Heartbeat Radio

It's no question that I am a Sondre Lerche music fan. The first time I heard his single, "Two Way Monologue," I was out the door and off to buy his album.

That was about six years ago now.

Let's just say I never imagined having the privilege to do a one-on-one interview with him. Well, it happened! I spoke with him a few days ago about his latest release, Heartbeat Radio.



To those of you who aren't familiar, Sondre Lerche is from Bergen, Norway. He has released 4 full-length albums and he composed the majority of the music for Dan in Real Life - which by the way was an awesome film.

My personal favourite songs off his albums are as mentioned earlier, "Two Way Monologue," along with "You Know So Well," "John, Let Me Go," and I pretty much adore anything off his jazz album, Duper Sessions.

The article should be up on lucidforge.com within the next week. So check back for it.

However, if you are looking to hear a bit of the interview, I have posted a couple of minutes from it. In this clip Sondre talks about one of his first times on stage. It's pretty funny!


I think it is great to promote and spread awareness to the public about unique artists not only locally but also internationally. There are tons of amazing and brilliant singer/songwriters from Europe, America and right in our Canadian backyards who release an album that is unconventional, fun and sometimes very methodical.

So with these words, I encourage you to give Sondre a listen. The album will drop on September 8th in North America. Trust me, his music will blow you away. :)

- Emily

Advice from a CBC veteran

About 5 months ago I had the great pleasure of chatting with Sasa Petricic for the North Toronto Post.

Sasa Petricic is a CBC journalist for The National. The man has been to war zones, in extreme weather conditions and he has documented highly controversial issues nationally and internationally.

Not only is it a very rare honour to talk to someone of his caliber but it was also an informative and inspirational experience. Petricic began his journey as a journalist at a small station in rural Canada. Today, he is a Gemini-nominated reporter.

Every time I feel like I'm going to crash and burn, I think back to our conversation. His advice to me was to get as much experience as possible and to get familiar with all aspects of the media like photography, video and the web.

So, I'm taking his words to heart. He is truly an admirable journalist.

Click here to read my interview.



- Emily

My most memorable interviews

I have been meaning to create a post like this for a while. I just haven't had the time to create audio clips from some of the interviews.

This is my list of great quotes and sound bites from interviews I have had the pleasure of doing over the past year.

5. The Paint Movement - I picked this band as one of my favourites because they were simply hilarious! I interviewed them at the Mod Club only a few days ago actually and they performed a solid set. During my interview with them I asked if they ever get annoyed with each other while on tour. Take a listen to their answer. It is gold.


4. Carey West - I am a huge fan of jazz music and Carey West is a pretty jazzy gal. Her music isn't the norm (in a good way!) and her voice is truly unique.

I interviewed her at the beginning of the year to discuss her CBC Radio One national performance. She told me how early she had to wake up and how nerve wracking it was to be performing live to all parts of Canada.

She also spilled the beans about a few embarrassing high school stories. Take a listen.


3. USS - Alright, I have chosen USS because of one reason alone: my answering machine message. I never saved it but Ash left me an amazingly long message about the garbage situation in Toronto. It had no real relevance, he was just returning my call. But I found it pretty wonderful.

I have attached an audio clip with Human Kebab explaining how Ash broke his ankle.


2. Bedouin Soundclash - Sadly, I have no audio clips from this interview. I was having trouble with my recorder during my interview. So, I had to take out my trusty pen and paper.

I picked this as one of my favs because well, Jay Malinowski is SO nice and I guess you can call him one of my celebrity crushes! I mentioned him in a previous blog. To make a long story short, it was a phone interview and we had trouble with the cellphone signals. Anyway, he told me I could talk to him for as long as I needed to, despite my designated 15 minute interview length.

After my chat with him I bought all of Bedouin's albums. :)

He's dreamy :P

1. The Midway State - O.M.G! I had a chance to interview Mike Kirsh and Mike Wise from the Midway State ("Change for You") for Post City Magazines in the winter. I met them at a pub on Dupont in Toronto. They were conducting interviews for a roadie position. My interview with them lasted for a whole of 10 minutes but they invited me to stay for lunch!


(A photo Mike Wise sent me of him and Kirsh, during their high school days, jammin' at the Indigo cafe)

During that time I found out both Mike Kirsh and I attended the Britney Spears mall concert - almost a decade ago. I think I have a whole new respect for him. That seriously made my day. He said he was the little boy in the background of the news camera trying to sneak into the shot.

These guys are great. A band I'd like to interview again in the future for sure.

There was so many awesome clips I wanted to post. But I picked this one. Listen to hear their funny Juno nomination story.


That's all for now, folks!

- Em

American Idol in Canada

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love American Idol!

I watched it religiously this whole season. I normally try to stay away from reality t.v. because I get addicted. This year I told myself, "No. I will just watch it to pass the time. No getting addicted!"

Well, that didn't work.

I also have a tendency to root for the underdog. So, to my surprise this year my favourite, Kris Allen, won! I was on iTunes every week downloading his studio covers and I updated my facebook status with my take on his weekly performances.

Naturally, when Kris and the rest of the Idols stopped north of the border I had to go.

I drove with a few friends to Hamilton (2 hours away) to see the Idol concert. And guess what?! Yours truly actually got to meet Kris Allen. I KNOW! Go me! I waited for over four hours in the heat and with an empty tummy for him. I was pretty happy - to say the least - when he took a photo with me and signed my shirt. :)

For those of you who couldn't make it to the show, I reviewed the American Idol concert for lucidforge.com. Click here to read it.


- Emily

Tonight I Have The Stars

O.M.G!!! What an experience it is to see the legendary Canadian rockstar, Bryan Adams, in concert.

On August 13th and 15th, Adams visited Toronto for his Massey Hall and yes, I was there to soak him all up.

After his 30+ years in the music industry, I finally - for the first time - got to see him live.

The show was unplugged, intimate and moving.

I can't even begin to explain what I loved most about his show. The man has an intense and powerful stage presence. His performance of "Star" nearly brought me to tears - a true measure of HOW much it captivated and touched my spirit.

Along with being entirely breath taking, his concert was actually pretty funny at points. He sang "Please Forgive Me" in the style of a country-western jam that had the sold out audience laughing in hysterics!

However I must say, I found his rendition of Stompin' Tom Connors' "The Good Old Hockey Game" brilliant! You can't go wrong with a Canadian audience by singing that tune, that’s for sure.

Adams told fans that it was hard for him to fit his entire music career into two hours. Among Adams' set list included "Summer of '69," "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman," "Cuts Like a Knife," and a song he admits was written for a film about a male stripper, "Heaven." He said, "To anyone who got married to his...I'm sorry if I ruined it."

It is hard for me to name only one of my concert experiences as my favourite, but as of right now Bryan Adams is stealing my heart and the number one place in my books.

- Emily

Rare Species Productions

Tonight, I was out and about in the VERY rural surroundings of Bowmanville, Ontario.

Why was I in the middle of nowhere you ask? Well, I was out supporting local talent in the form of directors, actors and techies who are apart of Rare Species Productions

The cast and crew of Shelter - a soon-to-be feature length independent horror film - were spending their night as "Celebrity Servers" at the Bowmanville Boston Pizza serving customers and raising awareness and money for the film which is slated for production in October.

I am personally close to many of the supports and the creators of the film having known them through my work at Rogers TV. They are passionate and truly talented people.

I am excited and proud of them. I can't wait to see the project come together into -what i know - will be a super scary movie.

Check out the SPOOKY trailer:


- Emily

Totes Magotes

I am happy to announce that "I Love You, Man" and "17 Again" are now on DVD!

I know, I know. "I Love You, Man" was great but why am I so stoked for "17 Again"?

Truth be told, I am a sucker for Zac Efron. I really liked him in "Hairspray". His performance surprised me and I also own all THREE "High School Musical" DVDs.

...And I think Sacha Baron Cohen's coined "wow, wow, wee-wow" best describes this photo. :)

Setting aside my Zac Efron fan-girl opinions, "17 Again" was actually a great flick. It was cute, funny and sappy. As far as I am concerned it included all the necessary elements that make click flicks fabulous - besides Zac Efron (a.k.a. the cute guy) - it included a few romantic moments and enough tearjerker moments to fill the Nile River.

I'm surprised I haven't purchased it yet. But I think I can wait until it hits the sale bin.

As for "I Love You, Man," that is another story. I laughed throughout the entire movie AND I saw it in theatres five times (yes, I loved it THAT much). I was fearful it might not be as funny as "Pineapple Express," (which, by the way, is one of my favourite comedy movies).

I thought ILYM topped Pineapple. With a winning cast (Jason Segel and Paul Rudd) along with a slue of memorable quotes ("totes magotes" and "slappin' the bass, mon!”) the DVD is worth buying.

My advice: go out right now and buy that movie. It is the feel great flick of the year and if you are anything like me you will want to watch it over and over again!

That's all for now, folks!

- Emily

Swap Shop Fall Promos

As summer comes to an end that means - for most people - the start of classes, back to school shopping and another step towards Old Man Frost, but for me it means another season of my show, Swap Shop.

This is my second season hosting the show and I am pretty excited to start up again for the fall.

In preparation of the new season, this weekend my co-host and I shot our fall promos.

Promos. Oh, the promos! I don't hate doing promos, but I am naturally very shy. It takes a lot of concentration and a couple of deep breaths for me to relax in front of the camera. Doing fall promos can be hard. My nervous habits include laughter - as mentioned in my previous post.

Last year while shooting fall promos I went through a good 5 takes before getting it right. But it was my first time filming a promo, so thankfully people had patience with me.

Luckily this year my co-host was present with me in the studio for filming, unlike last year. I always feel better with him around. The camera loves him and he is experienced and comfortable in front of it.

With him there, I was actually was able to get through all my takes without blowing it by giggling. Yay me!

The promos will be out and free for me to post by the end of the month. But check out our summer promo - which is NOTHING like the fall promos. The summer promo is cute, relaxed and filmed on our talk show-like set. It appears on the top left-hand corner of the Rogers TV, Swap Shop home page. We return in September. Saturdays at 5pm and now, back by popular demand, Sunday afternoon repeats.

Swap Shop Summer 2009 Promo


(my co-host and I before the show)


- Emily

First Blog EVER!

Wow! So this is my first time EVER blogging. To begin, I think it would be helpful to explain why - after 7 years of computer/internet addiction - I have decided to finally create an online diary.

I am beginning this blog to share stories about my life as a photographer and journalist. I have so many stories, so much to share and no where to really document these great, funny and sometimes embarrassing stories.

For example, only a few weeks ago I interviewed Jay Malinowski, the lead singer of Juno Award-winning duo, The Bedouin Soundclash. I KNOW! AWESOME! I was actually
pretty nervous to do the interview. And when I'm nervous, it is never good for me and probably not to good for whoever I'm around. I tend to talk A LOT! I'm never really sure if I make sense either. But as long as they respond then I must, right?

Anyway, when I called Jay I swear we spent at least 5 minutes asking each other, "Can you hear me now?" The only thing I was thinking at that point: WHY AM I NOT ON THE VERIZON NETWORK?!

*Sigh*

But to make a long story short, Jay was actually really funny. I ended up asking him how he feels when he sees a crowd singing along and dancing to his music. Typical question I assume. His response, "Wait, are they good dancers?" His answer was followed by my prolonged laughter. I think I giggled (like a schoolgirl!) for a good 20-30 seconds...which is really long if you think about. For some reason, I found that extremely hilarious. One of those 'you-had-to-be-there' moments I guess.

Thankfully, Jay extended my interview time (after that phone kerfuffle). He told me
I could talk to him for as long as I needed to until I was questioned-out.

Anyway, I sugguest checking out the band's newest song "Hearts in the Night." A new - almost acoustic/rock - vibe compared to their signature "When the Night Feels My Song" sound.

- Emily