Show Of Hands

Jonathan Simkin has one of the most fascinating and multifaceted careers in the Canadian music industry. After starting as a criminal and refugee lawyer, he started a relationship with Nickelback leader Chad Kroeger, first acting as their lawyer then joining up to co-found Vancouver’s 604 Records, which has become one of the country’s leading indie labels. Now, he’s instrumental in label operations, artist management, comedy, catalogue growth, audiovisual production and even podcasting, with I Hate Simkin, one of the rare few no-BS music industry podcasts. This has been a good year for both developing and established talent, with rising act Fionn topping the Billboard Canada Modern Rock Airplay chart for multiple weeks in 2025 and The Organ winning the Polaris Heritage Prize for their influential cult classic Grab That Gun. He even worked a Nickelback song again, helping usher the band to No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock chart with their 2026 Wrestlemania theme song “Bones For The Crows” being released independently. Things have a funny way of coming full circle.