Product of Newfoundland

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S2.E3: Pull The Whole Sky Down//With Violet

Robert Hiscock

Season 2, Episode 3

Title: Pull The Whole Sky Down//With Violet

Time: 42 minutes

Locations: Old Perlican; Bonne Bay

Story: The Day The Sky Fell

Guests: With Violet (Spencer FitzGerald and Pete)

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About The Episode:

Part One: It Came From Outer Space

There’s no shortage of Newfoundland and Labrador stories connected to outer space. There are Martian craters named after Gander, Nain and Nutak, local airports were alternate space shuttle landing sites for NASA, and there are plenty of unidentified flying object reports in the province including the much discussed ‘Gander Incident’ and the Random Island sighting that inspired a postage stamp from Canada Post.

My favourite Newfoundland space-ish story isn’t any of these.

It happened in October of 1936; a major meteor shower was seen on the southern and eastern portions of the island and it terrified people.

On the podcast we explore it in a story called “The Day The Sky Fell.”

Part Two: With Violet

With Violet is an alt-pop band from St. John’s, NL.

They are winning fans with catchy hooks, nuanced songwriting and an energy has to be heard to be believed.

In 2021 they released their debut album, Long Story Short, which included the popular track “With Money.” They followed that up with two Christmas singles — ‘December Parade (Bow on Top)‘ and ‘Countdown (New Year’s Song)’— which, if you follow Product of Newfoundland playlists, you’ve definitely heard.

This year, they expanded their canon with two new EPs — Saturday Nights In and Your Sunday Best, the former of which gave us the track ‘Gravity’ and its dancing-astronaut filled video.

Band members Pete and Spencer FitzGerald are my guests on this episode. We chatted about Your Sunday Best, the ‘Gravity’ music video and whether I was reading too much into a blue phone..

We also discussed Addictions Anonymous (a book of poetry written by Pete and Spencer), and Pete’s solo music including his Halloween track ‘The Ghost Goes Boo’ (which you can currently hear on my Songs for a Spooky Season playlist).

With Violet Links

Learn more about With Violet, and Pete’s and Spencer’s other projects at the following links:

Part Three: Monstrous Things

In the third instalment of ‘Monstrous Things’ we look at a hungry sea monster reported in Bonne Bay in 1943.

Was it a real ‘monster’ or a known creature? You decide!

Listening Options

You can listen to the episode here or on your favourite platform.

Sources & Further Reading

  1. The Day The Sky Fell, Product of Newfoundland

  2. Meteors Fall in this Country, Daily News, Oct 20, 1936

  3. Meteoric Showers, The Guardian, October 24, 1936

  4. Meteors and Meteorites, Daily News, Oct 21, 1936

  5. Sea Monster at Bonne Bay, Bay Roberts Guardian, July 31, 1943

  6. With Violet

  7. Pete