What's In Your Fridge: Old Man Canyon

by Mike Usinger on November 15th, 2015 at 8:49 AM

1 of 3 2 of 3

What’s in Your Fridge is where the Straight asks interesting Vancouverites about their life-changing concerts, favourite albums, and, most importantly, what’s sitting beside the Heinz Ketchup in their custom-made Big Chill Retropolitan 20.6-cubic-foot refrigerators.

On the grill

Old Man Canyon

Who are you

It's always hard to answer a question like this without sounding like a pretentious douche, but here it goes. My name is Jett and I create things. I think something that I may have to offer is an unwillingness to follow the social and societal norms in music and art in general. My only real desire in my work is to push the boundaries of what's normal and possible, both in myself and my art and, through it, highlight issues that reach beyond the facade that most accept as reality. Hopefully this will allow one to question their own world and see things differently.

Life-changing concert

I can’t really remember the first concert that instantaneously turned me into a music-obsessed person but I do recall the first time I saw Michael Jackson perform on TV. After I watched him I basically became a small five-year-old version of MJ for the next few years, performing non-stop for my mom and her video camera. If you don’t believe me she has around three years worth of video footage of me doing moonwalks and spastic spins and bends that she would love to show you.

Top three records

Michael Jackson Bad This album will forever be one of the greatest musical creations by anyone. When it was released it didn’t receive a lot of love, but I think the production and overall songwriting is some of his best and most innovative of his career. I think he will always be one of the most inspirational people to me, on all levels. Except maybe in choices of cosmetic surgery.

The Notorious B.I.G. Ready to Die Most people don’t know this about me, but hip-hop was really what made me want to start to make music that had a groove and vibe to it. It's hard to say which album is my favourite but this one definitely played a big role in my musical pallet. His flow and energy was so captivating that, to this day, I haven’t seen someone that compares.

The Beatles The White Album. No surprise here as I’m sure this album makes the top three on pretty much anyone's list, but hey I love it too. This album signified a lot of changes in the band and I think you can really hear that in the songwriting. For me, this album was a lesson on what made a good song a good song. The dynamics and structure of their writing became the focus point for me and inevitably influenced the way I see songwriting and the process that goes along with it.

All-time favourite video

S Club 7 "S Club Party" Well I wasn’t allowed to watch TV growing up so I have to admit I wasn’t watching a ton of music videos at a young age. But I do remember being unhealthily obsessed with S-club 7 and their horrendous video for "S Club Party" which, I just watched to refresh my memory, and almost puked. Thank God times have changed.

What’s in your fridge

Beet hummus. I just discovered the joys of beet hummus from a recent trip to Costco , and I must say I that I find myself dipping pretty much everything in it. It's a wonderful fusion between traditional hummus and beets, which surely was created by a genius of flavour.

Habanero salsa. Okay this isn’t the weirdest thing to have in your fridge but I have to say something about it, because I made it. This summer I grew Habaneros for the first time and ended up with a lot of them. I found this really simple recipe and made it. I now find myself unable to eat anything without it. It's that good–try it.

Cilantro pesto. My mom makes this stuff and it is crazy tasty. It's exactly what it sounds like, pesto but made with cilantro. Not that weird again but, I'm tying my best. It's super good on tacos or anything really. Don’t eat it if your one of those weirdos that thinks cilantro tastes like soap.