Last Friday, the TPS (The Produce Stand) crew and I were invited to be guests on the Toronto Mike’d podcast to talk about our podcast The Produce Stand. For me, being on Mike’s podcast has become almost routine. I’ve been on his show a bunch of times as the curator of his Best Of episodes where periodically I’ll come on and play the best clips from his past interviews. I’ve also been on his podcast as a sponsor—well my employer Moneris is the sponsor—to talk about my other podcast Yes, We Are Open.
Here is a list of all my appearances so far on the Toronto Mike’d podcast:
- Best of Toronto Mike’d, Vol. 1 (Episode 477)
- Best of Toronto Mike’d, Vol. 2 (Episode 540)
- Toronto Mike’d Podcast Episode 755: Best of Toronto Mike’d, Vol. 3
- Yes, We Are Open: Toronto Mike’d Podcast Episode 947
- The Best of Toronto Mike’d, Vol. 4: Toronto Mike’d Podcast Episode 1073
- Al Grego: Toronto Mike’d Podcast Episode 1158
- Al Grego Kicks Out the Jams: Toronto Mike’d Podcast Episode 1258
- Best of Toronto Mike’d Episodes 1001-1250: Toronto Mike’d Podcast Episode 1322
- Al Grego: Toronto Mike’d Podcast Episode 1371
You may wonder what my obsession is with Mike Boon (aka Toronto Mike). It’s simple really, he’s a good guy and he’s really good at what he does! I’ve followed his journey from being a blogger back in the mid-aughts, to helping former Toronto radio personalities Humble and Fred start this this new thing called a podcast, to deciding to start his own podcast, to now being one of the best and most prolific independent podcasters in Toronto with over 1,400 episodes and counting.
Mike’s show isn’t for everyone, but if you’re of a certain age and you grew up in a certain part of southern Ontario, then I’d wager there are at least a few episodes of his podcast that would pique your interest. You can check out a list of his most notable guests here.
Early on in Mike’s journey as a podcaster, he became unemployed and decided to turn his then-hobby into his job. He was able to attract sponsors and other clients and has been successfully rolling his own ever since. During this time, I had changed employers myself and my interest in podcasting was also growing. When I wanted to begin producing podcasts at Moneris, I reached out to Mike on a lark. We had interacted a bit on his blog and on social media, but never in person. I knew Mike lived in the vicinity of Moneris’ head-office. He often proudly touted his New Toronto—not Mimico—home on his podcast.
So I took a chance and reached out looking for some guidance or advice. Mike was incredibly gracious! He invited me to see his home studio and answered all of my questions. Going into that basement studio for the first time was—to me—akin to going to the studio of my favourite radio station. When he sat me down at a mic, gave me the headphones and played that amazing theme song by Il Vibe, I’m not going to lie, I got goosebumps. Just thinking of all the guests he’d had in that basement was awe-inspiring.
For the past ten years Mike has been documenting Toronto’s media history. It began with a few interviews of some local radio and television personalities and has since grown to include radio, television, stage, print, film, music, internet, and even politics. It would be more difficult to think of local media personalities Mike hasn’t had visit his basement.
Mike does not come from a media background, which he’s proud of. He doesn’t have that big booming radio voice, his interview style is…unorthodox, to put it mildly. In the beginning it was a little rough going. But as he found his voice, he became a keen interviewer. During a typical Toronto Mike’d interview, it may seem like he’s all over the place going off on tangents and bringing up seemingly inane “fun facts”. But what he’s doing is disarming his subject and putting them at ease so as to more easily get to the “real talk”. It doesn’t always work, but more often than not, Mike gets some of the best interviews out of his subjects. When It doesn’t work it’s still compelling listening. For an example of this check out his interview with Toronto singer Molly Johnson.
He has grown a strong reputation as an admirer of all things Toronto media, and has honed his craft as an interviewer so deftly that now, whenever a media personality loses their job—which is happening with increasing frequency these days—they often reach out to Mike for their Exit Interview for their chance to say goodbye to their fans on their own terms. Mike is happy to oblige, because he knows the best interviews are given by those with “zero fucks to give”.
What I admire most about what Mike has accomplished in the past decade, is that he’s achieved all of this without a name. Today’s podcast landscape is littered with former media personalities who’ve lost their mainstream media jobs and are now trading on whatever cachet their names still may have in a given market to start their own podcasts with an already built-in audience. Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that! I don’t begrudge anyone for taking advantage of their established brand. It’s theirs to exploit.
Mike was—for all intents and purposes—a nobody. No different from you and me. Today, not only does he have all sorts of famous people on his podcast, he has the audacity to insist that they visit his basement in south Etobicoke and most of them oblige! It’s really a crazy story when you think of it.
That brings us back to this past Friday. I’ve now been podcasting for just over 5 years. During that time, Mike has not only been a mentor on this journey, he’s been a good friend. Recently my podcast The Produce Stand was nominated for a Canadian Podcast Award and we had a little fun looking back to our first episode 3 years prior at a prediction made by Victor, one of our panelists.
Here is the clip:
In this clip I joke that even if we don’t win the Canadian Podcast Award—which we didn’t—I would still feel like we made it if we were interviewed on the Toronto Mike’d podcast. Mike heard the clip and immediately invited us on his podcast. He did this even though we’re not famous and he doesn’t even like the two shows we talk about on our podcast! What a beauty!
If you haven’t heard our appearance on Toronto Mike’d yet, what are you waiting for? Listen below:
What are you thinking?