Ian Lindsay & Associates: Ian Lindsay of Ian Lindsay & Associates has played an active role in the local community since 1979. He has been with RE/MAX Vancouver Island's most advanced real estate business network since 1996. Marketing and selling residential, rural, strata, recreational, investment, and project development real estate — you'll find true real estate professionals at ianlindsay.ca.

Rockin' Rhonda: Here comes Peter. Here comes Dave. Oh, listen. Bringing stories, making waves — spinning tales in the podcast cave. Laughs and insights everywhere. What a treat.

Dave Graham: Welcome back to the PULSE Community Podcast. I'm Dave Graham and we are back with another look at what life is like in the mid-Vancouver Island region.

Peter McCully: And I'm Peter McCully. Life is moving outdoors more and more — with the warm, sunny weather over the weekend, the parks were full and the beaches and trails were busy. A few folks were even seen swimming in the ocean.

Dave Graham: I've been doing some swimming myself. Swimming in memories? No — I'm still going through my garage and I'm mostly swimming in spiderwebs and dust, wading through what is essentially a time capsule of my life.

Peter McCully: And Dave, how's that been going?

Dave Graham: I'm tired of swimming and I think I feel a garage sale coming on. Honestly Peter, I think it's time. I admit that I will not be able to finish all the projects I had started, and plans for other projects may just never come to be. So much for building a loom so I could weave my own clothing.

Peter McCully: Well, I think you'll be pleased to know that we have a guest today who can help you with one thing on your list — your mint gardening. Debora Gurrad is a certified Master Gardener with the Vancouver Island Master Gardeners Association.

Debora Gurrad: Everything, no matter what kind of garden you have — do your soil prep first. You're going to add compost, you're going to add your organic fertiliser, you're going to mulch if you haven't already done that. And starting seeds either in the garden for cool-weather crops — there are cool-weather crops that you can plant in the garden right now. Things like the cabbage family, broccoli, kale, all of those — you can plant right in the garden. Peas you can plant in the garden. Spinach, lettuce — all of those will sprout in the garden right now.

Dave Graham: So much information. Good thing we have a transcript of the show on our website, because I'm too busy to take notes. I've been studying the art of smoking food lately and I want to plant some hardwood trees so that someday I can smoke my own food with my own homegrown wood chips. That's going full-on Martha right there. But now I'm wondering about more than smoked meat and fish — what about vegetables? And a smoker would improve the taste of kale.

Peter McCully: Not much would improve the taste of kale, Dave, and I'm pretty sure that's not how it works. Also joining us today — Ajay Friese, who records as Blue Jay Friese. He grew up right here on Vancouver Island and has gone on to carve out an impressive career as both an actor and a singer-songwriter. You may know him from Lost in Space and American Classic. He recently released his debut album, Postcards.

Ajay Friese: I remember when they pitched it to me — it was the premiere of the second season and one of the producers took me aside and said, "We're thinking about having you sing." It took me completely by surprise, and it was like the most exciting thing I could possibly hear, and the biggest compliment.

Dave Graham: There is another remarkable story on The PULSE Podcast — a Vancouver Island kid on Lost in Space. I remember watching the original TV show when I was a kid, and I enjoy the reboot from a few years ago. "Danger, Will Robinson." Oh, that robot was great. I could use a robot like that — it would have kept me from getting anywhere near my garage.

Peter McCully: We're excited to be presenting some other guests in the future, Dave — such as Tom Sewid, a Vancouver Islander now living in Washington State. He will be joining us ahead of the Squatch Watch conference in the Acha Valley. Tom has some things to say about Bigfoot.

Dave Graham: The Squatch Watch conference is going to be held over three days later this month, and I just wanted to let everyone know that Sasquatch Pizza will be there. Sasquatch Pizza contains no Sasquatch.

Peter McCully: Sean Thomas — actor, singer-songwriter, and music producer who has worked with Debbie Gibson and New Kids on the Block — will be here with his new record.

Dave Graham: The youngest member of New Kids on the Block is now 53 years old. I don't know if they gave that much thought when they launched the group back in the eighties.

Peter McCully: And we'll be joined by Jeff Ko and Bonnie Bartlett of Forward House in Parksville, where remarkable work is being done in support of adults living with mental health and addiction recovery challenges.

Dave Graham: This world can be challenging to anyone's coping skills, and the good people at Forward House are available to help anyone who feels they need it. We need to keep working to normalise conversations about mental health. I'm looking forward to this one.

Peter McCully: And Sarah Ronald will be here from the Parksville Museum. They have an author series and a concert series to tell us about.

Gillian Nisbet: Hello.

Peter McCully: Hi, is this Gillian Nisbet?

Gillian Nisbet: Yes.

Peter McCully: Hey Gillian, it's Peter McCully calling from the PULSE Community Podcast. I bet you know why I'm calling.

Gillian Nisbet: I think so.

Peter McCully: You entered our Rock the Range contest to see 54-40 along with some other bands in Qualicum Beach in September, and Dave Graham just pulled your name from the draw drum.

Gillian Nisbet: All right! Woo!

Peter McCully: I take it you're a 54-40 fan.

Gillian Nisbet: Oh, long time. They've been around since I've been around — they're probably maybe five years older than I am, and I'm not telling you my age. That's awesome.

Peter McCully: These tickets are for September 12th for Rock the Range in Qualicum Beach, and it is the only appearance by 54-40 on Vancouver Island this year.

Gillian Nisbet: That's going to be a fun night.

Peter McCully: I think so. Kyle McKeaney is going to be there — he's pretty good. Chris Buck Band and The Steadies as well, so some good tunes.

Gillian Nisbet: Oh wow. Is this the first time they've done this? Because I've never heard of this venue before.

Peter McCully: It's brand new.

Gillian Nisbet: Right on. Well, I look forward to it and I thank you very much.

Peter McCully: You're quite welcome. And thanks for listening to the PULSE Community Podcast.

Gillian Nisbet: All right, thank you.

Fireside Books: There's exciting news for book lovers — Fireside Books in Parksville now has a second location in Port Alberni. The Bookwyrm — used books are just $5 or less. The Bookwyrm on the corner of Redford and Anderson opens seven days a week from 10 to 5. Building your personal library for less, Fireside Books at 464 Island Highway East in Parksville is a book dragon's dream come true. Browse their extensive collections seven days a week. Both locations make growing your personal library easier than ever. New and used books and so much more — order online at firesidebooks.ca and pick up at either location. Ask about returning books for a book credit. Fireside Books and The Bookwyrm — two locations, one amazing adventure in browsing.

Peter McCully: We have another fantastic new contest to share with you. We're giving away tickets to the Boots and Boats Singer-Songwriter Festival in Nanoose Bay. It's a three-day event on the water with over 20 artists performing. Think of lawn chairs, ocean air, and incredible live music.

Dave Graham: I want to offer extra thanks to our prize department because this summer is turning out to be exceptional when it comes to giveaways. So stay with us for a chance to win tickets to April Wine Beach Fest Rocks, and the concert that is so big it made the news — Blue Rodeo playing a sold-out show at Parksville's world-class outdoor theatre, August 21st. Someone might as well be you.

Peter McCully: Head to ThePulseCommunity.ca or our Facebook or Instagram pages for details on all contests. And while you're there, please sign up for our newsletter and keep up with the latest podcast guests and giveaways. Here comes Marilyn to introduce our first guest.

Marilyn: Debora Gurrad has been passionate about growing things since childhood, a love that was truly sparked by a university botany class. After moving to Vancouver Island in 2017, she completed her training and became a certified Master Gardener with the Vancouver Island Master Gardeners Association. Her special interests include pruning, root preparation for successful transplanting, and food gardening. A retired teacher who still loves to educate, she presents workshops on gardening topics from Campbell River to Nanaimo.

Peter McCully: Thanks for joining us on the podcast today, Debora.

Debora Gurrad: Thank you. Glad to be here.

Peter McCully: For listeners who may not be familiar with the Master Gardener program, can you explain what it means to be a certified Master Gardener and what the Vancouver Island Master Gardeners Association does?

Debora Gurrad: The Master Gardener movement started 53 years ago in Washington State when county extension agents who were tasked with spreading agricultural research out to farmers found themselves getting lots of questions from home gardeners that they couldn't answer and didn't have time to answer. They got the idea to train a group of volunteers to be advice-givers for home gardeners. The very first cohort of Master Gardeners were trained and certified in 1973 and began advising home gardeners, and the movement spread from there. Today it's in all 50 states, all across Canada — it's even started in the UK. There are something like 50,000 Master Gardeners. We go through a certification process. It starts with a course — we call it our advanced gardening course. It covers the basics of gardening, and then depending on the chapter, there's either a one- or two-year period of internship where you are mentored through learning how to volunteer and give advice to the public. At the end of that, you're a certified Master Gardener. It's a wonderful program. We're all entirely volunteer — we never take money for anything we do. We're all passionate about gardening and we want to share what we know and help educate the public.

Peter McCully: I'm happy you're on the podcast today to answer some of our questions. If somebody is standing in their garden right now, looking at what's facing them for the season, what are the top three things they should be thinking about or doing?

Debora Gurrad: It's a bit too soon to do a lot of things, but the things you can be doing right now — the first one I would say is go to your local nurseries and buy plants for your patio containers, pots, and hanging baskets. It's still a bit too early to plant them outside, but they sell out fast. If you want a selection, now's the time to go look. Another thing you could be doing now is starting seeds indoors for tender vegetables like tomatoes, squash, peppers, cucumbers. It's too cold for them right now — they won't germinate when the soil is cold. If you plant already-started plants out when the soil is cold, it'll stunt them and they will never fully recover. Start them from seed indoors now, and they'll be ready to plant out in about six weeks when the soil is warm and they'll just take off. The other thing I would suggest is adding a one- to two-inch layer of compost to your garden beds if you haven't already done so. Compost is a wonderful organic amendment to the soil that will feed it — it's a slow-release kind of thing. The soil microbes that are already there work on the compost and break down the nutrients so they're available to the plants. This is a good time of year to get that on the soil. You could even work it in a little bit, but don't disturb the soil underneath too much. Those are the three main things you could be doing right now.

Peter McCully: The month of May can feel like a race against time if you have a big garden — seeds to start, seedlings to manage, soil to prep. How do you help people prioritise all of that so they get it in the right order and don't get overwhelmed?

Debora Gurrad: That's a really good question because this can be an overwhelming time of year. The first thing I would say is that everything starts with the soil. Everything, no matter what kind of garden you have — do your soil prep first. You're going to add compost, you're going to add your organic fertiliser, you're going to mulch if you haven't already done that. Then start seeds in the garden for cool-weather crops — the cabbage family, broccoli, kale, peas, spinach, lettuce — all of those will sprout in the garden right now. The tender ones, start them indoors as I mentioned. Another really important task right now is getting on top of the weeds before they go to seed. You will thank yourself later. If you can pull out everything that's going to seed before it does, your weed problem will be 80 per cent less throughout the summer. If you do just those three things this month, you'll be well set for the gardening season.

Peter McCully: Poor Dave Graham — my co-host is overwhelmed and he only has a pot of mint.

Debora Gurrad: Good for him for keeping it in a pot, because if you put mint in the ground it will spread and spread and overtake and you'll have mint forever.

Peter McCully: Yes, I found that out the hard way.

Debora Gurrad: Lots of people have.

Peter McCully: Is there a last-frost rule of thumb for the mid-Island area that home gardeners should follow before putting plants out?

Debora Gurrad: We used to consider the May long weekend as the last-frost-free rule of thumb, but with climate change anything goes — we're just not sure anymore. I would say pay attention to the weather forecasts. If the weather seems to be warming, you can probably start putting plants out from around the 1st of May, but be vigilant. If there's a forecast for frost overnight, you can cover and protect those young tender plants. Even if you do protect them, if the soil is cold they're not going to do well — it's really better to wait until the soil is warm. The soil temperature should be 10 degrees — stick a thermometer in the soil and once it's 10 degrees, those tender plants can go out.

Peter McCully: Tomatoes are probably the number one thing that mid-Island gardeners want to grow. What's the most common mistake people make with tomatoes?

Debora Gurrad: I'll give you two actually. The first is planting them out too early because they're tender. Everybody's always anxious — they want those tomatoes to get out there and get growing. But if the soil is cold and the air is cold, even if there's no frost damage, it really stunts and slows down their growth and they don't recover as well as they would have if planted when the soil was warm. So be patient. The second thing is uneven watering. You water really thoroughly and deeply, and then you forget, and then you water deeply again. What that causes — believe it or not — is blossom-end rot. The information out there says blossom-end rot is caused by a lack of calcium, but it's not a lack of calcium in the soil. Our soils are not calcium-deficient. Uneven watering causes a problem with the plant taking up calcium, and that's where blossom-end rot comes from. Evenly moist is the best way to go with tomatoes.

Peter McCully: Slugs and deer are the bane of every vegetable gardener's existence. What are the most effective ways to manage them without reaching for chemicals?

Debora Gurrad: That's a tough one. First of all, there are no deer-proof plants — there are deer-resistant plants, but a hungry deer will eat just about anything. They really won't eat strongly aromatic herbs like thyme, oregano, or lavender, but pretty much everything else, especially in the spring when they're hungry. What you sometimes see in spring is new growth that's been bitten off and left on the ground — that's usually fawns testing and tasting things, not necessarily eating them. The first line of defence is a fence. My backyard is completely fenced with a six-foot wooden fence. A deer can jump eight to ten feet in the air, but they will not jump if they can't see a clear landing place — when you've got a solid fence they can't see through, they won't jump over it. If you can't build a fence, plant a row of aromatics like lavender along the front of beds containing plants deer love, as a barrier. There are also organic deer-and-rabbit deterrents — a concentrate you mix with water and spray on your plants. Deer are herbivores, but you spray this stuff on and it makes the plant smell like a decomposing animal product — and deer won't go near that. You need to spray about once a week for a month or so in the spring, because as new growth comes out it doesn't carry the spray and the deer may try it. But after a while you're actually teaching them that plant is not food, and eventually they'll just walk right by. The smell when you're spraying is absolutely horrible — like rotten eggs, vomit, and blood combined — but as soon as it dries you can't smell it. For slugs, the easiest way is slug bait. It's completely non-toxic to animals, people, and plants because it's just an iron compound that stops the slug from eating, so they die. The rain dissolves the pellets and actually adds a bit of iron to your soil. Don't bother with dishes of beer — it only attracts slugs from half a metre away. Slug bait is the way to go.

Peter McCully: These days we've got lots of folks who are downsizing — limited space, smaller yards, maybe just a balcony or a patio and a few containers. What vegetables give the best return on investment in a limited area?

Debora Gurrad: The first one is tomatoes. Tomatoes will do great in a pot. There are two kinds — indeterminate, which vine and keep growing and growing, and determinate, which have a genetically predetermined height and do great in pots. The downside of determinate tomatoes is they only bear for a few weeks in the summer and then they're done. But if you start one and then start another from seed a month later, you can space out the production. Indeterminate varieties will bear right up until frost, but they get large — if you had a trellis you could train them on, that would work well. Anything with a shallow root system like lettuce or spinach also does great in a pot, and you don't even need a deep one. A wide, shallow container works well — broadcast your leaf lettuce or spinach seeds and they'll do fine. Those are actually happier if they don't have hot afternoon sun, so you can put them in a slightly shaded spot on your patio. The other one is bush beans — green beans that form a bush rather than a tall vine. One plant will do fine in a pot and will produce a whole lot of beans for two to three weeks. There's certainly enough to eat fresh and likely enough to freeze. I personally prefer pole beans because the production is slower and steadier, but bush beans would be great in a pot as well. Anything with a relatively shallow root system will be fine.

Peter McCully: Debora, more and more homeowners are ripping out their lawns and replacing them with something that doesn't require constant watering. Where do you even begin with a project like that?

Debora Gurrad: It depends on how much work you want to do and how big a hurry you're in. For instance, I've planted about a third of my lawn with clover. Clover is great in a lawn because it has a taproot that goes deeper than grass roots, so it stays green when the grass is starting to go brown. It also makes its own fertiliser — it fixes nitrogen from the air. I've also planted tiny wildflowers in my lawn, all of which have deeper root systems and can stand less water, turning it into a kind of quasi-meadow. The other option is to go full meadow — you can buy seed mixes of meadow plants, flowers, and grasses. They're going to be a bit taller than a lawn, so if you like that flat manicured look, a meadow is a completely different effect. Or you can eliminate the lawn altogether and decide what you want to replace it with. Sometimes you just make flower beds, or plant vegetables. There have been times I've planted squash in my front yard — great big beautiful green leaves that trail among everything else and shelter and cover the soil. They're quite attractive. And then there's a rock garden. My front yard has no lawn at all — it's rocks and a walkway and garden beds. There's no lawn to mow. A rock garden is pretty easy to maintain if you put the right plants in — things that can stand the heat, because rocks absorb the sun's heat and transfer it back to the surrounding plants.

Peter McCully: Some folks take out the lawn and just put in gravel with black plastic weed barrier as a base layer. What should people actually be using under gravel or mulch to keep weeds down?

Debora Gurrad: Here's the deal with landscape fabric or black plastic under gravel. It doesn't really stop the weeds, and here's why: it is impossible to keep organic matter from drifting into the gravel. Over time, that creates little pockets of soil that seeds will sprout in. So you'll still have things sprouting on top of the black plastic. As for landscape fabric, it's marketed as porous so water can get through — and it does, for a while. But it doesn't take long for all the pores to clog up, and then it's just like black plastic. Both black plastic and clogged landscape fabric block the flow of water and oxygen to the soil underneath. Your soil is a living thing — it has a microbiome, bacteria, fungi, and organisms that are all essential to soil health. If you block the exchange of water and air at the surface, you're going to kill your microbiome and you'll have dead soil. Landscape fabric also decomposes over time and puts bits of microplastics into your soil. We don't recommend it at all. People sometimes confuse mulch and compost. Mulch is a layer of organic matter — by organic I mean from plants — that you put over the top of the soil to protect it. Compost is partially decomposed organic matter used as a soil amendment to feed and improve soil structure. Mulch is magic stuff. The best mulch is arborist wood chips — the kind produced when you see BC Hydro trimming trees with the big chipper. It has wood, leaves, and twigs — all the good stuff. What you're doing when you use mulch is replicating nature. Leaves and twigs fall, the soil microbes come up from underneath and decompose them and feed the soil, and the cycle keeps going. A four-inch-deep layer of mulch suppresses weeds, moderates soil temperature — keeping it warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer — and helps retain moisture. With our summers getting hotter and drier, that matters. Organic mulch from plant material is best. Mulches from non-organic sources like rubber, stones, or tyres have some real issues if used around plants.

Peter McCully: Debora, the Vancouver Island Master Gardeners Association has an Ask a Master Gardener service, and I know you host clinics at nurseries and garden centres up and down the Island. How can listeners connect with the Association and get advice specific to their garden?

Debora Gurrad: A couple of ways. The first is that we've partnered with Milner Gardens and Woodland to create what's called the Garden Advice Line — an email address where you write in your garden questions with pictures and all the details, and a team of Master Gardeners research and send back an answer. It's a great service. The other thing is our website has lots of resources — information sheets, gardening topics — and we've been in the process for about six months of revamping the website and making it more user-friendly. Our website is very simple: vimga.org. All the information about the Garden Advice Line is on there as well.

Dave Graham: Debora Gurrad — what a great source of knowledge and hope. She inspires me to believe that my future as a mint farmer has a chance. You'll find links to Debora's work and to the Vancouver Island Master Gardeners Association in our story notes at ThePulseCommunity.ca.

Peter McCully: If you have someone in mind you think we should be talking to, please reach out. You can leave us a voice or text message — head to our website and click on the contact link.

Dave Graham: Also on the website: Vancouver Island webcam links, access to our archived podcasts, plus events listings and more at ThePulseCommunity.ca. You can also find us on Apple, Amazon, iHeart, Spotify, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

Arrowsmith Community Recreation Association: The Arrowsmith Community Recreation Association is hosting the 35th Annual Coombs Community Picnic on Friday, June 5th, from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at the Coombs Fairgrounds. Come meet your neighbours and enjoy live music, field games, educational displays, and free food at the concession while supplies last. Bring your lawn chair and make it an evening at this entirely free event. We hope to see you there.

SOSD69: When families are supported, our whole community thrives. That's why SOS launched "For Our Families" — a campaign dedicated to keeping essential and enriching SOS child, youth, and family programs open, accessible, and vibrant. You can make a donation through the SOS website, and you can help by teeing off at the first-ever SOS For Our Community Golf Tournament, June 6th at Morningstar Golf Course. For just $180 per person, enjoy the driving range, 18 holes of golf, a golf cart, a buffet dinner, on-course challenges, the chance to win a brand new vehicle from Parksville Chrysler, and other great prizes. Bid on great local items in the silent auction. Support local children and youth, and strengthen local families. Learn more at sosd69.com.

Ian Lindsay & Associates: Ian Lindsay of Ian Lindsay & Associates has played an active role in the local community since 1979. He has been with RE/MAX Vancouver Island's most advanced real estate business network since 1996. Marketing and selling residential, rural, strata, recreational, investment, and project development real estate — you'll find true real estate professionals at ianlindsay.ca.

Peter McCully: Dave, you mentioned feeling inspired about your mint. Now that you've heard from an expert, do you feel ready?

Dave Graham: That's powerful language, Peter. I mean, "ready" is a big word, but I feel encouraged that any corners I might have cut in the care of this plant may be reversible, and I'm coming to accept the fact that my standards of practice may be lacking. For example, my rule of watering when I remember to might not be adequate. Like most things in life, it's a work in progress.

Peter McCully: Our next guest has made his mark on stages and screens from Vancouver Island to around the world. Here's Marilyn.

Marilyn: Ajay Friese grew up on Vancouver Island and has gone on to carve out an impressive career as both an actor and a singer-songwriter. You may know him from Netflix hits like Lost in Space and Riverdale, and he's currently starring alongside Kevin Kline and Laura Linney in the new MGM+ series American Classic. His debut album Postcards was recently released.

Peter McCully: Welcome to the podcast today, Ajay.

Ajay Friese: Thank you, Peter. It's great to be here.

Peter McCully: I'm really looking forward to our chat. You grew up in Victoria here on the Island. I understand you were very musical — playing the violin before you even went to school, and later learning the drums and then the guitar. When did you know music was going to be more than just lessons?

Ajay Friese: When I was three years old, my parents asked me if I wanted to start lessons on an instrument, and for some reason I said, "violin." Performance has always been just as much a part of it as lessons for me — whether it's recitals or performing at family functions. When I got a bit older, I joined the BC Fiddle Orchestra under Daniel Lapp, and that was a big part of my childhood. It was never just lessons for me. Funny story — when I was five or six years old, I performed at my great-grandmother's 90th birthday party. I bowed at the end of the performance and then I announced that I was retiring, and then I quit violin for a whole two years. Then I came out of retirement when I was seven.

Peter McCully: We're glad you didn't retire for good.

Ajay Friese: Same here.

Peter McCully: In high school you played the Phantom in your school's production of Phantom of the Opera. That's a pretty big deal for a teenager. Were you nervous, or were you comfortable on stage?

Ajay Friese: It was honestly the performance highlight of my life so far, at least with acting. My parents have always had to lightly pressure me to audition for things, because I'm always "eh, whatever — I don't want to go to summer camp," and then they drop me off and I don't want to come home. This was a school musical when I was in Grade 12. They said, "You should audition." I'd never seen Phantom of the Opera — I just thought it was some old poster. Then I watched the film and the songs were stuck in my head for a week. Right after watching even half the movie, I was like, I have to audition for this. And The Phantom was honestly the experience where I really learned how to act, because I became so immersed that it's one of the only times I've gone into a complete flow state for an entire two-hour performance. I wasn't having any of my own thoughts. I was just pacing her on stage and quite uninhibited. For that, I felt incredibly comfortable.

Peter McCully: Playing on stage wasn't enough — you also had to get some lessons and train as a hip hop dancer as well.

Ajay Friese: I did, and I met my best friend Ryland through that because we were in the carpool together. I did hip hop at Boston Dance in Victoria and then Vibe Street for three years. It's a lot of fun.

Peter McCully: Now you're in your twenties. Do you regret being a hip hop dancer? Do your shoulders hurt?

Ajay Friese: Not at all. In fact, I'm quite grateful for it whenever I'm out with friends.

Peter McCully: Wait for your fifties. Ajay, were your parents musical or involved in the entertainment business?

Ajay Friese: They were absolutely supportive, and they were also musical, though never involved in the performance business. I remember growing up and seeing my mom performing in choirs, and my dad playing a bit of guitar. Around the time I was 10, just before I started writing songs myself, he started writing some songs too. They've always been musical, but we had no prior connection to the industry.

Peter McCully: As a youngster you spent a year living in Okinawa, Japan. According to my research, you've travelled through over 35 countries, including Tanzania, Peru, Nicaragua, and Norway. Did your parents actively cultivate that sense of curiosity and adventure, or was that just the household you grew up in?

Ajay Friese: I was one of the luckiest kids in that way, and all of it is thanks to my parents. They've always been avid travellers. They met in Okinawa, where I was born, when they were teaching English on the JET Program. My mom has hiked to Everest Base Camp. When my sister and I were growing up, they really loved to take us travelling. It allowed me to grow up with the perspective of seeing people from all over the world and really understanding that people are the same everywhere.

Peter McCully: Your mom's family is from India, your dad's roots are Finnish, German, Lithuanian, and Polish. Has that heritage found its way into your music or your storytelling?

Ajay Friese: On both sides of my family I have 50 to a hundred first, second, and third cousins that I have some relationship with — my European side and my Indian side — now spread across the US, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Dubai, plus lots of people in India and Finland. Having such a vast spread of family connections, and having gotten the privilege to travel to so many places growing up, I think an open mind and a wide perspective is present in a lot of my writing.

Peter McCully: Acting and music require an ear, as they say, but you also have an eye — the photographer's eye. I stumbled across your images of the night sky, and one of your shots appeared on National Geographic's website.

Ajay Friese: It did, when I was 16.

Peter McCully: How did you get into night photography?

Ajay Friese: I just saw it online when I was about 15 and thought, this is the coolest thing ever — I want to be able to do this. This was well before AI, so you could usually tell if something was Photoshopped. These were real images of the Milky Way, and I just thought they were the most beautiful thing. So I used YouTube, bought an entry-level Nikon DSLR, learned about long exposures and how to edit in Lightroom, and I just got really into it.

Peter McCully: I think it's interesting that you had an interest in photography and the stars and space, and then a few years later you land on Lost in Space.

Ajay Friese: When I first got the scripts for Lost in Space and was reading these scenes taking place on alien planets — describing the flora and fauna, describing the landscape — I think I did have that feeling of curiosity, wonder, and awe that I felt looking at the night sky. It actually brings up a funny memory: when I was six and living in Japan, I saw on my older sister's homework to-do list, "Read Lonely Planet." Of course, Lonely Planet is a famous guidebook, but I didn't know that. I just saw "Read Lonely Planet" and I thought, that sounds like the coolest novel ever. I do find a lot of wonder in space.

Peter McCully: You spent about five years auditioning — roughly 60 or 70 auditions before things really broke for you. What kept you going? How did you mentally reset and walk into the next one?

Ajay Friese: Something that might surprise people is that I do probably 30 to 40 auditions a year, so we're talking hundreds of auditions over a career. I started theatre as a hobby when I was 11 and did that up until I was 18, always just doing it for fun, but slowly making connections in the Victoria theatre industry and working on more professional productions. I did two productions at the Belfry Theatre and five shows at the Royal Theatre with Pacific Opera Victoria. So theatre was always a huge part of my life. But screen acting — from when I was 13 to when I was 18, five years — I auditioned and booked two very small roles. I think it was because I wasn't dependent on it as a career and because I had enough other things going on that were fulfilling: school, soccer, theatre, friends. It never really bothered me. I also just thought of it like throwing your ticket into a lottery. Of course skill and talent matter, but it felt so rare to me that I wasn't even really hoping it would become a career until it did.

Peter McCully: In those days that was pre-Zoom, so you were probably hopping on a ferry heading to Vancouver.

Ajay Friese: Definitely. That's what most of the auditions were.

Peter McCully: And that's a lot of Sunshine Breakfasts.

Ajay Friese: It is. Well put. The Coastal Café — I was well familiar with it.

Peter McCully: I love the reboot of Lost in Space — I'm old enough to have watched the original live the first time around. You were a series regular across all three seasons, which starred Molly Parker, another BC actor. What did you take away from that experience?

Ajay Friese: That experience gave me a lot of awe — we were getting to do just the craziest stuff, like having scenes by alien waterfalls and literally rock climbing in outer space on a real climbing wall in a soundstage, and sprinting down a hundred metres of spaceship corridor set. Just experiences you wouldn't get unless you were in a production. And then off set, I think that experience gave me a lot of gratitude, confidence, and stability. It was five years of my life, some steadiness, some reliable work and income. I just feel so grateful for it.

Peter McCully: You sang on screen during Lost in Space — a version of Bob Marley's Three Little Birds. Did that moment tell you something about where your two careers, acting and music, might intersect?

Ajay Friese: I remember when they pitched it to me — it was the premiere of the second season and one of the producers took me aside and said, "We're thinking about having you sing." It took me completely by surprise, and it was like the most exciting thing I could possibly hear, and the biggest compliment. I think it gave me validation. We all need certain indicators that other people enjoy what we're doing. To have a top-tier international TV production want me to lend my voice and my guitar to that — I thought, OK. They hear something in this too.

Peter McCully: Talking about top tier — you're now appearing alongside Kevin Kline and Laura Linney in a new MGM+ series called American Classic.

Ajay Friese: I am. It's crazy.

Peter McCully: Tell us about the show and your character, Randall.

Ajay Friese: The show is hilarious. It's a heartfelt family comedy that deals with some pretty real themes, but at the same time does such a good job of balancing tangible, relatable small-town life with the most ridiculous plot arcs and jokes. It has a lot of satire, but it's also incredibly heartfelt. It's about a narcissistic Broadway star played by Kevin Kline who has fallen from grace and returns to his hometown to rebuild the family theatre where he grew up. My character is Randall Potts. I play Laura Linney's daughter's boyfriend. Her name is Miranda, mine is Randall, and we have a singer-songwriter duo called Miranda. My character is a singer-songwriter and also a completely head-over-heels boyfriend — he's definitely the "reacher" in the relationship, and she's the only reason he's still in that town. He's a really sweet character to play.

Peter McCully: Comedy has a very specific timing — the rhythms are completely different from drama. Was that a muscle you had to develop, or did it come naturally?

Ajay Friese: It definitely did not come naturally, which is funny because in real life I'm always making jokes and laughing with my friends. Whenever I'd get a comedy audition, I'd think, "Oh no, I don't do this — I do drama and action." How do you make something funny, and how do you make it funny over and over again as you do more takes? That was a big learning curve. But getting cast in this show gave me the confidence that they think I can do it. Then watching a master like Kevin Kline do it gave me so much guidance — he just throws himself at a joke or an improvisation and commits every time. It doesn't always land, and that's OK. And then sometimes it lands and everyone is dying and you have to muffle your laugh because we're still rolling. It just taught me to be a lot looser and just have fun. You don't need to nail it right away, but you've got to commit.

Peter McCully: I understand you and Laura Linney are both big John Denver fans.

Ajay Friese: While I was filming American Classic, I was gearing up to release my first single from the album I just released in March — Postcards. The first single was called The Road, and it was inspired a lot by John Denver. I was showing it to people on set before I released it, and I was with Laura Linney in the green room one day. I asked if I could show it to her, and she put in my earphones and then she started crying. It was really touching — she found it really moving, and she's a big fan of John Denver. It reminded her of him. She told me about the one time she had met John Denver. It was a special connection to share with someone I had idolised so much.

[Song: The Road — Ajay Friese]

Peter McCully: "The Road" from the album Postcards. Ajay Friese records under the name Blue Jay Friese — so when you're looking for it online, that's what you look for. Ajay, how about a speed round of questions?

Ajay Friese: Let's do it.

Peter McCully: Electric or acoustic?

Ajay Friese: For me, it's always acoustic. I love the tones of wood. But really what it comes down to is whether it's electric or acoustic, I want to hear how hard you're pressing on the strings. I want to hear all that coming out of you in real time.

Peter McCully: Studio or live performance?

Ajay Friese: Why not both? Four of the songs on my album are one-takes recorded in the studio, but definitely capturing that live essence.

Peter McCully: Writing the song or recording it — which do you love more?

Ajay Friese: Hard to choose because they're both such exciting, monumental parts of the whole process. But maybe performing the song for the first time is actually one of my favourite moments.

Peter McCully: Springsteen or Bon Jovi? And remember, your album had contributions from Albert Bradley, who has worked with both.

Ajay Friese: Yes — Albert Bradley produced my first EP, "Light of Maps, Then Run," and he's a dear friend and also contributed to Postcards. But you're going to dislike my answer on this one — I've never really adequately explored Bon Jovi or Springsteen.

Peter McCully: Road trip playlist — what's always on it?

Ajay Friese: Definitely John Denver. For the past 48 hours I've been obsessed with "Heavy Foot" by Monrovia.

Peter McCully: The most embarrassing song on your playlist.

Ajay Friese: I'm not really embarrassed by any music, but the one you'd probably think I should be embarrassed by — even though it's an incredible song — is "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus from the Hannah Montana movie. It's amazing. It's Grammy level. It may have actually won a Grammy.

Peter McCully: One artist, dead or alive, you'd most like to share a stage with.

Ajay Friese: I would love to share a stage with James Taylor. And I would also love to have shared a stage with Nicky Wire — he's no longer with us.

Peter McCully: Sci-fi, drama, or comedy?

Ajay Friese: I like stuff that's really well made but grounded and slow. It doesn't catch you right away, but if you watch the first four minutes you're like, "Oh, I'm in this now." Then you're just going to live inside that story for an hour and a half or two hours.

Peter McCully: Best piece of acting advice you ever received, and who gave it to you?

Ajay Friese: When I was filming American Classic, there was a scene where we were performing Our Town and Laura Linney was asking me, "Why is she upset? Why is Emily upset with George?" She just kept asking, "In what ways? In what specific ways?" She told me it's very important to get really specific. And once I had worked through those specificities in my head, it was like — yes, this can flow from such a more real place.

Peter McCully: If Hollywood called tomorrow and offered you any role, what would it be?

Ajay Friese: This is a weird fantasy, but I've always really wanted to be in a street-racing film — something like Need for Speed or Fast and Furious. I just want to be behind the wheel in one of those.

Peter McCully: Your favourite thing about coming home to Vancouver Island.

Ajay Friese: It's the air — the smell of the ocean, the smell of pine. I love the rain. One of the songs on my album is about that. It's called "The Rain."

Peter McCully: If acting and music both disappeared tomorrow, what would you do with your life?

Ajay Friese: Probably go live in the woods and start carving things.

Peter McCully: What's next for Ajay Friese — both on screen and as Blue Jay Friese?

Ajay Friese: I really want to focus on promoting the album. I feel like I've got a great album to share with people, and I'm going to be putting almost all my efforts into bringing it to more ears — touring, promoting, social media. Connecting more people with the music is my purpose right now.

Dave Graham: Ajay Friese — a Vancouver Island kid who has gone out there and absolutely done it. Lost in Space, Riverdale, now a new series with Kevin Kline and Laura Linney, and now a debut album. Looking at him getting stuff done should inspire us all to get stuff done — to clean out our garages in life, literal or figurative. I'm getting eager to jump back into the garage myself. Put that task to bed. Or maybe I should just take a break and start a new project. I've been thinking about hand-carving a chess set. Anyway, you'll find links to Ajay's music and his upcoming projects in our story notes at ThePulseCommunity.ca.

Peter McCully: Our website includes links to our Skookum Kid's Stories series. We have two series on the go — the Mellow Submarine with Captain Dave, and Peter and Gracie, the American Eskimo dog. In this week's episode, Peter and Gracie find ways to conserve water. Each episode now comes with colouring pages.

Dave Graham: We invite you to enjoy entertainment from a time before television became king with our Radio Archaeology classic radio series. If you want to imagine the lead character as being seven feet tall with green hair, go right ahead. We're talking Dragnet with Sergeant Joe Friday and Gunsmoke with Marshal Matt Dillon.

Peter McCully: Cindy Thompson of Parksville has joined our podcast family with stories about resilience. Be listening for A Resilience Project.

Dave Graham: And then we have a look at municipal politics from an insider's perspective. Parksville councillors Sean Wood and Joel Grenz host Non-Partisan Hacks. You'll find these podcasts and more at ThePulseCommunity.ca. Is that it? Are we done already? That's another one for the books.

Peter McCully: For the books.

Dave Graham: I'm not sure I'm ready to go home. I'm not sure I want to see how my little field of mint is doing.

Peter McCully: You mean your little pot of mint.

Dave Graham: "Pots," "fields" — they're just labels. What's important is that I'd forgotten to water the mint for a little while there, and then when I remembered, I figured pouring on some extra water would help make up for the drought. I might have overwatered a bit.

Peter McCully: Okay. A lot. Nonetheless — thanks folks for listening. Don't forget to enter to win tickets to Boots and Boats: three days of unforgettable music, storytelling, and coastal summer vibes in Nanoose Bay.

Dave Graham: Coastal summer vibes. I'm ready for some of that. I need some relief from the stress of plant care.

Peter McCully: Dave. It's just mint.

Dave Graham: I hope it can't hear you right now. My mint might have trust issues with me right now, but it's OK — we're working on it. Plants have feelings too, Peter.

Rockin' Rhonda & The Uptown Blues Band: Here comes Peter, here comes Dave — oh, listen. Bringing stories, making waves, spinning tales in the podcast cave. Laughs and insights everywhere — what a treat. Peter and Dave, they're on the mics. Join the ride — it's gonna feel just right.