I arrived at the station ten minutes later than expected (to be blamed on traffic, searching for parking, and wet hair) and got sent up the elevator to a huge nearly empty newsroom full of monitors and desks. I was glad to be led to the "green room" which turned out to be a nice combination of white and red. There, I sat waiting and taking "selfies", watching CBC news, and then before I knew it, it was showtime. I felt immediately at ease in the large light grey room with microphones, the television screen set on (gasp), rival station, CP24 filled with its trademark marquis-style news information (weather, traffic, goings-on, ads, NSE and NASDAQ), and Matt Galloway whispering the final words of an interview with caller Dr. Nadia (double-take, yes, we have a weird way of finding each other) in London, Ontario on the line. Matt's style of interviewing is more like a conversation I would have with a colleague-- no audience, no camera, just microphones, and a couple of screens which put me at ease. Then he asked me to read from Malaika's Costume which took me a little off guard since I did not expect it, but that was short-lived. Since March, I have been reading Malaika's Costume all over the place (Miami, Atlanta, NYC, Montreal, Kitchener, Boston, Toronto, Brampton) and wasn't nervous back then. Yet, knowing that I was about to read Malaika's Costume live to thousands of listeners in one take had me feeling just a little tense. I tried to pretend that I was in the room by myself, reading it with a fresh enthusiasm, intonation, and attentiveness. Before you know it, the whole interview was over. Matt ended the show with a new Carnival soca tune which was perfect since Toronto's Caribbean Carnival, Caribana, is this Saturday, July 30, 2016 when I am about to play one piece of Mas'. Below, I have included some photos and a link to my interview in case you missed the broadcast.
drive.google.com/file/d/0B2sCgRPpK47WdEtnR3pLZDhOUjB1SUZUTDRUci0wZUoxM25F/view?usp=sharing
Or this MP3 which I'm still trying to upload (if you know, please send me an e-mail as I have tried to load it about 20 times and it says there is an error of some sort):