Our Recap Of Mike Haggith's Community Pulse Video Interview From Last Month!!

Today's single-topic post takes us back to the Scarborough-based independent music webseries The Community Pulse, who interviewed local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith for a second time on December 22nd! You may remember when Mike was interviewed (alongside HeadF1rst frontman Red Jettison) in episode #67 back in June, and he was invited back for another remote interview for episode #94. Now, this is their Christmas episode, and we're obviously almost a month removed from it, so make note of the belated seasonality before watching, but given holiday commitments, the odds that I would have been able to make time to watch and cover this before Boxing Day were slim. The two hour episode begins with audio recordings of "Li'l Miss Blu" playing "We Three Kings" on piano, followed by host Frank Terzo's orchestral version of "This Christmas", so if you want to skip straight to the interview, head to the 8:35 mark.

Frank (who is not from the Soo despite his fitting name) starts by setting up the episode and The Community Pulse's official Christmas playlist, as well as bantering with this episode's co-host, a Racine, Wisconsin indie musician only known as J.J., a.k.a. Mr. Folkpunk. Laurie Pepi Igo (the Massachusetts-based pianist who hosts Laurie's Mishmosh) also pops up 13:45 in for her regular guest spot, this time before Mike joined in the chat. Shout-outs after Laurie entered suggest that former Inner City Surfers bassist Brad Example was watching, which is neat! After addressing why Mike is in this episode, Frank plays two more songs on air, including Laurie's own version of "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" alongside Hugh Caldwell, plus "Joy Throughout The World" by the British pop rock musician P.A.L. (pronounced "Paul"). The hosts and Laurie return on camera at 29:45.

Once credits and comments are made on those two songs, Laurie signs out of the episode (after a brief false start), and Mike first appears on camera at 31:45, sticking around for the remaining 90 minutes, song and video breaks aside. Apologies to Detroit Lions fans reading this over Mike's Green Bay Packers sweater! We get around 20 minutes of unbroken interview time to start, with Mike leading off by addressing the cancelled battle of the bands at the Downtown Plaza in September and how he & his Big Finish Band rushed to turn the 15 minute battle set into an 80 minute headlining performance in just 48 hours, how well the concert went over, the lucky strike that led to this concert getting the high quality recordings needed to release a proper live album, and why Mike opted to release "Under A Moonlit Sky" in conjunction with their Toystock set at the end of November for Christmas Cheer.

Sensing a chance to support a great local cause at the holidays, Mike opted to launch a fundraiser related to buys and streams of both the album and the YouTube video of the concert through the end of December, and he got in contact with Frank and The Community Pulse to get the word out for the charity drive, which he hoped would generate $1,000 in donations. J.J. next asks how much practice time that Mike gets with The Big Finish Band (answer: not a lot, he lives in Barrie), with Mike outlining how much pre-planning goes into their sets. He next gives credit to everyone in the band, and even acknowledges former Din guitarist Tammy Hill here, plus why ex-bassist Jacob Quarrell left in 2024. He also confirmed that Elly McWatters didn't play guitar at all last year due to recovery from rotator cuff surgery, but she may pick the guitar back up in 2026.

In the follow-up discussion on their setlist, Mike confirmed that his newer solo song "No Love" has had a studio demo recording and will be on his next album (presumably alongside "I Really Hope This Gets To You"), and the working title for the album is currently "Was It Just A Dream?". At the 52:30 mark, two consecutive songs from the "Under A Moonlit Sky" video are played on air, specifically "No Love" and "Hot & Cold". While the second half of the episode begins 1:00:15 into the livestream, we don't stay in the proper interview for long, as Frank sets up two more songs by indie musicians in their community next, including Hamilton folk duo Jo & Barrie Glenn playing "In The Bleak Midwinter" and British singer-songwrtier Harriet B. playing "In Time For Christmas". Mike, Frank, and J.J. return at 1:10:25 with some light discussion, and the introduction for Mike & the band's next on-air song.

From "Under A Moonlit Sky", we next see the live performance of "An Act Of Strength", which Mike talks about in regards to how different the live version is from the piano-heavy studio version from "Bridges".  That song is played at 1:16:15 with the interview resuming at 1:20:10, after which Mike addresses a young fan up front of the stage having a blast and the gear he was using that night. We next get two more Christmas songs from community members, including "Incarnation" by New York pop rock duo Mike & Dawn Ginese, and Christian musician DLynn's cover of "A Holly Jolly Christmas", and the guys return to the interview at 1:35:20. When the interview resumes, Mike discusses living in the Soo and his run with The Din here, which lead directly into Mike's last video from The Downtown Plaza show here, namely their cover of The Din's "Missing". That plays at 1:38:30 and ends at 1:42:30.

After plugging that performance and the (as of December 22nd) Christmas Cheer proceeds from streams/buys of the album and video, the last song/video of the episode is played, namely an "adult version" of the novelty song "Nuttin' For Christmas" by Denver rock musician Chris Lane Sr., which is a clear tonal jump (if an amusing one) from some of the earlier, more sincere carols! The interview returns for good at 1:50:40 for its final stretch, with final plugs and thanks, where the saying "All Hail Haggith" came from, Mike's positive perceptions of the music scene in the Soo, and the connectivity and relationships fostered here (Laurie even returns at the very end), before closing with Lou Monte's novelty song "Dominick The Donkey". A lot to pack in here, especially given that it dragged me back into Christmas mode in mid-January, but it's an effective interview that lets Mike expand on his career, good nature, and musicianship to good effect, and it's clear that Frank and J.J. appreciate his work and musical talents!

While the July interview was entertaining as well, it was heavily about HeadF1rst too given Red's involvement, so if you want to focus on Mike & The Big Finish Band, you may want to watch this one first, and depending on your tolerance of Christmas music out of season, navigate those songs as your preferences dictate (or wait until the end of the year). Give episode #97 of The Community Pulse a watch below, and stay tuned for more from Mike as 2026 continues! Thanks everyone! 

Our Recap Of Mike Haggith & Red Jettison's 2+ Hour Video Interview From Last Month!!

Apologies for the three week delay in this making the SMS, but local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith and HeadF1rst frontman Red Jettison took part in a 2+ hour long video interview on June 16th! This was for The Community Pulse, a series out of Scarborough hosted by musician Frank Terzo, and while his name would seem very appropriate for a local musician to have, this is one of those "do-it-yourself indie musician" feature programs that Mike has gravitated to in his modern day solo era. If you've followed his interviews and appearances in this realm since 2018, you'll recognize names among prior episode guests that have either worked with, interviewed, or spotlighted Mike. This episode of The Community Pulse actually begins with a Frank Terzo music video (he promotes his own music in this series as well as via guests and collaborators), before the introduction, which includes specifics on the format.

While interviews are definitely most of the story, The Community Pulse features artist spotlights, song premieres, indie music news, and more, so it's a good catch-all if you're in this oeuvre of DIY indie rock artists helping out other DIY indie rock artists! The actual show begins 7:34 into the 2:28:23 episode, with Frank setting things up, acknowledging Father's Day, and plugging some independent musicians and hosts featured in the introductions. We finally see Mike and Red on camera at the 13:50 mark, but I want to preface things by noting that Red is also referred to by his real name Carson Hiltz in the episode, by Mike, Frank, and in text (the Red Jettison stage name is exclusively used in the band's own promotion though). Also, Red is referred to as the "co-host" rather than a guest, which goes along with prior episodes of The Community Pulse, in that Frank always has a remote musician credited thusly, even if they don't ask many questions themselves.

After Frank asks how Mike and Red met, he promotes Mike's own indie label MorningStar Records (more on the No Arrow mention soon) and does some plugs and shoutouts, before he played "Tour Bus Fantasy" from HeadF1rst's new album "Road Trippin'" at the 27 minute mark. Once it concludes, Frank highly praised the song's retro rock vibe, and Red discussed the songwriting process for it, heavily crediting guitarist Rainey Rancourt's contributions there. After discussing the deadlines and time crunch for getting physical copies of "Road Trippin'" pressed and shipped, Red noted that HeadF1rst are already working on new original songs, before Frank does some more shoutouts. We next transition to talk about Mike's music, where he plugs his Frequent Flier fan club/newsletter program, and how you can get his new studio album "Frequent Flier" for free (eventually), while also explaining his thought process beyond releasing it for sale.

Basically, Mike wants to keep the album special for Frequent Fliers, hence why only three songs are posted to stream for free, but he also wanted to offer the whole thing to people who buy physical media and/or non-subcribers interested in buying the songs. The lead single "Brand New Day" is played at 47:57, and when we come back to the interview, Frank immediately calls it a "killer track", again complimenting the retro classic rock vibes of it (I'll hold comment until our review of "Frequent Flier" later this month). Mike next outlines the recording process for this song, particularly the backing vocals. Following more shout-outs, Frank asked how Mike first got into music, leading into Mike discussing his extensive discography, noting that "Frequent Flier" is not one of his "mainline" solo albums, and is one of nine in his back catalogue that is "off to the side". He next outlines his aims for MorningStar Records and promoting other independent acts there.

Red jumps back in next to discuss his feelings on MorningStar and his hope to do a concert featuring just MorningStar-affiliated acts. Frank next sets up Mike's original song "Hot & Cold" from 2023's "All The Best In All You Do", as prefaced by Mike's songwriting process for it and the inclusion of Southern Ontario-based metal guitarist Hetriani (another indie musician who pops up on The Community Pulse and similar shows) as a guest. The song proper (via its lyric video) is played at 1:08:19, capping off the first half of the episode. After strong praise from Red and Frank, another guest pops in on the livestream, namely Laurie Pepi Igo, a pianist out of Massachusetts who also frequents this indie music sphere via her channel Laurie's Mishmosh. After more shout-outs from Frank, Laurie (a Frequent Flier cardholder, no less), praises Mike's program and its offerings, while Red elaborates more on HeadF1rst's lineup and plans for the future.

Laurie gets the spotlight next, with a short song by pianist Donna Mitchell played at 1:31:40 (I guess Laurie features regularly to showcase an independent pianist). After Laurie signs out, Red asked how soon Mike knows what will make his albums (especially given his extensive discography), before we transition to talking about the next song played on air, namely Mike's song "All The Best" from his 2023 album, and you can hear it at the 1:40:55 mark. More discussion about art and songwriting follows, before Frank asks Mike about the freak accident at Rotaryfest 2023 when Mike dislocated his knee while playing "Hot & Cold" on Stage 1, and played on while laying on his back until the ambulance arrived (read our initial coverage of that at this link). At least at this point, Mike can look back and laugh about everything, but he was a trooper for getting through all that two years ago! Frank next asks Mike about how he devised the Frequent Flier program.

The last song played on air in this mammoth episode is the namesake for Mike's label, namely "MorningStar" from his 2020 album "If Ever Comes The Day", as prefaced by Mike elaborating on the song's inspiration and recording process, especially as he started using GarageBand for iOS with that album. You can hear that song at 2:08:19, with 15 minutes to spare. This Community Pulse episode continues with Frank asking about Mike's live music plans, with Mike noting that he and The Big Finish Band were hoping to return to Rotaryfest, but they weren't selected for 2025, though he is hopeful that they might be picked for next year. He did promote their return to the Northern Vibe Festival in Ophir next month, while a pro-shot, multi-cam, full concert video of Mike & crew's set at HeadF1rst's album release party in May is planned to be posted on YouTube soon, along with a live album of that entire concert!

Not all of Mike's announced/teased live album plans have seen their intended conclusion ("Face To Face", for one), so that will be neat if it does come out thusly! Red also plugs upcoming HeadF1rst gigs, including a short notice show to be previewed on the SMS tomorrow, a teased return to the Loud & Proud family fun day at The Roberta Bondar Pavilion (we await confirmation on that event), and their Rotaryfest and Northern Vibe sets ahead this summer. After final words and plugs from everyone, Frank closes by playing "Family" by Liz Aday over the end credits. Entertaining and casual interview/hangout that painted Mike and Red in strong lights! Red was less "co-host" and more "co-interviewee", with Frank asking way more questions, but this is Red's first real toe in the water to this community (unless I missed something). It's always neat to see all of the live-stream commenters and interactions in videos like these too, including many repeat names!

There's a lot to take in, but check out the full Community Pulse episode for yourselves below, and we'll have more from HeadF1rst and Mike Haggith on the SMS this month, starting with a short notice show preview from the former tomorrow! Thanks everyone!