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. Welcome back to the ride - it's gonna feel just right.

Peter McCully: Welcome back to the PULSE Community Podcast. I'm Peter McCully, and the pace of life here on mid-Vancouver Island continues to pick up as what has been a gentle spring starts to show hints of summer, filling patios, campgrounds, and calendars.

Dave Graham: And I'm Dave Graham. I'll be honest, Peter. After last week's conversation about Bigfoot, I might need to rethink this whole idea about how I spend my time out of doors from here on.

Peter McCully: Well, Dave, I think you'll probably win the lottery before you actually run into Bigfoot.

Dave Graham: Let's just say that I'm becoming hyper-aware of the potential. My walks in the woods are now made with all my senses on full - tuned into my environment, smelling and listening intensely.

Peter McCully: This is starting to sound a lot like forest bathing.

Dave Graham: I think situational awareness is never more important than when out in the wilds. But I'll admit I might have overdone it. I was in the woods with my camera recently, heard some rustling behind some bushes. Long story short, I was over-startled by a creature of the forest the other evening.

Peter McCully: Over-startled? What kind of creature was this?

Dave Graham: It turned out to be a robin. But it was very large. My point being - when there's rustling noises, you don't know what it is until you do. And then if it's a worst-case scenario, well, then what do you do? Awareness and preparedness. That's all I'm saying.

Peter McCully: In the mid-Island region, if you averaged out all the instances of injury or worse from an encounter in the wilds, the odds of it happening are vanishingly thin. One of our guests today probably knows where to find some statistics on that, Dave. Sarah Ronald is the manager and curator of the Parksville Museum at Craig Heritage Park. With eight buildings and a growing calendar of events, the museum has become one of the most vibrant community gathering spots on the island. They have Railway Day, a storytelling festival, and a summer concert series.

Sarah Ronald: Every Thursday in July this year is booked for a concert. They find the acts, they book them, and then it falls to me and hopefully a summer student to do the day-of activation, set it up. Because we don't have seating out there, it's always bring your lawn chair, and we provide tents and bar service and all of the day-of stuff. It's a bit of work, honestly. We run our own box office, which is great, so people come in person or they buy them online once they're live. And we always in the summer have so much going on. It's just one of many activities that we're promoting, and they've been really successful. People love the concerts.

Dave Graham: A concert every Thursday in July in a heritage village courtyard with a bar. I have been there for a performance before. It's a wonderful setting on a summer evening, and it's also nice to know that you can get home before it gets dark when the big forest creatures start moving about.

Peter McCully: You didn't get the nickname Dave Safety First Graham for nothing, did you, Dave? Sean Thomas is a 24-year-old Vancouver-born singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and voice actor. Sean graduated from Berklee College of Music's online program while he was co-producing Debbie Gibson's first album in two decades. He's worked as a music director, a writer, mixer, and producer for Joey McIntyre, New Kids on the Block, and New Edition. Sean is now releasing his own music independently.

Sean Thomas: When I'm in a writing session or doing a production for something, I'll often just take a backseat or even just keep asking questions until they bring it out themselves. Because I feel like it's one thing for me to suggest ideas and things that they could do, but when it comes from them and it's an idea that they thought of, it's more inspired.

Dave Graham: Sean co-produced a Debbie Gibson album at 20 years old. That seems ambitious. How many of us can claim that kind of accomplishment at that age? When I was 20, I was in college attending some of my classes and all of the pub nights. Good times. But that's ancient history.

Peter McCully: We're looking forward to an upcoming podcast when we'll talk with Ron Thorogood. He'll tell us about the Parksville Car and Bike Show planned for the community park in July.

Dave Graham: Cars and bikes. That sounds good. I should enter my bike. I'd enter the car, but it would take longer to wash. Wait - they're probably talking motorbikes, aren't they? Never mind.

Peter McCully: Kyle McKearney will be here ahead of his appearances at Sunfest, Rock the Range, and Boots and Boats Festival.

Dave Graham: Plenty of people will know the name Eva Hilborn. Eva has touched an ever-growing list of people with her program called The Wonderful World of Books. Aside from helping children's literacy, Eva wanted something to keep her busy in her late nineties. Eva is now 99, and she'll be here soon to tell her story on the PULSE Community Podcast.

Arrowsmith Recreation: 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.

Thrifty Foods Parksville: At Thrifty Foods, we love to help nonprofits, charities, and schools. Our Thrifty Foods Smile Card bulk program allows organizations to immediately save up to 6% on the purchase of Smile Cards in bulk, allowing you to keep more money in your organization's pockets. Ask for details at Thrifty Foods in Parksville.

Peter McCully: Stay tuned to the podcast and our website and social pages for our upcoming giveaways. We have a summer of giveaways planned.

Dave Graham: I don't want to boast, but I think we've outdone ourselves here. We have tickets to all the big shows. Wow, we must know people. There will be tickets for April Wine, Beachfest Rocks, Blue Rodeo, and if you head to our website, Facebook, or Instagram page, you'll find the links to enter for the Canadian Bash ticket giveaway.

Peter McCully: We have many shows to look forward to, including those coming to the quaint heritage village setting at the Parksville Museum. Here's Marilyn to introduce our first guest.

Marilyn: Sarah Ronald is the manager and curator of the Parksville Museum, located at Craig Heritage Park in Parksville. As the keeper of the community's stories, Sarah oversees eight heritage buildings, a rich archive spanning the surrounding communities, and a growing calendar of events that have turned the museum into a vibrant community gathering spot, including Railway Day, Storytelling Festival, and a live concert series in the Heritage Village courtyard.

Dave Graham: Sarah, pleasure to meet you, and welcome to The PULSE Podcast.

Sarah Ronald: Thanks for having me.

Dave Graham: Before you got here, we want to find out where you were. You've been here what - a couple of years now?

Sarah Ronald: It'll be two years this summer. Prior to that, I was in the Lower Mainland, primarily in the Tri-Cities area. I was a theatre coordinator for the City of Port Moody for 18 years.

Dave Graham: Here we are at the Parksville Museum, where the tagline is Bringing History to Life, and you have eight heritage buildings on the Craig Heritage Park grounds to work with. Can you give us an overview of what a visitor to the grounds will find?

Sarah Ronald: The first building most people encounter is an E&N Railway house - it's a history of the train on the island. Then as you follow through, you'll pass a few outdoor displays. There's a forestry exhibit that talks about the Mount Arrowsmith biosphere region and forestry on the island. Then you'll go into the centre courtyard, and there is an old fire hall. Inside we've got an old fire truck as well, which actually does get moved out for the parade once a year, and all sorts of old tools and firefighting equipment. In the summer months on Saturdays, we've got our blacksmith on site - his name's Dave, he's Island Blacksmith - and a lot of people come by on Saturdays to see him. We've got the Montrose Schoolhouse, which was relocated to the grounds. You go in and it's set up just like an old schoolhouse, with sound effects. People write their locations on the blackboard, and it gives you an idea of what it was like to be a teacher. We've got a small post office where you can go inside and see the letters that were written. We've got the McMillan house - all the buildings were relocated here. It's an older building with a little writing studio, a kids' room, a bedroom, kitchen, and living room. Gives you an idea of what it would have been like to live there. And then you keep walking around the grounds. Another post office, which has some panels outside that talk about how people used to get their mail from Lasqueti Island - where the postmen would light a fire on the beach when the mail arrived so people would know to come over. Craig's cottage, which people still come to see today because it's set up like it used to be when families would vacation there in the summers. And the very last building is our Heritage Church - built in 1911, currently under construction, and it'll be done by the summer for sure. We host events and concerts and all sorts of community events in there. Then we have our main hall, which has a wide range of displays, and we've been starting to do art exhibits in here as well.

Dave Graham: That's quite a spectrum. On top of the fact that the museum covers not just Parksville, but Errington, Coombs, Nanoose Bay, French Creek, Hilliers, Lasqueti. Does that make your job harder or easier?

Sarah Ronald: That's a good question. I'm still pretty new to the island, so I feel like a tourist like a lot of people who come here. I actually learn a lot from the locals who come in. We've got in our archives the only print version of the newspapers for the area from 1948 onwards. People come in to get research done or just look up old addresses, old phone books. If someone wants to find an address for a building that no longer exists, we can go through these old phone books and find them. We have a couple of volunteer archivists who come from that background, so we're really lucky to have them. They're actually more knowledgeable than me in finding paths to answers for most people.

Dave Graham: Have you experienced or heard of an emotional or extraordinary event where someone came in searching for something and suddenly connected with something profound?

Sarah Ronald: Every day. People go through the exhibits in all the different buildings, come in and talk to me, and tell me all of the memories that have been brought up. I thought this was such a perfect space - I'm basically like a sponge taking in people's stories. People have stories, but also just things that are triggered: they might see a lamp or something so simple and all of a sudden they're transported back to when they were a kid. I had a fellow in recently who wanted to look at a specific year of newspapers. He's a retired older gentleman now, but his family didn't believe him that when he was a teenager, he got arrested. He remembered it was all in the paper. So he came in to find the copies that showed him getting in trouble with the courts. And he found it. "I don't think my kids like it," he said, "but my grandkids will love it." He was able to take photos and has it as part of his record. It's pretty neat.

Dave Graham: That really brings a museum to life. It's suddenly more than just a bunch of dusty old artifacts.

Sarah Ronald: I like to think about all of the items we have here. Even if you think back to who made these items - how many people are involved in that, how many people were involved in shipping the item to the store, and then somebody sold that item, somebody bought that item, and then there's all this history with each item. We all have experiences with things we covet or love, something precious to us. A lot of the items in here were precious to somebody, and you can tell. You can see these stories. Some of the items we do have the history of, but there's a lot of things here we don't. Those ones are interesting too because you can only imagine what they were, so it piques your curiosity.

Dave Graham: Railway Day has become one of the museum's signature annual events. Any idea what it is about trains that captivates people?

Sarah Ronald: I'm not a train person, and when I started this job, they told me I'd have to work on the railway event. I thought it's just the same as any other event - same logistics. But these guys, there's even a young group coming up that's keen on the railroad. There's something about the model trains, something about the interest in transportation. I'm thinking about this event because a lot of the guys are getting to retirement age and it's a lot of work to bring all these model trains in for just one day. Fast-forward 10 or 15 years - what is this event? Maybe it's about the history of transportation. Trains, but also horse and buggy. There are a lot of ways to build it. But right now, people just love the old transport. The thing with the train is that before it existed, it would take days just to get over to Victoria, and then all of a sudden the train comes in and what would have taken days is now a day trip. I think of it like the internet. Before the internet, you had to go to the library and look up everything - it took a long time. Whereas now, you snap your fingers and you're there.

Dave Graham: You've done community events like the Halloween trick-or-treat night through the Heritage Village. How do you find balancing the fun with the serious work that's accomplished here?

Sarah Ronald: We've got a board of directors looking at the big-picture stuff, and I'm working really hard on funding and grant writing and the things we need to keep these buildings going. But I'm also here on the day-to-day - I'm the only staff member here year-round. When I first started in the spring of 2024, a lot of people were asking about the farmers market. I was new here, so I wasn't going to make big changes right away. But this year, I'm bringing in an artisan market. I heard the community, and I'm bringing it in in a way that we can handle in our capacity. A lot of our events are just about community and creating unique opportunities for people to learn and connect with other people. We have more and more artists and artisans that we're involving here. And the great thing about working with artists is not only do they create work, but they love sharing - like the railroaders, very passionate about what they're doing. Every time you come to the museum, you can have a different experience. Even if the displays look the same, you've got a different layer waiting for you to bump into new people or new experiences.

Dave Graham: I was wondering how to phrase a question around how you keep a museum fresh, but I think you just answered it.

Sarah Ronald: I think about museums a lot like libraries, where they were built for a specific function for a long time and then had to evolve. Creating community and creating resources for people, and finding unique ways to engage with the community - that's how you keep a museum like this relevant. There are other elements too. There are researchers in the area doing digs who need a temporary space to hold whatever they find. Somewhere along the way we were registered as a holding space for these types of materials, so now and then we'll get a call from a researcher. It's a really interesting blend of uses here.

Dave Graham: Last summer you drew a 231-square hopscotch course down the pathway through the museum grounds. It's a wonderfully unexpected thing for a history museum to do. Where do these ideas come from?

Sarah Ronald: I can take credit for all the really cool things here. That was me. I had a summer student in last year, so that was just one of the many things we brainstormed, and we actually got it up to over 300 hops. So Parksville's longest hopscotch, drawn in chalk. You come in and you see a little sign at the entry, and parents love it because the kids immediately start hopping. By the time they get into the middle of the grounds, they're exhausted - which is good. When they complete it, or say that they've completed it and come in, we give them a certificate that says "Parksville's Longest Hopscotch" with their name on it. It's really cool. We had adults doing it too, of course, because they wanted to take home the little tourist certificate with their name on it. It was fun.

Dave Graham: The museum has also been hosting a very impressive lineup of live music, from blues artists like Brandon Isaac Trio to classic harp performances right in the village courtyard. Being a concert promoter is a whole job for one person. How do you do it?

Sarah Ronald: This comes back to the board. We've got a committee who is really keen on bringing concerts and activating the space. They've been primarily focused on Thursdays in July, and every Thursday in July this year is booked for a concert. They find the acts, they book them, and then it falls to me and hopefully a summer student to do the day-of activation and set it up. We run our own box office, which is great - people come in person or buy tickets online. And we always in the summer have so much going on. People love the concerts.

Dave Graham: Let's talk about some of the other events that are must-sees for this summer.

Sarah Ronald: The Storytelling Festival is going to be in June - a couple of weeks, with a general call to storytellers of all backgrounds. I've been getting a lot of applicants: theatre, music, literary, visual arts. There are people who want to offer workshops for the community on how to write your personal history. There's a fellow who does analytics of family photos to dig deeper into family history. We also have people offering generational storytelling - something they've pre-written, whether it's a story connected to the island or their family history. It'll be a little like fringe, a blend of fringe and an arts festival. We also have a juried art exhibit running April through June about the story in repetition - artists who create work in repetition and what that says about us. We had a strong response and selected 15 artists from across BC, and a lot of them will be doing talks or workshops. One of them from Vancouver does rug hooking and is offering a hooking workshop. And then in the fall, we have Witchyville Thrills - our Halloween event where the little kids come and do trick-or-treating through all the buildings. I'm going to be adding a ton of other cool events that I'll announce later. A mystic market in the fall. Culture Days activities in September. There's always something on.

Dave Graham: It sounds like you have, albeit a demanding, but absolutely fascinating job.

Sarah Ronald: I love it. My personal background is in arts and culture, and coming into a museum space was a little bit newer for me. I've been involved with museums through volunteering, but not as a job. One of the things I did while I'm here is build an artisan gift shop, so we've got many local artisans now selling their work through our shop. It's win-win because it supports artists, but it also supports the museum - which is a nonprofit - so it helps support each other and the community. It's been really fun.

Peter McCully: Thanks to Sarah Ronald for joining us. The Parksville Museum at Craig Heritage Park is doing wonderful work keeping our community's stories alive. We encourage you to plan a visit this summer. You'll find links and event details in our story notes at thepulsecommunity.ca.

Dave Graham: I think I know what to do with a lot of the artifacts I found in my garage. I'm sure the museum could find a corner for some of my stuff. I think it's important that children today know what an eight-track tape is. And the Pocket Fisherman - that's got to be a shoo-in.

Peter McCully: I don't think the museum takes personal donations of fishing rods, Dave.

Dave Graham: Peter, this is an authentic vintage, as-seen-on-TV Ronco Pocket Fisherman circa 1972. This is our heritage of the future.

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

Dave Graham: We have added Vancouver Island webcam links to our website, thepulsecommunity.ca. Aside from links to all our podcasts, events, and contests, I'm pretty confident in saying that of all the podcasts focusing on the mid-Vancouver Island region, we have the best prizes.

Peter McCully: A reminder - you can find us on Apple, Amazon, iHeart, Spotify, TikTok, and YouTube. We're also on Facebook and Instagram.

Keith Alessi: Hey, this is Keith Alessi. I'm bringing my inspirational true-life story, Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me, But Banjos Saved My Life, to Char's Landing on Thursday, June 4th. It's a show that's been internationally toured and highly awarded, with sold-out runs off Broadway, the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, and Edinburgh, Scotland. It's about tomatoes and banjos, but it's about overcoming obstacles, pursuing passions, forgiveness, joy, inspiration, and tossing. We're going to be donating our artist fee to the Community Arts Council of the Alberni Valley. We've always donated our artist fee everywhere we've gone, and we've raised over $1.3 million to date doing so. We look forward to seeing you out there.

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.

Fireside Books: There's exciting news for book lovers. Fireside Books in Parksville now has a second location in Port Alberni - The Book Wyrm. Used books are just $5 or less. The Book Wyrm 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 Book Wyrm - two locations, one amazing adventure in browsing.

Peter McCully: Dave, the Parksville Museum has a storytelling festival this summer. Would you do that? Are you a storyteller?

Dave Graham: Well, Peter, as a matter of fact, I believe we are all storytellers - but we're not all comfortable sharing them, let alone in front of an audience. Yes, I have stories to tell, mostly unfinished.

Peter McCully: Yeah, that kinda tracks.

Dave Graham: In terms of safety, storytelling is a pretty good activity. It's not far below napping on my list of safe things to do. And to hear storytelling in that little heritage village setting - well, you have pretty good sight lines, and you'd probably be able to hear any approaching possible threat sources. You're still thinking about Bigfoot, aren't you? Never mind. It's about awareness, Peter. Awareness and preparedness. Now I want to talk about something else. Let's hear a story. Here's Marilyn.

Marilyn: Sean Thomas is a 24-year-old Vancouver-born singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and actor. He is a graduate of Berklee College of Music's online program, which he completed at just 20, simultaneously co-producing Debbie Gibson's first album in two decades. He has since worked as a music director, live band member, writer, mixer, and producer for Joey McIntyre, New Kids on the Block, and New Edition. Sean is now releasing his own music independently, writing, recording, producing, and mixing everything himself.

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

Sean Thomas: Thank you so much for having me, Peter. It's nice to be here.

Peter McCully: I'm told you've been writing and performing your own music since you were five years old. I'm pretty sure I didn't do a really good job of tying my own shoes at five.

Sean Thomas: I can't say I was great at tying my own shoes at five either, so we're on an even playing field. I started piano at five, moved on to guitar after that, and that first little period of discovering music wasn't as much about writing as it was about playing and discovering and just having as much fun with it as I could. I remember my very first song - I wrote it when I was 11 years old, and it's still on my YouTube channel. It's the first video I ever uploaded. It's called Your Love. It's cool to look back on. We did a bit of a music video. I was adamant even at that young age about wanting it cemented into something I could look back on. I wrote it about my grandmother, who had been diagnosed with cancer. I had a strong connection to it. And from then on, it was more about the creation - discovering production, making music on a laptop. But for those first five or six years, it was just a hand on a guitar or a keyboard and discovering how special music can be acoustically.

Peter McCully: You were born and raised in Vancouver, homeschooled from grade one. Was there music influence from the family?

Sean Thomas: No, which is funny. I don't know where that love for music came from. The only really musical memory I have with my family is jamming out to Party for Two by Shania Twain with my mom in the car. We probably had a thousand repetitions of that when I was younger, so that's my karaoke song anytime someone asks. I just whip that out, no problem.

Peter McCully: You're like a Swiss Army knife - piano, guitar, bass, keyboard, drums, violin. Did all of those arrive at once, or did one instrument pull you toward another?

Sean Thomas: More like pulling toward one another. We had a piano in the house, so that was just a natural self-discovery of being around it. Then I moved on to guitar, and from that kind of extension, moved on to bass, and then discovered drums. My older brother, who's five years older than me, he started playing drums before I did. That made me a little jealous, and I wanted to pick that up as well. He was inspiring.

Peter McCully: And if that wasn't enough, you were also doing some voice acting. I understand you worked as one of the many characters in My Little Pony. A voice actor friend of mine, the late Jan Rabson, played the part of the cook, Mulia Mild. What do you remember about voice acting at such a young age?

Sean Thomas: I've been voice acting for a long time - ever since I was six, I think, when my agent reached out. So it was around the time I started playing music that that kind of work started picking up. What I've learned about voice acting is to use your voice and range as an instrument. There's so much you can do with just your built-in voice. Whether you go high or low, raspy or clear, it brings out such a different emotion - and that applies to music and songwriting and singing as well. If you have a really dramatic moment, you might want to hit it with some rasp or whatever. It taught me how to use a lot of range. And working with all these people as a collaborator teaches me a lot about being comfortable in a studio environment and guiding somebody to get what I want out of them. I'm grateful to have had that experience alongside the music.

Peter McCully: You've also appeared in some Hallmark movies - Summer of Dreams and Wedding of Dreams.

Sean Thomas: Yes, two Hallmark movies. I had a short period when I was doing some acting in Vancouver. That was fun. And that's actually where I met Debbie Gibson, who is an amazing mentor and an awesome collaborator. Those two movies are fun to go back and watch.

Peter McCully: Didn't you produce an album for Debbie Gibson?

Sean Thomas: I did. We've had such an amazing relationship - it's going on probably 10 years now. I met her on the set of the first movie, where she played my music teacher and I was her music student. I did a little song for the movie, and then it just grew organically. We ended up working on a few songs, and that turned into an album, and now it's been countless performances with her. I think we're going on two albums, and we're working on a bunch more stuff right now. Every day she inspires me, and I just keep wanting to learn more and more about the industry. She's an amazing resource.

Peter McCully: How old were you when you produced that album for Debbie Gibson?

Sean Thomas: I started when I was 17, producing her first album with her. Most of us were still fumbling with how to drive a car at that point.

Peter McCully: And Debbie had been around for quite a while. What was the dynamic of a 17-year-old producing an album for somebody who'd been in the industry that long?

Sean Thomas: It's a cool dynamic, and I think there's a lot to learn from each other. I bring something more youthful and modern to the songwriting and production, and she brings all the experience and wisdom of being around for that long. It's nice to have those two processes come together. And some of the ways I've been able to show my ability is with modern technology. You don't really have to have a studio anymore - you can record anywhere you want with a laptop and a microphone, which is so freeing. It's nice to show people that you can make anything anywhere, anytime you have an idea.

Peter McCully: You were working with Debbie during her Las Vegas residency as her music director and playing in the band as well, while trying to finish your Berklee degree online. That's a lot going on.

Sean Thomas: Yes, it is. I would go to rehearsal, come back to the hotel, and then we'd do a show at The Venetian - a gorgeous theatre and an amazing first experience to have as a musical director. Then I would go back to the hotel and my assignment would be due, and I would get out my keyboard and have to do some playing and send it in. It's fun to have that real-world application of actually doing the thing you're studying. I was learning and applying everything I was learning at the same time.

Peter McCully: And what was it like to live and work in Las Vegas at such a young age?

Sean Thomas: So cool. I was 19 years old. I first got to the hotel room, and they were offering a complimentary bottle of wine. I said no - I'm not old enough. I don't know if that was a cool thing or not, but I'm too honest. Such an amazing experience working with those musicians. And that's where I got to meet and work with Joey McIntyre for the first time. I'm very fond of all those memories.

Peter McCully: When I was a fairly young broadcaster, there was this new group called New Kids on the Block, and around the same time, New Edition. You have worked with both of them on their US tours.

Sean Thomas: I know - so crazy. I'm so fortunate for both of those experiences and the relationships I've been able to grow with them. They're amazing, and just picking their brains about everything from what it's like to tour, to make a record, to the business side of things. It's not often that someone can have a relationship with people who've been around that long in the industry they want to work in. It's amazing.

Peter McCully: When you're working with artists who have been around for 40 years or more, how do you balance what they want while still bringing something genuinely new? Is there a line? Do you cross it?

Sean Thomas: That's a good question. My approach to making music is to put on a mask and not think about what I want, but to help them convey whatever message they're trying to get out as clearly and as authentically to them as possible. When I'm in a writing session or doing a production, I'll often just take a backseat or keep asking questions until they bring it out themselves. Because it's one thing for me to suggest ideas, but when it comes from them and it's an idea they thought of, it's more inspired. People are more inclined to want to push that message out. I'm always looking for ways to bring out their own voice.

Peter McCully: You've spent years making other people's music sound extraordinary. Now you're doing your own thing.

Sean Thomas: Yes, it's cool to finally get back to it. I started out honing in my craft and doing my own thing, then it's been this amazing couple of years branching out into working with all these people. Now that I'm home a little bit more, I have more time, and it's nice to get back and start writing and applying everything I've learned toward my own music.

Peter McCully: "Better" is the name of the song - you wrote, produced, recorded, and mixed it entirely yourself in an era where pop records usually involve huge teams of writers and engineers and producers. It reminds me a little bit of Paul McCartney many years ago on his album Coming Up, where he wrote all the music and played all the instruments.

Sean Thomas: Talk about a talent. I got to see him live a couple of years ago when he came to Vancouver. He's inspiring for sure. When it comes to my own music and with "Better" as well, it's about wanting my own voice to come out as much as possible. I try to keep it acoustic as much as I can when I'm writing the song. I won't put anything on the laptop or in the recording software until I think it's fully ready to go. I spend a lot of time just focusing on the writing, and then I'll move into production. I've fallen in love with every step of the process - from mixing to production to songwriting. It all takes a different part of my brain, and it's fun to figure out. And I think the results of keeping it internal feel really true to myself and authentic.

Peter McCully: Is this with a label, or is this independent?

Sean Thomas: Independent for now. A lot of the perks of a record label are the funds for hiring people to produce your music and for mixing costs. That's another benefit of keeping everything in-house - you don't have that overhead. So yes, just keeping it independent for now and thinking about how some outside help could help with distribution and marketing.

Peter McCully: There's a mini boom in Vancouver right now on vinyl. Are you pressing this on vinyl as well?

Sean Thomas: I am actually looking into that. I'm focusing on doing an EP right now, and I have been looking at cutting some vinyl - that would be really cool. And definitely the vinyl boom has been cool to watch. I just set up my record player back there, and I just got, speaking of Paul McCartney and The Beatles, some old records from my aunt - authentic ones from the '60s and '70s. Really cool.

Peter McCully: Growing up in Vancouver, I understand you have a choir background.

Sean Thomas: I was classically trained in choir for about 10 years. Such a fun experience - and fun growing up as the only boy in a choir. That was an amazing experience, learning that classical route, reading music. I think that shaped a lot of the music I like to listen to even now. I love the human voice, and I'm a big fan of classical music.

Peter McCully: On the song "Better," you stacked more than 100 background vocal layers, choir style. Can you walk us through what that actually sounds like inside the studio? How do you build something that big?

Sean Thomas: That came from this room in my studio. I set up two microphones left and right of the room, went back to the door, and just started acting like different people in a choir. Drawing on voice acting - different accents, different ages. I would try to go super high and be a woman. And then it's just about moving around the room and shaping the choir one by one as you go. It's a remarkable result to go back after four hours of recording a 20-second chorus and listen to that wall of sound and know that it's just you in a room. It's pretty cool what's possible nowadays with modern recording.

Peter McCully: Tell us about the song "Better," Sean.

Sean Thomas: That one was a really fun one to write. It starts on acoustic guitar as soon as you click play - that's how I wrote it, just sitting down strumming my acoustic. I got this new smaller acoustic guitar that I had tuned so that if you leave all the strings open and do a strum, it just plays a perfect major D chord. I wrote it on that tuning, thinking about a lot of the people in my life that make me feel like a better version of myself. And I hope when people listen, it does the same for them.

[Song: "Better" by Sean Thomas]

Peter McCully: Sean, you're Vancouver-born, you've worked in Las Vegas, you've worked all over the world, and you're building something with an unmistakably global sound. How does being Canadian shape your identity as an artist?

Sean Thomas: I love that question. I'm so proud to come from where I am and to be Canadian and to represent that wherever I go. There are so many Canadian artists inspiring me and shaping the modern sound right now - Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, Drake, Tyler Shaw out of Toronto, Michael Buble over here. So many amazing Canadian musicians and talent. I'm inspired by all of them. I did busk for a few years on Granville Island in Vancouver, and to walk around that place and meet all the other musicians and discover the talents people have - it's really cool, and it's something I take with me wherever I go.

Peter McCully: Speaking of wherever you go - will you be on the island this summer?

Sean Thomas: The island is such a beautiful place, and I've been lucky to visit. I'm looking at a few performance opportunities, and some of them are on the island, so maybe later this year I might be taking the ferry trip over.

Peter McCully: Now, I wanted to go back to something. As a teenager, you founded a program called Kids Can Help that raised over $100,000 for the oncology department at the BC Children's Hospital, and you also co-founded a program called Music for Hope, which was for mental health awareness. Those are pretty significant commitments for a youngster. How old were you when you created those programs, and what was the catalyst?

Sean Thomas: Thank you - it's not something I get to talk about very often, so it's cool to hear it brought up. I was inspired to start Kids Can Help when I was 11 years old, around the time when I wrote my first song, Your Love. My grandmother had been diagnosed with cancer. I thought to myself: even though I'm a kid, there are ways I can help this world and bring some inspiration. Through fundraising and a lot of hard work, we ended up growing to around 30 members around the local Vancouver community. We'd have fundraisers every year - talent shows, silent auctions, coin drives outside of grocery stores. Really determined kids, and it was inspiring to see all of your friends working toward this amazing goal of helping kids at the oncology department. I'm so proud to say that we raised over $100,000 for the BC Children's Hospital, and it's definitely something I want to carry forward with me as I grow - finding a way to give back. And then Music for Hope - I met my co-founder, Gen Katagiri, through an open mic night, so music brought us together. We had this amazing run of a couple of annual showcase nights showcasing local talent in Langley and Vancouver. Some of the funnest experiences and memories I look back on, knowing we were making a difference in helping other people too.

Peter McCully: Very Canadian.

Sean Thomas: Definitely. It's in our blood, for sure.

Peter McCully: Now, you said you may be doing some touring later this year?

Sean Thomas: I'm looking at a bunch of performances. I'm just in the middle of wrapping this recording project up, and once I have that out, I'm going to start getting out there and showing off all the work I've been doing. I'm excited, for sure.

Peter McCully: Now, this isn't busking. This is going to be in bigger venues, yes?

Sean Thomas: Yes. Though there's nothing against busking - I'd love to do that again. Funny just thinking about it: last year I was working with Joey McIntyre on his album. I think the release date was January 2024, and we were out in Boston just doing some promo. We set up on a really cold day - not snowing, but freezing. My hands were ice cubes as I was strumming the guitar. But we were just playing some of the songs in Boston. That was a really fun time.

Peter McCully: Sean, I want to thank you for your time today. You've been quite generous with it. Before we go - what would you want someone who's never heard of Sean Thomas to know about you after they'd listened to "Better" for the first time?

Sean Thomas: I want them to be reassured that there's people in this world that love them, and I think everyone is unique and special in this world and has something to offer. When they listen, I just want them to feel inspired.

Dave Graham: Sean Thomas - what a talent, and what a story. Co-producing an album for Debbie Gibson at age 20 while finishing music school, and now stepping out on his own terms. You'll find links to Sean's music in our story notes at thepulsecommunity.ca.

Peter McCully: You'll also find links to our Skookum Kids Stories with Captain Dave and the crew of the Mellow Submarine, and Peter and Gracie the Eskimo dog. To add to the fun, we now offer colouring pages to go along with each new episode.

Dave Graham: This week, Peter and Gracie solve the mystery of the missing socks. I can't wait to hear how that one turns out. Maybe I can find some closure in my own life. Speaking of laundry closure, of course. Honestly, this is one of life's great mysteries.

Peter McCully: And our Radio Archaeology classic radio series features original episodes of Dragnet with Sergeant Joe Friday and Gunsmoke with Marshal Matt Dillon.

Dave Graham: I should add that both of those wonderful old radio programs feature characters dashing into situations with certain danger - not something I can condone or recommend. When you're facing possible danger, go home, sleep on it, then get up the next day, live life normally, and repeat. You're getting all my best advice here.

Peter McCully: We're pleased to have Cindy Thompson of Parksville contributing to the PULSE Podcast family with The Resilience Project. This week, Lindsay Scullin reflects on how mental illness quietly eroded her confidence as a first-year UVic student and how she found her way back to resilience.

Dave Graham: My hat is off to all those with the courage to share stories as personal as that. I'm looking forward to hearing that program. Then we have Parksville councillors Joel Grenz and Sean Wood. They present Non-Partisan Hacks, which takes listeners behind the scenes of municipal advocacy work that directly impacts Vancouver Island taxpayers.

Peter McCully: You'll find these podcasts and more at thepulsecommunity.ca. While you're there, sign up for our weekly newsletter to stay up to date on the latest podcasts, guests, and contests.

Dave Graham: Such good prizes. Hey, Peter, are you sure we don't have any extra tickets lying around?

Peter McCully: For the eighth time, no. We're giving away all the tickets that we have.

Dave Graham: Are you sure sure? Just check once more. Hey, before we go, I want to play a little something I created. I've been the DJ for the sand sculpting contest as part of Parksville Beach Festival for years now. I sat down the other evening and wrote a song, then told an AI song generator to come up with something really catchy. I hope you'll agree that this is what that is. Here's a portion of the result.

[Beachfest Song plays]

Dave Graham: A portion of music written for the Parksville Beach Festival, with the theme for the sand sculpting competition being beauties and beasts. And the countdown is on to the kickoff in July. Honestly, this is one of the highlights of my whole life, frankly. We'll have Festival Society President Cheryl Dill on the podcast soon. Peter, what did you think of my song? You wrote the lyrics? Your spelling is really good. Well, look out Bruno Mars - except I don't really sing and I really don't dance. Other than that, watch out, world. I'm going to need a stage name. Folks, thanks for joining us. We hope you're able to get out and enjoy this beautiful island of ours. And don't be ashamed if you get frightened by a robin. They can be very aggressive looking. Maybe I should go by just one name, like Madonna. No - that one's taken. I've always liked the name Nigel. What do you think of Leopold? No, don't answer. I can see it on your face. Melvin? Oliver? Casper? No, that's a ghost. Dave. Actually, that's not a bad name. Dave.

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.