Juno Awards Red Carpet: Our Indie Rock Interviewer Chats Up Feist, Deadmau5 and More (VIDEO)

Spinner enlisted special indie rock celebrity correspondent Paul Banwatt of the Rural Alberta Advantage to chronicle his adventures during this past weekend's Juno Awards celebrations. This is his story.

As I posted yesterday, on the second day of Juno Awards weekend in Ottawa my band failed to win the Juno for Best New Group.

It was then, at my lowest point, that I got a fateful call from Joshua Ostroff, senior editor of Spinner in Canada. He said, "Look kid, I like you so I'm going to tell you the truth. This music thing just isn't working out for you." After several more demoralizing jabs ("you just don't have the chops... this biz will eat you alive... nobody can even pronounce your band's name..."), he offered me a job representing Spinner on the Junos Red Carpet. I gratefully accepted.

But before the big Juno show on Sunday night and my new career, there was some rock star business left unfinished. I went to the Arc Hotel, where there was a gifting lounge set up for artists and their entourages. Gifting, for those that haven't experienced it, involves a) getting free stuff; b) having your picture taken with that stuff; c) wondering if people will judge you. This was by far the most bizarre assortment of gifts I've ever seen. First there was a guy giving out mud masks and mortgages (honest). Second, there was foot cream. Third, there were socks (which are actually great). And finally, there were vibrating sex toys. I tried to imagine how it all fit together. Then I stopped because the scene was getting weird in my head.

Finally, it was time for my new career as a journalist to begin. The outdoor Juno Red Carpet was cold enough that I couldn't tell if I was shaking with nerves or hypothermia. A group of mostly tween girls stood across from the press line on the other side of the carpet, one with a "Belieber" sign. We all knew Biebs wasn't coming, and a Google search to learn that would have been much quicker than making the sign, but it was still sweet. And then the celebrities began walking down the carpet, and... well, see for yourself:


In all, it was an amazing experience that I will never forget.

Epilogue: I take back all the awful, ugly things I've said about music journalists over the years. It turns out asking bands questions actually is kind of hard. Also, I know I promised after-party details in the last blog post. All I can say is, I thought these major record labels weren't making money anymore. I'm pretty sure several bands could have made records for the amount each label spent doling out free booze and food. No judgment -- I'll take it, obviously. I am a musician after all. But still...

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