About - Bridge The Atlantic

About

Bridge The Atlantic is a remote artist-on-artist podcast featuring interviews with the entertainment industry’s finest.

Co-hosted by award-winning singer/songwriter, Marcio Novelli in Canada, and award-winning music web-designer, Ross Barber-Smith in Scotland, the pair first met online in 2012 becoming fast friends. Searching for a project in which to collaborate, Bridge The Atlantic was formed in the Fall of 2014 and spent several weeks on the “New and Noteworthy” chart after debuting on iTunes.

With the initial intention of creating a show that focuses on helping independent musicians succeed in a competitive industry, that goal quickly expanded to showcasing artists of all disciplines and the executives behind them as it became apparent that the advice and anecdotes uncovered during the interview process could easily be applied to all creatives.

After a five year hiatus, the decision was made to relaunch the project in 2023 with a refined focus and enhanced production quality in what was deemed BTA 2.0. With all interviews recorded remotely since inception (before such a practice was commonplace), the co-hosts have never met in person yet maintain a strong friendship and continue to conduct all interviews virtually.

 


Marcio Novelli

Co-Founder & Co-Host

Marcio Novelli is an award-winning singer, songwriter and record producer from Toronto, Canada. Having recorded his debut full length solo album It’s Not An Excuse, It’s A Reason in 2011 with producer Jim Wirt (Incubus, Fiona Apple) and engineer Nick Blagona (The Police, Deep Purple) in just two weeks, he chronicled the process in the documentary film Walking Proof which went on to win Best Long Form Video at the 13th Annual Independent Music Awards, also serving as his directorial debut preluding future self-produced music videos.

With earlier accomplishments including seeing previous Break Me EP – produced by Julius Butty (City and Colour, Alexisonfire) – winning Best Pop/Rock Recording of the Year at the 2009 Hamilton Music Awards, millions of YouTube views, frequent spins on idobi Radio, top 10 placement on campus radio, and fans from around the world brandishing his lyrics as tattoos, Novelli’s fanbase has always consisted of a dedicated core following him since his initial rise on MySpace with the release of the debut acoustic solo EP The Overture in 2006.

Novelli’s latest effort, The Reimagining, Vol. 1 seems simple enough: seven tracks from across the celebrated alt pop rock artist’s discography, reimagined in acoustic form. But don’t be fooled – this EP is much more than just a collection of bare-bones renditions with an acoustic guitar in hand. Novelli has breathed new life into the songs, pulling back the blazing electric guitars and pounding drums of their original arrangements to reveal the intimacy and melancholy that lays beneath.

As he does on all of his releases, Novelli wrote every song and performed every instrument, even embracing the challenge of arranging a string trio on each track for the first time. And as his musical journey over the years has taken him from solo acoustic performances to an expansive full band sound, this EP sees him embracing his roots while reinvigorating his back catalogue. It’s a nod to the past while looking steadily forward to what the future holds.

The EP serves as the perfect bridge between his debut album and upcoming sophomore record due in 2023 and it’s clear that listeners are hungry for new music – the new album’s crowdfunding campaign hit 100% in just three days. The Reimagining, Vol. 1 is both a celebration of where Novelli has been and a taste of where he’s going next – as well as a reminder that wherever that road takes him, passionate emotionally honest music will always be the destination. 

In recent years, Novelli has pursued additional interests with projects Bridge The Atlantic and Crazy Vegan. The former is a remote artist-on-artist podcast featuring interviews with various artists, co-founded and co-hosted by Novelli and music web designer, Ross Barber-Smith, in 2014. The latter is a lifestyle focused endeavor launched in 2017 in which Novelli shares the spotlight with his three young children featuring recipe videos and vegan nutrition related content. Both projects were put on an indefinite hiatus in 2018 and resurrected in 2023.

Ross Barber-Smith

Co-Founder & Co-Host

Despite being a huge fan of Final Fantasy, Ross Barber-Smith is awful at video games. It’s lucky, then, that this Scottish dude chose a career in music-based web design instead, as he’s winning at that every single day.

Having dedicated his life to helping artists turn their passion for music into a viable career opportunity – via a course in Popular Music Performance at university – he launched Electric Kiwi in 2011 and has been helping bands and musicians from all over the world stand out online ever since.

No artist is too big or small. From independent musicians to Billboard-topping Hollywood stars (Mathew Knowles, The Isley Brothers, The Overtones, and more) as well as various alumni of the Eurovision Song Contest (which, by the way, he’s a huge fan of), Ross has worked with them all on a range of projects, from designing websites to creating artwork for album covers.

His wealth of experience as a music-based web designer has scored him coverage on respected music media outlets, including Metro UK, Cyber PR Music, Hypebot, TuneCore and The Six Minute Music Business Podcast.

He also co-hosts his own podcast, Bridge the Atlantic, with Canada-based singer/songwriter Marcio Novelli, in which they remotely interview musicians and entertainment industry professionals.

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