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Dying of Exposure with Dan Mangan

Episode 12: Tegan and Sara - “Turn A Light On”

I’ve known the twins for many years, and have always seen them as an example of how to have a fruitful and meaningful career in music.

They have challenged themselves creatively time and time again whilst developing what could be the most diehard and dedicated audience possible.

I was so happy they took the time to chat. They are funny, insightful, kindhearted, and wise.

This episode features a surprise needle drop of “Dinner For Breakfast” by Heavy Gus.

Among other things, we chat about:

• Neil Young’s soft hands

• how queerness has consumed their narrative for most of their career

• how you don’t know how to do something until you do it

• how young people should buy a pack of cigarettes (but not smoke them)

This episode features a surprise needle drop of “Dinner For Breakfast” by Heavy Gus.

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If you enjoy this podcast, please review it, rate it, like it, follow it, share it - do whatever makes sense. It really helps.

Thank you and enjoy!

x
Dan

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Hi Evan,

Yes, it’s true.

You can hear me tell this story on the Major Label Debut podcast with my old pal Graham Wright from Tokyo Police Club. We do a lengthy deep dive on the album Club Meds, recounting this turbulent period of my life. The Dave Grohl bit comes up around the 1:35:30 timestamp…

But here goes…

Back in 2013, with the help of known genius Jesse Zubot, I scored the film Hector and the Search for Happiness starring Simon Pegg and a wealth of wonderful actors. The director was a terribly charming Brit named Peter Chelsom.

The producers needed a Canadian composer for tax credit purposes, and Peter didn’t want a “traditional” one - he wanted a songwriter. I was recommended to him by one of his Canadian relatives… and an incredible opportunity fell right into my lap.

While working on the film, I played Peter a demo for a then-new song called Vessel. He loved it.

Listen to the Vessel Demo:

He asked me and Jesse to arrange an extended version that could run over the film’s final sequence, which we did.

Listen to the extended version of Vessel from Hector and the Search for Happiness:

I made it clear that Vessel would also appear on my upcoming album with my band. We had just recorded the bed tracks (drums/bass/guitar) in Vancouver. I had a working mix of the song which was instrumental and sparse but full of life.

Peter had recently become close with Dave Grohl because their kids went to school together and were buds. Celebrity play dates. We thought - wouldn’t it be great if Dave would sing on the film’s closing track?

We arranged to show Dave Grohl a rough cut of the film at his home in Los Angeles, which was vast and beautiful but unpretentious. He answered the door in a ripped Sears t-shirt and cargo shorts, half-way through a microwave burrito. He was lovely. Enthusiastic, friendly, and easy going.

After the screening in his TV room, he suggested we wander upstairs to his home studio. He was essentially like, “How can I help?”

I played him the Vessel demo, pointing at him every time the screaming bits came (“STOP! WAIT! UNHAND ME!”). After all, Dave Grohl is a legendary rock screamer.

And then it happened - the thing that neither Peter nor I expected…

He said, “Well, you gotta let me play drums on it.”

I was unprepared for this turn of events. The drums had just been recorded. I had a less than healthy (arguably co-dependent) relationship with my drummer Kenton, whose affirmation I was programmed to seek. I could not imagine telling him that his performance would be replaced by a rock star.

I quickly considered the potential outcomes of this conversation with a genuine celebrity, and the consequences it could have upon my emotional stability back in my normal life with my non-celebrity peers.

I was tangled between wanting to please Peter and Dave, and wanting to please Kenton, with whom I’d spent the previous four years on tour. I was also feeling very protective of my artistic vision for the album, and American radio rock was not on the palette.

Me:
“Oh man. Sorry. We just recorded the bed tracks with my band.”

Former Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl (noticeably surprised):
“Yeah, but… I mean, come on.”

Me:
”…………………….”

I remember glancing at Peter, who shot me a look best described as what the fucking fuck are you doing right now.

And so I sent Dave the bed tracks. On his own, he recorded many layers of chunky electric guitar and vocals for the choruses. I tried to use his guitar tracks but they took the song to a place that just felt wrong. Of course, I kept his vocals.

We talked on the phone. I stumbled through a shitty uncomfortable explanation of how I was proceeding with the song. He genuinely didn’t care - he was very cool about it all. I mean, I’m just some unknown Canadian dude that doesn’t know how to rawk.

His management told us that, though we ought to put his name in the liner note credits, we could not include his name in the press release or promo for the album. The Foo Fighters had a new album on the way, and we were not to usurp any heat or ride any coattails.

But why didn’t I just record two versions of the song?

I could have recorded one with Kenton for the Club Meds album, and one with Dave for the Hector film. I was too caught up in my own fog to think clearly about the opportunity at hand. If I’d agreed, I would have spent a day with Dave, recording in his studio. We would have cracked jokes and gone to lunch. It would have been great.

I think there are ways that we can healthily indulge wild opportunities without getting too big for our britches. In the moment, it felt cool to sacrifice my own personal gain for the sake of my attachment to my bandmates (an ensemble that would dissolve within several years).

In the skin I wear now, at 43, I believe I could handle this situation with grace. I could maintain healthy relationships with my people and also show Dave Grohl how awesome I am. But I’m in a much better place now, in every way - mind, body, soul…

The lesson here is that middle age rules, and that life has chapters, and that this too shall pass. I’m actually happy I turned down Dave, for the learning and growth that has occurred since. I love who I am. I love the people in my life. I love the songs I’ve written since then.

It’s a fallacy to presume you could adjust some moment in the past but preserve what you appreciate about the present. Some call this “counterfactual thinking” - take it from Gordon Bombay and Charlie Conway in this memorable scene from 1992’s The Mighty Ducks…

QUACK, QUACK, QUACK, QUACK!

x
Dan

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Dying of Exposure with Dan Mangan

Episode 11: Claudia Dey - “Think Long and Write Fast”

Claudia’s novels are insightful, wondrous worlds where form dissolves and visceral incantations emerge. In the past, I’ve written recommendations for two of her books, Daughter and Heartbreaker.

She’s also a co-founder of HORSES Atelier, a recently closed fashion line that she now views like a massive art installation on thousands of bodies. As one of my favourite living authors, I was so pleased she agreed to chat with me.

Claudia’s husband Don Kerr has played in my band since 2016. If there’s an impending flood and we need to put two people on an arc to repopulate the Earth, they’d get my vote. They’re an inspiringly creative, benevolent, beautiful and emotionally super-intelligent power couple.

Among other things, we chat about:

• farm breasts

• being in the moment vs. capturing the moment

• how a “monkish” discipline can help create great work

• how being on the internet is like eating microwaved bacon

• putting your ass in the chair

This episode features a surprise needle drop of “Animal Poem” by Anna Tivel.

Listen to Dying of Exposure

If you enjoy this podcast, please review it, rate it, like it, follow it, share it - do whatever makes sense. It really helps.

Thank you and enjoy!

x
Dan

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Hello love,

Summer kicking. Team Canada earning their keep at the World Cup. Sports, music, gathering, community. Get it while we can.

Kirsten and I keep accidentally throwing spontaneous mini parties at our home. We’ll run into friends somewhere in East Van, mention that we have a trampoline, and then it’s midnight and the kids are spinning tornadoes of summer soda bliss (low sugar, of course). People leave behind bottles of wine, so we have to summon more friends with which to consume them. A positive feedback loop.

I’ll spend much of this summer bouncing between provinces. I’m always sad to be away from my family, but elated to have a career in the arts. After twenty years, I still love performing.

And I still love Kirsten. My Mexican/Norwegian north star. Best bullshit detector in all the land, since 2006. It was twenty years ago this past January that we ghosted a friend’s birthday at The King’s Head Pub to make out on a park bench at Kits Beach. My first tour began two months after this momentous kissing.

Speaking of friends…

Should you attend a show this fall, you will thank me for these incredible songwriters.

Brandon Wolfe Scott

Sep 5. Pender Island, BC - Pender Island Community Hall SOLD OUT
Sep 17. Courtenay, BC - Native Sons Hall LOW
Sep 18. Nanaimo, BC - The Port Theatre
Sep 19. Tofino, BC - Tofino Legion
Sep 25. Bowen Island, BC - Bowen Theatre SOLD OUT

I met Brandon in March, 2006. We did an “in the round” session at The Blue Gator in Kelowna. It was the first time I’d ever performed outside Vancouver. He told me about his band, Alphababy. Months later, Alphababy crashed on my basement suite floor. Years later, they changed their name to Yukon Blonde, and eventually gave me and Kirsten the greatest gift…

they were our wedding band.

Brandon is a truly gifted guitarist, songwriter, and lives a life full of art and community. A beautiful, sweet soul. I love him.

The Secret Beach

Oct 1. Prince Albert, SK - Rawlinson Centre ADDED
Oct 2. Saskatoon, SK - Broadway Theatre
Oct 4. Regina, SK - Darke Hall ADDED

Micah Erenberg DM’d me years ago with a soundcloud link to an unreleased album. I was in a hotel room with jet lag insomnia, so I gave it a whirl. I sat and listened to the entire thing, just staring at a wall.

It’s a rare thing to just listen to music. Not driving, or cleaning, or socializing. It’s how I fell in love with songs as a kid, sitting in front of the CD player. Headphones, words, melodies.

We bumped into each other at a taco shop in his hometown of Winnipeg, and connected the dots.

Beyond his own wonderful music, he also produced one of my favourite albums of recent years - “Early Hits” by Kacy Lee Anderson and the Waverley Pickers.. You won’t find it on Spotify (or even Bandcamp), but they posted a dropbox link to the mp3 files on their website HERE. Friggin’ punk ass way to release an album.

Micah is the real deal. A genuinely inspiring producer and songwriter.

Jenn Grant

Nov 13. Montreal, QC - Church of the Gesu
Nov 14. Quebec City, QC - L’Anti Bar & Spectacles
Nov 16. Kingston, ON - The Spire
Nov 17. London, ON - Aeolian Hall SOLD OUT

Where do I even start with Jenn? I have known her since forever, I think. Probably, we were married in a prior life. Maybe as dolphins or something else as painfully whimsical. I have no memory of meeting Jenn, only a continued history of basking in the glow of her vibrancy. She teaches the world to dance.

Her voice comes from the planet Neptune. How lucky for the rest of us that it chose Earth as its resting place.

She is one of my oldest and dearest friends in music. We wrote this song together:

Alberta

Our old pals at Bo’s in Red Deer have invited us to partake in their 30 year anniversary weekend. I’ll have the full band for this one. Always a blast at Bo’s.

Saskatchewan

My first ever show in Prince Albert has been announced at The EA Rawlinson Centre. Also - apparently, I have entered my casino era. I’ll be at the Living Sky Casino in Swift Current Oct 1st (meet me afterward at the Hold ‘Em table). This show goes on sale August 1st.

As always, you can text me your town at 310-347-4597 for localized touring updates.

All my love. Thank you for your eyes and your ears,

x
Dan

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UPCOMING SHOWS

Jul 2. Burlington, ON - Royal Botanical Gardens # $ LOW
Jul 3-5. Orillia, ON - Mariposa Folk Festival &
Jul 10-12. Sudbury, ON - Northern Lights Festival Boréal *
Jul 17-19. Dawson City, YK - Dawson City Music Festival # %
Aug 20. Red Deer, AB - Bo’s Fest ADDED
Aug 21-23. Owen Sound, ON - Summerfolk # @
Sep 5. Pender Island, BC - Pender Island Community Hall ^ SOLD OUT
Sep 12. Prince George, BC - Knox Performance Centre LOW
Sep 17. Courtenay, BC - Native Sons Hall ^ LOW
Sep 18. Nanaimo, BC - The Port Theatre ^
Sep 19. Tofino, BC - Tofino Legion ^
Sep 25. Bowen Island, BC - Bowen Theatre ^ SOLD OUT
Oct 1. Prince Albert, SK - Rawlinson Centre ! ADDED
Oct 2. Saskatoon, SK - Broadway Theatre !
Oct 3. Swift Current, SK - Living Sky Casino ON SALE AUG 1
Oct 4. Regina, SK - Darke Hall ADDED !
Nov 13. Montreal, QC - Church of the Gesu +
Nov 14. Quebec City, QC - L’Anti Bar & Spectacles +
Nov 16. Kingston, ON - The Spire +
Nov 17. London, ON - Aeolian Hall + SOLD OUT

# full band show
$ with Joel Plaskett
& with Steve Earle, Father John Misty, The Barr Brothers, Foxwarren & more
* with Sarah Harmer, Begonia, Foxwarren, Terra Lightfoot, Charlotte Cornfield & more
% with Georgia Harmer, Field Guide, Communism, Daniel Romano, Ellorie McKnight, Steven Lambke, The Fretless & more
@ with Jane Siberry & more
^ with Brandon Wolfe Scott
! with The Secret Beach
+ with Jenn Grant

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Dying of Exposure with Dan Mangan

Episode 10: Sarah Desjardins - “Softly, Softly”

A few years back, Kirsten and I got really into Yellow Jackets. It’s a masterfully executed show - wildly creative and gripping. And dark. Very dark.

Whenever I get sucked into a new show, I get curious about the actors - particularly those with which I’m unfamiliar. My wife is an actor, and I enjoy indulging the possibility that any day, she could be cast on a runaway smash series.

I knew of the series lead, Melanie Lynskey. Melaney a force. Her cameo on The Last Of Us kind of stole the show. But I was new to Sarah Desjardins who played her character’s daughter, Callie.

Imagine my surprise, finding Sarah’s profile on Instagram to learn that she’s not only from my hometown of Vancouver, but was already following me. As Kevin Drew would say - “Follow Back”.

We had coffee shortly thereafter and have been buds ever since. Oh, and her career has exploded. We took our boys to see Tron: Ares when it first launched, and whenever she was on screen, I had to stop myself from standing up in the theatre and telling the entire audience “I know her!”.

Among other things, we chat about:

• overthinking the creative process

• accidentally exposing kids to R rated movies over your shoulder on a plane

• panic attacks

• tarot card readings

• how, in order to be happy, you have to be willing to be a bit cringey

This episode features a surprise needle drop of “Unsolicited Advice” by Charles Spearin.

Listen to Dying of Exposure

If you enjoy this podcast, please review it, rate it, like it, follow it, share it - do whatever makes sense. It really helps.

Thank you and enjoy!

x
Dan

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Hello love,

The announcements keep coming - Regina is now on sale. I’ll be playing at Darke Hall on Oct 4th. Stay tuned next bit as there are still more shows to be announced and several fantastic support acts coming aboard this fall run.

AND

Returning to Dawson City Music Festival with the full band. This is way up north in the Yukon. One of the most special festivals you’ll find. Last time I was there in 2010, I bro’d down hard with Fred Penner, discovered Tune-Yards (wow), and giggled at flowers beneath the midnight sun at 2am.

BOOK RECS:

Get It While You Can by Nick Jaina

“Dear __________,

Do you know about quantum entanglement? It’s when two particles interact in such a special way that even if you separate them, their movements will continue to affect one another. You could be in Los Angeles with one of these particles and I could be in New York, and if your particle spins a certain way, my particle will spin that way, too. This connection happens instantaneously, which is to say that it’s faster than the speed of light.

This is such a remarkable scientific fact that I can’t understand why everyone isn’t talking about it every day. This is more important than health care or algebra or the housing market. You could say that our desire to bridge distance is what is killing us. More and more, we want to get to places faster and we are burning ourselves up to make that happen. It doesn’t make any sense. If we are already connected to everything, we can stay right where we are.”

During our recent tour down the west coast of the US, Israel Nebeker and I stopped in Ashland, OR to have lunch with his old (and my new) pal, Melody. Her partner Nick couldn’t come, but had sent along a book. Even his inscription is poetry.

I’d known the name Nick Jaina, as he once lived in Portland and is a longtime peer to many of my own musical friends from the PNW.

I tore through this book over several recent travel days. It’s a memoir, sort of. I love that it breaks rules and doesn’t fit neatly into a genre. I love that it is both prose and poetry. I love that it approaches the writing of a book like the writing of a song. That the thesis is both obvious and obscure. That the story is secondary to the fact that you understand his essence. His personhood.

Many times, I’d look away after a particularly wonderful passage and sigh with delight.

No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

“You might think you could run away and change your name and I dont know what all. Start over. And then one mornin you wake up and look at the ceilin and guess who’s layin there?”

This is a very famous book which begot a very famous (and strikingly bad ass) film by the Cohn brothers. It’s the first Cormac McCarthy novel I’ve read.

I am jealous of those who can read in a moving vehicle without feeling emergent barf in all of four minutes. Years ago, when Gord Grdina was in my band, he read McCarthy’s The Road in the back of the van over the course of a European tour. Every now and then, he’d pause, and look up, and just say, “……….fuck.”

Gord’s daily book reports on The Road made me intrigued about McCarthy, but they also made me hesitant to dig in. There is a lot of darkness in the world, and we must be efficient with the additional darkness for which we opt.

Anyhow, this book is macabre in delicious ways. It is very male. In my mind’s eye, I had a hard time not resorting to Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem, the leading actors in the adapted film. This is natural, I suppose.

On the surface, it’s about Texas and drugs and guns and people who value money to psychotic extents. But the subtext of this book is exhaustion. How it is so very exhausting to watch your society slip into madness. Into selfishness. To watch others do the worst possible things and say to yourself, “what the fuck do I do with that?”

All my love. Thank you for your eyes and your ears,
x

Dan

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UPCOMING SHOWS

Jun 11. Uxbridge, ON - Springtide Music Festival ! SOLD OUT
Jul 2. Burlington, ON - Royal Botanical Gardens # $ ADDED
Jul 3-5. Orillia, ON - Mariposa Folk Festival & ADDED
Jul 10-12. Sudbury, ON - Northern Lights Festival Boréal * ADDED
Jul 17-19. Dawson City, YK - Dawson City Music Festival # % ADDED
Aug 21-23. Owen Sound, ON - Summerfolk # @ ADDED
Sep 5. Pender Island, BC - Pender Island Community Hall SOLD OUT
Sep 12. Prince George, BC - Knox Performance Centre LOW
Sep 17. Courtenay, BC - Native Sons Hall LOW
Sep 18. Nanaimo, BC - The Port Theatre
Sep 19. Tofino, BC - Tofino Legion
Sep 25. Bowen Island, BC - Bowen Theatre SOLD OUT
Oct 2. Saskatoon, SK - Broadway Theatre
Oct 4. Regina, SK - Darke Hall ADDED
Nov 13. Montreal, QC - Church of the Gesu
Nov 14. Quebec City, QC - L’Anti Bar & Spectacles
Nov 16. Kingston, ON - The Spire
Nov 17. London, ON - Aeolian Hall SOLD OUT

# full band show
! with Young Novelists, Hollowsage & The Three Mile Islanders
$ with Joel Plaskett
& with Steve Earle, Father John Misty, The Barr Brothers, Foxwarren & more
* with Sarah Harmer, Begonia, Foxwarren, Terra Lightfoot, Charlotte Cornfield & more
% with Georgia Harmer, Field Guide, Communism, Daniel Romano, Ellorie McKnight, Steven Lambke, The Fretless & more
@ with Jane Siberry & more

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Hello love,

Behold the glory of promotional tour images, uniformly adjusted to a 500 pixel width. The below are all shows that have been announced in the last few weeks. Rather than spamming you each time, I’ve collected them into one spiffy little blast. Some are with the band, some are on my own. I’ve got some more announcements up my sleeve for the coming weeks/months.

Please forward this on to pals living near these parts!

In other news, after not really paying attention to sports for at least two decades, it has consumed my life. Over the past couple of years, I’ve assumed the role of “Coach Dan”. My boys play soccer and, more recently, baseball. Turns out, I love sports.

The Vancouver Canucks are so bad that it hurts. I have high hopes for the Montreal Canadiens, but it’s hard to believe The Cup won’t end up in the hands of the Avalanche or the Hurricanes.

SERIOUS QUESTION:

Is it alarming that I have essentially no memory of my childhood hockey teams being champs in two different years in different cities? What’s going on there? I have weird gaps in my memories. I heard Julia Louis-Dreyfus once say she can barely remember making a single episode of Seinfeld.

I played hockey as a kid for 4 or 5 years, in rural Ontario and in Toronto. Going through a storage closet, I found these old trophies and cannot conjure much recollection of these truly historic moments in world history. I have glimpses of the rinks. Of trudging through the snow with my hockey bag. Of the one and only penalty I ever earned. I remember kindness from coaches even though I was a supremely mid left winger (or sometimes defenseman). I remember I loved it.

What’s interesting is that, though I have a hard time recalling much of anything in particular about my own experience on the ice, my sense of the game is rock solid. Of positioning. Of flow. The rules. I barely remember learning to skate but can do it with ease as an adult. It’s in the muscle memory.

All my love. Thank you for your eyes and your ears,

x

Dan

UPCOMING SHOWS

May 23. Saint John, NB - Area 506 Waterfront # ^ ANNOUNCED
Jun 11. Uxbridge, ON - Springtide Music Festival ! SOLD OUT
Jul 2. Burlington, ON - Royal Botanical Gardens # $ ANNOUNCED
Jul 3-5. Orillia, ON - Mariposa Folk Festival & ANNOUNCED
Jul 10-12. Sudbury, ON - Northern Lights Festival Boréal * ANNOUNCED
Aug 21-23. Owen Sound, ON - Summerfolk # @ ANNOUNCED

Sep 5. Pender Island, BC - Pender Island Community Hall SOLD OUT
Sep 12. Prince George, BC - Knox Performance Centre LOW
Sep 17. Courtenay, BC - Native Sons Hall
Sep 18. Nanaimo, BC - The Port Theatre
Sep 19. Tofino, BC - Tofino Legion
Sep 25. Bowen Island, BC - Bowen Theatre SOLD OUT
Oct 2. Saskatoon, SK - Broadway Theatre
Nov 13. Montreal, QC - Church of the Gesu
Nov 14. Quebec City, QC - L’Anti Bar & Spectacles
Nov 16. Kingston, ON - The Spire
Nov 17. London, ON - Aeolian Hall SOLD OUT

# full band show
^ with Marc McLaughlin
! with Young Novelists, Hollowsage & The Three Mile Islanders
$ with Joel Plaskett
& with Steve Earle, Father John Misty, The Barr Brothers, Foxwarren & more
* with Sarah Harmer, Begonia, Foxwarren, Terra Lightfoot, Charlotte Cornfield & more
@ with Jane Siberry & more

Subscribe now

Verses

E | Abm | A | E
Abm | A | B7/F# | B7/F#
x2

Chorus/Intro

E | F#m/E | G#m/E | F#m/E
repeat

Tablature

## Chorus/Intro ##

E
x
x
x
6-4
2
0

F#m/E
x
x
x
7-6
4
0

G#m/E
x
x
x
9-7
6
0

## Verses ##

E
x
0
1
2
2
0

Abm
x
4
4
6
6
4

A
x
5
6
7
7
5

B7/F#
x
0
2
1
2
2 (thumb)

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Dying of Exposure with Dan Mangan

Episode 9: Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene) - “Follow Back”

In the mid 2000s, Kevin’s genre-busting band Broken Social Scene changed the indie music landscape in Canada and around the world, and his label helped break acts like Feist, Stars and The Dears. We talk about how I was the first artist signed to A&C who wasn’t previously a friend of his, and how at the time, he didn’t like my music. What a jerk!

Among other things, we chat about:

• how naivety can be a superpower in creative settings

• how social media has removed mystery from music discovery

• the origins and popular rise of Broken Social Scene

• crappy bosses

• Ennio Morricone’s film scores

• the music industry

• “aboutism”

This episode features a surprise needle drop of “You Don’t Wanna Leave It Alone” by J.E. Sunde.

Listen to Dying of Exposure

If you enjoy this podcast, please review it, rate it, like it, follow it, share it - do whatever makes sense. It really helps.

Thank you and enjoy!

x
Dan

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NATIONAL LIGHT TOUR
PRESALE
Wednesday, April 8 @ 10am local time
Password: LIGHT
Ticket links below or HERE

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Hello love,

My boys (12 and 9) are mildly obsessed with a Canada-centric parody artist called OGR-Scintilla. To accentuate the depth of this artist’s Canadianism, his songs are sung (or rapped) in a distinct hoser accent. He is the Hoser of Weird Als... or maybe, the Weird Al of Hosers.

His songs reference Canadian tropes like hockey, icy roads, maple syrup, and Tim Hortons. I’ve noticed, as my boys prattle around the house reciting OGR lyrics under their breath, their hoser accents are perfect. Like it’s in their blood.

If you’re not Canadian, you might be wondering - what exactly is a “hoser”?

I’ve been asked by Americans if hosers are like “Canadian rednecks”, but this comparison doesn’t work.

In my experience, redneck is usually intended pejoratively. It speaks to a backwoods small-mindedness. The anger of white poverty. Folks who feel they’ve been robbed of the American dream. Add a dash of intergenerational sore-loserdom from the American civil war.

Of course, “rednecks” do have a right to be angry. Their dream was stolen. Not by immigrants or gays, but by the same gilded age robber barons after whom their abandoned mining towns were named. The descendents of those robber barons now own the hedge funds that own the shell companies that own the grocery stores and shopping malls and, well… +90% of the stock market. And it’s getting worse, not better.

As Naomi Klein so eloquently put it, “They got the feelings right, but the facts wrong.” - they’re mad at the wrong people, but they’re mad nonetheless. Jobs are scarce, iPhones are expensive, and prescription opioids are offered to numb the dissonance. Their god-given middle class prosperity of yesteryear has expired.

In short, redneck is a loaded term. Hoser is less complicated.

Hosers are not born of resentment. They are the Big Lebowskis of small-town Canada. Each blessed moment is an opportunity for a BBB (Bonfires, Brewskies, Buddies). Their quest for a good time is eerily zen. In my experience, it’s rare to find a hoser whose company you do not enjoy, and their political alignments cannot be presumed in any direction.

Perhaps they never dared to dream of prosperity. The carrot was neither dangled nor promised. Ignorance is bliss.

The term hoser was popularized in the 80s by brothers Bob & Doug McKenzie, portrayed by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas in SCTV’s recurring sketch The Great White North (and, eventually, the film Strange Brew).

In the 90s, America was introduced to a suburban brand of hoser by Mike Myers (also Canadian) in Saturday Night Live’s Wayne’s World, which bears an unmistakable influence from The Great White North.

The origins of the term hoser are unclear, but the internet hypothesizes that it may refer to someone who uses a hose to siphon/steal gas from a car (preferably in the parking lot of a Zellers). It’s also a verb - if you suffer a great defeat at pond hockey, you could say you “got hosed”.

In 2002, modern hoser culture gained a head-banger flare from the Canadian indie film FUBAR. This runaway cult hit popularized the term “GIVE’R!”, which you can still hear offered coast-to-coast during any kind of “hold my beer, I’m about to ride my BMX off the roof” type moment.

I grew up mostly in cities, and to upper-middle class parents (a lawyer and a minister). To claim true hoserdom myself would be disingenuous. My kids are even more urban than I was at their ages. But I believe there to be an inner hoser in most/all Canadians. There’s a reason these cherished hoser characters resonate so deeply with us. They’re part of our national identity. Benevolent chaos.

Friggin’ rights, bud.

Still curious what a modern hoser sounds like? Take it away, OGR-Scintilla:

Stay tuned for further touring announcements, there’s more in the pipe.

All my love. Thank you for your eyes and your ears,

x
Dan

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UPCOMING SHOWS

Apr 10. Hood River, OR - Private Show SOLD OUT
Apr 11. Sisters, OR - Frankie’s Upstairs
Apr 12. Bend, OR - Domino Room
Apr 15. Atlanta, GA - Eddie’s Attic %
Apr 16. Marshall, NC - Zadie’s % ADDED / FREE
Apr 17. Raleigh, NC - The Pour House %
Apr 19. Wayne, PA - 118 North % SOLD OUT
Apr 21. Boston, MA - Passim ^ SOLD OUT
Apr 22. New York, NY - Baby’s All Right ^
Apr 23. Providence, RI - The Parlour ^
Apr 24. Manchester, VT - Billsville House Concerts ^ SOLD OUT

Jun 11. Uxbridge, ON - Springtide Music Festival ! SOLD OUT
Jul 3-5. Orillia, ON - Mariposa Folk Festival &
Aug 21-23. Owen Sound, ON - Summerfolk # @

National Light Tour
Presale begins Wednesday, April 8 @ 10am local (password: LIGHT)
👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

Sep 5. Pender Island, BC - Pender Island Community Hall ANNOUNCED
Sep 12. Prince George, BC - Knox Performance Centre ANNOUNCED
Sep 17. Courtenay, BC - Native Sons Hall ANNOUNCED
Sep 18. Nanaimo, BC - The Port Theatre ANNOUNCED
Sep 19. Tofino, BC - Tofino Legion ANNOUNCED
Oct 2. Saskatoon, SK - Broadway Theatre ANNOUNCED
Nov 13. Montreal, QC - Church of the Gesu ANNOUNCED
Nov 14. Quebec City, QC - L’Anti Bar & Spectacles ANNOUNCED
Nov 16. Kingston, ON - The Spire ANNOUNCED
Nov 17. London, ON - Aeolian Hall ANNOUNCED

# full band show
! with Young Novelists, Hollowsage & The Three Mile Islanders
& with Steve Earle & more
@ with Jane Siberry & more
% with Nathan Evans Fox
^ with Matt Pond PA

Reality Shield is a reader-supported newsletter. Both free and paid subscriptions are great. If you’d like to post comments, get loads of perks, join the community & support my music/writing, please consider a paid subscription :)

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Dying of Exposure with Dan Mangan

Episode 8: Lauren Lapkus - “Bulsh Detector”

I’ve known Lauren for years. She’s one of the funniest people with which I’ve ever spent time. If you’re not already familiar, you may recognize her from Orange Is The New Black, Big Bang Theory, or Comedy Bang Bang).

Among other things, we chat about:

• her first real acting gig in an improv sketch with Ryan Reynolds

• how actors can never know which of their projects might blow up

• allowing your current self the same grace you might give your younger self in retrospect

• how pointing out fascism doesn’t matter to the half of society who welcome it

• how AI ubiquitousness might bring a new premium to live performances

• how awkward it is when you have something to say in a conversation but the moment passes you by.

This episode features a surprise needle drop of “Select All Delete” by John K Samson.

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If you enjoy this podcast, please review it, rate it, like it, follow it, share it - do whatever makes sense. It really helps.

Thank you and enjoy!

x
Dan

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Hello love,

I’m headed back to Oregon, and then the eastern US for some shows with two very special artists:

• I met Nathan Evans Fox shortly after he went viral for deconstructing the paper castle of modern evangelical Christianity. I can’t wait to share some stages with him.

• I met Matt Pond PA when he was playing in The Wooden Birds. We did a run supporting them all over the USA in 2010. We played tiny bars to very few people and in many ways it was a tough tour, but I always had a fondness for Matt. He’s a scene survivor and a beautiful songwriter.

  

ALSO-

I’m playing a FREE pop-up show this week in Vancouver. I’ll play some old songs, some newly written unrecorded songs, and afterward I’ll hang out to sign stuff and maybe shotgun some Bublys. I’ll also bring a bunch of LPs from my basement if you want to stock up on records.

Thursday March 12th @ 7pm
Txt POPUP to 310-347-4597 for the secret location

There are some Canadian summer festivals coming up - some are with the band, and some I’ll play solo. More to be announced soon, as well as a whole bunch more Canada happening this fall.

All my love. Thank you for your eyes and your ears,

x
Dan

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UPCOMING SHOWS

Apr 10. Hood River, OR - Private Show
Apr 11. Sisters, OR - Frankie’s Upstairs
Apr 12. Bend, OR - Domino Room
Apr 15. Atlanta, GA - Eddie’s Attic %
Apr 17. Raleigh, NC - The Pour House %
Apr 19. Wayne, PA - 118 North %
Apr 21. Boston, MA - Passim ^
Apr 22. New York, NY - Baby’s All Right ^
Apr 23. Providence, RI - The Parlour ^
Apr 24. Manchester, VT - Billsville House Concerts ^ LOW

Jun 11. Uxbridge, ON - Springtide Music Festival ! SOLD OUT
Jul 3-5. Orillia, ON - Mariposa Folk Festival &
Aug 21-23. Owen Sound, ON - Summerfolk # @

# full band show
! with Young Novelists, Hollowsage, Three Mile Islanders
& with Steve Earle & more
@ with Jane Siberry & more
% with Nathan Evans Fox
^ with Matt Pond PA

Dying of Exposure with Dan Mangan

Episode 7: Tony Hale - “Bring Two Crutches”

Hear my discussion about contentment, anxiety, careers and faith with dramatic/comedic genius Tony Hale (known most notably for his work on Arrested Development, Veep, and Toy Story 4).

Among other things, we chat about Tony moving to New York not knowing a single New Yorker, the miracle that 2.5 seasons of Arrested Development got made, using faith as a crutch, how regular people can be more “known” than celebrities, the invention of the “stoncert”, aging gracefully in Hollywood, how seeing your own emotions articulated in art is akin to cultural representation, and how if you can’t practice contentment now, you won’t be content when you get what you want.

This episode features a surprise needle drop of “Change My Shape” by Sam Tudor.

Listen to Dying of Exposure

If you enjoy this podcast, PLEASE review it, rate it, like it, follow it, share it - do whatever makes sense. It really helps.

Thank you and enjoy!

x
Dan

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Previous episodes:

gratuity. noun

• something given voluntarily or beyond obligation

Have we reached the post-genesis era?

Are we sick with influenca? By that, I mean consumed by compounding influence… drowning in perspective. Lost in endless reactive cycles. Inhaling our own exhaust.

We no longer discuss policy. Instead, we debate how a policy is perceived - whether it scores a win for one party or another.

We no longer discuss art. Instead, we obsess over who is consuming what art - we kneel before platforms of distribution and celebrate those who have learned to use the machine most effectively.

We see a meme. We understand a dozen layers of ironic residue within it. We know it is propaganda, but the levity is appreciated.

We watch a Super Bowl ad. We acknowledge how it feels- to be sold a feeling beyond our shortcomings. We wonder if maybe a different voiceover approach would have been even more compelling.

We know too much. We dissect the dissection. Analyze the analysis.

We are traffic. Macro-data. Post-post-modern. Death by a thousand thousands.

We become desensitized. Numb. We shut the door.

But.

There remains a visceral inferno within. We still feel things. The dissonance between the world of society, and the world of self. Two worlds, both real and not real, both immeasurable.

I believe there are still fires within us. Unique offerings that we can gift to one other, whether or not the machine deems them valuable.

I recently took my 12 year old son Jude to see Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie in the cinema. We giggled. A lot. I observed him, giddy to wade slightly more deeply into the grown-up world.

I’ve known one of the film’s creators, Jay McCarrol, since 2015. He was in Hayden’s band, who joined mine for a cross-country tour. Near the end of the run, Jay mentioned his web-series, Nirvanna The Band. In one sitting, I devoured every ounce of it, alone in a hotel room. I cackled.

It felt… gratuitous. Its purpose only to exist. Being a thing simply because somebody enjoyed making it. Low (no?) budget, filmed in Jay’s apartment with his roommate, Matt. It was genius. A tone of humour so hard to articulate, but ever-present in myself and my peers.

Eventually, VICE picked it up as Nirvanna The Band The Show.

And now, it is reborn as a feature film. I understand the corporate mechanics of the entertainment industry. I know that this film was green-lit to make money. And I acknowledge that art and commerce have always been frenemies. But miraculously, Matt and Jay have preserved the spirit of their original 2008 web-series about two best friends whose sole mission is to get a gig at The Rivoli in Toronto.

I do not usually endorse nostalgia, as it can be dangerous. Nostalgia places a halo on the past, glowing brightly enough to blind us from the complexities therein. It affords us permission to willfully worship the facade of a myth, and ignore the scaffolding behind it.

But this film scratched an itch I’d nearly forgotten about. The joy of being young and broke, doing dumb creative shit just for kicks. Note that NTBTSTM is not dumb. I can’t even fathom the amount of calculation and preparation required to make a film of this magnitude with a budget this Canadian.

It’s hard to tell which antics were faked and which were actually executed amidst unknowing bystanders. There is a subtle grey line between planted actors and “normal people”.

I don’t wish to say much more because the film is a perpetual reveal.

I’m sorry if I’ve become the traffic, here - more analytical overwhelm on the heap. My aim is not to unpack why this film is important to the zeitgeist.

But I do want to celebrate fresh ideas. Innate impulses. The playful audacity to make gratuitous things, in small or large scale. To be silly and creative. To foster delight for the self, and as result, others.

I hope this film is a big success. And I hope that movie studios might take note and start acting more like creative incubators and less like hedge funds.

In my own corner of the artgeist, I’ll admit there have been times when I have attempted to reverse-engineer music that others might like, and it was never (ever) fulfilling. It also generally does not achieve the desired outcome. Worst case scenario- imagine if it DID work… forever tied to the success of something that feels untrue. Distancing oneself from the very vessel that propels you.

Without fail, the most rewarding and memorable moments of my career have come from unexpected magical discoveries. Vague targets. Cosmic high fives. Communal elation with collaborators and/or audiences. Unlocked truths. Wonder. Moments when I felt understood and in my skin. When I liked myself. When I have revealed myself and been accepted for it. These feelings stay with you, hugging your molecules for decades.

The irony is this: when it comes to my own body of work, I am most proud of the creations that felt like gifts.

Happy accidents. They occurred, and I was lucky enough to be involved.

I’ll leave you with 2 last thoughts:

1. In 2004, I followed along with some university pals to a screening of Napoleon Dynamite. I had never heard of the film and knew nothing of it. We smoked some weed and I laughed harder and more continuously than I ever have in my entire life. My abs hurt for days.

   

2. I love Kurt Vonnegut with all my heart.

   

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Hi Jared,

As it happens, I recently taped my NINTH episode of Comedy Bang! Bang! - an unlikely tenure for a certified non-comedian.

In 2011, during a short stint in LA, our tour manager forwarded me an itinerary for some press obligations. I’d never heard of “Comedy Bang Bang” but I’d certainly heard of Sarah Silverman.

What followed was puzzling. Sarah and Nick were there, but as Erma and Bobby Bottleservice. They did not break character and very little explanation was given. Periodically, the host Scott Aukerman would ask me to play a song. My offerings were overtly melancholic and non-comedic, but he didn’t seem to mind.

Afterward, when I asked how on earth I was chosen for this engagement, he said my publicist Brendan Bourke had mailed him my latest CD, Oh Fortune.

I was too Canadian to ask for anybody’s contact information, so I presumed I’d never see any of them again. Then, in 2014, Scott responded to a tweet:

I slid into his DMs. We kept in touch loosely, and in 2016, Sarah tagged me in a tweet:

Scott then invited me to join a live taping of Comedy Bang Bang in my hometown, Vancouver. I met many wonderful people that night, but after dinner, Lauren Lapkus’ boyfriend Mike Castle joined me for short detour to a coffee shop. We quickly discovered a love for the same albums and novels, texted nearly every day for months, and he remains one of my best buds.

In 2018, Lauren and Mike asked me to perform the song A.M. AM by at their wedding.

I fell in love with Damien’s song and eventually released my own cover recording in 2024:

In total, I’ve done four episodes as a (not so) surprise guest at CBB live-tapings in Vancouver, and five in-studio episodes while on tour in Los Angeles.

CBB has fostered a fleet of pals in the LA comedy scene, and a whole lot of delight in my life. Frequently, listeners will mention that they discovered my music on CBB.

SIDEBAR:

Some time ago, my friend Coralie gifted me a bundle of REM memorabilia from the 90s (she used to work with the band). I knew Scott was a fan, so I shipped it down to him. He said the tour-crew bomber jacket was too small for him so he passed it along to his buddy Adam Scott. I used this as an ice-breaker when my wife spotted him walking alone in Manhattan.

Taping CBB is also “feet to the fire” panic-inducing mayhem. These people are impossibly quick and experienced improvisers, and though I may have some sense of humour, they are professionally funny. Often, at the end of a session, my abs hurt from laughing.

I have learned some things over the years:

• Don’t try to be funny, just treat it like a playful conversation. Try to be relevant to the flow and let Scott drive the bus.

• Comedians perform as characters, but I’m always a non-character participant. As such, it’s a bit of a tightrope:

  • If I’m overly reserved during the between-song banter, it’s weird.

  • If I take up too much space, it feels thirsty and desperate.

MY PROUDEST CBB MOMENT:

During a taping in 2019, Will Hines’ character Randy Useless had made a big deal about En Vogue’s song My Lovin’ (Never Gonna Get It). He liked how the MC alerted you when it was time for a breakdown.

To close the show, I played my song Peaks & Valleys. I was just about to proceed with the song’s instrumental “breakdown” outro when the heavens opened up and I realized my moment had arrived.

I stopped the song abruptly and pointed at Will. His face contorted for a terrifying moment, and just before my gag fell flat on its face, he jumped into action:

“AND NOW IT’S TIME FOR A BREAKDOWN!”

I played on. Scott lost it. A truly cherished memory.

I’m extremely grateful to Scott for inviting me back so many times and including me in his community. What a whirlwind.

x
Dan

Finally getting these recordings up from Europe this past fall. We didn’t manage to record every single show, but we got most of them.

These recordings are just for paid subscribers, I’m afraid. If you’d really like to hear them but aren’t in a position to contribute, just DM me via Substack and I’ll figure something out :)

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Dying of Exposure with Dan Mangan

Episode 6: Steven Ogg - “Please and thank you”

Hear my discussion with Hollywood madman Steven Ogg about mental health, creative yearning and ski-jumping. Steven is known for his intense roles on The Walking Dead, Better Call Saul, Snowpiercer, and widely adored in gaming circles for his portrayal of “Trevor” in Grand Theft Auto V.

Among other things, we chat about the tendency to dislike other artists purely out of jealousy, managing ones inner demons, endlessly craving work, the pros and cons of Instagram, the 7/4 time signature, and how being pissed off during a bit part audition early in his career landed Steven a much larger role on Law & Order.

This episode features a surprise needle drop of “Silver Civic” by Charlotte Cornfield.

Listen to Dying of Exposure

If you enjoy this podcast, PLEASE review it, rate it, like it, follow it, share it - do whatever makes sense. It really helps.

Thank you and enjoy!

x
Dan

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Hello love,

I recently wrote this love song for America. It hurts a bit. Like watching someone you love drink themselves into oblivion.

And now here I come down the west coast with my dear pal Israel Nebeker (of Blind Pilot acclaim). Some of the shows are nearly sold out, and some of the shows are barely sold at all, so please feel free to spread the word. It would help a lot!

I’m told there are about a dozen tickets left for Halifax next week, and Fredericton with Amy Millan is sold out.

Looks like it’s going to be a busy year of touring. Plenty of Canadian, American and European dates to be announced in the coming months, plus US shows with Matt Pond PA and Nathan Evans Fox listed below! It feels good to have plans.

All my love. Thank you for your eyes and your ears,

x
Dan

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UPCOMING SHOWS

2026

Jan 23. Halifax, NS - The Marquee $ LOW
Jan 24. Fredericton, NB - Shivering Songs # SOLD OUT

Jan 29. Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern !
Jan 31. Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios !
Feb 1. Eugene, OR - Art House !
Feb 3. San Francisco, CA - Cafe Du Nord !
Feb 4. Oakland, CA - Wyldflowr Arts !
Feb 5. Mill Valley, CA - Sweetwater Music Hall !
Feb 6. Ojai, CA - Ojai Underground !
Feb 8. San Diego, CA - Soda Bar !
Feb 10. Santa Barbara, CA - SOHO Music Club !
Feb 11. Los Angeles, CA - Moroccan Lounge !

Apr 10. Hood River, OR - Private Show
Apr 11. Sisters, OR - Frankie’s Upstairs
Apr 12. Bend, OR - Domino Room
Apr 15. Atlanta, GA - Eddie’s Attic %
Apr 17. Raleigh, NC - The Pour House %
Apr 19. Wayne, PA - 118 North %
Apr 21. Boston, MA - Passim ^
Apr 22. New York, NY - Baby’s All Right ^
Apr 23. Providence, RI - The Parlour ^
Apr 24. Manchester, VT - Billsville House Concerts ^

Aug 22. Owen Sound, ON - Summerfolk

$ with support from Marc MacLaughlin
# with Amy Millan
! with Israel Nebeker (Blind Pilot)
% with Nathan Evans Fox
^ with Matt Pond PA

Dying of Exposure with Dan Mangan

Episode 5: Shad - “Commit to the thing”

Hear my chat with mega-talent Shad about family, art, hip hop and the music business.

Among other things, we chat about his family’s displacement throughout Africa before settling in Canada, Shad’s scary realization that music mattered to him, supporting Common as a young rapper, sidestepping the word “artist” and focusing on whatever sounds fun, the fortuitous timing of “Hip Hop Evolution”, the shifting sands of the music industry, and how your kids don’t give a crap about your career.

This episode features a surprise needle drop of “Morgana” by Hank May.

Listen to Dying of Exposure

If you enjoy this podcast, PLEASE review it, rate it, like it, follow it, share it - do whatever makes sense. It really helps.

Thank you and enjoy!

x
Dan

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Previous episodes:

Verses

G | Am | C - D7 | G

Chorus 1 (“So when it’s getting close”)

C | D7 | G | Em
Am | D7 | G - D/F# | Em
Am | D7 | G | G

Chorus 2 (“It always comes so fast”)

C | D7 | G | Em
Am | D7 | G - D/F# | Em
Am | D7 | G | Em
Am | D7 | G - D/F# | Em | Em (there’s an extra bar here after “glow again”)
Am | D7 | G | Em
Am | D7 | G - D/F# | Em
Am | D7 | G | Em
Am | D7 | G | G

Tablature

G
3
0
0
0
2
3

Am
0
1
2
2
0
x

C
0
2
0
2
3
x

D7
2
1
2
0
x
x

Em
0
0
0
2
2
0

D / F# (walk down chord)
0
3
0
0
x
2 (use thumb or index)