Ten years since the award-winning radio show and podcast Halifax is Burning first hit the airwaves on CKDU 88.1FM, host Trevor Murphy is retiring the show. He’s not about to let the show go out without a bang though. Although the show had its final live broadcast earlier this Fall, Murphy is planning one final hurrah for Halifax is Burning.
In the decade that Halifax is Burning was on the air it won 10 awards: 7 from Music Nova Scotia Awards for Radio Program of the Year, 2 ECMAs for Media Outlet of the Year, and last year Murphy was honoured with the Halifax Pop Explosion Scene Builder Award for his efforts. He’s made a space for fledging Nova Scotian bands getting their first taste of airplay, and hosted big names like Mike O’Neill from The Inbreds, Paul Murphy from Wintersleep, Jenn Grant, Joel Plaskett, Jerry Granelli, and more.
Outside of the show, Trevor Murphy is known for his hands on involvement in music industry and artistry. He’s nearly omnipresent as publicist at Pigeon Row, an ambassador for the Acadian Embassy, and a member of indie folk pop band Quiet Parade.
Murphy began his dalliance with the music industry at an early age, but it didn’t quite follow a straight path.
“I had always been interested in ‘the radio’,” explains Murphy. “I used to make tapes as a kid where I’d dub songs onto tapes and do the backsell with a mic. Then I went to journalism school and I actually hated the radio class, mostly hated writing tight scripts and being limited by the form.”
Despite the initial setback, when Murphy moved into an apartment near Dalhousie University’s campus that his curiosity was rekindled, leading to a decade-spanning relationship with the campus’s radio station.
“When I was recording music demos in my place I would pick up the signal from CKDU in the background sometimes. That eventually turned into me heading down the street a couple of blocks to do the formal training and get all set up with the skills to host my own show.”
Murphy took to doing fill-in slots each Tuesday at 6:30pm, and when he was approved for a regular program it manifested in 2009 as what we have come to know as Halifax is Burning. Taking its named from a track by Myles Deck & The Fuzz, Murphy dedicated the program to highlighting Halifax’s music scene.
“It’s always been focused on local music – from Halifax and around Atlantic Canada,” says Murphy. “The show was designed as a way to spotlight some of the bands and acts from here I thought were absolutely amazing but felt nobody knew about.
“The first five years were sort of listings-driven. The intention was, if you were hankering to go out on the town to see live and local music, you could listen to my show and I’d tell you where and when bands were playing. In the later part of the show I focused more on the music as other stations like CHSR, CHMA, Local 107.3, CAPR, and CJSR started picking the show up, so I tried to make the later years more ‘evergreen’ as they’d say in the biz.”
Murphy later branched out within the format after becoming “obsessed” with podcasts. It opened up all the possibilities on the internets and loosened the reins, allowing Murphy to dive in with longform interviews.
“I got to have some really great conversations through that with people I really admired […] Amazing opportunities.
“I even went outside of the local bubble a bit on those from time to time and did things like interview Hayden and the music director for the movie Scream – which is my all time favourite movie”
However, when it come to what he’s most proud of it’s not the screed of big stars that Murphy lists off, it’s those local fledgling musicians.
“I think getting the show to the point where young bands were coming to me was really cool,” says Murphy. “As I started aging out of the nightly scene a bit, this kept me in tune with the next wave of acts. That was really cool because I fucking love music and I never want to lose that sense of discovery. Hosting the show allowed me to keep that alive in certain ways.”
All good things come to an end, and Halifax is Burning is no exception. Murphy announced earlier this year that he’d be retiring the show to focus on other projects, largely still within the music industry. Quiet Parade is currently finishing an album, Murphy has begun working on a French project, and has become increasingly more active in the Acadian community. It was inevitably becoming time to sort things out and that ten year marker has such a nice round number to it.
“Between my own bands, my professional career, my volunteer work, etc.,” says Murphy, “I was just looking to make a bit more space for some new projects I’m hoping to sink my teeth into. I felt like the decade marker was a great place to end it. I felt like I was going out on a high, and on this pretty significant milestone to boot.”
And so, as is often the case in this industry, it’s never farewell but rather “what are you doing next?” and “when’s the warp party?”.
Halifax is Burning… Out happens at The Seahorse Tavern this Friday, November 22, 2019. The line-up features ten acts on two stages, including performances from Myles Deck & The Fuzz, who are reuniting after 8 years to play, Outtacontroller, Aquasocks, Worst Part, Designosaur, Wolf Castle, Crossed Wires, Nicole Ariana, Teleri, and Yohvn Blvck.
Doors open at 9:00pm, music starts promptly at 9:30pm, and cover is a minimum $10 donation. Proceeds from the evening are being donated to CKDU 88.1FM.