The story of the PopCast

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.

Before the iPhone, before streaming, before Facebook and YouTube were really a thing, we were playing with GarageBand, MiniDisc recorders, and wondering if anyone out there was listening.

I’m still not really sure how many people listened to the PopCast back in the day, but I know some of you did, because I still get emails once in a while asking about it, and whether the episodes are available anywhere. I’m happy to report that the nerdy archival part of me that played a big role during my decade in the music scene in Montreal from 2004-2014 has done a relatively decent job of keeping good records, and that on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Pop Montreal, I’ve been able to put together this interactive time-capsule from the era.

Alongside the actual episodes I’ve dug up graphics and elements from early versions of the Pop Montreal website (shoutout to Jay Delmarr), some original art from my good friend and later co-host, Jack Dylan, and a few other visual treats along the way.

It’s been especially fun to see some of the episodes from 2006 and 07 come to life via the m4a format, which let you feature various kinds of cover art throughout the episode.

I have not relistened to all of these—it takes a fair bit of masochism to endure the performative vanity that one often has in their mid-20s—but there’s a lot I have listened to in the years since, and love. The collage episode I put together in 2021 for the festival’s 20th anniversary (featured below) showcases some of those moments, but there are a lot of other gems throughout that didn’t make that cut, either.

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. After one episode, as Pop Montreal approached and I found myself hanging around the office, joining listening sessions on submitted artists, I realized it might be cool to showcase stuff people had sent in. No one really gave the ok or rubber stamped it; Dan Seligman probably gave a shrug of tolerance while other folks seemed excited about the new format. I basically co-opted Pop’s platform to indulge my hobby.

But looking back it also made sense—Pop Montreal was always ahead of the curve, platforming unknown artists that in a couple of years’ time would become household names. Of course Pop had a podcast decades before everyone else did.

As far as very early episodes go, #4 ‘In the Rough Gem’ stands out for some of the live recordings and interviews I started doing as the festival was going on, and debuting ‘Rough Gem’ from Islands’ ‘Return to the Sea,’ Nick Diamonds’ first post-Unicorns project. So do the three end-of-year episodes, especially #10.3 ‘Music comes back from the Dead,’ which followed a format I would repeat each subsequent year, highlighting standout releases from the year past, both local and beyond.

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.

That meant I went to SXSW for the first time, MiniDisc recorder in hand, and as a new A&R guy had another funnel for artist demos.

The episodes in 2006 feature a lot of early Patrick Watson, Miracle Fortress, and Plants and Animals, whose manager was also my partner (and soon to be mother of my kids).

For those tracking alongside this year’s 25th anniversary, Secret City is celebrating 20 years at Pop with two nights of shows at Sala Rossa, Think About Life return for a much anticipated reunion, and Plants and Animals headline two sold out shows at the Divan Orange.

The local scene, on the crest of the Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade wave, was reaching a fever pitch, and I was showcasing as much dark horse, side-project, unreleased type material as I could. Spencer Krug had a brilliant Sunset Rubdown album on the way, Dan Boeckner had Handsome Furs, Graham Van Pelt and Jordan Robson-Cramer (aka Magic Weapon) covered John Cale’s ‘Hanky Panky Nohow’.

It’s also the year that the m4a format was released, allowing me to add proper chapters and different cover art, starting with episode #23. Some of the episodes have full-on slideshows, which I had completely forgotten about.

I captured a lot of live audio during the 2006 edition of the festival, with highlights including: an evening following Jesse Jackson around, and a conversation between him and folk legend Ramblin’ Jack Elliott; shows by Joanna Newsom and Sunset Rubdown at the Ukrainian Federation; and some amazing late night jam sessions with Patrick Watson and friends, including a gorgeous cover of ‘Don’t Worry Baby’ with the Besnard Lakes’ Jace Lasek on falsetto vocals.

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. Paired with his iconic ‘superhero series’, four episodes back to back during the festival itself represent some of the more fun final material we put out, as well as the end of year wrap-up that features Jack’s self-deprecation and Spencer Krug impression at their best.

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. “Everything is Broken” is its own kind of time capsule, with clips of the newly elected Barack Obama over Nas, and a depression-era FDR broadcast setting up Dylan’s newly released alternate version of “Everything is Broken,” which felt like an appropriate soundtrack to the financial crisis unfolding at the time. Little did we know just how much more broken things could get!

The episode was dedicated to Henry, who was born October 30th. For those doing the math, Henry will be 18 next month. Time flies, man.

Since

I don’t know how long the podcast stayed up. Pop redid its website and at some point everything came down. Lots of other podcasts started popping up, and as they became a massive industry I’ve often wondered what would have happened if I had stuck with it. But life had other plans.

In 2021 I dove into the archive to assemble a kind of snapshot of the era using some of the audio I had at hand. The ‘XXXY’ episode from that year is a pretty interesting record, kind of a psychedelic collage. But it’s not a bad place to start, either.

As fate would have it, twenty years later in fall 2025, I finally started a new podcast. Not Too Tight, Not Too Loose is a reflection of where my path has led since leaving the music business in 2014, a podcast about wellbeing, psychedelic therapy, spirituality. It’s co-hosted by my friend and business partner, psychologist Joe Flanders. Whenever I feel a little self-conscious about the indulgence of a ‘couple dudes with a podcast’ in 2026, I remind myself I’m not late to the game. In typical Pop Montreal fashion, I was just a decade or two early.

I hope this archive will be a source of joy and curiosity for however long it sticks around. Thanks for listening!

(Have something to say about the PopCast? I don’t have a Myspace or a Pop Montreal email address anymore but you can reach me here.)