Arts·Q with Tom Power

How a bad edible trip changed the course of Charlie Houston's life

After a bad trip, the Toronto singer-songwriter dropped out of university and quit music. Now, she's back with her debut album, Big After I Die.

The Toronto singer-songwriter has just released her debut album, Big After I Die

A smiling woman wearing over-ear headphones sits in front of a studio microphone.
Charlie Houston in the Q studio in Toronto. (Vivian Rashotte/CBC)

When the Canadian musician Charlie Houston was a student at New York University a few years ago, she took an edible that gave her a really bad trip. It was so bad that she quit music, dropped out of school and moved back in with her parents in Toronto. Now, she's released her debut album, Big After I Die, which explores the precarious and often surreal experience of transitioning between phases of life. Houston sits down with Tom Power to tell us the story of the edible that changed her life and how she got back into music. Plus, she sets up a track from her new album.

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The full interview with Charlie Houston is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.


Interview with Charlie Houston produced by Vanessa Nigro.