iconnotations

And after a long absence we are back with a new, err, ok not so new, slightly recycled edition of iConnotations. Our guest this time is a man of many talents, including actor, writer, composer and comic book artist Terrance Zdunich. Terrance wore all those hats and a few others in the making of his movie Repo: The Genetic Opera. We had a chance to talk to Terrance just before the film opened about all things involved in getting a movie made, a definite must listen if you are a fan of film because he gave some real insight into what it takes to get a movie made, what happens when you learn someone is stealing your idea and of course the implications of working with Paris Hilton (we had to ask, I mean how could you not?). So sit back and take a listen to a very interesting gentlemen, Mr Terrance Zdunich.

Additional Information

Terrance Zdunich website
Repo: The Genetic Opera

 

 iConnotations Episode 6: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Growing up as a teenager during the 80’s in Toronto afforded me the opportunity of seeing a lot of really good bands (and quite a few not so good ones). One of the bands that stood out for me under the heading of great was a hard rock trio called Triumph. The first time I saw them was during their Thunder Seven tour. At the time I was not familiar with their music other than the standards that got the radio air play, but they were a rock act playing Maple Leaf Gardens, so we had to go see them. That show turned me into a massive fan of the band and their music and I remain so to this day. During the latter part of the 80’s the band parted ways, I would keep tabs on their website but having read little bits and pieces here and there about the split being ugly never held out much hope for a reunion.

Well recently the band was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and took the opportunity to put their differences aside for the evening. As it turns out that lasted a little bit longer than the evening and they are now playing a couple of festival dates, one in Sweden and one in Oklahoma. Just before the band left for their Swedish gig I got a chance to speak with Bass player Mike Levine about their upcoming shows, their plans for the future and what they’ve been doing for the last ohhhhh 20 or so years.

Additional Information
Triumph Official Website
Triumph Wiki Entry
Triumph Performing Never Surrender in Sweden

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

A couple of years back I was given a copy of a rough cut of a yet to be released documentary entitled “Metal: A Headbangers Journey”. I watched it and then passed it on to a couple of friends of mine who I had just started a podcast with and we all agreed that it was an absolutely amazing piece of work and we tried to get an interview with the lead of that documentary Sam Dunn. Well we got a date which fell through and then a couple of more that went the same way and we managed to get all bummed out about it and just gave up. The documentary went on to become what we knew it would, a big success and considered to be the best documentary on the subject, and to us, Sam became that girl in high school that you had the hots for, asked for a date and she laughed at you. OK well maybe not quite that, but you get the picture.

Fast forward a couple of years, and we’re interviewing Rat Skates and Rick Ernst about their thrash metal documentary and the topic of a Headbangers Journey gets brought up, being reminded of Scott’s film I decide to check in on them and low and behold they have a new documentary coming out entitled Global Metal. Well the metal gods must have been smiling down on us that day because after some discussions with their publicist, arrangements are made so that Dan and I can see the new documentary and get a chance to do a sit down interview with not only Sam, but his partner Scot McFadyen as well. And this time, everything works out as planned.

Dan and I attend a press screening of the movie, and as a fan of the first one I have to say that Global Metal is a completely different type of documentary than the first one but every bit as good. I will not go into detail about the movie here because I think it’s one of those films you should see and should be affected by and draw your own conclusions on. This time instead of focusing in on the artists that make the music, the film is about the fans, specifically the fans in countries outside of North America that do not have the same freedoms and access to the music that we do here. That’s not to say there aren’t musicians in the movie, we do get to hear from Lars Ulrich, Marty Friedman, Bruce Dickenson,Tom Araya and a host of others, but they aren’t the focus this time, just part of the larger story and that’s a good thing. The movie has a limited release in Canada in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal this June, and a dvd release in October, when you get the chance to see it, do, you won’t be disappointed.

After seeing it we sat down with Scot and Sam to discuss the movies and their future plans and a bunch of other things. I’m not going to lie to you, we were beyond nervous. We’re used to the whole telephone interview thing where we can make goofy faces at each other while hiding behind the safety and relative anonymity of our microphones, and it really comes across in this interview. But that’s what iConnotations is all about, talking to people we respect, learning about them and what they’ve done to get where they are, and then trying to apply that, even if it’s just a little bit to our lives so that we can become wiser and better people.

So, Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen on, getting a documentary made, how they got to the stars, making A Headbangers Journey and Global Metal, touring with Iron Maiden and what that new documentary is about, their upcoming documentary on legendary Canadian rockers RUSH, a couple of really interesting tidbits on what they’re doing after that, the obligatory Fubar mention and a whole bunch more, so just listen would ya?

More Information

Global Metal (Site)
Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey (Site) (Wiki)
Sam Dunn (IMDB) (Wiki)
Scot McFadyen (IMDB)

 

 iConnotations Episode 4 - Sam Dunn/Scot Mcfadyen: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

During a recent on air conversation we were having about one of our favorite documentaries called “Metal: A Headbangers Journey”, a listener of ours recommended we look into an upcoming documentary entitled “Get Thrashed”, which is about the birth and evolution of the Thrash Metal genre. Well we looked into it, and we were lucky enough to get the director of that documentary Rick Ernst and his producer, Thrash Metal legend Rat Skates to give us a call to speak about it.

What followed was a really great conversation about the birth and life of Thrash, what it takes to get a documentary made and distributed and a million other great little sidebars. We got a lot of positive feedback after this interview originally aired and most of it from people who weren’t into the genre saying how much they enjoyed it. So don’t be afraid to Get Thrashed a little bit.

Additional Information

Get Thrashed Website
Rat Skates website and film Out of The Basement
Get Thrashed IMDB entry
Rat Skates Wiki entry

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

When one thinks of free newspapers, you typically don’t think of them as widely known, or widely read for that matter, but Steppin Out magazine is an exception to that rule and that is largely because of it’s editor Chaunce Hayden. We had a chance to speak to Chaunce when there was a lot of controversy regarding a story he was working on at the time was leaked by the New York Post. This interview was in itself a small part in a larger chain of events that caused the Post to issue a retraction of it’s original story. This interview is a fascinating look at a man who has made a name for himself outside of the traditional system, he was a regular on Howard Stern, talked about by countless other programs and publications and is a lightening rod for controversy. This is our interview with Chaunce Hayden.

Additional Information

Steppin Out Magazine
Information regarding the original NY Post article
New York Post retraction
Chaunce Hayden Show Archives

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Welcome to the inaugural edition of iConnotations, in this episode we speak with infamous director Uwe Boll. Mr Boll is often referred to these days as a modern day Ed Woods. for producing films based on video games that have extremely low box office numbers. We speak to Mr. Boll about his reputation, his take on the Hollywood and independent movie industries and about some comments he made recently about fellow directors Eli Roth, Michael Bay and George Lucas.

Additional Information

Uwe Boll Wikipedia
Uwe Boll IMDB entry
Petition For Mr Boll To Stop Making Film
Petition In Support of Mr Boll Making Films

 

 iConnotations 1 - Uwe Boll: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download