EPISODE 17: Laurie Brown

Erica gets personal with Laurie Brown about being discovered in the basement of MuchMusic, how she ended up hosting The Power Hour, and what she learned from interviewing David Bowie sixteen times.
    
Laurie opened up about why she’s not a big reader, how she lost her CBC job and her husband at the same time, the story behind her beloved late-night radio show The Signal, and why she left radio to start her own Pondercast podcast.

Show Transcript

0:03

The guys from kiss

0:04

have arrived this snuck in the back door to spend your whole life during

0:08

the first few albums and then suddenly everybody needs your attention.

0:11

Good vision of the vj a flashback on the career that made them who they are today. On this episode

0:20

Hi and welcome to the Pepsi Power Hour. I'm

0:21

Laurie Brown, and we have an hour filled with wonderful heavy metal videos. We were all like a huge litter of puppies. It's the way I like to think of of all of us in much music. This

0:34

is Erica Ehm reinvention of the vj. Now, here's Erica Ehm.

0:41

Hi there. I'm Erica Ehm. And thank you so much for tuning into this episode of my reinvention of the vj podcast. My guest today had no intention of becoming one of Canada's most respected arts journalists. But a stint working in the basement of the muchmusic building editing film to pay her rent led her to becoming one of the hosts on the show the new music. And the rest, as they say, is history. To be honest, for those of us who were working with her back at muchmusic, it actually wasn't a big shocker that she became a big name and Canadian broadcast television. But it did throw me for a loop when she gave up her career on TV, only to completely reinvent as Canada's coolest late night radio host. Today, she's doubling down on podcasting, and she's on my podcast. I'm so looking forward to reconnecting with my power our buddy Laurie Brown. But before we jump into our interview, just in case, this is your first time tuning into my podcast, let me give you a bit of background on the show. reinvention of the V day podcast is my up close and personal conversations with the eclectic and talented personalities you may have grown up with on muchmusic. Some I worked closely with like Laurie, others may have been on the air after my time. But really, all of our personalities and approaches were different. But there was one thing that we all have in common. Each of us played a small part in Canada's most influential pop culture platform. And then we left at different times, and for very different reasons. But in the end, each of us set off on our next adventures. And it's that story of what happens after much the reinvention, the resilience, the crap, the luck, the innovation, and the perspective. That's what really intrigued me. So my chat today with Laurie Brown, maybe a trip down memory lane for you. But I'm also hoping that our conversation will spark some interesting tidbits or insights into what it takes for you to get what you want in life. Maybe how to reinvent or deal with tough transitions, tough times. And maybe you may consider redefining what success is for you. A lot of us are going through challenging times. And we are being forced to reevaluate our priorities and our choices. So maybe this conversation will inspire you in some small way to look at your life with new perspective. Which brings me now to the voice so many recognize and respect Laurie

3:33

Brown,

3:33

welcome to my podcast.

3:37

Hi Erica. It is so lovely to be here and hear you and I can see you too.

3:43

I know we're doing this on zoom, because I want to look you in the eye and you know have a conversation. I came up with the term when I couldn't sleep in the middle of the night. I think I was calling you to convert view conversate conversation and the interview was better in the middle of the night anyway. Yeah. Where you're in Nova Scotia right now.

4:07

Yes, I am in at the beginning of the second wave. I decided that I wanted to get out of Toronto. My family most of them is now in Nova Scotia. My dad my sister, my son is now here. So I have a place down here on the Bay of Fundy. So I came down and I'm helping my sister take care of my dad. Which seems like this kind of beautiful gift in the middle of all this crap. To be able to that I get to see my family down here and really spend a lot of time with them is so strangely a gift right now.

4:51

Yeah, there's a lot of those silver lining stories where you look at life which is really hard right now but a lot of us are having Those kinds of unexpected gifts. And I would say it's also perspective. So you clearly have a perspective looking at the positives in life. If your dad isn't doing well, someone moan about it, you're not. You're saying it's a great gift to be with him, which is, probably speaks a lot to who you are as a person and your perspective on life.

5:24

Well, it, it kind of helps you get get on, you know, and, and, and see it see the full picture, not just see the crop, but try to see the full picture. And then that's hard to do because we narrow down in our brains and you know, we get stuck in a loop. A bad loop sometimes, but you caught me on a day where I'm feeling pretty good.

5:49

Did you live in Nova Scotia when you were younger? I know your family is from Nova Scotia.

5:53

Yeah, no, they can't, when they got married and moved to Ontario had not had my sister and me. And then when I was 18, they moved back with my younger sister to Nova Scotia. And there was no way that I as an 18 year old in Toronto was going to move to a small town in Nova Scotia. So at that point, I was living on my own already, I moved out when I was 17. So it was like, see later, you know,

6:20

were you when you were 17? Were you like a shit? disturber? Or were you sort of a studious, well behaved young woman? No.

6:32

Yeah, I wish my kids I wish I could hear my mother answer that question for you. But, um, I think I was. I was pursuing a life that my parents didn't know anything about right, acting, and singing. And I was so deep into music, that my parents were a little worried for me. So I think it was it wasn't that I was a shit disturber so much, but I was forging an independent life that they couldn't really understand. And were fearful for me that nothing was going to come together. Right? That that I would never get a job that I would never have a career. You know, they were they were really concerned that my typing was pretty good. So I could always get a job typing somewhere, if you can imagine. But that's parents.

7:25

Yeah. I mean, you must have felt the same way with your kids, or did you?

7:31

I think I had, I had a little more faith. Because when I talk, think about careers, and think about what we did, when you and I went to school, there was no such thing is being a DJ, there was no such job for the job that we had. And so when I look at my kids, I kind of say, I have no idea where they're going to land because the world is changing so quickly, the jobs and things that they do haven't even been invented yet.

8:00

Laurie, you're gonna freak out? Well, maybe you won't. But I'm freaking out. Because when I do these interviews, obviously I do my research, I read I talk. And the more I discover about your point of view on the world, I'm like, that is the exact same as me. Why do you hang out more? You're gonna freak out? Well, you again, you may not. But watch as we go through our conversation, because there are so many similarities. I think it's interesting that you were in a band band. I mean, I didn't know that. How old were you? Yeah, we were in a band.

8:45

I had started at cdtv. At that point, I was it was you say working in the film department. And it was started out as a city TV band. They were called. We were called angora, love. And, in basically, we were a very warped cover band. And that evolved into another very warped cover band called The crowd in history. And we played around a little bit in Toronto. And I just love that idea of taking really popular pop songs, and then doing them in a completely different musical style than they were originally in. So it's kind of like a music lovers band.

9:31

So you were in the basement splicing film together to pay your rent. And then when you could you'd rush out to do auditions for acting, etc. Yep, yeah, you got an audition for a video, a music video. They're really were well established video stars.

9:53

True. Yes. And I can still remember my agent calling me and saying There's this thing. They want to make a short film about a song. And they there's a girl in the song and he said, I don't know how you're supposed to get paid for this and how much you should get paid because I don't I don't know anything about this. But do you want to go? It's for the artists name. It's a new guy's name is Corey Hart. Do you want to go to this audition? I said, sure. But so funny, my agent tried to explain what a music video was. Nobody knew. And then I went, and it was basically what do you look like, right? Because you're just going to be the girl on the video. And with Rob courtley at champagne pictures, and I got the job. And I remember I think I made I made $750 for a whole night of shooting down at the dawn jail in Toronto, and I listened to sunglasses at night about 4000 million times before everyone else in the world listened to it 4000 million times.

11:08

Was there a common connection between you being asked to audition to be a host on the new music and that video? Or are they completely separate? experiences?

11:22

I don't think they were because people, you know, the video came out. And people knew that I was the one in it. And I think that was where a connection was made. That that Daniel richer was looking for a host on the new music. And here was someone who was an actor, and a singer and she's in a band and she's in this music video. And maybe she would be a good person to audition and she happens to be right in the building, which was he didn't have to make a phone call for God's sakes. That's where luck comes into life. Really.

12:02

It's widely working, and also being at the right place at the right time.

12:07

Yeah, the timing was right. Everything was right.

12:10

So Daniel comes up to you. And he goes, Hey, Laurie.

12:13

I'm Daniel. Had you even met before? No, I knew who he was. I'd see him slinking around the slinking around the building like a dark shadow. And you know that Oh, cuz everyone loved the new music and love the show. And so yeah, I knew who he was, but I'd never met him.

12:35

So he came up to you in the basement and said, Hey, do you want to audition for the new music?

12:44

Yeah, actually, you know, who I think put them on to me was JD Roberts. I think JD put them on to me. He said, You should go talk to Lori in the basement. She's done blah, blah, blah. So I think that that's where the connection. The first little light came on. I think it was JD Who said that?

13:01

Oh, wow. And so Daniel comes down, introduces himself and asks if you'd like to audition? Is that was that the job? Yes. And so what? What did you have to do for the audition? I had to interview Daniel richler. Come on, like, just on the spot? Or did were there cameras set up? etc?

13:20

No, there were cameras set up. And, and we did that we went out, you know, on the back, fire escape or something like that. And, you know, probably Dave hurlbut knew he sat there and and I interviewed him for 20 minutes or something.

13:35

Did you prepare for that interview?

13:38

Oh, yeah.

13:42

I did. And in pre internet times, it was kind of difficult to get a lot of information on a person, you know, I'd wander through the building, asking other people to you know, Daniel, what should I ask him, blah, blah, blah. Did that do that kind of thing. But we had a very spirited conversation. And I think that I am, I was poking fun at him a little bit that he liked. And it was a good conversation. And I think because I'm a little bit of work that I have done on TV and film, I wasn't afraid of the camera. So that helped that really, that really helped. But when you scored that job, there is this potential pressure, because the new music was at still really is to this day, the most prestigious music, news magazine TV show in the history of pop culture, really, to step into the big footsteps of JD Roberts and Jeanie Becker, who

14:43

were the original hosts, was it daunting for you, or did you just take it in stride?

14:48

It was it was really daunting. And I knew I had so much to learn because basically you're making these little mini TV documentaries right? With the interview and opinion and all kinds of things and music, I knew I had so much to learn. But I also recognized how it, it kind of fit with who I was. And I knew that I had a sense of curiosity about music and about the world. And that I am such a deep music fan, that I felt I could, I felt I could do it. And so I just said, this is a, this is a big opportunity. And I'm, I'm going for it with everything I've got.

15:36

What was interesting, you've said that when you were initially doing a lot of interviews, you would do your research, but you focus less on the research and more on the music. And I thought that was I've never heard anybody actually say that before. Can you speak a little bit about that process?

15:59

I think I started out by thinking about the people watching, and the people who are watching and are going to care most about the interview, or the people who are the biggest fans of the music. And I thought if I keep my focus on the music, I will not disappoint the fans that are watching. And if I can display to the person that I'm talking to that I really know their music, and that I have spent time listening to the thing that they love to do that I felt that I would probably get a better interview. And I think that pretty much held up for me and probably 97% of interviews that when you when you really listen to the music and ask intelligent questions about the music, artists are happy, you know, they're happy to talk about the music instead of who their girlfriend is at the moment or, you know, something that seems superfluous, really, in the main scheme of things. So yeah, I felt like if I keep, if I keep my focus on the music, that will carry it.

17:14

It was a very huge learning curve for you. As you mentioned, since you had no experience as a music journalist, or the experience of editing television shows or stories, although you were splicing together film, it wasn't the same thing as actually producing these segments. When did you say to yourself at what point was there a specific interview or something happened when you went, man, Laurie, you've got this, you know what you're doing? Huh?

17:47

Um,

17:49

I can't remember who it was. But there started to become a kind of natural flow to the interview that felt like, you know, that feeling when you finished an interview, and you thought to yourself, man, I could just about run that raw, like the whole thing. It felt. So it flowed and it kept flowing. And it just had a natural, easy way to it. And you think that was a lovely conversation? And I don't really feel awkward about too many bits in there. So that would be good. I think that was it is when I finally relaxed enough and learned to not pay attention so much to my questions that I did have like a little cheat sheet in front of me, and just listen to what they were saying and have a normal conversation. I think that's something we all learned in the in the process, right? You learned it, same thing. We were all thrown in knowing nothing about what we were doing. We just had to figure it out.

18:55

Yeah, I do think that one of the secrets to good interviews is listening. Absolutely. And you could tell, you know, being on the other side, when you're talking when you're being interviewed, and you could see the other person's eyes glaze over when you're talking, you know, the host is not listening to a word

19:14

that you're saying, no, they're worried about their next question. They've lost interest in what you've got to say. Exactly.

19:21

And so you at some point, you started to become more confident in the world of new music, and you started to listen and your name started to become synonymous with. She's really good. And then you get a knock on the door. Well knock on your little desk. Yeah. And it's john Martin saying, Hey, we would like you now to be a vj on muchmusic. How did that happen? What happened?

19:51

I was shocked at that. And I said to john, it can't happen. I can't do this. I can't it's too much work. Like I, I am just just figuring out what it is that I'm doing here, the new music, it's too much. And he in his inimitable way, just said, Laurie, you're going to be a natural, you're going to see it's going to be very easy. We just want you to be you. And of course, that was the whole thing about everybody on much, right. And I was loading way more into it than I needed to, when, from his perspective, what he wanted was real music fans talking to real music fans about music and about life at the moment. So they gave me two shifts a week, which is why I never, I never really felt like a full DJ, because I didn't have the full complement of shifts that you guys had. So I kind of always felt like a pinch hitter or something, you know, that would just come in for a couple of times a week. And, and I, I loved it. I just loved the freedom of live TV. It just was so nice. You know,

21:11

had you done improv before? When you were snow? You haven't? Because like Christopher Ward, obviously had such a strong background in improv, which was Yeah, for him, but you didn't have that.

21:24

No, I had an acting background. And and I and I knew what being on camera, what worked and what didn't work to a certain extent. But no, I didn't have any of that. So once I got into the much thing, and took John's advice, to just relax and be with people in their homes, basically, as they're sitting around, I started to love it. I love the freedom of it, you know, so quick, anything you wanted to do. Anything we wanted to do a new music was a big slog, because it was got to go somewhere, you got to do the interview, you got to collect other footage, you got to write it, you got to edit it. And this you just opened your mouth and it came out. And it was over in moments. So I had I learned so much about live TV,

22:13

what did you learn?

22:15

The same thing we are mothers tell us the same thing we need to keep telling ourselves again and again throughout our lives is just be yourself. Open up your mouth and say what it is you feel and what you need to say. Just say it and see what happens.

22:31

I agree with that, especially when I see. Now looking back, who is most memorable to the people who used to watch much music. It's the ones who were the strongest characters, the ones who were just themselves, you know, like Steve Anthony total nutbar. But he was just being Steve. And, you know, either you love them or you hate him. He didn't give a shit. He just was this is who I am. And he just did Steve, I thought it was interesting in Christopher Ward's book is this live, which was about the early days of much you were interviewed. And you spoke a little bit about saying that you wish that you allowed yourself to have more fun. Back in the day. I see your face you're you're nodding.

23:25

Yeah.

23:27

Talk a little bit about that.

23:30

Ah, I think I took things very seriously. Because cuz, you know, this is my work. And I wanted to do it well, and everything. And there was? Well, I mean, we all had a lot of fun. But because I had no experience in any other with any other broadcaster, I had no experience making television with anyone else, that I didn't realize that the freedoms that we were given, I was never going to see again, when I moved to CBC, I would never have the kind of latitude the kind of creative space to make it up and try things out. And if I had known that, I would have I would have gone for it even more, I think I think I would have pushed myself a lot further to take advantage of that.

24:23

Oh, what would you have done? What do you what do you talk about like being Wilder on the live part? Or was it for the new music or what what would you have had more fun with?

24:34

I think, on the new music side, I would have pushed to travel more and to go to different places. I mean, I did go and I did an hour special on in Ireland right around, you know, the YouTube, YouTube was going nuts over there at that point. And it was simply because I started phoning up the Tourist Board and places like that and they sponsored the whole trip. And I could just do that. And john said, you know, as long as it doesn't cost any money, you can go anywhere and do anything. Right. So I could have done more of that, and I could. And so on the new music side, it was that on the muchmusic side, I think I would have just tried to pour more of myself into it be more of myself than I was.

25:24

When I think back to it. I actually feel the same. However, I still live that because I feel a very strong responsibility to be a role model. And to be someone that women specifically can emulate to. Because we worked in what was still a man's world for the most Yes, yes, that if I was foolish, and silly, people would take me even less seriously than they already did. Because I was hot with big boobs and I had a high voice. So I was already battling a stereotype. Even though, you knew I knew that I was more qualified than any other girl my age to do that job based on the experiences I had before. Hmm. What about you? Did you also feel a responsibility to be a role model for other women? Because you were

26:31

that came as a surprise to me? Actually, I didn't think about that at the beginning. I thought, in interviews, I would say to myself, you need to ask the questions that any woman would want to ask, you know, whether it's abandoned the power hour, or any kind of any kind of artists, male or female, I want to bring this up, I want to talk about it, I felt a responsibility, but as much to myself as anyone else. And it sort of came later when people would call me and say you are my role model in TV in broadcast journalism, and I want to have a coffee with you. And that started and I thought, wow, isn't that interesting? I think these things happen, you know, they kind of get placed on you. And it wasn't that I started out feeling that way. But it's that I, it was revealed to me that I could be a role model after after a time. And that's a really interesting thing. And once you know that, right? You can't walk away from that I didn't want to walk away from it. But it's like, it's unbelievable how young people watch TV and pick up on everything, every little tiny thing that you do, they are watching, and judging and making little decisions about unlike that about her or I don't like that about her. You know, I like the way that she handled that. Or it's it's I think a lot of kids learned how to grow up by watching much music.

28:08

That's a fascinating thing to say. And I think that could also be why people are feel so connected. The hosts on muchmusic because we were all depending on who it is you chose to follow. We were all sort of showing you how to grow up how to how to be cool in a in our own unique ways. I mentioned before being stereotyped by virtue of my physical self.

28:41

Yes.

28:42

Do you remember there being sexism at much internally,

28:50

I would say not in the room that we were in so much. We were all like a huge litter of puppies, is the way I like to think of, of all of us in muchmusic. We're just all rolling all over each other and snapping at each other's ears and licking each other and it was like it, it felt like that. But as soon as you would go up into levels of management, and I would say even beyond the the management that we work with closely, I didn't feel it from them. But as soon as we got up a little higher than that, I felt it. I felt that I for instance, I was told when I got on muchmusic that we already have a brunette with me you Yes. Would you would you wear a blonde wig?

29:45

Boy that would suit you.

29:47

Yeah, exactly. Right. And I just said, No, I'm not going to I'm going to just be me.

29:54

And how did how did I'm guessing this is the Moses story. Yes. If you respond to us saying, actually, no, I won't agree to something that is as superficial as that.

30:07

He said, Well, I'm just putting it out there as an idea. Is, is how he backpedaled on that, but he backpedaled. And I was surprised because I must have, I must have forcefully let that that little piece of information slipped out, but it just seems so fake and contrary, can you imagine trying to do the job pretending that you like in disguise? Like it never would have worked? It would have been disastrous?

30:32

Yes. And it's actually really shocking. Because what Moses was all about, was finding characters who were part of his living movie.

30:44

I know.

30:45

And they were the characters were really playing themselves. So it is not like him to say, I want you to play yourself. But in costume. That doesn't make sense. And yet, you know, while we can't have two brunettes in the same room, Lori, obviously,

31:02

same room. Maybe it was because maybe it wasn't his decision to have me on most much music. Maybe that's what he was trying to meddle in that because, you know, I think it was john and Nancy tried to take care of a scheduling issue that they had and they looked around the room and said she could do it. And they threw me in the in the ring. Maybe that's why maybe that's why does he get wasn't I wasn't his, you know, find. So that could be it.

31:28

I've been looking back at some old interviews. It's the best when people email me links to to interviews on YouTube. I love it to people. Yes, you also I love it. I love it. I don't have old footage of my doctor there, right you either.

31:44

Nothing. I don't have anything.

31:46

So there's a few of my interviews, for example, with Blackie lawless or Lita Ford, where I am pretty overtly feminist and demanding certain types of answers in a polite way. Blackie lawless, liked it. Lita Ford didn't, whatever. But I, I felt also that being the host of the Power Hour. You what? I know Wait, let's just talk about that for us. How did of all the people in that room have puppies? How did you end up being the host of the power hour?

32:27

This was another john Martin joke. Because he was like when he asked me to be on muchmusic same kind of conversation. They called me in and they said, Laurie, I'd really like you to take over hosting the Pepsi Power Hour.

32:44

He writes, yeah, he

32:46

was. Yeah, I think it was Yeah. And I said, Are you nuts? You know, I did that a lot of that music makes me cringe. You know, the sexism is just like that old sex drugs and rock and roll. I'm so sick of it. I don't want to Yeah, I would, I would not be good at it. I you know, he said, Well, this precisely why I want you there once is because it's, it's, it's against typecasting like he really wanted to throw a wrench into the whole thing and see what happened. So I said, Okay, I will try it. And I found it difficult because I was always like, Oh my God, look at that in that video. So I had to find a way to bring it up. And to talk about it. And was probably it taught me a lot about about tackling difficult. subjects and in interviews. I I look back now and wish I had gone. I wish I'd been a lot smarter and gone a lot further and but it opened a whole world to me, that and a culture of people that I wouldn't really have got to meet. And they are astounding music fans. The power our fans were astounding because they didn't get to see their music, you know, 24 seven on much music. It was like What was it one hour? Every Thursday and that's it. So they came to that they came to the TV at that time. Like we were frigging you know, the Academy Awards every week. Like it's just like it was their moment and the letters I would get it was that to me was the most fun was meeting the fans.

34:39

Well, that probably explains why you didn't go too hard on the band's because at the beginning of our conversation you said you always thought about the audience when you're asking your questions. So you can't be too hard on these bands because the audience loved them.

34:58

Exactly.

34:58

You don't want to you know expose them or, you know, insult them. But I feel I feel like that puts you in a challenging sort of ethical position in a way where you are promoting something that you didn't believe in.

35:13

Yes. And in, and I had to find the line that I could live with through that. And the other aspect of all of that is that a lot of these bands were incredibly young, like, really young, right. And they were just so pleased not to be in living in their parents basement and on a tour bus, you know, and out touring that. And they were so young. And so there's that too, that you were dealing with.

35:42

I remember, correct me if I'm wrong, because my memories, this is a long time ago. And so my memories are not always spot on. But I remember when he interviewed me for his book, I was like, I don't know. All right, let me throw this theory to you. And then I'm going to ask you the next question. When I was talking to Christopher, and telling him that I couldn't remember things. I had this aha insight, which is, I think that I was under so much pressure, and so much stress and anxiety, that my cortisol in my brain was too high for my memory to actually work. I was just trying to survive in the moment. And I'm not kidding. Because I believe you. Did you? Do you think that you experienced that same kind of PTSD that I did?

36:35

No, I don't think I don't think I did. Because you were battling. You were battling stereotypes from the very beginning. And you you stuck to your guns and you battle ferociously. And you so you were you kind of had one sword in one hand, trying to keep all of that away from you, while you were trying to do your job with the other hand, you know, like you were fighting two fights at the same time. And it was Eric, it was hard to watch, because I could tell how much energy you had to use. Just to deal with all of that crap that the rest of us didn't have to, and it was, it was formidable the amount that you had to deal with. And you just did it. You just kept doing it. Yeah. Good for you.

37:24

Don't fuck with me, right?

37:27

Oh, I bet you got skills.

37:28

I got skills. Yeah. So let me go back to the idea of you hosting the Power Hour, the idea of sexism, the idea of going through challenging times all come culminating. When you were pregnant, hosting the Power Hour. Was that do I remember you being absolutely crazy with your big belly and doing funny stuff? Like, what did you do? I remember it being something really funny.

37:57

Well, there were I guess there were a couple things. I kept it from the audience for as long as I could. Like I was I think over six months pregnant, almost seven months pregnant before it was revealed, like the shots just kept getting tighter and tighter and tighter. Right. And, and then finally, I think I said, Okay, it's time and honestly, it was the only time I have been afraid on television, to reveal something that personal about myself. It felt I was, it felt like I was becoming very vulnerable doing that. And I think, jeez, I can't I know that we had a baby shower on the Pepsi power hour for me, which was a blast, if you can imagine. I kept saying to myself, looks folks, sex, drugs and rock and roll. This is where it all ends up, ends up with a pregnant you know, DJ, and here I am. I remember that. It

38:55

was so funny.

38:56

And true. Yeah. Yeah. Very true. Um,

39:00

I can't remember what else I do when your leather jacket with your big belly. That's what I remember. Yeah,

39:06

yeah. Yeah. And then I remember, after Hadley was born, my daughter, I brought her to work. And we were doing a shoot Denise and I, and, and Heidi was on my lap underneath. It's just a tiny baby underneath the table. And we were having a conversation on camera about, you know, who's going to go to on this trip to go interview so and so and I said, Well, I'll go, but you need to take care of this while I'm gone. And I picked her up and I handed her to Denise and then I got up, took off my mic and just left. But yeah, that was that was a first that was the first the first muchmusic baby.

39:50

You bring up Denise donlin the formidable Denise donlin Tell me about your working relationship with her.

39:57

She came in as Producer after Danny richer left, so I'd already been there for just a year, I guess it was, and Denise came on. And Denise has a work ethic like no one else I have ever met. If I thought I needed to put in, let's say six hours of work into something to get it to where I, I felt okay about it, she felt that she really needed to work 16 hours to get it to where she felt good about it, she worked very, very hard. And, and, of course, it was a big learning curve for her to write to come in to the show that had been been kind of, you know, just pumping along and doing our crazy little thing. And it was it was fun having another female host. And I liked how that changed the feeling of the show, like I have two women talking about rock and roll. Thank you, that felt like another good, good thing to do. I would say that the tone of the show changed and became a lot much more political. You know, even though Daniel was politically where it became even more politically aware, and in the moment as to what's going on. And she had a real journalists instinct about all of that. So that was a really interesting shift to the show. Very much so. And she, she really took on that show and she broadened it, I would say to a bigger audience.

41:45

I know that you've interviewed David Bowie around 16 times your career, which is crazy. Explain to me why the two of you got along. So well. It's unusual.

42:04

You know, I think it's one of those knowing the keeping to the music. Um, and I think that from the first time I interviewed him, which was I was so terrified, you know, it's like, meeting your idols is a very scary thing. And, but I, I brought in, and I talked about other artists and influences that from the past that it seemed to be showing up in his work. And he loved that, like, he loved the opportunity not to talk about his own stuff, but where it came from, and what it was influenced by and, and he felt like he opened up but honestly, David Bowie was the most generous interview he that you'd ever have. He was gracious, he always paid a lot of attention. What I felt like his from the one time I'd interview him, and then the next time, it felt like we were always picking up where we left off, so that you didn't have to go back to square one he remembered, you know, like, he remembered me and he remembered our last conversation, and then we take it off, and we didn't we'd go further. So I was able to I was able to go further. Every interview, I felt like I was getting more comfortable and, and stuff. That was just one of the most. That's one of my favorite memories is being able to talk to him. You were

43:32

having convert views?

43:34

Yes, we we definitely were we definitely were. And yeah, I miss him so much.

43:45

I imagine if you spent so much time having real conversations. He is a thought leader, an artist, uniquely authentic. What did he pass on to you? How did he or did he change who Laurie Brown is because of having spent so much time with David Bowie.

44:10

I loved the way that his mind worked, and it worked laterally like he, whatever he was doing, he could draw a line right back through the past of art, and you know, and not just music, but painting and sculpture, and also history. And he also could look into the future along the same line. So his perspective was so big that you could go anywhere in an interview and he would go there right with you because he he's already thinking that big, you know, so that was a joy because there was never a there was never a blank look of what are you talking about? from David Bowie. There was never that because He thought of it before you thought of it, you can be guaranteed that he was a voracious reader. And he knew, like so much and really intelligent man.

45:13

Are you a voracious reader?

45:15

No, I'm not at all. Which is funny. I, when I do read, I read nonfiction. And I think it's because particularly with ponder cast, I'm, I'm writing so much of my own stuff that I frequently find that I'm exhausted after my own writing that I don't want to read anything else. And I also know that when I'm trying to be authentic and trying to be myself, that if I fall too deeply into someone else's writing, I start to mimic them. And I need to force myself to stay true to my own feelings and thoughts. So I try to not do it too much.

46:05

I had that same have that same attitude. When I started my website for moms for with y MC. I didn't look at any there weren't many, but I didn't look at other ones I just didn't want to be influenced by is. Can I ask you a very personal the embarrassing question for me, but I'm as a fan. You met Kate blush. Come on. You met Kate blush. I think of all the people who I wish I could have sat down with it would have been Kate Bush. Did you just talk to her once?

46:47

It was once but the situation was amazing. Erica, cuz basil camera man, Basil young and I flew to England. And we went to her brother's house. And what the

47:02

hell or something?

47:03

Yeah, big bass is basically a big sort of stately pile. Just not too far outside of London. And it was sort of rundown and everything else but amazing, huge gardens. And, and then Kate came over to his house and I interviewed her in his house. It was a weird interview because she insisted on knowing the questions beforehand, which I always bristled at, you know, like, I didn't want anyone telling me what I can and can't ask like, this is like that felt too much. Like, like promo work. And I was not into doing that I was. But the The reason was, is that she she wanted to be able to think about it. She wanted to have time to think about the questions beforehand. And I think she gave a much better interview because of it. She was a bit nervous. We walked in the garden for a while before we sat down and yeah, cuz that album, Wuthering Heights 1978 That was a long world. That was my world. You too. Yeah. I

48:14

mean, you as well. Not in a band. Yes.

48:19

Be careful the rock and roll references Exactly.

48:25

Her I loved her. She just was so esoteric, and, and kind of magical. And I think that women our age are girls, I guess at that time, we're just enchanted by her. So I wish

48:40

she could sing in a girly voice like that. And, and she could dance and she could be so dreamy and poetic, and not try to play any kind of rock'n'roll game at all. She was a huge role model. Can you imagine how many people including such originals like Bjork, you know, will look to tell you Kate Bush was a huge influence. And you know, why is because she was so original and true to herself.

49:14

When you were working at much, and the new music, you had access to these incredible people and having fantastic interviews and freedom and then you left, Lori, you left? Why would you leave? And I know you went to CBC, but why leave much to go to CBC.

49:40

I think that I had come to the end of that feeling of you can do anything you want as long as it doesn't cost any money. I think that I was kind of exhausted from the the sort of creative turnover that you had to be doing to To keep it fresh and stuff, and I wanted a little, I wanted a sandbox with a few more toys in it. And CBC had come calling the year before, and asked me if I wanted to come to the journal. And I had said, No, but a year later, I'm a baby under my belt, and I knew that, you know, you know, leaving in two days notice to go somewhere and for four or five days or something to shoot, something was going to be much, much more difficult. And I thought, okay, now Now is the time for the next stage. So I thought that's, it's time.

50:46

Do you remember what happened when you announced that you were leaving? within our office? Like, did they give you a party? Were people crying? Because I'm sure. Everybody was feeling just like that.

50:59

Um, there was a last shift. We all went out for lunch. There was a last shift to be go up before Yeah, we went out before. And there was a last shift. And lots of people were were and it was hilarity involved. And, and we had a wonderful time. Yeah, I had no idea what I was in for. But I just, you know, that there's just a feel. And I've done it a few times in my career, where I just feel like, I'm not learning anything new now. And it just started to feel a bit stale. And I was starting to get frustrated by certain lack of opportunities. You know, I wanted to go further. I wanted to do this, I wanted to have a little more. I wouldn't say a little more creative input. I don't know what it was. I just wanted to have professional or leave. Yeah, I wanted to learn how to how to write how to speak to a bigger audience, perhaps. But maybe all of that is now in retrospect, that I can figure you know, figure that out. But it felt like time, it certainly felt like time.

52:14

So what did you learn at CBC? That was different, then, much that you found useful?

52:23

Hmm, I found writing to an audience that knows nothing about what you're going to present to them was really useful. Because we are so used to talking to other music fans, that we we all spoke at much in a kind of shorthand, you know, guess because everyone got what we were talking about. And they, you know, knew the music or knew the style or whatever. But when you know, I always think I was sitting in writing an art story, documentary, and I think, okay, your audience is a 62 year old farmer in Saskatchewan, sitting in his underwear watching the news at night. Right for him. You have to tell him why this story is important to him. So it really made me change the way I looked at how to tell a story.

53:17

Interesting. It's almost like simplifying and elevating at the same time. Yeah,

53:23

yeah. It's broadening. It's sure for sure. It's broadening. It's finding the universal in every story that anybody of any age background that they can connect to.

53:40

Okay, I have a question. I don't know if you know this or not, but I invite people, our audience to ask questions. And often, they're through our very fancy phone line.

53:55

Yes.

53:57

So I have a question here for you. And I'd like to play it for you. Okay. Answer. This is from

54:05

Patrick. Hey. Okay. Hey, Laurie, I've got a question for you, Laurie. And the question is my impression and slowly my impression of your performance on muchmusic, when you were interviewing or just doing any sort of a segment was that I felt like you're trying to bring actual journalism to the channel, if that makes any sense. It's, I'm not sure if you if you felt like you didn't fit in, or if you were really just trying to carve your own path at the time before you left, of course, and went on to much bigger things. great to talk to you guys. I love the show. Thanks.

54:43

That was Patrick from Montreal.

54:44

Well, Patrick, I think that actually the answers to those questions. We almost like hit on a few of those is one that I was coming from the new music which did have a kind of journalistic way of telling stories. That I think I just imported. The other one was that I kept. I kept music at the forefront of my interviewing. I it was not conscious on my part at all, Patrick, it's one of those, just things that happen. And I think that the thing that has carried me through every aspect of my career is a sense of curiosity. And I have relied on that, to get me through everything. And it has never failed me. Curiosity is a fantastic thing. And maybe that's what you you felt as well is that I was really curious to know, how do these people do it? They get a lot of ways. I consider myself a shadow artist, which is that maybe I should have been an artist myself, maybe I should have been doing music full time. And I didn't, and I kind of found this I slid into this amazingly wonderful career that is, was so much fun and everything, but I, I always looked at the artists that I was interviewing with a little bit of envy, that they went for it right that they just, they were just going for it completely. And that always intrigued me and was curious because I wanted to know what it took to do that.

56:39

So funny that you're saying that. Because when people ask me, why did you work at muchmusic? Like, did you want to be famous? And I was like, No, all I wanted was to be a fly on the wall, where the bands were to understand where they got their magic? That's my answer. So it's very similar. It was very similar. dying to know like, Who are you and where does it come from? And I did become a songwriter,

57:08

like you did,

57:09

because I, I was obsessed with it with the idea of telling stories to music, which is basically, you know, as an interviewer, you're trying to understand where the stories come from.

57:24

Right. Right.

57:25

I have another question here. And this one is, well, I'll just play it for you. Okay, and I think you'll enjoy this one. Hi, Laurie.

57:34

Mad condo in Winnipeg, Manitoba. 25 years ago, you did a report for the National on the CBC about the Molson polarize show which featured Metallica, bruke, assault hole and moist, playing a private show in tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories. I was there too. And I tell my friends has happened and they don't believe me. So how surreal was that event? When you look back on it?

57:56

Wow. You were there? Well, you know how surreal it was to be there. It was crazy. I remember it was right at the beginning of the season for television, which was like September I think, and we had pushed it through to try to go because it was you know, the the most northern rock concert that there ever would be and and we got to go. And they had to build a runway to bring the planes in because there were the runway wasn't long enough for big enough planes because it was actually a contest that Molson had put on right as you can, you can win a spot to go up to tuck didactic to be. So there were a lot of people who would never ever get to talk to actec unless they were winners in this thing. It was surreal. And it was like such a culture clash these these kids in the community wandering around seeing all these people in their spot, you know, they there were no restaurants. There were no hotels. I billeted in somebody's house. It was it was one of the most surreal things I did and then to see Metallica there and courtney love showing up. And just she rocked that town. She turned it on its head. She was slugging people with their purse, and she was oh my god, it was historic. And they had to give earphones to earplugs to all the kids and community because they had never heard music that loud and this was like Metallica in a tent. Right? friggin awful. And yeah, I would have no idea that they shouldn't stand right in front of the speakers like and all of a sudden they the organizer said we got to get earplugs for all these kids immediately like, because this is this is going to kill them that the sound What are they But

1:00:00

where do they get earphones for all these children in?

1:00:05

they'd had to fly them in from the runway somewhere. Yep. But it was the you know, you know, there, you've got them to Erica, there are moments where you're standing, you're in a situation, you're standing in a place, there's a scene in front of you. And you think, Oh my god, how did I get here? Now? And this is one of these moments, I will remember for the rest of my life. That was one of those moments, for sure.

1:00:33

And then Laurie Brown. You left?

1:00:36

Yes, David again.

1:00:38

You did it again. Okay, tell me you got fired or something?

1:00:43

It was, it was not a good scene.

1:00:46

Oh, really?

1:00:47

Yeah, tell me what happened. I was doing a show, I was contributing to the national. And I also had a show on news world. And they we were redesigning it in completely. And it felt so great, because we had the whole crew of the show with redesigned it. And then we were getting ready to launch we had the opening done, we had everything done. And then management came in and said, we've changed your mind, we want you to do this live on a Friday night standing outside somewhere in a bar or something, instead of it being a studio show. And I said, No, I've done that. Did that new music and much music for years standing at a bar on Friday night getting ice cubes pelted at you, you know, I'm not not doing it. And they, it was a ridiculous reason why they wanted to go live, it made no sense. So I quit. And I shocked myself in that moment, I really shocked myself. But it turns out that there was a lot more wrong with what was going on in my life at that time, because my marriage was also falling apart. And it in typical fashion, you know, when things fall apart in your life, usually everything falls apart. So I quit my job, thinking that that was the big problem, and then realized it was my marriage. That was the big problem.

1:02:16

And then you thought, What have I done?

1:02:21

So I ended up being one of those people who you find herself on her own with no job. And you know, I've got kids part time and having to figure out what's next. And what do I do next under difficult circumstances. They're amazing million women who have been in that place. I'm no, but I wouldn't, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. So the leaving was, it was I was right not to do the show. But I probably if I'd had any kind of I was able to think about it better, I probably could have navigated a much. a much easier way for myself than just quitting.

1:03:09

But you did what your I guess heart was telling you epitech

1:03:14

and my heart was telling me things are not right, you've got a get out of this. And I just, I just trance, I just transpose the message over to the job instead of the marriage first. But I got around to it. I got her done.

1:03:33

And then you landed on the radio and you you launched really the next chapter of Laurie Brown, I think, which was no longer visual. Laurie brown couldn't see you anymore. And it became all about your voice. You're famous. You're now famous voice. Tell me how you ended up on the radio with a show called the signal.

1:03:59

It took me a long time to recover from CBC. And just that feeling of every piece of music you listen to every book you read every theater play, you see you have to make an interview about it, have an opinion about it, be critical of it and write about it. And so I i really stepped back and and thought the next stage is going to be something quite different.

1:04:28

And did you stop liking music?

1:04:31

Yeah. I couldn't listen to music anymore. Yeah,

1:04:35

because it was work. Right?

1:04:37

Exactly. Exactly. I couldn't do it. So I stopped. And then one day, my sister is I was sitting at home moping by myself wondering how I was going to pay rent. She sent me a Was it a CD or a tape I can't remember of the Jackson Five And it was the songs that we used to put on on Saturday morning and dance to as we were vacuuming and dusting and doing our chores. So like ABC, like the ultimate pop song. And I started and I put that on. And what came flooding back was that little me and why I loved the song. And I took it from there to go back to the very beginnings of all the music that I'd loved and played at all. I started at the beginning. And I remembered that 14 year old me who fell in love with it love this, that 16 year old me who went and I rediscovered. I rediscovered myself. In that music. I remember who I was like music

1:05:51

healed you.

1:05:53

Yes.

1:05:54

Who that's? That's big.

1:05:57

It completely did. And, you know, we were always fixated with the next new thing in muchmusic. Right, we and I had never gone back and listen to old stuff I really didn't. I was just always listening to new stuff. So to go through this all again. And I came out of it at the end, remembering why I loved music, remembering who I was when I listened to that music. And it just, it really did. It healed me. It reminded me of who I was before, you know, a difficult marriage got the best of me. So, yeah, it's fair to say that music really saved me.

1:06:41

How did you end up on the radio? invest again, in the world of music.

1:06:48

I started to listen to radio again. And I was listening to radio, NPR radio from the States and trying to find new music that I wanted to hear. And there were a couple of shows that I listened to that I thought, Oh, what a vibe that's so I love that late night vibe. And then I thought what I'm going to do is I'm not going to pitch a show to CBC because that is a very complicated, yucky, soul destroying thing to do is I just went to the head of CB CVC music at the time and, and said to him, I want to do a radio show. But I don't really know what much about it. What I need is for you to put me together with a producer who you want to take to the next level to do something new. And let us see what we can come up with together. So that's how I pitched it. And that's how we ended up getting getting the show.

1:08:00

That show became sort of a signature nighttime show for Canadians, you became synonymous with late night radio. And the music that you played was so eclectic, it was like folk with tech with pop with World Music. It was this weird mix. And so the first question that I was thinking is, where did you find all this music? And how did you even have the time? Because, for example, at much all the record labels would come and deliver this to our front doorstep. Mm

1:08:33

hmm.

1:08:34

But you were suddenly on your own? And how did you even have the bandwidth to listen to all this crazy music? And yeah, love to play.

1:08:45

It was really tough at the beginning because there wasn't very much stuff in the vein we were looking for. But luckily, CBC has an incredible music library. And most Canadian and most artists send a copy of their latest CD to the CBC music library. So it's all there. So I'd find one or two artists that really worked. And we cobbled together a playlist. And we month, the producer, my producer Andy Shepherd was really good at finding it as well. But that first year was a real struggle. And then slowly, over the 10 years of the show, the music scene kind of swung around to meet us. And it became really easy and people, people and artists who never thought they'd hear their stuff on the radio, were hearing their stuff on the radio, and that encouraged other people to send their stuff to us. So it took us a while. But it became easier every year that the show was on it became easier to find that music.

1:09:46

You had such an impact on Canadians. I don't know if you remember this, but around I don't know six years ago or so. I emailed me an email Do you? Do you remember that?

1:09:59

Yes.

1:09:59

tell everybody what happened.

1:10:02

You emailed me to say, my son, who was I think, what 10 at the time or something. He listens to you all the time and loves the show and thinks that you are the finest DJ. And and what did I do for him? I can't remember if I sent him a note or something. There was

1:10:24

something that made him so happy. But he that what he said to us his mom, I think I'm in love her like, Oh, wow. 10 like, boy, he's an advanced kid. Yeah, who is it? Once she's on the radio. Oh, her name is Laurie Brown. Laurie, my husband and I were on the floor. I emailed you and I said, like, so hilarious, where, you know, 10 years ago, this person didn't exist. And you and I were working together, and this beautiful thing. But today, he's making music. And the music is eclectic, like the music that you played. And so you, you in your own way have had a profound effect. in your, in your second chapter in the world of music on musicians. I have a question here from Chris Houston from the idea shop. And he said, when we close our eyes, we can hear Lori Brown's voice in our head. It's a wonderful thing. Is her radio vj voice the same as the one she uses in her day to day civilian life? Or does she put on something special for us?

1:11:53

Hmm. I never thought that I had a very good voice. When I was doing TV, I didn't think I had a very good voice. Although sound technicians would tell me, you know that the the, the the range of the sound of your voice is really good for you know, for TV and stuff. But I really didn't feel like I had a voice. And then when I started doing radio it, it became clear that the only tool I have is my voice. So it or the instrument The only instruments have. Exactly. So I started to use it like an instrument and and so it I think it changed. I think my voice changed. I mean, this is my this is my normal voice right now. And I don't think it's that different. I mean, I can you know, I can ramp up the dreaminess, a little bit on it if I want to. But do

1:12:55

I dare you do me a dreaming?

1:12:58

The dreaming is comes at a certain time and night when your thoughts are running wild, off leash, and you're not sure? If you're saying things out loud or just thinking them? That's upping the dreamy bits.

1:13:18

It's also like spoken word.

1:13:20

Yeah, kind of it's it's like thinking while you're while you're speaking, and so that people at home have the sense that you're thinking these things up, and that I'm not even sure what's gonna come out of my mouth next. And I think that there's a kind of, oh, you lean in a bit on that when you're not sure what someone when you can tell that they're not sure what's going to come out of their voice next.

1:13:47

You said that you believe that radio is much a much more powerful medium than television, which I found very surprising because obviously television you have the physicality, you have, you know, different dimensions to keep someone's attention. say otherwise, can you tell me why you think that radio is more powerful than television?

1:14:16

I heard someone say that radio is a visual medium. And that blew my mind. Yeah, because I am able anyone is able to do on radio is create any picture they want in a moment, like all I need to say is a green cat with purple whiskers. And you've done it like you are picturing that. So it's it's instantaneously visual because you can have people picture anything that you want without having to go and get the pictures. It is also not passive like television, television provides every thing. You just sit back and it comes to you We're in his wares in radio, I need you to create that picture of the cat with the purple whiskers. And it is more of a shared thing. It feels more intimate, because we're both participating. If I'm talking and in telling a story and creating a picture, you are visualizing it in your head. And so we become equal partners in that experience. And I think that makes for more intimate, less passive, a less passive experience. So that's why I say that.

1:15:38

And over the 10 years that you hosted, and co produced the signal, you amassed huge audience of sigma lights. very invested in in the show. And then you left. There's a theme going on here, then you left,

1:15:56

Laura was it, it was another 10 years, like I had done 10 years of the show, and it was looking like I was going to my producer was moving, he moved to Bowen Island. And for the last year, he had programmed the show from Bowen Island in BC, and I was in Toronto. And it looked like he was about to launch on a different career. And I was going to have to work with another producer. I didn't know who. And I thought, you know what, I think I've done everything I can do here. And I could, I could keep doing this, but I still wanted to do more. Because even you know, in the, at the end, the show was two hours long, in a two hour radio show. I spoke for approximately 12 minutes. And that's it? Well, it's very little. And it feels like a lot more like when you're listening, you think it's a lot more, but it's really not. And I really wanted to stretch out more and, and get more in depth into stories and thoughts that I was thinking. So I thought I want to do a podcast and I want to do it all on my own. And I don't want to be having a broadcaster try to shape and mold it. I just want to do it all on my own is sort of a last big creative project.

1:17:27

But you gave up a paycheck. Yep. You're certainly did full on entrepreneur now. True.

1:17:35

Yes. And I it took me a long while to figure that out, you know, to say, Wow, that's really what I am. I'm trying to make a living doing this. And I'm not basically making a living doing this yet, but is building slowly. And I'm lucky enough to be in a position where I had some money to, to be able to live on while this is happening. So every month it gets better. Because we're supported on Patreon by our listeners, and every month that that is proving fruitful for us. So

1:18:09

so it's called Building yet it's called ponder cast. Yes. And you were inspired to tell more stories? And to ponder,

1:18:22

I think yes,

1:18:23

exactly, to talk about thoughts and ideas. So if you can describe the podcast for people who have yet to hear it, and yet to subscribe, and yet to give you money on Patreon.

1:18:39

You well it's deeply connected to music, you'll be pleased to know and that I that there's original music all the time in ponder cast written by Joshua Van Tassel, who is an electronic Canadian artist who is brilliant. And he writes music specifically to my scripts with the the mood and the feeling. And that is such a joy for me to be able to you know, I have a thought or a story and then it breaks for this music and then I come back. So it does have that very sort of dreamy late night feel to it. And it allows me to, to just riff on things that are going on like the the episode that's coming out tomorrow. The end of January here is all about Windows, and it was inspired by what it feels like to walk around the city and have Plexiglas between you and people all the time. And what a strange feeling that is to feel so separated from other people. And so I just went from that to talking about Windows and what windows do for us and so it's just I'm allowing myself to go where my mind goes and say things that I'm thinking that most well I hear people tell me, I think that all the time, but I've never said it out loud. I didn't know anyone else felt that way. So when I hear that it feels like, Okay, I'm doing something, right. Because I'm giving space and voice to thoughts that we're all having. So that's ponder cast,

1:20:20

I think David Bowie would like this. Because it's, it's thought provoking, which I think he, he was, can use to be for generations to come, there was something that you said, which I love, makes me love you even more. The only rule I made is that the next thing I do is something I've never done, and involves a new creative skill I need to learn. Have you ever will get your book was called success without college? Because you never went to college? And you have been through? I know. And you've become sort of this elite, one of the leading arts journalists in Canada? Do you ever think about going back to school?

1:21:14

I thought about it for a while. And then then a creative project would come along? That was more interesting. So I would would grab that. Because it was, yes, you're in a

1:21:28

state of learning.

1:21:30

Yeah. My curiosity is still with me. So I, as long as I am learning a new skill, I am feeling like I'm in the right place, it's not a very comfortable place to be because you're out on the edge of your comfort zone a lot of the time, but it just, I just know that that's where the good stuff is. That's where the really rewarding stuff is.

1:21:54

So how is your version or idea of success? changed? Hmm.

1:22:05

To be able to be doing something where you really feel like you can bring your whole self to it and be yourself in it is success. There are so many people that don't get to do that in their life. That I think that that is the the greatest joy to be able to have, for me a creative satisfaction. And to feel like I'm being myself. That's all I think all I'm ever searching for.

1:22:37

Before we wrap up this interview, I'm going to take full advantage and be able to say that Laurie brown interviewed me. Could you Oh, yeah, I

1:22:48

got the question.

1:22:49

I got a question. One question. Um, so I can say Laurie brown interviewed me.

1:22:57

It's funny, because basically, you asked me the same question earlier on. But when you said I was thinking about, and this is what I wanted to know from you, because it's curious. I'm curious about myself, too, is when you look back at those years, and much what is it that you are most grateful for? And what is it that you wish that you had appreciated more when you were there?

1:23:28

I'm so grateful that Moses saw the power of m. and gave me this amazing opportunity. And you know, it was really sink or swim. Like all of us had that sink or swim. Here's the camera. Here's a desk. Here's a mic. Now go do it. And it really tested our mettle. And I learned to be steely, strong, which has served me well in everything that I do. And it forced me to build up confidence somehow. And what I wish I knew back then, that I didn't know is that I was hot.

1:24:21

Yeah.

1:24:23

Totally.

1:24:25

No idea. A little while ago, my husband and I were going through some old pictures, and I stumbled upon these old photographs from much. And I went, Oh my God, he's What's wrong? I said, I was so hot. And he looks at me. He goes, yeah. And I was like, No, really, look, I was so hot. And I actually started to cry. Because I was like, I didn't know. Yeah, that I could tell. And you know, my daughter is 17 and she's doing the same thing. And I know that when she is 40 years old or so, she's gonna find old photos of herself because there's a billion of them because because thanks to the bone, nickel Mom, I was so hot. And I'm gonna say, I know.

1:25:15

I know.

1:25:17

I know. So true.

1:25:19

I've been interviewed by Laurie Brown. There you go. Thank you, Laurie, for this really beautiful conversation, the litter of puppies will stay in my brain. I love that visual. And I also really love the idea of tapping into your curiosity, no matter what it is that we do in our lives, to remain open and ask questions because you just never know. You never know. You just never know. And the idea of being a lifelong learner, and putting yourself in situations that are difficult, which you keep on doing, you keep on leaving these amazing opportunities. I think I'm going to try something new. Sure, I'm not making any money, but just do it because I have to do it. And yes, to me, that is really an interesting perspective on living a full life, and having constant reinventions and, and many chapters. So thank you, again,

1:26:33

thank you for asking me and, and you look at what you're doing here, reinvention of the BGA. This is what this is all about.

1:26:41

And to everyone who is listening and stayed for this conversation, you are really such an important part of the show. I love the comments and the questions. If you would like to have your voice heard on the show, the number that you call is 833-972-7272. And if you have a question or a comment about the show, or maybe even a memory about something that you remember something specific about a time that much that made you laugh or cry or that you wanted to know more about just you know, send us a voicemail, or you could find me on social media. Leave a question on Twitter, Instagram. Just look for Erica Ehm I'm kind of live online. Much more to come on this series. We have so many fantastic interviews because everybody who worked at much was interesting in their own unique way. Thank you, Laurie brown for taking the time to be on the show with me. And for all of you. I'll see you next week with another episode of reinvention of the vj. Here's to living a life filled with music, meaning, and many reinventions. Just like Lonnie,

1:27:54

right on.

1:27:55

Thanks for listening, follow Erica Ehm reinvention of the vj podcast Subscribe and follow more episodes. Click to reinvention of the bj.com podcast produced in collaboration with Steve Anthony productions editing and coordination the flower Communications Inc. Copyright 2020

Transcribed by https://otter.ai