In his vast career, Bill Welychka has interviewed musicians from Slash to Dwight Yoakam and everyone in between.

Welychka spent a good chunk of his career as a VJ, a term he hates, for the Canadian music entertainment channel, MuchMusic, later moving to MuchMoreMusic.

He spent weeks at music award shows, was surrounded by celebrities and lived a life that many coveted. These days, WelychkaSA国际影视传媒檚 career has taken a turn away from journalism, landing him in sales.

After a conversation with a coworker where he was somewhat belittled for no longer being a nationwide journalist, his memoir was born. 

SA国际影视传媒楢 Happy Has-BeenSA国际影视传媒� follows WelychkaSA国际影视传媒檚 somewhat chaotic at times career, lifestyle and what happened off-camera. The idea of a book came to him slowly, and spawned out of the COVID-19 pandemic and the nostalgia that people had for MuchMusic.

SA国际影视传媒淚 never really planned on writing a book. During COVID-19, I kept getting all these offers to do podcasts as somehow MuchMusic was experiencing this resurgence,SA国际影视传媒� said Welychka. SA国际影视传媒� All these stories started coming to fruition and I started writing them down and kept adding to it and organizing them. One day on my computer I thought, SA国际影视传媒業 think this might be a book.SA国际影视传媒橲A国际影视传媒�

The writing overlapped with the MuchMusic documentary that toured Canada and Welychka felt the book just came at the right time. After the initial edition was published in 2023, he realized he still had so many more stories to tell. Despite not wanting to write another book, he published a second edition of his memoir in March 2025.

SA国际影视传媒淥ther stories started coming out while I was promoting [the first book], and I kept adding to the first one and thought SA国际影视传媒極kay, maybe a second edition is warranted,SA国际影视传媒� and it just happened.SA国际影视传媒�

WelychkaSA国际影视传媒檚 most well-known for his time at CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 version of MTV. That career path wasnSA国际影视传媒檛 what he originally set out to do. His first love was editing and he landed on MuchMusic straight out of college.

SA国际影视传媒淚 kind of fell into it. I went to school for radio and television and I wanted to be a camera person; I fell in love with editing. I got hired at MuchMusic the week I graduated from Seneca College here in Toronto and I sort of fell into the on-air stuff because I helped submit a proposal for a country show,SA国际影视传媒� recalled Welychka. SA国际影视传媒淲e had all these country music videos coming into the station but no real avenue to play them.SA国际影视传媒�

Eventually, a dedicated country music channel was started up in Canada and the show Welychka had pitched was no longer necessary. This meant transitioning him to on-air talent, interviewing musicians and introducing music videos.

SA国际影视传媒淭hey moved me over to regular flow programming and started sending me around the world to interview all the biggest rock stars in the world, but all the while, and this is the cool thing, I never stepped away from the editing bay. I love editing. I love producing.SA国际影视传媒�

He was able to continue to combine his love of editing with interviewing the best talent in the music industry from across the world and bring it back to MuchMusic as a complete package. 

SA国际影视传媒淭heySA国际影视传媒檇 send someone to go to New York to interview the Cranberries or go to Switzerland to interview Shania Twain and come back with these tapes. I would edit and produce those one-hour specials. They liked me because I would do it as if I was the one-man army.SA国际影视传媒�

Landing on MuchMusic/MuchMoreMusic ended up being a dream come true for Welychka as a lifelong music fan. He got to meet his idols and never ended up with a bad experience. Instead, he has great memories of all the bands that he got to interview. 

SA国际影视传媒淚 love music. I grew up with the classics like Led Zeppelin and I had an Ozzy Osbourne patch on my jean jacket in high school. I love Johnny Cash and old country. ISA国际影视传媒檝e managed to interview Johnny Cash and Led Zeppelin and Ozzy Osbourne to the Stones and Madonna and a lot of newer bands that I became a huge fan of like the Cure and Oasis, Rush and, of course, The Tragically Hip.SA国际影视传媒�

Music continues to be a powerful force in WelychkaSA国际影视传媒檚 life, even if he isnSA国际影视传媒檛 in the business anymore. 

SA国际影视传媒淚 have listened to music every day; in high school, it was such a huge part of my life. And in my 20s, 30s and 40s. I canSA国际影视传媒檛 imagine a world without music. I canSA国际影视传媒檛 imagine a world without music. Sometimes that passion for music that turned you on when you were a teenager doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 register anymore as you get older. ISA国际影视传媒檓 lucky in that ISA国际影视传媒檝e never lost that passion for music.SA国际影视传媒� 

When it comes to talking about what makes a good interview and how to get the right energy to approach a musician for an interview, Welychka took an informed approach.

SA国际影视传媒淵ou wanted to be great for the artist, you wanted to be great for the fans that were watching. YouSA国际影视传媒檙e constantly thinking about the big picture and you wanted to be good for the artist in that, in case they were interviewed three or four times that day. You didnSA国际影视传媒檛 want them to be on this interview treadmill where they were being asked the same questions all day.SA国际影视传媒�

These days, Welychka is semi-retired, but he will never forget the feelings that come with interviewing top-notch talent.

SA国际影视传媒淭hereSA国际影视传媒檚 just an energy and an excitement SA国际影视传媒� and itSA国际影视传媒檚 adrenaline. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 joy. A 90-minute live presentation just flies by and ISA国际影视传媒檇 get home and ISA国际影视传媒檇 watch the repeat of it later that day and ISA国际影视传媒檇 be really critical of SA国际影视传媒榦h, I didnSA国际影视传媒檛 like that question,SA国际影视传媒� but it was great and the artists loved it. The audience loved it.SA国际影视传媒�

Visit for more information on his memoir, SA国际影视传媒楢 Happy Has-BeenSA国际影视传媒�.