WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.620 Imagine stepping onto a stage in a dimly lit, 00:00:04.860 --> 00:00:08.039 beer -soaked rock club. Oh, boy. Right? you look 00:00:08.039 --> 00:00:10.179 out at the crowd and they are just buzzing. They're 00:00:10.179 --> 00:00:12.519 restless. They're waiting for this heavy -hitting 00:00:12.519 --> 00:00:15.339 alternative rock band to come out and just tear 00:00:15.339 --> 00:00:17.219 the roof off the place. The energy is probably 00:00:17.219 --> 00:00:19.640 super aggressive. Completely aggressive. Now 00:00:19.640 --> 00:00:22.260 imagine walking out to face that exact crowd, 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:25.820 but you have no drum kit, no electric bass, no 00:00:25.820 --> 00:00:28.800 distortion pedals, just you, your best friend, 00:00:29.239 --> 00:00:31.359 two acoustic guitars, and a microphone. That 00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:34.960 is terrifying. You have maybe 30 seconds to command 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:37.060 that room before they just start booing you right 00:00:37.060 --> 00:00:38.799 off the stage. I mean, how do you even do it? 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:41.420 Honestly, it sounds like a musician's worst nightmare. 00:00:41.640 --> 00:00:44.340 You are just entirely exposed up there. Exactly. 00:00:44.520 --> 00:00:46.880 Because if your strategy is just to, I don't 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:49.159 know, politely play your gentle acoustic songs 00:00:49.159 --> 00:00:50.640 and just hope for the best, you are going to 00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:53.460 get eaten alive by that audience. Eaten alive. 00:00:54.399 --> 00:00:57.179 But what if I told you there was a Canadian acoustic 00:00:57.179 --> 00:01:01.000 folk duo that Not only survived that exact scenario, 00:01:01.560 --> 00:01:03.539 but they actually used it as a stepping stone 00:01:03.539 --> 00:01:06.140 to conquer the national music scene. Wait, really? 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:09.620 Yeah. Today, we are bringing you along on a deep 00:01:09.620 --> 00:01:12.459 dive into our stack of sources. We're primarily 00:01:12.459 --> 00:01:15.040 looking at a comprehensive Wikipedia history 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:17.920 and our own research notes. Right. And we're 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:20.540 detailing the fascinating life cycle of the musical 00:01:20.540 --> 00:01:23.269 partnership known as Da La. Such an interesting 00:01:23.269 --> 00:01:26.569 group. They really are and our mission for you, 00:01:26.629 --> 00:01:29.870 the listener, is to explore the actual mechanics 00:01:29.870 --> 00:01:33.950 of this. Yeah. How do two teenagers from a high 00:01:33.950 --> 00:01:36.930 school band room navigate these massive major 00:01:36.930 --> 00:01:39.569 label jumps? And those grueling cross country 00:01:39.569 --> 00:01:42.250 tours. Yes, with wildly mismatched audiences. 00:01:42.569 --> 00:01:45.409 Plus just the psychological weight of growing 00:01:45.409 --> 00:01:47.909 up inside the music industry machine. Because 00:01:47.909 --> 00:01:49.689 surviving the industry, I mean, it isn't just 00:01:49.689 --> 00:01:51.590 about writing a catchy melody. No, not at all. 00:01:51.689 --> 00:01:53.810 It is about adaptability. It's about strategic 00:01:53.810 --> 00:01:56.950 alliances and eventually figuring out how to 00:01:56.950 --> 00:01:59.010 untangle your own identity from the corporate 00:01:59.010 --> 00:02:00.780 trademark you built. with your best friend when 00:02:00.780 --> 00:02:03.000 you're, you know, still a kid. Okay, let's unpack 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:05.140 this. We have to start at the foundation. Because 00:02:05.140 --> 00:02:07.659 understanding the initial chemistry between Sheila 00:02:07.659 --> 00:02:10.879 Caribbean and Amanda Walther is literally the 00:02:10.879 --> 00:02:13.159 only way to make sense of the absolute sprint 00:02:13.159 --> 00:02:15.120 their career turns into. It really was a sprint. 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:19.539 Year is 2002. We are in Scarborough, Ontario, 00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:22.300 at Mary Ward Catholic Secondary School. Okay. 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:25.120 The sources note that Sheila and Amanda met at 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:28.610 a high school band practice. And usually, I mean, 00:02:28.689 --> 00:02:30.449 high school bands are just a temporary collision 00:02:30.449 --> 00:02:32.789 of completely disparate skill levels. Oh, yeah. 00:02:32.930 --> 00:02:34.349 Someone just wants an arts credit right now. 00:02:34.389 --> 00:02:36.289 Exactly. Or someone else is trying to emulate 00:02:36.289 --> 00:02:39.569 their favorite punk rocker. It is usually totally 00:02:39.569 --> 00:02:42.360 chaotic. Right. But that is not what happens 00:02:42.360 --> 00:02:44.819 here. No, the documentation points to something 00:02:44.819 --> 00:02:47.340 entirely different happening in that room. The 00:02:47.340 --> 00:02:50.039 phrases that jump out from the sources are innate 00:02:50.039 --> 00:02:52.800 understanding of music. Wow. And a remarkably 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:55.780 complimentary vocal range. Innate understanding. 00:02:55.819 --> 00:02:58.759 Yeah. We aren't talking about two kids who just 00:02:58.759 --> 00:03:00.680 happen to like the same bands. We are talking 00:03:00.680 --> 00:03:03.620 about two voices that lock together with a precision 00:03:03.620 --> 00:03:06.379 that usually takes, you know, decades to cultivate. 00:03:06.979 --> 00:03:09.330 Decades. Let's break down the reality of that 00:03:09.330 --> 00:03:11.469 timeline though, because I have to push back 00:03:11.469 --> 00:03:13.909 on how frictionless this sounds. Sure. They formed 00:03:13.909 --> 00:03:17.449 the band Dalla in the summer of 2002. Right. 00:03:17.909 --> 00:03:21.490 By December 12, 2003, they have signed a five 00:03:21.490 --> 00:03:24.370 -year artist development deal with an independent 00:03:24.370 --> 00:03:27.370 label called Big Bold Sun Music. Which is very 00:03:27.370 --> 00:03:30.069 fast. Super fast. It's been a little over a year 00:03:30.069 --> 00:03:33.509 recording, and on April 3, 2005, they released 00:03:33.509 --> 00:03:35.930 their first album, This Moment is a Flash. Uh 00:03:35.930 --> 00:03:38.729 -huh. But then... Just four months later, on 00:03:38.729 --> 00:03:42.150 August 8, 2005, they sign a major record deal 00:03:42.150 --> 00:03:44.870 with Universal Music. Massive. And by November 00:03:44.870 --> 00:03:47.449 of that same year, Universal releases their album 00:03:47.449 --> 00:03:49.990 Angels and Thieves. Yeah. I mean, it is like 00:03:49.990 --> 00:03:51.849 watching a couple of kids go straight from winning 00:03:51.849 --> 00:03:54.849 a high school science fair to like ringing the 00:03:54.849 --> 00:03:56.629 bell at the New York Stock Exchange. That is 00:03:56.629 --> 00:03:58.810 a great way to put it. I am struggling to understand 00:03:58.810 --> 00:04:01.340 the mechanics of this. Is it normal? Like, does 00:04:01.340 --> 00:04:04.340 a giant monolith like Universal Music normally 00:04:04.340 --> 00:04:07.020 scoop up teenagers less than two years after 00:04:07.020 --> 00:04:09.379 they sign an indie deal? What's fascinating here 00:04:09.379 --> 00:04:13.020 is the stark difference between an artist development 00:04:13.020 --> 00:04:16.459 deal and a major label contract. OK, tell me 00:04:16.459 --> 00:04:18.540 more. You really have to look at this through 00:04:18.540 --> 00:04:21.879 the lens of risk mitigation. Music industry, 00:04:22.199 --> 00:04:25.379 talent scouts, A &R reps, they are essentially 00:04:25.379 --> 00:04:27.259 venture capitalists. Right. They want to return 00:04:27.259 --> 00:04:29.720 on investment. Exactly. They look for massive 00:04:29.720 --> 00:04:32.959 returns. So an independent label like Big Bold 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:35.639 Sun takes the initial risk. Oh, I see. They give 00:04:35.639 --> 00:04:38.079 the artist a development deal, which basically 00:04:38.079 --> 00:04:40.519 means, you know, we will give you a little bit 00:04:40.519 --> 00:04:42.660 of money and some studio time to see if you can 00:04:42.660 --> 00:04:45.579 actually write songs and function as a professional 00:04:45.579 --> 00:04:47.959 unit. So the indie label is basically building 00:04:47.959 --> 00:04:50.920 the prototype. Precisely. Big Bold Son took the 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:53.100 risk of finding out if that high school chemistry 00:04:53.100 --> 00:04:55.899 actually translated to a recording booth. Right, 00:04:56.079 --> 00:04:58.040 because live chemistry is different from studio 00:04:58.040 --> 00:05:01.220 chemistry. Exactly. And when they released This 00:05:01.220 --> 00:05:04.319 Moment is a Flash, it proved the prototype worked. 00:05:04.980 --> 00:05:07.319 Wow. Universal Music didn't want to develop Dela. 00:05:07.639 --> 00:05:10.540 They saw a finished product with just an undeniable 00:05:10.540 --> 00:05:12.839 vocal blend. They just wanted to buy it. Yeah. 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:15.839 Major labels don't want to teach you how to be 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:18.379 an artist. They want to buy a business that already 00:05:18.379 --> 00:05:20.779 has product market fit and scale it globally. 00:05:21.240 --> 00:05:23.379 That makes total sense. Buying out that indie 00:05:23.379 --> 00:05:25.699 contract and signing them to Universal was a 00:05:25.699 --> 00:05:28.649 highly calculated move. The label got a road 00:05:28.649 --> 00:05:31.689 -ready, pre -packaged vocal harmony without having 00:05:31.689 --> 00:05:34.129 to spend years putting the puzzle pieces together 00:05:34.129 --> 00:05:36.829 themselves. Okay, so Universal buys the prototype, 00:05:37.470 --> 00:05:39.670 and they waste absolutely zero time putting it 00:05:39.670 --> 00:05:41.670 to the test. None at all. They release Angels 00:05:41.670 --> 00:05:44.990 and Thieves in November 2005, which is notably 00:05:44.990 --> 00:05:47.470 a mix of five original songs and five covers. 00:05:47.629 --> 00:05:50.050 Right. The covers are key here. And immediately, 00:05:50.189 --> 00:05:53.540 Dela is sent out into the wild. Universal books 00:05:53.540 --> 00:05:55.920 them on tours to prove they can capture an audience 00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:59.019 of strangers. And here's where it gets really 00:05:59.019 --> 00:06:02.120 interesting. Oh, the touring schedule. Yes. The 00:06:02.120 --> 00:06:04.339 booking choices seem completely unhinged. It 00:06:04.339 --> 00:06:06.420 was definitely a touring mismatch. You look at 00:06:06.420 --> 00:06:08.839 the dates following the Universal signing. In 00:06:08.839 --> 00:06:12.720 early 2007, they're out opening for rock legend 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:15.439 Tom Cochran. Life is a highway, Tom Cochran. 00:06:15.819 --> 00:06:18.110 Exactly. And later that year, they are booked 00:06:18.110 --> 00:06:21.449 as the opener for a massive Cross Canada tour 00:06:21.449 --> 00:06:24.350 with Matthew Good. And this wraps up in Cobalt, 00:06:24.350 --> 00:06:27.009 Ontario in November. That is quite the lineup. 00:06:27.209 --> 00:06:29.610 Right. For context for you listening, Matthew 00:06:29.610 --> 00:06:33.730 Good is intense, heavy, alternative rock. Very 00:06:33.730 --> 00:06:35.870 heavy. His fans are showing up for driving electric 00:06:35.870 --> 00:06:40.110 guitars and angst. And out walks Della, an acoustic 00:06:40.110 --> 00:06:43.569 folk duo, just two voices and some light instrumentation. 00:06:43.750 --> 00:06:46.939 Like lambs to the slaughter. Literally. Put yourself 00:06:46.939 --> 00:06:48.680 in the shoes of those two women walking onto 00:06:48.680 --> 00:06:52.540 that stage. How does an acoustic act functionally 00:06:52.540 --> 00:06:54.920 survive the hostility of a crowd waiting for 00:06:54.920 --> 00:06:57.120 a rock concert? If we connect this to the bigger 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:00.060 picture, you'll see why that specific mix of 00:07:00.060 --> 00:07:02.220 songs on their Universal debut, Angels and Thieves, 00:07:02.439 --> 00:07:04.579 wasn't an accident. The five covers and five 00:07:04.579 --> 00:07:07.420 originals. Exactly. In the music industry, when 00:07:07.420 --> 00:07:09.819 you are the opening act for a wildly different 00:07:09.819 --> 00:07:12.660 genre, a cover song isn't just a tribute. It 00:07:12.660 --> 00:07:15.379 is a tactical weapon. A tactical weapon. I like 00:07:15.379 --> 00:07:17.379 that. It's a musical passport. A passport to 00:07:17.379 --> 00:07:19.879 win over the rock fans. Think about the mechanics 00:07:19.879 --> 00:07:22.540 of how we listen to music. When an audience hears 00:07:22.540 --> 00:07:25.459 an original song they don't know, they naturally 00:07:25.459 --> 00:07:27.000 put their guard up. Right, they just want the 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:29.199 main act. But look at the covers the sources 00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:32.259 say Dela recorded during this era. They tackled 00:07:32.259 --> 00:07:35.300 the Cura's Love Song for a 2009 tribute album. 00:07:35.540 --> 00:07:38.800 Classic. They recorded Neil Young's A Man Needs 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:42.720 A Maid for a 2008 compilation. And, incredibly, 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:46.860 they covered Neil Young's Ohio for the 2007 compilation, 00:07:47.160 --> 00:07:50.819 Borrowed Tunes to Second. Wait, Ohio? Ohio is 00:07:50.819 --> 00:07:53.800 a heavy, politically charged rock anthem. Very 00:07:53.800 --> 00:07:56.600 much so. It is built on this gritty, distorted 00:07:56.600 --> 00:07:59.100 electric guitar riff. Now imagine stripping all 00:07:59.100 --> 00:08:01.240 of that distortion away. Just totally bare. Yeah. 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:03.300 You remove the drums, you remove the electric 00:08:03.300 --> 00:08:05.620 guitars, you take this heavy rock anthem and 00:08:05.620 --> 00:08:08.779 reconstruct it using only two interlocking, haunting 00:08:08.779 --> 00:08:11.139 vocal harmonies and an acoustic guitar. Wow. 00:08:11.620 --> 00:08:13.379 When Dela walked out in front of the Matthew 00:08:13.379 --> 00:08:15.839 Good crowd and started playing Ohio, it created 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:18.620 instant cognitive dissonance. Because they recognize 00:08:18.620 --> 00:08:20.819 it, but it feels completely different. Right. 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:23.720 The rock fans recognize the melody, so they lean 00:08:23.720 --> 00:08:26.980 in, but the delivery is completely alien to them. 00:08:27.240 --> 00:08:30.379 That is brilliant. Dela used the cover song to 00:08:30.379 --> 00:08:32.779 borrow the credibility of Neil Young. They're 00:08:32.779 --> 00:08:34.840 effectively telling the crowd, you know, we speak 00:08:34.840 --> 00:08:37.159 your language, we just have a different accent. 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:40.159 That is just brilliant crowd psychology. You 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:42.279 hook them with the familiar architecture of a 00:08:42.279 --> 00:08:44.879 rock song, but you force them to listen to your 00:08:44.879 --> 00:08:48.399 acoustic execution. Exactly. And then, I assume, 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:50.919 once the crowd is mesmerized by the harmonies, 00:08:51.299 --> 00:08:53.299 you slip in your original tracks. They bridge 00:08:53.299 --> 00:08:56.259 the gap. Once the rock crowd was disarmed, Dela 00:08:56.259 --> 00:08:58.340 could play the original songs they were releasing 00:08:58.340 --> 00:09:00.600 at the time. Like a Trojan horse. Pretty much. 00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:04.080 In August 2007, they dropped their album, Who 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:06.940 Do You Think You Are? And the single Anywhere 00:09:06.940 --> 00:09:09.039 Under the Moon actually made it into rotation 00:09:09.039 --> 00:09:11.440 on much more music. So the strategy absolutely 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:14.320 worked. But then the pendulum swings wildly in 00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:16.360 the other direction immediately after. Oh, big 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:19.759 time. In 2008, they joined Stuart McLean. the 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:23.320 legendary host of CBC Radio's Vinyl Cafe for 00:09:23.320 --> 00:09:26.320 three separate Canadian tours. Such a different 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:29.519 vibe. Completely. They're sharing the bill with 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:31.919 storytelling folk artists like Danny Michelle 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:34.840 and Russell Decaro. Right. The environment shifts 00:09:34.840 --> 00:09:39.500 from these cold rock clubs in Cobalt to hushed, 00:09:39.580 --> 00:09:43.429 polite sit -down theater crowds. Audiences who 00:09:43.429 --> 00:09:46.330 expect absolute silence during a performance. 00:09:46.710 --> 00:09:49.649 Yet the exact same tactical weapon applies. The 00:09:49.649 --> 00:09:52.389 covers. Yes. A traditional folk audience might 00:09:52.389 --> 00:09:55.090 be somewhat skeptical of a major label pop folk 00:09:55.090 --> 00:09:56.830 act. Sure, they might think it's too commercial. 00:09:57.100 --> 00:10:00.399 Right, but when you deliver a breathtaking, stripped 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:03.259 -down vocal arrangement of A Little Dream of 00:10:03.259 --> 00:10:06.159 Me, which Dayla also recorded, you prove your 00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:08.000 reverence for the classics. You show you respect 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:10.440 the roots. Exactly. Whether they were facing 00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:13.320 down a rowdy rock club or a critical folk theater, 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:15.879 their vocal chemistry and their mastery of the 00:10:15.879 --> 00:10:18.419 cover song acted as a universal skeleton key. 00:10:18.580 --> 00:10:21.240 So they spend years grinding it out, proving 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:23.590 they can captivate literally any demographic 00:10:23.590 --> 00:10:25.909 in the country. Total road warriors. And all 00:10:25.909 --> 00:10:28.149 of this road testing really sets the stage for 00:10:28.149 --> 00:10:31.549 a period of massive critical acclaim. The foundation 00:10:31.549 --> 00:10:34.029 is rock solid, and now the industry establishment 00:10:34.029 --> 00:10:36.710 is ready to roll out the red carpet. Here come 00:10:36.710 --> 00:10:40.690 the awards. Yes. In June 2009, they released 00:10:40.690 --> 00:10:43.730 their fourth album, Everyone is someone. The 00:10:43.730 --> 00:10:46.909 lead single, Levi Blues, earns a nomination in 00:10:46.909 --> 00:10:49.610 the mainstream adult contemporary category at 00:10:49.610 --> 00:10:52.570 the 2010 Canadian Radio Music Awards. And that 00:10:52.570 --> 00:10:54.990 mainstream radio recognition was really just 00:10:54.990 --> 00:10:57.710 the warm up for what happened next. Because 2010 00:10:57.710 --> 00:11:00.330 becomes an absolute watershed year. Oh, yeah. 00:11:00.610 --> 00:11:03.309 In February of that year, they tape a live performance 00:11:03.309 --> 00:11:06.429 for PBS. It airs in June as a special called 00:11:06.429 --> 00:11:09.029 Girls from the North Country. Huge deal. And 00:11:09.029 --> 00:11:11.490 this wasn't just Dela alone on a stage. They 00:11:11.490 --> 00:11:13.970 were positioned alongside other heavyweight Canadian 00:11:13.970 --> 00:11:17.049 all -girl acts like The Good Lovelies and Oh 00:11:17.049 --> 00:11:19.549 Susanna. Such a powerhouse lineup. And what is 00:11:19.549 --> 00:11:22.190 the setlist? They lean entirely into that musical 00:11:22.190 --> 00:11:24.190 passport strategy. Again, the broadcast features 00:11:24.190 --> 00:11:26.870 covers of absolute songwriting royalty. Joni 00:11:26.870 --> 00:11:28.980 Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, Leonard Cohen. and 00:11:28.980 --> 00:11:31.440 Bob Dylan. To understand the weight of that PDS 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:33.580 special, you have to understand how gatekeeping 00:11:33.580 --> 00:11:35.679 works in the folk music establishment. What do 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:37.500 you mean by gatekeeping? Well, folk music is 00:11:37.500 --> 00:11:39.580 deeply protective of its lineage. OK, that makes 00:11:39.580 --> 00:11:42.980 sense. When a massive broadcaster like PDS puts 00:11:42.980 --> 00:11:45.960 you on stage and asks you to interpret the defining 00:11:45.960 --> 00:11:48.759 songwriters of the 20th century, it is effectively 00:11:48.759 --> 00:11:52.980 a coronation. Wow. A coronation? Yeah. They are 00:11:52.980 --> 00:11:55.779 telling the public that Dela belongs in the exact 00:11:55.779 --> 00:11:58.379 same conversation as the legends they're covering. 00:11:58.600 --> 00:12:00.639 And the National Awards Committee certainly agreed 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:02.940 with that assessment. They did. In that same 00:12:02.940 --> 00:12:06.860 year, 2010, Dela wins Vocal Group of the Year. 00:12:07.080 --> 00:12:09.799 at the Canadian Folk Music Awards. Incredible. 00:12:10.080 --> 00:12:12.659 They also take home best folk act at the Toronto 00:12:12.659 --> 00:12:15.649 Independent Music Awards. and the momentum just 00:12:15.649 --> 00:12:18.570 refuses to slow down. It just kept building. 00:12:18.970 --> 00:12:21.629 In 2011, they hit the absolute peak for a Canadian 00:12:21.629 --> 00:12:24.409 musician. They earned a Juno Award nomination 00:12:24.409 --> 00:12:27.110 for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year for 00:12:27.110 --> 00:12:29.309 that Girls from the North Country live record. 00:12:29.409 --> 00:12:31.470 They really conquered the summit of their genre. 00:12:31.590 --> 00:12:33.269 They really did. They proved they could write 00:12:33.269 --> 00:12:35.610 original hits, reinterpret the classics, and 00:12:35.610 --> 00:12:37.769 hold their own on a massive national broadcast. 00:12:37.929 --> 00:12:40.169 And they keep the machine removing. In 2012, 00:12:40.370 --> 00:12:42.690 they released their fifth studio album, Best 00:12:42.690 --> 00:12:45.070 Day. The critical reception is still glowing. 00:12:45.730 --> 00:12:48.230 They earn three more Canadian Folk Music Award 00:12:48.230 --> 00:12:51.529 nominations. Wow! Three more! Up for English 00:12:51.529 --> 00:12:53.789 Songwriter of the Year, Vocal Group of the Year, 00:12:54.049 --> 00:12:56.570 and Producer of the Year for Mike Roth. Oh, Mike 00:12:56.570 --> 00:12:59.440 Roth! Yeah, and there's a beautiful full circle 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:02.379 moment here because the sources note Mike Roth 00:13:02.379 --> 00:13:05.899 actually won that same award years earlier for 00:13:05.899 --> 00:13:08.200 producing their major label debut, Angels and 00:13:08.200 --> 00:13:11.059 Thieves. I love that. It shows that despite the 00:13:11.059 --> 00:13:14.039 massive success, they remained fiercely loyal 00:13:14.039 --> 00:13:15.940 to the creative team that built the original 00:13:15.940 --> 00:13:18.389 architecture of their sound. But, you know, the 00:13:18.389 --> 00:13:20.669 sources also indicate that this is exactly where 00:13:20.669 --> 00:13:23.470 the narrative takes a sharp turn. Yeah. The relentless 00:13:23.470 --> 00:13:26.570 momentum just suddenly halts. Yes, and this is 00:13:26.570 --> 00:13:28.370 the part of the deep dive that really gives me 00:13:28.370 --> 00:13:31.409 pause. How so? Well, after this massive run of 00:13:31.409 --> 00:13:33.870 albums, relentless touring, and sweeping the 00:13:33.870 --> 00:13:37.690 national awards, the sources note... Long breaks 00:13:37.690 --> 00:13:40.409 from recording. Right, long breaks. And we aren't 00:13:40.409 --> 00:13:42.110 talking about taking a few months off to go sit 00:13:42.110 --> 00:13:44.750 on a beach. They start actively pursuing completely 00:13:44.750 --> 00:13:47.629 separate individual projects. Completely outside 00:13:47.629 --> 00:13:51.649 of Della. Exactly. In June 2015, Amanda Walther 00:13:51.649 --> 00:13:54.370 forms a group called the WW Club with her brothers 00:13:54.370 --> 00:13:56.830 and cousins, and they release a children's album 00:13:56.830 --> 00:13:59.549 called More Better. A children's album. Furthermore, 00:13:59.690 --> 00:14:01.389 the sources show that Sheila Karabin planned 00:14:01.389 --> 00:14:05.110 to release her own solo album in 2016. The machinery 00:14:05.110 --> 00:14:07.970 stops and the individuals step out. So what does 00:14:07.970 --> 00:14:10.850 this all mean? When I look at this timeline, 00:14:11.230 --> 00:14:13.690 I just can't help but compare their career to 00:14:13.690 --> 00:14:15.970 a high -pressure long -term marriage. That's 00:14:15.970 --> 00:14:18.169 a really interesting analogy. They met in a high 00:14:18.169 --> 00:14:20.730 school band room. They grew up together on tour 00:14:20.730 --> 00:14:23.970 buses. They fought for this shared dream. And 00:14:23.970 --> 00:14:26.230 they achieved the absolute pinnacle. You know, 00:14:26.450 --> 00:14:29.529 Juno's, PBS specials, Universal Acclaim. Yeah, 00:14:29.529 --> 00:14:31.899 they hit the top. But then... Right at the top, 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:33.799 they step away to do a family children's album 00:14:33.799 --> 00:14:36.159 and a solo record. Right. I want to challenge 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:39.120 the romantic view of this. In the brutal reality 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:42.440 of the music industry, doesn't taking a break 00:14:42.440 --> 00:14:45.500 to record a children's album signal the decline 00:14:45.500 --> 00:14:47.879 of a band? I can see why people would think that. 00:14:47.940 --> 00:14:50.320 Is this the sound of a creative partnership fizzling 00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:53.139 out, or is there a functional necessity to this 00:14:53.139 --> 00:14:55.529 kind of break? This raises an important question 00:14:55.529 --> 00:14:57.990 about the psychological trap of the music industry, 00:14:58.370 --> 00:15:00.909 particularly for artists who signed contracts 00:15:00.909 --> 00:15:03.889 as teenagers. Because they were so young. Exactly. 00:15:04.230 --> 00:15:06.710 You have to consider the concept of being frozen 00:15:06.710 --> 00:15:09.649 in amber. Frozen in amber. Yeah. When Sheila 00:15:09.649 --> 00:15:13.090 and Amanda signed that first indie deal and subsequently 00:15:13.090 --> 00:15:15.549 the Universal contract, they were essentially 00:15:15.549 --> 00:15:19.500 kids. Right. From that moment in 2002 until the 00:15:19.500 --> 00:15:23.519 hiatus around 2015, their entire adult identity, 00:15:23.879 --> 00:15:26.100 their art, their financial stability, their public 00:15:26.100 --> 00:15:28.879 persona, it was entirely dependent on the other 00:15:28.879 --> 00:15:31.139 person. Oh, wow. I never thought about it like 00:15:31.139 --> 00:15:33.039 that. They weren't individuals in the eyes of 00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:35.539 the industry. They were just dela. So every creative 00:15:35.539 --> 00:15:37.840 decision, every interview, every song arrangement 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:40.399 had to be a compromise. Exactly. When you spend 00:15:40.399 --> 00:15:43.159 over a decade existing only as half of a whole, 00:15:43.559 --> 00:15:46.039 the well of inspiration eventually runs completely 00:15:46.039 --> 00:15:48.759 dry. That sounds exhausting. It is. So stepping 00:15:48.759 --> 00:15:51.320 away to do a solo album or an intimate family 00:15:51.320 --> 00:15:54.580 project like More Better isn't just about preventing 00:15:54.580 --> 00:15:57.000 creative burnout. What is it about then? It is 00:15:57.000 --> 00:15:59.879 an act of rebellion. It is a necessary reclamation 00:15:59.879 --> 00:16:02.559 of their own adulthood. Wow. Think about it. 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:06.279 A solo project is an environment with zero compromises. 00:16:06.860 --> 00:16:08.940 Sheila didn't have to check if a lyric worked 00:16:08.940 --> 00:16:11.549 for Amanda's harmony. Right. And Amanda could 00:16:11.549 --> 00:16:14.149 explore playful unrestrained songwriting with 00:16:14.149 --> 00:16:17.789 her family without worrying about the brand expectations 00:16:17.789 --> 00:16:21.529 of a Juno nominated folk duo. That totally reframes 00:16:21.529 --> 00:16:24.070 the entire hiatus for me. Yeah. It's not the 00:16:24.070 --> 00:16:26.950 band dying. It's the individuals insisting on 00:16:26.950 --> 00:16:29.450 existing outside of the corporate trademark. 00:16:29.850 --> 00:16:31.909 Precisely. They had to shatter the echo chamber 00:16:31.909 --> 00:16:34.210 they built together just to hear what their own 00:16:34.210 --> 00:16:36.610 voices sounded like in isolation. You can only 00:16:36.610 --> 00:16:39.070 write so many songs about the experiences you 00:16:39.070 --> 00:16:40.980 share while sitting three feet apart in a tour 00:16:40.980 --> 00:16:43.259 van. Right. Eventually you run out of material. 00:16:43.500 --> 00:16:46.000 Exactly. To have anything meaningful left to 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:48.100 sing about, you have to go live separate lives. 00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:50.159 It's a symptom of maturity. That makes a lot 00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:52.240 of sense. It ensures that if the partnership 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:55.460 ever resumes, two fully formed adults are coming 00:16:55.460 --> 00:16:58.379 to the table, rather than two artists still trying 00:16:58.379 --> 00:17:00.320 to fulfill a contract they signed in high school. 00:17:00.580 --> 00:17:02.720 For you listening, we've traced a life cycle 00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:05.920 today that is just incredibly rare. Truly rare. 00:17:06.059 --> 00:17:08.700 We started in the echoey confines of a Scarborough 00:17:08.700 --> 00:17:12.410 high band practice in 2002, where a chance meeting 00:17:12.410 --> 00:17:15.789 revealed an undeniable innate vocal chemistry. 00:17:15.990 --> 00:17:18.009 We broke down the mechanics of the industry too. 00:17:18.109 --> 00:17:21.049 Yes, how an indie label built the prototype and 00:17:21.049 --> 00:17:24.140 how a giant like Universal Music bought the finished 00:17:24.140 --> 00:17:26.640 product to scale it globally. We examined the 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:28.920 sheer tactical brilliance of the cover song. 00:17:28.980 --> 00:17:31.380 The musical passport. Right. How an acoustic 00:17:31.380 --> 00:17:34.599 duo dismantled massive rock anthems by Neil Young 00:17:34.599 --> 00:17:37.059 and The Cure to build a bridge between aggressive 00:17:37.059 --> 00:17:40.099 rock audiences and, you know, polite folk crowds. 00:17:40.279 --> 00:17:43.079 And we followed them to the summit. the PBS specials 00:17:43.079 --> 00:17:44.819 honoring the greatest songwriters in history, 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:47.819 the Canadian Folk Music Awards, and the Juno 00:17:47.819 --> 00:17:50.980 nominations. And ultimately we unpacked the heavy 00:17:50.980 --> 00:17:53.559 psychological reality of teenage success. Right. 00:17:53.779 --> 00:17:56.319 How surviving the music industry ultimately required 00:17:56.319 --> 00:17:58.319 them to step away from the machinery to reclaim 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:00.640 their individual identities. It's a reminder 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:03.380 that sometimes preserving a great partnership 00:18:03.380 --> 00:18:05.900 requires giving each other the space to walk 00:18:05.900 --> 00:18:09.529 away. It really does. Before we wrap up today's 00:18:09.529 --> 00:18:11.589 deep dive, we want to leave you with a final 00:18:11.589 --> 00:18:14.049 thought to mull over. Think about the musical 00:18:14.049 --> 00:18:16.809 duos, the co -founders, or the long -term creative 00:18:16.809 --> 00:18:18.869 partnerships you admire most. That'd be anyone. 00:18:19.049 --> 00:18:21.430 How much of their enduring magic is actually 00:18:21.430 --> 00:18:23.349 generated by the friction of their differences 00:18:23.349 --> 00:18:26.250 as they grow older and evolve into distinct individuals? 00:18:26.349 --> 00:18:28.150 That is a great point. And how much of their 00:18:28.150 --> 00:18:30.990 art is just a constant, desperate attempt to 00:18:30.990 --> 00:18:34.369 recapture that raw, uncomplicated, innate understanding 00:18:34.369 --> 00:18:36.990 they discovered on day one? Can you ever really 00:18:36.990 --> 00:18:39.009 go back to the pure magic of the high school 00:18:39.009 --> 00:18:41.690 bandroom once the machinery of the industry gets 00:18:41.690 --> 00:18:44.500 involved? It is a fascinating tension. to listen 00:18:44.500 --> 00:18:46.579 for the next time you hear a perfect harmony 00:18:46.579 --> 00:18:49.039 on the radio. Absolutely. Thank you so much for 00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:51.099 joining us as we explored these sources. We'll 00:18:51.099 --> 00:18:53.480 be back next time to unpack a whole new stack 00:18:53.480 --> 00:18:56.579 of information with you. Until then, keep digging.