Terry Dimonte and Ted Bird are Montreal radio legends. Two years ago, after Terry was unceremoniously retired from his morning radio job at CHOM-FM, they decided to start a podcast called Standing By.
The podcast, which started as a one season affair, is now in its 6th season, featuring amazing guests like Brice Hills and Mitch Garber. These names may mean nothing to you, but I know you've heard of Just for Laughs and the Seattle Kraken - so these episodes are for you.
In this episode, we discuss their podcast experience (so far), why it works, and why it breaks a number of the conventional podcast rules.
In addition to awesome interviews, the show also features everything amazing that comes with their humour.
There are a number of Sound Off episodes with Terry you can scroll back and listen to. We also had an epic session with Ted Bird, and one with Geoff Allan, who is the voiceover talent on Standing By.
One of the things that the show has benefited from is YouTube. Pantelis has built a strong channel built for search. And frankly - what people heard that Terry and Ted were doing a podcast, they went to Google which gave them YouTube which everyone is comfortable using and understands. Say what you will about RSS but personalities like Terry and Ted have brought a lot of new users to podcasting via YouTube. Which is why we now record and present our show in YouTube like this.
TRANSCRIPTION:
Tara Sands (Voiceover) 00:02
The Sound Off Podcast. The show about podcast and broadcast starts now.
Matt Cundill 00:13
This week, a chat with friends. Terry Dimonte and Ted Bird have been fixtures on Montreal radio since the 1980s. They worked together off and on throughout the years and launched a podcast in September of 2021. Just a few months after Bell unceremoniously "retired" Terry Dimonte.
Terry Dimonte 00:30
It's the Standing By podcast, thank goodness. And we're recording this two years to the day that I was pushed out the door at CHOM.
Ted Bird 00:38
Really?
Terry Dimonte 00:39
Yeah, so we- well, two years yesterday.
Ted Bird 00:41
Okay.
Terry Dimonte 00:42
And this gives me something to do.
Ted Bird 00:45
Yeah.
Terry Dimonte 00:45
And I enjoy doing it. So I'm glad we're back.
Ted Bird 00:47
And you know, what else?
Terry Dimonte 00:48
What?
Ted Bird 00:48
Fuck them. That's what else.
Terry Dimonte 00:53
Thank you. Yes,
Matt Cundill 00:54
We've had both Terry and Ted on the show individually to talk about their careers, but today I wanted to focus on just their podcast. It's called Standing By. The voice talent for the show, by the way, is my very awesome cousin, Geoff Allan.
Geoff Allan 01:06
Standing By: The Terry and Ted podcast is sponsored by the UPS Store Canada.
Matt Cundill 01:11
And the show is amazing because it's authentic, true, and they get to be themselves, more so than they were on radio. I love these guys. And I apologize in advance for the conversation, because we get pretty inside. Now, we go. Terry Dimonte joins me from beautiful British Columbia. And Ted Bird joins me from Montreal's West Island.
Terry Dimonte 01:32
By the way, Matthew, I don't know what this Squadcast thing is. But it's- it's quite good.
Matt Cundill 01:39
We did the Squadcast for one of the Christmas episodes a few years ago, Terry, and you called it squidcast for the entire time.
Ted Bird 01:48
Isn't Squadcast a character on SpongeBob?
Terry Dimonte 01:52
I think I probably said that because of Squid Game was popular at the time, where people shoot each other for money.
Matt Cundill 02:00
I also was on Gimli Wi Fi. And it actually held everything together quite well for us. We had a good episode. that
Terry Dimonte 02:08
That- you know what? Anybody who knows anything about Manitoba knows that's impressive. Gimli Wi Fi, hanging it together. That's- that's impressive.
Matt Cundill 02:18
It has not improved since dial up. And I can attest to that.
Terry Dimonte 02:24
They have a beautiful beach. They make booze up there for Seagrams, at least they used to. And now they have Wi Fi. How about that?
Matt Cundill 02:31
Do you guys know how long you guys have been podcasting? I
Terry Dimonte 02:37
I think it's been two years, hasn't it Ted? I think it's two years. It might be three years, Ted. Is it three years, Ted?
Ted Bird 02:44
Yeah, it might be, yeah. Because I think we do two seasons in a year and we're on season six.
Terry Dimonte 02:48
Okay, there you go.
02:49
No,
Ted Bird 02:50
I'm no Enrico Fermi, but according to my calculations...
Terry Dimonte 02:56
There you go. Three years, Matt.
Matt Cundill 02:57
The answer is two.
Terry Dimonte 02:58
Okay.
Matt Cundill 03:01
But I wanted to ask you guys like, how are you guys enjoying it? Because I remember when you started you said, let's just try this. And I think we're well past the point of experimentation and just trying this, because it's- you got something.
Terry Dimonte 03:13
Well, I didn't want to speak for Ted, but I absolutely love it. I think it's a hoot. I love the- the process of coming up with ideas for the podcast, I love, you know, the process of coming up with ideas for guests. And the other thing that I love is it enables Ted and I to do what we've always done, which is head into the studio and- and wander up the highway and see where it takes us. We always do that on the radio. And I know it was a source of great consternation and aggravation for many, many bosses of ours over the years. But I thought what we did, and what we do, lends itself to- I hate to keep using the word authenticity, because one of the highest compliments that we ever got, when we're doing the radio show is people say, you know, I feel like I'm sitting at the table with you guys. And we drag that into the podcast studio. And of course there's- there's no chains, you know, I don't want to be dramatic, but there's- there's no... What's the word I'm looking for, Ted? There's no fences, you just do what you want. Say what you want. And damn the torpedoes. And I like that.
04:26
Program
Matt Cundill 04:26
Program Directors.
Ted Bird 04:27
Yeah, there you go.
Terry Dimonte 04:30
You don't carry the responsibility of, oh my god, you know, if I say that, and Oops, did I say shit? Oh god. Although I was listening with my wife Jess- the other day we were driving to the airport very early and it was one of my very first listens to a morning radio in over two or three years- (A) Because I don't get up, and (B) because I don't find there's anything on the radio- and we were listening to Willie. Don Percy's son. And I said to Jess, did he just say bullshit? And he did. On morning radio in Canada's second largest English market. He just- he said, Ah, that's bullshit, and just kept going. And I don't know, Ted, you're still on the air. Is this permissible?
Ted Bird 05:16
Well, normally I would say no. I actually said shit on Remembrance Day, or the day before Remembrance Day because Remembrance Day was on a Saturday this year, and I was reading a segment of the letter that my grandmother received, a letter of condolence from the regimental Chaplain after her brother was killed in Italy. And I described it as being written in- in the mud and the cold, and the rain and the blood and the shit of a December Italian Battlefield, and it just kind of came out. And I thought to myself, I probably shouldn't have said that, but in that context, because it was- it was an emotionally charged moment. So I think anyone who would have heard it would have forgiven me, just as- the same as the time we called my ex wife, Danielle, when we were still married, we called her on the air to let her know the boys weren't going to school that morning, because there was a water leak at the school. And my son, Charlie answered, and Danielle picked up the extension- back in the days when we had actual fixed phones and extensions- and she didn't realize that we were- that we had called her on the air. And she picked up the extension. And when she heard me tell Charlie, you don't have school today, buddy. She went, Oh, you're fucking kidding me. On the air. And nobody complained, quite the opposite. We got a lot of feedback from people saying that was real.
Terry Dimonte 06:41
Yeah.
Ted Bird 06:42
Like we can relate, you know, she's home with with a newborn baby. It's the end of March Break. She can't wait to get those boys back to school, so that she only has to look after the newborn. And then she finds out that they're gonna- they're still going to be at home. You're fucking kidding me.
Terry Dimonte 06:56
Well, I think- I think context has a lot to do with it. And I've taken us off topic. It's not a consideration in the podcast studio. We don't- don't give it a second thought.
Matt Cundill 07:11
I think there's some normalization though. I think podcasting has normalized bad words on the radio.
Terry Dimonte 07:16
Maybe.
Matt Cundill 07:16
Again, authenticity. We listen to it in our headphones when we listen to podcasts, we're kind of used to it. So it's not as so much of a shock when you hear it on the radio. And then who's left to pick up a pen, or go to the internet to complain to the CBSC for this stuff? It's- I can't remember the last time the CBSC actually had complaints of that sort of nature. It's- it's much different now.
Ted Bird 07:42
Probably Jake, and brother Jake and Jerry Forbes generated quite a few of those, I think over the years.
Terry Dimonte 07:48
Yeah. And they wore it like a badge of pride, as well they should have. But that was an a day, that was in an era, when there were interesting and wild people on the radio. No offense to anybody who's still on the radio, but you know, in this era, there isn't a talent pool that has a big marquee name in every market in Canada. There- you know, there are a couple still left, I think, but can you name five big, very famous popular morning men in Canada, off the top your head? I can't.
Ted Bird 08:25
I was gonna say, I don't know if I can name one. Listen, if I'm near the top of that list that tells you a lot, on the tiny little radio station that I work at, with the transmitter that's run by a hamster running on a wheel? That speaks volumes.
Terry Dimonte 08:37
Yeah. Oh, 100% yeah, but you know what I mean, right, Ted? I mean, we used to say, you know, was Jerry and Jake and and Derringer, and you know, Wally Crowder and George Balkan and you know, all of the- Don Percy, and there was- there was somebody in every market that was making a big, big impact, that people listen to every morning. I think you would say Willie Percy here in Vancouver, along with Jeff O'Neill at CFOX. And I guess that's because I'm in Vancouver. Who would you say in Montreal?
Ted Bird 09:07
There's nobody. There's nobody in Montreal.
Terry Dimonte 09:10
Who would you say in Toronto? John Moore has been at CFRV for a number of years. I wouldn't say John's an outrageous morning man and broadcaster. I don't know who's doing morning radio at any of the other ones. But maybe that's because I'm out of the game. I don't know Matt, you would know better.
Matt Cundill 09:28
I'm not sure that I do. I mean the people that I would name, they've been there and have done the job, but outrageous... Doesn't fit the bill.
Terry Dimonte 09:36
Yeah, and outrageous- and you know, you don't want to miss it. You have to tune in every morning- sorry, I just put ice in my mouth- tune in every morning to see what you were going to miss. Y'know what I mean? You never- it was an era of hey, did you hear what Don did this morning? Hey, did you hear what, you know, so and so did this morning? I, you know, I- I know we sound like guys from another era, because we are. But that's- my point is, those- those days of compelling, interesting Canadian broadcast standards radio, those are gone.
10:11
Well,
Ted Bird 10:11
Well, I think that's part of the decline of legacy media in general. Radio and television and newspapers, legacy media, have all taken a hit because everybody's online now. Right? So the advertising revenue isn't what it once was. So they're not spending money on- on big talent. So the big talent is doing other things.
Terry Dimonte 10:33
And everybody is now self appointed. You know, I love like, on TikTok, you see people doing "the news." You know? If there's- people are just like, well, I'm going to be a news person. So I'm going to, you know, I'm going to do a TikTok video about what's happening in the city today.
10:50
Well,
Ted Bird 10:50
Well, they do that on some radio stations now, too, one in Montreal, where we used to work where they have- they don't have a news person, they have the show hosts, you know, talk about what's going on at the top of the hour, and there's- and there's zero credibility in that. None.
Matt Cundill 11:05
I was at the Jets game on the weekend, and some guys were talking about, you know, the power play, the third line. And at the intermission, I turned around and I asked them, I said, where do you guys get your sports information, like when you want to talk about the things you're talking about? Because there's no more sports radio here in Winnipeg. They got rid of them across the country, except for Montreal. Most of it is now moved online. But I asked them, I said, where do you get it? And they said, we get it from Andrew Patterson, who happens to have a YouTube and podcast show where he talks about the Winnipeg Jets every day. But he did mention one thing, he says, I wish that it was still on the radio, and I could listen to it in the car, I have to use my Apple CarPlay. But he did mention the show by name. And that's where he goes. Radio gave it up. Most of every- most of everything that we're talking about here is because radio let it go and give it up. They gave it up.
Terry Dimonte 11:59
Yeah, I agree. They created the vacuum that people are- you know, guys on YouTube are filling. That's- that's what happened. And it's been interesting for us to watch the growth of the podcast, very slow. When we first did the podcast, we thought, well, let's see what happens, and see if anybody watches or listens or cares. And slowly but surely, much like my radio career- Ted and I were talking about this last weekend, I was in Montreal for a fundraiser that Ted and I hosted. And I was saying both Ted and I are starting to notice, you know, Ted has a lot of feedback from Lite 106.7, which is the radio station that he- he does the morning show for in Hudson, just outside of Montreal. But also there's a number of people that approach us and say, Hey, I loved you guys on the radio and really enjoy the podcast. It's like when, you know, when we first started to do the morning show years and years and years ago, you'd see little incremental growth and small signs, you know, somebody would say something, or you would get a letter or somebody would stop you on the street. You know, they're sort of small indicators that, you know, people are starting to catch on. And that's happened with us with, thankfully, not just supporters, but also advertisers. And I don't want to go into it. But somebody has talked to us about doing perhaps a live version of the podcast at a local theater. So those are indications to me that- that there's a growth period there. And in- what Ted and I are doing is we're doing a Montreal focused podcast, because I think there's a giant space there that radio has left open. People are looking for entertainment or- or content about the city that they live in. That used to be the driving force behind radio, that radio has abandoned. And it seems to be- you know, I mean, we- we're not going to sell our podcast to Amazon for $80 million.
Ted Bird 14:08
We're not? Are you sure?
Terry Dimonte 14:12
The guys at Smartless already got that money, Ted.
Ted Bird 14:15
Okay.
Terry Dimonte 14:16
But I- you know, it's- it's- it's locally supported by local advertisers and local listeners. And that's what- that's what radio used to do.
Matt Cundill 14:27
Well you're doing all the things that I would have advised against when you started the show. And that was to do it geo local, but you went and reestablished it. And to your point, Terry, there's a big giant hole in the market. And also Ted's in the market. And Ted, you're doing a show live every day, and then you do this podcast with with Terry. You're doing both. I mean, how do you see the difference between the two, in the Montreal market? Because you have to speak to one set of audience live and then the other on demand.
Ted Bird 14:59
Right, I'm a little more specific with my radio audience because as Terry mentioned, it's in Hudson just outside of Montreal, what's called the Vaudroit Soulange area. So I'm focused more on what's going on there and on the west island because that's where our listeners are. And I'm probably more attentive to the localization of my content on the radio show than I am on the podcast, on the podcast I'm okay with- with going off in any direction because the podcast reaches beyond Vaudroit Soulange and the West island. So yeah, I guess- I guess I have a different mindset for each one. But it's not something that- I don't consciously- when I go into the podcast studio, I don't consciously switch gears from the radio show, especially when I'm with Terry, because we just do what we've always done. You know, it's very second nature to sit down in the studio with Terry, and just go. Just go. Sorry, that's an inside joke.
Terry Dimonte 16:06
Was it- was that the- was that the morning of me banging on the-
Ted Bird 16:11
No, no, that someone else, that was Richard Desha, who was doing news on CJED.
Terry Dimonte 16:15
Oh, that's right.
Ted Bird 16:16
And there- And there were- there were multiple technical screw ups. Like he tried to introduce a reporter and something happened. And then he- he tried to introduce another voice clip and it went wrong. And there was a great big pause, like it was probably about, you know, five seconds, and it seemed like a minute and a half. And then you hear Richard go- Just go. Which was his way of saying to the producer, play the commercial.
Terry Dimonte 16:45
I give up. How did that come up? What were we talking about? I was about to say something stunning.
Ted Bird 16:53
Well we were talking about the- Matt had asked me about the difference between doing the morning radio show and then doing the podcast.
Terry Dimonte 16:53
Yeah, I- there's- I don't know. It's, maybe it's just the way I'm made. But there's just something really special about sliding behind a microphone, whether it's on radio or to do a podcast, it's communicating and telling stories has been what I've done my whole life for a job. And it never felt like a job to me. So the podcast, especially for a guy who- I couldn't get hired, you know, anywhere in the business today. Not because I've- I've- I've done something criminal or not, because I've- I'm no good at what I do. But the business has altered its direction so that there is not room for people who are experienced and had a good run, those people have all been pushed aside. So it's- it's even more special to me that, you know, I can pop into the studio with Ted, even if it's just twice a year and have a little bit of fun, because retirement ain't all it's cracked up to be.
Ted Bird 18:05
It's also gratifying that the podcast is getting traction, because it's a different- It's such a different landscape and so much more cluttered landscape than the radio. I mean, everybody's got a podcast now. And everybody who wants to have a podcast can have a podcast. So for us to actually see the kind of growth that we've had, and get and retain the sponsors that we have, is really gratifying. And the sponsorship thing goes back to- to our radio days. Mostly, those are relationships we established when we were on the radio in radio's heydays, and those are people who still believe in us. And maybe that should say something to the people who run radio stations.
Terry Dimonte 18:47
You would think it would.
Ted Bird 18:48
You know, if a couple of guys like us who've been around since Christ wore short pants can still retain sponsors, who, you know, were part of our show, you know, 30 years ago, if making money is the name of the game, why would that not resonate with them?
Terry Dimonte 19:05
Well, one of the things that I love about the sponsors is they've always trusted us, they've always trusted us to deliver their message. And they've always trusted us to reach an audience. And a couple of them have said, whether you guys are reaching it- because a couple of them jumped in at the beginning, not knowing what was going to happen. And a couple of them said to us listen, whether you guys reach your- an audience or not, you guys make great brand ambassadors for us. You know, like one of the car dealerships that is one of our our sponsors, Jaguar Land Rover Laval, they liked the idea that we're a good brand representative for them. And that's- that's a really high compliment. And the- you know, the other thing- again, to go back to what Ted was saying about it catching on in- and what you were saying, Matt, about, you would have advised us to go entirely In the other direction, you know, that's what I said to Ted. Ted was mentioning there are just so many people out there with a podcast. And when we first sat down, I said to him, Listen, we can't compete with Joe Rogan, Marc Maron, you know, the guys at Smartless. We don't we don't have those rolodexes, we don't have those connections. Why don't- why don't we go looking for an audience that's looking for us? And it seems to have worked.
Matt Cundill 20:25
A lot of people talk about the future of podcasting, and it's been kicked around like geo local. How can you have a geo local podcast when you're putting it out there for the whole world?
Terry Dimonte 20:34
Yes.
Matt Cundill 20:34
And you know, I'd look at a slogan for maybe what your show could be, it's for Montrealers, but it's also for ex-Montrealers who who want to stay in contact. I haven't heard from Mitch Garber in years. I haven't heard from Bruce hills and years, these are not names you hear when you're in Winnipeg, or if you're in Vancouver, the names just don't come up as much. And then you're reconnecting me with my city and my past.
Terry Dimonte 20:57
And as an ex English Montrealer, that's another market. It's one of the reasons that Gazette does so well, is because they have subscribers all over the country who've left Montreal, and you know, as an ex-Montrealer you can live away from the city for a very, very long time. And it never leaves you. It's just, you know, Mitch Garber said it on the podcast, I said to Mitch, with your resources, you could choose to live anywhere on the planet. Why do you choose to live in Montreal, and he talked about the streets that he grew up on and the families that he became friends with and the restaurants that he loves, and you know, everything about the city that speaks to him. I think there's something special about that. There's something about Montreal. Winnipeg has a little bit of this too, because I lived in Winnipeg. But there's- there's something about Montreal that- that's unique. Maybe it's because everybody leaves, you know, so many English people have left. And they bring their memories with them. And, you know, somebody was telling me that hundreds of thousands of people subscribe to the Gazette from Alberta and British Columbia and Manitoba and California and Nevada. And you know, these are all people who want to stay in touch. And the podcast, I guess, does do that. And as you point out, Matt, Mitch Garber triggered a number of notes from a number of people that I hadn't heard from in a long while, because they had had interaction with him when- when he was just getting started. And there's something about- there's something gratifying about that too, that the podcast sort of can weave all of that together. It's- it's kind of cool. It's a- it's cool that we would be thought of as a gathering place for- for expats.
Ted Bird 22:42
I would also like to think that whether or not you're from Montreal, for the most part, our podcasts and our guests are interesting and can resonate beyond Montreal. Listening to Bruce Hills talk about the Just For Laughs festival that he is the president of, the largest comedy festival in the world. You don't have to be from Montreal, I don't think, to find his stories and his insights interesting. Ditto, Mitch Garber, who's one of Canada's most successful businessman, and one of the biggest individual success stories this country seen in the last 10 or 15 years. Put whatever timeframe you want on it, I mean, the guy's a huge success story and a really interesting and compelling guy to listen to. So you know, it's not like we're talking to Kenny the paper guy on Crescent street sort of thing. Remember, Kenny?
Terry Dimonte 23:34
I do.
Ted Bird 23:35
Used to come into the bars at two o'clock in the morning? Montreal Gazette? Anybody order a Gazette?
Terry Dimonte 23:41
Yeah.
Matt Cundill 23:43
But is it sad that I- that I know who Kenny is?
Terry Dimonte 23:46
No, not at all. That's there's a Montreal legend right there. When- in the days prior to the internet, when we knew there was going to be a radio article in the Saturday Gazette, we would- we would force ourselves to stay at Grumpy's until 2:30 in the morning.
Ted Bird 24:03
Because we knew Kenny was coming with the paper.
Terry Dimonte 24:06
Yeah, cuz Kenny would come with the morning paper. Like if you were downtown, you got the Gazette like literally hot off the presses. And- and we would sit and- sit at Grumpy's and get the paper and go "holy shit there's an article in the paper."
Ted Bird 24:24
So Matt, I'm curious, what would you have said to us? What would you have told us to do in the beginning versus what we- what direction we decided to take?
Matt Cundill 24:31
I probably would have suggested against the geo local. I think with the two of you together, you have to do like a local show. But I was thinking more of if Terry were to do a show just on his own, it would be sort of, you know, mass North American. Let's get Oprah on the show kind of thing. But you've already said why that's a bad idea. Now I agree.
Ted Bird 24:50
So I ruined everything then.
Terry Dimonte 24:52
Ted ruins everything. No, I think, you know, the thing about that is- this goes- you know this- this goes back to all kinds of different eras and different stories even in- in broadcasting. Like when Howard Stern came to Montreal, I remember friends of mine saying, Oh wow, what are you going to do when they let you go? You know, where are you going to work? What's going to happen to you? And- and you know I say that because the idea that I could do a podcast and- and call, you know, I don't know, get Matt Damon on the podcast is not going to happen. Like you know, nobody knows who I am outside of the Montreal area. Nobody. Nobody's gonna gamble. You know what it is, PR flacks today are like, you know, I don't know who you are. I listen to all kinds of podcasts. And, you know, I was listening to a podcast the other day from England and Gordon Ramsay was on, and I find Gordon Ramsay fascinating and I thought man, it would be so much fun to have Gordon Ramsay on a podcast. He's not gonna do a fucking podcast with us. You know, his people are gonna say, I don't know some- It's a note from two clowns in Montreal. Next. And that's the problem. I- you know, I- even- even in- in Canada. You know, I think of like the reach that you could have nationally say on Sirius. I don't even know of any Sirius Canada programming that makes that kind of reach. Like it's too hard to build that kind of thing. I've been watching the documentary on Smartless. You know, the Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett podcast that's massive, massive success. They took the thing on the road, sold it out every night live in all kinds of American markets. And their guest list included Matt Damon, Jennifer Aniston, Jimmy Kimmel, like who- you know, and Jason Bateman picks up the phone and calls Kimmel and says, Hey, we're gonna be in LA, come on, let's, you know, you want to do the podcast? Who can compete with that? You can't compete with that.
Matt Cundill 27:04
And most of the data, by the way, I've seen is that when a podcaster lands a big guest, it doesn't move the needle.
Terry Dimonte 27:10
Really? That's interesting.
Matt Cundill 27:12
And then the next week, they'll say, Well, it's just us, a q&a, and they get even more downloads than they did for having a star studded guest. Most people when they come to your podcast, they want to listen to the hosts of the show. There's a huge misconception that a guest is going to land you a bunch of downloads. So Gordon- Gordon Ramsay is a good example. So if Gordon Ramsay did come on your show, I don't know how thrilled I would be to go listen to that. Because I can get Gordon Ramsay anywhere.
Terry Dimonte 27:40
Anywhere else. Good point. I never- you know what, I never thought of that. I was- I was looking at that, Matt, through- through selfish eyes. Because I would love to sit and interview Gordon Ramsay.
Matt Cundill 27:51
Listen, you'd do well with it. But then you're gonna be sitting there going, why did- why did Ziggy Ikenbaum get more downloads than- than Gordon Ramsay?
Terry Dimonte 28:01
Zig was a great guest. This is what I was gonna say is the unofficial- the unofficial mayor of the nightlife on Crescent Street, and has been for years. And that- that targets a Montreal audience.
Ted Bird 28:13
Terry and I try to make a point of doing at least two of our 10 shows that we do in a season with just the two of us, for the rais- reason that you just mentioned, because it seems like folks who listened to us on the radio, they want to hear Terry and Ted, you know, it's great to have guests as well, but they really enjoy it when it's just the two of us doing what we did for 35 years.
Matt Cundill 28:36
I'm glad you mentioned that, because that was going to be a question. Who are the two people who did not want to come on your podcast this season? But I did listen to two episodes that I can remember this summer. One of them was the Ziggy episode where he told some incredible stories. But then you also just did an episode with the two of you. And you talked about the things that resonated with me. I- you spend 15 minutes going on about high grocery prices, of which before we started this episode, you were still going on about high grocery prices at Walmart. But it's the good stuff. It's why I listen to the show. It's- it's a great idea.
Terry Dimonte 29:14
Because my wife works, and I'm retired. So now I'm the- I'm the old man shopper. And I'm now the guy that pushes the cart around Walmart going, Jesus Christ. Look at the fuckin'- I'm not paying that for that. Goddamn Christ. That was $2 last week. Jesus. Like mumbling under my breath. But the thing is- the thing about it is, is I'm not alone. And- and that's- that was one of the things that always seemed to resonate on the radio show. When something burned our ass, we brought it into the studio, and often a lot of people would relate.
Matt Cundill 29:52
You guys could do this remotely. But you don't. You get into the studio. And tell me a little bit about the studio and where you record it, and tell us and how it all came together.
Ted Bird 30:05
Well, when Terry, quote unquote, retired or was retired, Pantellus approached us and said, Mike and I- Mike being Mike Ward, who's a huge podcaster and comedian in Quebec, I think he's got the most listened to French language podcast in the world, if I'm not mistaken.
Matt Cundill 30:23
Confirmed.
Ted Bird 30:25
Yeah. Mike said to Pantellus, and then Pantellus said to us, there needs to be a Terry and Ted podcast. And so they offered us their studio and their infrastructure and their distribution network at no cost. I don't know how they benefit. I think it helps Pantellus I guess that he has us on his roster it you know, locally, it looks good for him to have a couple of guys who- who are well known in the- in the local market on his roster. And so we go into the studio, Terry flies in from Vancouver, talk about doing it for the for the love of the gig, I drive across town, he flies across the country.
Matt Cundill 31:03
And somehow he beats you to the studio.
Ted Bird 31:06
That's right. Yeah. And we do what we describe as seasons of 10. And we do two a year. So we do we do 20 in a year, and the studio, we have a producer, Poseidon- not his real name. He is not in fact, the Greek god of the sea. And it's, I would say it's state of the art studio, Ter, eh?
Terry Dimonte 31:26
Absolutely, it is. It is.
Ted Bird 31:28
At- video wise as well, like they've got multiple cameras set up in the studio. Poseidon would have been a good Hockey Night in Canada director, he's really good at switching the cameras at the right time. And catching- and catching the- the flow of the show. So it's a- you know, technically and aesthetically, it's a real quality product, whether it's interesting or not. I mean, that's up to us. And we try to make it as interesting as we can. But that's how it's come about. And they don't take a penny off of us. So again, I don't know how it benefits him above and beyond having a couple of guys who folks know in this city on the roster. I don't know if there's also some some revenue from YouTube for the views that we get on YouTube. But YouTube is not where we get most of our action with the podcast I don't think, I think our- I think our audio downloads are significantly greater than the number of YouTube views we get, which is too bad, because we're quite- we're quite handsome. I'm surprised that more people aren't watching us on YouTube just to go look at those.
Terry Dimonte 32:36
And the other- the other issue about being in the studio, Matt, and you know this from your years in radio, is it's just not the same doing this. If you and I and Ted were sitting at your dining room table in Tuxedo, there's a different vibe, and there's a different energy that happens. Not that this is shit or bad. But we know from the years of working together in studios, when you're sitting across from somebody and looking them in the eye and picking up the same vibe in the room, that changes the dynamic of the broadcast or the podcast. And prior to me having heart surgery last fall, Ted and I did remote- a remote season. And interestingly enough, in terms of downloads and numbers, it wasn't as strong as when Ted and I are in the studio. And it's something that I think is super important. I don't know what the ingredient is. But there's an ingredient there that's missing when you're on Zoom. I co host a little Saturday show with him on Lite 106. And we do that remotely. And I think it's fine. And I think it's terrific. And we have an awful lot of fun. I come up into this room where I am now. And as you can hear, it's- there's nothing wrong with the quality, and the sound is good. And it sounds like we're in the same room. But we're not. And Ted and I when I was in Montreal last week, we made arrangements to record that show, because it's a pre recorded show. We made arrangements to record that show in the Lite 106 Studio. After we were done, Ted was driving me back to the hotel and Ted said it's just different when we're in the same room. So I think it's important.
Ted Bird 34:28
It was better.
Terry Dimonte 34:28
Better. Yes.
Ted Bird 34:30
It was better. As you say, Ter, this- this is good. This is good. This is fine. But it was better when we were together in the studio. What I really don't like, and this is the direction radio has gone in. My co host on my morning show works remotely and there's no cameras. I don't see him, I only hear him on my headphones. He's broadcasting from his house. And that gets clunky sometimes and I don't like it. I don't like it. I would like him to make the drive in to the- to the studio, but they don't force him to, so he doesn't, and I think that the quality of the show suffers as a result.
Terry Dimonte 35:03
And I don't know if it's just what I hear, because I've done this for a living for so long. But I- I've heard it on the radio here in Vancouver. There's a particular station that has the girl doing traffic for the morning show. And she's at home. And I know she's at home. And she sounds like she's at home. And I think to myself, What the fuck do you know about traffic from your upstairs bedroom while your kids are downstairs having breakfast? It's a load of bullshit. And I- and I can hear it. And it's- for me, it's a two note, I think. I've always thought of, you know, morning radio should be the gang at the table, you know, shooting ideas around the table and yelling at each other across the table. I think it takes away. I don't know what it is. I don't know what the ingredient is. But there's something missing when you're not there.
Tara Sands (Voiceover) 35:53
Transcription of the Sound Off Podcast is powered by the You May Also Like podcast, the show about people, places and things. Follow the show on your favorite podcast app, or at YouMayAlsoLike.net. The Sound Off Podcast supports podcasting 2.0. So feel free to send us a boost if you're listening on a newer podcast app. If you don't have a newer podcast app, you can get one at newpodcastapps.com.
Matt Cundill 36:22
I remember a moment, Terry, when the laughs were going. And Patti was in the room with you. And I think maybe Ted you were too, but either way, Terry cut the microphone and said, What a bitch, and then put the microphones back up just to add a little bit to the laughter. That was one of those great technical things to just make it go a little bit longer and further.
Ted Bird 36:45
During the pandemic, even network newscasts had people reporting from their homes, or working from their homes. I remember watching CBC News Channel and there was a story on a tsunami in the South Pacific. Let's go to Natalie Colada to get the details, and they cut to Natalie Colada in her living room in Don Mills. And she's talking about the tsunami in the South Pacific. And I was saying to myself, please, please, please at the end, I want her to go Natalie Colada, CBC News, my house. But she didn't.
Terry Dimonte 37:22
Well, you know what, for years now, the supper hour broadcasts have been doing that. They- they put a reporter upstairs. And they go, and now we go live to the newsroom for the coverage of- because they've only got one reporter left. And they- they make it feel like there's something going on when it's really, Hey, Bob, you go upstairs and we'll shoot you from up there.
Ted Bird 37:43
Yeah, or stand outside the front door. That was another one with one of the local stations here.
Matt Cundill 37:48
Terry, we recorded a podcast like that, by the way.
Terry Dimonte 37:50
Did we?
Matt Cundill 37:51
Yeah, the summer you were here. I put you in the dining room. And then I recorded in the basement.
Terry Dimonte 37:57
That's right. That's right. Live- we go live to my dining room table. I remember now.
Matt Cundill 38:03
I want to talk about one of your sponsors that you have. And that's Sugar Sammy, who always seems to start off his world tour in Winnipeg for whatever reason. I think he's got a connection with Winnipeg, it's sort of the crossroads of Canada. He gets- it's a good warm up, good feel. He's got a great relationship with, I think the people at the venue where he speaks at. So he did the bilingual show, where basically what happened is all of St. Boniface came to the show. But I loved how he was trying stuff out about, do you know this? Do you know that? What do you watch on TV? He was feeling out and being funny. And then he mentioned Mike Ward, and it didn't land or resonate. There wasn't a lot of buzz in the room. So I thought because you're working with him and would know, tell everybody about Mike Ward and just how big he is.
Terry Dimonte 38:51
You know who I was- I was thinking of, I was thinking of Mike this week. And this is excellent that you brought this up, Matt, because Karl Tremblay passed away at the age of 47 in Quebec and caused a national- what they call in Quebec, a national sensation, both in Quebec and across most French speaking countries in the world. And the French press that I read this week, all commented on how people literally an hour flight from Montreal had no idea who Karl Tremblay was. And by the way, he was a big pop star with the band called Les Cowboys... Fringants. Thank you. My accent went away there. And it was- it was a massive sensation. And I was thinking of- when I was reading these French press articles about how English Canada had no idea who that was. I thought of Mike Ward. I thought, Mike- Mike Ward can't walk the streets in Montreal- well, he can walk the streets, but he gets recognized everywhere he goes, and is so widely known across the world where there French speaking people. You know, imagine having the most listened to podcast on the planet. You know, that's- that's bigger than, you know some of the- the big, big English podcasts or Canadian podcasts. And yet Mike Ward I think- in Toronto, I don't think they know who he is. And again, that's an hour flight away. Mike came to prominence nationally a little bit with a story of him taking his case of a joke, making fun- I don't want to go into the story because it's long and complicated. He made fun of a kid...
Ted Bird 40:36
It was a kid with- it was a kid with a disability. And Mike didn't make fun of the kid. He made fun of a circumstance that the kid was involved in. And the kid sued him and won, and Mike took it all the way to the Supreme Court. And that's where Mike won. Mike ultimately won the case. Sorry, Ter, I just thought it was important to point out and it's an important element of that story. He did not make fun of the kid, he made fun of the circumstance.
Terry Dimonte 40:57
Yeah, I misspoke. You're right about that. And Mike, Mike would have jumped all over me for that, because that's- that's a big part of the story. And I had it wrong. Anyway, I think people across the country may have known him as that comedian who took his case to the Supreme Court, but they don't know him like the- the way Quebecers know and love him. This guy is- who would you compare him to, Ted? I was gonna say the George Carlin of Quebec, but that's not really fair.
Ted Bird 41:26
Yeah. I don't know. Yeah, he's- like, he's his- he has his own style. He doesn't emulate anyone, he's got his own style. And the thing that's interesting to me is I think he's just as funny in English as he is in French, but for whatever reason, he hasn't caught on across the rest of the country. That might be because he hasn't really made the effort, because he can do so well here. He makes a killing in Quebec, he doesn't need to go to English Canada to- to- to make a living. He does well enough right here, but he's- he's as fluently bilingual as you can possibly be. If you met Mike, you wouldn't know that he is a mother tongue Francophone. He speaks English like the three of us speak English. Possibly even better sometimes.
Terry Dimonte 42:13
Yeah. You're probably right about that, Ted, because he hasn't put a plan together to conquer the country, and-
Ted Bird 42:20
He hasn't had to.
Terry Dimonte 42:21
No, and as you point out, anybody who knows the Quebec star system knows, you don't need to do that if you don't want to. You know, sugar Sammy, I think has- has conquered the country because it was, you know, it was something that he aspired to do. And boy, has he done it, and done it extremely well, by making some really brave and interesting choices, including taking a bilingual show across the country to places like Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton. I think that's- that's really, really fascinating. The difference may be right there, Matt, as Ted points out, Mike doesn't need to and maybe hasn't wanted to.
Matt Cundill 43:01
it feels like a lot of effort for no apparent result. It's a big country. And Terry, you know this because you toured with Street Heart, and you'd go across the country and the venues- you play in front of smaller and smaller and smaller as you go. I see this with podcast numbers from really popular Toronto personalities. And even those who have some national personalities as well. If you weren't on the radio in that market, your podcast doesn't do very well. Very simply. Look at the heat map. It is all centered around Toronto. It doesn't transfer to Alberta. And then we had some Alberta personalities do some podcasts, I think of Carrie Doll as being one. And it is all Alberta. Ryan Jespersen left CHED. He owns Alberta, Saskatchewan, a little bit of Manitoba. But then it gets like the Street Heart audiences, it gets thinner and thinner as you go. Canada doesn't have a star system. It's large. I don't know if word doesn't travel very well, or our culture is just spread too far apart. It's- again, for Mike, it would be a lot of effort for no apparent result.
Terry Dimonte 44:12
Yeah, I think it's- you know, it's- it's regional, I suppose, when you- you know, I think of people like Rick Mercer and you know, some music artists, of course can go into any part of the country and do well. But I think that it dovetails back to my- my theory about, at least with radio guys, podcasts, the numbers obviously play out, you know, when we look at our breakdown, Matt, it's- it's broken down for not just the province, but the numbers are broken down into you know, Laval, Art DP, St. Leonard, just like a radio audience. You know, we're able to look and then there's a little tiny blip in Alberta, you know, from maybe the- all the Quebecers moved out to Alberta. We have, I don't know, a couple of you know, people listen in Singapore, you know, it's obviously as you point out ex-Montrealers. But it's all rooted around the people that know and are familiar with those personalities. And I- I think that would be- obviously is true of like Ryan, like Terry Forbes, you know, like Don Percy, like these are names that resonate with the people that live in those particular places much like me and Ted.
Ted Bird 45:25
You can speak to this, how much of it is marketing? Because I don't think Terry and I do a great job of marketing ourselves. Terry's wife does a good job of marketing us. But I don't remember the last time I put on a social media post where I posted a clip of the podcast, please like and share, you know, those- those- those standard things that apparently you're supposed to do when you're trying to market your podcast. I just throw the clip up and say, here's who we had on. And here's what he said this week. I wonder if that's why podcasts tend to stay local, because they're not marketed properly.
Matt Cundill 45:57
Oh, podcast marketing is a- it's a wild and crazy place. I mean, you have sponsors, and they have, you know, the ability to reach their customers, how can you go in through your sponsors to tell them about the podcast? So I know we always- we always go to social media. But no one's leaving a TikTok to go to your show. When they see you, you're actually just reminding them to go and listen to the show that they already love. It's a long journey for them to- to look at your clip, and then say, Oh, I'm going to try that out. But listen, they do a great job. You've got- you've got TikToks and Reels that are going out with highlights, I saw one with Bruce hills, that reminded me that I need to listen to the show. And it's going to be a good combination. I haven't done it yet, but I will. So it's just different types of marketing.
Terry Dimonte 46:47
I also think that- and Ted and I talked about this last weekend when I was in Montreal- I also think we can do, and should do, you know, my wife said we should have a banner up, we should have a banner manufactured and have a banner up at Strangers in the Night, you know, where there's a big collection of people who are a target audience, and- and become you know, sort of a co sponsor with an event like that. And the other thing that we toyed with doing, that we ended up not doing just because it was a little bit expensive at the time, was we wanted to buy traffic tags on CHOM, the radio station we used to work at. You know, traffic brought to you by the Standing By podcast featuring Terry and Ted. I got a kick out of the idea of that, but I wasn't sure how effective it would be. But I think if you're going to approach it like we're approaching it as a local radio show that happens to be on a podcast platform, we should think about things like supporting local events, you know, big events, the Barbecue Fest in Pierrefonds or the Strangers in the Night event in August or, you know, the different fundraisers where we could just put up a banner saying, you know, we- we support this.
Matt Cundill 48:06
All those things we did in radio. Going on to appearances, meeting people works. I've seen traffic tags work. Radio is one of the- one of the best things radio does is- always was marketing itself. Marketing shows, promotion, reminding people to listen, all those things, radio does such a good job of it. They just don't have as much to market anymore. But you know, us all being radio people, need to think back to what worked. Listen, if you can afford a bus board or a billboard, go get it. If you can- and if you can contra anything, do it.
Terry Dimonte 48:43
Yeah, that's- and also, we noticed it the other night at this event we were hosting, there were close to 600 people there. And we shook a lot of hands and spoke to a lot of people and a lot of people had nice things to say about the podcast. And it reminded me of the early days of trying to remind people that we worked in morning radio, hey, don't forget to listen, we'll say hi to you on Monday morning. You know, we can't do that. But if you can have an interaction with people and get some feedback from people, it's- there's just- there's so many similarities to the radio world. And it- you know, whenever- whenever we talk about it, think about it, go through it. I- I look back and I think, man, radio was stupid to give up this space. They really were. They just walked away from it.
Matt Cundill 49:27
They could own both spaces if they tried.
Terry Dimonte 49:29
Yes!
Ted Bird 49:30
You know what, the saying hi to people on the radio thing still works. And I know that because I still work on the radio, and I still say hi to people, and they get the biggest kick out of it. I met a guy at the IGA one day, and he had his two 10 year old boys with him. They might not even have been 10, they might have been eight. Twin boys. And the guy says- introduced himself, said he listens every morning and these are my sons and I don't remember the boys' names, but I said I'm going to give you a shout out tomorrow morning, and I did, and I mentioned the boys' names, and he sent me a note and said those boys went off to school with the biggest shit eat and grins on their face. And they spent the whole day telling everybody at school, Ted Bird talked about us on the radio this morning. That still works, people still get the biggest charge out of hearing their name on the radio.
Terry Dimonte 50:16
The magic of radio. When I first got to Montreal back in 1984, the first thing I would do is- before I even emptied my pockets of money, I would empty my pockets of crumpled cocktail napkins. And on all of those cocktail napkins were notes of people's names, where they worked, where they were from, what we talked about, and I would bring a bunch of crumpled cocktail napkins into work a few hours later. And- and it just resonated. There's a magic about that, that just as Ted says, never ever goes away, I still meet people who say, you know, you said hi to my mom for her 75th birthday, or I was a weather kid with you guys. And you know, one time I got a tour of the station with you guys. Those things- I don't know, there's- there's just- there's a magic about that medium that hasn't gone away, that the- the big corporations haven't figured out how to capitalize on.
Matt Cundill 51:15
One of the things that popped up on Twitter early on when you were starting- One of your listeners said I don't understand podcasts. What's a season? And it's one of the things I do when people ask me about their shows. They say Oh, should I do seasons? Terry, Ted, you'll remember the Sopranos. What's a fidget? What constitutes a fidget? What constitutes a season? And so I'll ask everybody what constitutes a season. And they sort of will say, Well, I guess I'm taking a break. And I might come back. And- but one of the things you guys have done really, really well is you have defined what seasons are to your audience. So early on, this person who tweeted at you didn't understand, and was just starting. But I think everybody understands that when you have a new season, it's going to be 10 episodes. We know now that two of them are going to be just the two of you, you're gonna have eight guests. And it's whenever Terry can get himself from Vancouver to the studio. And when Ted can get himself from the West Island to the studio. Out come these 10 episodes. That's a season.
Terry Dimonte 52:19
Yeah, and I think what's happened, Matt is we've just- it indicates there are new episodes coming. I think people that are familiar with podcasts know that they can go back, you know, our very first episode is still there, you can still listen to it, it never goes away, which is also a great attribute for- for sponsors. You know, the ads we did on that episode two years ago, or however long it was, that episode never goes away. So if you're introducing new listeners, new listeners to the new season of the podcast, hopefully that if you're listening to it for the first time, because you like Mitch Garber and you think oh, I don't know who these guys are. But let me go Google it. Let me- let me go to the Linktree and see what other episodes are there that I could maybe- and I've seen that happen. I've seen- when we release a new season, I'll go back and look at some of the numbers of you know, previous seasons with- with different guests. And they've gone up, the listens have increased, you know, people went back to look for Pierre Hood, they went look- back to look for Dave Stubbs, you know, and it's interesting to me that now, as you point out, a new season just means new episodes that Ted and I got together for, as you point out, 10 episodes, and there'll be 10 new ones there. And when there's a new season, that's 10 new episodes, but you can go back anytime. I'm still puzzled by some people that say, What time's your podcast on? You know, I still get- we still get notes like that, I think oh, I don't know how to explain that. But-
Ted Bird 54:03
Whatever time you want it to be.
Terry Dimonte 54:04
Exactly. Yeah, the joy- the joy of podcasts. Anytime you like.
Ted Bird 54:09
We try not to. We did- this- this past season. We did the last three in one day. And by the end of it, both my eyeballs were in the same socket. And Terry was sitting across the table laughing out loud at me, because I was so shot.
Terry Dimonte 54:29
Because I've known Ted so long and I sat across him for so many years, across from him for so many years. There's just kind of a look and the lids get really- they get like, really like, sort of metal garage doors.
Ted Bird 54:49
Tell him the story about the comdey show the other night.
Terry Dimonte 54:53
He's not sleeping, but he's not there.
Ted Bird 55:04
Well, the show was too long. It was a three hour show. That's too long for a comedy show.
Terry Dimonte 55:08
We were so tire- Well, yeah, it's- literally people were running for the exits. When we- when I was reading the raffle numbers at the end of the night, people were like, bye! Running for the exits. And just before the- the headliner was coming to an end, before he was wrapping up his set, he said- Ted and I were right backstage, right behind the curtain. And Ted couldn't hear the headliner say, just- just to wrap it up tonight, I'm gonna do another song. Ted looked at me with horror in his eyes and went, did he say he was gonna do another song? And fell backwards like Jesus Christ, don't sing a song, I gotta go home. And look of horror in your eyes.
Ted Bird 55:59
I was kinda leaning against, the wall, Did he say he was gonna do a song?
Terry Dimonte 56:05
He's gonna do a song. And maybe it was a had to be there moment, but it was- it was reminiscent of, you know, I mean, for years and years and years- and Ted's still doing it. I don't know how he does. I think it's because he keeps himself in such great physical shape. Every morning at 3:30, you know, catches up with you eventually. You know, you- you get that sort of look in your eye like, Oh, my God, I have to lie down like right now.
Ted Bird 56:33
Yeah, yeah. You know, I've asked Terry this question before, Matt. How many- How many long term radio morning men can you name who lived to a ripe old age? Not too many.
Terry Dimonte 56:46
Or, how many long term radio morning guys who have not had any medical issues? My wife talks about this all the time. Talks about, you know, I mean, I think mine was- obviously had something to do with genetics, heart valves. That was my issue. But also, the lack of you know, what- what science is telling you about how important sleep is to the- to the health of your heart. When you look back on it, there's a lot of guys, a lot of guys who were big famous morning men, who- some of them dropped dead, didn't make it into their 70s, or who were stricken with all kinds of different things. You know, again, it's not- we don't work in a coal mine. But sleeping three hours a night for 35 years is not a- it's not a good prescription for good health.
Ted Bird 57:43
Sleep deprivation is a real health factor that you probably don't hear enough about.
Terry Dimonte 57:49
And you don't give a shit about when you're 35. Yeah, whatever, you know, yeah. And then kicks ya in the heart.
Matt Cundill 57:58
Well, you know, I think it is a disproportionate number of on air people. And Terry, you're one. Bob Steele's another. Drex in Vancouver.
Terry Dimonte 58:08
This is what Jess was saying.
Matt Cundill 58:12
That's just in the last year.
Terry Dimonte 58:14
Scruff Connors. Just tons and tons of them.
Ted Bird 58:17
Well, that's depressing. I'm sorry I brought it up.
Matt Cundill 58:24
Ted, how's Sam doing? What's he doing? Podcasting?
Ted Bird 58:27
Sam has a podcast or two that he does out of the studio. Well, one of them he does out of the studio at what used to be Ryerson University but is now Toronto metropolitan university because Ryerson own slaves and was horrible, horrible man. Apparently, he does one called Birdcore. That's his own podcast. I don't think he does that from Ryerson. I think he does that from his own studio. And he works at Elevation Pictures in their promotions department. That's his foot in the door to what he wants to do. He wants to be involved in television and filmmaking. I think ultimately, he wants to be what's called a showrunner, which is what it sounds like. I think it's someone- he wants to create, and- and write and oversee television series and/or movies. And I think he's got the ability to do it.
Terry Dimonte 59:21
And the talent. And- and the charm. And he's a very, very bright, very, very talented young man. And Ted and I both have reservations on his private jet, because that's coming.
Ted Bird 59:39
He's very emotionally mature as well. That's what- that's what I think is going to serve him well in a business that's full of emotionally immature people, and I'm one of them. He's very emotionally mature. He's really emotionally and psychologically solid. Like I aspire to be more like him. I really, really do. And I think that also is going to serve him very well.
Terry Dimonte 1:00:02
He doesn't flip out when he breaks a shoelace.
Ted Bird 1:00:05
No, sir. He doesn't flip out ever.
Terry Dimonte 1:00:09
No, no. No.
Matt Cundill 1:00:11
I mean, so often I'll ask people who come on this show, what was it like growing up in a broadcasting household? Now I get to ask the reverse. What's it like having a kid, a son, who is starting down a path of broadcasting, or media as it were? I'm glad you- I'm glad you see that.
Ted Bird 1:00:31
Sam is also in the new Drake video. Did I tell you that, Ter?
Terry Dimonte 1:00:35
I've seen it. You did- You did tell me and I follow him on social media. So it was pretty cool.
Ted Bird 1:00:41
Yeah, he's the guy wearing the dog mask and marching down the long corridor. He's the Bulldog. Yeah, he knows the producer. That's how he got that little gig. And Drake was not on the set the day that Sam shot, but I just thought it was the coolest thing. You don't know it's him because he's wearing a mask. But I just thought it was the coolest thing that he was on a Drake video.
Terry Dimonte 1:01:03
And that's- that's how you get going. That's exactly how you get going, is exactly what he's doing. Sam's not at home, complaining about the- you know, the rent and how expensive things are. And blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And you can't find, nobody helped me, lalala. He's out there. And he's digging in and getting it done. And that's- Bruce Hills talked about this on our podcast, which is up now. He said when opportunity knocks, jump on it. It doesn't matter if you're working for free. And I think Sam did work for free for a little while.
Ted Bird 1:01:39
Bruce said all you need is momentum.
Terry Dimonte 1:01:42
Yes. Yeah. And that- Sam- I think Sam is already building that. Because that's what happens. A producer says, Hey, you want to be the Bulldog in the Drake video? You're fucking right I do. I'll be right there. You know, that's- as you said, Ted, he's he's on his way already, I think. We love him.
Ted Bird 1:02:03
I sure hope so. He's He's lightyears ahead of where I was at his age.
Matt Cundill 1:02:06
How old is he?
Ted Bird 1:02:08
24.
Matt Cundill 1:02:08
We are at season six, Episode Five. We're in season six, Episode Five, Season Seven sometime 2024 we'll say. Who do you want to have as a guest? Wish List. And we're gonna mention this, because people who are listening to this podcast- we're gonna will them on. We're gonna make it happen. All right? All right. We're gonna put it out to the universe as it were.
Terry Dimonte 1:02:37
Well, Ted?
Matt Cundill 1:02:38
Who do you want as a guest?
Ted Bird 1:02:41
I haven't even thought of it yet.
Terry Dimonte 1:02:45
Ted and I usually have a sort of, I can't call it a meeting, we have a conversation. And we begin writing down ideas. I would- you know, who I would love to have on the podcast? I would like to talk to Guy A. Lepage, of Tout le monde en parle. I'd love to have him on the podcast to talk about his, you know, his pathway to- for people who don't know, it's one of the most watched television shows, live television shows in Quebec every Sunday night. And I just I find him fascinating. And I find that whole story of that, Tout le monde en parle, I find that very very interesting.
Ted Bird 1:03:26
Sugar Sammy would be a natural, obviously, since he's one of our sponsors, but it's trying to schedule the podcast around Sammy being in Montreal because he's literally all over the world.
Terry Dimonte 1:03:35
Yeah. And we've- we wanted to have him on this- this season, season six and the dates just wouldn't line up. And we'd like to have Mike Ward back on, we've already had Mike on the podcast, but we'd love to have him back, and I'd be interested to talk to the guy with the thing. He's a good guy. It'll come to me, probably tomorrow. But, you know, and this is-
Ted Bird 1:04:05
You're doing your imitation of me there. We're over an hour now.
Matt Cundill 1:04:13
Hey, would you take- would you take Valerie Plante?
Ted Bird 1:04:15
Definitely.
Terry Dimonte 1:04:16
I'd love to talk to Valerie Plante. I- you know, I just don't agree with her on so many levels. But we've had- we had a really nice conversation with the guy, Sterling. Sterling Downey, who- who serves with Valerie Plante. He's the counselor for Verdun.
Ted Bird 1:04:34
And was Deputy Mayor for a while.
Terry Dimonte 1:04:36
And Deputy Mayor for a while. We had a conversation with him about, you know- I've got a different idea of what cities should be. I guess because of the era I grew up in, I- I just- I don't agree with a lot of what goes on, and I don't agree with the direction that they've taken Montreal in, and it's too late. Montreal has completely changed. They've changed it and I would love to sit down and talk to her about, you know, what- what it is she's doing and- and why she thinks it's the best way for Montreal to go, the direction that Montreal should go in. And listen, what do I know, people keep voting her in. So I guess that's what Montrealers want. I don't know, it's just a- a new way of looking at cities that that I don't like, I like cities that are big and electric and fast and, you know, and- and they want you know, they want want cities that are scooter driven and full of unicorns. I- that's not my thing. So yeah, I would love to have- I'd love to have a chat with her. And also, this is the other thing, I gotta get to get this off my chest before- This is what burns my ass about municipal politics. No one elected you to save the planet. Does the planet needs saving? I'm not denying that for one second. But you're the mayor, you're the mayor of the city. Make sure that the roads are open, the garbage is picked up, that the pipes work, that there's water coming into the sink, make sure the city runs for its citizens. Your projects about straws and bags and scooters and unicorns and apple picking and ponds in the middle of the city and, you know, trees and everything that you're going to do to save the planet? I don't- I don't think that that's the mayor's purview. That's just my personal opinion. Somebody else should be looking after that, the mayor shouldn't be running the city.
Ted Bird 1:06:35
Well take care of your own backyard first.
Terry Dimonte 1:06:38
Thank you. I would- I would love- I'd love to have her on to talk about it. And I got a little bit of a chance to have that discussion with Sterling when he was on too.
Matt Cundill 1:06:48
I spoke to Sugar Sammy, who said August 2024.
Terry Dimonte 1:06:54
Excellent.
Matt Cundill 1:06:55
Would be the time that I would- would be the window I would be allowed to interview him on the podcast. He gave me a window. And he said this would be in advance of his 2025 tour. And I said, who plans that far ahead? Apparently he does. Thank you, by the way for getting diverticulitis back in 2004.
Terry Dimonte 1:07:11
Yeah, he does. He's- it's really fascinating talking to him because we've- we've become good friends and have been friends for a while. Sammy was remarkable, with regards to my wife when I was in the hospital and flirting with death, Sammy was- he was amazing. He just- He checked in with her morning and at night. And when I got out of the hospital, Sammy happened to be coming through on tour. And he said, listen, I'd like you to come to the show, only if you're up to it, bla bla bla. And it was about a month or five weeks after I was out of the hospital. And he sat me, gave me two seats on the aisle. So he said if you want to leave, if you get too tired, just go. Like he's such good, good, good, good people. He's such a good, decent human being. And so whenever he comes to town, he was just in town in Vancouver, but a month or maybe five weeks ago, doesn't matter. And we wanted to have dinner. But that was a dinner that we had that we planned like three, four months ago. He said I'm free on this Sunday or that Monday at this time. It's- It's all so- like he knows where he's going to be. And he has to be, because not only is he you know, a touring comedian. He's also a very big TV star in France. So he's got to be- he's- you know, you got to plan that shit way in advance, I guess. No problem.
Matt Cundill 1:07:15
Because what happened was he came in to co host the CHOM morning show with me. And-
Terry Dimonte 1:07:26
Wait really?
Matt Cundill 1:07:28
Yeah, and from there-
Terry Dimonte 1:07:30
When I was in the hospital.
Matt Cundill 1:07:35
You were in the hospital. And I thought, what are we gonna do? I said, Well, I better call for backup. And he had some shows, and he just came in and he'd do, you know, 20 minutes, a half hour for about- you know, for three days- for the three days you were in the hospital. And then from there, I went to Winnipeg, and then he had- he had 10 days in the middle of January. And it was as advertised, it was like minus 40. And but, you know, he came down to Power 97, did, you know, half hour every day, an hour every day. And you know, I think from there developed a little bit of a relationship with Winnipeg, whereby he does start off the tour here quite often. But you know, since then, you know, I'll send him a text and I'm waiting for him to say who's this? He doesn't. I'm coming to Winnipeg.
Terry Dimonte 1:09:43
He- he's done- he did what we did in radio. He just- he shook a million hands and starts at the small clubs and builds up an audience. This is what he did when he went to France. Nobody knew who he was in France. And breaking through in France is trying to like break through in New York City. I think the- for one of the first stand up gigs he did in France was for 30 people. And now he's on television every week in France in front of an audience of four and a half million people. And he went from, you know, 30 people to 100 people to 200 to 2000. And, you know, he just- he gets down and in there and does the work, and he's never forgotten where he came from. And there's- if you're a sugar Sammy fan, there's a terrific W5 piece up on YouTube, where you can learn all about his past. And Ted and I have been the beneficiaries of his kindness. We had him on the radio, Ted, when he was just, just starting. He was still taking the bus to his gigs, eh?
Ted Bird 1:10:43
Yeah, we saw him at the- I don't remember where we saw him, but we said to each other, we gotta get him on the show, and we brought him in and he has never, ever forgotten that.
Terry Dimonte 1:10:53
Brings it up all the time.
Matt Cundill 1:10:55
Guys, thanks so much for doing this, and taking time, and especially Ted. Hope you got your nap in earlier.
Ted Bird 1:11:01
I did as a matter of fact, I got an hour.
Matt Cundill 1:11:05
And Terry, is it time for your nap?
Terry Dimonte 1:11:07
No, just before we go I'd like to sing a song.
Ted Bird 1:11:10
Did he say he's gonna sing a song?
Terry Dimonte 1:11:17
I got one more number, Ted.
Ted Bird 1:11:19
Oh, God, he's gonna sing a song.
Tara Sands (Voiceover) 1:11:23
The Sound Off Podcast is written and hosted by Matt Cundill. Produced by Evan Surminski. Edited by Chloe Emond-Lane. Social media by Aidan Glassey. Another great creation from the Sound Off Media Company. There's always more at soundoffpodcast.com.