Dana Beeler was all set to go on tour. Her band Hello Delaware—which carries the same indie rock swagger of No Doubt and lyrics as sharp as a Lorelai Gilmore comeback—was about to play 10 dates across the UK, the band’s biggest international outing to date. Newly released material (the first since a five-track EP, Anticipation, made comparisons to early Alanis Morissette feel inevitable last fall) was to follow, built on the tour’s momentum.
But then, of course, everything changed. So, she did what she had to do and started a podcast instead.
“I felt pretty sucker-punched in the whole first two days I had to work from home. I was getting a flood of text messages from my friend’s group chat and I was reading the news and then case numbers and all of that stuff just wasn’t sinking into my brain. So it was kinda difficult to process all of that,” says Beeler, explaining that a podcast felt like the perfect way to cope and foster some community connection.
And while hitting pause on such a sizeable tour certainly is a loss to Beeler and her bandmates, listeners of This Is Fine get to sip the situation’s sweet lemonade with the podcast, which acts as an incidental who’s who in Canadian indie music. (Past guests on the show have included Appalachian banjo queen/Rolling Stone darling Kaia Kater, Halifax indie scene vet Leanne Hoffman and pop-punk up-and-comer Skye Wallace.)
“It would be very easy to feel like all of the work that we’ve done over the last three years as a band—like touring and playing and money we spent, and making this record—could go to absolutely nothing if there’s nothing to promote it, I guess,” adds Beeler, who says more music from Hello Delaware will be on its way this spring. (So far, the band dropped a new single, “Over”, that rips in the way Avril Lavigne always wanted to.)
With live performance—one of the last revenue sources for musicians—drying up, (and venues face overbooking into 2021, leaving little room for small acts) This Is Fine feels like Beeler doubling down on her devotion to music. As she puts it: “This is a podcast by a musician, about musicians who are struggling the same as everybody else—but it’s not just for musicians; I think anybody will be able to relate to what we’re talking about.”
Get caught up on the first six episodes now:
But then, of course, everything changed. So, she did what she had to do and started a podcast instead.
“I felt pretty sucker-punched in the whole first two days I had to work from home. I was getting a flood of text messages from my friend’s group chat and I was reading the news and then case numbers and all of that stuff just wasn’t sinking into my brain. So it was kinda difficult to process all of that,” says Beeler, explaining that a podcast felt like the perfect way to cope and foster some community connection.
And while hitting pause on such a sizeable tour certainly is a loss to Beeler and her bandmates, listeners of This Is Fine get to sip the situation’s sweet lemonade with the podcast, which acts as an incidental who’s who in Canadian indie music. (Past guests on the show have included Appalachian banjo queen/Rolling Stone darling Kaia Kater, Halifax indie scene vet Leanne Hoffman and pop-punk up-and-comer Skye Wallace.)
“It would be very easy to feel like all of the work that we’ve done over the last three years as a band—like touring and playing and money we spent, and making this record—could go to absolutely nothing if there’s nothing to promote it, I guess,” adds Beeler, who says more music from Hello Delaware will be on its way this spring. (So far, the band dropped a new single, “Over”, that rips in the way Avril Lavigne always wanted to.)
With live performance—one of the last revenue sources for musicians—drying up, (and venues face overbooking into 2021, leaving little room for small acts) This Is Fine feels like Beeler doubling down on her devotion to music. As she puts it: “This is a podcast by a musician, about musicians who are struggling the same as everybody else—but it’s not just for musicians; I think anybody will be able to relate to what we’re talking about.”
Get caught up on the first six episodes now:
