Katie shouting, “What the f%£k is creatine?” pretty much sums this episode up. This two-parter on aging feels like the heart of the series. In this first part, Katie reflects on how her views and feelings of life have shifted over time. We talk about the usual stuff (ya know, run clubs, consumerism, community, etc.) but as the conversation unfolds, it becomes something else entirely. Something I feel immense gratitude towards this talk, is how in real-time I was reminded of how getting to evolve in life is such a powerful gift (along with once again: getting to laugh with your friends).

This is episode 3 of 5 (Intro song is Fa Fa Fire by Andreas Dahlback, from Epidemic Sound). Artwork photo by Katie Dadarria.

Happy International Women’s Day! To celebrate, we’ve made a special new episode of Creative Maintenance, with an interview featuring my co-host, Laura Harvey, interviewing Neesha Hothi. Neesha is a CEO in PR and marketing with her independent company, Neesh Communications. For over a decade, she’s worked vigorously hard to become a leading voice in Canada’s entertainment industry, with a speciality in cultural storytelling. Neesha is the kind of executive who wears confidence like a coat that was custom-made for her. However, the best part about this episode is how she shares the journey of how she got to this point and how reaching this place was fueled by a necessity to be true to oneself over anything else.

Creative Maintenance will be back for a second season later this year. Be sure to subscribe to this podcast feed so you don’t miss out and to follow Creative Maintenance on Instagram @creativemainpod

What if the trick to falling back in love with your craft was falling back in love with yourself? That’s not the question that Charlotte OC set out to ask herself, but it’s the answer she’s clearly been met with; the songs off her latest EP being the proof. That EP is called ‘Seriously Love, Go Home’ and though I’ve told you the end of the movie, the journey is what needs to be explored.

Musically, Charlotte’s never sounded better; her trademark effortless cool is in full display, with vocals that would be right at home in your nearest arena. This is the story of how this music almost never saw the light of day, and the relentless badassery of Charlotte OC.

Also, this is a great time to let you know that season 11 of The New Exchange will be starting on March 31st.

There’s a hauntingly familiar way in which loneliness can creep in when you’re surrounded by people. It can feel like such a small thing, but it will gnaw away at you until it’s the dominant thought in your mind. This is a feeling that Katie and I have chatted about in private many times throughout the years, and on this episode, we tackle it head-on. How do you make sense of that specific sense of isolation when surrounded by friends while you’re also doing what you love? Fair warning to you, this definitely isn’t a podcast where we solve the grand mysteries of loneliness, but hopefully, hearing us chat about it will help ya feel less alone.

This is episode 2 of 5 (Intro song is Fa Fa Fire by Andreas Dahlback, from Epidemic Sound). Artwork photo by Katie Dadarria.

This is another episode that feels unintentionally timely. We all crave escapism, but to many of us, it increasingly feels like the escapism available to us can leave us feeling more detached than intended. Enter in Brooklyn R&B duo Bathe, a group that’s made it their mission to make music that acts as “a balm for the anxieties of modern life.” Take it from this music lover, the ways in which their album Inner Voice(s) has become a refuge for me is something I’m perpetually grateful for & it’s a privilege getting to introduce you to these guys.

That said, to just call them R&B would be unfair, and even their self-embraced descriptor of alt-R&B feels too small. What Bathe excel at is bringing you soundscapes that feel intimate, familiar, and fresh all at once. Across this episode, we go into their origin story, along with the whys, and hows of how they go about doing what they do best.

(Thank you, Heather!). Welcome to the first proper episode of In The Long Run with Katie Dadarria. If you missed the announcement episode, don’t worry, this first episode has been (partially) designed to catch you up to speed. Throughout these episodes, I’m going to be chatting with my dear friend, Katie Dadarria, about a developing personal project she’s working on, which features her interviewing older women about their experiences running. One of the lenses we’re utilizing is the exploration of how run clubs have blown up in popularity, the good and the bad of that, along with the conflicting feelings of community and isolation that we can feel in groups.

As the series progresses, we’ll be investigating the ways in which these talks have affected Katie, and with each episode, we talk explicitly about her thoughts and feelings towards the evolution of these people's lives (including her own). For this first chat, it only made sense to have a direct talk about running, an activity that many of us can’t imagine partaking in (even with the mounting peer pressure to do so).

This is episode 1 of 5 (Intro song is Fa Fa Fire by Andreas Dahlback, from Epidemic Sound). Artwork photo by Katie Dadarria.

I couldn’t be more excited to announce our next mini-series, In The Long Run with Katie Dadarria. Katie is an exceptionally talented photographer and runner based in New York City. Though running has become a focal element of her life, she’s grown hyper-aware of how often the projection of community amongst run clubs can be anything but. Especially regarding older women, who (as Katie puts it) “are often not encouraged to show up, despite having so much to offer.”

Across these talks, I chat with Katie about her experiences talking to these women, how the feelings of isolation, aging, and exclusion can feel more tangible than we recognize. A core of this series is being challenged by our own misconceptions of others and what they’re going through, with Katie also exploring how she’s navigating the changes of her life and learning from the people she’s been meeting along the way.

The first episode will be out on Wednesday, February 11th. Be sure to follow Katie on Instagram and visit her website to learn more about her and her work (Intro song is Fa Fa Fire by Andreas Dahlback, from Epidemic Sound)

I don’t think it’d be a stretch to say that ambition can usually be associated with a lot of tropes. The tortured artist laboring over their craft & resigning themselves to perpetually chasing greatness at the expense of everything (no, this isn’t a review of Marty Supreme, but I did love that movie). But what happens when an artist is able to take ambition and view it through a different lens? Even a healthier lens?

That’s been the case with my old friends of the band St. Lucia, with that healthy ambition being evident across their recently released Fata Morgana double-album. Broken up into two halves (Dawn and Dusk) the album is a soaring triumph, with massive swings musically that feel reminiscent of ABBA, Paul Simon, and Brazilian folk music. My favourite part about this project is how it very much feels alive, a high-quality collection of songs that don’t feel marred by perfectionism, which I can say is a new space for St. Lucia to be operating in. To learn more about this album and the way it expanded the band's life, I got to catch up with Jean and Patti at their home in Brooklyn to learn all about the transformative experience of bringing this music to life.