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00:00Hi. Hi. How are you guys? You all ready? Where do you want me? Right there? Hello. Hi. Hi. Hi. I'm so happy to be here. Thank you. So glad you're here. Beautiful day. You guys made a good choice with all this natural light in here. Yeah. I see lots of people who have holes covering their knees.
00:28They charge extra for the holes. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, Lucas. Hi. Hi, Juliana. Nice to meet you. Hi, Juliana. Pleasure to meet you. Hi, my name's Lyle Lexier. Nice to meet you as well. Such a pleasure. I really studied your song, Mother. Ah. One of my favorite hits. That's a good one to study. I remember ever since I was a preteen or younger, I would always listen to your songs like I Know You and Insensitive and Yeah.
00:58Yeah. And now here, you know, here you are. I, no one's more surprised than me of where music has taken me in my life. I play the flutes myself, so. Wonderful. Well, I think we're ready to start the show. Oh.
01:15So, welcome to the assembly, a collective of autistic and neurodivergent interviewers. And the rules are, no subjects are out of bounds, no questions are off the table, and all might happen.
01:45Could you please tell us your name and a little bit about yourself? My name is Jan Arden. I am a musician, an author, a podcaster, and a very nice person.
02:01You definitely seem nice. I am from Calgary, Alberta. I live just outside of Calgary, and I have a little dog named Poppy.
02:09Aw. That's so good.
02:11Aw. That's so good.
02:12Aw. All right. Well, our first question is from Juliana.
02:15Let's go.
02:16Let's go.
02:17Hello.
02:18Hello.
02:19Hello.
02:20I am so excited.
02:23I'm excited that you're excited.
02:25I feel it's been 10 years since I last saw you.
02:28Oh, wow.
02:29Yeah.
02:30So, you've been to my shows before.
02:31Two of them.
02:33Yeah.
02:34So, my favorite song of yours is Good Mother.
02:40And your music is very well known for being emotionally deep and so honest.
02:45And when you're in that space of writing, what does that look like for you, the process?
02:56It is a magical, mysterious thing to do.
03:01And I should preface this by telling all of you that I don't read music.
03:07I don't know what I'm playing on guitar.
03:10I don't know the notes on the piano.
03:12I have no theoretical understanding of what a piece of sheet music looks like.
03:19But having said that, I just instinctively follow my heart.
03:28In the instance of Good Mother, my dear friend Bob Foster had given me a cassette.
03:33Remember cassettes?
03:34Yes.
03:35Yes.
03:36And it had a chord progression.
03:37So, it had four chords in a rotation.
03:41And that's what Good Mother is based on.
03:44Wow.
03:45That's about as far as I can tell you about music.
03:48I also know, too, you have the lyrics on the cigarette packs that you've kept over all these years.
03:53That's very interesting that you bring that up.
03:56And I did.
03:57I was writing the lyric to Good Mother.
03:59I was sitting in my car.
04:00This was many, many years ago, over 30 years ago.
04:03I didn't have a pen.
04:05And I didn't have paper.
04:06And I smoked at the time.
04:08So, I opened up my cigarette package and I had a little blank space of cardboard.
04:13And I had eyeliner.
04:15So, I wrote the lyrics down with eyeliner to Good Mother.
04:18Oh, wow.
04:19And I still have that cigarette package.
04:22Wow.
04:24I think being a creator is a very selfish undertaking.
04:28I would be too stressed out to try and think about pleasing other people.
04:33So, I just please myself.
04:34I just do things for myself.
04:36Well, thank you so much for the question.
04:39Thank you, Juliana.
04:41Next is Nick.
04:42Good afternoon.
04:43I hope you're enjoying your temporary amount of time here.
04:48I'm loving it.
04:49Now, this is a question more regarding some music, especially in your past.
04:54In the second verse of Ordinary Day by Great Big Sea, they said they were inspired by an incident involving you getting jumped.
05:02How did you feel when you heard about that particular experience being referenced in that song for the very first time?
05:08I can't believe that you know this.
05:15I didn't know about the verse in Ordinary Day.
05:18Alan Doyle and Great Big Sea had written the song and they spoke about a girl named Janie, which was Jan, me.
05:27But I was actually busking in 1985.
05:32This particular day, I only had about $4 of change in my purse and I was just singing cover songs.
05:38And somebody punched me.
05:40Oh.
05:41Oh, yeah.
05:42And kind of just startled me and dazed me and just took the money out of my case and just kind of left me there.
05:49And obviously, I stopped busking.
05:52I didn't do it again after that.
05:54But yeah, I was very touched when Alan said, I don't know if you know this, but I wrote you into a song.
06:01And I was blown away.
06:04I wrote you into a song, but it's about you getting beat up.
06:07Yeah.
06:08I mean, it was an unfortunate thing and not something I'd want to do again.
06:13But I think things like that build your character.
06:17Yeah, I understand personally.
06:19I've gone through a lot of bad things and they've been turning into good things.
06:22Exactly.
06:23Well, thank you so much.
06:24Not a problem.
06:29Imogen is next.
06:30So my question is, if you could shape shift into any animal, what would it be and why?
06:40I know what my answer is.
06:43Immediately, I would shape shift into a great horned owl.
06:47I think I would love to fly and I would love to be very stealth-like and very quiet and I would like to be able to see at night.
06:59I have great horned owls on my property from time to time and sometimes I'll have a sense of being watched.
07:07And I've turned to see a great horned owl sitting on the edge of my railing and it is very freaky.
07:15Yeah.
07:16Somebody's watching me.
07:17Somebody's watching me.
07:18Somebody's watching me.
07:19Somebody's watching me.
07:22Next is Lyle.
07:27So welcome to our group today there.
07:36Jan, how do you feel about your older brother being incarcerated for murder?
07:42Do you think he did that?
07:47Obviously very heartbreaking to have a sibling that spent 28 years in prison for first-degree murder.
07:57It was like a wrecking ball that went through our family.
08:02I don't believe I can make any kind of a judgment on what did or did not happen.
08:09I think I'd be foolish to try.
08:11Probably for a murder that he didn't commit.
08:14Well, he's always maintained his innocence.
08:18The evidence is not there.
08:22Actually the RCMP destroyed all the evidence that they had so we weren't even really able to appeal the case properly.
08:31But my brother had committed a lot of assaults.
08:35Like he had a rap sheet that was as long as these windows.
08:40When they realized he was in the area when the murder occurred, they gathered him up and he never saw the light of day again.
08:49He's in a halfway house now.
08:51Oh, so he's out.
08:53That's good.
08:54That's a good start.
08:55He's not really amongst the people.
08:56Like he's in a controlled environment.
08:58But he's halfway there and I hope that he can salvage part of his life and go on to experience some happiness.
09:07I don't speak to him that much now but I, it's...
09:11Hopefully he gets rehabilitated and is able to turn his life around.
09:16That would be my hope.
09:17I think he is.
09:18I think he is turning his life around.
09:20Thank you, Lyle.
09:21Thank you very much.
09:26Next is Nicole.
09:29I'm on a walker because I do have seizures sometimes.
09:38Well, we'll make sure that you've got something to hang onto there.
09:41Yeah.
09:42So, yeah, my husband has been in prison before so can sympathize with your brother.
09:50And you helped your brother get released from prison in 2020, right?
09:56Now, you did mention that you haven't been seeing him as much.
10:01Why are you not talking to him as much?
10:04That's a very good question.
10:08So, my brother started being arrested when he was 14 or 15 years old.
10:15With my dad's alcoholism, my brother suffered horribly from my dad's behavior.
10:26And I recognize now that he had a disease.
10:29But my dad was so looking for a fight all the time.
10:37And my older brother got caught in the crosshairs.
10:42And, you know, my dad took it out on him.
10:45And his life suffered.
10:49My brother, I think he left home at 15, so I never really knew him.
10:54I got to know him when he went to prison because I visited him constantly with my parents.
11:00When he got out, I had a lot to do with, you know, supporting him and getting him set up in the halfway house and helping him.
11:08And then we kind of had strained relations because any help he wanted from me was money.
11:17He just, it was always about, you know, I need money.
11:24He just had so many issues from being incarcerated for that long.
11:29And I think it'll take him a long time to find his feet again.
11:34Part of your question was, why aren't you speaking to him?
11:37And I think for my own well-being and for my own peace of mind, I'm just taking a step back.
11:49I love him.
11:51I don't always like him.
11:53But I love my brother.
11:55Good for you.
11:57You'll be blessed for the ways you support him.
12:00Thank you, Nicole.
12:10Those look like, like, mountain climbing shoes.
12:12It's the same brand as your shoes.
12:14And they're really comfortable and they're very spongy.
12:17All right.
12:19Jen, you are next.
12:21Me?
12:22Yep.
12:23I heard you had a very strong bond and relationship with your dog.
12:33And I had a cat named Shadow.
12:36And he and I, we were very close, had a huge bond.
12:41And I always called him my husband, even in public.
12:48Yeah, I know some people might find that really crazy.
12:52Yeah.
12:53Yeah.
12:54To me, a lot of people see their pets as more than just pets.
12:57Were you the same with your dog?
13:00Absolutely.
13:02My dog that I had for almost 12 years passed away just over four years ago.
13:09Her name was Middy.
13:10I named her Middy after Bette Midler.
13:12Wow.
13:13And I told Bette Midler that.
13:15I said, my dog is named after you.
13:16And she said, you might not want to be telling me that.
13:20Really?
13:21She didn't, she didn't think it was that funny.
13:24But anyway, when Middy died, I was more upset about my dog than I was the passing of my elderly
13:34parents.
13:35And I cried harder about my dog than I did my mom and dad.
13:43There was just something about losing my dog that I just didn't think I would ever recover from.
13:48I feel the exact same way you feel.
13:49Yes.
13:50You feel.
13:51Yeah.
13:52I think pets prove themselves over and over again as the most loyal companions.
13:57When people around us fail us, our pets are unconditional.
14:01And they'll watch any movie that I want.
14:04Yes.
14:05That is so true.
14:07That's a very good question, so thank you.
14:09Yeah.
14:10Heaven is next.
14:12Hi, Jean.
14:13Nice to meet you.
14:14My question is, are you married or do you want to be married?
14:29I'm not married.
14:31I have never been married.
14:32I've been asked if I would get married many years ago, and I said no.
14:38But I have a new girlfriend.
14:41Oh, congratulations.
14:42So...
14:43Congratulations.
14:44I'm not...
14:45Happy Pride.
14:46Happy Pride.
14:48I have been single for 10 years.
14:51Oh.
14:52But three months ago, I met a lovely woman, and I love her.
14:59And we'll see what happens.
15:01It's very new, so it's a little bit daunting, but...
15:04It takes time to find someone.
15:05Yeah, for sure.
15:06It does.
15:07For 10 years.
15:08But my heart is very open, and I feel very happy.
15:13How did you meet your girlfriend?
15:16I met her at a writer's retreat.
15:20Oh.
15:21In Iceland.
15:22Oh.
15:23Wow.
15:24She's Icelandic.
15:25Oh, yeah.
15:26My girlfriend's name in English translates to thunder.
15:34Ooh.
15:35Ooh.
15:36Ooh.
15:37Ooh.
15:38Ooh.
15:39Ooh.
15:40I don't know how long you've been with your girlfriend, but what is the thing that you
15:44love most about her?
15:45Oh, my gosh.
15:46What's the...
15:47If you've told her that you love her.
15:49One thing that I love most about her is her ability to walk into any room and speak easily
15:58with people and be able to be social and friendly with everyone.
16:04And, you know, she's very beautiful.
16:07I don't mind that either.
16:10Thanks for your answer.
16:11Thank you very much, Kevin.
16:12Next is Millie.
16:13Thanks.
16:14Hello.
16:15Do you think that there are truly evil people in the world?
16:19And if so, how would you define what makes a person evil?
16:37I do think there are evil people in the world.
16:49I don't know if they're born that way.
16:52I doubt it very much.
16:56I think sometimes people suffer such severe trauma in their lives that the only way that
17:04they feel alive or worthwhile at all is to hurt other people.
17:13Having said that, I don't think anyone is beyond salvation or change or finding a new
17:23way forward.
17:24And I do believe that.
17:25I think there is hope always, everywhere, in everything that we see and in every person
17:30that we pass.
17:32But it also, hope is something that requires action.
17:37It can't be passive.
17:40Amazing.
17:42All right.
17:43Our next question is Julia.
17:52I read in your book that one of the reasons that you drank was because you were scared
17:58of being successful.
18:01And sometimes when I'm going to do something that might make me successful or I've just
18:06achieved something, I get really anxious and scared.
18:10How did you become friends with that feeling?
18:13I am an alcoholic.
18:20I can say that without any question.
18:24I know for a fact beyond a shadow of a doubt that part of the problem that I had with alcohol
18:32was genetics.
18:34My father handed me a drinking problem like a $20 bill.
18:40It was already part of my DNA.
18:43I didn't drink all the time.
18:45But when I did drink, I was a binger.
18:48It was like all bets were off.
18:50I mean I once lost my car for three weeks.
18:53I didn't know where it was.
18:55I've been sober now for 10 years.
19:00Next month.
19:01Congratulations.
19:03You talked about how do I reconcile myself with those feelings of being anxious or feeling
19:12not worthy.
19:13Yeah.
19:14Feeling like I don't deserve this piece of success to happen to me.
19:20I was desperate to become the person that I knew I could be.
19:25Like a person that was reliable, a person of their word and responsible and steadfast.
19:32And I just didn't want to live being ashamed of myself all the time and I just thought I
19:36can do this.
19:37I leaned on my friends a lot and I started talking about my problems instead of hiding them away.
19:45I'm very proud of myself, but I have to continually be vigilant and gentle with my soul.
19:52Like when I make mistakes, it's just like that's okay.
19:55You just get up, keep going.
19:57Just be kind to yourself.
19:58Be kind to yourself.
19:59I mean easier said than done, but when you're easy on yourself, you're easier on other people.
20:04That's true.
20:06Thank you so much for asking me.
20:08Thanks for sharing.
20:10I really appreciate that.
20:12Good job.
20:13Thanks John.
20:15Next is Damon.
20:17So we'll start with this one.
20:34Hello Jan.
20:37I am so excited to be interviewing you.
20:40I have been a fan since 2018.
20:42When I listened to you sing in a songwriter's circle in Vancouver.
20:46Ah.
20:47I've got lots of time.
20:48Yeah.
20:49I've got lots of time.
20:50Oh.
20:51Jan, I have noticed you are very active on social media, and I'm not afraid to stand
20:58up for what you believe in.
20:59You received intense, scathing backlash regarding your posting.
21:04criticizing Alberta separatists.
21:05Oh.
21:06Oh.
21:07Oh.
21:08Oh.
21:09Oh.
21:10Oh.
21:11Oh.
21:12Oh.
21:13Oh.
21:14Oh.
21:15Jan I have noticed you are very active on social media and I'm not afraid to
21:21stand up for what you believe in you received intense scathing backlash
21:27regarding your post criticizing Alberta separatists so do you regret your post
21:45so what I did is I went on social media and I swore a lot about the separatists in Alberta it's a very
22:14fringe group that wants to you know break up a brilliant country anyway I came out and I swore
22:21like crazy I was like F this and F you guys and you're you're a bunch of turds I think I said
22:28I had some low-key kind of death threats and no we know where you live and that kind of stuff that
22:38happened but that's I don't regret that I don't mind the hatred it doesn't really bother me
22:42I think you get to a certain age where you do have to stand up for what you believe in I believe
22:47in Alberta I believe in Alberta being much better as part of Canada one of the best countries in the
22:53world to live in you know we have issues that we need to sort out but we need to do that together
22:58I will never never stop expressing my opinion and advocating for Canada and Canadians and that's what
23:08I believe in I agree loved your aunt and elbows up you are brave yes and I thank you thank you very much
23:24thank you thank you so much that means the world Jan we actually have a special surprise for you next
23:40from one of our members of the Assembly okay oh my gosh so Luke when you're ready what is going on
24:01come on I know what this is
24:14I've got a friend who loves me got a house I got a car I've got a good mother
24:43and her voice is what keeps me hearing feet on ground heart in hand
24:54facing forward BSL heart in hand feet on ground facing forward BSL
25:07I'm gonna say that that is the most spectacular performance of that song that I've ever heard
25:37oh wow thank you so much
25:41you guys are like the Mormon tabernacle choir
25:47that's more secular
25:50thank you so much from the bottom of my heart this has been probably the best interview I've ever had
25:58and I've done thousands and thousands of them
26:00you guys just made me feel really special and very welcome so thank you
26:06thank you so much for your honesty and candle and everything like it feels really beautiful
26:19I appreciate you look kick ass man thank you so much
26:23have you been to a red deer yes many times have you been to Okotok many times
26:28and do you like gardens and plants love gardens I have a garden I have herbs on my deck I have geraniums I have peonies I have lilacs I have a huge garden
26:39soap
26:56e
26:57hmm
26:59a
27:03hmm
27:04Thank you very much.
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