The PopCast with Andrew Rose
I have a memory from the early 2000s, either 2005 or 2006, waking up one morning listening to Daybreak on CBC Radio One in Montreal, and the host at the time, a guy named Dave Bronstetter, was going on a rant about 'podcasts,' and how they were a little silly, would never replace real radio, either in their professionalism or reach. I was a little irked, because I had a podcast, and I thought the medium showed a lot of promise.
Fast forward 20 years and it's safe to say that Dave's take was a little naive. Depending on who you talk to, the word podcast is as familiar and habitual as morning coffee, or it provokes an eyeroll and 'another dude with a podcast' joke. But in 2005 it was an entirely new word—a mashup of the word broadcast, and iPod, a little music device Apple had just launched that let you carry your entire music collection in your pocket.
Illustration: Jack Dylan, Pop Montreal 2007, Issue #2
Nothing on the PopCast matches that. The pigeon looked everywhere.
2005
There was not a lot of forethought or planning around launching the PopCast back in 2005. I had spent a couple years immersed in the emerging music scene in Mile End, DJing and going to a lot of shows, and blogging, which was the style at the time. I decided one day to try and record a podcast and showcase some local music I was digging. I called the show Dig a Pony.
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Dig a Pony, Episode 1: Syndicate Any BoatSpecial 
- #01
- #02
- PopCast Montreal!#03
- In the Rough Gem#04
- Pop!#05
- I Can Get No Satisfaction#06
- Doing the Whirlwind#07
- Cellos and Violins Play Us Off Dramatically#08
- Snowy Canadian Secret Weapons#09
- Parties, Punks, and Putting the Finishing Touches on 2005#10.1
- Darkhorses, Discoveries, Debuts#10.2
- Music Comes Back from the Dead#10.3
2006
2006 was the most prolific year for the Cast, with 24 episodes published starting in January. It was also the year I really started working full time in earnest in the music business, having just co-founded Secret City Records as an imprint of jazz label Justin Time in order to release Patrick Watson’s debut album, Close to Paradise, which would see release in the fall.
- More Songs About Buildings and Food#11
- Graveyard Dedications#12
- Burning Chariots and Trains to Pennsylvania#13
- The Soul's Intact (VidPopCast!)#14 lost
- SXSW Edition Part 1: Anything That's Anything Becomes Nothing#15
- Shut Up I Am Dreaming Everybody Needs a Song#16
- Condos and Killer Vegetation#17
- Lucky Lambi#18
- Dark Horses with Copper Wings#19
- Giver#20
- Ghosts and Kings vs. Saints and Rainbows#21
- Fabulous Concrete Castles for Breakfast#22
- Next Chapter#23
- Pump In Someone Else's Blood#24
- Andrew Rose's One Year Podcast Anniversary SpecialSpecial
- What the Future Tapes Might Be#25A
- Acts of God (Help Me Somebody)#25B
- Don't Make Choices Based on Lies#26
- Men That Aren't There#27
- Anything Can Happen When You're Walking Down the Street#28
- LilDishPipWasher Pieta for the Apocalypse#29
- Three Meteors (post-Pop pt. 3)#30
- Town Finishes Painting / These Are the Soul#31
- 2006 Wrap-Up Part 1 - Get Up! (LOVE)#32
2007
Things slowed down in 2007—I was probably busy with Secret City. But I did manage to do a fun “18+” episode with local ‘smut zine’ Lickety Split to promote an issue launch, and a return to SXSW. If the rest of the year was lighter, we made up for it with a string of episodes during the festival proper, where my friend and prolific poster artist Jack Dylan joined as a co-host of sorts.
- Anthems and Interventions#33
- The Same Castle (taken as 2006 pt 2)#31.5
- Pop My Cast (for adults and a zine launch)Special
- Lovers Pinned to the Sky in World Devastation#35
- Turduckens! (SXSW 2007)#36
- The Sexennial!#40
- Heroes & Blasphemies (with Jack Dylan!)#41
- Big Men on Campus in Leather#42
- Wonder Women and Glowing Orbs#43
- Entire Sun Cycles (and Taxes)#44
- Emotional Rescue (Canada 07)#45A
2008
A few episodes with Jack continued into 2008, but I was losing steam. Secret City was in full swing, Plants and Animals released their debut album Parc Avenue in February of that year, around the time that I learned I was going to be a dad at the age of 28. The final episode of the PopCast was released in December of that year, numbered #50 as a way to end on a clean number.
2021 · Pop Montreal's 20th anniversary
PopCast XXXY (Pop Montreal 20th Anniversary)
Made for Pop Montreal's 20th anniversary in 2021 — a collage assembled from across the archive rather than a conventional episode.