This week's episode was actually recorded a few weeks back with the wonderful Javier Vilalta!
Javi was so great giving me some insight into his directing of the recently sold out show, “The House of Bernarda Alba,” that wrapped up October.1st at Sage Theatre. It was Javi’s second time directing this play, but this time with an all 2SLGBTQIA cast. We talked about the relevance of the play (originally written in 1936) to today's current climate and how it is still a lightning rod for communities that feel oppressed and stigmatised.
We also get to hear about Javi’s experience being born and raised in Mexico City to now living in Calgary. And when Javi isn’t directing or working on creative projects, he also loves to travel, to not only see the world, but to have a deeper understanding of the different cultures and communities around us.

IG: @javivilalta
@8rojo_
Twitter: @javivilalta
@8rojo
www.8rojo.com

Bio:
Javier is a Mexican-Canadian visual performance creator, stage director, movement coach, and translator. He resides in Calgary, where he attended the University of Calgary’s Fine Arts department. As a stage director, he has collaborated with companies such as Theatre Calgary (Gross Indecency), Sage Theatre (Scorched), Downstage (Lighting the Way), Lunchbox Theatre (Stage One and Two), The Shakespeare Company (Bard in the Yard), StoryBook (The Smartest Girl in the World), and Arts Commons (Mei-Mei’s Dream).

In 2005 he co-founded, along with Black artist Norma Lewis, the visual performance ensemble 8ROJO. With this group, he has devised five interdisciplinary creations; with which he has travelled around Canada and as far afield as Mexico, Czech Republic, Sweden, France, Taiwan and UK. With 8ROJO, he was awarded the ‘Innovation in Performance’ award at the 2016 STOFF Festival in Stockholm, Sweden; and he was a finalist for a 2021 Off West End Award in London, UK for Outstanding Production.

He has translated the texts ‘100 Love Poems and a Song of Despair’ by Pablo Neruda and Federico García Lorca’s ‘Rural Trilogy’. He translated and adapted the Mexican modern opera Anjou: The Musical Horror Tale for Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS.

Since 2010, he has assessed and developed educational sessions based on body mechanics, movement for the stage and visuals in motion; which he has shared with artists around the world

On this week's episode, I was lucky enough to chat with the lovely and talented, Perpie Atife who was one of this year's recipients of the  Alberta Lieutenant Governors Emerging Artists award!
Perpie shares her journey of musicianship and how she found herself falling in love with playing the saxophone, almost by a twist of fate! Originally from Nigeria, now living in Calgary, Perpie talks about how she grew up listening to everything from Dolly Parton to Don Williams to the rich afrobeat music of her surroundings and childhood. Perpie also tells us what it’s like to work in the music industry not only as a woman, but a mother as well.
From her performance at Studio Bell to this year's Calgary Stampede grandstand show and her upcoming album, “Ije” coming out this fall, Perpie has had a very exciting and busy past couple months!

Instagram:
@perpiesoul
Twitter:
@perpiesoul
Apple Music:
https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmusic.apple.com%2Fca%2Fartist%2Fperpie%2F1169857627&data=05%7C01%7C%7Cd245cb70dd32400f337a08da89c30ae3%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637973768034973571%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=dbNE%2BzryXdgEgj0dwmN9fxmUKiObpUP4xsIz7V0bFGg%3D&reserved=0
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6OOC7piTwf1xSTRBQwsEzH?si=8G7Rp9FSQHK7sR_cq-homg

Perpie Bio:
Recipient of the 2021 CCIS New Canadian Artist Award (NCAA), Perpie is an active recording and performing saxophonist, songwriter, arts manager and event curator. Headline artist at the Canadian Jazz Festival, TDJazzYYC Fest, MUSON Festival and the National Music Centre’s Bell Live Series at the King Eddy, her music draws inspiration from scores of influences including African folk music, traditional musical practices, gospel, country, smooth jazz and soft rock. She is known for her rich and lyrical tone on the saxophone.

I’m pumped for you all to hear this new episode with Canadian country singer,Shawn Austin!

We had an awesome conversation about Shawn’s new EP, Planes Don’t Wait! Shawn is also fresh off his tour with Dallas Smith and chats about his excitement for  all the festivals he will be performing at this summer,across Canada!

We also get a chance to find out what shows Shawn is bingeing these days, and what the least country thing about him is!

Instagram:
@shawnaustinmusic

Tik Tok:
@shawnaustinmusic

Twitter:
@theshawnaustin

Bio:
With over 23 million collective streams to date, Vancouver singer-songwriter Shawn Austin has worked tirelessly to cement his place in the Canadian country music landscape. Nominated for CCMA “Rising Star” Award (2021 + 2019), Austin was a season two finalist on NBC’s Songland, pitching Florida Georgia Line as a contestant. In 2021, Austin launched a new chapter of his career, signing a global label deal with Local Hay / Big Loud Records, and released hits like top five hit “Tailgate To Heaven” feat. Chris Lane, “Planes Don’t Wait,” and newest single to Canadian country radio, “Get You.”

This week I had an enlightening and fun conversation with Neil Fleming, the executive director of Making Treaty 7 here in Calgary! We chat about Making Treaty 7’s film “Istotsi, Land We Live On,” which will have screenings at this week's 2022 “IGNITE festival of emerging artists' ' which is in its 17th year and being presented by Sage Theatre. Neil tells us about “Istotsi” and the meaning behind the collage of small films and how it went from a stage show to a film at the height of covid lockdowns. We also chat about the importance of ‘Making Treaty 7’ as a cultural society, dedicated to Indigenous artistic expression, and how that is paired with the beauty and history of Indigenous culture and the reckoning of Canada’s dark past with Indigenous people. 

Happy Indigenous History Month and Happy Pride month!

Instagram:
@making_treaty_7
@sage_theatre

Twitter:
@makingtreat7
@sageYYC

Website:
www.makingtreat7.com
www.sagetheatre.com

Neil’s Bio:
Originally from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Neil grew up in Anishinaabe territory of the Robinson-Huron Treaty. He is honoured to be part of the Making Treaty 7 team, helping amplify the Indigenous stories, practices and cultures of the Treaty 7 peoples. 

 Neil is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter based in Calgary. Neil is best known for his work at Lunchbox Theatre including - Outside, Anomaly, Security, Last Christmas, The After Party, He Said, She Said  (with Glenda Stirling), and Spare Parts (Stage One 2018). Neil is a member of the Playwrights Guild of Canada, the PastPresident of the Alberta Playwrights’ Network, and a tenacious winger most mornings between 7-8am.

 Sometimes referred to as The Swiss Army Knife of Theatre, Neil is also a theatrical designer. Some past design credits include: Okotoks, 509 (MT7 & Niitsitapi Dance), Come Home (Urban Stories), Gruesome Playground Injuries (Ground Zero, Hit & Myth), In A World Created By A Drunken God, And So It Goes, Goodness, Bone Cage, (Downstage). A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream (CYPT), The Vajayjay Monologues (Pot of Jam, Urban Curves), Snowblind, Last Christmas, Shopaholic Husband Hunt(Lunchbox Theatre), An Almost Perfect Thing, The Kitchen Witches, The Attic, the Pearls, and Three Fine Girls (New West Theatre).

It was such a treat and honour to chat with this week’s guest, award winning playwright, Clem Martini!

Clem tells us all about his deeply personal play, ‘Cantata, a dramatization and fictionalization of Martini’s experience as a caregiver for a brother with schizophrenia and a mother developing dementia, which is currently playing at Sage Theatre in Calgary. 

Clem also talks about his intentionally diverse works in the writing world and how he advises his students to write what's on their plate.

Bio:
AWARD-WINNING CALGARIAN PLAY DEBUTS AT SAGE THEATRE
Marimba and Martinis. Who could ask for more? The world premiere of Clem Martini’s new play Cantata (Rumours Of My Crazy, Useless Life) hits the stage with Sage Theatre on April 28th, and runs until May 7th at cSpace King Edward. Artistic Director Jason Mehmel helms this local, powerhouse team (Duval Lang, Brian Jensen, Valerie Campbell, and Precious Akpoguma) to share this thoughtful and moving story that won the 2021 Theatre BC National Playwrighting Competition.
Cantata (Rumours Of My Crazy, Useless Life) is a dramatization and fictionalization of Martini’s experience as a caregiver for a brother with
  schizophrenia and a mother developing dementia. The family
 undergoes much stress as the delicate balance of caregiving unravels. “While this is by no means a
 COVID-focussed play,” says Mehmel “the ideals of caregiving and family have been in the forefront of
 people’s minds for the last two years. I think we have all been reflecting on how difficult it can be to look
 after our loved ones when something big changes.”
 Family has played a large part in the formation and creation of Cantata. Not only is the show semi-
 autobiographical and based on Martini’s life, but it’s actually an adaptation of the book that the two
 brothers wrote, The Unravelling: How our caregiving safety net came unstrung and we were left
 grasping at threads, struggling to plait a new one. The book is a memoir, told through illustrations and
 text, exploring similar themes that the show touts. The Unravelling won the Alberta Trade Fiction Book of
 the Year Award in 2018 and was shortlisted for the W.O. Mitchell Book Prize in the same year.
 “Obviously, Cantata shares deep ties with Clem and his family,” says Mehmel “but the fictionalization is
 especially important. It allows us to both acknowledge the real lives behind the story, and to make creative
 choices that make for an engaging production.”
Clem Martini is no stranger to the Calgarian theatre scene and is a pillar of the Canadian artistic community. Audiences have seen many of his works over the past few years, including Afterlife (Lunchbox Theatre), The Secret Life of the Octopus (Quest Theatre), Illegal Entry (Alberta Theatre Projects), and Selling Mr. Rushdie (Workshop West). He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2020, he was awarded the ATB Financial Healing Through the Arts Award in 2016, and he’s a three-time recipient of the Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award for Playwrighting. He is currently the Chair of the Division of Drama in the School of Creative and Performing Arts at the University of Calgary.
Joining Martini and Mehmel in Sage Theatre’s production is fellow U of C Professor and professional musician Rod Squance. Squance composed music for the piece, helped to musically develop the show in its workshop stages, and will be performing live marimba with the actors on stage.
For more information on Cantata, you can go to https://sagetheatre.com/cantata/ - to buy tickets, you can head to https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?show=133228 (Tickets range from $5-$60 in a Pay- What-You-Will model). For all press inquires, please contact Artistic Associate Griffin Cork at griffin.cork@gmail.com or 587-889-7111.
Sage Theatre on Facebook | Sage Theatre on Twitter

I loved the convo with this week's guest, comedian, Nancy ho! Nancy talks about how she got into comedy and what it's like to be a female comedian in Canada these days! She also talks about her experience of writing comedy from her perspective, growing up as an immigrant to Canada, and how her life plays into her stand-up set. It was such a fun conversation, so enjoy!

Instagram:
@nancyhohaha

Facebook:
@nancymho

Email:
nancymvho@gmail.com

This week's episode we have the pleasure of chatting with the very talented and sweet, Alyssa Reid!Alyssa talks about her single, “Roses” and tells us why she has partnered with the non-profit, “The Lifeline Canada,” to do a raffle and help them raise funds. Hearing Alyssa tell us about why mental health awareness is so important to her and how she is using her platform to help others, was truly inspiring. She also explains why she felt the need to come forward with the identity behind her performing alias, “ASHS” and why she felt her fans needed to know who was behind those songs.And when you find out Alyssa’s love for pirate shanty music and tacos, you will just love her even more!

Make sure to check out her raffle with The Life Line Canada :
https://go.rallyup.com/alyssareidxthelifelinecanada/Campaign/Details

Instagram:
@alyssareid
@thelifelinecanada

Twitter:
@ASHS_Official
@thelifelinecan

Tik Tok:
@alyssareid

https://open.spotify.com/track/3PmaqkHQLWpxKhSpo6yJip?si=LjaX7KmJTxGpk0CsLWvWfg

I loved the candid and open convo I had with this week's guest, Devin Cooper. Devin tells us about his new single, “Back Pocket,” and the upcoming release of his album, “Good Things!” 

We talk about the in depth process of being a contestant in Alberta’s “Project Wild,” and what he has learned about the business of music. Devin also shares the amazing story of how he helped his father survive cancer by donating part of his liver and why his Alztheimers charity organization, “Ride To Remember” is so important to him. 
We also discuss our mutual love for 80s rock and Waynes World! 

To start off this episode, here is a clip of Devin’s new single, “Back Pocket!”

Instagram:
@devincoopermusic
@ridetorememberyyc
@projectwildab
@thebluejaysessions

Twitter:
@devincooperlive

Website:
www.devincoopermusic.com

Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/track/2EF96tQobwE7Huinb5DhX3?si=6KwvzlK7TJuvfahw8xBv7w