HOMETOWN HUSTLE w/Arjun Roy

This is a conversation series with an accompanying podcast that charts my artistic journey through the Peace Country art & music scene circa year-2000 onwards. I believe in the importance of interconnectedness and collaboration, and thus am fascinated by art and music scenes and how they provide a space for budding artists to cut their teeth, stretch out and find themselves. I found exactly that upon moving to Grande Prairie in Autumn of 2000.

Meet some of my dear friends and collaborators and watch/listen as we reminisce about coming up as artist & musicians, developing our craft, working on our art and everything that went along with that process, warts and all. Hindsight is 20/20 and there is SO much wisdom to be gleaned from our experiences.

Feature 1

HOMETOWN HUSTLE - LISTEN NOW! Recorded at the legendary Better Than Fred's in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, my new conversation series premieres with a chat with my dear friend Brandon Mann. Due to scheduling constraints we had to cut our conversation short, so look out for a follow-up that picks up where this leaves off.

EPISODE 01 - Brandon and I met at college circa year-2000 and became fast friends, bonding initially over music and gear. He has a massive amount of technical knowledge surrounding gear, played a role in my initial band endeavours and then played out with his own bands.

Find out what I was up to post-Y2K!

Watch as we nerd out!

Many Thanks to John Kriska and Better Than Fred's!

ALSO - I realize that I need a theme song for this...V1 is a skate-thrash thing. V2 on the next one!

Feature 2

HOMETOWN HUSTLE - recorded at the legendary Better Than Fred's in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, this conversation series continues with my dear friend Al Peterson aka Origami Army.

EPISODE 02 - Find out about my first Al-show story and how this bromance evolved. Al has been an important figure in the GP arts & music scene for as long as I can remember; writing, gigging, forming bands, putting on shows, recording, and dispensing sage advice at the ol’ music store. Al’s journey has taken him from elsewhere to Grande Prairie, all over Canada and all over the world as a performer.

This may be the most hardcore episode yet!

Many Thanks to John Kriska and Better Than Fred’s!

https://origamiarmyofficial.bandcamp.com/

ALSO - Theme song V2 is a throwback synth idea. V3 on the next one!

Feature 3

HOMETOWN HUSTLE - LISTEN NOW! Recorded at the legendary Better Than Fred's in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, this conversation series continues with a continuation of the conversation with my dear friend Brandon Mann.

EPISODE 03 - We cover music scene and art events here from 2002 or so through 2004, including the early days of and meteoric rise of my old band, No Ones Alone. In parallel, as our friendship continues, Brandon’s role in band stuff intensifies along with his own foray into scene bands. One thread of conversation here is the help & support of a group of friends and family in helping these things along.

Find out how the band came to be!

Watch as we ruminate on the meanings of things past!

See our faces on YouTube!

Many Thanks to John Kriska and Better Than Fred's!

ALSO - Theme song V3 is pretty rad; is there any need for V4?!

HOMETOWN HUSTLE - recorded at the legendary Better Than Fred's in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, this conversation series continues with a marathon chat (hence the 2 parts) with Justin Staffen.

EPISODE 04 - Justin came up in the scene prior to me, and not only played in key bands, but also had a hand in putting on shows that helped to bolster the music scene in the area. Our paths crossed around 2003, when both of our main bands were becoming bands of note in the area. After the implosion of those bands, we combined our efforts briefly to begin the band that would become Calculating Collapse. Nowadays, Justin runs a successful business, is a family man and is actively getting back into the musical ends of things in the area.

Find out about our early bands and interactions!

Watch as we find clarity within past events!

See us converse on my YouTube Channel!

Many Thanks to John Kriska and Better Than Fred's!

ALSO - Theme song V4 is part of my experimental phase; what’s your take on it?

HOMETOWN HUSTLE - recorded at the legendary Better Than Fred's in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, this podcast/conversation series is the second-half of my marathon chat with my pal Justin Staffen.

EPISODE 05 - Justin came up in the scene prior to me, played in key bands, and also had a hand in putting on shows that helped to bolster the music scene in the area. As my band, No Ones Alone, imploded in 2005, Justin joined to go showcase in NYC and then rock the final iteration featuring Celeigh Cardinal on vocals.

We continued our collab briefly to begin the band that would become Calculating Collapse. Nowadays, Justin runs a successful business, is a family man and is actively getting back into the musical ends of things in the area.

How did we take the next steps?

Watch us converse on my YouTube channel!

Hit Subscribe and smash that little bell!

Many Thanks to John Kriska and Better Than Fred's!

ALSO - I’m going to keep rolling theme song V4 rolling for the conclusion to this one…

HOMETOWN HUSTLE - recorded at the legendary Better Than Fred's in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, this podcast/conversation series continues with the first of my conversations with Drummer and Producer extraordinaire, Bevin Booth

EPISODE 06 - Bevin grew up in town in a very talented and musical family - we’ve talked about his sisters Emily and Julie in episodes past, and now it’s time to give Bevin his due. Our paths crossed in the early 2000s, culminating in the metal band Calculating Collapse, where we flexed our chops and had a really good run.

Learn about Bevin’s childhood and his journey towards the arts, as well as the role that the scene played in supporting his musical ambitions, as well as ours once we turned our efforts to heavy metal.

Watch out for a little PG language!

Watch us converse on my YouTube channel!

Many Thanks to John Kriska and Better Than Fred’s!

Many Thanks to Darren Bennett of Rare Island Media for the multi-cam visuals; I'm iterating this here production so let's see where this goes ^_^

ALSO - I’m changing up the Theme song for this…V5…any takers?

HOMETOWN HUSTLE - recorded at the legendary Better Than Fred's in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, this podcast/conversation series continues with my second conversation with Drummer and Producer extraordinaire, Bevin Booth

EPISODE 07 - So here’s the thing. Bevin and I were in a metal band called Calculating Collapse, and we were good. Like REALLY good, if I do say so myself. We gained some notoriety in Western Canada, played a ton of really good shows, hit the scene at the right time for metal so things took off and had a good run. Bevin and I go deep into band lore, the ugly side of the art & music business, outline some lessons that we learned along the way and end up in the present day, talking shop as audio nerds. Take notes, trust your gut & keep writing!

Hit Subscribe and smash that little bell after watching us chat on YouTube!

Many Thanks to John Kriska and Better Than Fred’s!

Many Thanks to Darren Bennett of Rare Island Media for the video production; I’m further iterating this production, so we’re changing things up with the multi-angle cams again.

ALSO - I’m letting the Theme song ride…V5.

HOMETOWN HUSTLE - recorded at the legendary Better Than Fred's in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, this podcast/conversation series continues with my dear friend & wonderful human being, purveyor of Folk & Reggae, the OG, the Rastaprairian himself, Budiman!

EPISODE 08 - Budi and I go way back, first meeting in the mid-2000s and playing out lots during the heyday of the GP and area music scene. Our paths crossed as musicians a handful of times, but we were always in other bands and busy with our own thing. We collaborated on the 2005/6 single “Peace Starts At Home” with Justin Staffen, and recorded a bit before I moved to Boston. Our musical friendship culminated last year with the recording & release of “Love In Bali”; In this episode, we talk lots about our background, upbringing, musical journeys, arriving in GP and trying to make it happen. He is a fascinating person and has an amazing story, and I’m glad that you get to listen in!

Hit Subscribe and smash that little bell after watching us on my YouTube Channel!

Many Thanks to John Kriska and Better Than Fred’s!

I had to film solo on this one, hence the single angle. Many Thanks to Darren Bennett of Rare Island Media for putting the video together.

ALSO - The Theme has to be…what else…Love In Bali!
Check out that video here!

HOMETOWN HUSTLE - recorded at the legendary Better Than Fred's in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, this podcast/conversation series continues with my good pal, creative professional, Joel Morgan.

EPISODE 09 - Joel and I have had some good conversations since I moved back to town, I mean some really great conversations, and over the course of these chats, we discovered that we lead oddly parallel lives. At different stages of our careers, we share some personal and creative challenges and are going through similar periods of transition in similar ways. I don’t want to give it away here, so have a listen!

Hit Subscribe and smash that little bell on my YouTube Channel! Like and Share on Facebook!

Many Thanks to John Kriska and Better Than Fred’s!

Many Thanks to Darren Bennett of Rare Island Media for the multi-cam capture and video editing.

Find Joel on YouTube, as well as fatdogpod.com!

ALSO - Throwing it back to this theme; I might expand on this one as the official theme for Hometown Hustle. What do you think?