the Wikkid podcast

Episode 0: Preamble

February 10th, 2021  |  Season 1  |  7 mins 17 secs

bible, christianity, depression, fundamentalism, guitar, hell, home recording, music, music production, parents, plymouth brethren, rapture, therapeutic

The second to first episode of The Wikkid Podcast. Before we get started in earnest, this will establish content, structure and intent.

Episode 1: Daddy's Crying

February 17th, 2021  |  Season 1  |  1 hr 2 mins

bible, christianity, depression, fundamentalism, guitar, hell, home recording, music, music production, parents, plymouth brethren, rapture, therapeutic

This episode sets the stage for the album The Story of Peter Grey, outlining the nature of our Plymouth Brethren Christian group, our strict church upbringing within it, and my father's over-enthusiastic involvement in it, following the direct mentorship of a key voice of tradition in a time when change was in the wind. It includes soundbites of the actual 70s and 80s preachers preaching what they preached. It goes into what happened to our family when my dad ended up on the wrong side of church politics. It ends with the song written afterward to deal mentally and psychologically with all of it.

Episode 2: Turning Black

February 24th, 2021  |  Season 1  |  35 mins 5 secs

bible, christianity, depression, fundamentalism, guitar, hell, home recording, music, music production, parents, plymouth brethren, rapture, therapeutic

This second episode goes into discovering in my teens that high school and youth group "fun stuff" was depressing to me rather than fun. It explores the idea that when depression is experienced as a lack of enthusiasm and "positive energy," the more times one is urged to demonstrate enthusiasm and cheerfulness one doesn't possess, the more joy seems out of reach, like something for other people. It remembers starting to wear all black, sleep all day and opt out of things.

Episode 3: Digging For Pride

March 3rd, 2021  |  Season 1  |  39 mins 26 secs

adam fogo, bible, bobby mcferrin, christianity, depression, don't worry be happy, fundamentalism, guitar, hell, home recording, music, music production, parents, plymouth brethren, rapture, therapeutic, trevor finlay, yoko ono

Overdoing adolescent depression. What helped me (a bit.) Adults didn't seem to be able to help at all. Working on my music with other people, both real and imagined. Being a bit of a post-John Yoko Ono in the recording studio? A recently unearthed, long-lost interstitial intro!

Episode 4: Bitterness

March 10th, 2021  |  Season 1  |  19 mins 5 secs

bible, chris lochner, christianity, depression, fundamentalism, gloria garbuio, guitar, hell, home recording, music, music production, parents, plymouth brethren, rapture, therapeutic

A serious look at suicidal ideation, youthful resentment and a mania for bladed weapons. A church culture in which there were few worse sins than being resentful if they mistreated you, and "forgiveness" was your job, not theirs.

Episode 5: Woman (As Concept)

March 17th, 2021  |  Season 1  |  25 mins 11 secs

adam fogo, bible, christianity, depression, fundamentalism, guitar, hell, home recording, mike dubue, music, music production, parents, plymouth brethren, rapture, therapeutic

In a culture where you can't even say the word "sex," and cleavage is verboten, how do you actually get married to a real live church girl? There seemed to be a lot of rules in the game, but no one would agree about or admit what they were.

Episode 6: How Much?

March 24th, 2021  |  Season 1  |  45 mins 47 secs

bible, christianity, depression, fundamentalism, guitar, hell, home recording, mindy amelotte, music, music production, parents, plymouth brethren, rapture, therapeutic

How do you safely ascertain if a girl you've noticed has noticed you, and in a good way? Is it really just a status-establishing mating dance after all? What do you do when your song keeps sounding like "Knocking on Heaven's Door" nor matter how many ways you rejig it and record it?

Episode 7: The Romantic Song

March 31st, 2021  |  Season 1  |  36 mins 55 secs

bible, christianity, depression, fundamentalism, guitar, hell, home recording, mindy amelotte, music, music production, parents, plymouth brethren, rapture, therapeutic

That special feeling when a relationship you were counting on fizzles out. Do hardships actually make depression any worse? Layering a large number of things over a two-chord symphony. Mr. Wizard plays with dry ice into a microphone.

Episode 8: In the Hole

April 7th, 2021  |  Season 1  |  40 mins 52 secs

bible, christianity, depression, fundamentalism, guitar, hell, home recording, music, music production, parents, plymouth brethren, rapture, tanya onysko, therapeutic, violin

An attempt at something more akin to cinematic score, commemorating the worst place I ever lived. I get a violinist and a bass singer in. Stories of trying to connect with Christians outside the church I grew up in.

Episode 9: Solitary

April 14th, 2021  |  Season 1  |  56 mins 51 secs

bible, christianity, depression, fundamentalism, guitar, hell, home recording, king's x, music, music production, parents, plymouth brethren, rapture, stryper, therapeutic

This Wikkid Wednesday, it might get loud. Why were loud music, loud clothing and other intense experiences, somehow threatening to our fundamentalist upbringing? Why did exuberance make the other folks uncomfortable? How did I find my way from Neil Diamond to White Zombie? A sad tracing of the attempts of a man with a smooth baritone voice to shred or otherwise do metal. Is it possible to do all of exactly the right things to end up single and alone? Singleness and solitude as a sentence handed down by church and mainstream society alike?

Additional Musicians:
Original Drums: Tim Searles
Drums: Chris Metcalfe
Bass guitar: Adam Fogo
Guitar soloing: Troy Tuttle
Backing harmonies: Debbie Moore-Michelin

Stryper is back, and still doing metal, albeit of a less on-the-nose evangelical bent.
King’s X still puts out albums from time to time. Ty Tabor does online mastering here: http://alienbeansstudio.com/
If you would be interested in two guys looking at the bible with an attempt to view it as the Jewish people of its time might have viewed it, taking a step back from how we normally do, check out Brett and Marty at The BEMA Podcast https://www.bemadiscipleship.com/episodes
If you would be interested in a Generation Xer who is an expert in collecting and repairing 70s and 80s toys and action figures, with a special interest in 80s movies and TV as well, but who isn’t simply wanting a firehose of fun from Disney nowadays, with whatever they choose to give us, check out Michael at Retroblasting on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/user/retroblasting

Episode 10: Words Cannot Express

April 21st, 2021  |  Season 1  |  32 mins 2 secs

bible, christianity, depression, fundamentalism, guitar, hell, home recording, music, music production, parents, plymouth brethren, rapture, therapeutic

The last episode of season one, about the last song on The Story of Peter Grey. It's about words helping, but not being enough. It has humpback whales.

Coming soon: The Wikkid Podcast Season Two. Peter Grey Grows Up.

Episode 11: Bigger Frame

May 5th, 2021  |  Season 2  |  39 mins 19 secs

bible, christianity, depression, fundamentalism, george turcotte, guitar, hell, home recording, music, music production, parents, plymouth brethren, rapture, therapeutic, yamaha mt120

In order to grow out of things, you need to change, and change is hard and can be scary. I get my first multitrack recorder and explore various things that could be done with it. Home-made smurfs. Backwards guitar solos. Does Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" really say "it's fun to smoke marijuana" when played backwards? Meeting non-Meeting musicians. Why recording a band is hard. Why working together in a band is harder. Getting drums on my stuff. Did my late uncle's voice sound surprisingly like fellow Torontonian Jordan Peterson's?

Episode 12: Intentions/Leathery Wings

May 12th, 2021  |  Season 2  |  40 mins

bible, christianity, depression, fundamentalism, guitar, hell, home recording, maranatha, music, music production, parents, plymouth brethren, rapture, therapeutic

By listener request, I break down the contradictory basic theology spoon fed to use as Christian kids. Also, I talk about vows made while drunk on the mountaintop experience of youth camp and bible conferences. A case against repression and denial of flaming youth. Sometimes you need more cowbell but you don't have one. It might get loud.

Episode 13: Hello, Down There!

May 19th, 2021  |  Season 2  |  31 mins 42 secs

bible, christianity, depression, fundamentalism, guitar, hell, home recording, music, music production, parents, plymouth brethren, rapture, robert smith, the cure, therapeutic

Girls. Chickadees. Depression helped along by a double-barrelled romantic failure to launch. Meeting Brethren creatives? Trying to sing like Robert Smith? A very silly song.

Episode 14: Hippipotame

May 26th, 2021  |  Season 2  |  21 mins 58 secs

bible, bleu nuit, christianity, depression, fundamentalism, guitar, hell, home recording, music, music production, parents, plymouth brethren, rapture, schtroumpfs, therapeutic

As I grew up in Canada with a French-Canadian grandmother and a British one, and as Quebec is a short drive from here, as is America, there's a lot to say about that. Pretty short podcast episode, though. Stuff about all things French, having French Brethren who needed a translation other than the King James Version to read, and who were culturally fairly unBrethren. Les petit phoques suffoque sur les flocons de glace. Bleu Nuit. Cheech and Chong in French? Why I was somewhat chagrined to see Flight of the Conchords do a funny song in nonsense French about twenty years after I had. More shenanigans with my Brethren creative friends. Smurfs/Schtroumpfs. My silly songs usually go over better than my serious moody ones.

Episode 15: Eugene's Poem

June 2nd, 2021  |  Season 2  |  36 mins 37 secs

bible, christianity, depression, fundamentalism, guitar, hell, home recording, music, music production, parents, plymouth brethren, rapture, therapeutic

Sick of trying to sharpen iron on jello, our protagonist starts frequenting people who are smarter than he is, and crazier too. Looking for Mr. Miyagi. Poetry intended to cause offense. Too much thinking being done, in the opinion of the old folks at church. Stealth beer. Kids raised to blandly crave intensity. Scottish drinking songs. My best "fit" in a band. I don't sing the lead vocals on this one. I don't write the lyrics either. (Enjoying the wonders of collaboration.)