The RIFF Toronto
Unearthing How Creatives Go from Good to Great.Toronto’s Creatives. We feed ’em. They talk.The hosts and guests never know what we’ll serve from Toronto’s world-renowned culinary scene.A my-toronto Show and PodcastHosted by internationally acclaimed Toronto artists: Visual Artist Gary O’Brien and Jazz Fusion Guitarist Jeremy Green. From the comedy clubs of the core to the music venues of the west end, to Juno Award winners and Michelin-rated artists, The Riff is a chill hang with today’s inspiring artists in every form; on a mission to spark the creativity that lives inside everyone.
She Turned Bad Dates Into Billions of Views
The RIFF S2 ep7 - Charlotte Dobre
What happens when a classically trained actress, jazz vocalist, and one of YouTube's most authentic comedic voices sits down to talk about bad dates, embracing cringe, and turning pain into art? You get this episode of The Riff.
Charlotte Dobre joins hosts Gary O'Brien and Jeremy Green to share her journey from being the weird kid with poop jokes to building a global audience of over 2.6 million subscribers and billions of views on YouTube. She opens up about her classical theater training at the University of Victoria, jazz...
She Won an Oscar for Frankenstein - Here's What It Really Took
The RIFF S2 ep.6 -Cliona Furey
Final YouTube Description She won an Oscar for Frankenstein and has spent 15 years as Guillermo del Toro's go-to hair designer — and today she's telling us everything. On this episode of The Riff, Oscar and BAFTA-winning hair designer Cliona Fury (Crimson Peak, Nightmare Alley, Priscilla) joins hosts Gary and Jeremy for a candid conversation about building a career in film, working alongside legendary directors, and what it really takes to go from good to great.
Cliona shares how she went from an opera house wig-making apprentice to one of the mo...
Inside Hollywood’s Prop Workshop — Crafting Swords, Space Suits, Robots & Movie Magic
Walter KlassenFX - The RIFF-S2 ep5 - Ever wonder how your favorite movies fake it — and make it look real? In this episode of The Riff, we sit down with Taku Desai, Chief Creative Officer of Walter Klassen FX — a Toronto-based special effects studio that's been behind the magic of Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein, The Boys, The Handmaid's Tale, Captain America, Star Trek, Shazam, The Shape of Water, Reacher, and many more.
We go inside the world of practical effects — how they build mechanical machine guns that don't fire, swords in five different materials for five different stunts...
Working With Major Artists: What Publicists See (Stories from the Road)
The RIFF S2 - ep4 -Dawn Dwyer Pappas
What is it actually like working with major artists behind the scenes?
In this episode of The Riff, we sit down with an experienced music publicist who has worked at the highest levels of the industry. This conversation goes beyond theory and into real moments from the road, from press days to high-pressure situations where everything is on the line.
These are grounded, human stories about supporting artists, managing energy, and helping things hold together when it matters most.
We get into:
• Wh...
From Uncle Trent's garage to iHeart's Top 40 Rock Charts
Johnny Ross - The RIFF S2 ep3
Johnny Ross, frontman of Canadian rock band Learhaven, joins Gary and Jeremy on The Riff Toronto for one of our most honest and entertaining conversations yet. Johnny breaks down the wild chaos of touring Spain and Switzerland (burst pipes, gear crashes, and empty venues that filled up in 5 minutes flat), the story behind "Soulbreaker" landing on Hockey Night in Canada, and why his obsession with '70s tone, vintage gear, and vinyl isn't nostalgia — it's a philosophy.
We get into the real talk: why comfort is th...
Why 99% of Content Creators Fail (And How He Didn't)
Dontoverthinkitchip - The RIFF S2 ep2
He quit a 6-figure insurance job with only $500/month coming in — and went $75K into debt chasing a dream. Three years later, he's landing brand deals with PlayStation, Nissan, the Toronto Blue Jays, and Chipotle, with 16 million views from nearly 6 million accounts. This is the story of @dontoverthinkitchip.
In this episode of The Riff, Gary and Jeremy sit down with Toronto-based content creator Chip — the force behind one of Canada's fastest-rising social media channels. What started as a sports betting page in December 2023 has evolved into a full...
Electronic artist’s guide to playing big lineups
Andrew Stasiw - The RIFF S2 ep1
Toronto's underground EDM scene has a new king — and he built it from a laptop during lockdown.
Andrew Stasiw of King and Queen Events joins Gary and Jeremy on The Riff to pull back the curtain on how he went from bedroom producer to booking global heavyweights like Danny Avila, Maddox, and Sam Pacho at iconic venues like Coda — all as an independent operator competing against the monopolies.
In this episode:
🎧 How to break into the EDM scene (basement to mainstage)
📈 The networking moves that actua...
200M Streams. No Label. No Rules.
EMM - The Riff ep 12
She climbed into a coffin full of biting worms — and kept singing. 🎵🐛
In this episode of The Riff, Gary and Jeremy sit down with EMM — a classically trained, award-winning artist from Traverse City, Michigan who grew up surrounded by musical prodigies, moved to New York before high school, and built an independent music empire with 200 million streams entirely on her own terms.
Now signed with Sony/The Orchard (while keeping full ownership of her masters), EMM is on The Dumb Tour promoting her album Black Diamond — and she stop...
From Hitchhiker to Juno Winner: The Crown Lands Story
Kevin Comeau - The RIFF ep 11
What happens when a kid hears Rush for the first time and his entire life changes? We found out.
Kevin Comeau of Juno Award-winning prog duo Crown Lands sits down with The Riff to talk about the moment A Farewell to Kings rewired his brain at 14, hitchhiking across Canada and down the California coast after reading Jack Kerouac, accidentally joining a reggae band in a Hollywood guitar shop, and how a Rush notation book stuffed into a backpack became the foundation of his guitar playing.
We also...
The World's Youngest Cheese Master Reveals What Most Food Lovers Get Wrong
Afrim Pristine - RIFF S1 ep10
🎙️ What does it take to become one of the most respected names in the food world?
In this episode of The RIFF, we sit down with Afrim Pristine, internationally recognized cheese master, entrepreneur, television personality, and one of Canada's leading voices in food culture.
From building a world-class business to appearing on major television shows, Afrim shares the lessons, challenges, and mindset that helped shape his remarkable journey. We dive into the art and science of taste, the importance of passion and persistence, and what separates true craft...
Canada's Fishing Legend Reveals All
Pete Bowman - The RIFF -S1 ep.9
Pete Bowman — Canadian fishing legend, TV host of Fishin' Canada (3.5M viewers), and Hall of Famer — sits down with The Riff for one of the most entertaining fishing conversations you'll ever hear.
From stunning a fish with a boat oar to get his lure back, to revealing how a laid-off electrician accidentally became one of Canada's most beloved TV personalities, Pete holds nothing back.
In this episode:
🎣 How Pete went from electrician to fishing icon🏆 Being inducted into the Canadian Angler Hall of Fa...The Hidden World of Private Chefs: What Clients Never See
Maddy Goldberg - The RIFF S1 ep8
What happens when a Michelin-trained chef shows up to a food bank with no set menu and two hours to feed 100 people? Pure magic.
This week on The Riff, hosts Gary O'Brien and Jeremy sit down with Toronto's most fascinating chef — Maddy Goldberg. With 160K+ Instagram followers, viral food content, and a background in social work, Maddy is redefining what it means to be a chef in 2026.
We get into:
🍽️ How she went from a 12-oz prime rib at age 6 to cooking at Michelin-recommended Aloette
🥄 W...
Own a Piece of Your Favorite Song — And Get Paid Every Month
Tim Gallagher - The RIFF - S1 ep7
What if your favorite song could pay you every month — forever?
Most people have no idea that music royalties exist as an investable asset class. In this episode of The Riff, hosts Gary O'Brien and Jeremy Green sit down with Tim Gallagher — founder of Music Royalties Inc. and former Chairman & CEO of Metalla Royalty — to pull back the curtain on one of the most overlooked investment opportunities on the planet.
Tim breaks down how he built a portfolio of 7,000 songs (including pieces of Rollin...
Nervousness Is Just Excitement in Disguise — and Other Lessons from a Theater Lifer
Donna Garner - The RIFF - S1 ep6
🎭🎵 She learned accordion in 8 days and booked a Broadway national tour. No big deal.
In this episode of The Riff, hosts Gary O'Brien and Jeremy Green sit down with the extraordinary Donna Garner — actor, singer, pianist, multi-instrumentalist, voice coach, music director, AND founder of Garner Theatre Productions. Oh, and she's the youngest of 13 kids raised on a dairy farm near Stratford, Ontario. Yeah, she's kind of a force of nature.
We dig into: 🎬 How Donna's family staged a full prod...
Animation Producer Who Worked on SpongeBob, Van Halen & Netflix Reveals His Creative Secrets
Darin Bristow - The RIFF -S1 ep.5
What do SpongeBob SquarePants, Sammy Hagar, Eddie Van Halen, and Kim Mitchell all have in common? Darin Bristow. In this episode of The Riff, Gary O'Brien and Jeremy Green sit down with one of Canada's most versatile creative minds — an animation producer, director, educator, and musician with over 30 years of experience bridging the worlds of art, music, and storytelling.
Darin has produced content for Nelvana, Netflix, PBS Kids, and Nickelodeon, including Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie. He's directed music videos for Kim Mitchell, Big Sugar, and Roc...
How a Guitarist Survived 800 Cruise Ship Shows, Broadway Pits & an AC/DC Tribute
Gino Del Sole - The RIFF S1 ep.4
What does it take to play 800 live shows on a Norwegian cruise ship, hold down a pit chair for Mirvish's biggest Broadway productions, and dress as Angus Young for a living? Guitarist Gino Del Sole has done all of it — and he's here to tell you exactly what goes on behind the curtain.
In Episode 4 of The Riff, hosts Gary O'Brien and Jeremy Green sit down with Gino for a candid, hilarious, and genuinely insightful conversation about the real life of a working musician in Toronto and be...
Why Canada's Best Bassist Refused to Leave
Rich Brown - The RIFF S1 ep3
What happens when one of Canada's most accomplished jazz bassists sits down with his oldest musical friends and just gets real? This. Rich Brown — Juno Award winner, educator, bandleader, and one of Toronto's most versatile musicians — joins Gary O'Brien and Jeremy Green for an honest, hilarious, and deeply inspiring conversation that every musician needs to hear.
Rich walks us through the origin of his 30-year friendship with co-host Jeremy Green, from teenage garage jams in the '80s to building careers on the Toronto jazz scene. He breaks down...
What It Really Takes to Stay a Working Musician
Staying a working musician for 30-plus years is harder than most people think — and Rick Menary has lived every part of it. In this episode of The Riff, we sit down with Rick, singer, guitarist, and co-founder of the Toronto blues rock band The Spitfire Kings, for one of the most honest conversations about the music life you'll hear anywhere.
Rick shares how a childhood Kiss performance sparked everything, how he learned to sing by screaming Led Zeppelin at full volume in an empty house, and the exact moment he knew music was going to be his li...
She Speaks 6 Languages and Shreds Guitar. Now She's a DJ.
SamIAM - The Riff S1 ep.1
What do classical guitar, extreme metal, six languages, and Toronto's underground DJ scene have in common? Meet Sam Green — known on stage as Samiam — and this episode will completely change how you think about what it means to be a musician.
On this episode of The Riff, hosts Gary O'Brien and Jeremy Green sit down with Sam, a multidisciplinary Toronto artist who started playing piano at four, picked up guitar at seven, spent nearly two decades performing classical, blues, rock, and extreme metal — and then pivoted into DJing in 2024. What m...
