ideas all the time. Even though when I’m watching a movie, my, my job, I will be like, oh, I should write that down. That’d be cool. And then actually the next line would be cool to, so it kind of just never stops. Um, and like, [00:25:00] like I said, like if I’m not careful, I could just endlessly do standup comedy production and mixing and stuff like that.

Glen: Hmm.

Kevvy: so, so what I, what I do, uh, to, to like combat it is I’ve gotten so into NBA and WNBA basketball that, uh, it’s just something I love that has

Glen: That’s great.

Kevvy: to do with anything else. And I’m like a fanatic about it. And like, um, my poor girlfriend like, knows everything about like my teams and like, cool to be like, oh, cool.

Yeah, That’s sounds great. Like, uh, yeah. So,

Glen: That’s

Kevvy: my, yeah. Yeah. Poor her. But, um, my like. Get, um, NBA and WNBA League pass. And like, my favorite NBA team is called the Clippers, and I watched every game of them last season and their playoff run. So it’s like a hundred games or something. And then, uh, in the WNBA, it’s the Indiana Fever and I watch all their games like in their entirety and it’s like I put my phone

Glen: I.

Kevvy: it’s, I’m not looking at it. Uh, I get a drink and I.

just like watch the game in its [00:26:00] entirety at night. And that’s how I wind down and, uh, try and take my mind off things a little bit.

Glen: Well I was, I was gonna ask, do you have something that’s completely different? I, because that’s what I often experience with people is they have to find something like running into guys that I, the last people I’d expect that are gardening and for some reason have like taken great joy in gardening and it’s not, I guess we just can joke ’cause it’s not very rock and roll, but it has to be not rock and roll ’cause otherwise you’re in it 24 7.

I was, I you said Indiana Fever, so I have to assume that you probably feel the way I do. Beautiful Cait. I was gonna say your shirt for the listener only, uh, wearing a Kaitlyn Clark shirt. So we’re on the same page about the incredible level of bullshit and the entire industry dropping the ball

Kevvy: Yeah.

Glen: uh, letting her be treated the way that she’s being treated.

Kevvy: Injured three times in one season. In her second season, just like Michael Jordan. [00:27:00] It’s, it’s, it’s like mirroring his career.

Glen: Hmm.

Kevvy: and when you, when it’s going so bad that he comes out of his, like, interview retirement to like stick up for her, that’s a bad sign. And the, the WNBA should like, you know,

Glen: Yeah. Well, it’s just feels crazy and we don’t have to go on it. That’s a whole nother thing. But I, I love, I love that you’re passionate about it. I, I think that’s great. I love that you’re passionate about it. I just, I think what’s interesting to me is that I think so many people who, at all levels of investment into it, um, for their own enjoyment or more, all just really want the thing to succeed and, and be what it should be and what it deserves to be.

And I think that’s maybe what’s so frustrating to a lot of people, right.

Kevvy: What’s frustrating is like she gets cheap, shotted a lot by players who are benefiting from what she’s brought to the league. So I, it’s just kind of like nearsighted seeming to me, like,

Glen: It [00:28:00] just doesn’t make sense, but yeah.

Kevvy: yeah.

Glen: Okay. Well, I mean, so one o well, you brought up a thing, one other thing that I was gonna wanna ask you, and you sort of like alluded to it and it was kind of on my things to talk to you about, which is, uh, you, you sort of talked about inspiration and you find inspiration ’cause you get to work with all these different people in production and it actually part of the payoff for you in doing so much, spending so much time in that is getting inspired, which I’m always interested to talk to somebody who’s been at it as long as you have, uh, wearing a lot of different hats, you’ve seen a lot of different things.

Uh, I’ve said this a lot of times on the podcast, but, um, I always think it’s remarkable. We get, we all seem to have a similar story of how we got started. Yeah, because we wanted to be something that inspired us, right? We usually, it was pretty specific, right? Like some version of, you know, you were, you were a, a Kurt Cobain or a Trent Resner or a whoever was your [00:29:00] North Star, and, and then something that you saw made you feel like, oh, like that’s something I can actually do.

Like for, I know I was listening to someone recently who, oh, it was just, I was listening to an audio book with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, and he was, and he said like it’s the stupidest thing, but the first rock song I ever heard was Smoke on the Water. And that stupid, dumb easiest in the world riff was still like the North Star because I could play it.

And once I could figure that out, I realized it was accessible. So I’m wondering what two things, I guess, what was your early North Star into music? That you were trying to emulate and got you into all of this. And then, even if you can name some of the things that continue to inspire you, ’cause you’re still so active in, in creating and performing.

Kevvy: I guess, um, like it, it changed a lot. Like I go like all [00:30:00] in on an artist for a, a few years, like my high school, uh, photos were so funny ’cause you could tell like what phase I was in. ’cause I would just go like all in on, like I was, I was absolutely a teenage goth for a period of time. But before that I was a little hip hoppy.

And then after that I was a little punk rock and like, you could just kind of see, see what I was going through. Um, the band that made me wanna start a band was Korn and that they, they just hit me at, at the right time of being like who got bullied as a, as a teenager for being eccentric. That was kind of into hip hop. So that band is those two things together and I’d never heard it before.

Glen: Yeah.

Kevvy: I got like really into. Um, from, they were, they were a gateway to a, a lot of bands that I love. One of them being Nine Inch Nails. And then when I discovered that Trent Resner, like, played every instrument on his, uh, first album, I wanted to go to audio school.

So I could do that. And then that’s still kind of what I do. And then actually, I was lucky enough [00:31:00] to get into, um, working with a, a producer named Dave Ogilvy, who, uh, he’s from Skinny Puppy, but he was, he produced and mixed and engineered on a bunch of Nine Inch Nails records. So I was just kind of in awe when he would like, let me tag along and like, work with him.

And he was really kind to me. He mentored me, like, let me like work on whatever he was working on. And he’d throw me money like when there, when there was some. And then, he produced my old band’s second album, uh, and he, he just was like generous with like, letting me meet his friends. And so. I got to like, work on all kinds of cool stuff with him.

And we did like a cam FDM remix and like, I couldn’t believe I, I was even able to like, hear the files. And then he had a band called Jackalope and, uh,

Glen: Yeah. Yeah, that’s right.

Kevvy: Yeah.

And like we, uh, I like worked on their last album, um, that they put out and Yeah. I, I was like, I, I was so, such a fan. Like, it is funny. I remember like one of the [00:32:00] deals we did was like, okay, cavi, if you do a good job at the studio today, I’ll play you the four track demos from Marilyn Manson, antichrist Superstar.

And I was like, oh my God, really? And like, he let me like cut them up. The files and emailed them to Trent Resner. And I was like, oh my God, I can’t believe I, I can’t believe I saw Trent Renner’s email address and then cuts too. I ended up playing in a band, uh, for this guy Billy Howard El, who band Perfect Circle is Maynard James Keenan and Billy Howard El and

Glen: Yeah.

Kevvy: did a solo thing and he, of my connections to them, I got to play bass in that band.

And the drummer was Josh Freeze, which is so cool. So I got to be in a rhythm section with him who’s now the drummer of Nine Inch Nails.

Glen: Yeah. Wow.

Kevvy: and, and Danny

Glen: I.

Kevvy: who was like, also been a great mentor to me, who, he was the guitar player in my favorite era of Nine Inch Nails. Um, and, uh, he’s, he’s been great with sort of showing me things and, and, uh, so, so I’ve definitely put in my 10,000 hours of [00:33:00] like working under great, great people and like, uh, yeah, I’m, I’ve been like pretty lucky to like work with a lot of my heroes.

It’s basically what I’m saying.

Glen: Yeah. It’s funny you mentioned, um, I never thought like a perfect circle. I’m like, oh yeah, he’s like the garfunkle of a perfect circle. Um,

Kevvy: Yeah.

Glen: but that, but I, that’s, nobody wants that, uh, moniker hung on them. But, but funny how those things go. Here’s the cool thing, Kevvy. Okay. And, and this is what I love and what I hope that people who listen to podcasts love to is.

Is like, we get these, we get these introductions in music to artists, and they come in all different directions, right? I mean, the, some of the best ones are obviously the ones that got introduced to you by somebody or at a certain time that were very meaningful. And for a long time you might only know a song by a band.

Like for a long time I just, I knew your song Loser. It was being played on, on alt radio here a ton, [00:34:00] you know? And it was, and it was great. And, and I am, my personal tastes aren’t exactly what alt radio is here, but it has enough crossover that once in a while I’ll hears something that I’ll come home and I’ll be like, okay, I actually want to go look that up for myself.

Kevvy: That’s

Glen: know? And that was, that was one of those tracks. And, and I guess what’s interesting is, um, is you never know, and this is why I would love for. People to dig in more if they even have a little interest. You just never know, like the extensiveness of your background and who you’ve, you know, just, uh, it’s not like, it’s not like I go read a fake shark bio and it’s full of all of your flexes that you produced early Carly Ray before she blew up, and that you, you know, got to sit with this producer and, you know, and sort of touch the, you know, nine inch nails, lore and, and whatnot.

Like, um, and I, I’m sure you have a whole bunch of more stories and I just think that that is one [00:35:00] of the coolest things about the business, uh, is all the things that you don’t see under the surface when somebody has made it their life. Right. That, that this is your full life. Um, which kinda leads me to a question for you is, is, has have, maybe it’s happened a lot of times or maybe there’s just some specific instances because you’re still making music.

You’re still kind of jumping more or less it’s evolved, but into the album cycles and the music cycles, or the touring cycles to some degree.

Kevvy: yeah.

Glen: which can, you know, a lot of people get to the, I’m too old for this shit kind of point, but you haven’t, have, you had the moments where it’s like, how long do I keep, like, trying this stuff?

Uh, when, when do I just, you know, the, you’ve got all these great stories from your production life, you know, are there, is it common for you to have that tension or does it just creep in once in a while? How does that [00:36:00] affect you?

Kevvy: I mean I, I, I was lucky enough to start doing it some at somewhat professionally as like a teenager. Like I started fake shark girl zombie with my high school friend, like, and, and right away we got touring opportunities. Um, so I feel like I got a headstart on, on it in a lot of the ways that most people don’t. Um, and I’ve been lucky enough to work with a lot of people and see how their careers have gone and have seen like. The ebbs and flows of, uh, someone that I would, I admire their career. And so of course, of course it will be frustrating. And of course there’ll be like competitive moments where you’re like, how did they get that thing and why didn’t I get it?

Like, you know, there, there’s like a lot of that. I’m not just in music, I’m in comedy as well. And so I will be like, oh, I wish I mixed that. I mixed the new Thoms. I would’ve done such a good job. You know what I mean? And I, and I was up for it or whatever. Like, so there, there’s always gonna be a version of that, but, but like I said, [00:37:00] it’s like if you stick with it and uh, you try to treat the people in your, in your as well. And really at the end of the day, for me it’s about like working with my friends. Like I really, I actually think Adam Sandler is like the coolest career ever. It’s like, if you think about it, like you, you can say his, you don’t think his movies are funny or whatever, but it’s always on the tropical island, the entire cast is always his friends and there’s always a basketball scene. So.

Glen: Yeah, a hundred percent. Oh, speaking Adam Sandler, the last comedy special he put out, ’cause you were talking about how hard it would be to mix, uh, all the different shows and that was like jumping around all of his tour dates.

Kevvy: Yeah.

Glen: can’t imagine the dude who had to put that together.

Kevvy: Well, I think, I think the mix would’ve been less challenging than the master on that one, because evening out, all, all the various mixes from the, the variety of shows must have been such a challenge, And

Glen: And the rooms. Yeah. [00:38:00]

Kevvy: elements too. Um, but with a budget like that, like a lot of times when I

Glen: Yeah.

Kevvy: like

Glen: Yeah,

Kevvy: even when I did, um, Mae Martin at The Vogue, which um, she’s an amazing comic, I just

Glen: yeah.

Kevvy: assistant.

Whereas on those things, there’s probably like an audio team of like 10 people, which would be so fun to like, not, not be stressed out because you’ve definitely covered, like when I do audio tapings for comedy specials, I have like a backup running over here that’s separate from the backup over here and then a direct mic.

Like, there’s just no way I can lose anything. Um,

Glen: Yeah.

Kevvy: having like nine people to tell what to do would be really, uh, really fun for me.

Glen: Very ideal. Well, you mentioned, you mentioned that, I mean, you sort of said that. You know, being able to continue to do this with your friends, which is a nod to Adam Sandler and his career, but, um, is a thing that keeps you going. I, I, I can’t help but think, just as you were talking about that too, is that like, there’s so many reasons, right, [00:39:00] to stop being a band.

Like, it’s so easy. Like people, most of the time for 99% of it, like people aren’t clamoring for you to make another record or be a band or asking you to, and there’s so many roadblocks in trying to do this stuff. Even just trying to figure out the business, figure out how to write a grant and get it like through the system.

Like, then you can put in things like you’ve had to completely change bands halfway through your career.

Kevvy: yeah.

Glen: you hit a, you hit a pandemic. When you released what is kind of your, your, you know, in, in radio land or whatever, kind of your. Biggest single.

Kevvy: Yeah.

Glen: like, like that’s big shit. That makes it really easy to stop

Kevvy: Yeah,

Glen: and,

Kevvy: yeah,

Glen: and yeah.

I guess I’m wondering is like, is like, I’m sure the friends thing is part of, I’m just wondering what’s the real drive for you? Do you feel [00:40:00] like this is just like, you know what you’re doing in this world and you’ve been able to stick with it long enough to, to ride it out?

Kevvy: yeah. I, I do feel like, first of all, we’re lucky enough to have a fan base. It’s not a huge fan base, but it’s a mighty fan base and they come to everything and, uh, I feel like they are waiting for the next record. So I’ve been lucky that

Glen: Hmm. That’s great.

Kevvy: am on a record label where I, I work with a great.

team.

My manager Amanda, is like amazing. And, uh, she handles so many things and, and, and, uh, gets us such great opportunities and it inspires me that I, I’ll be like, Hey, I kind of wanna do this. And she’s like, yeah, you should. And then what if, what about this? And then this like, it’s like It’s like a, it’s like a project that I’m not just doing by myself. I have two great booking agents, one in Canada, one in America, and, uh, I love them as people and, and, uh, the, we’re all on the same page for like what the goals are. Um, we

Glen: Hmm.

Kevvy: a great sync [00:41:00] license company in LA that got us like on a couple Apple commercials and stuff like that. So it’s cool to me knowing. First of all, like for when I first started playing music, the idea of anyone hearing songs I made was like crazy, let alone having it in a big commercial where the, like, like when I first started playing music, it was like, oh my God, like Feist got an Apple commercial. It’s like,

Glen: Yeah.

Kevvy: cool. So to be in the same world as that artistically is like

Glen: Yeah.

Kevvy: and says, I’m so lucky.

I feel like, um, and then, you know, on the other side of it, it’s like, what the hell else am I gonna do? What, what am I gonna just, what, what if I stopped doing music? What would I do? Just comedy production. Like, I, I can’t not, like I said, like when I’m watching the movie, it’s just giving me ideas. And when I’m listening to someone’s music, it’s just giving me ideas.

Glen: Yeah.

Kevvy: I just, I have ideas all the time. Like, I heard this. thing that kind of resonated to me. Not to say I’m on the same level as this person artistically, but like Eminem, when he wakes up, when he wakes up every [00:42:00] morning, just he, he says, rhymes falling out of his face. Like, don’t think I’ve heard someone rhyme this thing with this thing in this context, so I just gotta go, I gotta go lay it down.

I, I don’t, I don’t really know what it is yet. Like, he

Glen: Yeah.

Kevvy: then like within a few minutes he has like a song going. Like, I, I love that. And like, uh, at times I felt like that. And so the, for me, I love feeling that way. And like, you’ve brought up Loser a few times. I wrote that song in about 15 minutes.

Like, it, it really did flow out out of me.

Glen: Hmm.

Kevvy: they all have to be that way, but when it does happen that way, it’s like the greatest feeling. And then I love, like, you know, we just did an American tour and we played in all these cities we’ve never played, played in before, and people knew the words every city to that song. That’s, cool. That’s so

Glen: that’s that’s like top shelf feeling, right? As a performer, as an artist, like.

Kevvy: yeah,

Glen: There’s almost nothing. It’s indescribable to somebody who hasn’t been there. I think. yeah, I mean you sort [00:43:00] of, you kind of alluded to something that, um, which I love that you said it the way you said it, Kevvy, because more and more I’m hearing people adopt the, I guess I call it the expression or the advice to new artists or new people who are like, wanting to do this or pursue it as a career, right?

Which is only do this if you, if you just can’t do anything else. Like you can’t see yourself doing anything else. And, and people have kind of hung their hat on that being the rhetoric.

Kevvy: Yeah. Yes.

Glen: I’ve, you know, I totally get that and I see all the truth in it. I guess that it feels like there’s some holes in that sometimes in reality.

But, but you, you know, but then to hear you sort of just interject the same sentiment. As part of what makes you keep doing it

Kevvy: Yeah,

Glen: far down the road, just gives it so much more weight and so much more truth, I think.

Kevvy: there’s definitely holes in [00:44:00] that logic and I don’t always feel like that, but I like, it’s interesting, like for instance, I was such an awful student. I couldn’t give a shit. I couldn’t pay attention. Like I can’t do a good job at anything. I don’t love doing like it,

Glen: Exactly.

Kevvy: good at, I’m good at like three things,

Glen: That sounds like an A DHD diagnosis there. Kevvy.

Kevvy: But, but it is also. You know, like I said, I’m lucky enough to, to have a fan base. I wanna do a good job. Like, I would hate to make them feel like they wasted their time coming to see us or listen to us. And I actually, I’m sure if everyone says this, what I’m about to say is like, corny. I think I’m a better performer now than I’ve ever been, and a better songwriter now than I’ve ever been. And the fact that I feel like I could do a better song and a better performance is inspiring to me. Like, I don’t, I don’t feel like my, I don’t feel like, man, 2018 Kevvy.

that was the best not gonna get. Like, if I felt like that, I probably would feel like I want to do [00:45:00]

Glen: Oh, a hundred percent.

Kevvy: you know,

Glen: I don’t think that’s corny. Kevvy. I think, I think that the only, the only person that can be true for is you,

Kevvy: huh?

Glen: else. It’s just their opinion or perception, you know, based on a limited set of facts. But you’ve. You’ve got everything. Oh, you have all the information to tell you whether you believe that’s true for yourself or not.

So I think it’s important.

Kevvy: Well, there’s also, like when I was playing in Billy Howard L’s band, he would record every show and then we’d listen to it and that was nerve wracking ’cause he would be like a little ahead of the beat there heavy. And I’d be like, Yeah. But now I do that with Big Shark and, and uh, I review it and I think of ways I can make it better.

So I do think it is every performance is better than the last. Um, that’s what’s kind of cool about this, like residency we’re doing in Seattle is the same. People will probably keep coming. Uh, so I wanna bring something new every time and it’s a good way to experiment before we do our next long tour, you know?

Glen: Yeah. I mean, I [00:46:00] love, I love your sentiment by the way, about just wanting to do so good for those people that show you so much support. Um, I think, I think anybody who a loses that. Uh, is in a problem state in this business. Um, but b for those starting out, if you don’t get that really early, you might be looking at a shorter career too.

I think that that’s definitely a piece of the potion for a career. I think that’s really cool. Um, I was gonna say, like, you kind of also alluded in there to all these different people that you’ve been able to work with. Um, I mean, we’re just getting to know each other right now.

Kevvy: Yeah,

Glen: and you’re a cool guy.

Kevvy: man.

Glen: assuming, I’m assuming there’s a lot more to you that way and what you’ve learned about continue to be a cool guy to keep those relationships in this business. Like you don’t get a in the doors with people like you can, you can have been [00:47:00] somebody who did production with Carly Ray and then she blows.

But you know, that might get you some gigs for a little while, but then it’s up to you, right? Like, whether that really has legs on it. Um, I’m assuming, is it fair to guess that it’s probably a combination of just, I think who you are, plus what, but also importantly what you’ve learned on how to conduct yourself in this, in this industry.

Kevvy: I mean, I try to, I, I, I feel like different artists and things that you work with and their different personalities will lead to different reactions to things like Okay. Like, like for instance, Dan Soder, that comedian I keep talking about. So funny, such a great guy. He, he had a sh a radio show called The Bonfire that he was on, and he left it so he could just focus on standup. All his contemporaries were starting to do theaters. He want, he wanted to like get to that place in his career. And he is done it. And now he’s, his star is rising and [00:48:00] he is on a, on a show called Billions, which is, um, oh, I’m forgetting his name. Uh, Paul Giamatti’s TV show. And that ended and he didn’t go after more acting.

He’s, he loves standup, so he’s, he’s chosen to like focus on that. And his way of dealing with that is to like, like his friends along. Now that he’s doing theaters, other people should see these, should see Brandon SLO and these other comedians. So he’s using his star to prop up people that should know about more.

He’s using his opportunities that way. That isn’t the case for a lot of people who like blow up. But I also think. Experiencing his biggest success in his forties, that happen at 21, maybe he wouldn’t be that guy. You know what I mean? And it’s also like, one thing I’ve noticed from like working with a lot of people who, um, then become famous.

They’re worried about keeping that fame. And so maybe they won’t [00:49:00] work with me, who’s like a medium level producer of, as far as success, they’ll wanna go just work with Jack Antonoff from now on because

Glen: Yeah.

Kevvy: track record. They don’t wanna like try and bring their people from their past along. there’s both things, both things are totally understandable. I feel like every time I get cool opportunities, I wanna bring Fon along. I wanna bring cold fame on, like I wanna have, I wanna bring the other, to me that’s part of it is like I love the idea of get, of getting music that I like and comedians that I like in front of more people.

Like that’s really cool to me.

Glen: Yeah, I mean, you’ve seen that in different pockets and different scenes, I guess maybe is the best term when, if we even studied a little bit of music history over the last 30, 40 years where

Kevvy: Yeah,

Glen: Yeah, the people who keep bringing each other along to everything that the Adam Sandler of the music business who just give their, their Rob Schneider friends a, a, a gig every time, whether they deserve it or not.

But it’s very cool and I think it really [00:50:00] creates something.

Kevvy: yeah,

Glen: Okay. Well, that, that there’s another side to, to that part that you’re talking about because you’ve rubbed shoulders with so many different people and done a lot of different projects. And I’ve heard, uh, when I looked up like you’ve done a lot of collabs, like in just the general knowledge of how collabs work with people.

Um, and I think there’s so much inspiration and collaboration too. I was even excited to see. And I shouldn’t have been surprised because we’ve already talked about 6 0 4 records by the way, and Light Organ, which is um, kind of the imprint like the, and,

Kevvy: Yes.

Glen: and out of Vancouver and, um, has like such a long history now and impact especially of Vancouver base artist and, and, and, um, so I shouldn’t be surprised, like one of the collabs I saw on your list was Adeline.

My, our friend Shauna Beasley, who was a guest of mine on, on season one and her and I’ve, uh, been very good friends for a very long time. Um, so I thought [00:51:00] that was really cool that, that um, you two have worked together. ’cause she’s such an incredible, it’s, isn’t it, it’s crazy to me, like how good it is. Like there’s a handful.

I’ve known a lot of artists. There’s a handful that I would be that so cliche is to be like, how do not more people know who this is? So I’m just curious about like how that impacts you. Like I like to think of a, a good collab that it kinda leaves something with you. Like you almost take a piece of the person or something from that instance.

And that’s different than, ’cause I’ve talked to some country artists and how huge and common it is to just have writing sessions and scheduled a cal, like they have a Calendly for, for writing sessions. And it’s just, it’s practice, right? It’s discipline and I think it’s awesome.

Kevvy: It’s keeping the paint wet.

Glen: Exactly. And uh, that’s a great [00:52:00] expression.

And, but I love also the more like, impacting part of collaborations where you feel like it left you with something. I’m wondering ’cause you’ve had so many, are, are there ones you can name that stand out that you’re like, that one sort of shaped me in how I continue to do things after working with that person.

Kevvy: Sure. Um, it was interesting, uh, like early on, Carly, for instance, she would. Um, all the verses written in a, like a matter of five minutes. Like it would just be so quick. And I just never had seen that. Like I came from the world of,

Glen: Hmm.

Kevvy: you, you, you make a little instrumental in the computer and loop and everybody sits there for an hour quietly and writes lyrics.

And I hate writing that way now, now that I’ve seen it doesn’t need to be that way. Like, Carly would come in with like an acoustic demo and we’d, she’d be like, what do you think of this? And then she’d already have some ideas that hadn’t really been fleshed yet and we’d like flesh ’em out together and figure out what part is the chorus and [00:53:00] whatever. So we would have songs in 15 minutes or something at least. At least the something to work on, a title and some lyrics. So that was the first time I saw that. And then I didn’t really see something that efficient until I started working with this band Fon, which are twin sisters. Um, I produced most of their new album and co-wrote most of their new album. They have a

Glen: Okay. I gotta pause you real quick

Kevvy: Yeah.

Glen: because I didn’t put the two together. You’ve mentioned them a couple times and I just realized that I, ’cause I told you I do this only a handful of times. I did it with your song back in 2021 or whatever.

Kevvy: yeah.

Glen: I literally, in the last month, I heard on that station Fon and I thought it was, I thought it was beaches.

But I was like, this isn’t beaches. This sounds more like, and then the DJ got on this guy, garner and Edmonton, who I love, and he’s like, man, that sounds to me like the breeders. And I was literally speaking out loud in the car. That sounds like, like Cannonball kind of. And then so he went and played [00:54:00] Breeders Cannonball, which is awesome.

Kevvy: That’s

Glen: So I didn’t put the two together, so I’m just real time having my like holy shit moment.

Kevvy: yeah.

Glen: I absolutely love. Fuck dude. That is so good. Great work.

Kevvy: thanks dude. Brian and I wrote Blow, like the starting of it, and then Alana came and put in her parts, made it even better. Um, and it, they had never experienced Riot Girl music. So every session I’d show them something like the Breeders or Whole or Babes and Toil End or whatever. And then we’d make a song.

I’d show them, yay. Yeah, Yas like, uh, I

Glen: yeah.

Kevvy: I showed them the distillers and they were like, Oh my God, this is so cool. And then, and then we would seriously, in like 15 minutes have a song going. It’s funny ’cause Blow, um, Brianne, uh, wanted to work on a song we work on before called Banshee. And I would be like, let’s work on something new for 15 minutes. And then we wrote Blow and it’s ’cause she got road rage on the way over to my, uh, apartment at the time is where we did that. Um, but that, but there, what I was gonna say is that. come up with, [00:55:00] they’ve been making music since they were like eight.

They were busking, uh, as little kids, uh, at like 10. They, they were like songwriting in Nashville at like 12. Like they’re the real

Glen: Hmm.

Kevvy: Um, they work so hard. They’re having a lot of success right now, and they totally deserve it. Um, actually coming here in like five minutes so we can, uh, record something else we gotta do.

Uh, and

Glen: so awesome.

Kevvy: yeah. And so, uh, so they, they were like, the next thing

Glen: I.

Kevvy: Oh my God. Like, and, and we’ve made so many albums together. Like they have an album I think’s really underrated. That of course came out during the pandemic called Everyone’s a Critic. It’s so good. Like I didn’t write on it, I just produced it. Um, it’s amazing. They’re such great players. Um, and then the next person I was gonna say is Charlie from Hotel Mira. I co-wrote most of their

Glen: Oh yeah.

Kevvy: and he is just so fearless with like, just like having you sit there while he comes up with things. He is just like so comfortable in that pressure and he’s just an idea machine. And, um, he like the, the last [00:56:00] album, uh, which is called Pity Party. co-wrote nine songs on that, I think. And it always would just start with him coming over and we just spend 15 minutes on an idea and if it’s not working we’ll just go, go get coffee and come back and try again. easy. Like we, we were writing like two, three songs a day.

Uh, and then

Glen: Wow.

Kevvy: you know, that album and then we, our bands toured together and that was like the

Glen: I.

Kevvy: month of my life. then, uh, he was in town for like an acting thing last month. We wrote four new songs in two days and like, it’s just easy. I’m so lucky to. Be able to

Glen: That’s really cool.

Kevvy: and Yeah, it’s so fun.

It’s like, I, love being their cheerleaders, you know?

Glen: Yeah, I, I’m glad you brought that up. Like I, that’s exciting for me. I’m gonna end up going back and listening to far more of Fiona now as well. And, um, and put some of those tracks. I build a playlist for this podcast, um,

Kevvy: Awesome.

Glen: artists who are on it, but just when they, when they drop songs that people should be listening to and stuff, um,

Kevvy: so cool.

Glen: which is gonna be really cool.

Um, [00:57:00] so yeah, all that’s really cool. I absolutely love how connected to you are to just a really cool group of people who are doing some really cool things right now. So tell me about where you’re at with, uh, fake Shark right now. So, um, like you said. At the start, you know, talked about some of where you’re at with shows and all that kind of stuff, but as far as where you’re at with releasing music and what you’re promoting and, and all of that sort of, where are we at with, with Fake Shark?

Right at, at this moment.

Kevvy: Okay, so

Glen: I,

Kevvy: released a song called Monster. Um, it’s getting some nice radio play and streaming. Um, shout out to X in Calgary. They were the first ones to like fully add it to their playlist. Great bunch of guys. Uh, really appreciate them. Sam and Logan and all those guys are so great. Um, I wanna thank them.

Then the zone in Victoria started playing it a lot. Um,

Glen: Hmm.

Kevvy: Paul, Jenny, they’re so, they’ve always been so supportive. The peak in Vancouver, they, they started playing it a lot and that’s, that’s Braden and Restless. Wanna thank all everyone for

Glen: Welcome back to the Peak. That’s [00:58:00] great.

Kevvy: yeah, yeah. They, they’ve been, they’ve been excellent.

Honestly, all the radio stations, um, so many radio stations in this country have been great. So, so Monster is like full on, I think it’s number 21 in the country right now, which is exciting. So it’s crazy. Right now I have, uh, monsters 21 ISS number two on alternative

Glen: Wow.

Kevvy: I think Hot Samir is number three, I think.

And then this band Cold Fame that I, I co-wrote and produced their new single Jawbreaker, I think is number 14. So it’s like having a nice, a nice chart moment for all the things

Glen: Well, shit, dude, you are the Jack Antonoff of Canada at the moment then, and alt radio,

Kevvy: I

Glen: like, no, no bullshit, dude. Like that, like, like the facts talk, dude. Like that’s pretty fantastic. Um, so is, is Monster part of like, like a run of singles and all that kind of a thing? Or what’s the, what’s the plan is, is there more tour sort of in the books?

Kevvy: we’re gonna actually get on the, the phone with our American agent on Friday and like figure [00:59:00] out what this next year looks like, uh, because that’s kind of what we’re focusing on. Um, Yeah.

we have an album that’s gonna come out on October, I think. Um, we’re

Glen: Yeah.

Kevvy: we just announced, uh, a new single with Fon actually called Tired of You, and it comes out September 12th and

Glen: Great.

Kevvy: and then that the album will come out and there’s even more guests on that.

Uh, one of my favorite rappers is Cool Keith, he’s on the album. Um, and yeah, I’m sure I’m excited. I worked really hard on this album and it was didn’t always come easy, uh, ’cause of all the touring and stuff I was doing, and I, I feel like I earned it with this one, you know.

Glen: Uh, that’s awesome. I absolutely love hearing that. Like, um, yeah, so September 12th, the album, all that kinda stuff. Uh, you said at the start though, you’ve done a lot of Canada, so we might not see you in Canada necessarily for a while or.

Kevvy: we’ll definitely do some dates. Um, like, you know, we just played, we just played Juno Fest, but we try not to play Vancouver too often or.

else I just feel like, you

Glen: [01:00:00] Yeah, it’s filled.

Kevvy: wear

Glen: You wear out your hometown. Yeah.

Kevvy: um, and you’re amazing fans. Uh, so, uh, so yeah, we’re, we’re definitely gonna do some Canada, but a lot, a lot more America, uh, just ’cause

Glen: Cool.

Kevvy: the opportunities that we’re getting right now.

And, uh,

Glen: Cool man.

Kevvy: work visas we gotta use. So

Glen: Yeah.

Kevvy: yeah,

Glen: and yeah, that’s expensive and, and yeah. Takes so much effort and hoops to jump through. Um, well, I love to see it. Well, I, um, I don’t wanna take up any more of your time. Uh, I’m, again, going back to the beginning, so appreciative of. How patient you were and coming back and having a great conversation with me, and, uh, it’s exciting.

I love learning in real time all these things that you do and connecting all of these little networks and people. Uh, I think it’s one of the coolest things about the music business period. I think it’s pretty cool. And I’ve always taught that. [01:01:00] I think the Canadian music scene is pretty incredible for that.

Um, I, I know Vancouver scene is incredible, but there’s connections right across, um, right across the country. And, um, even you being able to know and shout out the stations and who they are, um, you, you didn’t know it, but I alluded before that I think you must be a pretty cool guy in the industry. And the fact that, and the fact that you could just like, shut out the names of the people, not just the stations.

Um, that’s a small little thing, but, but that’s. That’s a really cool characteristic. And, uh, if anybody listens, who’s up and coming in a band, they, I think they have a lot that they could learn just from, from hearing what you say and how you conduct yourself. So thanks for giving of your time and sharing some thoughts and ideas and stories.

And, uh, I wish you all the best with the, uh, single and the new record and hope to bump in in real life at some point and, uh, and catch it, catch a gig as soon [01:02:00] as I can, so,

Kevvy: do.

Glen: okay. Okay. Thanks Kevvy. Appreciate you all the best.

 

Glen: That means we’re on. Yep. We’re broadcasting. Live from the Honda. Fit from the

Alexi: Honda Fit in the garage. In the in the

Glen: garage. Of our place. Yeah. Address unknown. just because we got kicked out, just someone knows we got kicked outta the house. Yeah. Somebody needed to hog the internet and it wasn’t us this time.

Yeah. So we are in the car, uh, doing post fame for episode 22, fake shark kevy. Yeah, so, oh, and the garage interior light just went off, so we’re like, that’s very nice

Alexi: for us.

Glen: If somebody opens the door of the garage, they’re gonna be very surprised and wonder what’s going on. It’s gonna be really awkward.

And it’s funny how I’m actually, I was talking so quietly there, I just realized. As if I’m like trying to do something secretly. Yeah,

Alexi: but you’re not,

Glen: I don’t need to worry about it. Like nobody else is hearing any of this, um, except us. Okay. And it’s, we’re just being weird in the garage [01:03:00] for a minute.

Alexi: Yep.

Glen: But anyhow, um, so we were just having coffee and we were just talking, cause I was working on the episode art and you were doing other stuff and, um, I was talking about. The episode and naming it.

Alexi: Yeah. But

Glen: talking about things that kind of stood out. And it was funny because you sort of said, well, there’s that whole segment about that I got wrong about whether the two bands were connected because he started out as fake shark re zombie.

Yes. Which. Had, you know, quite a bit of success and toured all over, but it was a distinctly different sound.

Alexi: Yeah.

Glen: Um, but which is not the same as the version of Fake Shark that he’s in right now. No. That has had a really good run for like a long time, like 10 years pretty much now. So that is one little interesting thing to talk about.

Yeah. And since then, and this happens a lot on the podcast, is I. It’s weird to look at you right in the face while we’re talking. but I look at their Instagrams and stuff like, look at that sounds so dumb. Now their feed [01:04:00] comes through my feed more often. Yes. Yeah. And I notice all the things. And he posted one of his biggest flexes was Charlie XCX.

Commenting on a MySpace thing about a, a, a song that she loved from fake shark, real zombie.

Alexi: That’s kind of funny on MySpace

Glen: back in the earlier two thousands. Right. That’s so funny.

Alexi: So I thought you were gonna bring up the Carly re jepson thing. That was like my number one jam when I was younger.

Glen: It was yours.

That was very true. Like, that was your jam. But that was like, like that’s so he didn’t write that or he didn’t write on that song? No, that was just, um, but it, it is. It sh like, because it’s Canadian, I feel like I still had a tendency to undersell even in my own mind, like how big

Alexi: that song was.

Glen: Well, I mean, if I met anybody else who said, I wrote with, you know, who’s got, like Katy Perry, I was writing with Katy Perry before she like, blew up, blew up and with the, I Kissed a girl song and

Alexi: one would be like, whoa.

Do you know what

Glen: I mean? Yes. And you’d be like, holy crap. You were her songwriting partner before that, [01:05:00] right? Like, yeah, like. Like call me maybe is on a, a scale of like massive earworm across the globe. Yeah, yeah. Anyhow, and and all of that didn’t hit me until after the conversation because there were so many things in that conversation that he moved through that I was like, really like.

You’re producing the comedy specials for Nate Boetti, like,

Alexi: it’s like, um, oh my God. I’m gonna blank out her name, but your friend who does the stuff for like the voice and all that,

Glen: like Tamara working, working on the Voice and the voice coach. It’s just like, oh, the person

Alexi: I’m talking to actually has like personal relationship with like.

Really impactful musicians. Yeah. Like really big scale musicians.

Glen: Yeah, exactly. And, and it just makes them

Alexi: seem so much cooler. Like, you’re just like, oh, like I talked to you as if you were like a friend, but like, like you’re legit.

Glen: Yeah. You sort of expect some. I don’t know. It’s like you expect some like transferrable aura to come through if they meet those people, but it doesn’t.

oh man. Anyhow, and there were a lot of things that he talked about that he had done over [01:06:00] time. Like he had these opportunities to go back and, and remix like some Trent Resner. Music, which is like incredible opportunities. Yeah. Anyhow, he’s had, anyhow, so I will say the one thing that really stood out to me, besides the fact that he had done all this kind of stuff, which I think is really cool and is really at the core of why I wanted to meet people and talk this way on the podcast was.

On the surface when you just hear a song and you just become familiar with the band, there’s so much story that you don’t realize.

Alexi: Yeah. You don’t even know. And his

Glen: story of like, so we can talk about these incredibly cool things like, you know, his songwriting partnership with Carly Ridge Epson or, or these, these other little things.

But you know, him telling the story of like, yeah, I was like, we’d go to parties and I would go and look for the crumbs. In the bowl. ’cause he had nothing. He had nothing else to eat. He had no, he had no money. And, and the band looked like they were doing well, getting [01:07:00] toured through, you know, Southeast Asia.

But he had, they had no money and they were borrowing gear for every show. And he got deathly ill and then. At the exact same time, all of a sudden they sign a deal in Japan and they get flown to Japan, which is crazy. And they’re a great big hit and they’re playing great. Like,

Alexi: just like the amount of like fluctuation in like a music artist’s career and not even artist, just like in people like your whole podcast is like the realm of like people involved in a music scene Yeah.

Is just crazy. Like the amount of like fluctuation in their career. And like also like the rate of that fluctuation, like how fast that can change for someone.

Glen: Yeah. I mean, I told you I was listening to the podcast interview with Dominic Fike this morning. Yes.

Alexi: Yeah.

Glen: And that he was, he had a difficult upbringing.

He had just in his own town started like doing raps and, and doing like. Appearances on a lot of people’s music and then personal life issues. He ended up being thrown in jail for a little while. Mm-hmm. [01:08:00] And while he is in jail, his SoundCloud stuff erupts. Really? And there’s a bidding war when he gets out on his music with like the top four, that’s crazy.

Record companies. And he’s meeting with the president of Sony.

Alexi: That’s insane. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. And you’re just like, oh, like that changed. And they come out and

Glen: they’re like, what’s the number? And they, they’re like 4 million, you know? And that’s the deal he signs. Anyhow. Yeah. Like, so that trajectory can be so.

Ridiculous. And I’m, you know, I’m sure we’re gonna talk to people who maybe hit certain heights and then hit certain lows. Certain lows too. Yeah. And anyhow, I think that was probably one of the things that really hit me about the conversation. Um, really great guy. Really great guy.

Alexi: Yeah. Do I hear my question or?

Yeah, I wanna

Glen: hear your question. You thought, you thought I was just gonna skip around the other Well, I was like,

Alexi: maybe we were like, no, this is too interesting. I don’t know. Maybe you hate me. Um, I kinda, I wrote it two ways ’cause I was, okay, I’ll, [01:09:00] I’ll reiterate it. It’s back to the point of, um, kinda like the reinvention and like the fact that, um, he was in fake shark, real zombie.

Glen: Yep.

Alexi: And then new band.

Glen: Yep.

Alexi: New sound. New vibe honestly, and then uses fake shark still. Um, and like, not about the nitpick of the name itself, but um, I was wondering ’cause like the whole time he was talking about that and just kind of like a reinvention and like different sound, but you know, everyone who’s listening or like a lot of people who are listening have that kind of like connotation still of like.

What you once were. Yeah. And I was wondering if like, for you interviewing him, like you’ve done like the band to solo artist thing and like, I feel like a lot of people who are listening to your like solo music knew you from your band or like, you know, that connotation was there and I was like, oh, like did anything he [01:10:00] say kind of like resonate with you or like, did you pick up on any like.

Similarities or you know, like, did anything he say just be like, oh, like, I kind of like you felt that like differently because like you have, I think, kind of a almost like rare personal experience of like going from one thing to the next and having those things be quite different and not just like upgrades, you know, like it, it was a reinvention.

Glen: Yeah. I mean, if anything, the fact that I was the gap. For me personally, between the two happening was so wide that if I had tried to record and release solo record within a year or two after the band mm-hmm. I would’ve felt probably way more pressure to still have more touch points to what the band was.

Alexi: Yeah,

Glen: for sure. So I think I got released from that. And like that way

Alexi: there was like an allowance for growth in that time. It was interesting

Glen: how he [01:11:00] had said, like, he did admit that like maybe that wasn’t a great idea.

Alexi: Yeah.

Glen: Like the name thing. Yeah. Which, yeah, like that’s a little different than like going band and going solo because there’s a lot of examples out there where people do that expect like, I mean, we just, we just, we, we just talked to Peter Dreams, right?

Yeah. Who, you know, very like established his entire identity inside of July talk. And this effort is nothing like July talk.

Alexi: Yeah. It’s completely different. Um,

Glen: and it’s interesting to me how the business of it. Goes about it differently. Like he can’t go and run through all of the same connections and sources and the places that would highly promote July talk aren’t gonna promote him.

And if you try, you might run into trouble.

Alexi: Yeah.

Glen: So I guess for me, like the experience though, like the way he was talking about trying to reestablish, you know. A sound and try to reestablish [01:12:00] himself

Alexi: as like a new thing. Yeah, as

Glen: a new thing. I guess I didn’t feel that exactly the same way in my experience.

I’ve. I was trying to think of how to still actually tap in to the band’s audience. ’cause I felt like I really needed a lot of help to get that machine running again. Mm-hmm. It didn’t help that it was right before the pandemic, but, um, seriously. But, but yeah, I mean, some of those things are, are definitely similar, but I, I very much empathize with somebody who’s moving from one.

A long-term successful thing to another. Uh, especially there’s little nuances, like for him, the nuances that that was kind of a band that came out of his youth. Yeah. Like high school like that. Like when you’re doing something through your twenties, you probably think that this is it and this is all or nothing.

’cause your twenties typically is really hard to see [01:13:00] past your thirties. Like you just can’t imagine life past your twenties. I

Alexi: can’t agree. ’cause I just turned 20, but I’ll take your word for it.

Glen: But it’s significantly different when you cross over into your thirties and then you start to feel like I time slows, you know, in some ways, and you just sort of see things a bit wider.

But I think that with bands in particular, like when you. When you’re banned outta high school, when your band young takes off

Alexi: mm-hmm.

Glen: You don’t think there can be anything else.

Alexi: Right.

Glen: And when that’s over, you’re probably thinking it’s over.

Alexi: Yeah.

Glen: Right. Um, so that can be a really hard thing. And I think if you look at how he did it, he did it really well.

Like he’s done really well. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So, yeah.

Alexi: Okay.

Glen: Yeah.

Alexi: Interesting. Um. Yeah. Kind of thought as much as that, but you never know. I was like, oh, maybe he said something about you were just like, dang, I feel that in my heart [01:14:00] and my soul.

Glen: You know, well we should probably wrap it up in the car and go inside.

Alexi: Yeah.

Glen: You never know. Sometimes it freaks the dog out if people are in the garage.

Alexi: True. She

Glen: could be losing her mind in that Hear voices. Yeah. Hearing voices, but, okay. Well, we’ll see how car post fame,

Alexi: car post fame turns out. And if it’s good, we might have to run it back

Glen: better

Alexi: than relying on the internet. We

Glen: don’t have much time to run it back. That’s the thing. But no,

Alexi: we’ll, no, like run a back as in like, here, I’ll teach you some sling really quick.

Glen: No, I know. I thought I knew A run aback.

Alexi: Okay. In, in different context, run it back as in like the run

Glen: it back was like a do-over,

Alexi: it could, but not as much anymore. Or did you just do it again? It’s like, yeah, do it again. Like, if it’s good, like, we run it back, like we, like we choose to do this version of it again.

Glen: Oh yeah. And we run it back. Like that time we record, we do it in the car. Okay. I saw it. I see what you meant. It’s like a

Alexi: repeat, but like repeat in the future.

Glen: A repeat in the fu like, let’s do this again. Yeah.

Alexi: Like some, like guys they like, like gross ones, not ones I hang out with.

Glen: Well, Peter, Peter Dream said to me then [01:15:00] is like, we, you know, we should run this wrong.

We can run this back.

Alexi: Yeah. That’s what like a lot of dudes say when they wanna hang out with people again, they’re like, yo, like we gotta run this back, darn it. Instead of just being like, Hey, I had a good time.

Glen: Well, I’ve heard it a lot and,

Alexi: and now, you know,

Glen: I, I think I often, I think I was listening to people and interpreting it that way, but when you said it right now, it just immediately translated as like, we’re gonna have a do over,

Alexi: we’re gonna have to do it again.

No, that’s kinda negative man.

Glen: Okay, I’ll be fine. Um, I’m up on it, down with it, whatever you wanna call it. I on it is

Alexi: crazy.

Glen: Whatever you want to call it.

Alexi: Get outta here, man. Okay,

Glen: we’re good. Thanks ladies. Bye.