Probing Psychics, Handyman or Horror, and More with Jason Whissell

Episode 14 • 31st October 2024 • 5 Random Questions • Danny Brown

You know, I have no problem saying, like, when I get to that point, I know I'll be able to look back and go, yeah, that was a fun ride. That was an absolutely fun ride. Because, you know, I do try to surround myself with creative pursuits. You know, we talked about playing music.

We talked about podcasting, reading, the likes. You know, maybe someday I'll have written a book and put that out there.

Maybe someday I'll have, you know, recorded a solo album and put that out there. You never know, right?

But it's the pursuit of things that make you smile and make you happy and fulfill you from that creative standpoint that at that point, at ninety years old, you sit back and go, that was one hell of a ride.

Danny Brown: 00:00:41

Hi, and welcome to Five Random Questions, the show where every question is an adventure. I'm your host, Danny Brown, and each week I'll be asking my guests five questions created by a random question generator.

The guest has no idea what the questions are, and neither do I, which means this could go either way. So sit back, relax, and let's dive into this week's episode. Today's guest is Jason Whissell.

Jason is the host of It's Not That Bad, and There Can Only Be One. He's also the promo editor for Sportsnet, an editing teacher at College of Sports Media, and to top it all off, he plays the bass.

So, Jason, welcome to Five Random Questions.

Jason: 00:01:16

Danny, thank you so much for having me on the show. I'm. I'm looking forward to this, but I'm also scared of what some of the questions are going to be. So it's. I. It's nervous energy at this point.

Danny Brown: 00:01:27

Well, and as I always say to my guests as well, I'm completely with you. You know, I don't know what the questions are. It is obviously all on you. Just to put extra pressure on you is ninety five percent on you, sir.

But, I mean, they're pretty. They're pretty. There's no awful, horrible, horrible questions so far anyway, so hopefully we'll. We'll continue that tradition.

And I've got to ask you, you play the bass. Are you a picker or a slapper?

Jason: 00:01:49

I learned playing bass doing upright bass in. In high school. So originally when I started playing bass, it was like, you know, upright and with a bow. So I'm very much a finger picker.

I very, very, very rarely use a pick. I have been known to use a drumstick on occasion, but that's just for fun, right?

Danny Brown: 00:02:11

And bass. I mean, I've played guitar years and years ago. And when I say played, I probably played it for three months. That's it.

And I just couldn't harden my fingertips up enough to play. Bass strings are obviously thicker than guitar strings, so because you're picking the.

The bass that you find that would be harder on your fingers than if you were, say, picking a guitar with the thinner strings or, you know, I would say it.

Jason: 00:02:34

It's a little bit easier just because of the thickness of it. But then again, I've also opened my fingers up on a string in the middle of a show and bled all over my base.

So I want to say it's easier, but it just. It still hurts after a while, especially if you haven't played after a long time.

And I've had stretches where it's like, you don't play for, like, a year or two, and then you pick it up and it's like, oh, yeah, I should have practiced before this. But it's a little bit of blood loss. You know, it's all good.

Danny Brown: 00:03:02

You suffer for your art, right? Like any good artist. And you've got two podcasts, and the second one, There Can Only Be One.

Now, at first, when I first heard that podcast, I thought I heard THE title. I thought it was going to be about Highlander, you know, because obviously that's the big, main, you know, phrase. I guess there can only be one.

But it's a real interesting premise where you look at the entire discography... The entire discography - that's a hard word - of an artist. But you only pick one song per album to go over. Has there ever been.

Because I'd imagine, like, obviously all artists have got more than one great song on their albums normally. Has there ever been a time when you couldn't narrow it down to once you've bypassed that artist for the recording?

Jason: 00:03:43

No, no. I made the rules, and I suffer by those rules every episode.

There was one episode where two of my absolutely favorite songs by this artist were on the same album. And if I had to make a listing of, like, top five songs by Pink, numbers one and number two are on the same album. So it was really hurting me there.

And I'm just, like. I had to narrow it down to, well, I really like the live version of this one, so I'll go with the other.

But just know that there are some very tough decisions on some of those albums.

Danny Brown: 00:04:19

I can imagine. And Pink, I mean, her album, like, her songs are just amazing. She's a fantastic artist. Probably one of my favorites as well, actually.

Jason: 00:04:26

Oh, there are. There have Been some really tough episodes. And the more you like the artist, the tougher it is sometimes.

The very first episode we did was on Anthrax, which is actually the band that brought my wife and I together. So going through that, it's like, okay, this is one of our favorite artists together, and we both have to only pick one song.

And the funny thing is when you realize that a song that she might pick is the song that I would never pick and then vice versa.

So that's where some of the interesting discussions come from, because everyone listens to an artist differently, and certain songs hit certain people in a different way. So you and I could do an episode, and your favorite song on one album might be my least favorite song on that album. But both answers are still right.

And it's part of the fun of the game of that show.

And that's kind of what I like about it, is that it feels like one of those games that you would play in the car and simple of listing movie titles alphabetically and whatnot. No, this is one of those. All right, here's this album. What's your favorite song? You can only pick one song off of it. What is it?

And it just becomes one of those fun conversational type games, and you find yourself playing along with it when you're listening to the show.

Danny Brown: 00:05:41

Well, speaking of. That's a nice segue. Thank you for that. Speaking of fun and conversational, let's dive into the five random questions for this week's episode.

So I'm going to bring up the random question generator. Okay, here's a fun one to kick things off. Jason, question number one. How come you never read about a psychic winning the lottery?

Jason: 00:06:02

I mean, the easy answer to that is because they're full of crap. I think it's one of those things, like, I would love for there to be some.

Some kind of weird Hippocratic oath amongst psychics where it says, all right, you have this power, but you can never use it for yourself. You can only use it to help those who come see you. But we know that's not true. We know it's definitely not true.

There was a fantastic show that I think is actually available on Crave right now called Penn and Tellers. And I don't know if you're gonna have to bleep this out, but I'm gonna say it anyways because it's the title of the show. Penn and Tellers Bullshit.

And they did an episode on psychics, and, like, one of the very first episodes they did in their first Season. And I'm just like, yeah, no, we knew they were full of crap, but this was really debunking them.

And I know some people out there believe in it and I never want to crap on their belief of anything. What I feel bad about is people who take advantage of people's belief.

So, yeah, maybe they're winning the lottery, is thinking that they have psychic powers to begin with.

Danny Brown: 00:07:09

And like you say, I mean, it's. You don't want to, you know, like crap on anybody's belief. And so I'm going to assume you don't believe in astrology either. Is that the right word?

Where the. They go by the months, right, and they tell you your, your fortune based on what's happening each month or something.

Jason: 00:07:24

I mean, you can find a kernel of truth in any kind of description.

You know, if I were to sit there and say, well, yes, I'm a Libra and I have a very balanced personality, yeah, but you can sit there and find yourself in anything that's written if you're looking for it. Do I believe that astrology guides everything and everyone in the universe? Absolutely not.

But do I sit there and say people looking for understanding in something can find it in that? Absolutely they can. It's just because I don't believe in it doesn't mean that for some people it isn't very true.

And in that I hope people do find maybe not necessarily meaning and understanding, but at least peace of mind in reading some of that.

Danny Brown: 00:08:13

And I wonder if, let's see, psychics. And maybe I don't want to say they don't have powers or whatever, but as you mentioned, it's questionable.

But let's say a psychic did have psychic abilities and could see the future and could determine, you know, winning lottery numbers. You don't actually see anything like that in the rules and terms, et cetera on lottery tickets.

And you know, casinos are guess to say if you've got psychic abilities, you can't participate, you know, in this game or this lottery.

I wonder how that would be dealt with if a psychic did predict the six numbers, you know, plus the bonus or whatever it is if they'd actually try wheedle out of. Know what a lot of the companies can be like when it comes to big wins.

Especially I used to work at OLG, which you'll know being in Toronto, and they had lots of rules. If it was over fifty thousand, you had to go through all sorts of checks, you know, before you could get the winnings.

So I wonder if they'd have to do something like that. What do you think?

Jason: 00:09:11

I mean, the fact that no lottery ever says, you see, the rules sometimes, like, you know, you cannot work for the company in order to be able to enter this contest. You cannot do this. You cannot be a family member of someone who works at this company.

So you see these kind of stipulations so they can avoid any possibility of claims of disingenuous lottery winnings and the like. You never see, you know, cannot be a psychic at all. Right to the same tokens. You can't see.

You know, there's nothing about being in jury duty that says, well, if you're a psychic, then you can't work on the jury, because wouldn't that actually make things a lot faster? But the thing is, it would be fascinating.

I would love to see a movie about that where someone with a bonafide track record of proper psychic powers wins a lottery and then the company tries to get out of it. That would be a fantastic comedy film, but it just doesn't happen in real life.

But it'd be curious, you know, and if it was true, then you would see someone winning the lottery every single week. And there's the question.

If a psychic ever won the lottery, would they be tempted to just, you know, call it a day and just say, cool, I have exactly what I need, or would they keep going back to the well? You have to think the greed would have them going back to the well, and at some point the lottery company would go, yeah, we got to talk.

Danny Brown: 00:10:38

Yeah, you can't have the Same person winning five million, ten million every single week or once a month. They don't want to be super greedy weekly, but going back, like you say, you know, to take the winners. So there we go. We don't believe in psychics.

That's why they don't win the lottery. But we don't need to be psychic to know it's time for question number two.

Okay, I feel this should be a question for me, given I'm doing work in my basement at the moment. But, Jason, question number two. When things break, do you prefer to fix them or replace them?

Jason: 00:11:07

Oh, my wife is going to have a good, good chuckle this one. I prefer to try to fix things. I am known for working with equipment that is either cobbled together or somehow held together through duct tape.

I have taken wood glue and fixed an acoustic bass guitar just to make sure that I don't have to actually buy another acoustic bass guitar. I have had a bass strap fall off on stage mid song. And then I had to use an Allen key and duct tape in order to kind of put it back together.

And yet I still have that bass and it still works. I have no problem. If it works well enough and just takes a little bit of elbow grease and a little bit of duct tape, I'll hold it together.

I also wear shoes until the point where the soles are completely fallen off and my socks all look like they're Sunday socks because they're holy as hell. But I'm loathe to buy something new unless it's to the point where it just does not do the job that I need it to do anymore.

Danny Brown: 00:12:16

And when you've been fixing things on your own, has there ever been something that you fixed and you've looked at it afterwards or you've used it, or you've gone to use it afterwards, you're thinking, should have got professional? We do this one.

Jason: 00:12:27

Oh, yeah, yeah.

So in our first house that we bought, we wanted to fix the grout in the kitchen because it was, it was an older house, you know, and the grout has gotten to the point where it was starting to chip and constantly fall out. And anyone who's ever stepped on a piece of Lego knows the pain of stepping on something that small and that hard. So I'm like, oh, you know what?

Grout can't be that hard. I'll just go out, get a thing of grout, mix it up and slather it back in.

And afterwards, I think it was after about two days and grout became a four letter word. And I'm just like, no, no, no, I'm out of my league here.

And then we brought in a flooring company and they put one of those linoleum tiles that goes over the original ceramic tile. So it's basically putting a floor over top of a floor so it's slightly elevated. But it meant they didn't have to tear out the tiling.

And at that point I was like, yeah, no, there are certain things I know I can do and certain things I know I can't. And if I know I'm out of my league, then I'm going to bring in a specialist, you know, changing a light fixture. I know how to do that.

It's just a matter of closing the breaker and pulling out the thing and making sure that everything's capped off and that's fine. I've installed new lighting fixtures. I'm good with that.

I've changed a dryer, but when it came to the washer, I'm Bringing in a plumber, because the last thing I want to do is inadvertently create a swimming pool in my laundry room. So when I know I'm out of my league, I'm bringing in the specialist.

But more often than not, I have no problems going to the school of Google and finding how to do things myself.

Danny Brown: 00:14:06

Well, I guess because it's like floor tiles as well. Would you have had to have taken the flooring out completely or was it just a matter of chipping away at the grout and then replacing the grout?

Because flooring can be a bit weird if you're having to do not square, like edges up to each other if you've got a pattern or something as well, I guess.

Jason: 00:14:25

Well, that's the thing. It was a fairly simple tile pattern. So I thought, oh, yeah, no, it shouldn't be a problem.

I'll just get this little grout remover and dig out all the old grout and then just put some new grout in and that should be fine. So he thought. And that was when I realized that I cannot do everything. And I have stuck by that rule. If you know what to do, then okay, if.

If you don't know what to do, get someone who does.

Danny Brown: 00:14:52

Yeah. And don't be stubborn and like having stubborn pride to say, I can do this, I can do this. And find out. Yeah.

A day afterwards you're thinking, I really can't do this.

Jason: 00:15:01

I think there's a forty eight rule on. I think I can do this.

You know, it's okay to start something sitting there and go, maybe I should just double check and watch a few more videos or go to a few more websites. Within forty eight hours, if you're still sitting there looking up things, you're out of your league.

Danny Brown: 00:15:17

That's a good one. I'm going to stick to that. I mean, like I mentioned earlier, we are doing basement work at the moment.

So my wife and I have been watching a whole bunch of, you know, DIY home repair videos by proper experts, obviously, and that's really helped us. But I feel that at some stage I might be a bit. We're thinking we're going to get someone in for that, for example, because that looks really hard.

So there we go. There's a forty eight step rule or a forty eight hour rule. Sorry.

If you can't fix it and you're still worrying within that 40 hours, as Jason says, let's get someone in. And speaking of forty eight hours, that's a really tenuous link. We're going to jump forward to question number three.

But in less than 4forty eight hours we're going to do that now. So let's have a look at question number three. Okay, question three. If you could run one business, which would it be and how would you change it?

Jason: 00:16:08

I have this weird little dream of one day like winning the lottery and all that and not having to work the full time job for a living, but then be able to open up my own used bookstore and have it be a combination used bookstore and coffee shop.

So the kind of place where you would go and even if you just sat and read the book that was on the shelf, you're buying coffee and probably some treats and basically staying so you're still supporting the business and create this kind of nice little. My wife would want to call it Cozy Corner and I'm completely fine with that.

So it'd be one of those things where start by a small little bookshop, used bookshop, maybe leaning more towards the sci fi side of things because I love sci fi books and maybe I'm just trying to find a reason to hang around books and read all day, but I would still be happy with that.

But to that token, I would make sure that independent authors in the area would still be able to come in and do book signings and readings and the like and basically have it as a way to create a space for independent authors to show their wares. Because, you know, I've been in independent bands and you know, looking for places to showcase the music.

I'm sure it's the same thing for authors and give them a place to showcase their wares.

Danny Brown: 00:17:28

And so you mentioned used books. Would you have people drop off their unwanted books with the Reddit or would you like be going around picking books up from.

Not picking books up from scrap peeps? Obviously not. But as they've been thrown out at the side of the road or something like that, how would you fill up your bookstore?

Jason: 00:17:44

Well, obviously people would bring in their books and rather than pay out because you want to make sure that the company is still, or at least the business still be able to operate, you give them an amount of store credit. So it's basically like laundering books at that point.

But I mean, if you saw a book or a box of books at a garage sale and they were selling like an entire box of books for, you know, a relatively reasonable price. Yeah, sure. Pick it up if the books are good and you have it. The way I see it is this.

If I can look at a box of books and say I would read at least Two or three of them. I would probably buy it and bring it back.

That way you're supporting the community, you're supporting the neighborhood, but you're also supporting your own business by bringing in stock for a fairly reasonable price.

Danny Brown: 00:18:29

Have you ever considered, because obviously you're into books and that'd be a great idea. My wife's friend over in Cobourg, which is a little sort of town in Ontario here in Canada, she's got a bookstore.

It was like her dream to have a bookstore and she finally opened one.

Have you ever considered the idea of a little free library at your home or something as well, where people can borrow books and put them back in, drop books off, etc.

Jason: 00:18:51

You know what, I probably have enough books to be able to do that right now. My wife will be the first to say that I might have a slight book addiction.

Obviously this is an audio only podcast, so what your listeners aren't seeing are the massive amount of books that are behind me. I'd like to say it's cheap soundproofing, but I had to pay for the books.

So it's not cheap soundproofing, but I want to make sure that there are always books out there. And right now what I do is I'll read the books and then I'll bring them to my local used bookstore and trade them in for store credit.

Exactly what I said I would do. So again, you're supporting the local business because you're making sure that they have stock.

And then I usually buy one or two books off the shelf as well because I'll see a title that seems interesting. That's the kind of business that I would love to run.

The kind of place where you go in and you know, the regulars and the owners know who comes in and helps support the business and it creates a very community aspect to it.

Danny Brown: 00:19:51

And is there one book that you wouldn't sell? So if someone brought the book in, it's like a book that you love or something.

There's one that you wouldn't sell because of either sentimental value or just this is a book that's going to always stay here.

Jason: 00:20:04

There are one or two books in my bookshelf upstairs and I know there's one. And my kids bought it for me for my birthday and they wrote a little inscription in the book and I'm just like, I've read that book, loved that book.

I'm never getting rid of that book because they wrote that in that book for me. So no matter how many, how many years go by, I will still hold on to that one.

Danny Brown: 00:20:29

That's very nice. And like you say, you've got that when your kids, I don't know if your kids are grown up and they've left home now, they're still at home with you.

But when they do move on, start their own lives and families and that, you've always got that. It's always going to be there. So that's really nice that.

Jason: 00:20:43

Oh, absolutely. And yeah, they're still here, they're still of school age.

So one day I'm going to see that book and open it up and go, I remember when they were here and whatnot. But it's true. It's a nice little sentimental thing. And that's the wonderful thing.

If you buy a book for someone, write a little thing on the inside cover so they have a memento and a memory attached to it.

Danny Brown: 00:21:05

That's really good. I'm going to remember that. I've had never even thought of that. Like, I'll buy books. My wife's up. She's like you. She's a voracious book reader.

And in her old home, she used to have like wall to wall when the basement was just all books. You know, she, she measured it out. She got all this stuff from IKEA. We built our, like shelving and everything at the back.

And so they turned the basement into a mini library. And she's very much like you, I can attest. Like you said, you got a whole row of books behind you there. But that's a really nice idea.

I'm going to take that forward, putting a little note there because, like, you see, it just makes that a little bit of a difference from this is a really nice gift to this is a really personal gift.

Jason: 00:21:40

Even if you just put it on a sticky note and put it inside, maybe put it on a random page so when they get to that page, it's a nice little smile and a nice little, you know, you know, while you're reading this book, take a moment to know just, you know, I'm thinking about you.

Danny Brown: 00:21:53

I like it. I'm going to do that and I shall take a photograph and I'll send it over to you, mate, just to show that, hey, here you go.

I've done this because of you.

Jason: 00:22:00

Done and done.

Danny Brown: 00:22:01

Done and done. Well, speaking of done and done, that is question. I like that. That is question three. Done and done.

So let's take a look at what's in store for question number four. Interesting. Okay, this could go a little either way, I guess. Question four.

Jason, if you could lock up one person in a mental institution, who would it be?

Jason: 00:22:50

I'm sure if my lovely wife was here, she would say, well, probably me. I don't know if I would ever lock anyone up in a mental institution.

I love that places are there like CAMH are there for people who need the help and whatnot. But I don't know if I would sit there and say I would lock one up, one person in a mental institution.

And I don't want to get into politics either, because I don't like to get into politics. One of the interesting things, and I do this on both. It's not that bad. I do this on.

There can only be one, because every now and then, an actor or a musician will somewhere in their life, go in a direction where you sit there and go, oh, I didn't realize they were a horrible person like that. And you all of a sudden question whether you should even be listening to the music or watching the movies.

My general take on that is that you can like the art and still disagree with the artist. You know, again, I'm not.

I'm not getting into, you know, political discussions here, but I want to take someone who's, you know, been very outspoken as of late, and whether you agree with him or not, that is entirely upon the person Ted Nugent has been. How do we say, loud in the voicing his opinions.

And whatever you think of those opinions, that is, regardless of the case, you can sit there and agree or disagree with Ted Nugent, and you can also sit there and say, okay, maybe I disagree with him, but that doesn't make Cat Scratch Fever any worse of a song. You can disassociate the art from the artist.

And I think that is okay, you know, to sit there and say you would lock up one person in a minimalist institution as much as you may want to at times, that's. It's a bit of a negative stretch on things. I would hope that people, if they need the help, would go to a place like camh.

And I say that because, you know, it's here in Toronto. Always seek the help that you need.

And if you are worried about someone who might need the help, you know, have the courage to talk to them and maybe encourage them to get the help. And that's. I think that's where I kind of leave it at that.

Danny Brown: 00:25:04

No, and I think I completely agree with you.

I was wondering where to go with this question or not, but I do like to leave the questions random and not push out what could be harder questions, if you like. And I feel you're right that I feel a better question would have been if you feel someone needs a mental health. What's the word? Interruption.

Jason: 00:25:27

An intervention.

Danny Brown: 00:25:28

Intervention. Thank you. Yeah. If you've got a friend or a family member or someone you see clearly needs help, I think it'd be better.

A better worded question would have been, would you speak up? Would you encourage. For example, and you mentioned it there, you answered it yourself, you would. And it's important because a lot of people don't.

I mean, I suffer mental health issues, my wife does, and a lot of people don't want to speak about it. And that obviously there's still the stigma right around mental wellness and mental health. So.

And that makes it worse because the more you keep it inside, the tougher it gets. It's always nice to hear that someone would, you know, like you said, speak up and encourage the person to get help.

Jason: 00:26:08

Yeah. It's not hard to sit there and just stop and look at someone and go, are you okay? And leave it as open at that.

And if they, if they're ready to talk about it, they might say, no, I'm not. And sometimes they just need someone to listen to them. They just need to vent. They need to get things off their chest.

That's all you have to do is sit there and say, are you okay? And if someone says, no, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine. You know, you can sit there and say, okay, because if you're not, you know, we can talk.

And just that simple question can help people without having them having to go to therapy or things that they can't afford. Bored? Just be there for your friends. Be there for someone with an open ear.

Danny Brown: 00:26:52

Just. Even the presence of being beside someone can just be enough at times.

Jason: 00:26:55

Oh, absolutely.

And it's hard to sometimes, because sometimes the people who try to help others the most are the ones who sometimes need the help themselves the most. And it's almost like they're channeling their need for help and be able to create something positive around them.

So even if you think that someone's got it together, if you worry about them again, don't ever hesitate to ask because maybe sometimes they're afraid to answer that question themselves. So just be there for people. Reach out, call people and check in.

Danny Brown: 00:27:29

Great advice, solid advice. So let's have a look. We're finally here. Let's have a look at question number five. I like this because it kind of ties into the note in Your book.

But Jason, question number five. When you're ninety years old, what will matter most to you?

Jason: 00:27:47

That's if I make it even to ninety.

I think at that point it's just, you know, hoping that family is still around and hoping that I'm well enough and present enough to be able to enjoy those later years and maybe hopefully I'll have a chance to get through all these books that I've bought. And I don't know if I have enough time left in on this world to be able to read them all. I'm going to do my damnedest.

But the problem is when you go to the bookstore and you see more books and you bring them home. But I think at ninety years old, you know, it's that mental awareness and presence, being able to, when you're there, to be there.

And I have no problem saying, like, when I get to that point point, I know I'll be able to look back and go, yeah, that was a fun ride. That was an absolutely fun ride. Because I do try to surround myself with creative pursuits.

We talked about playing music, we talked about podcasting, reading the likes. Maybe someday I'll have written a book and put that out there. Maybe someday I'll have recorded a solo album and put that out there. You never know.

But it's the pursuit, pursuit of things that make you smile and make you happy and fulfill you from that creative standpoint that at that point, at ninety years old, you sit back and go, that was one hell of a ride.

Danny Brown: 00:29:12

And speaking of that, and I want to tie this in a little bit to your...

There Can Only Be One podcast when you reach ninety years old if you're told there's only of all the things that you love, of all the, you know, the arts that you love and all the, the music and podcasts and are reading, etc, if you were told that you could only choose one thing to really take with you when you're ninety and be really in the moment with that one thing or person.

But I'm going to go for thing because I'd imagine person, you know, who you want to be with at ninety, one thing that you could take and be aware of, what would that be?

Jason: 00:29:47

It's probably playing music.

And for as long as I can remember, you know, like from growing up as a young kid, there was always this comfy chair beside the stereo and a set of headphones, you know, so I wasn't bugging everyone in the house.

So, you know, just sitting in that chair and headphones on and listening to the albums that we had, and then listening to the radio and then getting my own CD collection and then learning to play music and then playing live shows. You know, it's always been, you know, looking at it from a creative standpoint, because, yes, you know, so long as I got my wife, we're good.

But when it comes to being ninety and still being able to sit down with a guitar or a bass or whatever instrument and still be able to play, maybe not as loud as I used to, but still being able to get lost in a song or be able to, you know, clunk through a melody or. I mean, there's a reason why when it comes to people suffering from dementia, music has always been able to kind of bring them to that moment.

Music is very much an anchor for a lot of people. And I know personally getting a chance to play live, that is life at that point for me.

It is so much fun to play a show, no matter how many people are there. I have played shows where there is no one there except for, like, the bartender. But it's still.

You're playing music with your friends and having a good time, and no matter how good or bad the show is, for however you measure a show, you're still playing music and you're still enjoying the moment. And there's just something joyous about that.

Danny Brown: 00:31:38

And that's why it's such an international, as you say, there's no barriers with music. You don't have to understand the language of opera, for example. You don't have to, you know, understand, you know, the Spanish salsa, etc.

You get lost in the music. You can appreciate the emotion coming out in the words and the music itself.

I was watching an interview with Rob Bryden, who's a Welsh comedian, and he does a. He's a host of a few shows in the UK. Very funny guy. And he was getting interviewed and the interviewer asked him a question about it.

I can't remember what the actual question was, but it was around music and not having music around you. And Rob was basically taken aback. Is he.

He said that he can't understand anybody that wouldn't have music around them, whether it's in the house, you know, even your headphones in the car, whatever. He needs music that.

It takes him away from whatever's going on in his life and just loses him for a second or however long he's listening to the music, obviously. And so it sounds like, obviously, you're very much in the same. You know, music is such a key part.

Jason: 00:32:43

Oh, I mean, Music is a language unto itself. You know, it's, it's funny. I, you know, and you're Canadian, so you'll get this.

So TV Ontario was running these contests, like short doc contests, and I had the ability to produce one where I had taken five musicians who had never met before and put them into a room. And I said, okay, cool, we got a bunch of cameras, we're going to record everybody. And for the next hour you guys are going to jam.

But you're not allowed to talk. So you couldn't sit there and say, well, let's try this, let's try.

You literally had to have someone start playing and, and everyone kind of joined in. And it was a fascinating group of musicians.

You had a cellist, you had an electric violinist, you had a true percussionist, you had a flamenco guitarist, and you had a jazz pianist. So you had like very different genres and styles and instrumentation.

And for the next hour, I sat in that room and I felt musically inferior because these musicians were like absolute top level musicians and they were just able to connect. And not a word was spoken, not a single word.

And they just, they just vibed off each other and it was easy for them to, you know, pick up on keys and follow what one person. And it was fascinating.

Like one person would start a song, quote, unquote, a song, and then everyone would join in and then that would go for about like say five, anywhere between five and ten minutes. And then they would end and then someone else would start something and completely different and then they all kind of picked up.

It was the most fascinating hour that I've ever witnessed. And that's because the, of the talent level of those five musicians.

And when I put it together for this and it had to be a maximum five minute long documentary, I'm just like, and this needs to be longer.

Then I would, I did interviews with them afterwards and interspersed that to just talking about how music was its own language and was a fascinating experiment to see, and to be able to witness that and how people who've never met and to be able to connect on just a rhythm or a note or a chord progression and be able to join in together, that just goes to show you that music has the ability to connect everybody.

Danny Brown: 00:35:04

Well, I can imagine if you had these same musicians that were all different nationalities and only spoke their native language, didn't have a second language, and you put them in a room and told them to communicate without music for that hour, it'd be a nightmare. It'd be, you know, no one would know what's going on. So that's. That's a great point. And I think one of the reasons why, you know, music is such a.

An important thing for so many people. People. One thing. I'm going to give you, like a bonus. A little. Sorry, bonus question. Five A, B, whatever. But so music is the.

The one that you're going to have at ninety. What one album would be the one that we'd have at ninety if you're only allowed one album to listen to for the rest of however many days you have.

Jason: 00:35:45

Oh, you're going to make me pick one album, aren't you?

Danny Brown: 00:35:49

I've got to make you pick one album.

Jason: 00:35:51

All right. Okay. So let's put this out there, because the album I pick might not have even been released at that point.

So we'll just say that of music that I have now in my collection, what album would I listen to? If I have to pick today, it would probably be an album by the band called Candlebox. And the album is called Disappearing in Airports.

There is so much on this album.

And when we did the Candlebox episode for There Can Only Be One, both my wife and I ended up picking the same song as our literally only one from their entire discography. And it was on that album.

Candlebox is one of those bands that, you know, they were a nineties Seattle band, so you would think that they would have been caught up in the massive Seattle grunge scene. And their first album came out, and they were one of the first bands that was actually signed to Madonna's Maverick Records label.

And their first single, Far Behind, got. Not first single, but one of their biggest single off that album, got a ton of airplays, still gets played today.

But after that, they didn't get the radio play. And they didn't get the attention that personally, I felt they deserved, just because I thought they were one of the better Seattle bands in the nineties.

And then they took a break and then they came back with where it was just the singer and basically a whole new band, but it was still under the Candlebox name. But some of the albums they were putting out at that point were fantastic. And up to that Disappearing in Airports tour, they were.

That was a bucket list banned for me. I had never had the chance to see them live. And because they had never come to Canada since nineteen ninety eight. And I was like, okay, this is happening.

We're driving down to Louisville, Kentucky to go see them. This is driving from Toronto to Louisville, Kentucky in one day. This was going to happen.

So. Got in the car, drove down to Louisville, got a chance to see the show, and then actually got a chance to talk to the singer, Kevin Martin after the show. Just because we were like, no, we're going to wait, just. We're going to try and talk to him. Absolutely. You know, they say never meet your heroes.

If Kevin Martin is your hero, get a chance to meet him because he's one of the nicest guys. And it's funny because we actually asked him like, so when are you making your way up to Canada?

Because, you know, Candlebox is back in at that point making albums, and he's like, you know what? We could come to Canada. And you guys might be the only two there.

And the fascinating part is they just, you know, finished playing Toronto for the first time since nineteen ninety eight, opening for Bush and Jerry Cantrell. And I can guarantee you there were people there that were there for Candlebox. So, you know, I'm happy to say I was there.

Kevin Martin, you were wrong. There were more people there for you. So happy you finally made it back. But that it is a fantastic album. And if you like rock, you've got it there.

If you like ballads, there are some fantastic ones there. If you like, you know, rock with a little bit of blues influence in it, you've got that there.

Like, that album is one of those rare front to back albums that unfortunately doesn't get the airplay that it deserves. And there's a lot of bands out there where it's like, yeah, you know them from, like, their first album, or you know that from that one song.

That's the beauty part about doing There can only be one. You go through the discography and you realize there are songs and albums that you didn't even know existed.

And yet it's sometimes it's the best stuff of their career. We did an episode recently on Tiffany. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And everyone says, oh, yeah, no, I think we're alone now. We're all good, right?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. The albums that she was putting out in the two thousands and the twenty tens are the best albums of her career. And everything else pales in comparison.

You know, even her early stuff, her pop stuff when she was huge and touring the world, pales in comparison to the stuff she put out in the twenty tens. So if you, like an artist, never give up on them.

Keep listening to the albums, keep buying the albums and keep going to the shows if they ever come to town, because then that means more music is coming. And some of that stuff is the best stuff that they put out.

Danny Brown: 00:40:08

Well, I do appreciate that you shared that album because I know that was like a little bonus thrown in there and it wasn't really the question. So I appreciate you, you know, picking one because I know that must have been hard to narrow it down to one.

In fairness, as I do in every episode, we've reached the end of the five random questions, and I appreciate you answering each question openly there, Jason, but in fairness to each guest, it's now time for you to throw a random question back at me to take the heat off you a little bit now.

Jason: 00:40:38

Ooh, I get to throw something at you.

Okay, so because you do the One Minute Podcast Tips and you know, we have been on the same live stream before, doing the peer support live stream over at Scarif Live. So I'm going to ask you this.

When it comes to putting out podcast tips and when it comes to putting out things that you hope will, you know, get people who are just starting their podcast journey, because, you know, and I say this as a teacher as well, what aspect of it do you find helps people the most? Is it the technical side of things, or is it the analytics and background side of things, or is it simply the personal motivation?

Because as I'm sure that you well know, when it comes to doing a creative endeavor like podcasting, or like writing or like playing music, there gets a point where people look at things and go, why am I even still doing this? So what aspect of your tips do you find resonate the most with people?

Danny Brown: 00:41:45

I think it's the part you just mentioned at the end there about the longevity and pushing through. When you think, you look at the analytics and you've not got the thousands that everybody else says they've got, and I'm sure some do, some don't.

A lot of people buffer their numbers for sponsors, et cetera. But it's realizing that to do something, and especially something that you love because you know when you start off, there's no money in it.

And even if you got a year in and two years in, there might not be a lot of money in it still, you know, depending on what your goals are, how you're approaching, etc.

So I think the main thing that I try and put at least every few episodes or something, or when I'm speaking to podcasters at Captivate, where I work, etc. Online at Reddit, and stuff like that, it's just making sure that, you know, have a plan and make sure that it's going to be a long slog.

And slog may be the wrong word, but it's going to be a long journey or a long path that you're going to start. So realize that you're not going to have a thousand listeners from day one.

You're not going to have a thousand dollars per month sponsorship from day one. It is building and continue to learn as you go. You know, learn about room treatment.

You mentioned you've got room treatment for your books, you know, which is great. So learn about room treatment environments, record and mic techniques, all that stuff, and just continue to learn, basically.

So I think when I'm making episodes or speaking to podcasters, it's always getting that across. You know, there's always something new that you can improve or do differently that might help you get an extra step on where you want to be.

I guess I think that'd probably be this like the longevity and just knowing that you're going to hit bumps and that's okay. If you want to take a break, take a break and come back to it.

Jason: 00:43:27

Yeah, do it. Do it for the sake of doing it. Don't just do it for, you know, don't do it because you think you're going to get Call Her Daddy type money.

Because that, that was, that was, that was an insane contract. That's not going to happen to everybody. But, you know, if you have fun, do it. If you enjoy talking to people, do it.

If you enjoy what you're talking about, do it. And that should be the sole motivation whatsoever, one hundred percent.

Danny Brown: 00:43:55

So I really appreciate you coming on Five Random Questions today. For anybody that wants to check out both your podcasts, check out all the cool producing stuff you're doing, or maybe hire your band for a performance in their local venue. Where's the best place to check these out and connect with you?

Jason: 00:44:11

Okay, so let me get the full list here.

So if you want to hear me talk about really bad films or, sorry, the unfairly maligned films, you know, we do try to find the good things to say about them. You can find me on social media at NotThatBadCast.

If you want to hear me suffer through picking only one song per album, you can find that show on social media at OnlyOneCast. Or if you want to find it all in one place, you can go to the website at thatbadcast.com.

And as far as seeing me play live, I am in a band called Ever the Bridesmaid. You can find us at everthebridesmaid.com. We do have some shows coming up in the Southern Ontario area.

So feel free to come out, see the show, dance a little and say hi.

Danny Brown: 00:44:54

Awesome. And as always, I'll be sure to leave that, all these links in the show notes.

So make sure whatever app you're listening on, or if you're listening to this online on the website, check out the show notes and I'll link through to all of these podcasts and links, etc, so you can check Jason out. So again, Jason, thanks again for appearing on Five Random Questions.

Jason: 00:45:09

Oh, it's been my absolute pleasure. Thanks for having me on.

Danny Brown: 00:45:13

Thanks for listening to Five Random Questions. If you enjoyed this week's episode, be sure to follow for free on the app you're currently listening on or online at fiverandomquestions.com. And if you feel like leaving a review, well, that would make me happier than that time I was at a concert by rock band FM and I got the drumsticks from the drummer Pete Jupp. I mean, I may not be able to drum, but if I ever do, at least I've got good sticks to get started.

But seriously, if you want to leave a review, you can do that at fiverandomquestions.com/review. It would make my day. Until the next time, keep asking those questions.

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