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The Tragically Hip Top Forty Countdown: Song 18 — Claire from Ann ArborHey, it's jD. And welcome to the wide open middle of the countdown — that beautiful, feral terrain where deep cuts go to become legends and personal faves start to collide with consensus picks.This week on The Tragically Hip Top Forty Countdown, I'm joined by one of our most thoughtful and eloquent membersHIPers: Claire from Ann Arbor. We talk about discovering The Hip as a millennial from the U.S., falling hard thanks to Hockey Night in Canada, and how a steady diet of CBC and her dad's hockey tapes led her straight to 50 Mission Cap. (That's right — before she even knew the song, she knew the legend of Bill Barilko. That's parenting done right.)But what really makes this one hit different? Claire's lived experience as a disabled fan navigating concerts, fandom, and feeling safe in the crowd. Her reflections on inclusivity, identity, and finding community through The Hip are honest, funny, moving, and — in true TTHTop40 fashion — a little nerdy in the best possible way.We're not just counting down songs here. We're collecting stories. Claire's is one you'll be glad you heard.
The Tragically Hip Top Forty Countdown: Song 19 – Jeff from BellevilleWelcome back, Hip faithful. This week on the Countdown, I'm joined by one of our most beloved Sunday Evening Jam regulars — the witty, wise, and wonderfully loquacious Jeff from Belleville. You know him. You love him. And if you've ever caught a live stream where he was in the comments, you've probably laughed out loud.But today? Today, we go deeper.Jeff takes us back to his teenage years, up in a century-old Belleville coach house where Road Apples first took hold and never let go. From bootleg tapes and roadside attractions to mosh pits, surprise shows, and backstage encounters — Jeff's Hipstory spans 31 shows and countless life moments tied to the soundtrack of this band.Along the way, we talk memory, meaning, and mortality — including the two cardiac arrests Jeff survived (yes, you read that right), and the unexpected video message he received from Paul Langlois while recovering. This episode reminds us why we do this show in the first place: for the love, for the connection, for the community.We even get a bonus English Lit breakdown of King Lear — and how defiance, irony, and Shakespearean tragedy might be woven into one of the Hip's most poetic tracks. (And yeah, we manage to keep the actual title of that track on the DL. You're welcome.)
“March 25 1995”A Tragically Hip Top 40 Countdown PodumentaryOn March 25, 1995, The Tragically Hip took the stage on Saturday Night Live — hosted by John Goodman and backed by fellow Canadian Dan Aykroyd. It was a monumental moment in Canadian music history, beamed out to the world.To mark its 30th anniversary, we're proud to release our first-ever Podumentary (that's a podcast/documentary hybrid — and yes, we're proud of the portmanteau).This audio time capsule features:• Behind-the-scenes insight into how the SNL appearance happened• Fan memories from basements, bars, and bedrooms across the country• Commentary from Robbie Baker, Billy Ray, Gord Sinclair, and more• A look at Grace, Too and Nautical Disaster — two bold setlist choices still debated to this day• Goosebump-worthy nostalgia and rare trivia (like Gord flubbing the first line — and making it better)Plus, details on our upcoming live event:
The Tragically Hip Interview Series 002Welcome back to The Tragically Hip Interview Series! Episode 002 is a jam-packed double feature that's sure to delight any fan of The Tragically Hip and beyond. This episode showcases TWO incredible conversations that explore the intersections of side projects, legacy, and the evolution of Canadian rock.First, jD and Greg LeGros dive into the creative world of Stripper's Union, the side project of Rob Baker of The Hip and Craig Northey of Odds. Together, they break down the band's unique sound, discuss their albums Local 518 and The Deuce, and highlight hidden gems like “Shake It Off” and “The Bear.” Learn how these musical veterans brought their distinct talents together in a polished, boundary-pushing collaboration.Next, jD is joined by Pete Marchica and Tim from Portland for an intimate chat with Gord Sinclair. Gord opens up about his solo career, his innovative recording process using a mobile Airstream studio, and what it's like playing alongside his son. He also shares heartfelt reflections on The Hip's journey, the challenges of the live music scene, and the enduring power of music to connect us.Time Stamps:• [11:00] Exploring Stripper's Union: Rob Baker's creative partnership with Craig Northey.• [26:07] Robbie Baker takes the mic in “Sweet and Low.”• [56:27] Nostalgic dive into 80s and 90s Canadian rock, including The Odds and Doug and the Slugs.• [1:30:25] Rob Baker on balancing side projects and the legacy of The Tragically Hip.• [2:01:11] Gord Sinclair on Canadian music, touring challenges, and his Airstream studio.• [2:07:14] Insights into the Kingston music scene and must-see spots for Hip fans.
Gord Sinclair joins the Groove Podcast to discuss The Tragically Hip's lost recordings, their legacy, the stories behind their iconic music, and more.
ABOUT GORD SINCLAIR: Musician, bassist and songwriter from Canadian rock icons The Tragically Hip. Sinclair is also a solo artist and released the album "In Continental Drift" in 2023. 2024 marked the 40 year anniversary of aforementioned Tragically Hip and the new documentary "No Dress Rehearsal" premiered. ABOUT THE PODCAST: Candid discussions with and about those behind the scenes in the music business including industry veterans representing the segments of: Musician, Design & Live ABOUT THE HOSTS: All three Music Buzzz Podcast hosts (Dane Clark, Hugh Syme and Andy Wilson) have spent their careers working with the biggest names in entertainment and have been, and still are, a fly on the wall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Tragically Hip Interview Series 002Welcome back to The Tragically Hip Interview Series! Episode 002 is a jam-packed double feature that's sure to delight any fan of The Tragically Hip and beyond. This episode showcases TWO incredible conversations that explore the intersections of side projects, legacy, and the evolution of Canadian rock.First, jD and Greg LeGros dive into the creative world of Stripper's Union, the side project of Rob Baker of The Hip and Craig Northey of Odds. Together, they break down the band's unique sound, discuss their albums Local 518 and The Deuce, and highlight hidden gems like “Shake It Off” and “The Bear.” Learn how these musical veterans brought their distinct talents together in a polished, boundary-pushing collaboration.Next, jD is joined by Pete Marchica and Tim from Portland for an intimate chat with Gord Sinclair. Gord opens up about his solo career, his innovative recording process using a mobile Airstream studio, and what it's like playing alongside his son. He also shares heartfelt reflections on The Hip's journey, the challenges of the live music scene, and the enduring power of music to connect us.Time Stamps:• [11:00] Exploring Stripper's Union: Rob Baker's creative partnership with Craig Northey.• [26:07] Robbie Baker takes the mic in “Sweet and Low.”• [56:27] Nostalgic dive into 80s and 90s Canadian rock, including The Odds and Doug and the Slugs.• [1:30:25] Rob Baker on balancing side projects and the legacy of The Tragically Hip.• [2:01:11] Gord Sinclair on Canadian music, touring challenges, and his Airstream studio.• [2:07:14] Insights into the Kingston music scene and must-see spots for Hip fans.
ABOUT GORD SINCLAIR: Musician, bassist and songwriter from Canadian rock icons The Tragically Hip. Sinclair is also a solo artist and released the album "In Continental Drift" in 2023. 2024 marked the 40 year anniversary of aforementioned Tragically Hip and the new documentary "No Dress Rehearsal" premiered. ABOUT THE PODCAST: Candid discussions with and about those behind the scenes in the music business including industry veterans representing the segments of: Musician, Design & Live ABOUT THE HOSTS: All three Music Buzzz Podcast hosts (Dane Clark, Hugh Syme and Andy Wilson) have spent their careers working with the biggest names in entertainment and have been, and still are, a fly on the wall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Send us a textRob Baker of The Tragically Hip joins Matt to discuss the 35th anniversary of the band's 1989 debut, Up to Here, which is being celebrated with a lavish box set featuring a wealth of previously unreleased content. The box set is available today digitally and will be released in a variety of physical formats on Nov. 15. You can order your copy of the box set here.The conversation with Rob was wonderfully free-flowing and numerous topics are discussed, including of course, stories from the time period that Up to Here was in the works. But also, Rob and Matt dig into the band's early struggles before they secured their first label deal, the challenges they've had in locating and preserving their archival material, recording in unique locations and even a humorous Rush story, just to name a few things.In addition to the new box set for Up to Here, fans can also enjoy No Dress Rehearsal, the new four-part documentary on Amazon Prime. There's also a new book. So it's a good time to be a fan of the Tragically Hip and it was a real pleasure to speak with Rob to hear some stories. Fellow longtime fans will enjoy this conversation and we appreciate Rob's time!P.S. Our comrade Allison Rapp also had a recent conversation that will be of interest to Hip fans. She spoke with bassist Gord Sinclair to discuss his love of Joni Mitchell's music for her Joni podcast and it's a chat you won't want to miss!Support the show
No Dress Rehearsal is a 4-part documentary about one of Canada's most-loved rock bands - The Tragically Hip. The film premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Sept 5, and has been screening at Film Festivals around the country. It is now available to stream on Amazon Prime. The Tragically Hip rose to rock stardom in the late 80s and early 90s. They toured and recorded relentlessly, and by the late 90s, they were practically a household name. To the great delight of their fans, they showed no signs of stopping. Ever. Then, in 2015, the band's iconic lead singer—Gord Downie—was diagnosed with incurable brain cancer. He passed away in October, 2017, and a nation mourned the loss of a musical icon, cultural mentor, and cherished storyteller.The film highlights the endurance of the musical bond, and the mutual love and respect that developed over 30+ years that the band created, recorded, and toured together. The loss of Gord Downie dealt a massive blow, but through the empathetic lens of the film's director Mike Downie (Gord's brother), the remaining members of the band—Paul Langlois, Rob Baker, Gord Sinclair, and Johnny Fay—have found a way to tell the story of Gord and The Hip in their own words. The documentary features rare archival footage, plus candid interviews with band members, family, friends, and colleagues. It is a heartfelt and honest portrayal of life, loss, and love. Above all, it's about the power of music, and the ways in which Gord Downie was able to captivate, motivate, and inspire. In this interview, host Jane Gowan speaks with Director Mike Downie and drummer Johnny Fay about the film, the band, and their beloved departed brother and bandmate, Gord. More InfoThe Tragically HipNo Dress Rehearsal (on Amazon Prime)The Downie & Wenjack FundMusic samples in this episode:"Ahead By A Century" - The Tragically Hip (Trouble At The Henhouse, 1996)"Fiddler's Green" - The Tragically Hip (Road Apples, 1991)"Little Bones" - The Tragically Hip (Road Apples, 1991)"About This Map" - The Tragically Hip (Now For Plan A, 2012)"Are We Family" - The Tragically Hip (In Between Evolution, 2004)"Looking For A Place To Happen" - The Tragically Hip (Fully Completely, 1992)"My Music At Work" - The Tragically Hip (Music @ Work, 2000)"It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken'" - The Tragically Hip (In Violet Light, 2002)"The Stranger" - Gord Downie (Secret Path, 2016)"The Lonely End of the Rink" - The Tragically Hip (World Container, 2002)Plesae help support the pod with a donation. Any amount helps! MUSIC BUDDY IS:Jane Gowan (host, producer, editor) ; Tim Vesely (co-producer)The show's theme song, "Human Stuff," is written by Jane Gowan and Tim Vesely, and performed by Jane and Tim, with additional vocals by Steve Wright and Connie Kostiuk STAY IN TOUCH Email: jane@musicbuddy.caInstagram: @musicbuddypodcastFacebook: @musicbuddypodcastTwitter: @janegowanTikTok: @musicbuddypodThis podcast is brought to you by Morning Run Productions.
The Tragically Hip have been called the most Canadian band in the world. Now, a new four-part documentary series called “The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal” gives the most extensive look into the band ever put on screen. It's directed by filmmaker Mike Downie, who's the older brother of The Hip's late frontman, Gord Downie. The series kicked off the Toronto International Film Festival in advance of its Prime Video debut next week. Mike along with band members Johnny Fay and Gord Sinclair sit down with Tom to talk about it.
jD, Dan from London, Pete and Tim are joined by a very special guest on this episode that is dedicated to the new reissue of Phantom Power for its 25th anniversary.And make sure to listen to the VERY END!Transcript:[0:05] On August 31st, 2023, The Tragically Hip dropped the first track from the Phantom.[0:12] Power 25th Anniversary box set, a song called Bumblebee.I will always remember this day because my friends Dan from London, Pete and Tim were in Toronto for our big live finale and the four of us were off to Kingston to visit the Bad Houseand sightsee the tragically hip scenes in Kingston.The first thing we did inside the car was fire up Bumblebee.It was so odd to hear something so familiar but so new to my ears.I hadn't heard this melody or these bending guitar licks before and I wanted more.[0:53] Lucky for us there are several other tracks included on this box set.Songs we either hadn't heard, or maybe we've heard snips and pieces of in live performances, or maybe on a bootleg.And of course there are complete song ideas that wound up on Gord's first solo record, Coke Machine Glow.There is also a fantastic live show from Pittsburgh, demos, and alternate versions of songs that did make the final cut.In essence, this is an exciting time to be a hip fan.Although we are all collectively gutted that we'll never see our boys on stage again, as long as I've been a hip fan, I've clamored for these songs that somehow wound up on the cuttingroom floor.And I'm sure you have too.[1:41] Today we'll get a sense of what Dan, Pete, and Tim think of the Reissue and we'll speak with a very special guest about the making of this spectacular box set and so much more.So sit back, relax, and let's start getting hip to the hip.Track 4:[2:23] Hey, it's Shadeen here and welcome back to Getting Hip to the Hip.This is an out-of-sequence bonus, episode for everyone.We are going to be talking today about the box set of Phantom Power, and I am joined as always by my friends Pete and Tim, and today's special guest again, Dan from London. How's itgoing, everybody?Well, Dan got his ears lowered, looks like Dan got his ears lowered.Yeah, I lost some hair over the course of the last thing, yeah.He was shorn. Maybe it was his younger brother stepping in. Yeah.[3:07] So fellas, when we last left off and we talked about Phantom Power, I recall the conversation really revolving around fireworks.You guys both really loved that song.Something On was a little underwhelming for you.You got into Poets, you thought that was a good kickoff and here we are just like six months after, not even six months, like four months after releasing that episode and The TragicallyHip goes out and releases a 25th anniversary box set of Phantom Power.So we thought it would be cool to get the band back together and talk about that for a little bit.And we'll be joined by a very special guest who we won't reveal quite yet.Is there anything that in particular, Pete or Tim, you remember about your experience with the record, thinking back, and Dan, for you following one of them, what was your experiencewith the record in general?[4:24] Um, it's funny because I went back and I found my notes from the original and it's it's just crazy to look at.It's like it's a it's a time it's a time capsule because, yeah, there were certain songs that was like, this is good.And like and now I look at, like, some of the songs that I was.[4:44] You know, Gugu and Gaga over and I love fireworks, but I mean, by by and far, you know, Bob Cajun is probably one of the most just, I mean, it's on loop in my home.So many, so many days. She also listens to it as well, right?Oh, yeah, she absolutely loves that song. We're listening to the live version today, we went for a hike.[5:07] And Cherrigan Falls. Poets is like, I think didn't, didn't, goodness, 50 Mission, didn't they?They came out with Poets when they played the live event.That song just, I had like one line written for that song. And this is the line, this is how sad it is. Dig it.Verse phrasing is key to the song. Lines go to the next measure.Layers and guitars. Nice. Now I'm just like, I hear that song.And I just fucking stop what I'm doing. And I just like, I fucking love that song.It's crazy how this album grew on me like a fucking virus. It's amazing.Timmy? Great. Yeah. Great, great question, JD, for sure.I mean, there's still a few on it that I'm not a super fan of, just to start off being negative here.Like, the rules to me is still a yawner, you know, but like, I kind of dig Chagrin Falls more than I did last time.I don't think I was anti, but in Emperor Penguin, I've read so many times across platforms that people love Emperor Penguin, and that song's slowly growing on me too. It's one of myfaves.There's still some really good ones in there.[6:31] Thompson Girl I could still live without. That's another one that grew on me, Timmy. I feel you, but I grew on it.With the new songs, and this is a question for a few minutes ahead, but somebody asked with the new songs, are any of those potential replacements for what's on the original?Oof. So yeah, that got me thinking a little bit.Tim, why do you always have to embroil things in controversy?I mean, that just is a controversial question.I mean, probably because of aliens, I guess. Oh, stop it.[7:15] Dan, what did you think of Phantom Power? I mean, Phantom Power is an absolute solid album.It's just a kicker, isn't it? I mean, I always love something on, I think it was the first track I got into off the album and I still absolutely love it. I think that song kicks ass.Something about the bass drum and the bass just driving it and the timing is just fantastic.Obviously, yeah, Bob Cajun.That always used to come on at a certain point on my commute when I was arriving at a certain station and I now still have overwhelming feelings when I pull into that station.[8:02] I can't believe how big a song can be, how overwhelmingly amazing a song can be.But yeah, I mean, the other stuff, I mean, Escape is at hand, I think, is just my favorite track on the album.You know, again, it's a whole other different story and different sentiment that it carries.And I don't know, I think that is a Bob Cajun and Escape is at hand, I think that just works a genius.And I can't say much more than that.Yeah. You know, the loss related with Escape Is At Hand is so relatable for me. And probably everybody.But I tend to live with you, Dan.I think Escape At Hand is... There's something about that song that just hits home, I think, probably for most people.[8:58] Maybe not sociopaths. I don't know. Maybe not.I think, Dan, you hit on the point. It's crazy how songs, even if you listen to them and enjoy them, it's like they get to a point where you've listened to them so many times, and perhaps thesame situation, like you said, pulling into that particular tube station or whatever it is, that maybe you don't hear it for a while, but then you hear it again, And, and just like a flood ofmemories and images come back.Just weird how the human brain works, man. I mean, this summer, we were go, go ahead.I mean, I just, I was just gonna say also in terms of that as well, it's the same station that I come into, I used to come into every time Fiddler's Green came on as well.So there's a time in all the albums where some of this stuff happens.[9:49] That's cool. That's cool. So have any of you guys had a chance to listen to the bonus tracks or the outtakes or the live show or any of it?And if you haven't, that's cool.All of it. All of it? Yeah. Yeah.I'm just happy to have more live music from these guys.For the obvious reason. It's a nice sounding show. So I read some kind of critique, so it's not the best sounding live show they played. I mean, who cares?I'm just happy to have more live music. That's an easy go-to wherever I am, in the car, on a plane, whatever.So as far as the new songs go? Yeah, back to your question.Yeah, I dig most of them. What's the best of the bunch? Eh, I don't know, I'm not there yet, I wouldn't say I'm there yet, I kinda like them all for different reasons.[10:52] Vegas Strip may be the least, but I like all these songs. I haven't gotten to it yet.It's my least favorite, but I still really like it.Yeah, like Songwriters Cabal isn't my favorite, but I love that song.Mystery, just lastly. Mystery is kind of a phenomenal ending to this group of songs.It's just this somber kind of tearjerker.Yeah, that was that was a happy listen. Joy meant either you fellas dabble.[11:31] I dabbled today and a couple of days last week, not yesterday, but I think Thursday and Friday in the fly stuff, which I concur with Timmy, I just love the live shit and I don't give afuck If it was a, you know, if it was a tape recorder jammed behind a, you know, bathroom stall and you got it picked it up in the background.It's just cool to hear this band live, but I loved it. Um, of the new tunes.I agree. I'm not there yet, but I, I got, um, I did hear bumblebee a lot when that came out, cause that dropped first, if I'm not mistaken, right. It dropped the day we went to Kingston.Kingston.So we got to it on the way to Kingston. That was fun. That's right.But I would say of the new tracks, I think the strongest one is Insomniacs. Me too.I just think it's very brawling, fucking harking back, just cool, fucking, just has that cool, easy, fucking hip, early shit to it.Early feels to it. Yeah, you know, has the road apples feel to it or something.Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I agree with that. I like that too. I could be swayed.[12:50] Okay. Dan? Yeah, and I mean for me, I've listened to the extra tracks.I mean, I still love Bumblebee.[13:04] There's something about that with the guitar bends, that like, I mean, I think we next sort of hear those kind of guitar bends on my music at work.Something very similar happens towards the end of that, doesn't it?But in terms of the live stuff, there's a few little things going on in there.I mean, obviously, when you get down to 100th Meridian, there's a kind of improvised extract of Bumblebee in there, which is fantastic.And also, in the Chagrin Falls live version, he breaks into Born Free, but in the alternate version of Chagrin Falls, he's singing Chagrin Falls with a Born Free kind of lilt to it.So there's these kind of little parallels between some of the stuff that's been chosen, I think.Yeah, so maybe that's the reasons for some of those selections.Yeah. To you for choosing this live this light those like cuts you mean I Think so. Yeah.Yeah. Yeah, there's definitely some some thread woven throughout.Yeah Too bad. We don't have anybody to ask We might get some insight from our special guest Yeah, we should kick to him right now.We'll go to a song and then we'll come in with our special guest Johnny fucking thing.Track 6:[17:35] Hello, hello, hello, hello, I hear you guys now. There we go. Oh good. Am I good?Am I good? Yeah Hello Hi johnny Good doing well Sorry about that Hi, that's my fault. Not yours.I'll take full credit for that We're just waiting for one more to join Okay, he's uh in the waiting room now.Oh, there he is amazing how everything just Clicked and then johnny came on because we were having some severe problems, Dan, can you hear us? Yeah, absolutely. Awesome. Can youhear me? Yeah. Grant.[18:18] How you doing technically there, Danny? Good. Can you hear me?I can hear you. I can see you.Perfect. So then are you done? Are you done taking the McDonald's in London?London? London. Yeah. Yeah. My dad, my dad's hometown. He's from Woolwich.Woolwich, really? Yes. Oh yeah. South of the river. And we got to Canada and some friends would say, are you from London, Ontario or London, England?And my dad would just shoot back, he'd go, there's only one, London.Ooh. Although they have a Thames where the Canadian one. Ooh. Anyway.[18:59] That's beautiful. Isn't there in London, Missouri or something, too? There's a London... Oh, they're all over the place.Yeah. What's the deal with that? What's the deal?I think there's one in India also. You can't throw a shoe without hitting a London, is basically what you're saying. Yeah.All right. Well, let's get things on the road here.Johnny, just a brief introduction. We've ran a podcast from May 2, 4 to Labor Day this summer, where I took my friends that have never heard of the hit before. One is in Spain, Malaga.One is in Portland, Oregon. That's Tim and that's Pete, who is from Spain.And then Dan is from London.And we took them through a record a week, starting with the Baby Blue record and working up to Man-Machine Poem and just.[19:54] Inculcated them into the world of Tragically Hip.We ended up with a big party at the end downtown at the Rec Room.We raised like almost four grand for Donnie Wenjack.Oh that's amazing. Incredible.Yeah, so that's our story. I'm sorry I had to get the The music stuffed down your throat like that.[20:19] Can you imagine doing it, Johnny, like of a band that you've never heard of, right?And I've heard of you guys, but like never heard of you guys. I mean, I never heard it.But it's crazy how we did get it literally shoved down our throats.And now we were going back today talking about Band and Power, about what our first reactions were for it.And even compared to now, how much everything's just grown on us.It's just like, and we're diehard fans now, but go back a year from today, we didn't know. That's incredible.Wow. It's crazy, man. Thanks for sticking with it. It's not always easy.My Spotify algorithm is still totally convoluted, but a lot of a lot of hit playing in there.So Johnny, let's start at the start and get to know a little bit about you as the drummer of The Tragically Hap.And youngest member of The Tragically Hap. That's right, that's right. It's a dig.[21:27] It's Gord Sinclair's birthday today, right? It is indeed.Yes. Yes. I had dinner with him and Paul the other night in Toronto, and we had a nice evening.And, you know, we're 40 years young next year.I was in high school when we started, and I guess here we are.Wow. Wow. Who, before you got into the band and as you guys were forming, um, you know, your sound and your, you know, cadence, who were your big influences?I've, I know Stuart Copeland came up at one point. Oh, without a doubt.Yeah. I've heard a story about an exam or something like that, that you missed.That's correct. Yeah, that's correct. Uh, and we later ended up working with Hugh Padgham, the great British producer. and Synchronously was coming out and it came out on the daybefore my.[22:29] My math exam for Mrs.Griffordy and Lynn got this record and I listened to it.I'd heard Every Breath You Take on the radio, but then when I heard Synchronicity II and just the blistering drumming of Stuart, I just had to drink it all in.I remember making the decision. I was like, I can listen to this record, I can study for the exam.If I don't study for the exam, I'm going to summer school, which I did.And then I took one day off to go see them at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, but it was worth it because that was, that was really my education was living, eating and breathing.And if you were a drummer in the eighties, who, uh, the guy, he was instantly identifiable by a snare drum.Um, just the hit one snare drum, there was Stuart Copeland.So, And this was an era of drum machines, don't forget, this was Len drums and sequencers, and I loved all that stuff too, absolutely did, but to be on the radio, and Stuart was it, he was,and I'm still finding things out about him, that he held the drumstick between two fingers, he didn't hold it, he held it up here.[23:48] Instead of the two fingers, which is the traditional way to hold the drumsticks.But he invented a way to play and invented a kit, which was a sound, you know.And he really, I can't say enough things about Stuart Copeland.Yeah, he's amazing. But I'll also listen to Alan White of Yes, who was fantastic. and of course, you know, Neil Peart, Bob Rush.That's a pretty good pedigree.Well, you try and take a little bit from each guy, you know, you don't want to be a lab rat. You don't want to copy them.You want to just take all the little things you like the right hand from this guy, this snare drum from that guy, the bass drum.And of course, the great I saw him the other day, the Manu Katché, Peter Gabriel's drummer, who is the Picasso on the drums. He has hands down, Art Picasso on drums.High praise. Dan?Yeah, so yeah, those are your sort of past influences. But who do you enjoy listening to now? Who does it for you now?Well, it's really funny because what's on my turntable right now is Heavy Weather by.[25:12] Weather Report and I'm listening to Jaco Pastorius.I'm trying to get as much of him into me because he was the guy really, you know. You hear Geddy Lee talk about him, you hear.So I'm listening to a lot of bass players these days and loving it.So that's what's going on.[25:36] I gotta I gotta ask you, just because you mentioned synchronicity, this is just a this is just a note.And if you didn't know it, then I think we brought it up with Paul.But do you know that that record had 33 different covers?[25:53] I did, yes I did. I didn't know that I thought it had.I thought it had. Well, I guess it would because each guy was sort of on one of the strips and it changed.But I didn't know there were 33. 32 or 33. But yeah, it was when I found and some some versions are rarer than others. But that record is.And that song Mother is just nuts. And isn't Stewart Copeland singing that song?No, that song is Andy Summers, and I heard a story, they did part of it in the Moran Heights in Montreal and the engineer asked Hugh if he could bump himself off a cassette in the day.In those days there was no internet so it was cool. The engineers usually got to be able to do that.Here's a record I'm working on, just happens to be with the police.And he asked Hugh Padgham if he could leave that song off.A lot of people hated it. It's a hard song to listen to if you're not into the record. You know, what went into the trash bin was I Burned For You, that was slated to go on that record.And think about how that would have, you know, from Sting's soundtrack work, would have changed that record. Totally.[27:22] I'm a little curious of then and now also, when you first started playing drums, I raised a drummer.I have a 21 year old who plays drums.Awesome. Actually, yeah, the past year or so he's been out of the country and he's been more focused on DJing, techno of all things.But he's, you know, can hear kind of a drummer influence. But anyways, you know, we got him on hand drums early and drum lessons early.And I lived through, you know, a drum set in the basement.Just anywhere you went in my house, you had to go outside or take a call.It was just, you know, what was it like for you in your early years playing drums? Like what pushed you over to the drum set or being interested in it? And...Conversely, do you still play now? Do you still have access to a drum set or a drum set at home?[28:13] Great questions. Number one, my brothers had a friend who had a drum set and they said to me, they went and got the snare drum and they said, we'll get you the snare drum.And after a year, if you're still playing, we'll go get the rest of the drum kit.And I'm still playing. And so they Then I had an eye injury, which for three weeks I had both eyes sort of closed off with cotton batting.And it was a really weird, weird accident.I still, when I'm explaining it to people, my dad was on the phone.He was a pediatric cardiologist and he was talking to the hospital and we were at a friend's house.And it had this jar of erasers and pens and pencils and elastics and he was talking and I remember he had his hand on my head like that and I grabbed an elastic band and a pen, and I shotthe pen into my eye and yeah it was very bizarre I thought it was shooting at the other end so it went right in and I remember my dad saying to my mom don't touch it leave it leave it andshe was trying to pull it out and so I went in and my sense of hearing was heightened.[29:33] I could hear my dad walk down the hall after he had his morning rounds.I could hear the cadence of his footstep and so you know for that three weeks where I was unable to see, it just kicked that.At about seven years old into a different gear for me. I started hearing rhythm everywhere.As you do with your indicator of your car, to industrial sounds, trucks backing up. I can put a rhythm into it.Like your son, his, like you're saying about drumming, and now he's DJing, his internal clock is always going as a drummer because that's where it started. Absolutely.Yeah. So it's the same. Drummers are that way. You just pick those things up.And then second question. No, I'm not playing. I'm kind of doing what your son is doing with drum machines.But I have two drummers in the house, two nine-year-old boys.[30:29] And one is a lefty. And I would set a kit up for him and then my other son, Finn, and then I would forget about Willie.And then, so I just said, well, I'm going to set it up on the left for you because he has a great acoustic kit, a set of Gretsch 1960s.And now I play left because I'm not the drummer that I'm not, you know, I'm not that drummer anymore. So now I'm discovering all kinds of new things about playing on the left side, andleft-handed drummers I find are way more creative.It's funny you mentioned that because we often notice when I've gone to shows with my son, we'll just say immediately that guy's left-handed.You just see it like that. That's very cool.Ringo was left-handed, they say, and that's why no one could ever duplicate the way he got around the kit.Yeah. His left hand pushed his right hand, I think.Phil Collins, Ian Pace, they're not good drummers.They're incredible drummers. Those two guys for me, Ian Pace and Phil Collins.Phil Collins, the stuff that I listened to today, and I'm like, how is he doing that?How is he doing that? He was incredible.He really was. He is incredible.[31:48] Johnny, you've been hard at work on the Phantom Power reissue, the box set, the amazing box set.I got it last week, and it was so fun to open and just touch the vinyl, and the book that's inside is really wonderful.I'm just, I'm so curious what a project like that.[32:17] Entails like from a from a time perspective. And I know you guys are hard at work on another one for next year.Like, when does that begin? And what does that process even look like?Like, is it just climbing Everest or what?It's really fun. It's really great therapy for us.You know, we get to talk about the past and if one guy doesn't remember it, someone else will.We have weekly calls and it's fun.We didn't do any therapy after Gord passed away and we really should have.We have just all kind of dealt with things and I think really right now that this is our therapy.I'm in Toronto, so that's where the tapes are. I'm very happy to do it and we're digitizing things and Phantom Power was a different one because it was in different formats.It was on D88, little digital tapes.[33:11] DAT machines were around and kicking at that time.We also had our 2-inch machine and then Pro Tools, the dreaded Pro Tools was coming in.Well, you didn't have to make a decision and you could have a hundred tracks on something and and I was like the you know There was such economy when we were going to tape andAnd I really liked that.So, you know, if you look at the early records, we're still I, Think there's the most that we used was 18 tracks You know Don Smith would consolidate things and that was really a goldenperiod So, it's not as daunting as you think, it's been fun, it's been fun, it's been a discovery.[34:00] You know, to listen to some of those tracks and hear Gord Downie speaking in between takes is really these beautiful moments.So yeah, it's been a lot of fun.Robbie is in charge of the box set, putting it all together.So he's doing all of that stuff.And you know, Gord and Paul are very involved in it. But they have solo careers too.So, um, you know, uh, but we are, we're all together on this.Uh, it's not me, uh, just doing, um, the tape stuff there. They're involved in it too. Very cool.Yeah. I mean, I was going to ask in terms of the project from the offset, uh, you know, when you're going through the tapes and covering all of these tracks and these, these different takesof the tracks that you have, what, what shape, you know, with those tracks in, did they require a lot of work to get them up to spec, or was there anything that was kind of left off that was,you regard as pretty good, but it was still a bit too rough around the edges to include?[35:04] Well, if we did any editing back in the day, if it was tape, we would do chunk editing.We would take the ending of one, with the hip, we would play a tune, it'd be great, be great and we would get close to the end and then we'd anticipate the ending and I'd make the otherguy speed up so we get to it and then our producer would say well the ending of this one's good so let's take the last four bars so there we go there's the track.So they were in pretty good shape you know the tape that we got was really forgiving.The crazy thing is I heard about the Rolling Stones going back and doing stuff that they did in the early 60s.And the early 60s tape actually lasted better than the stuff they made in the 80s.They had to do very little to get them back into shape, which is cool.You got to bake them in what essentially is an easy bake oven for tapes at a low temperature and it just sucks all the humidity out.And so record companies are obviously very well prepared to do all that sort of stuff and then it's just digitizing them.But when you first have a go through the tape after it's been baked and it's coming off the head and going through a board at the studio, it never sounds better.You know and they shoot it over to Pro Tools and they say now we have it We've have it and I always say well it sounded better a few minutes ago when it was going through the machineand so, Yeah Tape is king.We lived in the Golden Age. We really did in the in the 80s and 90s When you when you still were spinning tape.[40:59] So I imagined with coming across tapes, you guys did so much work, you know, in the recording process that I imagined it was just so fun to go through. It has been.It was, you know, but, you know, talk about Bob Cajun being an example.We only really have two versions of that.[41:23] And Gord Sinclair and I had a conference and we were like, well, we can play that again and we can play it better. And we were like, yeah, let's do it.And so the version you hear is the demo version, really.It's just we said we would go back and address it later. I think we went on tour and then it was Steve Berlin listening to it, which was really cool because he he recognized you can't beatyour demo.And that's what bands try and do.And he was so smart with it. And he said, I'll let you play it again.But you're not going to beat this. It's just there's a vibe there.And Gordon and I were like, we're going to beat it. We're going to do it. And we never did.And so I always loved that, that he did that because as a producer, I wouldn't have done that.And I would have screwed it up if I was producing that record.And he had the brainpower and the knowledge and he'd made so many great records before that he just, he let us play it, but we never beat it.It's our biggest song, too. Well, we were talking before, I absolutely love that song.That song is the soundtrack of this past summer for my wife and I.You jammed it down her throat. Oh, yeah. She drank the Kool-Aid, man.Let me tell you. She sure did.I've tried. We're getting there.[42:46] That's the pocket of that song, in my opinion, and this is my opinion, and if Robbie was here, I'd maybe change it just to be sweet to him, but it's you and Gord.It's just that the pocket's so tight with that.But you said something earlier about tape, and I want to just touch on it real quick because you were talking about how they have Pro Tools and this and that, and how you would havemade a different decision with Bob Cajun.But we cut a record in this last March, our band, we did our second record.And the engineer was using Cubase, which is just another version of Pro Tools or whatever.You've got a million, you can do a million tracks. But like he was like, no, you're going to do this many. And I'm like, no, I don't like that.He's like, nope, that's it.Yeah, because you get to a point to where you could just you just go crazy.And you could do 25, 30 tracks, you know, on one take or 25, 30 takes.And it's just it's stupid at that point.You've got to appreciate the moment that it is, you know, whether it's, you know, you're never better than your demo, like you said. You know? Yeah.And and I don't know, I guess.[44:01] There was, and not to get off the topic of, of, of, of Phantom Power, but for me, and I know we all had this, this reaction.We felt like I felt like In Between Evolution was the Johnny Faye record.[44:17] Really? Yeah, and there's... I don't remember that record, really.Well, yeah, there's a specific thing. That's crazy because there there's at the end of certain songs, there's little, you know, hi-hat touch, there's a rimshot, there's just little sprinkles of youthat is the last sound you hear on multiple tracks and or, or the beginning of a track.And I'm like, I wonder if there's something to this, but they must have just been the take that you guys did and it's taking up, maybe so.That was confusing record.Well, it's interesting about the tape to dress the tape thing.Yeah. And you have limitations. You got to make decisions.Uh, and you know, and I didn't say that I read Keith Richard's book and he was like, give me eight tracks and I'll write you a hit.And, you know, when they went to 16, he was like, man, okay, but I can still do it. Nay. And it's true.Um, you know, that, that the a hundred guitar tracks or whatever, the layering and, and, uh, it's just, you know, it goes, just lets up on records, John Bonham.I worked with a guy named Terry Manning and he had, John Bonham got very upset with him because Terry Manning said to me, I was the guy who put the third microphone on thedrums, he didn't like that, he only wanted two.[45:36] Only wanted two. So yeah, Inbetween Evolution was, we worked with Adam Casper, he was fantastic, obviously he's a guy who worked with Pearl Jam and we were very chuffedabout working for him, with him.And we seemed to move around studios a lot.For me that was a little bit confusing, so I never knew what we really had in the can.And it was in Seattle, where I love. I absolutely love Seattle.And so that was cool to be there. But yeah, I don't sort of...It's just a record that's easy to associate with you.And I think at that time too, we were looking at videos. I remember talking about this video I saw of you.You were so in the friggin zone playing live.You broke a cymbal and somebody just came like middle of the song.You just kept going along, replace cymbal.That would be Mike Cormier. He was my drum check and he was amazing.He could tell when they were broken. He sort of mid-song and he'd say, should I wait for the end of the song? I was like, no, just get rid of it.[46:44] Yeah, you know, we're going through something now where we're going back even further and with Up To Here.And a question was asked earlier about is there some songs that were left off?And there was a song that was left off, Up To Here, and it's called Wait So Long. and it was a really, really special song.Our producer and his manager and some people at the record company really thought that that was the lead track.[47:15] It ended up being Blow It High Dough, I believe.Or New Orleans is sinking. But Wait So Long is a great track, and that will come out next year.Oh, that's exciting. We have a mix of it and everything from Don Smith, so that's fully intact.So when we looked through the tapes and thought, oh, what do we need to remix?There was that one, you know, the lettering. It was like, okay, we got that one.So that'll be great to get out.You know, hear what people think about that. So one of our go ahead, Judy.So I have an ammo system set up at home. So I've been listening to the mix and Dolby Atmos.And I'm just curious about how that works when you're when you're doing a mix of that because there are instrumentations and sounds that I've never heard in those songs before.And now all of a sudden, they're they're shooting over my head.And it's, it's really fucking tremendous. It's a great way to experience music.But I just wonder what it's like.Do you have a mixer that just takes care of that?Because I noticed there was there's three writing credits for mixers on the Yeah, on the album.So I'm just curious if one is just for Dolby Atmos, sir.Yeah, well, we had a guy in the first couple, I think he did Road Apples.[48:43] And his name is Rich Chicky, and you might know him because he's done all the Rush stuff.He's like the Rush in-house guy for Atmos.Since then, we've had our key engineer, Mark Braykin, has been doing the Atmos stuff because he built an Atmos room.[49:00] You're right on this one. Phantom Power has a lot of stuff. I was sitting in the back of the room when they were mixing that and it's like there's some backwards guitars and somestuff that just goes out and it makes sense.I'm not gonna lie, I'm not the hugest fan of, I get it, you know, let's send the hi-hat into outer space, changes the groove, changes the groove for a five-piece band, we're not gonna lie.[49:29] On an album like Road Apples, which Rich did, and he did a great job.I just don't get it. On Phantom Power, which would be the closest thing that we would ever have to Dark Side of the Moon, I get it.You sit in the back of the room and hear the backwards guitar or stuff swirling around. It's cool.But I know people want this in their headphones, but I guess I'm a little bit like Monomix guy.I don't mind that either. I love it. I love that. Yeah.Dan? I'm with you, Joni.[50:04] Coming back to the other aspect of the box set, which is the live recordings, I mean, what criteria do you sort of use for selecting the live recording?I mean, out of the three that have been, you know, re-released.[50:18] Obviously one was the Horseshoe, but the other two have been from, like, American venues.Would you perhaps, like, choose the American gigs because they might be lesser known to a predominant Canadian audience?Or, I don't know, how do you choose? We pick a gig that has fewer clams in it and less mistakes.We just kind of really, we really do.We did a live record called Live Between, it was way back in the day, and we argued about this.We had really sort of a good old fashioned fight about it.And Gord Downie wanted one from this place called the 40 Walk Club, which we'd listened to and it was a great, great version.It was a great night.And it's where REM, I think, got their start.And so we were sort of between that and another couple.[51:12] And then we ended up picking Detroit because it sounded good.Um, I think that's kind of what we go on when we're, we're picking these, um, these live, uh, albums and Gord Sinclair's son, um, is the one who really goes through them and says, there'ssomething here.He knows the hip really well. And so he really kind of directs us.So there's so many tapes out there. Um, and so he, he sort of says this one, um, from, uh, Chicago second night, a house of blues.This, this one's got something there. And so Colin Sinclair is really in charge of that.I don't think any other guy in the hip can take credit for it.[51:52] Can I just ask as well then, so what percentage of hip shows do you think were actually recorded, you know, documented?[52:00] It would depend on the period. One tour we went out with D88 machines, other eras we let people tape, like Fish Show or Grapevold Head, we would set up a little area where theycould get stuff off the board.That was cool. And there were some remote stuff, not a ton of 24-track, tape stuff. We would do stuff for Westwood One.Most of this stuff is going to be in-house, or a record company generated through a live truck, Usually in LA or New York, we have one coming up from a show we did in the States forRecord Day next year.Not a ton. There's not a ton. Two scoops in this session. That's great.That are coming out?[53:05] You mentioned Zeppelin too. I was going to ask you about Hedley Grange, but I forgot what I was going to say. You know where Bonham did that thing with the, for, for, um.[53:16] When the levee breaks, you know, yeah, they put the mics up on the stairs. God, that's so cool.But, but no, that was Jimmy. That was Jimmy Page. That was Jimmy Page doing that.He engineered page based on that. That's that's such a it's such a I mean, never in in history. Can anybody recreate that sound? I mean, it's just so cool.No, the sound of like a double bass almost, but people people don't understand that there's the economy of it.If you worked with one of These older guys, I always say that Don Smith was like Rudy Van Gelder, he got it.He knew, he kept on coming into the studio, back in the control room.He would make the live room, the studio sound, the control room sound like the live room. And he was constantly tweaking like that.[54:02] The guitar, if you listen to the Zeppelin, it's all the stuff that's implied in the chords I think.The drums are what everything is hanging off of. The guitars are really quite small, you know, you know, there's these these bands that came out in the 80s that were trying to be likeZeppelin, use 24 microphones on the drums.It sounded horrible, you know, and for John Bonham, it was just the way he played. He was really good.Incredible jazz sensibilities, an incredible groove. And he was able to move, you know, all four of those guys were spectacular.We went on the road with them. We went on the road with them, Paige and Plant, through the States, and it was incredible.[54:49] Yeah. Never a nicer, never a nicer guy than Robert Plant. He was so, so nice.Oh, yeah. That's that's, that's, that's amazing.Yeah, I'm a huge, I'm a huge Zep fan. But I just got to ask you real quick about the song Fireworks.Is there, there's got to be some Rush influence in that. I just hear so much like spirit of the radio in that tune.It's just such a, I think that when that song, when we heard that song on this record, Tim and I both, I was like, that was for our first favorite song on this record. Oh, that's sweet.[55:26] Don Smith's mix on the box set is really interesting.Because for Phantom Power, where we mixed it three different times.Yeah, I mean, Neil, I got to meet him a couple of times.He was obviously a huge influence and I would say, yeah, yeah.I went trick or treating as him one year. I crank called him.[55:50] Oh my gosh, amazing. Love Rush, man, love Rush.J.D. be mindful of the of the clock too on the thing. You're on mute.Yeah, we can't hear you, J.D.Oh, sorry about that, guys. I was just going to say we've got a minute 45 left of this session before it cancels out.So, Tim, if you've got a quick one and then we'll bid adieu.Well, I just had one of our pod listeners asked about Bumblebee and basically was like, why didn't this make the album?You know, this it could fit in there so well. So just a quick comment on that.And yeah, yeah, that was one that was that was on on the list.And I think it just, we just sort of Gord Sinclair was putting the sequences together for that.And it just for us, there was just something maybe missing. It's really great.[56:46] And I love the line when the moon's a water balloon.It just is so great. That's so Gord. You know, yeah.And I look at every time I look up at a supermoon and it looks like a water balloon. I think it's very cool.Well, it made the box set. So that's, yeah, that's important.Yeah. Well, Johnny, we really want to thank you so much for your time.It means a lot. And thank you gents for, for all your promotion to the hip. Our pleasure.Keep ramming, keep ramming it.Hopefully not your family. They love it too. It happens.Track 1:[57:29] Thanks for listening to Getting Hip to the Hip. Please subscribe, share, rate and review the show at gettinghiptothehip.com.Find us on Twitter and Instagram at gettinghippod.And join our Facebook group at facebook.com slash groups slash fully and completely.Questions or concerns? Email us at JD at getting hip to the hip.com.We'd love to hear from you.Track 6:[58:25] I can't wait for the music at work box set as well, just so you know, just so you know, we're dying for that one. Oh yes, please, please.I'll tell you, I'll tell you the one that I was listening to last night and the demos are really great and and I'm really pushing for this one is in violet light.Oh yes. Yeah. In violet light. The demos were just incredible.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gettinghiptothehip/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
jD, Pete, and Tim are in learning mode as they speak with Sarah Midanik from the DWF Don't forget to get your tickets to the event this coming Friday at gettinghiptothehip.comTranscriptTrack 2:[5:23] Hey, it's JD here and we are back with another episode in our Talking With series. So far we've talked with 50 Mission, Trevor Stickman, Paul Langlois, Gord Sinclair, and today we are really thrilled to be joined by the President and CEO of the Downey Wenchak Fund,which we are supporting with our event tonight, if you are listening to this on Friday, September 1st. We have with us Sarah Medanek and I'm really thrilled to have you here with us. How are you doing? Track 3:[6:03] I'm good. Thanks so much for the invitation to join. Track 2:[6:09] Yeah, we're thrilled to learn more about the organization and your role in it and all that good stuff. So without further ado, let's go. Tim, do you have anything? Hey, Sarah. Track 5:[6:22] Good to meet you. Yeah, I'm just curious about the kind of inception of the fund and how it all kind of began. I watched some of the videos on your site and read quite a bit. But I'm curious about how it all really, kind of the conversation started with Gord and then when you came along, if you don't mind touching on that. Track 3:[6:43] Yeah, for sure. So, I've had the great pleasure and slightly intimidating responsibility of being with the Gord Downie and Chani Wenjack Fund from the very beginning, so beforeGord passed. It was, you know, it was a really unique sort of moment in time. There was, of course, all of the momentum of the HIP's final tour and, you know, very public shout out to Trudeau around reconciliation by Gord to do more as Canadians and how wecould do better. Of course, that was coupled with the work being done by... [7:32] The Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the release of the 94 Calls to Action, and also the Secret Path Project, which tells the story of Chani Wenjack. And so Gord had done a series of concerts playing the Secret Path album with the Secret Path Band. And for anyone who hasn't seen The Secret Path, you can visit that material on an art website. It was, of course, became a series of poems which became the album, which became the graphic novel, which became the animated film. So there's a lot of really incredible material to visit there. And so there is sort of just a unique moment in time where there was a lot of momentum and a lot of, you know, people in Canada wondering what their role was in reconciliation andwhat they could do, to contribute in a meaningful way. And so that's really the root of Downy Wendjack is, you know, there is all this momentum and there is all these folks wondering what to do next and our programs and the work we do isreally based around that, the pillars of awareness, education, and action. [8:54] And so we have two national programs. One is Legacy Schools and so we are in 6,000 schools in every province and territory with over 7,000 educators and we provide them withfree educational tools and resources to be better equipped to teach about the true history and legacy of residential schools and the true history of Indigenous people in Canada, but to alsobe able to incorporate strength-based learning and Indigenous ways of knowing and being into core curriculars. Because you know there is sort of that, that sentiment, you know, well, we didn't learn about this in schools. There was still like back when we were getting started, I would say there was still a pretty big gap in people's general awareness and understanding around residential schools. And that'schanged a lot in the past five years. But curriculum doesn't necessarily get reformed that quickly. Track 5:[9:53] Right, right, yeah. Track 3:[9:57] So we still see the need, and of course we do lots of really cool stuff in the Legacy Schools program. We have the Artist Ambassador program, which brings Indigenous and non-Indigenous musicians, artists, role models into classrooms. And the Youth Ambassador program, which is a four-week leadership program that we run and every summer, we had 105 youth go through it this summer where they learn how to bechampions for reconciliation within their schools and communities. And we do a lot of programming in which we bring Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples together. We had a big music festival here in Toronto this spring called Siguan, which featured incredible Indigenous artists, and we always do a ton of programming for June, for NationalIndigenous History Month, and for Secret Path Week, which is coming up here right around the corner from October 17th till the 22nd, and of course, the National Day for Truth andReconciliation on September 30th. Track 2:[11:08] Wow, that is a lot. Track 3:[11:10] Well, that's just one program. We also have the Legacy Space Program. So when I talk about what we do at Downey Bunjack, I call it the sandwich, which maybe I should find something a bit more. Track 4:[11:24] Everybody likes sandwiches. What is wrong with a sandwich? Track 5:[11:28] We've had many food analogies on our show. Right? Track 3:[11:33] So it's through Legacy Schools, we educate the littles, the young people, so that the next generation of people in Canada understand the true history. But for those folks that are not in school, where do you learn? And that's often through your workplace and professional development opportunities. So the Legacy Space Program really leverages the concept of indigenous placemaking to create physical space within an organization, a corporation, a community that is representative ofthe internal commitment to do the work further reconciliation. And, you know, from a corporate standpoint, is that, you know, equity, diversity and inclusion, hiring and retention practices for Indigenous employees, you know, reconciliation plans,procurement, right, working with Indigenous businesses, so. I always say, you know, we educate the littles and we try and educate the bigs. And in the middle is all the, you know, fun stuff that we get to do in terms of, you know, amplifying Indigenous voices. Like we're taking over almost every radio station in Canada again this year on a day to listen, which will be September 30th. [12:52] Yeah, if you haven't checked it out, this will be our third year, which is very exciting. And we do a series of interviews that amplify indigenous voices each year. And they're, they're really powerful, powerful stuff. So I'd, I'd encourage everyone to check it out. Track 5:[13:12] Do you have any kind of standout examples? I don't know, in the past, you know, summer or this year of working with specific businesses, small businesses or specific schools, justto kind to give our listeners like an example of like anything that really pulled on your heartstrings of seeing action in work and just, you know, when you when you do volunteer time,you spend so much time on your own. And then when you kind of finally get out in the field and away from the computer, you get to experience some things. I'm just curious if you can give us like some standout example ofsomething that happened. Track 4:[13:48] Oh, gosh. Track 5:[13:48] Could you put you as many as him is my my questions are going to be super softball, so don't worry I was I was watching the the, the film last night the graphic novel film and youknow some of the interviewing at the end I think it was with Pearl, you know Pearl said Channy's sister right she said you know we need schools in all of our communities, not just publicschools like outside our own communities. We need schools within our own communities. She said a few things that just really made me, you know, kind of more realize what's been going on up there. And even from the U.S., you know, we never had heard of any of this stuff. Track 3:[14:36] Well, and it still happens, right? Like a lot of youth have to leave their communities to go to high school still in their village. The model, the experience that indigenous children experience in residential schools, that model still exists, but it's perpetuated in different systems, whether it's child welfare or justice, ormissing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Residential schools don't operate anymore technically, but how are there still those systems of oppression, right? And I think that's something that, you know, we try and help to unpack and, you know, the content that we share because, you know, when you look at, you know, the social indicators ofhealth for indigenous peoples compared to non-indigenous and the disparity is so great, you need to dig a little deeper and ask why, right? Track 5:[15:45] Sure, sure. Track 3:[15:46] Yeah. Track 4:[15:51] I... Oh, go ahead. Track 3:[15:51] Go ahead, I was going to say, but to answer your question about heartwarming examples, Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's tough, I think, for me to answer that question because literally every single day there's something that is just really beautiful. But maybe I'll just say it Because I flew back from summer vacation, my family lives in northern Alberta, and taking the UP Express from Pearson Airport. We have a partnership with Union Station, and we have a Legacy space there. [16:31] They're featuring an installation by one of our artist ambassadors, Blake Angeknyb. These incredible panels featured in Union until the end of October. The art is so beautiful and so powerful. There's actually a piece that he did of Gord in the series. Just seeing tourists, people not from Canada, but there's such high volume of traffic through Union Station, you know, interacting and learning and literally like tens of. [17:26] Thousands of impressions the opportunity to work with a partner like Union Station in a space like that. Because reconciliation isn't going to happen overnight. I always make the sort of joke that it's slow pressure applied over time, right? Like we're talking about systemic change. So, you know, creating these learning opportunities in our everyday existence. So it's not a question of are we contributing to reconciliation in a meaningful way? It's just a part of our practice. Track 5:[18:04] Yeah, that's great. Track 3:[18:05] That's great. Track 4:[18:09] I want to, I feel like I should break up some of the things I was gonna say to you and some of the things I wrote down, because I feel like it's just gonna be too much of a mouthful.And you'd be like, what was your question again? But I, so I haven't had time to watch the film yet. Because these jokers know I've been traveling all weekend. And I, I just, I'm going to probably watch it if I get a chance to download it on the plane when I'm on my way over to Toronto. But I've done a fair amount of research and I watched the ceremony where Gord was, I don't know how to properly say it, but invited into the community. Track 3:[18:51] Given a traditional name. Track 4:[18:57] Which like was a, you know, whatever. It was like a super, super duper emotional to even watch it. And a friend of mine had sent it to me. She's from, she's from Canada as well. And she, we talk about her on the show a lot. She's a huge hit fan. Sent it to me after the fact. And I was like, Barb, I've watched it. It's, it's just, and one of the things, sorry, this is a side note. Not related about what I was going to ask you but one of the things I loved about Gord's response in that video or when he spoke afterward he didn't say much and I think he was verycognizant of the situation in that a lot of people would go up there and kind of pontificate and make comparisons and say yeah this is like this and like but he kind of got the The fact that,like... He's like, there's nothing I can say. Like, in a sense of like, like, I can't even relate to some of the suffering, the things that have gone on. I'm just, you know, grateful to be invited into this community and to be a part of it and to do whatever he can. That was one of the cool things, side note. But what I, I guess what I was going to ask you was was because we've talked about it a lot on the pod. I don't know if you've ever, you're aware of at least the concept of this podcast and like, how it came about. Track 3:[20:23] I was creeping you guys this morning. All right, I got to listen to a couple. I got to listen to a couple. Track 4:[20:33] Well, because of JD, like, yeah, this is about the tragically hit, but like, you know, take the snowball effect over time. Like, I had no idea. I mean, honestly, I had heard mutterings on political podcasts and things that I listened to about reconciliation in Canada. But other than that, it's like a of the surface of what your average American would even know. It's like you hear something in passing at a coffee shop, and that's it. Other than that, I would have never known about the Downey Wendzik fund and all this story of Chani Wendzik, Nothing. I don't know, because I feel like Gord, especially when he called out Trudeau, at the concert, he looked right dead at him. [21:26] I took some guts, man. and you know, the call to action, which I love the education aspect of it, but I feel like that call to action is such an important factor when it comes to thework that you guys do. And like, you know, I guess my question is like, is, do you think, is there anything that you would think if like there's Americans listening to this right now we can do other than just talkto people and be like, Hey, do you know this story about this kid? Do you know, and like share it? Because we learned about it by listening to the tragically hip. That's the only other, there's no other reason we would have, we would have figured this out. Track 3:[22:10] And I mean, the experience of Native Americans, uh, is mirrored closely to to that of Indigenous people in Canada too, right? I would say, yeah, I find that in our work. So we have some of our legacy space partners, you know, have offices in the U.S. and, you know, our, you know, North American companies, I guess. And, you know, what's been expressed to us is just like how far behind work around reconciliation and even just any awareness at all of like the true history of indigenous or NativeAmerican people in Canada and the US. And I think, you know, there's really important work being done in the US too that I think will come to the forefront. It just it takes time, right? Like it's, you know, it's by design in terms of how that's been set up. That's right. But, you know, as Indigenous people, you know, as we become lawyers and doctors and politicians and you know, learn how to fight for, you know, rights and restitution,these things has come up. Track 2:[27:30] I really like, you know, you're talking about the call to action a minute ago, Pete, and I like the messaging around your current call to action, Sarah, the do something. The do something hashtag is like, I've used that in an email just that I sent out today, you know, reminding people of this event, that that's one way you can do something, You can come toour event or you can donate directly to Downey Wenchak Fund through a link that we have. What was the genesis of that sort of campaign and idea? Because it's very bold. Do something can be very bold, I think. I'm just interested in learning. Track 4:[28:21] It's sort of aggressive, which is maybe it's not by design, but it's good. I like it. Track 2:[28:26] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Track 4:[28:28] It's almost aggressive. Track 3:[28:31] I think there was sort of this feeling of like, well, you know, that happened a long time ago and you know, I was, I, I was not responsible for the creation of residential schools. So like, what is, what is my role or responsibility? And to that, I would argue, if you live in Canada, if you are part of this society, then you have something that you can do, and that social contract of what we all agree to live here together,that's part of it. And whether it's just learning so that you're a little less racist, a little less ignorant, it's not a bad thing. It's not harmful to you and it only creates a more just and equitable and safe society for indigenous peoples in this country. So, you know, the do something was A. Don't be immobilized by this sort of deferral of responsibility. Don't feel like you don't have a role to play or something to contribute. And seriously, do something because those small actions, we call them reconcili-actions or meaningful acts that drive... Track 4:[29:58] That's a cool, cool word, man. Reconcili-action. Track 3:[30:03] And it's, you know, it makes a difference, right? Even if it's just, you know, talking to your kids and finding out what they're learning in schools, or, you know, going, looking atwhat's happening in the company that you work for, or, you know, maybe just one of your buddies is, makes a slightly offside joke, and you're just like, dude, that's not okay, right? It's, you know, taking that step to, you know, lean into the discomfort and just do something that creates meaningful and positive change. Track 2:[30:38] Yeah, that's beautiful. Track 3:[30:42] And it's an excellent hashtag. Track 2:[30:43] It is an excellent hashtag. Yeah. Track 5:[30:47] That's good. I'm finding kind of a lot of what you're talking about being being executed the smartest way by younger people. You know, my son is basically studying sociology and social issues in university right now and he schools us all all the time. You know, it's just he born and raised in Portland, Oregon, probably the most progressive city in the US really. And it's just so reassuring to hear things from him. He had no idea about the indigenous struggles in Canada, but it wasn't necessarily news to him. He was kind of half expecting what I was talking about as I was talking about it. And it's just so good to share these ideas and share these issues, especially with the younger folks, because they're the ones who have to continue living it. Like you said, all of these things become pandemic across all these other issues. Even though the system may have ended, it's still alive. So it's so good to tap into the younger folks with all this stuff. It's just really. Track 2:[32:02] I've done all my learning through my oldest daughter. She's 13. So I'm one of those people, Sarah, who was like, my eyes were widened. And it was like, we didn't learn this in school, Riley. Like, we didn't, like, you're talking to me so matter of fact right now, and I'm so happy to hear you talking matter of fact, but it's like, Ididn't know any of this, you know? Track 4:[32:31] Sarah, I wanted to ask you something too, And this is more, and I don't know if this is like a. Opinion of like Donnie Wendjick or your opinion, or feel free to like, be like, this is Sarah speaking and not Donnie Wendjick's being or whatever, however, but I feel like, because youmentioned earlier about the, the kind of this, the same sort of dynamic in terms of the United States and indigenous Native Americans in the United States and, and kind of that struggle. But in terms of the call to action, and I'm sorry if this sounds like a very complex question, but I'll try to be articulate. [33:17] I think when it, because a lot of conversation that I see and occurs in the United States in terms of indigenous people, minority and underrepresented groups in the United States. A lot of times there's the education of it and I feel like the United States is more or less good at educating people and that awareness is there. But in terms of connecting the dots, there's not a really good way that we do it in in the United States. And one of the things that always comes to mind when I think about this issue is a speech that Martin Luther King gave at the Riverside Church one year to the day before he died, right? And you know who Martin Luther King is. You're not living under a rock, but I don't know how much you guys study him in your schools and who he was and what he was really actuallyabout, because they've got statues of him in Washington DC now, but during the time where he was most powerful, people hated him. [34:30] And this particular speech at Riverside Church, he talked about the relationship between the imperialist power of the United States and the military, and how that relationshipdirectly affected the oppression of minority and indigenous groups and civil rights in the United States. He made that connection. Whereas I don't think people, meaning that like, okay, yeah, we can be all for it here, but when we're doing it in other countries, it's like, what's... [35:05] How does that change? And as you know, Canada is very supportive of the United States in many of its overseas conquests, so to speak, as we say here in Spain. So I guess the question I'm asking is, do you even personally, and again, you don't have to speak from Danny Wenjack perspective, but do you, because that's something I talk about withpeople. Do you guys have that connection? Do you guys see that? Is that something that you hear whispers of within this conversation? Because I think it's important. I feel like it's important. I feel like there's value in drawing that connection between oppression and past crimes of a country and what the country's doing atthe moment. And it helps speed along that process of the call to action, as we said. I don't know, does that make any remote sense of what I'm trying to say to you? Track 3:[36:03] Yeah, well, I would say, I would say yes. And I can say that is Sarah or as Downey Wenjack. I think, you know, I think that connection is really what allows an organization like the Gord Downey and Chani Wenjack Fund toexist, right? If you think about, you know, What is the true role of rock stars, right? Typically, like political activists, right? Or, you know, poets, but they've always pushed, right? You think of all the greats, there's a social commentary there that's, you know, reflecting on the choices we make and how we live. And sometimes they explicitly call out the Prime Minister, right? You know? And I think. You know, there's been so much work done by incredible Indigenous leaders to ensure that, you know, this didn't stay hidden, like the injustices inflicted upon Indigenous peoples in thiscountry, you know, came to the forefront of, you know, the general understanding of our history in this country and our identity as Canadians, and what that means, and how do you workthrough it, and what does that mean really from a policy perspective. [37:32] I honestly, I've seen so much change in the last five years even, where people actually want to know what the platforms are of politicians with regards to indigenous relations andreconciliation, whereas I would say ten years ago, you wouldn't even be able to find anything. [37:57] On their web pages or whatever around that. That speaks to how far we've come, but there's still a long ways to go. It's just continuing to look at the systems themselves and saying, does this still serve us? Does this still make the most sense? How can we continue to evolve and grow as we evolve and grow as humans and societies? And, you know, it's important for us to be intentional and reflective and sometimes critical, right? We've, you know, I, my sister and my niece came to visit and we were talking about, like, you know, the show Friends and how, like, it has not held up to, like, the test of time, like, it'sextremely homophobic and it's, you know, like, you see a show like Seinfeld, and those jokes are still, they're still funny, right. But, you know, some of the that content that you know, the big hit show, and you're just like, this is so cringy. I can't even like watch this stuff anymore. Right. Track 4:[39:18] And I think sitcoms are the lowest common denominator, right of the day when it comes to comedy. So yeah, For sure. Track 3:[39:26] But I think, you know, to wrap it all up, I think those connections are pretty prominent in Canada, but I think that's also a byproduct of the fact that Indigenous Peoples have rightsand are, you know, title holder to treaties and also land, right? And getting land back after being displaced, or having the land back. The terms of the treaty is not honoured, right? And, you know, as we become more sophisticated and become fancy lawyers, you know, these things work their way through the justice system and you see Indigenous peoples andcommunities winning those cases. And so it kind of also comes to the point of, like, we have to care about this, right? Track 4:[40:28] Yeah, you, I mean, you, you summed it up and I think the, the, the thing that I, that I like about, like you guys, you said sometimes even being critical, which is really cool because alot of, I feel like not, I wouldn't even say a lot, but I, I, sometimes there are examples of organizations that it's weird, like, you know, they, they, they get a win or they get a big win. And then after that, it's kind of like, yeah, we got to win, win for the day. Like, let's, let's pack it up, go home for let's take a vacation or something. No, no. And, and when you talked about like, having the indigenous and non indigenous events, like that's the that's this, that's the again, the call to action, because what you're doing is you'rebringing people together. You know, when you hear people's stories. Everybody can relate. You know, it's easy to say you're so different than me because you're this, you're that, you speak this language, you're born to here, your skin colors that whatever.But like everybody's the same dude. We all try coming out of our mama. We all poop when we're kids. And we all cry the day the moment before we die. You know, everybody's the same. Everybody wants the same. I feel like when you have those, you make those connections with people through those events is really important. Track 3:[41:52] When you create cross cultural understanding, it's really hard to other each other, right? Track 4:[41:59] Totally. Track 3:[41:59] Because there's an appreciation and a respect and an understanding for the strength and beauty and resilience of Indigenous peoples and cultures, right? So, yeah, it's... Track 4:[42:11] You recognize the human being in front of you and you're like, Oh, we're literally the same thing. Track 2:[42:16] Yeah. Track 4:[42:17] Where are we? Where are we? Yeah, dude, that's, that's cool. Track 2:[42:23] Is there anything else that you want to add, Sarah, about Truth and Reconciliation Day or the Secret Path Week? Oh, yeah. Track 3:[42:34] Well, I guess sort of the thing I always say is if you don't know where to start on your own reconciliation journey, or you know, you haven't really engaged in the conversation thatI'll always say, that's okay. You can always do something, right? And Downey-Wenjack makes that pretty easy, for people to have a place to start. You know, we have the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation coming up on September 30th. So we have a bunch of different webinars and learning opportunities that we're doing ourselves. [43:12] You know, whether it's like for parents about teaching your kids about residential schools. We have one of our team members at Downey-Von Jack, his whole family is talking about intergenerational resilience and sharing stories from families of residential school survivors. So, you know, we have a whole bunch of different opportunities to learn and engage and so I just really encourage everyone to follow us on socials if you don't know where to start. Start. And, you know, when you're doom scrolling, you'll see some content in between, you know, the recipe for next week and some push notifications for waterproof shoes. And maybe that that one that one post will be the one to inspire you to to join us in this path towards reconciliation. Track 2:[44:07] That's great. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. It's, It's really nice to get a better understanding of both the Downey Wenjack Fund and your story, to hear your story. We're grateful that you made some time to join us today. So thank you very much. Track 3:[44:29] Well, and thank you for supporting our work at the Downey Wenjack Fund through the event. I think it's happening tonight. Yes. Track 2:[44:37] Yes. Track 3:[44:38] And thank you. Thank you for everyone who's listening and coming out. We really appreciate the support. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gettinghiptothehip/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
jD, Pete, and Tim are back and this week they're discussing the EP Saskadelphia. TracksMontreal - Studio outtake Ouch - Studio versionCrack my Spine (Like a Whip) - Live from Halifax 1991Reformed Baptist Blues - Studio versionTranscriptTrack 1:[0:00] If you're a fan of the Tragically Hip, this is your hip fest. Getting Hip to the Hip, September 1st at The Rec Room. Celebrate the music of the hip with a live tribute act, the finale of a hip-based podcast, and a silent auction with amazing hip prizes, with all proceeds going to support the Gord Downieand Chani Wenjack Fund. If you're a fan of the hip, you need to be there. Tickets available now at gettinghiptothehip.com. Track 2:[0:28] The first, and to date, only posthumous release by the tragically hip is 2021's marvelous EP, Saskadelphia. [0:37] Borrowing its title from the original name of Road Apples, this record packs a punch in under 20 minutes of non-stop rock. Even the chilling theme of the song Montreal moves mountains with its haunting chorus. I remember downloading Saskadelphia on the mail-on weekend in 2021 and I was immediately transported back to 1991. [0:59] In some cases, we're even invited into this studio with banter between Gord and someone named Bruce. It was a total trip hearing these songs from a bygone era with a pair of ears from the 21st century. In some cases it was familiar, as I own bootlegs of Crack My Spine Like a Whip and Just as Well, but these new versions were bursting at the seams with nuance that only a studiorecording can offer. I felt nostalgic and sad listening, but by the end I was grinning ear to ear. This was a fantastic hip experience, and it's one I hope we get to enjoy with the upcoming re-release of Phantom Power, and I'm calling it here first, but I think we see an Up to Here boxset celebrating 35 years sometime in 2024. But don't quote me on that, unless I'm right of course. At any rate, I'm nervous about giving this one to Pete and Tim. Although they both enjoyed Road Apples initially, will they appreciate the significance of this EP? Will nostalgia be a factor for a pair of people who only first heard the band in November of 2022? [2:08] What kind of impact will this have? We'll have to wait and see on this episode of Getting Hip to the Hip. Track 5:[2:40] All right hey hey it's JD here and we are back again for another uh well let's call it the penultimate episode of getting hip to the hip i'm here as always with my friends Pete and Timto discuss Seminole Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip we're going through every album and we find ourselves at the last album. An EP as it were, Saskadelphia. It was released for the May long weekend in 2021 and it's a it's it's a trip back to the road Apple days. Before we get too deep into that discussion though, how the fuck are you guys doing? Well you know I'm a little a little of a Climbed a little tongue-tied. I don't know. I told my kid, Sage, this morning, I was like, this is sort of one of the last recordings. It's about 20 minutes of music. [3:41] And he was very encouraging on moving on to more pod stuff, because he knows I've totally loved doing this. But at the same time, I'm like, do we have to do this today, guys? Can we postpone it? Pause right here and do it later. Because it's like the last bunch of songs, really. The problem is, in a week, you'll be here. It's true. It's true. You'll be here, and we'll be doing the For Real last episode. Hope to see you there at Getting Hip to the Hip, an evening for the Donnie Wenjack Fund. Tickets are $40. You can get them on gettinghiptothehip.com. [4:20] Slash click the ticket button. Do that. It'll be good. Pete, how are you, man? I'm good. Um, your cadence threw me off there at the beginning, JD, because when you said I'm here with my good friends, Pete and Tim to discuss, and I thought you were going to,you're going to say two disgusting fucking individuals, but just to discuss. And then you were like the penultimate record. So, no, I'm good. Everybody knows that by now. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Kidding me with our link or that way. We fucking two sailors, three sailors here. That's right. With your captain Pete who we've gotten, I think we've gotten, uh, we've gotten a couple of emails from people saying, do you haveto use the F-word so much? You swear like sailors, ahoy motherfuckers. Yeah. Yeah. I'm, I'm, I'm still looking forward to the, to the, uh, to the live event. I cannot wait. It's going to be so much fun. I'm I just I just hope I hope people are that show up want to that want to just talk about the hip. And I'm like, I'm wondering what other people say because I only know you guys. [5:37] Like, I've only I only really well my friend Barb too, but like, like, yeah, I don't talk about the hip, but I'm gonna be surrounded with a shit ton of people who fucking love the hip. It's going to be cool, man. Has Barb, has Barb confirmed? Barb's not confirmed, but Barb's on the fence. She's, she's, I think she just, we need to, we need to push Barb over the edge. How do we do that? We're pushing her right now. Barb, if you're listening. It's a, it's a love push, Barb. Barb. We're just giving you, we're just giving you a little, little bump you need. You need to be there, Barb. Careful, one person's love push is another person's incarceration, so you want to be careful with that. Well, I said bump, I meant like a little tiny, you know. Was that a Burning Bush reference? Is that a Bible reference? I missed it, went over my head. I'm out of swords today, gentlemen. [6:37] Are we gonna tackle this record? Well, let's talk about where you guys listened to this record for the first time. Where did listen to it, give me the environment, give me the background, give me the details, and then we'll go song by song. For me, no, my car is not a Yugo with the premium audiosound system. Surely it is not. Surely it is not. They're out of business. No, I listen to it in the car a lot, listen to it on my computer a lot. I've been doing a lot of work at the desk and was really surprised with this record, really surprised. kind of. [7:18] Yeah, I'll save all that, but yeah, listen mainly at the computer and in the car. All right. How about you, Tim? I'm the same. Same exact. Yeah. Sitting down. Sitting down. And it's a quick one, right? It's like 20 minutes and you're through. Yeah, 20 minutes. Right. Yeah. It's a tupper. When they first released it, they called it an album. I'm pretty sure they said it was an album. And a lot of people bitched. A lot of people were like, this isn't an album, it's an EP. It's six songs. Who called it that? I believe they did centrally, but even on the wiki page now, it's listed as an EP. So I don't know if it's been officially changed or what, but I'm calling it an EP. And it's a nice bookend. You get the EP at the beginning and you get the EP at the end, you know, in terms of bookends. Unless there's other music out there. But this came out after Gord's passing. This did. Yes. Yeah. 21. Yeah. 2021. People are bitching after the fact. Way to go hit fans. What a show. How about you? How about you, JD? JD, where, what was your experience when this came out? Oh boy. [8:25] Uh, did you grab it? Yeah. Um, I bought the 35th or the 30th it's yeah. The 30th anniversary of road apples, a box set. And it came in that box set and it came with live camp. It was a great box set because it came with a remastered road apples. It came with Saskadelphia. It came with Live at the Roxy and I want to say another record so it was chock full of cool cool shit for me it was just it was just a trip because it was like the last we heard of this band. [9:03] Was Man-Machine-Poem and it's very different from Road Apples, very different from Road Apples. And all of a sudden I was listening to brand new hip that was 35 years old, you know? So it was like, it was really, it hurt my brain a little bit, my brain was doing spirals, you know? Like it was like, this doesn't make sense, this is new, but this is really old. So I don't quite understand what this is all about, you know. But very much enjoyed it. A little disappointed that the version of Montreal is a live version, but I like the live version. It's good, you know. There's a reason. Yeah, there's a reason. And we'll get into that as we go. Should we start with Ouch? [9:54] Well, let's do a little more backstory. Yeah, go. Because in my experience of this EP, I went really quickly to YouTube and ended up watching some of the mini episodes that featureJohnny Faye in the Universal Warehouse finding the tapes. That's crazy. And all that stuff. And it was really interesting to go through those and hear him talk about Universal claiming the fire they had in the warehouse that was, I think he said they found out about it, the NewYork Times article. Yeah. Yeah, that's all I remember. And it listed all these bands whose tapes burned, and they were on the list. And so... [10:42] Johnny, I think. I forget who else. Johnny and somebody else immediately, it sounds like, really quickly went down to hunt down the tapes and they didn't burn. And he even had a comment, or most of them anyways, he even had a comment about how universal they thought. Actually, this was Baker in a different interview, because I watched a bunch with him too. Baker said that they thought that maybe the fire and the tapes were this multi-mega cash-in on getting assets destroyed that weren't really destroyed. But ultimately, they've said that they found 45-ish of 60-ish tapes and there's still potentially more out there. [11:29] So, there's some great interviews on this stuff. I probably watched, I don't know, six interviews. Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah, I was kind of laid up one day and just had some time to kill and watch them, watch them interview. So yeah, so it's, maybe there is more out there. I mean, they pulled together, what is this, five songs? Well, six with Montreal, but yeah. Six. Yeah, six. And, you know, if there's, if we get six more eventually, that would be awesome. Yeah, because they are, I mean, there is talk of Phantom Power being reissued. They announced that last year that Phantom Power would be reissued this year. The 25th anniversary has passed, but I suspect it'll be a Christmas release, you know, but I don't know anything beyond that. [12:16] No, the cover of Phantom Power was actually done by Rob Baker. Really? That's a fact. Oh, wow. Rob Baker studied graphic design, I believe. Graphic design. Oh, yeah. University of Queensland? Queens, Queens University, yeah. Queens. Yeah. near the Bronx. Yeah, right now the Bronx just a hop, skipping the jump away. I'm skipping a jump. I had not, I had not heard or watched and heard interviews with him really yet. And man, I want to hang out with that guy. He is so. Baker? I don't know. He had so many. He had, yeah, he had so many fun, not fun. It's somebody wise one-liners just in the course of conversation with interviewers. Like he's just fucking Zen dude. So chill. Sorry. Some of it was during COVID and he was talking about like during COVID, how his son moved back home and they were, they had set times during the week where theywere jamming together and ah, man, it just. That's very cool. It's just a rad sounding dude. Yeah. Yeah. Well, get in line, Tim, because. [13:26] I'll be behind you. Yeah. Yeah. Rob Baker and I, we go back. We're gonna, I'm in Kingston. We got a we got a couple of beer dates Talk gear. I think it was I think it was ouch That Johnny Fay one of the YouTube video the one of these little mini episode things that Johnny Fay He's listening. There's a video of him listening to ouch. I believe it was out and And it gets to the end, and it stops. And he's so elated and excited. And he said something like, it even has an end. So stoked to find a complete song. Before we jump into the record, did you guys see the, Tim, I didn't watch all the interviews, but what's his name? Craig Rogers sent that email with the videos from the Cineplex event they did. Right, yeah. They did an event at the bathhouse. I didn't see that. Oh, dude, it's fucking cool. I mean, the only videos that he could find were... Or Bob Cajun, Escape is at Hand, Country Day and Coffee Girl, but they did this live event at the bathhouse. [14:44] During Bob Cajun, Rob Baker's just playing guitar. I don't think anybody else is in the video if I remember correctly, and Gord Downie's just shooting pool and singing this songwhile he's shooting pool. It's the coolest fucking thing. Oh my God, I got to see this. It's so cool, man. It's one of the coolest fucking, he's just like, he's, and it's a weird, like, I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm not, when, you know, when we go to the bath house and eventually record there one day, I'm not going to piss and moan to the guys about the pool table. I hope it's a bar size table, but I noticed that the balls in Canada, they weren't like, you know, the color balls like we have in the U S or like red balls. And then maybe a different color. Were they playing snooker maybe? Maybe it was like a snooker table but yeah. Yes they are. They are. They're playing snooker. I just pulled it up. I did this. Sorry Craig. I didn't I didn't I didn't go through. I saw it Craig. Thanks. I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to respond. I've been busy working this week. Yeah I haven't. [15:51] Sorry Craig. Very cool. Yeah. Got something new to check out. That's great let's dive in ouch ouch ouch. [19:12] Go ahead, Timmy. Take it. Well, this one kind of brought me back to Born in the Water. And back then, when we were talking about Road Apples, if I recall correctly, I had some comments about it being bluesy, and George Thurgood, whatever. I had some comments like, why are these guys? They're a rock and roll band, but they're in different buckets of genres within rock and roll. And not many bands can do that and do it successfully. A lot of them try, and I think don't do as good of a job. And so listening to Ouch made me realize, it just brought me kind of full circle on The Hip's abilities and their skills and their talents and brought me to this kind of new level of fandomof thinking about that. [20:18] And like I imagine I have some friends from back in the day who are big time music guys and I imagine that what they would would think about listening to different types of songsby The Hip and how some who are not Hip fans might think it's kooky or why they're doing this. Or it's kind of out of a comfort zone. But listening to Ouch and going back to Road Apples and Born in the Water and songs like that, like it just, it brought me kind of, It completed the circle of thinking. [20:49] These guys are really talented they can do whatever they want to do they're they got the they got their driver's licenses they got the keys you know it's it's just like god what couldwhat can they not do at this point you know and the the song is we could talk about the song and all the aspects of it and gourd's growly singing and you know all the things but this onejust kind of it just kind of hit me full circle with the band and it made me think like at one point i was like thinking about you know in the u.s, raiders fans or fans of certain teams or youknow i bleed whatever i don't know it's all these stupid things of these allegiances to to cultural items and how, or genres or arts and how some people can be like, just so narrow within acategory of something that they really love and how, like, I don't know this. If you opened up your mind a little bit and accept things a little more, why are you hiring now? [22:04] Have more enjoyment. No, no, you can have more enjoyment. No, seriously, I had a moment with this song. Wow. Really fucking solidified why I like The Hip and why I could argue to the end of all day is about how they're fucking better than youtwo. How's that? Yeah. You know? Yeah. So there. That's what happened to me with this song. [22:29] That's far out. Probably led to so many video watchings because I was like, Like just give me more at a personal level of these guys. It's 9.53 in the morning for fuck's sake. It's not even 10. Can I wait till 10 to get high? 20 somewhere, baby. That's right. What about you, Pete? [22:52] Um, I, I dug this song. The only thing I, you know, can kind of gather that, you know. [23:00] I, I agree with Tim on, um, not that I disagree with him on what else he was saying. But you know, just kind of one of the points that he made was that this kind of brought it full circle. Like, I think when we started out with road apples, Tim and I were both kind of like,where are we going with this? And then even when we talked to Paul Ling Wah the other day, how he was, you know, we were talking about, you know, everybody has a different entry point to the hip, you know, westarted from the, from the very beginning. You know so maybe that wasn't our destined entry point, but it was the entry point nonetheless. And we kind of came back full circle because now we got this similar sound of what road apples was without and My only comments on the song itself, which I loved It just painted apicture And I'll read it to you It's 11 15 p.m, The bar is dirty and it's dingy the happy hour crowd has gone home drunk already The band's starting to get into its back catalog and angrytunes. And the close the bar down crowd has just showed up, you know. The guy with the pull cue in the fucking case, a couple of bar room hustlers, a couple of hot chicks that um... [24:29] That frequent the bar. Everybody showed up. Barkeep's getting surly. Barkeep is getting surly. [24:39] Everything about this band, this song, gave me the vibe like they're just up on stage playing and they don't give a fuck. They don't care. They've done it so many times, It's just, it's like muscle memory to them. And they're just, rock and roll is just fucking in their veins. And it's on display for everybody who's probably taking it for granted at the bar. It seems that way. Yeah. Yeah. Because Lord knows, I mean, I took Road Apples and that shit for granted. Did you guys go back to it? Like, after listening to this record, did you go back to Road Apples? To Road Apples, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, like to try and see what like to me I did the same thing and it was like it was to try and see where these songs would have fit in because like asmuch as it's new material we all have to understand too it's material that they felt wasn't up to snuff to make the actual record, right? Yeah, which is weird to me like but maybe it was just a time thing. Yeah, yeah. Because I thought the majority of these songs on this record were great. [25:51] Yeah. Yeah, I tend to agree with you. I enjoy it. It's not long enough to be offensive. Even if it was offensive, you know? You're in and you're out, and it's done. Yeah. What it did for me, I mean, I went back to Road Apples, but I also, again, went. [26:12] To video stuff like i hung out on youtube more with this one and pete it's funny you mentioned kind of a bar scene because the video for this song it's kind of all about a bar sceneit's it's a fun it's a really i didn't know there was the videos for a few yeah there's videos for a few of these yeah jay baruchel's in that video right ouch ouch is it yeah yeah ouch is a hootit's got like all these hidden nuggets through the video with references to other songs or albums. Yeah I think there was like 20 of them. It's a really good video. Yeah, yeah. It's a really, really good video. I watched it a couple times. Super interesting. Yeah, a lot of fun. So check that out. All right, let's move to Not Necessary. Not necessary. [27:01] Um, again, this is just like, I thought this song would have fucking cooked live. I mean, like, like most of the songs on this EP, just like pictured sweat just fucking pouring off of everybody's foreheads. And just, yeah, it was just a good time record, man. A good time tune. Chorus was super hooky, just like, had a great, like it did sound, the chorus sounded like it was, you know, crafted in that time. Like if you saw a TNC Surf t-shirt, somebody was wearing it walking down the street, you'd know what like year that kind of came from. I don't know if anybody remembers TNC Surf.Do you remember that company? Well, yeah. Yeah. Anyway, um, TNC Serpent Skate it was called. But yeah, it's just like, yeah, that would be, you'd know what era it was from. And definitely this song was a bit of just, they were justhaving such a fucking good time. It was kind of a window into their youth. Yeah, yeah, that's good call. Life on the road in the van, you can almost smell the inside of the van, stinky and, you know, sweaty and lived in. Yeah. How about you, Tim? [28:25] I agree with Pete on all that. I don't have much more on the song. I dug the song. I really no qualms about it. [28:37] This one I went faster to video. I hate to say that I just watched videos on all this shit, but I watched a lot of videos. And this one's cool. It's like bank robbery gone wrong. It's got a total plot, to it that somehow ties into the song. I haven't seen the video for this one. It's a really... Oh man, it's killer. Check that out. It's got a cliffhanger at the end. It's a fun video and I just... It really... I don't know, just after listening to so much music by these guys with cans and not having much visually other than some live stuff, like it was fun to find videos from this EP. So, definitely watch Ouch and watch Not Necessary. Great song. Right, we move next to the very solemn song about the École Polytechnique massacre that happened in the late 80s in Montreal, where a young man brutally murdered 14students and the Tragically Hip wrote a response to that it's very loosely based in that although it's bang on at the same time like there are lyrics in it that give you chills, you know? [30:05] But what did you think of Montreal, Tim? [30:11] It's a heavy one. I think I read that 27 people were shot, 14 died. You know, it's one of these songs that you could throw in a bucket by the hip that aren't something I reach for just because of the subject material. You know, it's like one of those heavy things that's Marked history and something uncomfortable and something that we we still deal with Every day, you know like the like a few othertheir songs in this this whole Tragedy, I don't know it's it's a It's you know our Mind may be privileged to listen to it and feel unsettled and move on and put it in a drawer You know,because it's fucking tough history and a tough topic and all the things. And yeah, it's also like, I commend The Hip for and Gord for writing it and them playing it live. Like it's this song is brave, it takes courage and I don't know, I just I don't have a lot of music, just actual tune. Sure. Comments about it, just because it's like, you know? [31:40] Because, I mean, just also being in the USA, I mean, we deal with this stuff all the time. So it's just like, you know, it's probably a song that everybody should hear and play. [31:55] Let me just tell a quick little anecdote before we come to you Pete. I remember my friend Jeff who was older than me and he drove to Toronto for a show, a hip show at the old Ontario Place Forum and I remember him coming back and saying there's thissong called Montreal I think it's going to be on the next record like it was so great like and I got to hear it again And this is back in the day when you just couldn't hear it again. That was it. He heard it and that was his memory of it. And that's the end. He didn't get to hear it again until years later. You hear traces of it on Live Between Us during Courage, I believe. They start singing the tail end of Montreal. Pete, what did you think of this live version? I really liked it. I did. I thought it was very haunting. Those little, you know, cool guitar licks. Those little, you know, I think they're arpeggios or something. And then when the chorus just switches over to a major, it's like a, you know, beautiful. [33:12] What's the way it kind of puts into a happier space, but then it just gets dark again. It was just a bit of a seesaw feeling, this song, but it's definitely something that I, again, I mean, I don't know if it was because of it was a live version, but, you know, I would probably, if Iheard the studio version of this tune, I would want to hear it live too, because it was really a really pretty song, but it was, Because of the six songs on this record. [33:45] I would say it was, you know, I would say it was not my favorite, but I really liked it. I think just because it starts off so heavy. Yeah. Record, you know? Yeah. So. All right. No. JD, if you checked out JD, I guess there's a DVD of that show at the Metropolis. Oh really? That's available, yeah, there's a DVD that's available for free, like via the Hip Fans webpage. I haven't gone back to checking that. Yeah, you might. Check that out, because that sounds pretty awesome. There's some fan... They don't tend to give things away very often. There's some fan footage that... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, there's some fan footage that somebody produced a DVD. Oh, wow. Okay. Well if you're interested in the 7-inch of Montreal, we have an autographed copy of the 7-inch of Montreal and it'll be at the silent auction of the event so that's kind offun. That's a fun one. Yeah, and I should note it's auctioned by the four living members of the band. Like it's not a complete, you know, Gord is not on there. But you get all the living members of the band and that's pretty fucking cool. You get Pete, Tim and JD to sign it too. That's right. That was a joke because it'll be devalued if that happens. [35:14] So we flip the record over and we get the fucking electric, crack my spine like a whip. [38:30] This song fucking melts, doesn't it? Yeah, yeah. [38:35] You know, this is the one, this is the one that Johnny Faye was like, it has an ending too. This was the one he was so psyched about. This is over here in my notes, I'm finally getting on that. And this is the song that led me to ask Paul about he and Baker's guitar playing and he noted how they're who was it Dan Smith Don Smith who also makes this yeah how he channeledthem yeah how he channeled them and put one in the left and one of the right and the hard pan yeah so this song made me yeah the hard pan this song made me realize I don't know it wasit It was a complete picture in my brain of what these guys were doing on guitar. And I even said to Paul, I tried to get into it a little bit, but I would love to talk to him in person about it. But this song, Paul on guitar, he's just got the, just reminds me of 80s power guitar chords, just like Ramones and 80s bad religion. And he's just going through it. It's like he's the fucking locomotive of this song, which also ties in with Pete so many times, how you've said how Paul and Johnny are like a unit unlike any other, cause it's usually drumsand the bass player, you know? [40:02] But these guys have such an interesting compositional makeup within each other, you know? This song to me, like, it kind of personified their abilities And, you know, they're I don't know, just this this song is killer. I just loved it. I listened to it so many times, so many times. It's just killer. Good one. Good song. Yeah. Thanks. Thank you, Don Smith. I mean, you you nailed it with these guys not being rhythm and lead or lead and rhythm. You nailed it with these guys being guitarists. So just let it ride. [40:39] Well, I thought this song it fucking cooked. I mean, I don't have much to say about it, other than the fact that, um, I, you know, to your point, Tim, to add on to it, I think it was more than just Paul and Johnny, I think, Paul, Johnny,Gord, and Rob Baker, are all like, on stage in a fucking musical orgy. And strangely enough, I feel like Gord is in background of the song. He's not a I mean he's there but I wouldn't call him the star of the show for this song. That fucking band like just stepped in front. Gord's like you know in the back like, you know, Maybe changing Johnny's fucking crash cymbal because he broke it so many times duringthe song. He's there and it's good and not trying to take away from Gord's vocals, but the band just fucking destroys this song. You could tell they were having a blast when they recorded it. Hands down. They just take over, you know? Yeah. So yeah, good song. [41:56] One of the YouTube videos on this, I just went back to it. They're called the Saskadelphia Minutes. And there's like five or six episodes, but not all of them are posted. But there is a one minute, they're all short, there is a one minute version of our video for this song just as well. And it's got some fun live footage of the guys. is one thing I think Baker was talking about in a video is how a lot of these songs they did play live and he didn't really have many answersor questions about like why didn't they make it or where did they go or what happened you know he was just like we had a lot of songs and he one cool takeaway of these songs inparticular and just as well was that they didn't rehearse much He spoke at length about how they didn't rehearse much and they road-tested new songs. He said often they'd come out and whatever new song they were working on, they'd play first. Like that was their warm-up, was road-testing a song. And like bands don't do that. Like nobody does that. You know what I mean? It's like you play first base for whatever. [43:16] And coach is like, hey, you're going out, move to left field. And it's like, OK, I'll play left field. I think I can do this. And it's just gnarly what these guys were capable of. It's pretty awesome. And just to back up to our last pod, it's about the absolute opposite of what Mr. Bob Rock these guys do one. You know? It really is. It's like if they could go out and road test a song, first show, the first song of the night. Yeah. Phew. you, Yeah, rather than work on something for a couple ofmonths. It's I think road testing was the way to go. That's the unique gift there to us as listeners and fans. You got to just see your favorite band jam. [44:09] And sometimes they'd come up with something, and you're just like, wow, what is that? I got to hear that. Like my friend with Montreal. Yeah. You know? And then when. Yeah. Yeah, Baker said, you know, we played 200 plus shows a year. We knew each other. We know each other. We're all best friends. We could do it. We could just sit down and figure something out. And if we liked it, we'd go do it. Goddamn. What a gift those guys had. So you merged into Just As Well there, Tim. We were talking about Crack My Spine Like a Whip, and you've brought it into Just as Well, so should we stick with Just as Well for Pete? Or do you have more to say about Just as Well? [44:55] I mean only about picking scabs. All right. Yeah. Because that's the line in Just as Well. For the love of Pete. It's going to keep getting infected. It's going to keep getting infected if you keep picking at it. Oh, Pete, they knew. Yeah, right, right. Sure they did. I love the ready Bruce right at the beginning. That was fun. [45:23] Hmm. This was one I genuinely was like, what the fuck? Why is why was this not on the record? Oh, wow. This was. Hmm. Hundred percent. Hundo. This was probably my favorite tune on the record. Got a lot of Stones vibes. Yeah. I mean, super big. Everything from the guitar tone to just the song itself, just rolling stones. Yeah. And I don't know, man, the more it ebbs and flows because, excuse me, the longer I listen to this band, the more I just understand each and every member, because specifically thissong, Gord Sinclair's bass stands out so much because it follows, I think, Rob Baker's guitar licks. And it just, yeah, what a talented fucking band, man. At this stage in the game they were. [46:31] You know, yeah, what do you, I mean, what a fucking jam. What do you want me to say about the song just cooks dude you know the hook turn around it's just it's so good it's a pop tune, rock pop tune fucking formulaic yeah it is a good one it is agood formula right like it's like original coca-cola it's like it's a formula but it's it works it's it's yeah but there's a lot there's a lot of coke out there there's a lot of soda there's rc there's youknow there's shasta There's that store-bought shit, but this is original fucking recipe, man. This is, maybe even a little savour original. [47:13] Listen to that rolling R's. You like that? Yeah. So, the next one is... [50:44] I just thought, let's go get in the car and go for a drive, you know. It's just reminded me of like my teenage years as a Catholic youth and having a driver's license. I literally had a time in my life and it was like with that summer where I was to go to church and I would just pick up my buddy Dave and we'd drive around for an hour and smokecigarettes and go back home. How was church? It was great. That's what this reminded me of. [51:13] But again, it made me think about the band and the various aspects of rock and roll they could go after, which, you know, we have in our time, you know, we had The Stones whocould do that. We had Zeppelin who could do that. Maybe Queen. Definitely The Beatles. You know, there aren't many bands who can go after kind of different aspects of rock and roll and do it really well and still remain respected and still keep, you know, selling out stadiumsacross Canada or whatever. But this song, it's huge. It hits the two-minute mark and it felt like it could kind of be done or not, and it just keeps going and that's awesome, you know. [51:53] Yeah, I just, it's got like a 15-second fade out. That works for you, doesn't it? And it's cool. Oh my God. I mean, this is this is a killer song. It's the live versions of this song are amazing. This song live is yeah, that's what I'm saying to you. It's alive. It's it's a cooker. It's out there live. I don't know, man. I mean, yeah, I mean, I'm sure I have no doubt that the song cooks live, but you cannot debate that the song does not cook on the fucking studioversion. Because Because it's, it's, I mean, dude, it, it's, this song, if it was like, it's a, it's another bar brawl. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, everything is so filthy, dirty, the guitars, gourds, gourds, who's, you know, Cheers. [52:46] There used to be this bar, nobody knows where this town is, it's in Cedar County, Missouri, near Stockton, it's about 70 miles from, Jesus, where would you fly, what's the gamblingtown where they got the riverboat? It's a shithole town, apologies if you're from there. Oh, God, Branson, it's about 75 miles from Branson, yeah. [53:16] And Cedar County, a town called Jericho Springs, I can't remember the name of it, but everybody called it the Purple Unicorn, because there was a purple unicorn out front. And this was a bar where like you would, 90% of the jukebox would be Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson, and that's it. Nothing else. You wouldn't you would not find anything else on there. And this band would like maybe, you know, be staying in town and play a show there. And it would just the place would erupt in a ballroom, ballroom brawl, cops, which cop cars blackand whites all over. Fucking people getting fucking taken out of their Bottles getting broken over people's fucking heads. Then them just fucking smoking a cigarette. The only way I would want to hear this song live would be with at least a fifth of Jim Beam in me or some shitty whiskey. Not even Jack Daniels, just some shit whiskey. I do like this song. [54:27] It's a barroom brawler too. That's awesome. Yeah. And that's how the record ends. That's, you know, as far as we know, that's all the hip we're gonna get. And that puts us in a position to pick our last song for our playlists. You guys each get to pick a song and it'll be the last song in your playlist and you'll debut your playlists at the last episode. So in the proper order that they belong in and everybody will get to see your playlists. What are you choosing? Well, I know I said before that Just As Well was probably my favorite tune, but then I'm taking that back because I just painted that picture in my head so well. I would say Reformed Baptist Blues, man. Oh, wow. That's gonna be it. Yeah, 100%, dude. That song is fuckin'. [55:32] You know like where they get the guy and they throw the guy on the bar and they fucking they shovel him down the bar and he slides and he breaks a bunch of glasses and his headgoes into the jukebox like that's this song and the band's still playing they're still finishing the song because if they stop playing they don't get paid exactly exactly Cool cues gettingbroken over people's fucking heads. What about you Tim? What's your track? I love that song. Yeah, I love that song as well, but I'm going with Crack My Spine. I love the guitar. Yeah, I love the guitars in that one. They're rhythmical like a whip. That song did it for me. Well, your lists are now complete. I will send them to you so you guys can sequence them and maybe you do that on the plane ride over. Who knows? You'll listen to it to see if it works. [56:31] But that's what I've got for you. I want to thank you as always for doing all the heavy fucking lifting and listening to the music, having to describe it, answering my stupid assquestions, all that shit. Guys are fucking gold to me and I can't wait to see you next week and uh, and share you with the world so there's that peace out guys peace out see you in canada pick up your thanks Itwas... It was... You stepped on my fucking line. Fuuuck you Tim how could you? Pick up your shit! Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gettinghiptothehip/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Prepare to journey into the heart of the Hip's 2009 album, "We Are the Same." This week, we're pulling back the curtain on an album that made fans wait an extra year for its release. We're not just talking about the music; we're delving into the nostalgia, the reception, and the adventure of listening to this collection of songs. TracksMorning Moon - Studio versionThe Last Recluse - Montreal 2009The Depression Suite - San Fransciso 2009Frozen in my Tracks - Syracuse 2009TranscriptTrack 1:[0:01] For the first time in over 20 years, hip fans had to wait longer than two years for new material. It was three years after we got World Container that Bob Rock came down from the mountain with the Stone Tablet Masters of what appeared to be a campfire album called We Are TheSame. Although it launched with a cool promo, the hip, performing live at the bathhouse, beamed to cineplex theaters across Canada, and it debuted at number one, I have absolutely no memoryof this album entering the zeitgeist. In fact, I could tell you that only Love Is a First made it to my ears before the Fully and Completely podcast. My first full listen of this album was followed by a visit to the grocery store where I bumped into my co-host Greg, and I remember us casually throwing around terms like milk toast andbeige when describing what we were getting into with this springtime release. What followed though is something amazing and it's something only music can truly do. [1:05] You see, I gave this album its due and by that I mean a good solid listening session. On walks, at my desk, on my patio, the beige started to turn into a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes. The album was making me feel nostalgic for my 1977 El Camino. I could envision loading up the back of this hog with camping gear and taking this record to the cottage for the May long and listening to nothing but. Yes, I had become a fan of We Are The Same. Today it's an album I reach for when I feel wistful and I want to reminisce with my past. I adore Morning Moon and the Depression Suite, but the deeper cuts do it for me too. Will the love that Pete and Tim felt on the Bob Rock produced World Container spill over onto this record, or will their first experience be like mine? We're here now, so we may as well be getting hip to the hip. Track 4:[2:31] Hey it's JD here and welcome back to Getting Hip to the Hip. I'm here every week with my friends Pete and Tim and what we do is we talk about the Tragically Hip one album at a time week over week trying to understand what it's like to hear thisband for the first time again. Pete, Tim, How the fuck are you guys doing? Ola, como estas? Buenas tardes. Bueno, bueno, bueno. Los fanes de Tragically Hip. That's how they would say it here. I'm not culturally appropriating. That's how people talk here in Spain. In Spanish, you mean? Yeah, yeah. And they wouldn't change the name of Tragically Hip. hip, they would just say tragically hip, just like they say. See, see, see. Cloud, cloud, or cloud, or cloud. I don't know where he's went to, but there was a guy on Facebook. He's in the Facebook group. And his name is Luca Tadia, I believe. And he's Italian. And he discovered the hip out of, he's an Italian, he's in a band. He's a singer-songwriter. [3:47] And he was at a really low point. And he discovered the hip. And he, he really feels so strongly about them that he's rewritten, rewritten. [3:59] The lyrics like transcribe, like not transcribe them. What word am I looking for? Translated them, but in many cases he's had to write his own because there's so many turns of phrase he's, he's having to write like his own sort of stuff, but, but to fit in the melodicstructure and then, you know, he, he alters the melodic structure a little bit, but he's released a whole whack and he's coming out with a record and everything, but I haven't seen, I haven'tseen anything about him in a while. So what a fucking surface, Luca, come back to it. I'll point out, I'll send some stuff to the thread later this week, but, um, I'm getting way, uh, way caught up in the weeds here because we're here to talk about a record we're here to talkabout, we are the same, uh, released in 2009, which interesting tidbit. This is the first time that a hip band had had to wait more than two years for a record since the band emerged in 1987. They had to wait three years. So it was 2006, then 2009. Was that the longest three years of hip's lives? Or what was going on during that time? I'm guessing the diehards were losing their minds. Yeah. Are they breaking up? What's going on? Like, Gord was doing solo stuff. Rob Baker was doing Stripper's Union in 2005. So he might have toured Stripper's Union in 2006. [5:22] I don't know, they did their usual stuff, but they, like, to my... [5:28] To my knowledge, they, I mean, the record still opened at number one, um, for the week that it was released, which was consistent with what the hip had been doing. I think they had eight in a row or something like that, but they just weren't part of the zeitgeist, you know, they weren't part of, or maybe it's just, they weren't part of my zeitgeist. That, that might be it. Uh, they, they might've been, but, but I feel like if they were as big as they were in 96 in 2009, then they would have never fell off my radar, sort of. And it wasn't that they fell off my radar. They, I just started listening to other music. I just, you know, I- Were you aware of their whole, their whole bathhouse performance at the end or before the release? Like they played at the bathhouse to, they played a show? I would have lost my, like, I would have lost my mind. So I, yeah, I don't, I don't know. [6:24] It was just out of my reference point. Yeah, so I read that they played at the Bathhouse and it was screened, I guess, at Cineplex Theatres across Canada. It's like, these guys were, you know, celebrating for sure. Do you know what Cineplex Theatres owns? One of the things they own is a branch of places called the Rec Room. And one of the Rec Rooms is in Toronto, where we're going to be hosting our event. And we hope you all make it. Get out of fucking town. Wait, what's this event? What are we doing? [6:59] Come on be on board I hate the pull it out game That's gonna be a fun night. I just can't wait. That's gonna be a real fun. Oh, don't lie Jay Jay D Your pull-out game is great. [7:15] Oh my gosh He's got like 12 pockets on his outfit right now he's pulling shit out of her. Oh man. Yeah, I know, the event's going to be great, tickets are selling through, so get themwhile you can. Hit them quick. Get more information on our Twitter feed or send any of us an email, JD, Pete, Tim at gettinghiptothehip.com you can do all of that and more. So let's get into this Bob Rock produced record. This one's recorded entirely at The Bath House, which is a stark contrast from World Container, which was recorded at a big studio in Vancouver and a relatively large studio in Toronto. This was now The Hip on their own ground. I feel like as a result of that we get a very different sounding record. It's got like the nuances the nooks and crannies that the bathhouse records are sort of becoming famous for but it's still like holy shit is this record produced. Like it is depending on what side of the fence you're on it's either intricate or too busy you know like in terms of some of the arrangements. [8:34] The general, I don't know, gist of it that I was kind of reading about is a little bit of a love-hate. I don't know. I also read that that extra year they're waiting for Bob Rock to returnfrom a carnival cruise. Like a really extended long carnival cruise. Oh, wow. That's boggers. That's my joke right there. Oh, okay. Oh, yeah, I got that, it took me a second. Yeah, me too. Sorry. We'll dial it in, we'll dial it in in post. I'll test my new editing tools on that one. Punch up the laughter. Okay. No, I really, I read a bit about this album. It is very much highly produced. I feel like it's, the all music reviews, three stars. Yeah. Which is lower, you know, by at least half a point than usual. And one term they used about it was a creative bankruptcy. Like, they pulled out all the stops. All of the stops for this album and tapped the tank. So I thought that was a pretty fucking harsh review. That's very harsh. Considering three years, man. Yeah, no, no, don't be sorry. I just, I don't see that it's, it's, yeah. [9:59] I like this. I like this record. I'll tell you guys. I didn't. The first time I heard it, did not. So I was the same. Yeah, yeah. Let's hear about your experience listening to the record. I was kind of the same. I listened to it. Well, I listened to parts of it. I couldn't sit through it all thefirst try. It was like, I don't know, it was like reading a series of books and getting to the next book and it's like, oh my gosh, this book's going to take me forever. That's what it just felt like to me and finally got through it. I'll say finally. [10:32] And wasn't so sure, but you know there were songs, I'll just say that there were songs that grew on me after repeat listens and I and I got to a point where I thought I could see howhip fans either embraced the whole trajectory of the hip and continued to absolutely love this band and I could see how some hip fans were like Like, what the fuck? When are we going to get this Bob Brock guy out of here? Yeah. Because, I mean, I feel like that's still, I don't know, still a thread going through it. So yeah, that was my take. Listened to it kind of everywhere. [11:11] I just, I gave this album some real attempts. But I listened to it also, I think, less than other albums in general. Okay. Pete? You know, I say we get into it cause I got a lot to say about the, you know, the record as we go. And I'll leave my comments to the record as we move on. Okay, well then kick us off here. Let's start right out with Morning Moon. I mean, I thought it was, I thought it was, let's see. It definitely a different tone to begin the record on with the acoustic vibe, the melody was really cool. I was surprised by the strings, but as we'll talk about as we go on here, the strings become a thing. Hey, that's a good way of putting it, Tim. [12:12] There's a really cool country lick with the electric guitar, I like it. Chorus is catchy, heavy harmonies, twangy guitar. I got some, I got some like a little bit of Eagles vibes on this too. Sure. Clearly hear it. My note that I, my note I wrote down was, it's got an AM radio chorus. Yeah. Yeah, totally, totally. But, but. In a good way. Yeah, in a good way. But I wasn't like, I wasn't like, ah, ah, fuck. This is, yeah. I mean, this is not... [12:49] This is not music at work. This does not grab you by the balls and punch you in the face and then throw you down the fucking hill. It doesn't do that. [13:02] Not to say that I want that, but yeah, interesting start. That's all I'll say. Track one. We'll go there. We'll talk about Bob Rock as we keep going. Oh, Bobby, I thought, you know, this is an interesting start as well. It's got this country rock ballad, you know, it's like, are we jumping into a good condition 90s Chevy Suburban driving through Nashville in this one, like heading to the barbecue place? I don't know. But it also felt like, you know, I was listening through and I also thought this is so singable and it's kind of lovely and it's balladish and And it feels a little country. There's slide guitar. There's some, I don't know, cello or something that comes in. There's strings happening. And then I thought, I could rewrite the lyrics of this song and play it for anybody, and they would like it. I could actually turn this into a country music song. Or you could turn it into, dare I say, a Christian rock song. It just felt really mainstream, stream kickoff song to this album. It was like beautiful. Yeah, it's beautiful. And I like dug it, but it felt like programmed, I felt kind of programmed. [14:26] I would never suggest rewriting Gord Downie lyrics. I agree. But the music merited a feeling of, this could be a song played on different types of radio stations. It just, yeah. I wanted, you know, the kickoff on an album for me, it's got to be gripping. And it puts you in the seat. And you put on your seat belt. And you go. And this one was like, OK, what's number two? [14:56] Which, before we get into number two, honey, please, which, from each of you, song would you have used to kick off the record if you were sequencing the record? Is there a song on there that does that, that throws you down the hill, or grabs you by the throat? I know which one I would not, out of all of them, but I'll take it. It's a good question, but to be honest with you, I feel like this record, there are songs on. There's even notes that I'll say when we get into other songs. I feel like there's songs that don't belong in this record. Gotcha. Yeah, it's hard to say. I mean, they kicked it off the way they kicked it off. And I think it's, you know, you can't argue with what's been done. And I can't make their fucking decisions. But yeah. Yeah, I don't know. That's a tough question. It's a good question, but I can't answer it, JD. All right, honey, please. Oof. Here's another one I thought that kind of had this R.E.M. feel. I have East Street Band written down. OK. I also had. The beginning just reminds me of that piano lick at the beginning. Just reminds me of Springsteen. [16:08] It just feels like it's going into a Springsteen song. OK. This one, it somehow made me think of the band Big Country. I think they were, where were they from? Were they Scottish? I don't know. It just, Gord comes in softly, you know, I kind of felt like, oh, I wonder if they do this one live and he's angrier. Like it just, it just, I felt like there was a shift that wasn't in this song. Like it just felt like a great radio song, but at the same time. It was also playing in the ceiling speaker system when I was in Vancouver, BC getting my teeth cleaned. You know, like it just, it was really, it like, it was like I couldn't figure out what it was. It was that, or it was almost a wedding song. Like I couldn't figure out what this song was supposed to be. I just, it just kind of stumped me. It was good and sing along and everything, but it was also like, where are we going? I know, it's hard. This is that song, this might be the album that got kicked in the balls at the show on September 1st. Somebody might just walk up and kick me in the balls. Oh, there are big fans of this record. This might be that album. I'm wearing a cup, dude. [17:33] On Amazon, like, no fucking way. I'm wearing a mouth guard. I'm wearing a wig and I'm going to have like a voice modifier on my throat. I can just set you guys up behind the screen like so nobody can see you. You know, one of those things like silhouette. The old cage. You remember like watching fucking Roadhouse where the band played behind like a fucking like a chain link fence. And that band was? Jeff Healy and the... Fuck, Jeff Healy and the... I can't remember the band. I would have just said Jeff Healy band. Fucking shadow puppets. Here's my shadow puppets, Pete and Tim. Jesus Christ, man. Great fucking man, though. You know, we've been drinking the Kool-Aid and sometimes you get a little gherpie from, you know, too much Kool-Aid. I think that's just kind of... It's funny you say that, Tim, because I'm reading my notes for this song and it's... And honey, please... You've got gherpie written down. No, no, it didn't matter. This is my complete notes on this song. Heavy production. Producer is really mixing the Kool-Aid here. [18:44] Even how the drums are mixed, I mean, I just, I could not, I could not listen to this fucking song enough to even see, like, I just was like, yeah, dentist's office. I'm at, I'm at a fucking Sears or, or I'm at a Hallmark store and I'm just like, what the fuck, man? I just want to get out of here so I can put on fucking Black Sabbath or the, or fucking, or fully and completely in my fucking car. Like I just, Christ, excuse my language, but yeah, it justwas not taken, not taken. The, the, I'll just, there's more, but the, the, you're right about the drum mixing because there were a couple times where I was like, there's nothing wrong with this drummer. Why are we doing what we're doing here? Oh, it was like fucking the right tom went from the right ear to the left ear and then the kicks going back. I'm like, what the fuck are we doing? Why? Like, just give me the fucking drums. I don't need a ping pong set in my ears. It was just too much. I hear you on the E Street Band JD, but yeah, other than that, could not, oh, yeah, that's all I got. That's all I got. you. [20:05] J.D. we need to rerecord the start and you're going to be like, this is where I lost my friendship with Pete Dibb. And they were banned from the roof of the United States. No entry. No entry. [20:22] The first time I sat down and listened to the record was for Fully and Completely, the podcast. By the way, Pete, it's Fully Completely. Fully and Completely was our podcast. Whoa, easy, JD. Okay, now you're cut. Okay, all right. Mr. Details. This is episode... He's gotten our back. This is like, I mean, we got one record after two records. I should know this, you're right. I should know this at this point. I don't know if I can say this. So I listened to it then and I like absolutely, it did nothing for me. It did nothing. Like, I was just like, I don't even, I didn't pick up anything. I can't even say, oh, well, the Parchment Suite I really liked, you know, like, no, it just washed over me. And that really disappointed me and so I gave it like a session listen. Probably two or three weeks later, where I sat down and listened to it two or three times in a row. And that's when I latched onto a few songs. I won't say what they were, but I latched onto a few songs. And then picking it up again for this podcast and listening to it, it's like I'm finding some of these songs feel weirdly nostalgicnow, you know? And Honey Please, I like the tone of of his voice, like, I like what he's doing with his vocals on this song. Yeah. Uh, like he's, he's really playful. Like Jimmy's like, no, not like that. [21:51] Well, I was just in shock because I thought for a second, Gordani was sitting across from me. Oh, I thought you meant Tim was having a fucking seizure. No, it's, it's what I've been doing around the house when I need a refill. It's like, No, this, you know what, I'll tell, I'll tell you something, this, this is a really weird analogy, but like, I'm not a, I'm not one of those guys who's, I mean, I think the last time beforethis time I had been to a strip club when I was like 18 years old, you know, when you're 18, this is the first thing you can do. You go to a strip club. Yeah. Uh, and I had gone to one, one time after I was in a very committed and loving relationship And it was like, I got there and I was like, there's this beautifulwoman and she's talking to me and she smells nice and everything. And she's like, it's not doing, it's not, it's not taking. [22:44] And then like, you know, the night goes on, I have a couple of beers and I'm like, still not working. I don't understand what it is. And, you know, turns out, at least in terms of the strip club, it was because I love the person I was with and I didn't want to be there. I was not happy about where I was at. But that's how I felt listening to this song, is that no matter how much I tried, it did nothing for me whatsoever. Wow. It wasn't because it was your aunt, Shirley? I mean, for art, for art, that is the most harsh criticism you can give, right? I hate to say that. I hate to say that. This song is- No, no, I'm fine. This is what this is, right? This is great. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I like that you're being honest rather than pandering, you know, I'm not going to pander and I'm going to be honest about this. It means the stuff that you have loved is that much more real to me. You know, thank you. Yeah. I mean, when you go back to, I mean, talk to me about fucking trouble with the hen house and I'm Christ. [23:52] Well, and just wait for next, next week. Ooh. Okay. I'm, I'm, you know, I don't want to get to the last recluse. [27:09] Oh, so, you know, fun chorus, lots of oohs, aahs. You know, I like a good ooh-aah section in a song when it works. I don't mind it. It can make it fun. But this song is so loaded. It's like tons of instruments. I don't know if there's an accordion in this song. I don't know. There's keys. There's tons of layers. It's got this ominous start. Um, it's a really bridge. Yeah. Bridge is so ominous. This chanting. Yeah. Yeah. I, which I thought was kind of cool, but, uh, you know, the keys fade out at the end and, and Gord's just, who are you? Who are you? Who are you? And it's, uh, I don't know what the song is, is about or who, or I don't know. It just, it just was like, whew, this, this song's loaded. Did you watch those videos I sent you guys? There's a trilogy from this record and Gord produced the videos and I sent them as a link. I don't think I think I said I was going to watch it because I wasn't in a place with Wi-Fi and thenI never watched it. I think that's my excuse also. [28:23] I don't remember getting it from you. You have to resend it. I'll resend it. I would watch it. Yeah, I want to read my notes verbatim here. Okay, um because yeah, I I really cool opening. I got YouTube vibes, a little Alice in Chains with the acoustic. [28:46] Guitar. The melody is good but it's very Coldplay. I got a lot of Coldplay vibes from this song. Not that I'm a Coldplay fan but unless you've been living under a fucking rock, you know what Coldplay sounds like. [29:00] And not to say that Coldplay's bad. There's a market for them. I like the keyboards but again with like the chanting and everything like I wrote down I do not recognize this band and it's no it's no surprise to me that Bob Rock did not produce the nextrecord because I feel like the whole time this guy Bob Rock whoever he is I don't know how he sounds I don't know where he's from but he's like listen guys nah this is the way it's gottabe I've been in the business for years I did this Metallica group you hear of them you heard of them they're from they're from California I know how to do it. It's just what you got to do to make this record sound good. Okay, I'm a big time record producer here. Like, I mean, the whole band is just like, Gord, what do you think? Do you know how much this haircut costs? Yeah, I put my my my pants on the same way as everybody else. The only difference is I make gold records. Like, I'm like, just like, fuck, dude, I'm the band must have just been sitting sitting there like, okay, all right, we'll do this. [30:08] Hey Gord, we're taking a coffee break right now. Hey Gord, I just ran into fucking Bob Rock coming out of the bathroom and he says we should put some Gregorian chants on thenext song. And he's like, you said, you said what? Okay, I guess we'll try it. Like it just, I don't know. Yeah. I, let's, can we go to Coffee Girl? Because it's not just. Sure. Can we? Can we? I promise, I promise this is gonna get better, but not with this song. Yeah, it is, it is. Not with this song. [30:43] It's a rollercoaster ride. This song. I'm reading I'm reading verbatim here feels like a song used for a scene transition in a romantic comedy when the guy and the girl break up before the final act where they get backtogether. Coffee girl. It's like I'm just picturing like, ah, fuck, he broke up. It's a montage of like her at work alone, pissed off because the guy fucking broke her heart, whatever the And, and, and like the trumpet, it's like, it was cool, but it was just like, what thefucking trumpet? Like, what is, what is going on right now? [31:24] And, and I mean, maybe it's supposed to make you feel like you're in a, like, give you that, that so I made her an expert or so I married an expert vibes. You remember that? Yes. Yeah. Like with a trumpet, like a lowly coffee shop in San Francisco, like, I don't know what the fuck's going on, but I'm just like, okay, this band is takingdirection. This is not, not to say it's not the same guys, but they're just like, they're led astray on some songs with this record, I feel. That's all I'm saying. Interesting thing. Yeah. I'd want this, this song, I got this, like, I agree with you pretty much, but I got creepy vibes from it. Get to the back door, look around, then turn the key, turn on all the lights, take down the chairs and make things neat. One night he'll make you choose. I mean, what? This is... Well, the beginning part is her opening the coffee shop. This song's creepy though. It's, I don't know. There's, there's... So I had that little sentiment about it. And then I was like, I remember when you could walk in Starbucks and you'd hear like like a catchy song. And then they had CDs for sale next to the cash register. I remember those days. And you can like take from, you know, the holiday Starbucks playlist, but it was on CD for sale right there. Right. I wondered, like, yeah. [32:51] You used to have a song you could download too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was like, was this a Starbucks song? I don't think it was a single. Tim's all creeped out and JD's like, no. JD's like, no, I've worked at a coffee shop. I've worked at a Starbucks before. You turn the lights, you turn the fucking key, you put the chairs out. Tim, what the fuck is the problem? Yeah, the problem is one night he'll make you choose. What is that? Like there's... You gotta watch the videos. Watch the videos, all right? I don't... Fucking... Okay. All right. Homework. Homework. Now, I agree with you. This song is very milquetoast. Milquetoast. Good work. You know? Yeah. It's fine. But it's enhanced significantly by this video. You enjoy it a little bit more. But... Well, in that essence, do you feel the song was kind of made for video, hand in hand, kind of? Well, I don't know why it wouldn't have been a single then, you know? Yeah, yeah. Okay. Like, back in the day, they were releasing six, seven singles a record to give those record legs. [34:06] Well, it's got, I think, second biggest plays, or third biggest plays for this entire record on Spotify. Definitely a single category as far as listening is concerned. And I said it at the top of the fucking conversation about this tune is that it feels like it's made for a movie, you know? Yeah, yeah. So yeah, I thought of the same. Only played 77 times live. So it's not really a big live song. No, it'd be super rare. Yeah. You guys are such data whores. Such data whores. You started it with your Spotify. I really wasn't with this album until yesterday. I usually do some research along the way in this album. I really just tried to listen to it, and I tried to listen to it. You weren't inspired. And then yesterday, got into some of the data stuff. All right. Let's go to track number five. Let's go. So, the acoustic guitar feels kind of played hard. Like, I don't know if you caught this, Pete, but it felt like. I don't know. I don't think it feels forced, but the strumming of the acoustic guitar in the beginning feels a little bit annoyed or something. I don't know. There's some sentiment in there. [35:33] Drums felt kind of simple, and then everything kind of thickens up, and there's big solos in here. It's over a six-minute song, So it's building us up in song length. I mean, this is a long song for the hip. [35:52] What else did I have in my notes here? Oh, there is, you know... Sorry, I have to read this real quick. You know, the importance of this one is just how it is all about the reference of the residential school system. We actually watched a kind of docudrama film about the residential school system up there and all the government's policies towards First Nations people. And that's some heavy, heavy stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's just the song, let's see, I read the song is a response to this basically a cool you've apologized. Oh no, no, this was a Gord quote, I believe. Cool you've apologized, but nothing has really changed. The damage has been done. People are still suffering as a direct result of the government's policies. You know, that's, it's, it's not an apology song, but it's sort of. This one's just big. It's just a big song. Another one. [37:06] Yeah, before I speak about the song, I'm going to go back to one thing I said in the previous pod. I really wish to God Gorda was alive today, because I feel like the governments of the world, specifically the United States government and the Canadian government are just fucking itspeople in so many ways. Not making this a political thing, but like, Absolutely, I just I feel like that guy is a guy who would speak out and and you know, it's funny because I remember watching like video ofTrudeau when he died and Saying what a great guy he was and him actually tearing up but thinking like god, man I wonder if Gord hadn't died and what he'd be saying about some of theshit going. Yeah, no doubt the war or, you know, anything that happened during COVID, all that shit. I just really, you know, that guy is an important voice for the people in Canada. And I think, I don't know, I say North America, although there's not a lot of Americans that know the hip, but I sure shit do now. So, but getting back to the song, I liked this one. I, Tim, I certainly felt the same vibe. acoustic guitar in the beginning sounds extremely dated so that's where I think you got the vibe. [38:28] There's a lot of chorus and a lot of reverb it's just like way too like is this is this 1991? 92? It sounded like the same guitar tone on the song More Than Words by Xtreme. It just but strumming instead of that Like it just was too much. That being said, again, the strings come in, but there's a lot more of that on this fucking record. Rob Baker kind of saves the day. Solo starts coming in. The hit is great. The chorus is awesome. I love it there's some really cool arpeggios that are done in the second verse that just mix up the the sound of the song and then Rob Baker's solo it I Mean, I don't know dude. I'm willing to think he's probably the biggest fucking Pink Floyd fan in all I thought the same thing! That motherfucker, it's just fucking David Gilmour. I mean, I'm like, is Gilmour playing on this fucking record or is it Rob Baker? I mean, it's not even like, if you heard it, you'd be like, oh yeah, it's David Gilmour playing guitar. Like, no, it's actually Rob Baker, which is cool. I like it. And then Paul Amois doing like a Beatles thing, like with the guitar, like bouncing back and forth. [39:57] But in the end, I felt like this song had literally, I don't wanna miss a thing, Aerosmith, Armageddon vibes. Like it was produced to that level. Like it was good. Cinematic. But it was just, yeah, like, whoa, like, did I see this on the IMAX? I've got to listen to this song in IMAX. Yeah, to really appreciate it. Oh my gosh. I had the Pink Floyd reference, not so much of the guitar playing, but more as the all-encompassing feel of this album and the journeys throughout it, because it felt like it was trying to belike this massive Floyd production. That's one thought I had relating to the Floyd. [40:44] But the song, it made me wonder. This is where I dove into the story a little bit more. I wanted to know who Honey Watson was. Did you find out who Honey Watson is? Anybody? The reference here. So Gord apparently was watching a CBAE, CBC news story about the residential schools and started to write this song about it. And then the news story shifted to some story in Haiti and the news correspondent's name was Connie Watson. And he heard it as Honey Watson. And he thought that was funny, so he incorporated her name, Connie Watson, as Honey Watson into the song. Just thought it was cool and wrote it down. So he's like going through this really heavy topic, like one of. [41:36] Canada's maybe, you know, top three heaviest topics, residential school system. And he's throwing in these funny little, I thought they said, honey, Watson, her name's Connie Watson. I'm going to put this in this fucked up story, you know, it's like, God damn what this guy can do. And Pete, I completely agree with you. We, we, if I could choose, of course, any of us to have Gord still around. Yes. But we also need the band. Like, this is something I kind of want to save to the end, but of the whole, all of our experience, but like, we don't have art in the form of music that isscreaming about issues going on right now and making people angry. We don't have like, I can't name a band right now that has death threats against it from groups of idiots. [42:31] You know, I just don't know, like, there's a lot of- Hang tight, Tim. Our record comes out in December. Yeah, there we go. I was just going to say, there's a lot of, there's a lot, there are many lesser known, but on the rise, you know, kind of post-punk stuff coming out or going on, you know, like there's a lot. I agree with you though, man. There's just like, there's no- There's no mainstream people out there who are really screaming about issues going on around the world and ruffling feathers. [43:07] Like so much. Where's the song War Pigs, dude? Fuck, I've second time I've mentioned Sabbath during this fucking podcast. But like, where's the song War Pigs? Right now. Right now. It's on my hard drive. Back off. Hey, no, but like, I mean, I mean, here we are. [43:27] You know sending Billions of dollars to fund war all around the world and where the fucking dude, you know what? Um, there's a great fucking tiktok or whatever the fuck it is And it's some guy like i've seen it. Don't pretend like you don't tiktok all the time. No, I don't I don't have it But I wish I did um for that purpose, but there's a guy's Sitting in his car. He actually has his own account. Yeah. Look it up at pete. Um, it's all about his hair No, dude, there's a fucking guy sitting in his car and he's just like, you know, you guys in your punk bands and you were young, you were fighting against thesystem. [44:06] But somewhere you got old and you got fucking soft and you joined a party and it dude, he just fucking nails it. This guy fucking nails it. Wow. He fucking nails it. And it's like when I see shit like people like Henry fucking Rollins, like supporting the Democratic Party, which is like, fuck the Republicans, fuck the Democrats, fuck them all. Your job is to be against the system. You fuck. Excuse my language, but it's just like that's yeah, that's how I feel like, like a guy like Gord had. I don't know. The interviews I've seen with him and so much integrity, he wouldn't waffle. He'd tell he'd call a fucking spade a spade when he saw it. And if he smelled bullshit, he'd call it out no matter who it was. I don't know. That's how I feel, man. And yeah, you're right, Tim. We need the band. We need the band. We do. We need the band. Because the music's... Because not everybody watches the news and not everybody watches interviews. You hear music, though, man. You hear fucking War Pigs and you listen to those lyrics and you think, yeah, Smedley Butler was right. If you don't know who Smedley Butler is, listeners, Google him. He's not either. No, he's dead, but he wrote a good book. War is a wreck. Anyhow, too soon yet. He's been dead a while. It's a depression suit. [54:35] I had no idea what I was getting in store for when the song started, right? I mean, I was in the car and the display in my mediocre sound system, M-S-S. Clearly not my sound system. Fucking premium audio shit. My stock sound system. Anyways, on my screen it doesn't show the amount of time the song is. It just shows the amount of time it's been playing. And I just kept looking over. Like, I'm driving across town and I keep looking over. Like, god damn, how long is this song gonna go? The last song was like six minutes plus, right? Is this one a rock opera? Like, what is going on? It has this lovely start, but you really don't know where it's going. [55:26] The lyrics, I just, I was a little bit confused. The first listen, I thought we were really going to end around three and a half minutes, because that's when I was looking over. But we just kept evolving. It shifts gears, it speeds up, it gets more intense. Gord gets more loud. The strings get more loud. It just like, it's really climbing up this mountain. [55:50] And you know, part of the lyrics is, is what if the song does nothing? What is it doing? You know, what if the song does nothing? In one of the reviews of the song, which I later read, some of the hip fans who aren't as much into this album, they, you know, their, their response of what if the song does nothing waslike, yeah, what if it's not doing anything, you know, it's just confusion maybe? I don't know. Some fans were were like, no, I don't want to see how it ends because Gord's lyrics kind of ask for that. There's this, um... Kind of painful guitar solo at like eight minute mark. I mean the strings that loop and have this abrupt stop it's just this song is... It just goes. I've only listened to it three times I will listen to it again but the song to me was just... I just wonder what everybody was trying to do because it just was magnanimous. [56:59] It's giant. All right. Well, I will say I fucking love this. I thought I thought it was fucking magnificent. I think, you know, I finally with all the strings that are on this record was like, OK, I can dig them on this song. You know, I mean, it's a very, this is a very emotional record. It sounds like just lyrically, I don't feel like any of the first five songs really moved me that way. But there's a lot of musical references that he makes in here to like things like perfectfifths. The chorus is fucking amazing. When he starts warming up his voice, when he really starts digging his fucking heels in and he starts repeating, if this song does nothing, with the strings backing him up, I think are superpowerful. [58:03] They move me in this song, especially I listen to this song a lot in the car. I've talked about it once or twice, but, you know, it's a different experience when you listen to a song, when you listen to hip in my car or any music but you know I have a, The soundsystems, you know, it came with premium, but it's it's you know, it's it's a good It's a good audio system in my car. Frothy and quiet. Pete's premium sound system There's When the strings there's a cool syncopated rhythm that happens in the song and then when it when it breaks There's a part, because this is twodifferent songs, it's like 9 minutes and 27 seconds long and when this song breaks and it changes course, there's a part in it that is Alice Cooper's Only Women Bleed. Has anybody heard that song before? Yeah, sure have. It's that, it's fucking that, fucking it's the hook in that song they fucking use. And Gord's vocals are exactly that. [59:16] He smokes and drinks and don't come home at all. That's the lyric in the Alice Cooper tune. But it's fucking, I dig it. And then, you know, I liked Rob Baker's solo. It was very emotional. This is a really emotional tune. And I don't feel like I'm like, ah, this is fucking amazing. I just think it's, it clearly took a ton of work and a ton of work. Yeah. But I do feel like the band starts to come together on this track. You start hearing, okay, this seems more tragically hip than before. [59:58] So anyway, that's what I got for this tune. They played this, they played the song live 86 times. Like I wanted to look that up to see, like did they play it 10 times, six times? Theyplayed it 86 times. That's like not a ton compared to all the shows they played in their entirety, but that's a handful of times at this. Well, considering it's a later album, I mean, obviously they played the earlier ones more. Yeah. So to experience it and to know it and experience it live was probably fucking epic. Yeah, but who knows if it was with the strings too. [1:00:35] Yeah, I don't think they toured with strings for sure. Okay, okay. If you're playing like Royal Albert Hall or something, yeah, you're gonna have fucking strings, but like, youknow, otherwise... That didn't happen for sure, JD. [1:00:48] I don't remember. I don't remember that being... Like, this would have been around the time in their career that that would have been something that you might expect them to do. You know, like, we're going to do a tour with a full orchestra to get different venues on board and, you know, things like that. Bands do that kind of shit. The Cineplex Theater video. Would have been perfect for this record. Yeah, that Sinplex Theater air didn't include all the Strings people or whomever, do you know? Was that just the band? I can't imagine it would have. I'll try to find that. Yeah, if you know, send me an email, jd.gettinghiptothehip.com. That would be really cool. But let's go to the exact feeling. I didn't have a whole lot on this one. I felt like it had the DNA more, a little more so, of a hip song. Like a standout was the wah pedal going on and kind of this faint background guitar playing fade out at the end like I Honestly didn't have a whole lot not many exact feelings of this oneNot that I didn't like it. It just felt like a filler spot to me. I just kept rolling. Okay. I Yeah, okay. There. This song is the one that starts with the Castagnets, so very Spanish. Yeah. They wrote it for me. [1:02:15] I like the rolling melody, like the chord progression, the way they do it is really cool. It just it drops and then it comes back, it drops and it's very circular. The chorus is fucking amazing on this song. And the way it builds to the chorus is like, it definitely has more of a hip vibe. Like I said last time, I feel like they really start to like becomethe hip again. It's like, whoa, who's that other fucking band the first four songs or whatever, you know? And now there's like, okay, we're warmed up now, fellas, sit back and relax and enjoy. So I dug it. But then, you know, it just kind of doesn't know where to go, fades out. Tim doesn't like fade outs. the time I don't. Yeah, sometimes they're okay. Yeah, in this case, I just feel like the song was really cool. They had some cool ideas, and then there was nowhere to really go. They painted themselves into a corner and we're just like, okay, we're just going to stop painting the room. [1:03:18] You know, but yeah, but I got I got stuff to say about the next song. Yeah, go. Let's go. Queen of the Furrows. I love the beginning. I thought it was fucking awesome. This song is fucking Led Zeppelin three. It is Led Zeppelin three. I think Rob Baker's playing the mandolin. I don't know if Gord is. I don't know who's playing the mandolin. Would love to get some get a line on that. If you know anything, Pete at getting it at the hip.com. You like what you see what I did there? That was that was very professional. Did it sound natural? My boys all growed up. [1:03:57] I dug this song. The way the fucking chorus, the way the chorus comes in is like, it's just so different from the song, which is not very Led Zeppelin 3 because it's so heavy. It's fucking rad. And then the solo by Rob Baker, I'm going to read notes for Vadim here, Rob Baker melts dicks off people. He doesn't even melt your face, he melts your dick. I mean, this solo is fucking screams. It's so good. You can just tell he's in the zone and he could hear that he wanted to play that solo and he just wanted to fucking destroy it. And he just did. He delivered, I don't know if he did that in one take or if they mixed different solos together to make that, but it just sounds so good, dude. Goddamn, it's so good. I love it. Good song, good tune. Good tune. I'll pretty much agree with that. You know, it's one, I'm not going to add much to what Pete just put in, but what I did want to know what, you know, what this queen of the furrows is. And, um, it's actually a crown awarded annually to quote an agriculturally-minded young woman of Ontario. [1:05:23] And I'll just show you guys real quick. This is Kieran County Queen of the Furrow 2020 as part of Ontario's Plowman's Association. Can you see? Oh, yeah. What do you think? She's nice, you know, it's so to give everybody You know some insight into that photo. I would say she's dressed like a like you would think she'd be wearing overalls or something likethat, but she's dressed like a beauty queen. She's got a lovely dress on. She's got a sash and a tiara that looks, you know, like, that looks all beautiful and like prom queenie. Not at all what I would have expected the Queen of the Furrows to look like. Which for real... Not at all what I expected the Plowman's Association to be doing. Easy, Tim! Easy! But I didn't know, furrows is the word for the lines, you know. That's right. In the farm from the machines planting seeds or doing whatever you do. I mean, now I know when I'm sitting in the window seat on Alaska Airlines, covering the West Coast as I do. [1:06:37] I thought the guitar solo, it hearkened me back to some GNR. That's all I'll say about that. Certainly. this I guess just lastly the ending had this noisy but kind of quiet background guitar feedback something like there was something something playfulhappening with some guitar noise and the congos like this was one of those interesting enders but but kind of a cool song. Speed River. So, Speed River, I was like, ah, okay, I'm kind of digging this one. This felt a little more like what I was hearkening back to, Liking of the Hip. This was a single. Yep, yep. This has, again, a big guitar solo, which quiets down into keys and some rim shots from drumsticks happening. [1:07:34] This house sounds like a bomb hit it is a fucking cool lyric. I didn't know if that was referencing the feeling of recording and just being in the zone. This is what I was imagining, just being in the zone of the music just feeling so good with yourbandmates. You know, this house feels like a fucking bomb hit it because we are destroying with this music. But this song is kind of cool. a little more, I don't know, a little more fun in an easilysingable way. You know, it has a somewhat fitting, abrupt ender to it. It might have been... At first glance, it was like, this might be my song on the album. I'm not sure. Don't give it away, buddy. I didn't. I left it hanging a little. All right. He said it might. Yeah. Okay. Okay. I stand corrected. Speed River. I'd love to agree with Tim, because I love agreeing with him, but the tonal licks were cool. [1:08:45] Overall, though, not impressed. I feel like this song was written to play live. I mean, literally, they wrote it and were like, yeah, we don't care how this fucking sounds on the record. It's just gonna be a fucking banger to play live. Yeah, I'm sure it was great live. How many times did they play it there, Tim? Let's look. It was probably like a- Oh, I thought you had it pulled up hard. I do. It's just on, I got it right here. It probably was awesome, you know, to play like the fifth song of a show just to keep the crowd going. It was played 11. This was played 11 times. So this song was probably a treat for people who do it. You know, it was probably a fucking treat. Yeah. I guess so. I heard the rim shots and the keyboards, it's just felt so country pop, like, I felt like I felt like I should be at, like, the lake with my, like, pseudo country Republican voting friends, like, 12Bud Lights deep being like, yeah, this is fucking mad, right? Yeah, this is fucking cool. Yeah. Fuck, yeah. [1:10:00] So that was Bobby and. Yeah. You know, I don't know. It's just the vibe I got. I don't know why, but I felt. I felt like if I heard the song live, I'd be like, fuck, yeah. But on the record, it was just. It was like a bad Viagra pill, not that I've ever taken Viagra, but I don't know why. That's why. That's what I thought of. But it's like somebody selling you like a, like a placebo and be like, yeah, this will, this will do it. And you take it and you're like, I didn't do anything. [1:10:35] I think it was 2009 that we went to Mazatlan. That's kind of throwing me back to bad Viagra pills. Okay. I just thought, because you know, songs, you want to say this song to getmy engine going. That's why I did that. Anyway. If you look at the blueprints of this song, though, it should work like it should. It should all be there. Yeah, yeah. It's got an interesting chorus. But you're right, the sum of the pieces don't add up. Now, there are people that will love this song and tell us why you love it. It'd be great to hear. You could love it, but compare it to the shit that they've done. [1:11:19] And we're not in the compare and contrast game. We're not comparing apples and and oranges, groeries and forges. But I mean, dude, like. You're going to put this up against fucking fireworks, go fucking freak off, as Ricky LeFleur would say. Freak, freak right off. I mean, Christ, I mean, not even close. Right. Just I. But you're right, Judy, the sum of it, you know, it has all the components. It's like, Hey, babe, I was going to make this amazing soup for you. I put all the ingredients in, but for some reason it still tastes like shit. Yeah. Yeah. I won't go. Yeah. I won't, I won't go that far, but yeah. [1:12:08] Well, you know, you know where I'm going. Yeah. Well, with it, with this album and where we're at now and with, with all these journeys of these songs, I mean, we've gone fromlike three minute songs to nine minute songs, these, these past two, Queen of the Froze and Speed River, they feel like kind of placed in there to fill it out a little bit. But they also feel to me a little bit like past albums filler songs. So yeah. To me, they were good and they represent. But in this particular album, it's almost like, guys, we had 10 days book to record. We're at day four and you're feeling done. What do you have? They were part of this for two months. What do you have that we could pull in here? Jesus Christ. What about that song, Speed River? I just hope Bob Brock can retire after this. Yeah. What was that? [1:13:02] I just said, I hope Bob Rock retired after this or, or no, no offense to Bob Rock. Cause he produced some great shit, but just like, or found a band that he was more compatible with because it just. Yeah. I feel you. I feel you. I don't feel, and that's, you know, you guys dug the last record and that was him. And, uh, and, and you turned me back onto it by your, by your digging of it. You know, it's, it's just, it's just interesting. It's it sure is. I mean the last record I I it kind of won me over quickly and I believe I said this, you know, I went online to see how I could get it on vinyl and And then the more I listened to it the less Ilooked into Getting it on vinyl. I'm watching literally watching a crow in my backyard right now I'm going to destroy. [1:13:59] An old crow? I have a crow right now, destroying. Hey! Go! I love birds. I'm a birder. And this crow is destroying my cover over my... It's too complicated. I didn't know that crows in Portland speak English. Did you know that, Jamie? I did not know that either. That is a fact. I would have assumed they spoke Croatian. Oh shit. Fuck man. JD takes a sip of his fucking whiskey and says, I'm out bitches, finish the podcast on your own motherfuckers. I printed out the article, I didn't really, but I printed out the article about dads who throw out dad jokes are better dads than dads who do not throw out dad jokes. That may be true, but I'll tell you what, um, uh, camera, wait, what was it? Pigeon camera? Pigeon camera. Yeah. Yeah, it'd be cool if we, they did a crow camera. At least you havealliteration. [1:15:08] I guess crows weren't as smart, but crows are supposed to be really smart. They're fucking smart. And they, they have face recognition skills. They, they remember people. Frozen in my tracks. [1:18:58] You know, I think it's kind of a pleasure. It's a little bit of a gift, or maybe it's a huge gift, when Gord does his, what do we call it, when he speaks over... Spoken word! Yeah, when he does a spoken word fucking poetry, trippy stuff, like this song has it, and we got it, and I'm happy at this point on any hip song to get that. It's got kind of a... That's cool. Yeah, I mean, come on. It's got somewhat of a spooky start. The snare on this one's a bit tuned up, and the bass is like, lack of a better term for thuddier or deeper. It's like the drums felt a little bit different to me. [1:19:43] This, you know, Gord at the one minute mark, he's already screaming in this song. [1:19:48] I thought that, I don't know, with the bridge at like two minutes, this kind of locomotive feeling, I thought this song reminded, it made me wonder if Bob Rock, look, can yousqueeze call him Bobby? Because if he listens to this, I just want him to be Really upset. It's called a
Ever wondered why The Tragically Hip never quite cracked the American market? Can being "too Canadian" be a legitimate reason? Join jD, Pete, and Tim, as they delve into these questions and more, in an episode that's all about the legendary Canadian band and renowned producer, Bob Rock. We examine Rock's impactful legacy, his ground-breaking record with The Hip, and why their unique Canadian-ness may have been a double-edged sword in the American music scene.This week, we immerse ourselves in The Hip's 10th studio album, dissecting the distinctive sonic footprint that Bob Rock has imprinted on each track. Hear our candid first reactions, our deep dives into the lyrics' amalgamation of quantum physics, Plato, and God, and how a short hiatus from the album breathed new life into jD's perspectives. From the booming drums akin to Stuart Copeland and Neil Peart's style to the raw, gritty sounds of hip drums, we leave no stone unturned in our exploration of this musical masterpiece.And just when you think we've hit peak musical analysis, think again! We round up our episode with a thoughtful examination of the album's themes of touring and corporate radio. We also give you our take on The Hip's Austin City Limits performance and an exciting, upcoming event in Toronto that promises to echo the essence of a live Tragically Hip experience. To top it all off, we take a side trip to Salt Lake City, diving into its cultural diversity and have a little fun contemplating a world where weed is legal in Utah. So, buckle up for a fun-filled, music-centric journey into the heart of Canadian musicTrack ListingYer not the Ocean - Studio versionIn View - Live from Abbotsford 2009The Kids Don't Get It - Live from Oshawa 2013Last Night I Dreamed that you didn't love Me - Live from Montreal 2006TranscriptTrack 1:[0:00] Well welcome to getting hip to the hip I'm here as always with Pete and Tim and we are checking out for the first time a new hip record every week we do this and we have a lot offun doing it so this week I gave you the 10th studio record produced by famous Canadian producer Bob Rock Bob Rock Bob Ross right he's born for a job part of me make wishes I wasthat guy right hair and everything all the bands he's worked with just oh my god didn't Lambert four Four-wheel drive Lamborghini, like jacked wheels and everything. Track 2:[0:48] Four-wheel drive Lamborghini. Track 3:[0:49] Sorry. Track 1:[0:54] No, don't be sorry. Track 3:[0:57] Let's talk about him a little bit though, because he's done some major bands, right? Track 1:[1:02] Yeah, really. Track 3:[1:03] I mean, wow. That guy's portfolio is quite large. Track 1:[1:09] Like from the mid 80s to the mid 90s he was like, literally. Worked with everybody in rock. Track 3:[1:18] Everybody who's making money. Track 1:[1:20] Yeah. Track 3:[1:21] He went as well. Track 2:[1:22] His last name is Rock. Track 3:[1:23] I know. That's why I kind of wish I was him for that era. Track 2:[1:27] Jeez, dude. Track 3:[1:29] Bon Jovi, Offspring. Track 1:[1:31] He's not as good as the producer Michael Indy. Oh. Track 3:[1:35] Oh, look at that. Track 2:[1:36] Yeah. Track 3:[1:39] No, but seriously, Bob Rock, he was all over the place. He even helped out Cher. But 311, Skid Row, Motley Crue. I mean, this guy. Track 2:[1:48] Which 311 record? Because Grassroots is just, that was a breakthrough, man. I don't know. Track 3:[1:58] I'm not a fan. I didn't know that one. I'd be curious. Track 2:[2:01] Their later stuff, it wasn't. But I bet he's a big Bob Seger fan. Track 3:[2:06] I'm sure. He's sounded pretty significant with Metallica. I was wondering if you, If that rang a bell for you, Mr. Pete. Yeah. Track 2:[2:18] I mean, is this his first record that he's produced with The Hip? Track 1:[2:22] This is the first one. He does two. He does the next two back to back, which they seem to, that seems to be what they do. You know, they work with the producer and then, and thenwork with him again. And it's worked, you know, on a couple of occasions. Track 2:[2:39] Oh, man, yeah, he's got a fucking dude this guy's got a He's got the hair and everything. Track 3:[2:45] She's yeah got a rap sheet. I almost Almost crushing on him Ryan Adams, right? Track 1:[2:51] Yeah, So there was there was great anticipation I think amongst Maybe not the diehard hip fans because the diehard hip fans were gonna we're gonna buy the record regardless andenjoy it regardless. but that that outer fringe that that had been listening the people like me uh that had been had been diehards but had in in between evolution despite you guys really liking it was a recordthat was divisive for me at the time uh i was just listening to other things and you know that's that's all there was to it so um i think that um i've lost my point because i was watchingJessica in the back and she's distracted. Track 2:[3:46] Thanks, Jessica. Geez. Track 1:[3:49] Geez Louise. Oh yeah, the outer fringes like me were thinking, well, Bob Rock knows how to produce a hit record. Maybe this will be the one. You know what I mean? That's like, that's going to bring me back and bring back. I don't know why I was so concerned with their success in the States. I reallydon't. It's, it's, it's pointless. Track 2:[4:14] I feel like it is something that is just fucking ingrained in you Canadians. I mean, I, it's like this, I don't know what it is. I think it's so stupid, but I get it, but I don't get it. I'm just like, why didn't we break through? Why haven't they broken through? Why do you want Americans to like you so much? Guess what? Americans aren't all that fucking great. Take it from one who is one. Track 3:[4:38] In half of us are fucking idiots if not more not more these days, I mean, there's a lot of reproduction happening We're probably towards 60% now. Just I would say Yeah Yeah, you know when I walk down the street I'm like Just ready Let's go No, but but you know I asked the bot, the AI bot, why the hip never broke through acrossthe border other than Detroit and where? or upstate New York, wherever they were playing. And the bot was like... This is my bot voice, it doesn't really exist this way, but the bot was like, They were just too Canadian. Track 1:[5:16] Oh, really? Track 3:[5:19] Yeah, that was a serious point from the bot that people thought that maybe they were just too Canadian. And I thought, wow. Track 1:[5:26] Okay. I don't even know what that means. Track 3:[5:30] Well, because a lot of the content is Canada-themed stuff, you know? Track 1:[5:37] Yeah, but it's not in your face unless somebody points it out. Track 3:[5:43] I mean, that was one explanation. Track 1:[5:46] Yeah, I hear it. Track 3:[5:48] Just content of lyrics. Track 2:[5:50] I mean, if that was the case, for crying out loud, dude, Rick Moranis and John Candy would have never been accepted into popular culture in the United States. That can't be it. Yeah, wrong. Track 3:[6:04] Maybe so because I was thinking, what about the boss? You know, or, I mean, all these artists that sell out concerts around the world. Yeah, was Bruce Springsteen to American? God forbid. Track 2:[6:19] Yeah, a little too American for me. Definitely. Track 3:[6:22] By the way, those blue jeans, pretty handsome. Wow. Track 2:[6:27] And you mentioned Metallica, Tim and JD. He didn't just produce Metallica, but the Black Album. Track 1:[6:35] The Black Album. Track 2:[6:36] Yeah. The one that like, I mean, say what you want about Metallica. I mean, I like a chunk of their stuff. I have a connection because James Hetfield went to my high school. You know? Track 1:[6:49] We know that from episode two. Track 2:[6:52] Do we know that from episode two? Track 3:[6:54] We do. I found this other podcast where it was really hidden inside iTunes, and it's about Pete getting beat up by James Heffield, like he returns to speak at the school and singles outPete. I don't know. I heard that. He said they met at the end, but... Track 2:[7:12] I've never seen the guy, never met the guy, but no, that record was pivotal. I mean, that's where they went from heavy metal band to worldwide, like if you go to another planet, people heard of Metallica. Track 1:[7:27] So here's, here's, this is exactly my point. My point is they had, they had four or five really great records before that, that Metallica fans cleave to and absolutely adore. And Metallica would have had a great career with, with, with just, you know, if they hadn't released the Black Album, they would have had a good career, you know, on the backs of thosefive records. But they did release the Black Album and Bob Rock did produce that record. So there was a thought in my head that maybe the same thing could happen with my band. And that's ridiculous and arbitrary and it ultimately I know doesn't matter, But I think that that's where it came from. Track 3:[8:10] So JD, you mentioned this album wasn't all that for you. Is that what happened? Or what was your reaction when it came out? You said you were late to it? Track 1:[8:20] Yeah, I didn't really get into this record as a fan until I really gave it a bunch of time. And that was when we did the Fully and Completely podcast. I gave it quite a bit of time. And I ended up appreciating it. it. To me, it's an interpretation of a Tragically Hip album, and it's not one that I think is the best interpretation of a Tragically Hip album, but there's some real highlights on it. There's somereal highlights on it. Track 3:[8:59] Do you mean to say it personifies a Tragically Hip album? Is that what you mean by that? Track 1:[9:06] No, because that would mean I would be be making it a person, and calling it by name and things like that. And in this case, what I'm doing... Track 2:[9:15] Okay, you're not buying it a beard, dude. Okay, you're not taking it home, dude. Track 3:[9:20] We're gonna cut that out. No, I'm joking, I'm joking. But with that, did this album kind of represent to you, like, this is a great hip album, it checks boxes? Track 1:[9:32] Or what do you mean by that statement? No, I mean, it's an interpretation of a hip record. A hip hop record to me has backing vocals that I can hear that are Paul Langlois and GordSinclair doing the backup vocals. It's got... Track 2:[9:47] Are they not singing backup on this one? Track 1:[9:49] They are, but it's just mixed differently. It's like you don't hear them the same way. There's like gang vocals on this record. It's true. Track 3:[9:57] It is a little different. Track 1:[9:59] It's just, it's a little bit odd. It's like walking into a room that you're really familiar in, but you have like a feeling like something is off. Like, am I in the same dimension? You know? Track 2:[10:14] It's like when Howard, the duck landed on earth and, and, and thought he was like just home until he saw the first human. Right. Track 3:[10:22] Exactly like that. I mean, that's what I was thinking. Yeah, like yeah. Track 1:[10:27] Yeah, so we gotta we gotta blame Bob Brock for that then That's where I'm going with this Yeah, and he get like I say he gets two stabs at it and this is this is his first stab Yeah, andthere's a lot to like, you know, I don't know. Track 2:[10:39] Should we get into the song by song or We should yeah, we should and when we do I want to I want to kind of comment on what you said JD Because I feel like there's a reason. Track 3:[10:50] Let's keep going with it. Let's keep going. Track 1:[10:51] Yeah, let's go. Track 2:[10:53] Well, I was just gonna say, I hear you when you say I know what you mean by you say it's a hip album personified. Because it's different. It's like, it's a hit, but you're like, something's, it's a little bit like Black Mirror-ish. It's like, is there something I'm missing right now? Yeah, something feels weird. I feel that, you know, it's funny, I got to think to myself, like, what do the members of the hip think? Because like, when they hear, if they were to be flies on the wall in this conversation, because, you know, they all listen week over week. This is a fact, we know this. No, but like, for them, it's probably, I mean, maybe there were some things different, but they're just like, what the fuck is this guy talking about? Track 3:[11:35] They were out front of my house this morning. They were just like, they're hoping to get a glimpse. Track 2:[11:41] Pitchforks? For the first two episodes? With their machetes. Yeah, Jesus. But I feel you, dude. I feel you completely. I do. There's something, not off, but like, as the listener, it just, like, you'll see it when we start talking about the song. I'll point out a few things where I'm just like, yeah, it's saying exactlywhat you just said, JDS. Track 1:[12:06] So where did you guys listen to this record the first time? Track 3:[12:09] Man, I after we last recorded I had a garage project to do and I brought a speaker out there and Got in my zone and just cranked it up and out the gates. I was like, oh this is gonna be Maybe a really fun album and then even during the first song I had I paused it several times and I was distracted and I had Things going on so I did likerestart the album and restart the album restart the album and that has not happen to me with my listenings. So, this one just out the gate for me it was like... all these things were happening but ultimately with the first song i was kind of like whoa what do i think of this it's it was i was a little bit perplexed so yeah after that of course just all thetypical stuff of how i listened to albums just all over the place i really gave this one a lot of time and at one point was like i need to hear this on vinyl i want to hear what's going on withthis album because it was a little bit different and I wasn't necessarily wanting to buy it on vinyl because it's like my favorite one yet. I don't know, I just, I was a little perplexed by this album. Track 1:[13:22] Yeah, yeah. It can be perplexing, yeah. Track 3:[13:27] I was overwhelmed. How about you, Pete? Track 2:[13:33] I did something a little different with this record which was actually good and not to my own even knowing that I was doing it. But I listened to it, I think I first listened to it was inthe car. But second of all, I did some heavy listening right off the bat and then I took a fat break because I was doing other stuff and was busy and I couldn't listen to anything. So I came back to it, revisited it and it gave me a whole new perspective on what the record, what it was, like really, really cool. I mean, it was totally unplanned, but I think when you like, when you start listening to a record and then just listen a bunch over a week straight, nonstop, or like, like regularly, you don't,you look at it one way, but when you listen to it for a bit, and then you put it down and then you come back to it, you have a different perspective than I certainly did. Track 1:[14:32] Interesting. Can't wait to hear more about that. Okay, well let's jump into track by track then. We start out with, you're not the ocean. Track 3:[14:48] Man, you're not coming in. You're not coming in. This song is, it's, well, at one point I was like, Pete's belting this out in the car for this chorus, for sure. So I was trying it too, you know. I love Gord's, whatever he does at the kind of end there. It's a big song. I thought, you know, there's a few songs on this album where I'm like, this is amazing for karaoke. And this song is just big. It's a big singer that way. Is it a breakup song? Is it about death? Or is it like drowning? I read a little bit on it. And there was a lot of Ontario Lake references. You know, it's this, this was kind of, this for me was kind of a word song talking about lots of stuff. Track 1:[15:43] They're called the Great Lakes, Tim. Track 3:[15:43] The Great Lakes, sorry. It was specific to Ontario Lake because, for this song, supposedly, because all those lakes send all their, you know, garbage down into Ontario, which is themost polluted out of the greats. So is it the least great? I don't know. It's somewhat of repetitive song. I like the piano add in. there's piano, like first song I'm hearing. Track 2:[16:08] A lot of piano on this record. Track 3:[16:09] Yeah, a lot of piano, I mean that was, I don't know if that was some Bon Jovi influence in there or something. Anyways, the guitar riff feels a little added, like, you know, like weput extra icing on the cake. Yeah, it was, this is a big song for me. Big chorus. Holy cow. Let's scream it together on three. You guys ready? Just kidding. It's a big one. It's a big opener. Track 2:[16:41] Yeah, I mean, I think this song is, the best way I can put it, summing up in a sentence, this is fastball down the middle, tragically hip. Like when I heard this song, it was just, just, I knew what I was listening to. It sounded like the hip. To me, it was like, and I didn't really dig into Bob Rock prior to the record, but it's like somebody went into the safe in Gord Downie's house, pulled out theformula that is for writing hip songs and fucking followed it and then folded it back up, put it in an envelope, put it in the safe and locked it. Because this song is fucking formulaic, tragically hip. Not in a bad way, in a really cool way. I loved it. I loved Gord's vocals. I love when he gets really high and goes like an octave up. You're not the ocean. And then he goes, you're not. It gets really, it's just, dude, yeah. Track 3:[17:42] And the wolf. Track 2:[17:42] A lot of wolves on this record, man. And it's just, it feels really like, going back to what you said about this record being a hip record personified, it feels like this record wasmanufactured to feel safe and familiar for hip fans. For people to like press play on the first one and just be like, okay, all right, my boys are back. Okay, cool. Okay, cool. Track 1:[18:11] Yeah, I can't hardly disagree with you. Like, I can't. Track 2:[18:15] Just the vibe that I got, you know. Track 3:[18:18] My vibe was kind of like, are we trying to get an older crowd? It didn't feel young to me. I don't know. Track 2:[18:27] Well, this is what, almost 20 years on, right, JD? Track 3:[18:30] Right, exactly. So, you know, fans are getting on in their years. Just hold another conversation. Yeah. The Lonely End of the Rink. So this one I thought was just remarkable in that it could be about Gord and his brother, or Gord or his brother individually, and hockey. And I mean, this is the hockey song, right? Track 1:[18:57] Yeah. Track 3:[18:57] They play the song at games? Track 1:[19:00] I'm sure they do. I'm sure they do. Track 3:[19:03] Yeah. Yeah. This to me was like, you know, the bot said maybe they were too Canadian. I don't I don't know. They play hockey in different countries. Track 1:[19:10] That's right. Track 3:[19:12] But not being a hockey guy, but being a father of two dudes and thinking about brothers, I kind of dug it. The beginning kind of guitar riff start feels like we're getting into an anthem song for me right away, like that guitar at the beginning. Track 1:[19:33] Yeah, this song is written to be played live for sure. Track 3:[19:36] Yeah, the drum and the bass is just super charging. There's this echoey, Pete, if you remember, this is echoey guitar. 100%. Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. So I've heard that from a few bands, but the first time, actually, Amy and I were in the car and I played the song for her and I said, what does thisechoed out guitar remind you of? Well, I don't know, because there's a few, there's a few, But she said, Duran Duran, this is from Duran Duran. Oh my God, what were these guys listening to on tour? I think they werelistening to anything and everything. I think. Track 1:[20:14] I think they were probably pretty. Track 3:[20:16] I would love to know. Track 1:[20:17] Pretty loose about what they listened to. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Track 2:[20:20] My money. Track 3:[20:22] That was, what was yours? Track 2:[20:23] No, my money would be that they were, I mean, this says Unforgettable Fire by U2 written all over. Oh, completely. Unforgettable Fire, that whole, like the records just, I was, I was just like, this is, this is... Track 3:[20:39] With like a sprinkle of Robert Plant. I don't know. Track 2:[20:44] There's something else. Track 3:[20:45] There's something else here. Track 2:[20:46] But the thing that was so surprising for me on this song was the drums. Like, Johnny Faye's drums, like, I don't know if it's Bob Rock. I don't know what, but like, I mean, I knew the guy's a good drummer, but this fucking song, all of a sudden he's fucking Stuart Copeland or Neil Peart. Like, what the fuck? Like, I mean, dude, like the drum work is just ridiculous. Track 1:[21:12] He's great. Track 3:[21:13] I agree. I thought at one point the drums on this album were maybe the most raw hip. I don't know, it just that to me was kind of, thank God the drums are that way on this album. If they were polished into like a fucking Bentley or something, Bobby Rock-ish, can we call him Bobby? Track 1:[21:36] You can, you're tight. Track 3:[21:37] That might piss him off if he hears this. Yeah. But yeah, the drums on, I think, throughout were killing it on this album. Track 2:[21:46] But if JD told me, if JD told me, oh, you know, one note about this record, beside it being produced by Bob Rock, Johnny Faye does not play Jones on this. It's just, they have another genre for whatever reason. I would just be like, Oh yeah, that makes sense. Like, and it's not a knock on Johnny Faye. I've just never heard any fucking thing like this from him. Like nothing, nothing. Track 3:[22:05] Yeah. Track 2:[22:07] Nothing. Track 3:[22:08] Almost like he was angry. Do you kind of feel that? Track 2:[22:10] Oh, yeah. Track 3:[22:11] Like, yeah, like not, not hyped about the, maybe the recording process. I don't know. There There was something different on his drums. Track 2:[22:17] Yeah, dude, there's some anger in there. There's some, yeah, all the cool licks. There's an acoustic lick in there and some harpsichord-style effect. But I thought of you, Tim, because there's no, like for a song this grand, they didn't fade it. They ended it, which is cool. Track 1:[22:34] It's true. Track 2:[22:35] Don't fade this shit, man. Fuck it all up. Track 3:[22:37] The momentum of it is really fun, kind of that charging, drumming momentum of the song. It's like, a few songs on this album are kind of locomotive feeling, like they just getgoing, you know? And I think that matches up with part of, at least some, you know, a chunk of the lyrics of this song of joining, oh to join the rush, you know? With Gord's voice just kind of climbing, oh to join the rush! It's fucking great. This was, as comparatively to the prior one, this one I was like, ah, people must, the Canucks must love the song live. Track 1:[23:16] Look at you representing the Pacific Northwest. What's your team called? There's a trivia question. What's your team called? You don't even know. Track 3:[23:27] Dude, I don't follow sports. It's not in my head. Track 1:[23:30] The answer is the Kraken. The Kraken. Track 3:[23:34] I don't even know that. And it makes me laugh because it's ridiculous. You could have, you could have made up like the green zebra tomatoes. You know, I wouldn't have known any better. Track 2:[23:46] Geez. Track 1:[23:48] All right, we go way out of the hips, normal lane, with this next track in view. What did you guys think of this left turn? Track 2:[24:04] You want to take it, Tim? Track 3:[24:06] I mean, I'm just scrolling through the lyrics here. It's really simple. The drums at the beginning of this one, okay, here's more drum notes, are really kind of big and strong and then it softens up. It kind of softens up. Like the song to me, the rest of the music didn't really match the way the drums start which is I'm sure purpose I'm done on purpose but it's like whoa where is thissong shifting to it's it's like felt kind of cute there's keys in the background you know I was like phone rings once phone rings twice phone links three times you know it just felt like Is thiskind of a cash grab radio hit? What is going on here? But you know, of course, I read a little bit about it. And there's like, references to quantum physics and Plato and Gorf's, Gorf's, Gord's believe in God. So, like, is he calling on the Lord? This song confused me. I'm just, if that's not obvious by now. I just wasn't really sure. Track 2:[25:26] Everybody's confused with you now and then. Track 3:[25:30] It's super fun to get into and sing through. Track 1:[25:34] It's fun, but then those lyrics are sort of dark, aren't they? Like, I mean, I've been meaning to call you, I've been meaning to call you, then I do. So this person, for whatever reason, has been meaning to call this other person, and it hasn't called them, then finally does, and the phone ring once, phone rings twice, the phone ringsthree times, and then what? They don't answer? It goes to voicemail? Like what? Like, oh my God. Track 3:[26:04] I mean, if they were calling the Lord, they might still be waiting. Who knows? Track 2:[26:10] Yeah, I don't know that they have voicemail in heaven. I've not been there myself. Track 3:[26:16] Look at that, Jesus doesn't have an iPhone. Wouldn't that be awesome? He'd be so big. Yeah, I don't know. I'm not sure who they were calling or what this one's about. It's kind of fun, but I was like, eh, what's next? But what about you, Mr. P? Track 2:[26:30] I mean, was this a single, by the way, Genie? Track 1:[26:33] I believe this was. Let me just quickly take a look. Track 3:[26:37] It felt damn written. Track 1:[26:39] The first single. Yeah, I mean. Track 3:[26:41] Yeah, there you go. There you go. Track 2:[26:43] I hear you guys with the lyrics and I've been, I think at a certain point, when it comes to The Hip, I've come to appreciate their lyrics so much because Gord's great at what he does. There were a couple times early on when I was digging into lyrics, I started to give them too much weight and it started to sway my opinion of the song, which is fucking stupid becausemusic is not supposed to do that. I mean, yeah, it is in a certain way, but if you really like something and then you dig into the lyrics, like when you dig into the lyrics of the song, fucking, I'll be watching you by the policeand you really know what it's about. No one's gonna fucking like that song and play it at their wedding. It's a creepy ass song, right? But if you kind of step away from it, and you look at it in a different light, you just listen to the melody of it. It's fucking it's a beautiful song. This song is a fucking banger. It's an absolute toe tapper. I loved it. I was fucking that the fucking keyboards. [27:50] I mean, I just was Happy as a pig in shit listening to this. Yeah, I couldn't remove this perfect pop song I am a sucker for a pop song and I make no fucking bones about it man. You know, you give me a pop song That is just pure bubblegum and rock candy and I will just be like where do I sign? This is this is this is one and I just I mean, I loved, loved, loved it. Loved it. Loved it. I think Go ahead. Track 3:[28:25] No, you go. Track 2:[28:28] I was jumping into No, I just I think it's a song like this. It's easy for any hardcore hit fan to be like, fuck that they sold out or whatever. Like, he's such a fucking asshole about it. Excuse my language. But dude, you know what, if I'm any one of those fucking dudes in the band, they probably had a blast recording this. They probably had a shit ton of fun fucking playing it live, becausepeople just fucking dance to it. And it's fun. And anybody who says anything coarse about it, go fuck themselves. That's my piece. Sorry. I guess I'm fucking myself. Track 3:[29:02] So what about this? What about this? I love these lines, right? What about these lines right here? Day erasers dark of night excited states gone in plain sight under the wave or by cave light i lose things change but never in your eyes i mean that's the loaded bit of this song at the endbut you're just going through and you're it's it's nuts to me like i'm i'm hearing the song i'm singing the chorus like you can sing along to this one right even on first listen if you're a megafan you're probably like yes, phone rings once, phone rings twice. And then this Dark Eraser's Dark of Night happens, and it's like, whoa, Gord's throwing the dagger at the wheel at the end here. Track 2:[29:51] Maybe he's just getting shit to rhyme and to fit the song too. I mean, you also don't, that's why I don't, I give, unless somebody's, unless it's like really obvious or whatever, I just try not to give lyrics that much weight because it could ruin a song. I could see if I dig into the lyrics of the song, which I did not, Tim, it would've fucking ruined it for me. I just choose to be like, oh, that's, you know. It is what it is, you know, because it's that's that's another thing because Gord's lyrics are so They're like, you know 30% THC in the CBD like dude you one drop and you're fucking done. So you got to be careful with it it's really potent and And and I I I take his lyrics with a grain of salt because otherwise like all the dude the And the Chani Wenjack shit, dude, if I reallystart digging in and thinking about that, it gets me like depressed and like super pissed off and like, yeah, you know, it does bring attention to it, which is great. But like, if I can't, I can't hold that as close to my heart as I do with some songs, because it just will fucking wreck me. Track 3:[31:15] I guess I'm kind of in the middle like I look into them to a certain degree and I either go all the way, which rarely happens or I kind of stop halfway up the hill, you know, but myone of my favorite things lyrics wise on this one is just his use of the USA calling the USA, the excited states. I think that's what that is and it just made me forever want to call where I'm from the The excited states, the excited states, because it's so true. It's like pew, pew, we're ready. Track 1:[31:49] Oh my God. Track 3:[31:50] We're so excited all the time. Excited in schools, churches, everywhere we go, we're excited country. So that, I mean, it's a packed song. It's simple, but it's, yeah, let's just keep moving. Track 1:[32:05] So the next song that we have to discuss then is Fly, which is our first song that we've heard that isn't a single. Track 2:[32:17] I think this song is, the placement of it is perfect because you've got these three fucking just monsters before and then it kind of brings it down. To me, I felt like it was, I'm in a bar in Alaska. And it's cold out. But when you get inside, it's nice and warm and toasty. And there are mugs of beer and there's a jukebox. And like, it's a romantic comedy. Track 3:[32:48] A pair of glowing thighs. Track 2:[32:50] Totally, man. I'm telling you, man. Track 3:[32:53] That lyric in here is amazing. Track 2:[32:55] I know. Track 3:[32:56] Coastline rise is like a pair of glowing thighs. Track 2:[33:00] See you soon. The chorus is a fucking banger. I just felt like this song was just a feel-good song that didn't slow... like sometimes the songs that slow it down in track three or four, whenever that song comes on a record, it will maybe sometimes put you in a depressing mood or whatever, but this songbuilds up to some fun. But it just, it does take it down a notch in a very nice, beautiful way. I loved it. Yeah, not much more I could say about it. I liked it. I liked it. Tim? Timmy? Track 3:[33:37] Yeah, I just thought there was some fun one-liners in here. It's kind of, I echo what Pete just said. I felt like it was a good number four. It's the guy batting clean up and you know he's solid for a single, you know, to keep things alive. And I think that's kind of what this song is. It felt a little, this is where I went back to Bob Rock and I'm like, this is a little bit Bon Jovi-esque feeling. It just, you know, that's that was kind of about it for me. Track 2:[34:11] By the way, I think what you mean, and I'm not trying to split hairs here, I think what you mean is Jon Bon Jovi. Because if anybody knows anything, there's two things. There's Bon Jovi, which is the band, and then there's Jon Bon Jovi, which is the solo shit. I felt Jon Bon Jovi on that. Track 3:[34:30] Yeah, well, I'm just more referencing like shoulder length feathered cut hair. Track 1:[34:35] That's a lot of years you're covering there. Track 2:[34:39] Well, I mean, Blaze of Glory was by and far his finest work, his finest hour, as was the film Young Guns 2, which... I'm with you there. Track 1:[34:48] I'm with you there. A lot of the movies. It was great. Track 2:[34:54] Oh, oh, God, I gotta rewatch that. Track 1:[34:56] Let's go into the next track, which is one that I always remember from when this record came out, because I had something named the same thing that I had written. I just think, this is me tooting my own horn, but I just think that title, that misspelling with the word sick, Which is journalism speak for there's a spelling error there. It's just so clever. I love it. But what did you think of the song? Track 3:[35:26] Yeah, I mean, I did speaking of spelling errors, I did read that Gord is quoted as saying it actually wasn't supposed to be world container. It was supposed to be world contain her. Oh, really? guys yeah yeah so supposedly the the, you know the the title of this album is incorrect so maybe it's somewhat of a reference to thatyeah so was that I that keep going on the song. Track 2:[35:55] Was she put into a parcel? Because I mean, I don't know. Track 3:[36:02] I don't know. Yeah Maybe maybe maybe it's hmm. That's that's another that's another hit mystery that we'll never know wonder if she's was priority or first-class Well, she had probably would have been DHL if she was coming out ofCanada So who knows? Yeah What do I have on this one, you know, it's I I just immediately went to, where Pete doesn't go sometimes apparently with songs, is like, who is this about? Is this a proposal gone bad? Is it rejection? Is it about being infatuated with someone and not having that feeling reciprocated? And there was some bit I read about it that this... where do I have the quote? This gal from... I guess gal... Lexi Liu. Who knows? Where am I gonna go here? Okay, so this person online wrote that it was about... she had experienced that it was about a teacher of hers who was dating Gord and she rejected Gord's proposal. And supposedly there's like a whole story there about Gord's, you know, one of his relationships. So who knows? Track 1:[37:28] I've... I've not... Track 3:[37:31] I've not heard that story. You have? Track 1:[37:35] No, I haven't. Oh, you haven't? Track 3:[37:37] Okay. So that, that to me, I mean, it got to this level with this, with this song and the lyrics and the content of it. But for me, it kind of got to this level of like, all right, whether or not this one's about, you know, a breakup or what have you, it's, it's, um... it's not my favorite on the album. It's catchy and it's good. It's a good song and it ends kind of at this height of energy, right? Track 1:[38:07] Yeah, it's not around long enough to be a fan. Track 3:[38:11] Yeah, it's... Track 1:[38:11] But it's not a great song, I don't think. Now there will be somebody out there who it's their favorite song and that's cool. That's what's cool about music. Track 3:[38:23] I thought about this one. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know when I'll hear, listen to this one next is kind of what I thought it was like, what's what's next on the album, but I'm curiouswhat Pete thought of it, of course. Track 2:[38:34] You know, I liked it a lot. I mean, I thought that there was some really cool ideas, like they were kind of experimenting with with the song. And I thought that there was like, chaos within that builds up to the chorus. chorus, and then it just returns to the verse. And you're like, okay, you're like, what the fuck is this going on? What is going on? And then it comes back to the verse. And you're like, okay, all right. Yeah, we're back. Because it's a bit disorientating. And, you know, Gord's vocals on this just singing for that guy must have been so cathartic. Track 1:[39:14] Like, he really puts a lot into it. Track 2:[39:17] Yeah, but it feels like he's doing it like he's a guy who like, you know, needs to exercise three hours a day at the gym. And like, that's just him exercising three hours, and you're just like listening to him do it. Because he's like, I got to do this, it's like part of my routine. And he's so good at it. You know what I mean? Like, and, you know, I want to just, you know, we can move on after the song. I like the song. It's definitely not one of my favorites on the record, but I like it. In terms of lyrics, and I just want to say this too, because I don't look at lyrics as much, or I don't look at things, there's a couple reasons for that, and I just want to say why. [40:08] Because, well, for me, writing songs, when I write songs, it's really hard to write a song that's so thematic. You know, that's like one idea that starts off and it's sewn up at the end like a fucking with a bow on it. And like, even then it's like, like, let's say it's not completely thematic, but it's, it's about something. Maybe not like super specific. Even that's hard. Like a lot of shit I've done is just little ideas of things sprinkled in a song and it's like kind of of just jumbled in and thrown in there so sometimes people ask you about things you're likewhat and the reason why I bring that up is because when I make a Steely Dan reference here I don't know if you guys have ever listened to any other shit a lot of people give them a lot ofshit I'll take that as a no I haven't listened to an album no I'll say the same thing but I have no nothing against Steely Dan? No, well, I mean, they're amongst people, amongst music heads, they, the biggest thing they get asked is what the fuck are your lyrics about? And the guy, the singer of the band who's written most of them or the other guy had written them, they always ask the same question. What's this song about? Because the lyrics are just all over the fucking place. [41:30] And ninety nine percent of the time is just like, I don't know, man, we You are just coming up with cool shit to say. I mean really like that's and their lyrics are regarded much as you would regard something like some pixies or pavement lyrics is just like super avant-garde, super strange like what youlike, whoa, that what the fuck is that about? And then you come to find out it's like, it's just, it's just no, yeah, it's nothing. Track 3:[41:59] Well, just random journal entry. Track 2:[42:01] Yeah, totally. And that's another reason why I think I've been head faked a lot and I don't dig into to them because I will prescribe a certain. a feeling or emotion to a song and come to find out I'm fucking wrong, or it's not at all about that. Like, hence, I'll be watching you, or every breath you take, excuse me. And then you're like, fuck, man, why did I play that at my wedding? Track 3:[42:28] You know, I have to think conceptually with Gord's songwriting, like he is such a prolific songwriter. And like, back to one of your first comments be like, I thought it must be, have been, it must have been exhausting to sing these songs or like be on tour and singing classic, you know, 52times in what, two months? Something crazy? Like, god damn. But with his songwriting skills, I mean, I can stop and hear one-liners that are fun and that I enjoy, but he pushes me, the way I receive it, it pushes me into going down rabbit holes of like,what was this song about? And there's been a few where I've listened to him and thought the chorus was, you know, A, B, C, D, E, and I actually look up the lyrics and I have some of the words wrong. It's hilarious. And I love when stuff like that happens. Like, that's entertaining. That's entertaining for me. Track 1:[43:30] That's great. Track 2:[43:31] Excuse me, excuse me while I kiss this guy. Track 3:[43:34] I'm still, I'm still, you know, JD, you've, you've commented on this with me before, but I'm still like, here's an album. It's like a book to me. I want to hear it start to finish and see if there's anything about it that's creating this novel. Or is it like this current album, which I feel like you can put in and put onrandom and it kind of doesn't matter. Order wise, it's one of those types of albums for me. So this song, Lovesick, in general, it's big, and it has this kind of a quick stop ending. It's got a lot of energy to it. After this, I was like, OK, what are we getting to next? I'm kind of like chugging along in this album, trying to get to what maybe is less produce of a feelingand more authentic hip. Track 1:[44:28] But the kids don't get it. Kids don't get it. Track 2:[44:30] Kids don't. Track 3:[44:30] That was it. That was it. It's a fun start. It's got a good build. There's like, quickly into it, there's this, I think, Pete, I don't know if you caught this. I think it might be a drumstick on top of a cymbal. Track 2:[44:47] Yeah, yeah. Like doing a swirl. Track 3:[44:48] Yeah. Right? It's like a swirl sound and then it fades off. I love that shit. I don't want that all the time. I feel like that's the surprise ingredient on a pizza, but there's that sound in this song a few times and it's fucking cool. You know, it's like, yeah, the kids don't get it, I was thinking. We're Gen X, you know, we get it. We were born without technology and we've integrated and we know both sides and that's what this song's about. Generations growing up just being in the middle of it and not getting it and all the hard work this band does and yeah the kids don't get it. But then as I listened to this song probably 20 times I thought, nah, Gord's smarter than me. what is he thinking about with this song, you know? And it felt more like anti-government, like you're not gonna fool us sentiment, which kind of made it even more, for lack of a better word, more punk rock feeling. Like this song was checking and way more boxes for me. Lots of whoos in it, you know, it just, this one is like Bobby Rock left the room and the guys busted out this song. That's the way it felt for me. Track 1:[46:16] Oh, I love it. I love that. And I love it especially because there's almost like a dichotomy of a lyric In this song kids don't get it and the next song, pretend. I think it's. Track 2:[46:36] Oh, there is. There certainly is. Track 1:[46:39] It's that, if I ask you a question, are you gonna lie to me? I said, honey, is that your question? Cause that one's easy. And then we get the, you know, that, that, that. Version of it is the banger version you know and the other version is a little more tone down but top heat what did you think of the kids don't get it. Track 2:[47:01] Well that was the first thing i wrote about pretend obviously but in terms of the kids don't get it i loved it i mean i echo much of what tim said i love the chorus the no. Kids don't get it. The woos in this song, Gord's singing like, he's like a, he's like a fucking pissed off buffalo. You ever seen a buffalo before? Track 1:[47:22] Yeah, driven. Track 3:[47:24] Driven by him. Track 2:[47:26] I was one of those assholes. Track 3:[47:27] They're as big as Volkswagens. Track 2:[47:29] Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, they're huge. Track 3:[47:32] You're one of the assholes? Track 2:[47:33] No, I was one of the assholes that gets out of the car at Custer National Park and, you know, walks over to one. and thinks like, oh, this is cool. Take a picture. And no, that's a fucking dumb move. For anybody listening, thinking that that's cool, or that's ever something to do, don't do it. It's fucking stupid. Track 1:[47:56] To be fair, the buffalo was having dinner. He said to you very politely, if you had waited till I was done dinner, I would have totally let you have the photo. But now I'm gonna tohave to run after you like a pissed off buffalo. Track 2:[48:11] Just said fucking that is the first memory that jogged my mind when I heard Gord's fucking grunts in this song. I feel like he, I want to watch more interviews with him. I really want to dig deep. I just haven't had time. But I want to figure out like, one, whether or not anything Tim has said throughout this his pod in terms of lyrics and meanings, like I know a lot of it has credence to him. But maybe some of it doesn't and like what he thought about it, because I feel like a lot of his words, he just writes down his poetry. And then he shows up to the studio is like, Hey, guys, let's do the song or let's make this song or whatever. Track 3:[48:52] I think he does that, too. I totally agree. Track 2:[48:54] But like, I wonder how much part of it he's sitting down with an acoustic guitar, and like working, working songs out with the lyrics he's written, because that's a whole anotherprocess, you know, to like write a bunch of shit and then to write chords. Like you got you got fucking Paul A. Wan and Gord Sinclair and Rob Baker to do that. You know, so I'm I'm just wondering, you know, what that is. And then if he was Scott, I wish he was fucking alive, man. I would love to fucking interview that guy or just talk to him and just be like, dude, what the fuck? And either I feel like therewould be two scenarios. Either he would be super fucking cool and chill, like, yeah, man, we're just fucking doing this and like this and like this happened, blah, blah, blah, blah. Or he would just like, look at me and be like, you're a feeble minded fuck. I can't wait for this interview to be over, get the fuck out of here. Track 3:[49:51] I think that's what he'd say about me. Track 1:[49:53] No, I don't know. Track 2:[49:55] Probably, probably. You're more nuanced than I am. But I just. Track 3:[49:59] He'd be like, Tim, you're about 16% right on the themes of my lyrics. And that's what I would love. I mean, that's what I love about this guy. I mean, he's obviously so fucking prolific. I wish I had like a book of his poetry sitting right here. Because, you know, he's one of those artists where you get served up something. And everybody, I think, could take their music a little bit differently but have this thread throughout it that joins all the fans together. You know, it's kind of... It's kind of what's amazing about them. And in that regard, who the fuck cares if he was writing about Canadian themes and the discussion of why they didn't make it in Orange County? Track 1:[50:47] Whatever. Track 3:[50:49] It's kind of like, who cares? How many bands not from Japan sell out shows in Japan all the time? They just want to be entertained. and maybe people just need to be entertained and not look into it that much. Track 2:[51:06] That's Stan McKe- That's Stan McKe- I- Stan- Stan McKeta? Or no, his name's not Stan McKeta, but Stan McKeta's Donuts. The people need to entertain, need to be entertained, Wayne. They need the distraction. Like the voices in my head. I thought you said- Why do they come to me to die? Why do they come to me to die? Oh my god. Oh my god. That's- You know, anybody- Wayne's World, like when he goes, why did they come to me to die? Why did they come to me to die? I think it's Wayne's World, too. Track 3:[51:42] Honestly, I thought you said spanakopita. I was just thinking about delicious, delicious Greek baked goods. I was totally in a different land. No, but I, I, let's, let's keep moving this, this song when I heard it, it was exhausting and it was the first song I hit forward on who was like, give me what's next. Yeah. Pretend. If you don't pretend and I don't pretend, pretending might end, but pretend can pretend to end. It's like, oh, this is arduous. This was tough for me. Track 1:[52:22] Wow. Track 2:[52:24] Yeah. J.D., what do you think? I'd love to like, as a hardcore hip. Track 1:[52:29] Well, it meanders. It certainly does meander. If I'm ranking the 11 songs on the record, it's in the bottom 10, right? It's either 10 or 11 on this record for me. But I'm just so curious. I'm so curious about that stanza, like why he chose to use it again, and then why did they sequence those songs back to that? Track 2:[53:00] Totally, right? Track 3:[53:02] I don't know. I don't know. love to know if they, you know, what level they took part in the production of this album. Track 1:[53:12] Did they just hand the keys over? At this point they were very fluent in studio, so I don't know that they get a production credit. Let me quickly look. Usually they do. Track 3:[53:22] I mean, this one I thought at one point after, you know, I did of course listen to it in complete, but... Track 1:[53:29] No, this is producer Bob Rock, period. And most of their other records, even when it was like Steve Berlin. It was like Steve Berlin, the tragically hip Mark Freak, or something like that. So this is, this is interesting. This is straight up Bob Rock. Huh. Okay. Track 3:[53:50] I had thought like the three of us need to do karaoke of this one so we can be like arm and arm I'm just shit-faced. Track 1:[53:58] Pretend? Track 3:[54:00] Yeah. Track 1:[54:01] Oh my gosh. Track 3:[54:02] I think we should pretend to do it and not actually do it. This is a total sing with friends, ironically singing with friends song. It's like a really nice glass of red wine or made me think of like plush velvet. I don't know what the fuck is happening. It's the song's candlelit and I don't know why it makes me feel that way. And it was like, skip, oh, it was tough. Track 2:[54:28] Yeah, I thought it was, I said, it feels like a love song in a fine dining restaurant during Sunday brunch. Yes, Sunday brunch. Track 3:[54:39] See, we were fine dining together. Track 2:[54:41] No, I mean, it doesn't feel, it feels like another band or like, now Gord's singing, And I know Gord had some soul stuff that he did. before he passed, but it definitely feels like, oh, this is not a hip song. This is some of the solo stuff. There's jazz guitar in there, which I gotta say, man, I mean, it speaks to Rob Baker's skills, man, because that guy fucking, I mean, he makes it sound good. The chorus feels really 70s, almost like there's a- AM radio. Track 1:[55:19] Yeah. Track 2:[55:19] Yeah. And there's something that they do with Gord's vocals in there. It's a 70s style thing that came about in the 70s, I feel. But Scott Weiland from Stone Doole Bynes was popular for it. It's where they double the vocals. They take literally I don't he doesn't re-record the vocals. They take the same vocal track, they double it And then they put it like they put the one track offset by like a millisecond to the other. So it sounds more full and rich. And they put put them in in one left, one right. And it sounds like gives this really weird, unique effect. And Wyland, Scott Wyland was prolific for that. But but, yeah, it's got that vibe to it. Fucking random. That's all I have to say about this song. Track 3:[56:12] It's like having two turbos on your car when you record like that, when you produce like that. Track 2:[56:16] It's like having 11 on your amp. Track 1:[56:17] Yeah. Track 3:[56:19] But why not make 10? 10 the loudest. With the lyrics of this one, when I finally, you know, let it, when I finally absorbed it really, because again, I skipped it on first listen, Um, I,you know, maybe this is like a fucking, maybe they were pretending, I don't know. Maybe the band, you know, maybe the band in their, in their career, maybe they're in their career at this point. I mean, I'd be exhausted and to a degree with trying to make it bigger than they are now. It's like, you're in the industry, you are a fucking... When you don't like it, you might be feeling like a marionette, you know? This is big, giant business happening with this band's career, and this is one of those songs maybe they have todo. Track 1:[57:16] Wow. I mean... Track 3:[57:18] Yeah. Track 1:[57:20] Let's move on because I don't dislike the song so much that I'm willing to beat it into a pulp. No, no. Track 2:[57:30] I don't know. Track 3:[57:31] I'm sorry to offend all the Canadians. Track 2:[57:33] I want to make one more quick point real quick. And this is not really about the song, but about the band. And I'll be really brief. My apologies. But to what Tim said about the band. No, no, no, really. This is the band, you know, being exhausted in this night. You have to think this is 2007 right? These guys have been at it 20 years right? They could fucking quit at any time in terms of like probably set money wise. I mean maybe they're not fucking living in, they got three different mansions but I would posit to think that every member of this band is not worrying about where they're going to gettheir next fucking meal. [58:13] Okay, yeah, they were when they did the 100% so That being said though This is a time where things were like through the 2000s, you know up through 2000 early 2002 thingswere like Record sales and all that stuff. They were making a shit ton of money and then think about this time though, man music and Streaming was coming up sales for records tanked, all that money, all that revenue thatpeople were used to just disappeared. And so I would imagine to think that this band went through a bit of a come to Jesus so to speak, and was like... I guess we do. I mean, maybe they're not thinking we got to break into the American market like every fucking Canadian thinks, or we think thinks. But like they're thinking we got to fucking
Get ready for a journey back in time, as we pull back the curtain on the ninth studio record by The Hip - 'In Between Evolution'. We'll bring you face-to-face with the record's unique evolution, the masterful production by the iconic Adam Kasper, and the first impression this album left on us. We also promise to share our thoughts on what sets this record apart - from Gord's powerful vocals and the band's rhythmic arrangements to the irrefutable political undertones.We'll further dissect the elements of this extraordinary record, including the band's focus on rhythm guitar and the magnetic chorus that simply pulls you in. Our discussion explores the influence of Neil Young on this album, the importance of the first single 'Vaccination Scar', and how it resonates politically, even in today's world. We'll also touch upon the story of Gus, the polar bear from Central Park, and how it adds a unique dimension to the album.Last but not least, we'll delve deep into the legacy of Gordon Downie and his indelible impact on music and society. We'll reflect on the loss of his unique perspective in the current global scenario. So, brace yourself for an enlightening conversation about this remarkable record and the creators who brought it to life. We promise a captivating experience that will leave you with a renewed appreciation for The Hip's musical brilliance. Let's embark on this journey together, shall we?Track ListingSummer's Killing Us - Studio VersionGus: The Polar Bear from Central Park - Live from Chicago 2012Makeshift We Are - Live from Toronto 2004Are We Family - Live Detroit 2009TranscriptTrack 1:[0:00] Well, welcome back guys. How are you doing this week? Track 2:[0:02] Fantastic. Couldn't be better. Yeah. Life couldn't be better. Track 3:[0:09] Pretty good. Pretty good. Excited to be back. And so it's my birthday. Track 1:[0:15] It's July 24th. Track 3:[0:16] Holy shit. Track 2:[0:18] Today's your birthday. Holy shit. Track 3:[0:20] Wow. Track 1:[0:21] July 24th, man. Yeah. Track 2:[0:24] Happy birthday, man. Track 1:[0:26] Thanks. Track 3:[0:27] I'm going to blame the time change on me forgetting. Track 1:[0:30] No, it's July 24th. Get it? Wink wink? Yeah. Track 2:[0:39] It's your birthday, man. Cuantos anos? Oh. Tienes. Track 1:[0:44] Awesome. What's the last part mean? Track 2:[0:48] How old are you? How many years do you have? Yeah. Is the literal translation. Track 3:[0:53] Countless. I mean, change. Track 1:[0:54] 49, baby. 49. Track 2:[0:55] Oh, knock, knock, knockin' on 50 years. Track 3:[1:02] Let's do this. You know, when we entered our 40s, we were like, 40s are gonna be awesome. This is the decade. And we got to our 50s, we're like, maybe 50s will be awesome. Yeah.Yeah. Oh, it's all awesome. It's all awesome. Track 2:[1:16] Did you ever see the movie City Slickers? Track 3:[1:18] Yeah. Track 1:[1:19] Yeah, years ago. Track 2:[1:19] There's a great, the great monologue by Billy Crystal in the beginning of that. He's like, your 20s are a blur. Your 30s, you make a little money, raise a wife, have a couple of kids, buy a house. Your 40s, you wake up one day and you think to yourself, what happened to my 30s? He goes on to every decade and then he's like, your 80s, you end up like, you eat breakfast at, or whatever, you eat dinner at five, lunch at 10, breakfast the night before. Track 3:[1:52] It's just like, dinner's at four. Track 1:[1:55] Yeah, exactly. Track 3:[1:56] Dinner's at four. Track 2:[1:56] Oh, it's so good. Track 1:[1:58] They're taking all Tim's happy hour seats. Yeah. All the octogenarians. Track 3:[2:03] My father's in a retirement home and when I talk to him, he says, they're coming for me for dinner earlier every day. It's three o'clock. It's coming for dinner. Track 1:[2:20] Like, dude, just call a happy hour. Fuck it. Yeah. So in 2004, we got the ninth studio record by The Hip, In Between Evolution. This is a, you know. Like Clockwork, every two years we've got a record from this band, you know, and they were still touring their brains out. I think it's a staggering feat, you know, that a band with their original lineup can put out a record every two years, you know, guided by voices or bands like that, notwithstanding, thosesongwriters are, you know, Bob Puller, it's just so prolific. It's, it's unreal. But in terms of band work, bands that tour extensively, I don't know of many other bands that have had this kind of halcyon run. But here we are, talking about it. And as we always do, I want to find out environmentally what you thought of the record, where you listened to it, where you first heard it and what your overall general thoughts are onthis 9th record produced by Adam Kasper. What do you think? Track 2:[3:45] I think the name is very fitting, In Between Evolution, because I feel like this record is a bit in between. And I say that, you know, when you're in elementary school, you see the monkey going, you know, to like Croag Magnon Man and then like getting up through the ages to get to the likemodern day man, modern day human. I feel like this record is maybe not any of those, but something like in between that we sort of haven't seen before, you know. It's certainly an evolved version of the hip, but I can't really attribute it to anything they've ever done before or anything I think they will do. It's very different in a lot of ways. Track 1:[4:38] Where do you listen to this one? Track 2:[4:41] I listen to it everywhere. I listen to it out and about. I listen to it in my office, working. Probably best place was in the car, you know. The car really, this record was, I feel like, made for driving, you know, like a lot of their records, you know. So I would say if I had to pick any environment, definitely my car, I mean, I don't know if it's everybody's car, I have a bit of a bias, given that, you know, I've got a pretty solid soundsystem in my car, like a premium. But yeah, I enjoyed it in the car. Track 3:[5:23] We need a soundbite that's like, that's like, premium sound system. Track 2:[5:31] We can drop that in post. Track 3:[5:32] Yeah. Well, I, you know, I'll disagree with Pete. I, to me, this felt more hip, right out the gates and you know I think Pete and I differed a little bit on the last album and I'm really liking our, you know, compare and contrast. I'll just quickly add Pete's haircuts throwing me off a little bit today, but I can deal. I can deal. But anyways, that looks good. [6:06] I thought In Violet Light, the last album, what we reviewed was a little bit of a departure and super polished and, you know, made for like, I don't know, an award stage or something.Maybe have the Oscars on the mind. but I thought in Between Evolution, I looked at the title wondering if that meant they were coming back to their own production type, style, soundrecording. You know, I didn't really understand the title for this one because it felt more like a hip album to me. [6:43] The producer, you know, I looked up to see who did this one. Adam Kasper, he did all kinds of bands in Seattle. Mudhoney, Nirvana, you know, the Foo Fighters, he worked with REM. I don't know if it was all in Seattle, but Soundgarden. He even did some work with Cat Power, who Amy and I adore. One of our favorite singer-songwriters. Just, you know, you worked with amazing musicians. And all these musicians I just listed, maybe except for kind of Aerosmith, I'm not exactly a fan of. But, you know, these are bands, maybe Aerosmith, who wear their hearts on their sleeve and really are just going for it. And almost achieving a status where they have a following and they have their shit down and they can kind of do what they want, you know? And I felt like this album went back to the band a little bit more doing what they want. So I was pretty excited, pretty excited by it. Track 1:[7:43] Can you describe that a little bit more? Like, what do you mean by what they want? Track 3:[7:49] Well, the last album I thought was overproduced. I thought it was... Track 1:[7:52] Right, right. Track 3:[7:53] I thought it was too scripted, you know, I thought it was too, like, ha, here we go back to food metaphors. It's like showing up at a restaurant with a preset menu. That's what I felt the last album was, and I felt like this one was a little bit more carefree. It was a little bit more back to experimental. The lyrics, the themes behind all the songs were, in certain ways, like what I've experienced from other albums past themes, with variation and variety. I don't know, this felt more hip to me. This just felt more like the first handful of albums that got me excited about where the band was going. So in that regard, it's like, yeah, fuck. Let's do this every two years. We're going on 10 years. Or this was the ninth album, right? So it's over 10 years. And that, that to me, as Pete knows, as someone who has recorded, that is such a... [8:58] Heroic work with Yeah with touring to as much as these guys toured I mean It's remarkable that they're all still digging each other so much, you know Yeah, but from also from acouple of things that I read during this tour Is when Gord at one point commented about, even if there's differences going on behind the scenes or Or there was some tour manager issues, Iguess, that once they got on stage and started playing, that they just were a band. They were like NSYNC and just super, super in the groove. Track 2:[9:41] Not like NSYNC. Track 3:[9:42] Yeah, they were very much NSYNC. Just super in the groove, which means they're like this fucking locomotive still. So I think it's still super impressive. Even with a band that I'm not as impressed with or fond of, it's still an impressive feat to go this far with recording, producing, touring, everything. Track 1:[10:05] Yeah. Track 2:[10:07] Yes. Track 3:[10:08] Hands down. Absolutely. Track 2:[10:09] Kudos. Track 1:[10:11] And in terms of environments for you? Track 3:[10:14] Yeah, so it was a lot of car. I listened to it pretty quick after our last review. There's a lot of car time and some home time. I don't play their music much at home over my home systems. So it's a lot of car, a lot of headphones. It's a little more intimate for me to do it that way and I also really enjoy when bands geek out on recording, and you can hear things with headphones on that you wouldn't normally reallybe in tune with if you're just walking around the house playing it through your ear. Track 2:[10:56] There's a few of those on this record. Track 3:[10:57] Yeah, there's a few of those on this record, and I love that stuff. I mean, that to me shows that a band is really caring about their listeners and their fans and their art. There's a few of that. Track 1:[11:14] Well let's dig in then. Heaven is a better place today. Track 3:[11:21] So, yeah, this one, you know, there's been a few albums where... My first listen to the first song. I've never done a random listen first try, you know, and that's the way so many people experience music these days. I hear a song from an artist. So I might have to try that as an experiment on some album. But you know, first listen to Heaven is a Better Place Today in the car. It was like, yes, here we go. Like, Pete, you mentioned a great road trip soundtrack or whatever. This is totally it. It felt like a good, fun, solid opener with a drive and the carry of the drums and the bass really throughout this album seemed a little more...I mean they're always solid butthis one just even seemed more gelled, which is kind of hard to even imagine these guys doing. I loved Gord's singing. He's kind of at an elevated pitch with this one and, you know, from what I understand, it's...well. [12:33] My first take was like, this feels like a memorial song, like this is a tribute to somebody and Of course later learned that it's in part about Dan Snyder. I mean, I'm not a hockey guy I mean even I couldn't even tell you who Atlanta's team is or was Atlanta thrashers. That's probably my favorite hockey team name though so, you know read a little bit about Danny Heatley, did I just say his name wrong? No, don't sorry Dan Snyder Snyder Um, he was killed when is with his teammate Danny Healy. Track 1:[13:08] That's right. Track 3:[13:09] They're the ones who were Wrecked some sports car, which is such a tragic story, you know to hear about somebody famous wrecking in a sports car. It's just It's kind of an awesome way to go. But anyways, you know, I thought it was good solid Opener really really easy ending. It was like, okay, let's keep going How about you Pete I dug it. Track 2:[13:32] I mean, I echo a lot of what Tim said. I mean, I feel like a great opening track. I really got some some some cure vibes here. I really felt like this song had, Yeah, just I heard a lot of the cure in here. I think Gord's vocals, clearly this is a record and we'll kind of get into it with more songs and stuff. Not just, I feel like there's so many songs that probably killed it live on this record, but that Gord's vocals really just keep evolving into something new. I mean, I feel like every member of the band grows a lot, but he's just, it's like everybody takes three steps forward and Gord takes like nine. You know, he skips where everybody just takes steps. It's crazy, man. Track 3:[14:36] Completely. Track 2:[14:37] That's not like a diss on anybody in the band. It's just, I think he thinks differently, or he thought differently, either way, I dug this song. I thought it was a great opener. The second track, Summer's Killing Us, yeah, this is another one where the vocals really do it for me. Um, there's a, there's a part, well, during the chorus, when Gord's singing, um, Summer is Killing Us, like his voice is cracking. You can hear it breaking on the recording. And it's just like, it doesn't crack. Like it's, it just fits. It's perfect. And you're like, this guy's, this guy's, he's redlining the engine and the car is still going. you, You know what I mean? Track 3:[15:33] Like, and the car, I think, has like, 300,000 kilometers on it, you know? Yeah, and it's just like, go, go, go, who cares? Track 1:[15:43] Yeah, they could sing, sing, sing all day. Track 2:[15:47] Yeah, it's I mean, it's had its oil changes and services, I'm sure. Track 3:[15:51] Exactly. Track 2:[15:52] The drums, another thing about the drums on this, I watched some, well, you guys know, I'll talk about a little more later songs, but the drums on this song, A song that just seemslike it's probably so much fun to play for Jonny Faye. Just the stops, the fills, just, it just seemed like if anybody's having a blast, it's him and Gord Downie are just fucking having a ball to this song. Track 3:[16:20] I think you've commented on that before, too. And this one, this one I noticed, you know, first listen was like, oh, he's having fun. There's some fills in there, and that made me think this one live, you know, probably varied a little bit, but probably just kicked ass, too. Yeah, I think. Track 2:[16:39] Yeah, and I gotta say, this is gonna sound really bad, so I want to frame it right. I just want to throw this in because I feel like if I didn't throw it in, I'd be... My initial thought... So this is 2004, right? Yeah. 2003, 2004. 2004 you think when they're recording writing this song I got just Gord's vocals and his phrasing very much got some like early 2000s emo vibes to it. I actually heard and I don't mean this in a disrespectful way So no, no do not give away my address JD. I don't I mean Canada's a far away from Spain, but I got getting hip to the hip calm. Yeah for for comments Emo my ass No, but I really heard I heard a dashboard confessional song Yes pretty mind-blowing, you know Yeah, okay. You hear me? Track 3:[17:41] Okay, I do. I do. I would a million times rather listen to this band. No, 100%. Track 2:[17:48] But I hear you. Track 3:[17:50] But I hear you. Track 2:[17:51] And no, no offense, because I think that I think the guy I can't remember his, his name, the guy. Track 3:[17:56] That's okay. Track 2:[17:57] No, I know. No, just respect him as a musician. I think he's a good musician. I just don't fancy his music much. Anyway. Track 3:[18:08] You know, I was shouting this chorus in the car. Like, first listen, you could sing along to this one. If you know the band, you're like, fucking hyped. Hell yeah, it's a song about summer. Who doesn't like a song about summer? Track 1:[18:19] That's right. Track 3:[18:20] That band always sings about summer, said no one ever. So this one, you could just go. There's awesome stops, there's a good bridge, there's... A few times on this album I think there's more of a focus on just I don't know how to say it Pete but just a better rhythm guitar less riffy like the feel like this album has riff sections thatare a little bit more defined or declared maybe yeah yeah yeah this one gourds at like the three-minute He's like, whoo, you know when he left that it is so good I love that. I love that. Track 1:[19:05] I mean I like exhausted slash. Track 3:[19:06] I'm awesome slash I don't even know what the other slash would be but it's like it's great Yeah, if you're having a moment and you stop and you can actually breathe and do thatwhoo I mean you're having a good day like something's going on something's going on that you're enjoying or you're relieved But I also thought this song was like a song about being tiredand touring and working. Also, you know, maybe some of the research I did, that maybe there were some references again to the South, or slavery, or prison life, you know, that's just like, summer's killing us, youknow? It's amazing and beautiful and tough at the same time. That's kind of what I thought about this song. It's, it felt, this is a few times I have had this happen where the song feels long, but it's like measured in a good way. It's like, it's just, there's enough verses, enough choruses. Track 1:[20:12] I think this is one of the longer songs on the record. Track 3:[20:15] Yeah, yeah. This was, this was fun. Track 2:[20:19] This song, this song also, I just wanted to throw this in too, because I kind of forgot to mention it, one of the cool things about it is that it just goes from this, the chorus is sofucking, but then when it goes back into like the verse, it just, it brings it down again. It just, it just, it flattens it like a, like a compressor. It just flattens it really quick and just makes it even again. You're like, whoo, like the dynamic of the band recordings. It's really cool. That's a hard thing to pull off, man. Track 1:[20:53] I really regret not seeing this tour. Like, really. I have so much regret not seeing this tour. Because this is the first tour that I missed since the beginning. This is the first one that I didn't go see a show. And listening to the record now, it's like, oh man, it's again, so much of it seems to be written to be live, you know? Track 3:[21:18] She must have been really cute, JD. Pardon me? Your girlfriend at the time, I guess. You were busy. Track 1:[21:29] Oh, yeah. Track 2:[21:30] Yeah. Track 3:[21:31] Dude, the next song, you know, Gus, I faintly remember hearing about this. Track 1:[21:35] Yes. Track 3:[21:37] Back then. I mean, if we go back to 2004, you know, this is like the era, politics aside, because we'll probably get into that, but this is like the era when shit online started to take off,you know? Everybody's looked at YouTube. Some of your friends might be listening to Pandora, which at that time had the best radio feature. You could like mix stations and you know There's a lot there's a lot going on electronically The zeros are ones then i'm pretty sure i heard about this song and um, I was telling amy wifeamy yesterday this story about gus This polar bear from central park and uh how they they just deduced that, He was depressed And amy's like no shit polar bear and Activity it was likeyeah, I mean a polar bear's life is what? [22:39] Sleeping, drinking, killing, eating, fucking. I mean, let's put a polar bear in captivity and see how hyped he is. I mean, that's just terrible. So this is amazing that they, I guess, Gord, I don't know who exactly picked up on the story and wrote this one. And, you know, this is also where there was some, maybe the beginning of this album with some political under things here as well but there's this first guitar riff at the beginning of thissong Pete I'm sure you heard it but there's like this there's this weird guitar kind of distortion distortion yeah like that that attack at the beginning is like I wish also I mean live it wouldprobably been so fun to hear that I'm sure it varied a little bit but that's like that outro that outro live must have been so yeah banging yeah drums are huge in this one you know and i'vejust i dug this song it was it was fun there's i could go on and on about it but you know just this poor guy gus he's staring at food all day at the zoo i mean he would eat all these people yesgawking at him so of course he's suffering from depression this is like during this era, scientists were like, he might be depressed. [24:06] Bears, animals can have sentiments of depression. [24:11] It's fucking hilarious. Terrible. Track 2:[24:16] I mean, where do I put down my fucking flag here with this one, dude? First of all, if I was going to start a bar fight, this would be the fucking song I'd put on the J-box right before I picked up the neck of a Labatt Blue, fucking break it over somebody's headand just start a melee. Track 3:[24:41] Shit. Track 2:[24:42] Okay. Track 3:[24:43] Watch out, Hamilton. Yeah. Track 2:[24:49] So, Tim, you're telling the story of the polar bear from Central Park, right? And now that you're telling the story, I remember it. Yeah. Track 3:[24:57] Yeah, me too. Track 2:[24:58] But during listening to this, I didn't remember it because that was a long time ago. And I drank a lot of beer and done a lot of shit since then. And so it didn't register. And so I pictured like a bearded homeless man, a giant bear of a man who was depressed and an alcoholic sitting and fucking with people in Central Park. That's who I heard when I heard this song. I didn't, I didn't at all have any correlation with the actual story of Costa Polar Bear. But this is the now this this album, and then some subsequent YouTube videos that I explored this week, really got me digging into the vibe that is Paul Langlois, because you could Youcan just hear this thumping, it's a thumping vibe that he has with this Les Paul that he's playing and it just fucking rips. This song is the tiger, the lion of this record. Track 3:[26:13] I had the same sentiment for sure. Track 2:[26:17] It's the fucking tiger, the lion of this record. What else? I would say I literally, I literally wrote, I literally wrote that, that, that, that I would be cracking balls a little bit blue, a little bit blue over people's heads. But no, it's the tiger, the lion of this record. And I feel like Neil Young is a lot of guitar on this this record is very Neil Young focused. Track 1:[26:50] I can hear Crazy Horse in this. Track 2:[26:53] Yeah, there's another song that's undoubtedly Crazy Horse. But the end, the solo, Rob Baker proceeds, and I'm going to read this verbatim. The solo, Rob Baker proceeds to melt your fucking face off with a complete and utter disregard for human life. Track 3:[27:10] And that he does. Track 2:[27:13] He starts off that way. He just, well, it just, the solo towards the end is just, it's just fucking, fuck me, man. Track 1:[27:25] Yeah, very good. Track 2:[27:26] Great fucking tune. Probably, yeah, this is, this may end up on the, for my pick, who knows. Track 1:[27:33] All right, we roll into the first single from the record. So this would be the song that introduced most people to this record and it's it's a song called vaccination scar First of all before we get into vaccination scar to either you guys have avaccination scar Nope. No, my cousin has one and she's a year younger than me And I don't understand how she has one and I don't like expired shit. Track 3:[27:59] They put in her arm, I guess maybe it's all my ears on your arm no it's on my calf oh wow okay it's on my calf well it's almost gone now but it was pretty prominent um almost untili turned 20 or something around there i mean my my brain with this one went just went to you know Pfizer and all the all the crazy bullshit oh no oh no i mean that's where i went i readthe song Title and I know okay. This is probably about the booster the the cigar look bird Vaccination scar on my sister's left arm. She's got right here. She's like three years older than me So she's got it. But you know and that's like why the fuck did that thing scar like that? I don't know. Could you imagine I mean, why didn't they build that into the the Johnson Johnson? Johnson and Johnson could have had like, they have that trippy logo. Have you ever seen their actual brand logo? Track 1:[28:59] No. Track 3:[28:59] Oh, people say it has like Satan in it, basically. Oh, of course. It's hilarious. Pete, you would like that research. It's too bad. Track 1:[29:08] But I'll tell you, this song would be a completely different song if the band still existed and they released a song called Vaccination Scar now. Oh, big time. Wonder what the fuck it would be about. Track 3:[29:21] Yeah They might lose listeners and gain listeners at the same. Track 1:[29:25] Yeah, it's true Well, this one a throwback to a throwback, you know We've got the slide guitar again that we haven't really rolled out for a couple records. I don't think What you guys think? Track 3:[29:37] I You know the whole when they get into the slide guitar and kind of go back to So, you know the southern belt of the US kind of sound of rock and that's it's not my favorite thatthey do but right yeah I was a little surprised to hear this is the most listened song song on Spotify I look at that at those that I know I look at that data at the end of kind of my listening Idon't look at that at the beginning. Track 1:[30:09] It does blow my mind because I get it that it's a single. Track 3:[30:11] Yeah why? Is it because it has vaccination in the name? Track 1:[30:15] It might be, because the fact that it's a single shouldn't factor into Spotify at this point. Yeah, yeah. Unless they do, unless they sort of do. Track 2:[30:27] No, they don't retroactive, they don't retroactive shit like that. No. Track 3:[30:32] Yeah, I wouldn't think so either. Yeah, but I thought, you know, this is really, It's the second song. With political references to George Bush, the Iraq invasion, the WMDs that didn't exist, like this, there's references in the song about all of that. And that in and of itself is like a time capsule of sorts. Track 1:[30:57] Yeah, and we were thinking the world was a pretty bad place then. Track 3:[31:00] Yeah, it's basically an anti-war song, even though like during that era, I don't know, there were like six or eight other countries that were on board with this whole attack, you know,I believe Spain was one of them. Track 2:[31:13] So it's for everyone. Yeah. Right. States. Track 3:[31:19] So, you know, I, I hate to say it, but I enjoy like hearing something political referencing the times and, you know, it becomes a time capsule type of song with, with those themesduring, let's see, I guess late 80s, in which these guys would have been totally in tune with. You know, that's when the Bushes were really rising to power and going after mega weapons developments. And a buddy of mine grew up in the Carolinas during those George Bush senior years and knew the family, and they have crazy stories about shit they were doing. I don't need the FBI chasing me, but like, a lot of bullshit activity that involves war and weapons in the corporate aspect of America's machine and economy running on just. The war machine. So that's where I feel like Gord's really tapping into in this album. And it keeps going. He's kind of in it in this album. Track 1:[32:27] It was a tough environment to not be in it. And it rips my heart right out of my ribcage and throws it on the ground to think that this band isn't around anymore. Because I would love to know what Gord's thinking about... Track 2:[32:41] You're burying my fucking lead, JD. Track 1:[32:43] Sorry, buddy. Go ahead. Track 2:[32:44] No, no, dude, no, run with it, run with it. Track 3:[32:47] They'd be the Pussy Riot of Canada, I'll tell you that. Track 2:[32:49] JD, please, please continue, I'm sorry. Track 1:[32:51] I just, I just, you know, I just, I would just love to hear his take on what's been going on the last five or six years, you know? And we really missed out on that. And that's like, fuck cancer, you know? Fuck cancer. Yeah, yeah. Some of the lyrics in this, I think they just roll. I think the way he sings in this song He's he's into that lower register, you know Like you said the with the side guitar like it's it's almost anolder version of the band and he's singing again in that older Version voice but man some of the lyrics that he strings together like even the chorus. There's one thing I remember is the tear and the there's one thing I remember is this tear on your bare shoulder this little silver boulder the slowly falling star we're rolling so what nevergetting older where the moon shock curtains part to the start of enough a teardrop then a vaccination scar like holy shit I don't know how I get all that out imagine that writing moment inpen in hand and, you're just like it's just yeah it's incredible yeah well yeah I mean, I echo everything that you guys have said. Track 2:[34:09] Funny point. Just I don't want to leave it out because you made me think of it, Tim, when you were talking about George Bush. This is not unknown, but a great George H.W. Bush fact, Bush number one, our first Bush president, doesn't remember where he was the day Kennedy was shot. What? Track 1:[34:34] Yeah, yeah. Track 2:[34:35] Look that up. That's a total fact. And he was actually in Dallas because there's There's like evidence of it, but you know, everybody's like, I mean, I remember where I was in thechallenge of blew up I remember where I was when Kobe Bryant died when I remember when yeah 9-11 out. Sorry Yeah, Kobe Bryant was you know, now that was a big bit bigger. No offense to Kobe fans But yeah, and he was asked where were you when Kennedy was shot? He's like, I don't remember like what? Track 1:[35:05] Yeah Everybody of that generation, my mom knew where she was and she was a Canadian in Waterford. Track 3:[35:10] You know, they're so detached. The, the, the, the, that whole section of political history just lived on. Track 2:[35:17] If by detached, you mean culpable, Tim, then yes. Track 3:[35:21] Yeah, yeah, completely. I mean, like just not relatable. They just, honestly, like my, my buddy and his family in the late eighties, early 90s, used to meet up at one of their homes. This is the story. Used to meet up at one of their homes on the coast, Bush's homes. And like, oh, our new whatever jet boat is going to come by. Can't wait to show you guys. We'll go for a ride. Like just completely alternative, horrible reality of life and what's appropriate. Track 2:[35:59] Yeah, I mean, that family's, I mean, what more could you say without getting too political? Track 3:[36:04] There was a moment when, we'll get off of politics here, there was a moment during the Trump administration where I was like, damn, I would take Mr. Bush Jr. any moment, bring him back right now, let's swap him out. And I never would have thought that when he was in office. You know? Track 2:[36:22] Well, yeah, it's pretty sad. Track 1:[36:24] For sure, I feel the same way. Track 2:[36:26] It's pretty sad, though, that we're at, that stage, I mean, to bring it back to the record and sort of to not bring it back to the record, because musically, I feel like this song, you guyssummed it up. But in terms of what JD said about the one thing I thought about this song, I kept thinking about was Gord and if he was alive today and this band was alive today. And I say that because he was such a unifying icon for Canada and the band was, I mean, the guy could bring people together completely. And I think America's been divided for a long time. Tim and I both know that pretty well and anybody from the outside who's windowed… That's like his West Coasters, right? You guys really have felt it. Track 3:[37:26] Yeah, yeah, yeah. Track 2:[37:29] But I think that in terms of Canada and everything that went on during the whole COVID lockdown and stuff, I feel like Gord would have had a really interesting take on it. Because I feel like there was the... You know, it's, there's always three sides of every story. And the way we kind of, most people experience COVID, most people, you either were fucking hardcore on the left, or you'rehardcore on the right. But there's one thing I've learned in life. There's the way you think it happened. It's the way the other person thought it was happened. And then there's the way it really happened. Track 1:[38:06] Look at you dropping extreme references, three sides to every story. Track 2:[38:10] I'm just saying, I feel like Gordon would bring a fucking take, and the band would bring a take to, you know, what's going on in life at this time. That just would open people's eyes. And a lot of people on both the right and the left would shut the fuck up and listen to A Voice of Reason, which- I think you're right. Would have been Gord Downie, had it not been for his untimely death. Track 3:[38:35] But I mean, we have that in this day and age, but it's just spread out. And I don't know, less, it's smaller, smaller doses more widely spread out through music today. Well, there's plenty of bands doing it, but like, I don't know. Track 2:[38:53] I agree sort of, Tim, but I think musically, it's one thing to do it musically, but Gord was more than a musician. Track 3:[39:00] Yeah, yeah. Track 2:[39:01] From what I've seen, he's a guy that would get up and make a fucking statement, like outside of music and nowadays I feel like when people make a statement that it's against, thecommon narrative of whatever, They're tarred and feathered as either. You're a racist fuck or you're a liberal Nancy or whatever it is. And the funny thing about Gord is you couldn't do that to him because he was Canada's fucking golden boy. So I would have loved to have seen anybody in Canada try to throw shade onthat motherfucker when he was... Had he been here to dispel the truth like he always liked to do. Anyway, I digress. How about... Track 3:[39:43] I have a feeling like only rednecks in the South were throwing shade at him, you know. Track 1:[39:49] There's a reference in this song about singing Life is Forgetting, and Life is Forgetting is in quotes. I looked it up, I can't find a song called Life is Forgetting. Is that something that rings the bell for you guys? Or is that just, you know, the narrator basically saying that that's a song that somebody's singing that's made up? Track 3:[40:12] Not sure. Track 2:[40:15] No. I'm not sure either. But if I take it into context of what we're talking about, I think people forget, life is forgetting. Tim made the reference earlier about wanting George Bush over Donald Trump at the height of whatever. And I think people forget, you know, I am not Not a Donald Trump fan, didn't vote for the guy, but you can take all the shit that's said and everything, and I'm not carrying water foranybody, let me make this fucking clear, but it's mind boggling to me how we can think that, and I thought it at times too Tim, you're not alone in that, I think a lot of people thought it, buthow we could, be like, I'd rather have a guy who started a war, an illegal war on lies that killed upwards of a million people. In the White House right now, rather than a guy who's just a total piece of shit scumbag who shouldn't be there in the first place. Like we forget that there's a guy who is literally responsible for killing a million people and starting multiple illegal wars. And we'd rather have that person. So life is forgetting, JD. I think that line belongs in that song. If we're talking about politics. Track 1:[41:41] Well, he said fuck this and fuck that and this guy's the diplomat. It can't be Nashville every night. Track 3:[41:52] I love the simplicity of this one. It's quick. You know, what we are is what we lack. That song was just like, if anything's going to make you think about oneself and what you're portraying and working on, or I don't know, that statement just slapped me. There's Gord, I think, is faintly doing his own backup singing in this one, if you really crank it in your headphones, and it's fucking awesome, and it was even kind of cute. I just dug it. The chorus, or maybe it's a verse, I don't know, the la-la-oh-oh-yas, you know, just simple, good rock and roll. Apparently, he's poking fun at Toby Keith with this song. Track 1:[42:41] Oh, did not know that. Track 3:[42:42] He was a country music singer who was pro-America, pro-military, pro-goat. Track 2:[42:51] He was Tarn and Feather the Dixie Chicks, man. He was one of the guys that went against the grain on that and threw them out to try. Track 3:[42:59] Yeah, I also think this is like a song that's, Trying to let artists know that there's more to life than producing a single, you know? This is a time of this era, fucking Maroon 5, Nickelback, you know? This is a little bit later Lenny Kravitz, but when Lenny Kravitz is just like glossed up and just everyone knows the chorus, you know? But nobody has bought the album, maybe. I don't know. I'm not dissing Lenny Kravitz too much. You can diss Lenny Kravitz. He's his own... Well, he's the institution. I mean, I saw him play live and he was incredible. Track 1:[43:37] I did too. That first record was really good with the cab driver on it. Track 3:[43:42] Yep. I saw Blind Melon open for them. Me too! Track 1:[43:46] Oh, shit. Track 3:[43:47] Dude, okay, just to digress. Blind Melon kicked Lenny and his band's ass. Like, Blind Melon, they were so good then. You know, they... Track 2:[43:59] Yeah, we've had this conversation, Jake. Track 3:[44:00] Yeah, so good. So good. So anyways, you know, the song I thought was short and great. And it's just, it's got some good quick statements. It was, I don't know, it just fit for where it was at and everything. That's about it. Track 2:[44:17] Cool. I dug this tune. Real quick, just to my Lenny Kravitz comment, not dissing the guy, I like the music. I think his daughter is a great actress. Track 3:[44:30] Gorgeous. Track 2:[44:31] Just never trust a guy who only plays a flying V. Track 3:[44:33] Never. Track 2:[44:38] It's a fucking red flag, ladies. Track 3:[44:40] At the beginning of COVID, he was apparently stuck on his island in the Caribbean, or like a island with just a handful of other people living there. And he's just like, just living off coconuts and pineapples and avocados, bro. I was like, fuck you. That sounds perfect. Yeah, I would have killed for that. Track 2:[45:03] Yeah, I dug the song. I thought, I thought this is another one that would have been awesome live. The groove was just fantastic. There's a line that he delivers that I'm sure you guys all noticed, but I love the the way it's, one is stares into the blur, stares into the glare, stares into the queer. And it's just fucking, like the way he delivers it, I was like, what is he saying there? And I had to look up the lyrics, cause it was so cool. Cool. Johnny Faye, literally, I don't know what it is, man. But like, this is when he's around early 2000. He started like getting like destroying crash cymbals. And I know I pointed out to you guys this week as I was watching the video, like there's a, there's a concert they were playing, maybe it was at the Fillmore where he just broke a fuckingcymbal, because the motherfucker hit it so hard. And you can see a guy replacing the cymbal like just coming in. Track 3:[46:04] He has a drum tech, you know? Track 2:[46:06] Oh, yeah, I know. Well, I mean, he's got something to come in and do it. But like, middle of the song, guy's got to come in and replace the cymbal. I love it. Track 3:[46:14] So cool. Track 2:[46:14] So cool. This is this song and a number of others to point out at the end of the song, if you're wearing headphones, you can hear a couple drumsticks click. Mm hmm. Oh, so this is this is one of the many Easter eggs on this record. Track 3:[46:31] Yeah, I heard that too at first. I was like, is he hitting the rim? But it really sounded like sticks. Track 2:[46:36] There is one that he does. Track 3:[46:37] He does. Track 1:[46:38] He's just putting them down, though, right? He's just putting the sticks down kind of thing? Track 3:[46:41] I mean, in general, yeah. You hear a little more drum nuggets on this album. Track 2:[46:47] But I feel like these songs are like, it's just a signal to like, that was Johnny's song. Like, all the ones that have those, this is Johnny's song. Because he just fucking ripped on these ones. Track 3:[46:59] Yeah, I feel like when a drummer does that, when a drummer just slaps down the sticks, It's like at the end of a good meal, and you just set your knife and fork down, and you'relike, fuck. Just nailed it. And drummers do that with drummers that care. When bands nail it, you can't. I wish I could produce, because I would love to just yell at musicians, and tell them they're awesome, and tell them they're terrible. Track 2:[47:26] Just kidding. Track 3:[47:28] Just kidding. But that's that sound. That's like that triumphant sound of just killing it. Track 1:[47:34] I win. Yeah, touchdown. We move next to Back, in fact. Back to New Orleans. This is the second geographical song on the record of three, which is interesting. But it's also a trip back to New Orleans. And I can't think of many other bands that would have a song as iconic as New Orleans is sinking, which would still be so heavy in the tourrotation and then they release another song with the same name in it. I know that sounds like really trivial but it's interesting to me. It's really interesting. And this is a very different look at New Orleans and a very different sound but I dig this song. Track 3:[48:23] Did they play there? Chady? They played like a small clubs there, right? Track 1:[48:29] Yeah, likely. Yeah down in the down in the south. They weren't you know quite as As big as they were on the west coast and across the border for sure there was yeah They always but they always played like I mean they would do like au.s. Track 3:[48:45] Tour that would be like 40 dates probably, you know, like they they were fairly thorough There was some reference it with this one about him him going back to New Orleans withfriends or something, just for vacation. And I guess maybe in part this is about that visit, because he found places he wanted to go to that were closed, or... Track 1:[49:08] Oh, okay. It's post-Katrina? Track 3:[49:11] I mean, it's 2004. Track 2:[49:11] No, it's pre-Katrina. Track 1:[49:13] Yeah. Track 3:[49:13] Pre-Katrina. Track 1:[49:14] Okay. Track 3:[49:16] I thought this, you know, it's probably the most beautiful song on the album. It's just serene. I don't know, it's love, it's death, it's fading, you know, rashing away the smiles. It's like, fuck, that's just like storing up in your heart for the future, you know, it's just gorgeous guitar during the chorus. It's just, this is a great one. Track 2:[49:39] Yeah, I thought that, I think this probably might be one of the better, if not one of the best hip songs. And I say that, I don't say that lightly. I think it's a really good song and yeah, JD, I mean, I wrote the notes like, what's the deal with New Orleans? You know, why? Just the song was beautiful. There's the lead in to it and then throughout the song, Rob Baker's using what I think by that time was probably pretty dialed in. He was using an Ebo on his guitar, which is like one of those. You ever seen one of those before? No. I've never been able to use it. I'm not a good enough guitar player to be able to use it. Track 1:[50:27] You stop. Track 2:[50:27] No, dude, they're fucking hard to use. Track 1:[50:29] Everybody go out and buy the record, Marchika, and the first one is out. The second one is in production? Track 2:[50:39] So the the the ebow is like a light it's like a ultraviolet light on this thing and you hold it over the guitar string and it it vibrates the string so it makes it sound like a violin bow henceebow electric bow. Oh okay I had no idea. Track 3:[50:57] Me neither. Track 2:[50:58] It's an amazing effect and it's really cool um some guys can pull it off with like volume and sustain but like he's not He's using an EBO on this shit. And it's fucking, it's just a testament to the, like how talented these guys are. how you can. Take what we've heard for the first five songs of this record and then bring it to this and just you're like transported to New Orleans and just you just I thought I kept thinking I saw NewOrleans in this and then hearing this song I felt like God I wish I could have heard this live at like Red Rocks. Track 3:[51:35] Hell yeah yeah oh man. Track 2:[51:39] Clear sky completely pitch black No lights, just drop the lights. Give me a spotlight on Gordon, nothing else. And Rob Baker during the EBO, but other than that. Track 1:[51:49] **Matt Stauffer** Of course. Track 3:[51:51] You have to be on psychedelics to use that thing or what? That sounds difficult. Track 2:[51:54] **Robert Walsh** Dude, it's hard. Track 3:[51:54] **Matt Stauffer** That sounds, yeah. Track 2:[51:56] **Robert Walsh** It looks easy and everybody's like, yeah, it's not easy. It's not easy. Track 1:[52:04] **Matt Stauffer** All right, let's go to to You're Everywhere and Reel Our Irish In. Track 2:[52:12] The, I dug this song. The fucking melody in this song is just, it's wild. I dug it. I dug it. It has a cool, it straps you in a little bit, like kind of soft and easy, but it just builds. I feel like the lyrics to this song are scathing. I didn't dig much into the meaning. But like reading them, just reading them once, I think when I had listened to it a number of times, I was like, Whoa, whoever or whatever this ismaking reference to is a tense subject. Track 3:[53:00] Yeah, so to speak. Gord's angry. Track 1:[53:03] Can you guys be more specific? Track 2:[53:08] If I'd brought up lyrics, I could've. Track 3:[53:10] I mean, on that note, I heard this song and I knew these guys were recording in Seattle and I figure that probably at this point in their career, probably not everything is writtenbefore recording, you know, like ahead of time, weeks or anything. And I imagine these guys, you know, what are they doing, staying in some hotel in Seattle near this recording studio? And the fucking news during this era is nonstop all the time. You know, it's just like, bad news all the time about the war and GWB. And I mean, I wrote, you know, the heaviness of this song, I wrote, we're bombarded by by fear, we were then and now, fear and despair, and then driven out to be sold by hope, tarnishedby soldiers dying, or not having proper access to healthcare, or being addicts, or suicide rates, you know, when vets return from all of our glorious wars, and it's just kind of like the bandfeeling. That the only way that anyone can attack this kind of corporate war machine that's happening is Is to sing about it, you know produce art about it there's a line in there that it keeps theeconomy alive it's like This song is the fuck that bullshit song, you know, you're everywhere point of the war man smedley butler's War is a racket. Track 2:[54:38] Yeah, you haven't read it. It's pretty it's pretty quick read Yeah. Fuck, yeah, I got a lot of what was going on during this time in this record. It felt very like, if I closed my eyes and listened to this record and I had no idea when it was made, I would have been like, 2003, 2005, somewhere in there. And not just because of the music itself, but yeah, because the content of it was just But this is another one that has drumsticks sound, putting down the drumsticks at the end. So this is another one. Yeah. This is the second song that uses a slide too, so I'm not a big fan of the slide, but It's hard to not enjoy it when it's placed properly. And a song, if it's done well. So I think this song does a good job. Track 3:[55:43] I mean, sometimes there's a time and a place. I don't know. It's more of a historical feature to guitar playing for me. I can't imagine some new song that would really enjoy that's featuring a slide. Track 1:[55:58] Well, that's why I was so strange that Vaccination Scar was the first single. Especially when Heaven is a Better Place Today is such a banger to open the record. Yeah, why yeah Don't know. Don't know. I mean it wasn't it wasn't having this place better place today Wasn't a single at all. The singles were vaccination scar. It can't be Nashville every night and then Gus Was the third single which is like pretty ambitious for a band to release that as a, single Yeah are gonna get that. That's right, that's right. Sothey're well past giving a fuck about trying to use singles to bring people in. Yeah, yeah. Track 3:[56:46] Which, how wonderful. Track 1:[56:48] How wonderful, right? Track 3:[56:49] How wonderful. Track 1:[56:50] They're just doing it for art's sake. Track 2:[56:51] Freeing. Track 1:[56:53] Yeah. Track 3:[56:54] I mean, I have a close cousin of mine who plays in a band here in Portland, I'll give him a quick plug, 40 feet tall. And they're super fun. And they just hit it so hard and they have a few total fuck it songs and they do covers every once in a while. They're courageous in their art, which I love, but it's one of those things also that not everybody gets. Sometimes I think maybe the hip missed some listeners in the USA because fucking half Half the countries are dipshits. Track 2:[57:35] You know what, and Tim, I don't disagree with you on there too, but I will say one thing too, just being from America and now not living there, and I know you've lived in Russiafor for some time too, Tim, but. I think the difference with Russia and the United States, and this is somebody who hasn't lived in Russia, but there's somebody who's also lived outside the United States. I think America is the most, probably the most propagandized country in the world that doesn't know it's being propagandized. Like at least in Russia, you're like, yeah, this is all bullshit, but we just kind of go along with it anyway. The United States, like people actually believe like when they watch like FoxNews or MSNBC, They actually believe the shit they're seeing on TV. And so when I think about, like both the left and the right, when I think about a band like this, I think like Americans attention span is like that of a fucking housefly. They couldn't appreciate this fucking band if they had a gun to their head. Could be. Most couldn't, dude. They just couldn't. Track 3:[58:42] Could be. Track 2:[58:42] It's just like, and so I think the hip probably just got like, fucking, why are we going to waste our time on these fucking dickheads this was like i said this was a fucking era ofmaroon five and britney spears you know yeah i mean jenny do you have to put explicit lyrics or explicit content on all of these because i just realize i'm dropping a few f-bombs oh yeahyeah okay okay yeah it's and on the old podcast on fully and completely we got a few comments that we swore too much oh really yeah yeah Yeah, Greg and I were like, oh, what thefuck. It was Sam Elliott, and he was drinking a beer, and he was like, do you have to swear so much, dude? Track 3:[59:23] It was all the Toby Keith fans who were like, yeah, I still don't like the hip. Track 1:[59:29] Well, we move next into a real banger, coming out of that moody section with New Orleans is beat and you're everywhere. And we go into as makeshift as you are, or as makeshift as we are. What did you vibe on that one, Pete? Track 2:[59:49] So this song comes on right when I put the quarters into the pool table and I push the slide in and those balls drop and I'm just racking it up. Racking up a game of pool. That's what this song is for me. Track 3:[1:00:06] That's fucking beautiful. Track 2:[1:00:08] Popping a cold Coors Light. There's some really low tone. This is another song and this record really opened up my eyes because I feel like I've been a bit of a fucking Rob Baker fanboy. I'll cop to that. Track 1:[1:00:26] No. Track 2:[1:00:27] Last couple of pods, but Paul Langlois is a fucking solid guitar player, dude. You don't notice it unless you look to it. As a matter of fact, one of the things I was thinking of on this song... And also this week and I was watching some live hit videos and I challenge anybody in the community to do this. Listen to a song or and or watch a live recording a live, you know, performance. Watch it five times and each time focus on the instrument of the person you're focusing on and listen to them play their instrument. It is fucking cool. And I did that a number of times with Paul Aigloire. I've done it many times with Rob Baker more than I care to admit. Track 3:[1:01:25] But no, Paul- Are you having dreams about him? Track 2:[1:01:29] No, no, no, I'm making wisecracks. But it's easy to, it's easy to, the focus to just go right to gourd when the chorus hits or he does some fucking amazing shit. But if you really focus on the individual instruments, you will see how fucking polished these musicians are. Track 3:[1:01:48] Yeah, super pro. Track 2:[1:01:49] And then one line that stuck out to me, I love the bridge in the song. I love the harmonies when they all come in together because it
Join jD, Pete, and Tim as they welcome 50 Mission to the podcast. 50 Mission will be playing at the finale event and you can learn more about them by visiting their website https://www.50missionband.com/TranscriptIntroductions and greetingsTrack 2:[0:00] So have you guys met each other here? Track 1:[0:03] Yeah, this is Steve. I'm Steve. Track 3:[0:06] I'm Ron. Track 1:[0:07] Ike. Ike plays bass. Alirio, I'm the nice drummer. The nice looking drummer. Yeah, he's got a weird accent. So you may have to ask what you're saying. Yeah, there's a couple accents there. Latino accent. I might switch to Spanish. Track 2:[0:26] Yeah. Track 1:[0:28] In Spain, I already speak Spanish. Track 3:[0:30] Where are you from? Track 1:[0:32] Originally from Venezuela. Venezuela. Track 3:[0:37] And I heard another accent there, too. Track 1:[0:43] No, just one. The invi... Oh, different Canadian, oh, maybe, maybe, uh... Maybe like Newfie accent. Newfie accent, yeah, yeah. Canadian, but... I don't think so. Introduction and Location DiscussionTrack 3:[0:55] Where do they live? Where do you guys live at? Track 1:[0:58] We're in the Brantford area, pretty much all of us. Yeah, it's like 100 kilometers west of Toronto. So we're about that area, yeah. Yeah, pretty much from where Jamie's from. Yeah. Yeah, I'm just north of Waterford. We're actually just north of Boston, Jamie. Track 2:[1:18] Oh, okay. Track 1:[1:20] East of Boston, sorry, yeah. Where are you from, Jamie? Track 2:[1:24] I grew up in Waterford. Track 1:[1:25] Oh, there you go. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we played the old town hall there a couple times. Track 2:[1:32] Yeah, it's a cool venue, right? Track 1:[1:34] Oh, it's a great venue. The stage is beautiful. It's just a really nice place. I mean, I would love to go see a band there, right? Track 2:[1:41] Yeah, I saw Huxley Workman there. Track 1:[1:42] Nice. Yeah. Yeah, and I saw the Sheepdogs there three years ago. Yeah. Oh, wow. It was great, yeah. It was packed with the Sheepdogs. Track 3:[1:51] How'd you guys all meet? I was gonna say- Oh, go ahead, JD. Track 2:[1:54] No, no, man. No, no, no. Have you met Tim and Pete? Track 1:[1:59] Yes. Track 2:[1:59] Yeah. Okay, so I was late. Track 1:[2:02] So see, that's, you know, it's all I know is, all I know is I have where to stay in Spain and Oregon. Track 4:[2:08] Si, si, si. Track 3:[2:12] Trust me, there's a lot of nice, there's a lot nicer places in Spain to stay than my house. Track 4:[2:19] Venga aqui, si. Bienvenidos. Track 1:[2:23] Yeah, as far as how we met, it varies. Ron and I played in a band previously. It's the first time I've been a singer in the band. I've always been a drummer. I sang songs from the drums, but came up front. So Ron and I were in a band previously. Steve is a friend of Ron's. Yeah, I've known Ron probably close to 20 years now. I joined a band and he was the other guitar player he joined it to, and we hit it off pretty good. And then we ended up quitting that band. Turned out we were also living quite close. We were practically neighbors and didn't realize it. Oh yeah. How Band Members Met and Their History[3:01] Okay. And as far as Ike, Ike's brother of Trisha used to be a singer in another band I was in, so. Ike and I have known each other for, 10 years at least. Not longer, yeah. And Illyrio was in a band with some buddies of mine as the drummer, so that's how Leroy and I know each other. And we actually played soccer together like 15 years ago. Yeah. We've played soccer together for a long time, too, so. Track 3:[3:38] Did we lose, did you guys lose me or did I lose you? Track 1:[3:42] I lost you for a minute there, Pete, but you're back. Track 3:[3:45] Okay, well, at least the question got answered about Ike and his brother. Hopefully it was cool. Sorry. Can I ask one more question? Oh, Tim, go ahead. Track 4:[3:57] I just got. I was just gonna ask who out of the five of you has seen The Hip play the most times, had seen them play the most times? Track 1:[4:06] I've actually never seen them play. Track 4:[4:10] Oh, okay, you're part of our club. Track 1:[4:14] Me neither, fun fact, my daughter, she actually saw them in 2017 in a school event, And I've never got to see them. Track 4:[4:22] Oh, wow. Track 1:[4:26] Okay. that. It's probably me then. I've probably seen them 12, 15 times over the years. Yeah, I saw them on the last tour, neat little stories, the guy went to high school, when I had, the first time I saw them was a roadside attraction in Kiyoka at the Speedway, yeah samething, yeah, JD was probably, I think Oliver Waterford was there because it was so close. But a buddy of mine, well, JD, you know, Bill Ella, right? Track 2:[5:03] Yeah, yeah. Track 1:[5:03] So Bill and Bill and I went to our first hip concert together. And then when my fiance and I got tickets for the last tour, we got four tickets and I called him up said, Hey, man, we got to see the last one together too. So he jumped right on it. So himand his wife joined us. It was great. Track 2:[5:21] It's pretty special. What venue do you go to? Track 1:[5:24] We saw them at ACC. Track 2:[5:27] Oh wow, nice. Yeah, in Toronto. Yeah. Oh, man. Track 1:[5:31] Yeah. Yeah, yeah, it wasn't a dry eye in the place. It was pretty special, man. Yeah. Track 3:[5:41] Do you guys, and I ask this strictly, this is not like, you know, any remotely thing, judgmental, it's just a curious thing as far as musicians, but because I have a friend that wasplaying, he played a while in a tribute band for Floyd and then also one for Oasis, and he likes Floyd a lot, but he was like not an Oasis fan, but he played in it because, you know, Gigs agig. It's fun and it's cool. But like do you I would imagine that all of you guys genuinely like the tragic We have at least to some degree. Track 1:[6:16] Oh, yeah, or if not dig the shit out of them Yeah, and it's a riot to play it is so much fun to play the music it's lots of energy and I have an absolute riot playing it It looks like it fromthe videos i've seen I didn't know that many songs until I joined this band. I only knew a couple, like New Orleans is Sinking or probably Little Bones, but then these guys got me into them. Now that's all I hear. Oh, wow. So I love them so much and that's all I hear. it now. And I used to play like a really like you name it from from Metallica down to Bird Jam to Foo Fighters and now my favorite is Tragically Here. So yeah it's uh it's interesting when we play a show that uh, the fun part for me is not only playing the show and the people are into it like everybody you know that everybody's coming tosee the show knows the songs see they're going going to be singing. But after the show, the number of people that come up and want to tell you about the time they saw the hip or they have a story about when they met one of the members of the hip. So people just reconnect at our shows, which is a fun part for me. Track 4:[7:37] Sure, that's amazing. Track 2:[7:38] Yeah, it's like a community, right? Track 1:[7:40] Oh, absolutely, yeah. Track 3:[7:43] Yeah, and I mean, I gotta say, I've seen, obviously, not anything hip related, but like, for example, I remember seeing a Zeppelin tribute band that was really good, that I just kind oflike, I mean, I'm a diehard Zeppelin fan, like, you know, all eight studio records just flow through my veins and seeing that show was like, you know, I was like, OK, it's cool. And then Iwas just so wildly impressed. Like, I'm not the guy because I play, you know, you play, you play a gig, kind of like put your guitar, put your instruments away, go to the bar, have a beer, check out for the night,especially if it's a long show and you're tired. But like I was like, I got to go tell these people how fucking great they sounded and And how during this tune, the communication breakdown, he hit the solo perfect. That's so cool that you have people that... Because it's a testament to you guys being fucking really good at your craft and knowing how to play to the crowd. I can't wait to see you guys. Track 1:[8:56] Thank you, Lola. Yeah, we have a blast. The Complexity of Learning Songs on Instruments[9:00] Yeah, so these guys always mention, you know, when we're learning a song, they've got a a lot harder than I do, but a lot of folks who either don't play instruments or folks whoaren't hip fans that are playing instruments say, oh yeah, those songs are easy. But I'm sure these guys can tell you that they're not easy. There's all kinds of stuff going on. No way. Yeah, you've gotta really hit it to get the nuance of the song and the notes, but I don't know if you guys have examples, but. Two guitar parts are so very complementary to each other. There's really no rhythm or lead. There's just two guitars. And without one, the other just doesn't sound right. You have to have those two parts like the record, and then it gives you that sound. Yeah. So we're very picky about the sound. We use the right instruments. We try and use the right equipment wherever we can and re-crease that sound, like the record, as close as we can, right? Track 3:[10:05] Yep. The general rule with music, too, is if it sounds really hard, chances are it's not, and if it sounds really easy, chances are it's not, right? Track 1:[10:16] Isn't that the case? That is right. As I was saying, I used to play what I thought they were the hardest song to play, like the Foo Fighters, to name a few. But then I thought, okay, this doesn't sound difficult. man, I was wrong. It is difficult, it is, because it's just, we need to connect, like, you know, we need to be in sync to actually make it sound right, which is very interesting, and I love doing that. And theseguys are awesome. Yeah for that band, that's it Yeah, we're very lucky that everybody has the same ambition to make it sound like that. You know when everybody's in the groove it the music becomes a Uh part of the vocals everything. Yeah, it's one. It's a rare commodity Yeah, yes And we're lucky to look it lucky to have a guy that's on ligar like it's just It's just amazing. The Importance of Syncing and Connecting as a Band[11:07] Sometimes it's just man. It's just something great. It's I mean musically we are there and we have a good rhythm and we you know, we understand each other But what make a sound right is this guy here, right? This is something greatHopefully you'd like it, too I'm sure we will. [11:26] We won't even talk about bass because Based on some of the bass runs and and stuff is pretty crazy to me. Yeah, it's tough. [11:37] I think he was a guitar player actually, so he actually learned to play the bass as we came along. Yeah, I didn't even know the bass, so these guys called me, so I went to the music store and bought a bass and showed up and then started. It's been pretty good. Lots to learn. It's been a lot of fun, but I think it's just having five individuals, like being in a band like this is amazing because it's tough. I've played with lots of different musicians, but to have people that connect very tight like this, that is very, very hard to find. And playing bass in this band has probably been the best band I've ever been in. I've always played guitar, but playing the bass and getting that part and playing with these guys is actuallyamazing. So it's been pretty good, pretty good run so far. [12:33] That's cool, man. And a second instrument is always awesome anyway. You can't go wrong learning. I learned, oh, maybe 20 years ago, I picked up the fiddle and started playing fiddle. Oh, I became a fiddle player for about eight years. And then I got back into guitar and then that stopped. And then maybe about four years ago, I bought a banjo and oh my goodness, I was two years of banjo, banjo, banjo. And you learn, you pick up something from everything I've learned. I've picked up something that adds to the guitar tons. Totally, totally, totally. Appreciating the Skill of Great MusiciansTrack 3:[13:10] When we listen to, well, cause we interviewed Gord Sinclair, it was about a month and a half ago, something like that, maybe two months ago. And I had done this before, but I did it more so after we interviewed him. If you watch like a video that they're, a live video that they're playing, right? And watch it five times. Watch it five times. And each five times, once you focus on Johnny Fay, another time you focus on Gord Downie, another time you focus on Rob Baker, youknow, and so on and so forth. And you can just, if you just focus on them and their instrument, you realize how fucking, excuse my language, I'm dropping a lot of F-bombs, but how well they are at playing theirinstruments. Instruments, what good musicians they are. And to sound even remotely remotely close to them is not an easy task. It's not even close. Track 1:[14:09] Yeah, and as they've, you know, grown over the years, they've just gotten better, right? You just get better at your craft. So when you go and learn the newer albums or songs offthose it's even tougher. Track 3:[14:22] Yeah, I bet. Track 1:[14:23] But it's even more rewarding when we get together and sometimes, you know, we play the tune for the very first time and go, okay, we're going to learn this tune, we go away anddo our parts, we come back and we play it and we're all kind of blown away at how good it sounds sometimes the first time. You learn that part and they melt together so beautifully for that finished product that it's really rewarding. Mind-Blowing Live Transitions in MusicTrack 4:[14:53] Yeah, we were just listening. Yeah, we were just the guys and I were just listening to a live version of New Orleans is sinking where they transition in and out of nautical disasterand back into New Orleans is sinking. Have you guys tried anything like that as a band together? Because that that I mean, that just blew our minds, you know? Track 1:[15:12] Yeah, that's an interesting combination, isn't it? Yeah, we, uh, we do have a killer whale tank version on the, on the schedule eventually to, uh, to learn, uh, but, uh, yeah, we haven'tgot around to it. Uh, that's a big one. Shit. But yeah, yeah, I guess our focus has been so far just to try to, you know, owner what they recorded, so keep it as close as, as you know, the original And that's how I've been a focus sofar, you know. [15:46] It may migrate to, you know, do experiments, something like that. But so far, we're trying to actually, you know, honor that original record, original sound. And, you know, but sort of in a live version. So, yeah, as Ron was saying, it's so rewarding when you, you know, work hard on getting that song together and it, you know, it soundedactually very close, in our opinion, anyway. Yeah, we really try to bring the music and the live show to the stage, but not be the Tragical yet. We don't want to look like them or copy them. We want to bring their music to people. So all of the music. That's good. Track 2:[16:26] I like that. Yeah, I like that. Track 1:[16:28] Yeah, we don't want to do exactly. We don't want to just look like them. We want to keep our original, you know, style of playing our instruments, but sounding like them. So, right. Track 2:[16:39] Right. Track 1:[16:40] I think it's a good combination. up in any other so far band that I've seen doing tributes to The Hips. They want to look like them. They sound decent. Track 4:[16:52] That happens, that happens. Track 3:[16:53] I could dress up like Paul McCartney, too. Do you guys find it... I was going to... This is like being something that's puzzling because I haven't seen, obviously I haven't seen you guys play live, but I'm wondering, you know, what your catalog covers and stuff but justlooking at how big the catalog of the hip is like I think you know if you took a band like like I used to Pink Floyd as an example before you know not many you know if you're in a coverband or a tribute band you're gonna you're gonna cover you know the wall you're gonna cover maybe a few things off like Wish You Were Here and Dark Sudden Moon You're not goingto do, yeah, I'm a goma. Track 2:[17:39] Yeah, no, probably not. Track 3:[17:40] No offense to Syd Barrett, but I think with a band like the hip or like Zeppelin, for example, the sound changes so much. Like like like little bones to fucking Tiger. The lion is like, yeah, it's like it's like the distance from Earth to Pluto instead of like Earth to Mars. It's like... How do you do that on stage? How do you like Go, okay. We're We're going into now for plan a or whatever. Track 1:[18:16] I personally You know I'm singing. I'm just trying to bring that same sound And each song I just look at it differently each songs its own person, right? So I don't in my mind. I don't put them together on albums each one has its own personality. So that's kind of how I think about it. Like we go from Highway Girl, which is probably our simplest instrumentally. And again, it's the first album, right? So like, I mean, the hip of the hip, but they weren't accomplished musicians like they were now for Plan A, right? So a little easier to play, but Gord was a little more wild with his voice, not as controlled. So you got to kind of bring that out as well. So that's kind of how I view those. Track 3:[19:06] It's a good approach. Yeah. That makes sense. It makes sense. Listening to the records like we have from start to finish, which I don't know if you guys listen to the podcast. I hope not. Yeah. Track 1:[19:16] Of course. Of course we do. Nice. Track 4:[19:19] That's great. Track 1:[19:21] Why don't you... Track 2:[19:23] What do you say you give us a little taste of what you guys do and perform a couple songs? Track 1:[19:28] That'd be awesome. Influences: Foo Fighters, Metallica, Outlaws, Guns N' RosesTrack 4:[28:01] What other influences have you guys had? I know you know one of you mentioned like Foo Fighters and Metallica and stuff. What else are you guys into? What were you into maybe when you know the hip was just going nuts in the 90s? What else were you guys listening to? Track 1:[28:18] I was a big Outlaws fan. I played a lot of the Outlaws. Just kind of like ladder skaters and stuff. Cool. I was a Guns N' Roses guy. Track 4:[28:28] All right, right on. Track 1:[28:31] I didn't know that. It's interesting. Sweet child of mine was the first song I ever heard. Rush, I liked playing Rush stuff too. Track 4:[28:41] Excellent. Track 1:[28:45] I like all types of music but I like real heavy and better. Pantera, like loud, just as a favorite. Sure. Track 4:[28:53] Nice. Track 1:[28:55] Yeah, I was the weird of my generation because, you know, back in Venezuela, whoever plays or like rocks, he wasn't in the, you know, he was not usual. So, but I like, you know, I started playing Sepultura, Pantera, Metallica. That's how I started playing. It wasn't sounding good, but that's, you know, but then with the years, when I learned a bit I actually got, you know, Peter from Spain, my favorite band ever,although they're tragically here is Eros del Silencio. That's my favorite band from Spain and that's my biggest influence in rock music. What's the name of it? Eros del Silencio is like Heroes of Silence. Track 3:[29:36] Oh yeah, yeah, totally, yeah. You know what's funny? I can hear a bit. I was told about that band a a number of times. Yeah, I've been I've seen like those fun at those a couple times and I mean they're big in spain There I would call them the closest thing to tragically hip In spain, especially later in theircareer, too but um Yeah, I mean I'm I'm, i'm name dropping now, but I went to the same high school as james james headfield um so metallica ran, quite deep in my Family and hometown.Yeah, sure Yeah, I mean back of it back of the day with the hip was plugging along You weren't you didn't you didn't own appetite for destruction. Track 1:[30:29] Oh Yeah You weren't I learned every song on the record. That was that was me go home sit in my bedroom To learn every tune. Track 3:[30:37] Yeah, you were the guy who thought like you were the guy to like me We also thought like G&R Lies was a great album where everybody was like, yeah, I like Patience, buteverything else fucking take it or leave it, man. Track 1:[30:49] No, it was everything. I learned most of that album as well. Track 3:[30:52] Yeah, it was a great album. Track 1:[30:56] As for me, I grew up listening to a lot of different stuff. Influences: Johnny Horton, Jimmy Reeves, The Stones[31:02] Anything from like Johnny Horton and Jimmy Reeves right up to The Stones, right? So a lot of influence, The Stones, probably my second favorite band. I've seen them nine times. Oh, wow. Yeah. Every time they come to Toronto, I think I've seen them since I was able to get in, so. Track 3:[31:18] Cool. I saw The Stones once and I almost didn't see them. My cousin Rocky, God rest his soul, was 24 years old, died of brain cancer. Horrible tragedy. just the day of his funeral, I had tickets to see The Stones at Angel Stadium and I'm like I'm not gonna go. Screw that. I mean, I just like just came back from Rocky'sfuneral. My mom's like. How disappointed would your cousin be to know that you missed the fucking Rolling Stones because of his ass? And I was like, good point. Went and never regretted it. Such a good show. When you guys played Poets, I wrote something down to ask, do you get Gimme Shelter vibes from that song? Like, I would imagine playing that song on guitar. There's a refrain towards the end when it just slows down and just dips into the rhythm where it sounds like the end of Keith Richardssolo I just now that you mentioned it I can see that for sure yeah yeah yeah maybe think of it when you guys are playing it but never I've never heard before when I've heard the song bythe hip then we're going to end up playing that. We're going to transition into the stones. The Band's Ability to Handle Challenges[32:43] And If anybody can, if any band can handle it, it sounds like, you guys can. Track 1:[32:55] I can. backup singing. Track 3:[32:58] She was pregnant. She was pregnant. We should have saying that. Track 2:[33:04] She get out of here. Really? Track 3:[33:05] Yep. Track 1:[33:06] She came down to the studio with like four in the morning in her house coat and curlers. Track 2:[33:11] Jesus Christ. Wow. Come on down. Track 1:[33:12] Yeah. Yeah, cool story. Track 2:[33:20] Well, you guys sounded terrific. I'll tell you that. So I can't I can't wait to hear you, you know, when you're unleashed, fully unleashed and we're not listening to you over video. Track 1:[33:32] Yeah. We're working on a surprise for you, so keep doing it. Oh, wow. Yeah. And don't expect any dance moves like Gord for me, because drummers can't dance, so I just, what happens, happens up there. I can do salsa with my merengue. Oh, salsa. There you go. Be for yourself. It's all about closing your eyes and listening to the music. Yeah. We don't look like it. He's trying to sound like it. Just look at the light show. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Tim's Exciting Donation for Silent AuctionTrack 3:[34:17] Yeah, so I know you guys don't don't dress dress up, you know, dress as such for the hip, but Tim was was keen enough to procure an item for the silent auction that we're having. That is a Tim should I I'm stealing your thunder here, but I'm so I think it's literally the coolest thing. Tim got contacted the woman who made Gord's hats for the final tour. Track 1:[34:46] Sweet. Track 3:[34:47] She is donated a hat for the highest bidder that that, you know, once they win it at the auction, she's going to have them fitted for it and she's going to make a fucking gourd hat.Nice. Track 1:[35:02] It's so cool. Track 3:[35:07] What's that? Track 4:[35:09] Yeah, her company is is Lily put hats. She makes amazing stuff. And I mean, I think these these hats she made for Gord and the likeness of one for the silent auction, it's kind of a it's kind of a priceless item. So we're excited tosee what it does. Track 1:[35:29] That's what I saw. I saw that she had sponsored the show. So I was like, oh, that's interesting. I wonder what she could be sponsoring me. That's awesome. That's yeah. Track 4:[35:42] Yeah, she makes great stuff. Track 3:[35:43] I'm so stoked to see you guys at the show. I mean, it's going to be the, I mean, granted, it's going to be cool to see Tim and JD because we only talk via Skype, but you guys aregoing to be a highlight, man. Let me tell you. All right. Bye. Exciting International Guests Joining the ShowTrack 4:[35:58] We even have our guests, one of our guests on the show, Dan from London. He's even coming. So we got we got US, Spain and UK coming in. Track 3:[36:08] Canada, yeah. Track 1:[36:08] Last question. Real quick. Track 3:[36:16] Sorry, JD. Is that cool? Track 2:[36:17] No. Oh, yeah. Go ahead. Track 3:[36:19] Just to slip it in. Trailer Park fan? Trailer Park Boy fans? Track 1:[36:27] Oh, yeah. Track 2:[36:28] I'm the anomaly. I'm the anomaly. Track 1:[36:32] I've never seen it. Track 2:[36:36] I've seen it a little. Track 1:[36:37] I live with a... I'm on antenna. I get like 4 or 5 Canadian channels and that's what I watch. CBC - A Nickname for someoneTrack 3:[36:49] CBC, CBC, that's his nickname. Track 1:[36:53] That's great. Track 3:[36:53] CBC. Track 4:[36:54] That's like, that's like people asking me if I watch Portlandia. I mean, that's literally the first season. The first season was filmed down the street from my house. Literally. Oh my God. So it's, so, yeah. It's really Park Boy, so that's different. I've watched most of it. Track 1:[37:11] I, I, I'm known for my Bubbles impressions. So I'll do it privately for you. Oh, nice. I'm not going to do it. You don't want to do that online? Mysterious Plans for Halloween in TorontoTrack 3:[37:23] I know who it is. Track 4:[37:25] Maybe just on Halloween. Track 3:[37:26] Let's hope when we're in town in Toronto at the live event, the same squashes that show up. Track 1:[37:32] Same squashes. I'll bring some sandwiches, too. Track 3:[37:39] Don't don't wind me up cuz I I, you know, I'm telling you, don't wind me up. We'll, we'll, we'll save it for the live event. Track 4:[37:49] Oh, no. Preview of the Live Podcast Finale and Event DetailsTrack 2:[37:56] Well, guys, it's been fantastic having you on and getting to listen to a taste of your wares. We're really thrilled that you'll be joining us on Friday, September 1st at the Rec Room. If you're listening to this and you like what you heard and you want to hear more, tickets are available at gettinghiptothehip.com. Just click on the ticket button. It'll take you right where you need to go and you can join us that night for the live podcast finale, a couple sets from 50 Mission, and a great silent auctionwith some items that are really starting to pile up now. I'm excited. I'm very excited. So thank you guys so much. Track 1:[38:37] Thank you for having us. Yeah, thanks for having us. Thanks, guys. And 50missionband.com. Yes. Little plug there. Track 3:[38:45] Yes, 50missionband.com. Track 1:[38:46] We're excited for the show. Can't wait to see you guys. We're excited for the show. Track 3:[38:50] Can't wait to see you guys. Track 1:[38:53] Cheers, guys. All right. Track 2:[38:54] Thanks so much. Pick up your shit. Track 7:[38:58] Thanks for listening to Getting Hip to the Hip. Please subscribe, share, rate, and review the show at gettinghiptothehip.com. Find us on Twitter and Instagram at gettinghippod. Hip Pod and join our Facebook group at facebook.com, slash groups slash fully and completely questions or concerns email us at JD atgetting hip to the hip We'd love to hear from you. TranscriptIntroductions and greetingsTrack 2:[0:00] So have you guys met each other here? Track 1:[0:03] Yeah, this is Steve. I'm Steve. Track 3:[0:06] I'm Ron. Track 1:[0:07] Ike. Ike plays bass. Alirio, I'm the nice drummer. The nice looking drummer. Yeah, he's got a weird accent. So you may have to ask what you're saying. Yeah, there's a couple accents there. Latino accent. I might switch to Spanish. Track 2:[0:26] Yeah. Track 1:[0:28] In Spain, I already speak Spanish. Track 3:[0:30] Where are you from? Track 1:[0:32] Originally from Venezuela. Venezuela. Track 3:[0:37] And I heard another accent there, too. Track 1:[0:43] No, just one. The invi... Oh, different Canadian, oh, maybe, maybe, uh... Maybe like Newfie accent. Newfie accent, yeah, yeah. Canadian, but... I don't think so. Introduction and Location DiscussionTrack 3:[0:55] Where do they live? Where do you guys live at? Track 1:[0:58] We're in the Brantford area, pretty much all of us. Yeah, it's like 100 kilometers west of Toronto. So we're about that area, yeah. Yeah, pretty much from where Jamie's from. Yeah. Yeah, I'm just north of Waterford. We're actually just north of Boston, Jamie. Track 2:[1:18] Oh, okay. Track 1:[1:20] East of Boston, sorry, yeah. Where are you from, Jamie? Track 2:[1:24] I grew up in Waterford. Track 1:[1:25] Oh, there you go. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we played the old town hall there a couple times. Track 2:[1:32] Yeah, it's a cool venue, right? Track 1:[1:34] Oh, it's a great venue. The stage is beautiful. It's just a really nice place. I mean, I would love to go see a band there, right? Track 2:[1:41] Yeah, I saw Huxley Workman there. Track 1:[1:42] Nice. Yeah. Yeah, and I saw the Sheepdogs there three years ago. Yeah. Oh, wow. It was great, yeah. It was packed with the Sheepdogs. Track 3:[1:51] How'd you guys all meet? I was gonna say- Oh, go ahead, JD. Track 2:[1:54] No, no, man. No, no, no. Have you met Tim and Pete? Track 1:[1:59] Yes. Track 2:[1:59] Yeah. Okay, so I was late. Track 1:[2:02] So see, that's, you know, it's all I know is, all I know is I have where to stay in Spain and Oregon. Track 4:[2:08] Si, si, si. Track 3:[2:12] Trust me, there's a lot of nice, there's a lot nicer places in Spain to stay than my house. Track 4:[2:19] Venga aqui, si. Bienvenidos. Track 1:[2:23] Yeah, as far as how we met, it varies. Ron and I played in a band previously. It's the first time I've been a singer in the band. I've always been a drummer. I sang songs from the drums, but came up front. So Ron and I were in a band previously. Steve is a friend of Ron's. Yeah, I've known Ron probably close to 20 years now. I joined a band and he was the other guitar player he joined it to, and we hit it off pretty good. And then we ended up quitting that band. Turned out we were also living quite close. We were practically neighbors and didn't realize it. Oh yeah. How Band Members Met and Their History[3:01] Okay. And as far as Ike, Ike's brother of Trisha used to be a singer in another band I was in, so. Ike and I have known each other for, 10 years at least. Not longer, yeah. And Illyrio was in a band with some buddies of mine as the drummer, so that's how Leroy and I know each other. And we actually played soccer together like 15 years ago. Yeah. We've played soccer together for a long time, too, so. Track 3:[3:38] Did we lose, did you guys lose me or did I lose you? Track 1:[3:42] I lost you for a minute there, Pete, but you're back. Track 3:[3:45] Okay, well, at least the question got answered about Ike and his brother. Hopefully it was cool. Sorry. Can I ask one more question? Oh, Tim, go ahead. Track 4:[3:57] I just got. I was just gonna ask who out of the five of you has seen The Hip play the most times, had seen them play the most times? Track 1:[4:06] I've actually never seen them play. Track 4:[4:10] Oh, okay, you're part of our club. Track 1:[4:14] Me neither, fun fact, my daughter, she actually saw them in 2017 in a school event, And I've never got to see them. Track 4:[4:22] Oh, wow. Track 1:[4:26] Okay. that. It's probably me then. I've probably seen them 12, 15 times over the years. Yeah, I saw them on the last tour, neat little stories, the guy went to high school, when I had, the first time I saw them was a roadside attraction in Kiyoka at the Speedway, yeah samething, yeah, JD was probably, I think Oliver Waterford was there because it was so close. But a buddy of mine, well, JD, you know, Bill Ella, right? Track 2:[5:03] Yeah, yeah. Track 1:[5:03] So Bill and Bill and I went to our first hip concert together. And then when my fiance and I got tickets for the last tour, we got four tickets and I called him up said, Hey, man, we got to see the last one together too. So he jumped right on it. So himand his wife joined us. It was great. Track 2:[5:21] It's pretty special. What venue do you go to? Track 1:[5:24] We saw them at ACC. Track 2:[5:27] Oh wow, nice. Yeah, in Toronto. Yeah. Oh, man. Track 1:[5:31] Yeah. Yeah, yeah, it wasn't a dry eye in the place. It was pretty special, man. Yeah. Track 3:[5:41] Do you guys, and I ask this strictly, this is not like, you know, any remotely thing, judgmental, it's just a curious thing as far as musicians, but because I have a friend that wasplaying, he played a while in a tribute band for Floyd and then also one for Oasis, and he likes Floyd a lot, but he was like not an Oasis fan, but he played in it because, you know, Gigs agig. It's fun and it's cool. But like do you I would imagine that all of you guys genuinely like the tragic We have at least to some degree. Track 1:[6:16] Oh, yeah, or if not dig the shit out of them Yeah, and it's a riot to play it is so much fun to play the music it's lots of energy and I have an absolute riot playing it It looks like it fromthe videos i've seen I didn't know that many songs until I joined this band. I only knew a couple, like New Orleans is Sinking or probably Little Bones, but then these guys got me into them. Now that's all I hear. Oh, wow. So I love them so much and that's all I hear. it now. And I used to play like a really like you name it from from Metallica down to Bird Jam to Foo Fighters and now my favorite is Tragically Here. So yeah it's uh it's interesting when we play a show that uh, the fun part for me is not only playing the show and the people are into it like everybody you know that everybody's coming tosee the show knows the songs see they're going going to be singing. But after the show, the number of people that come up and want to tell you about the time they saw the hip or they have a story about when they met one of the members of the hip. So people just reconnect at our shows, which is a fun part for me. Track 4:[7:37] Sure, that's amazing. Track 2:[7:38] Yeah, it's like a community, right? Track 1:[7:40] Oh, absolutely, yeah. Track 3:[7:43] Yeah, and I mean, I gotta say, I've seen, obviously, not anything hip related, but like, for example, I remember seeing a Zeppelin tribute band that was really good, that I just kind oflike, I mean, I'm a diehard Zeppelin fan, like, you know, all eight studio records just flow through my veins and seeing that show was like, you know, I was like, OK, it's cool. And then Iwas just so wildly impressed. Like, I'm not the guy because I play, you know, you play, you play a gig, kind of like put your guitar, put your instruments away, go to the bar, have a beer, check out for the night,especially if it's a long show and you're tired. But like I was like, I got to go tell these people how fucking great they sounded and And how during this tune, the communication breakdown, he hit the solo perfect. That's so cool that you have people that... Because it's a testament to you guys being fucking really good at your craft and knowing how to play to the crowd. I can't wait to see you guys. Track 1:[8:56] Thank you, Lola. Yeah, we have a blast. The Complexity of Learning Songs on Instruments[9:00] Yeah, so these guys always mention, you know, when we're learning a song, they've got a a lot harder than I do, but a lot of folks who either don't play instruments or folks whoaren't hip fans that are playing instruments say, oh yeah, those songs are easy. But I'm sure these guys can tell you that they're not easy. There's all kinds of stuff going on. No way. Yeah, you've gotta really hit it to get the nuance of the song and the notes, but I don't know if you guys have examples, but. Two guitar parts are so very complementary to each other. There's really no rhythm or lead. There's just two guitars. And without one, the other just doesn't sound right. You have to have those two parts like the record, and then it gives you that sound. Yeah. So we're very picky about the sound. We use the right instruments. We try and use the right equipment wherever we can and re-crease that sound, like the record, as close as we can, right? Track 3:[10:05] Yep. The general rule with music, too, is if it sounds really hard, chances are it's not, and if it sounds really easy, chances are it's not, right? Track 1:[10:16] Isn't that the case? That is right. As I was saying, I used to play what I thought they were the hardest song to play, like the Foo Fighters, to name a few. But then I thought, okay, this doesn't sound difficult. man, I was wrong. It is difficult, it is, because it's just, we need to connect, like, you know, we need to be in sync to actually make it sound right, which is very interesting, and I love doing that. And theseguys are awesome. Yeah for that band, that's it Yeah, we're very lucky that everybody has the same ambition to make it sound like that. You know when everybody's in the groove it the music becomes a Uh part of the vocals everything. Yeah, it's one. It's a rare commodity Yeah, yes And we're lucky to look it lucky to have a guy that's on ligar like it's just It's just amazing. The Importance of Syncing and Connecting as a Band[11:07] Sometimes it's just man. It's just something great. It's I mean musically we are there and we have a good rhythm and we you know, we understand each other But what make a sound right is this guy here, right? This is something greatHopefully you'd like it, too I'm sure we will. [11:26] We won't even talk about bass because Based on some of the bass runs and and stuff is pretty crazy to me. Yeah, it's tough. [11:37] I think he was a guitar player actually, so he actually learned to play the bass as we came along. Yeah, I didn't even know the bass, so these guys called me, so I went to the music store and bought a bass and showed up and then started. It's been pretty good. Lots to learn. It's been a lot of fun, but I think it's just having five individuals, like being in a band like this is amazing because it's tough. I've played with lots of different musicians, but to have people that connect very tight like this, that is very, very hard to find. And playing bass in this band has probably been the best band I've ever been in. I've always played guitar, but playing the bass and getting that part and playing with these guys is actuallyamazing. So it's been pretty good, pretty good run so far. [12:33] That's cool, man. And a second instrument is always awesome anyway. You can't go wrong learning. I learned, oh, maybe 20 years ago, I picked up the fiddle and started playing fiddle. Oh, I became a fiddle player for about eight years. And then I got back into guitar and then that stopped. And then maybe about four years ago, I bought a banjo and oh my goodness, I was two years of banjo, banjo, banjo. And you learn, you pick up something from everything I've learned. I've picked up something that adds to the guitar tons. Totally, totally, totally. Appreciating the Skill of Great MusiciansTrack 3:[13:10] When we listen to, well, cause we interviewed Gord Sinclair, it was about a month and a half ago, something like that, maybe two months ago. And I had done this before, but I did it more so after we interviewed him. If you watch like a video that they're, a live video that they're playing, right? And watch it five times. Watch it five times. And each five times, once you focus on Johnny Fay, another time you focus on Gord Downie, another time you focus on Rob Baker, youknow, and so on and so forth. And you can just, if you just focus on them and their instrument, you realize how fucking, excuse my language, I'm dropping a lot of F-bombs, but how well they are at playing theirinstruments. Instruments, what good musicians they are. And to sound even remotely remotely close to them is not an easy task. It's not even close. Track 1:[14:09] Yeah, and as they've, you know, grown over the years, they've just gotten better, right? You just get better at your craft. So when you go and learn the newer albums or songs offthose it's even tougher. Track 3:[14:22] Yeah, I bet. Track 1:[14:23] But it's even more rewarding when we get together and sometimes, you know, we play the tune for the very first time and go, okay, we're going to learn this tune, we go away anddo our parts, we come back and we play it and we're all kind of blown away at how good it sounds sometimes the first time. You learn that part and they melt together so beautifully for that finished product that it's really rewarding. Mind-Blowing Live Transitions in MusicTrack 4:[14:53] Yeah, we were just listening. Yeah, we were just the guys and I were just listening to a live version of New Orleans is sinking where they transition in and out of nautical disasterand back into New Orleans is sinking. Have you guys tried anything like that as a band together? Because that that I mean, that just blew our minds, you know? Track 1:[15:12] Yeah, that's an interesting combination, isn't it? Yeah, we, uh, we do have a killer whale tank version on the, on the schedule eventually to, uh, to learn, uh, but, uh, yeah, we haven'tgot around to it. Uh, that's a big one. Shit. But yeah, yeah, I guess our focus has been so far just to try to, you know, owner what they recorded, so keep it as close as, as you know, the original And that's how I've been a focus sofar, you know. [15:46] It may migrate to, you know, do experiments, something like that. But so far, we're trying to actually, you know, honor that original record, original sound. And, you know, but sort of in a live version. So, yeah, as Ron was saying, it's so rewarding when you, you know, work hard on getting that song together and it, you know, it soundedactually very close, in our opinion, anyway. Yeah, we really try to bring the music and the live show to the stage, but not be the Tragical yet. We don't want to look like them or copy them. We want to bring their music to people. So all of the music. That's good. Track 2:[16:26] I like that. Yeah, I like that. Track 1:[16:28] Yeah, we don't want to do exactly. We don't want to just look like them. We want to keep our original, you know, style of playing our instruments, but sounding like them. So, right. Track 2:[16:39] Right. Track 1:[16:40] I think it's a good combination. up in any other so far band that I've seen doing tributes to The Hips. They want to look like them. They sound decent. Track 4:[16:52] That happens, that happens. Track 3:[16:53] I could dress up like Paul McCartney, too. Do you guys find it... I was going to... This is like being something that's puzzling because I haven't seen, obviously I haven't seen you guys play live, but I'm wondering, you know, what your catalog covers and stuff but justlooking at how big the catalog of the hip is like I think you know if you took a band like like I used to Pink Floyd as an example before you know not many you know if you're in a coverband or a tribute band you're gonna you're gonna cover you know the wall you're gonna cover maybe a few things off like Wish You Were Here and Dark Sudden Moon You're not goingto do, yeah, I'm a goma. Track 2:[17:39] Yeah, no, probably not. Track 3:[17:40] No offense to Syd Barrett, but I think with a band like the hip or like Zeppelin, for example, the sound changes so much. Like like like little bones to fucking Tiger. The lion is like, yeah, it's like it's like the distance from Earth to Pluto instead of like Earth to Mars. It's like... How do you do that on stage? How do you like Go, okay. We're We're going into now for plan a or whatever. Track 1:[18:16] I personally You know I'm singing. I'm just trying to bring that same sound And each song I just look at it differently each songs its own person, right? So I don't in my mind. I don't put them together on albums each one has its own personality. So that's kind of how I think about it. Like we go from Highway Girl, which is probably our simplest instrumentally. And again, it's the first album, right? So like, I mean, the hip of the hip, but they weren't accomplished musicians like they were now for Plan A, right? So a little easier to play, but Gord was a little more wild with his voice, not as controlled. So you got to kind of bring that out as well. So that's kind of how I view those. Track 3:[19:06] It's a good approach. Yeah. That makes sense. It makes sense. Listening to the records like we have from start to finish, which I don't know if you guys listen to the podcast. I hope not. Yeah. Track 1:[19:16] Of course. Of course we do. Nice. Track 4:[19:19] That's great. Track 1:[19:21] Why don't you... Track 2:[19:23] What do you say you give us a little taste of what you guys do and perform a couple songs? Track 1:[19:28] That'd be awesome. Influences: Foo Fighters, Metallica, Outlaws, Guns N' RosesTrack 4:[28:01] What other influences have you guys had? I know you know one of you mentioned like Foo Fighters and Metallica and stuff. What else are you guys into? What were you into maybe when you know the hip was just going nuts in the 90s? What else were you guys listening to? Track 1:[28:18] I was a big Outlaws fan. I played a lot of the Outlaws. Just kind of like ladder skaters and stuff. Cool. I was a Guns N' Roses guy. Track 4:[28:28] All right, right on. Track 1:[28:31] I didn't know that. It's interesting. Sweet child of mine was the first song I ever heard. Rush, I liked playing Rush stuff too. Track 4:[28:41] Excellent. Track 1:[28:45] I like all types of music but I like real heavy and better. Pantera, like loud, just as a favorite. Sure. Track 4:[28:53] Nice. Track 1:[28:55] Yeah, I was the weird of my generation because, you know, back in Venezuela, whoever plays or like rocks, he wasn't in the, you know, he was not usual. So, but I like, you know, I started playing Sepultura, Pantera, Metallica. That's how I started playing. It wasn't sounding good, but that's, you know, but then with the years, when I learned a bit I actually got, you know, Peter from Spain, my favorite band ever,although they're tragically here is Eros del Silencio. That's my favorite band from Spain and that's my biggest influence in rock music. What's the name of it? Eros del Silencio is like Heroes of Silence. Track 3:[29:36] Oh yeah, yeah, totally, yeah. You know what's funny? I can hear a bit. I was told about that band a a number of times. Yeah, I've been I've seen like those fun at those a couple times and I mean they're big in spain There I would call them the closest thing to tragically hip In spain, especially later in theircareer, too but um Yeah, I mean I'm I'm, i'm name dropping now, but I went to the same high school as james james headfield um so metallica ran, quite deep in my Family and hometown.Yeah, sure Yeah, I mean back of it back of the day with the hip was plugging along You weren't you didn't you didn't own appetite for destruction. Track 1:[30:29] Oh Yeah You weren't I learned every song on the record. That was that was me go home sit in my bedroom To learn every tune. Track 3:[30:37] Yeah, you were the guy who thought like you were the guy to like me We also thought like G&R Lies was a great album where everybody was like, yeah, I like Patience, buteverything else fucking take it or leave it, man. Track 1:[30:49] No, it was everything. I learned most of that album as well. Track 3:[30:52] Yeah, it was a great album. Track 1:[30:56] As for me, I grew up listening to a lot of different stuff. Influences: Johnny Horton, Jimmy Reeves, The Stones[31:02] Anything from like Johnny Horton and Jimmy Reeves right up to The Stones, right? So a lot of influence, The Stones, probably my second favorite band. I've seen them nine times. Oh, wow. Yeah. Every time they come to Toronto, I think I've seen them since I was able to get in, so. Track 3:[31:18] Cool. I saw The Stones once and I almost didn't see them. My cousin Rocky, God rest his soul, was 24 years old, died of brain cancer. Horrible tragedy. just the day of his funeral, I had tickets to see The Stones at Angel Stadium and I'm like I'm not gonna go. Screw that. I mean, I just like just came back from Rocky'sfuneral. My mom's like. How disappointed would your cousin be to know that you missed the fucking Rolling Stones because of his ass? And I was like, good point. Went and never regretted it. Such a good show. When you guys played Poets, I wrote something down to ask, do you get Gimme Shelter vibes from that song? Like, I would imagine playing that song on guitar. There's a refrain towards the end when it just slows down and just dips into the rhythm where it sounds like the end of Keith Richardssolo I just now that you mentioned it I can see that for sure yeah yeah yeah maybe think of it when you guys are playing it but never I've never heard before when I've heard the song bythe hip then we're going to end up playing that. We're going to transition into the stones. The Band's Ability to Handle Challenges[32:43] And If anybody can, if any band can handle it, it sounds like, you guys can. Track 1:[32:55] I can. backup singing. Track 3:[32:58] She was pregnant. She was pregnant. We should have saying that. Track 2:[33:04] She get out of here. Really? Track 3:[33:05] Yep. Track 1:[33:06] She came down to the studio with like four in the morning in her house coat and curlers. Track 2:[33:11] Jesus Christ. Wow. Come on down. Track 1:[33:12] Yeah. Yeah, cool story. Track 2:[33:20] Well, you guys sounded terrific. I'll tell you that. So I can't I can't wait to hear you, you know, when you're unleashed, fully unleashed and we're not listening to you over video. Track 1:[33:32] Yeah. We're working on a surprise for you, so keep doing it. Oh, wow. Yeah. And don't expect any dance moves like Gord for me, because drummers can't dance, so I just, what happens, happens up there. I can do salsa with my merengue. Oh, salsa. There you go. Be for yourself. It's all about closing your eyes and listening to the music. Yeah. We don't look like it. He's trying to sound like it. Just look at the light show. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Tim's Exciting Donation for Silent AuctionTrack 3:[34:17] Yeah, so I know you guys don't don't dress dress up, you know, dress as such for the hip, but Tim was was keen enough to procure an item for the silent auction that we're having. That is a Tim should I I'm stealing your thunder here, but I'm so I think it's literally the coolest thing. Tim got contacted the woman who made Gord's hats for the final tour. Track 1:[34:46] Sweet. Track 3:[34:47] She is donated a hat for the highest bidder that that, you know, once they win it at the auction, she's going to have them fitted for it and she's going to make a fucking gourd hat.Nice. Track 1:[35:02] It's so cool. Track 3:[35:07] What's that? Track 4:[35:09] Yeah, her company is is Lily put hats. She makes amazing stuff. And I mean, I think these these hats she made for Gord and the likeness of one for the silent auction, it's kind of a it's kind of a priceless item. So we're excited tosee what it does. Track 1:[35:29] That's what I saw. I saw that she had sponsored the show. So I was like, oh, that's interesting. I wonder what she could be sponsoring me. That's awesome. That's yeah. Track 4:[35:42] Yeah, she makes great stuff. Track 3:[35:43] I'm so stoked to see you guys at the show. I mean, it's going to be the, I mean, granted, it's going to be cool to see Tim and JD because we only talk via Skype, but you guys aregoing to be a highlight, man. Let me tell you. All right. Bye. Exciting International Guests Joining the ShowTrack 4:[35:58] We even have our guests, one of our guests on the show, Dan from London. He's even coming. So we got we got US, Spain and UK coming in. Track 3:[36:08] Canada, yeah. Track 1:[36:08] Last question. Real quick. Track 3:[36:16] Sorry, JD. Is that cool? Track 2:[36:17] No. Oh, yeah. Go ahead. Track 3:[36:19] Just to slip it in. Trailer Park fan? Trailer Park Boy fans? Track 1:[36:27] Oh, yeah. Track 2:[36:28] I'm the anomaly. I'm the anomaly. Track 1:[36:32] I've never seen it. Track 2:[36:36] I've seen it a little. Track 1:[36:37] I live with a... I'm on antenna. I get like 4 or 5 Canadian channels and that's what I watch. CBC - A Nickname for someoneTrack 3:[36:49] CBC, CBC, that's his nickname. Track 1:[36:53] That's great. Track 3:[36:53] CBC. Track 4:[36:54] That's like, that's like people asking me if I watch Portlandia. I mean, that's literally the first season. The first season was filmed down the street from my house. Literally. Oh my God. So it's, so, yeah. It's really Park Boy, so that's different. I've watched most of it. Track 1:[37:11] I, I, I'm known for my Bubbles impressions. So I'll do it privately for you. Oh, nice. I'm not going to do it. You don't want to do that online? Mysterious Plans for Halloween in TorontoTrack 3:[37:23] I know who it is. Track 4:[37:25] Maybe just on Halloween. Track 3:[37:26] Let's hope when we're in town in Toronto at the live event, the same squashes that show up. Track 1:[37:32] Same squashes. I'll bring some sandwiches, too. Track 3:[37:39] Don't don't wind me up cuz I I, you know, I'm telling you, don't wind me up. We'll, we'll, we'll save it for the live event. Track 4:[37:49] Oh, no. Preview of the Live Podcast Finale and Event DetailsTrack 2:[37:56] Well, guys, it's been fantastic having you on and getting to listen to a taste of your wares.
jD, Pete, and Tim are back and they're listening to the 2002 release, In Violet Light.Track 1:[0:00] As I sit at my computer to write this introduction, I've really had to rack. [0:05] My brain for anything specific about In Violet Light. It has nothing to do with the brilliance of the record, but I had pretty much left the missionary zeal phase of my hip fandom and was now, sadly, just a casual. Even something as cool as The Hip Club, which was included with the CD release on the June 11th, 2002 CD didn't suck me in, and it's a damn shame too. When I see you out there with cards still in your wallet, I'm jealous and forlorn. [0:40] Something that was so essential in my life was now being left behind because I was focused on the lo-fi experience of bands like Pavement, Silver Jews, Guided by Voices, andSebadell. I did, however, make it out for the In Violet Light summer tour at the then Molson Amphitheater and was blown away by the new songs I heard live. Lake Fever, Silver Jet, The Dark Knuck, they all rocked live. But there was one song that captured my attention and bled through all the noise I was experiencing at the time. It's a song that I still hold close to my heart today, and it's remained a beacon, like a lighthouse leading a lost vessel homeward in more recent years. It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken is a masterpiece in the hip-souvra. Everything just works, and it straight fucking cooks as an ominous-sounding live jam. [1:40] I was working at Starbucks downtown when a barista, now my wife, asked me what I thought of the new album and particularly that song. I don't have the words for it, I told her. She agreed. This was supercharged hip at its best. Now it's time for Pete and Tim to experience A Heron Outside in Violet Light. They both were floored with music at work, so IVL has to be a slam dunk, right? Have to wait and see on this episode of Getting Hip to the Hip. Track 4:[2:37] All right, so welcome back to Getting Hip to the Hip, I'm your host JD and every week we talk about a Tragically Hip record with two budding fans of the Tragically Hip butformerly completely ignorant of the existence of the band and I don't mean I mean ignorant in the dictionary definition you guys are both classy gentlemen but you just it had never it hadnever made it to your ears before. So, we've got Tim and we've got Pete, and we're doing In Violet Light this week. Tim, Pete, how you doing? Hey, guys. How's it going? It's going. It's good. We are back for another week. I'm just, you know, I'm just so pleased that somebody's listening to this. I'm just sure of it, right? Yeah. Well, we're selling tickets for the finale event. We can announce that Tragically cover band 50 Mission are going to be playing, we're gonna have local comedian Pete Van Dyke there, there's gonna be some silent auction items, one ofwhich was donated to us by the Tragically Hip themselves, which is fucking spectacular we also have some items coming to us from David Bustito, so I'm real excited about that becausehe was their official tour photographer for a long time I'd be Curious to see what he what he might what he might donate excellent. [4:07] So yeah, that's pretty I was thinking this week if we make it to the end of this podcast like get through all the records Without a like a seriously like hardcore diehard to actually hitfam you're killing Tim or I And I think we've it's been a success But yeah, it won't happen. Hopefully it won't happen after today's recording. There may be like an Oswald Jack Ruby incident at the finale. [4:38] But you guys don't have guns in Canada, so that's good. I had already plotted... It's really hard though. Oh God. I had already plotted, you know, a disguise for the event, so it's not really me that's there. No, I'm not Pete. If you see somebody with a goatee and a mustache and another mustache on top of that mustache, that's probably Tim Lydon Maybe two mullets The glasses with the nose and themustache Yeah, so let's start off like we always do and get a sense of how you guys took in this record Where you did your listening? Did it heighten or expand that experience? All that good shit. [5:26] I went into it right away. I mean, after our last pod recording, I kind of jumped right into it. In Violet Light because I was excited and wanted to keep the momentum going and the work going and I listened to it all over the place. I was, well, the first listen was cleaning out the garage and I was driving and I was at physical therapy for a portion on the train headed to Seattle. It was, I was kind of all over the place listening to this and I gotta say it was a more fragmented listen than past albums in that I had a hard time. I know about you, Pete, you might be the opposite of a feeling, but I had a hard time going from first song to last song and just listening to it straight through. It was because of a myriadof reasons, but sometimes because of the music. Yeah, sometimes because of the music. Huh. You know, I mean, I hear what you're saying, Tim. For me, I too jumped right into this one immediately after we finished, like, maybe even that night, finished the recording or the very next day. As is with everything with this band, I started to listen and was just wildly unimpressed. [6:48] And then just, it like, as the time went on, I just was like, so wrong and like, I, I mean, literally, I'm glad I've, I've been saving my notes now in my like notes section of my computerbecause I didn't save the notes from the first one, because they just now have gotten longer and longer and longer. And like, by the time we get to the final record, it's going to be a Dostoyevsky novel, dude. [7:18] It's just super, yeah, it's ridiculous, man. I enjoyed the shit out of this record. I would say my listening places, mistake, I started at the computer, which is maybe why I was unimpressed, but I'm just going to say this, there's nothing better than driving in my car,listening to this record. I did a lot of driving this last week, a lot of driving, and this record just, especially on the sound system I have in my car, I think that I'm a... Premium premium audio system in my car. Yeah. [8:00] You know laugh while you want to Just I love it And I think it's my laugh is like 96% joy because you know for all of us Out there and in the interwebs land listening to this It's somedude named Pete He's got, you know blonde hair and blue eyes and he's from California and he lives in fucking Spain driving around in some cool car Which I don't know what it is. So don't tell me No, you don't some cool car with some cool sound system this dude from LA gets a drive around fucking Spain And I'm you know at time of recording While we'repromoting our event coming up. It's you know, just fucking snowed 11 inches in Portland in 24 hours and it was the most snow in 24 hours since 1943. And here's Pete just driving around, do, do, do, do, do. It's not snowing. It's snowed. It snowed this weekend, too, and where I was at. Oh, wow. Envy and joy. Envy and joy. OK, I'll take it. Yeah. I'll take it. Yeah. So. J.D., what do you think? Yeah, J.D. This was a record. This was the last record that I saw a tour for until the last record. [9:15] So I was starting to like wind down my extreme, like this is my number one band fandom. And if you'll note the year, you guys will recognize that's when, you know, like I found pavement and I just was getting caught up. Like, you know, the 2000s for me were getting caught up in everything that I'd missed in the 90s for singularly listening to the Tragically Hip. And of course, a bunch of other stuff. So I resented that a little bit, but when Greg and I were doing the podcast and I came back to this record, it was like, what were you thinking? What blows my mind is that this is 2002. [10:04] This means they've released six records in less than 10 years and they keep getting better, like they keep getting stronger or different at the very least. And I, I just don't understand how they were able to do that. You know, I just don't. Aye, aye. I second that emotion, Smokey, certainly. I have a feeling, I don't know what your all music rating you saw was. I didn't look that up. But I feel that at this point, the past few albums and this one have been highly influenced by who's helping on the production side. You know, this one we had Hugh Pagum. [10:53] Yeah. who did police albums and XTC and split ends and, you know, albums with beautiful sound. He invented gated drumming. The sound of drums in the 80s. Think of In the Air Tonight, the drum sound. [11:13] He invented that sound. And that sound is so prevalent in like, Like, you know, especially like, well, like highly glossed 80s, you know, artists, right? They were, they were all playing with that stuff. And there's... Sorry, go ahead. No, no, no. I was just gonna, it's crazy you mentioned the drums just because, and I didn't hear the gated sound in this, but in a lot of my notes, I mentioned the drums, the sound of the drums in thisparticular record are they really, really, really stand out, really stand up. Yeah. For a drummer that's not flashy, you know what I mean? Right. Not flashy at all. He's so, and this is going to sound like I'm damning with faint praise, but I'm not, when I say he's so competent, I just mean workman like, you know, Johnny Fayeis just workman. Like it's, it's just, he knows what the song needs and he goes in there and gets it done and that's what you get, you know, but he, he really, In my opinion, he rises above on this. He's a bit of the cream that comes to the top on this record, man, for a lot of reasons, but we'll get into it in the songs. I might agree with that, but just to circle back, I think that the production side of this one. It's more. It feels less. [12:32] Band driven and more like who produced this album. That's how it felt to me and Sometimes that that feels awesome with sometimes that is awesome. And sometimes it's like whoa. Yeah, okay That's the that's the album that you tag him if I'm saying his name, right pageant pipe edge I'm happy on the hue pageant produced and in thatYou know, I felt this on this one. It's just to continue my food analogies It's like showing up at a restaurant and there's like there's you still got everybody in the kitchen But somebody else, you know kind of wrote themenu like it's like where'd that where'd our where'd our house cheeseburger go? You know, it's just missing and we have some something else. So this one felt a little different to me and I mentioned this the Pete a few days ago But even on the sound side, from my car to my headphones, everything, this album is fucking bright. It's as if somebody came into my equalizer and pumped up most the levels, especially mid to highs, because it's fucking bright. [13:39] So much that I was turning down my shit to make it more tolerable. It was over-the-top produced in on the sound finish side. It was different than the others different than yeah Well one last anecdote about Hugh Padgham That's sort of funny is Johnny Faye was of course a big Stewart Copeland fan. [14:07] So He ended up skipping his grade 13 exam one of his exams to go and buy a police record the day it came out. And I forget which record it is. [14:25] Oh man, you, God damn. Yeah, I'm not 100% certain what record it is. That's amazing. Yeah, so he was absolutely stoked to be working with this producer. And this was their first sort of, Like he says their first sort of get, you know, in terms of producers. So I wonder if they were performing and they just, they were performing for him. And they also were sort of like in reverence, just lifted their hands off the wheel and just said, you know, take us home. I don't know. That's crazy. You know, I swear this is going to be the last quick anecdote, but just cause you brought up the police. Do you guys both know that the record Synchronicity, which is easily my favorite police record, I had 32 different covers. [15:18] No, no, look, that's a fact. No, no, but some are more valuable than the others. So they did last time. So they actually produced all of them. No, they just the covers themselves. Yeah, different. Yeah, that's amazing. That is amazing. Yeah, they just they were like different pictures that they had taken. And they just made multiple different covers and put it out. And so some people have like, a blue and yellow stripes. Some people have the red, the yellow and the blue. Some people have more red. It's just really unique. I love that. Yeah. Random people. Just because we're talking about the blue. Cool factoid. Yeah, this album, just if I could keep going a little bit, it felt... [16:01] One of the words that came to mind was, and it's not, but it was like sophomoric or homecoming. Like, it felt like the band had gone on, you know, this... how many years are wetalking now? It's 2002, right? How many years are they in the game? 84. Yeah, so 618. That's a lot of years. And I feel like if you're a band and you're at it for that long, to me, you're going to have this kind of album that's going to come out. You're going to find a producer that's amazing or someone you've looked up to forever, and you're going to just go hit the go button with them. And that's kind of what this album turned out to be, to me, in my opinion. It feels like professional accomplished. [16:54] I'm really trying not to go to the word generic or standard TH, but some of it does feel that way. And then there's these little glimpses in there of Gord still doing his thing. The last album, if I could circle back to that like, There's no Tiger the Lion on this album for me. That's kind of my statement. Like the music at work, when I hit Tiger the Lion, it was like, oh shit, what is this song? And I was really searching for that on In Violet Light, and it was hard to come up with that. It was hard to get there. Oh, wow. I've got two Tiger the Lions on this record, and they're fucking back to back. Ha, ha, ha. Ooh, man, I'm interested to hear what these are, too. Let's go. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Alright, well let's go song by song then. Are you ready? Fuck yeah. I'm ready, man. What's the first song? Are you ready? [17:52] See, I was waiting for that though, I was waiting for that all week. That's in your notes, isn't it? It is in my notes. Say, ask JD, tell JD, no. [18:01] Dude, I'll take this one, Tim, just because I want to kick it off, man. I mean, what a fucking song to open up a record with. It's just, it's the band taking the fucking golf ball, putting the tee between their pointer and their middle fingers, sticking the fucking ground, and then looking back at you handing you theclub and going, so, are you ready? It's just fucking, the chorus is amazing. Johnny Faye's drums on this, I'll say this just off the top, but this is like many songs I heard his snare is so bright. Mm-hmm. His snare is so bright. It's a fucking bright out this It's yeah, it's just it's you could it's standout for sure The the cool way it starts with the guitars I think Paul Langlois, am Ipronouncing his name right finally? You nailed it. So Paul Langlois guitar He's playing like a like a dissonant note in there because when Rob Baker comes in with his little guitar licks he's not playing anything dissonant he's playing likea like a happy sort of major lick and it works great with what what Paul's playing but it's just it's just fucking Cool. [19:27] I have a halftone guitar lick, the solo. I love this. I just, I love this song. It just got me ready for the next shit to come. This is a plane taking off. And you know, we get Silverjet down the line, but it is a Silverjet just fucking going a thousand miles an hour up into the air right now. I fucking love it. What about, let's say you, Tim. You know, I thought it was a super starter also. [20:04] It reminded me, just the whole, are you ready? Reminded me right away of the English beat, are you ready to dance? Or are you ready to ska? There's like this old, that got covered a few times too. It's just Similar lyric that it just brought me back to which is always fun. I thought gourd sounded Like cleaner and brighter, of course, I'm gonna stop using that word in a minute Higher in tone like he sounds a little cleaner like almost He's really mastering histool Yeah Like also as if perhaps he you know Quit smoking for two weeks up until recording or something like there was just he was he was cleaner or less growly. At the same time, the song compositionally was like, pretty basic, let's get going and see, kind of see what's next. You know, it's not an embracer, it's a, let's put it in first gear and get this car moving down the road, you know. I have a question for you. What do you guys think of the first four lyrics, the first four lines of lyrics? Here the old whistle blowing, they're pulling the plug, Doug, we got to get going, they got our whole Doug. [21:24] I think this record's riddled with Gord Downie Canadianisms, all just chock full of it. It's a reference of something, shit I don't know, being an American who doesn't even live there.No, no, this isn't a Canadian one. This is just interesting. Lyrics to me that I just wondering like when I heard it I felt it was like self-referential like it was like you know like oh like they're we're done guys they were could be it they were startedfalling out of favor a little bit at this point just the diehards really started to cling on you know for the next two or three records. After this it's still like a giant cohort like a giant cohort. Yeah, like I mean they were still doing stadiums and things like that, but But it was so those lyrics really stuck out at me, you know, like and then it's like are you ready? You know, it's like fuck it all like are you ready? You know what the balls of the balls of gourd down in a fucking call at the fan base like that. That's fucking I I Mean, I don't know. Yeah, just like it's like hey, I guess I guess we're not the fucking We're not the the sweetest maple syrup in town anymore fellas. So let's they got ourfucking holes Doug. Let's just play our shit Yeah, let's do it Yeah, I think I had some image of like getting out of your factory job The end of the day Friday, maybe got paid It's like we got to get the fuck outof here because these guys are gonna kill us eventually but not tonight I don't know it felt very working-class to tie back to what you said Pete. You know this this album is riddled with Gordisms and and sorry and There was so much to look at and rabbit hole, and it was it was like fuck these guys Maybe you know part of it isthey were Pulling out lots of stops for Mr. Hugh on the production side. Yeah, fun there. So we move next to track two use it up. [28:01] So I thought we went from like, okay, this is a fast-paced, let's get moving song, to kind of a slowdown quickly. I mean, I found this happening. I know, JD, you comment sometimes on my, you know, look at albums as if they're books or chapters or what have you, but this one, you know, it was a little bit slow and darker andthere's a message or a lesson, there's like a teaching happening, the chorus of this super sing-along chorus with a way going, you know. I was like, okay, is this a radio hit or, I don't know. [28:48] This is the one with the Bruce Springsteen reference, is that right? Yeah. You know, I had quickly wondered if this one felt a little too like scripted to reach USA audience. I don't know. I was a little bit confused, a little bit like started off strong and then went into the slow dark kind of let's pull on the heartstrings quickly here. Interesting. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, well, we'll go to Pete. What do you think, Pete? It's again, like the plane has taken off with Are You Ready? And now it's just it's ascending into the fucking cosmos, dude, this song. Fucking just it cooked. I got chills. And And the hairs on my arms stood up, thinking and dreaming about hearing this song live.". [29:52] Like literally, the way the drums are, Paul Lanois' guitar in this song is the drums, the way he holds the rhythm to it. Rob Baker must have, I don't know what, I mean, here's the thing, I think I said this maybe the last podcast, but his talent as a guitar player has become exponentially better as each recordgoes on. Not just like all the cool effects that are in this, it just is fucking awesome. I mean, just hearing the licks, Gord commands this song like a fucking admiral commands an aircraft carrier. I mean... [30:39] When he goes, I love the chorus, music that can take you away, and it just, there's like an echo effect or there's some sort of effect that just lets his voice ring out, but there's a partwhere he goes back into the second verse, I think, or maybe the third verse, and he goes an octave higher and he goes, instead of, use it up, use it up, and he gets really high. And it just, it's like watching the kettle on the fucking stove about ready to fucking explode. That's what I think of this song too. I think of it as like, just a builder. And like, I don't think of it as a slow song at all. [31:23] You know, like, like, like, there's some, some, some real hot water bubbling away here, getting ready to boil over. You know, you guys are almost making me want to listen to this album, but not in order. Not in order. I feel like I should go back to it and put it on random and see what happens. See what happens, yeah. Because I just, I wish I had the same sentiment. I went from, like, the car is moving to, oh, who are we trying to grab here? I mean, these lyrics are heavy, fairly simple, compared to some other hip songs, you know, lots of repeated chorus but like I just wasn't exactly yeah just didn't just didn't grasp me so thethe the way the guitar starts once the drums kick in it's got that kind of like bluesy bar rock sound to it just like I just imagine the fucking crowd just just just thumping at that live showwhen this song is played live. I mean. [32:31] And Gordon singing out, somebody pushing the fucking sustain button on who's ever working the board and just away! And it just, everybody losing their fucking mind and Rod Baker doo doo, doo Just, sorry man, I fucking I sound like a douchebag fanboy on this podcast You know I'm cool with it Theother day I was like I'm gonna come in maybe not sounding the most positive about this And I was like, I bet Pete's going to hold it up for us. But that's kind of a tough part. Part of this assignment is really difficult in that we're listening to albums and albums and albums by a band, hours and hours. And we should add up the hours by now. [33:20] And we've watched some videos, and we've never attended a show. I mean, I've never seen The Rolling Stones. I've listened to every one of their albums. There's tons of examples like that. But I haven't sat down and gone through song by song by The Stones, nor do I want to. So nobody invite me to go do that. But anyways, it's like we've not seen the hit play. And I know that many of their songs are probably just amazing live. Yeah. They're built for live, for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it's just a facet of my hip career that I'm missing. But this next one, the darkest one, which I'm mostly going to let Pete talk about because it has to do with it, you know, a little bit with his favorite TV show. But this one, this is my JD karaoke request, this one. Oh wow. I want to hear JD belt this one out. That's what I heard when I heard this song. I was like, oh, this is good. Oh, this would be cool to hear JD sing karaoke. [34:31] Have you ever done karaoke to this song, JD? I never found it at a karaoke place. Usually they have the bigger hits, but they don't have the deeper cuts. Well, maybe you could just send me your own video recorded version. I'll do it. I mean, just to share with me. [34:52] Yeah, this song contains one of my favorite sets of lyrics ever, like ever, by anybody. You know, the wild are strong, and the strong are the darkest ones, and you're the darkest one. Are you fucking kidding me? Yeah. Like, that build to describing somebody in that manner, oh, it just makes me grin. just makes me grin. Oh, God, dude, the song. First of all, I love that it was the the track of the trailer. That's how I recognized it initially. You know, you know, I mean, we have to talk that kind of guy. It really cooks the opening. But I mean, just Gord Sinclair's bass is like holding this song up and help pushing it up and get it off the ground. I agree that the chorus, we're the strong or the darkest ones and you're the darkest one. I mean, it's just how he repeats it, how Gord repeats it, you're the darkest one and I can't sing like him. The melody just goes up and down. It's just fucking amazing. [36:15] There's the line, it's funny because like initially all I thought it was like that horrible show they used to have on. God, I can't even remember the name of it, where the guy would like, God, what was the name of that show? It was the Chris, not Chris Matthews, he was on NBC. Remember the guy would, the police would be checking those people, the people that were trying to hook up with young kids or something. And he said, why don't you come in and have a seat, right? Remember that? Oh, yeah. He's like, he busts people like, Yeah, he busts people. Yeah, I don't know what you're talking about. Oh, God, I can't remember the name of the show. Yeah, whatever it's called either. If you if you remember it, send us an email. JD at gettinghiptothehip.com What that horrible show is. I think Pete at gettinghiptothehip.com. That's for Pete. Yeah, I know. All right. Anyway, he would always say, like, why don't you come in and have a seat? But like, that's like a really demonic, horrible version. This was like,so like, Gord was like inviting everybody, come in, come in. It's warm and it's safe in here. Like, it was just like, like, we're already, we've walked through the door with these first two songs on this record. Now he's saying, like, hey, come in, makeyourself at home, have a seat on the couch. You know, it's so personal. I don't know, I got a really personal vibe from this record. [37:44] Lyrically, the way that the band played together so beautifully. [37:49] I feel like, yeah, you already mentioned the chorus, JD. You can really feel the band come together on this there. Everybody's now at the same level. Like, it's not the... No offense to Gord Downie, because he's, you know, he's just what it is he's amazing but like I feel like it's not just the gore downy show I like feel like if you took any member of thisband out of the band it would be equally as devastating. Equally as devastating. 100%. The last thing I will say is I don't know how I'd ever confirm this, but I feel like Rob Baker has maybe switched out the pickups on his Fender Strat duringthis one. He's maybe using some of those Fender Tex-Mex ones instead of the delay sensors. And I was just... because that solo at the end sounds really twangy, it's hard to use Tim's term, bright. [38:42] And it pissed me off so much that the song faded out. But the more I thought about it, the more I was like, dude, you can't end this song with a raging solo, such an amazing song, you just have to let it fade out. You can't compete with the rest of this song. So Rob Baker or the producer, they were in the right to just let the song fade out because You can't one-up yourselves in the same song. It's just so good. I didn't have an issue with the fade-out on this one. I think, in part, it's just the total tone of the song and the lyric. You're the darkest one. I mean, you're right. How would you end that? I didn't question it. It didn't cross my mind. But we got to talk about how fun the video is. I didn't see it. We don't. Oh, I got to see it. [39:35] Yeah, that part, you know, we had just to add to that we have not talked about their videos much and at some point it'd be You know side note here it'd be fun to uh Maybe I don'tknow what riff on this later Watch their videos and have an episode where we each talk about our favorite video they produced or something Yeah, because this video This one jd knows. Yeah, it's a hoot like I watched it like six videos Come on, you've seen the video with bubbles and everybody. Oh, this is the one. Oh To me. [40:24] Like Actor that like you forget that like, oh, that's core Johnny from the tragedy. He just looks like he belongs, right? Right, the video is so good, it feels really true. He could be Trevor Roy's cousin or something. I have a teenager at home that watched that whole series enough times so it was on in our basement regularly. I never saw that episode until through research found that, but the video is so fun. I seriously watched it six times, it's just so good. and made me love the song more, and it made me come back. You know, of course, in order of going through, in Violet Light, it just made me come back to this song as like, this song's a stopper, you know? It could just be its own single, you know? It's just, it's just one of those songs. Yeah, I mean, just give it to me on a seven inch and I'll just play that on my turntable. It's just a good, good song. God rest Jim Lange. [41:31] Yeah, poor lady So that takes us to The next track on the record, which is it's a good life if you don't weaken Yeah, no, I'll go so this from what I found this was the most played forthe album on Spotify by far The song has been played a ton for this album was like four million listens or something which I. [41:55] Think is huge There was one question Yeah, this song for the single. Okay, so that to me, that was kind of a surprise. Like why this one? Why do people glom on because it's awesome. But I might add a question of it around. I didn't do a deep dive. But Gord said it was this phrase, Molly Lorimer use life on the road when discussing life on the road. And I couldn't find much on this Molly Lorimer. I I don't know if you guys did. That was gonna be a question to you. Yeah, I don't know. It's just attributed to her. Yeah. It's a good life if you don't weaken. Yeah. It's a graphic novel by singularly named artist simply known as Seth. I don't know, that's all I've got. Yeah, but that line came from Molly. So, yeah. The piece itself was brought to the attention of the band by one of the staffers, Molly Lorimer. Okay. As Gord wanna explain, was fond of using the expression when discussinglife on the road. [43:01] Yeah, I mean, I love that part about it and that reference as far as literary references go on many of the songs, you know, was a little bit more mysterious, especially even differentsince it's based a bit on a graphic novel, which I don't think Gord has done yet. It seemed kind of like a love song or a, I don't know, a separation song or figuring out life, coming back together. You know, it was, it was, it was, there were lots of question marks on this one for me. It was kind of like, why is it so popular? What am I? I don't think I'm missing something here. I think I get it. I think it's just, I don't know, another, another heartstrings puller. That's kind of where I was left. What about you, Mr. Pete? [43:52] I did not like this song when I first started listening to it. The first run or two of it, the first thing I wrote was, this song is the cover of this record. So you listen to the guitar and you look at the cover, you're just like, oh, this is like the title track of the record. And then it just, I don't want to say it's my favorite song on the record, but it's pretty close man. I mean it's so good. The way this song builds, the keyboards come in and it just layers so nicely. I feel like when the chorus comes in and the harmonies hit, It's just, oh God, it's just beautiful, man. It's so good. The bridge is like butter. Sometimes bands, because they feel the need to put a bridge into songs, because in Newsflash, not every song needs a bridge. And sometimes bands just put it in and they sound like shit. And this is just not one of those cases. It's like such a beautiful extension of the song. I don't know why I wrote in here. [45:22] Rob Baker's Fender accompaniment is wretched. And I don't think I meant that as an insult, because I loved it. I thought it was really good. But the build before the chorus of the song is just because it starts out so soft. so yeah that finger-picking guitar and then it just builds to this climactic. [45:46] Saga Wonderful. I don't know man. I can't say that enough fucking good things about the song. I loved it. Well, you answered my question I think that's that's great. I'm gonna go back and listen to it I was you know, I wasn't it wasn't so Wasn't so feeling that I I I am invasive how it grew on you. I think that's Make that's wonderful. I would say it's a lot of people's favorite song. Yeah record. As far as the singles go. [46:16] Because this record's full of deeper cuts, too, that that fans are really big on. One in particular I'll get to when we get there. But these are the these last two songs. The Darkest One and It's A Good Life If You Don't Weekend are my two favorite songs on this record. I love those songs. Pete, with Silver Jet, did you long for a bridge in that one or some sort of change up or how'd you feel about the long ending fade out of this one i love i mean i liked it i the song and theway i to be honest with you the the song first when i first first heard the song a couple times i didn't like the um that lick in there it just sounded i didn't like it it was pissing me off did itsound like a little it sounded almost like a little bit hairband to me. Like there was some kind of, I don't know. It totally did. Yeah. Reminds me of like Van Halen or something, you know? Yeah. It made me wonder if this was a a music-first song. [47:25] I just think that you can only get away from your roots so much, you know? At the end of the day, we all return to, you know, just as we're born, begging and screaming and crying for your mama, you die the same way. And so we all have that in us throughout our lives and like, they have that history. It's like it or hate it. That's part of their history as a band. But I chose to embrace it and I really liked it. I thought one of the coolest things was this song and one other one I think we'll get to. There's a lot of like harmonic plays with the guitar. That. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I'm pretty sure it's it's it's Rob Baker, but it could be Paul and Juan just playing those those those repeated harmonics on the guitar with that heavy distortion andit's just fucking cool. And I don't know that this is one but it feels like a like a a Gord Downie Canadianism song. [48:34] It may be about something in history. I just seem too random to be talking about a silver jet. This is one record I didn't look at any of the lyrics. I just listened I listened intently. On your first listen or what do you mean? On any listen, which I think it served me well because I paid much more attention to the music and the band and like Gord doesn't need toimpress me with his lyrics, I don't need to fucking read his lyrics to to be impressed by them so, I think the fact that I didn't look at any lyrics for this record made me appreciate it a littlebit more, and I'm glad I did that. [49:16] Process-wise, definitely the first six listens or something, I'm not looking up really looking up lyrics much at all. It's just at the end is where I love to do the deep dive where I've really taken in the album and what makes me, I don't know, just completes my wonderment of where this album is goingor where these songs are going. And this one, you know, I love the roars overhead You know, it's it really I talked about this before but that one felt super REM Michael Stipe to me I just totally couldn't completely hearMichael Stipe in that one and it's And it's also, you know, this is 2002 and that reference to me is more like 88 You know late 80s, maybe early 90s. Sorry. Um, so Yeah, dude, I didn't think Tim you're you're spot-on with that Michael Stipe reference Oh big time big time, and you know, I I don't say that in a negative way. I just circle back to Wishing I could be a fly on the wall and the tour bus to hear what these guys are listening to or sharing, you know because it's it's There's definitely some some threadsthroughout all of it the the ending was the ending and I thought this one was um, I I don't know just long They're starting to now have like one song where there's an ending of like aminute or more of just music just instrumental. [50:42] You know, which which I I dig sometimes I wish there's like for this song in. [50:48] Particular there was Maybe there was room for a Stronger bridge or some sort of change up in it. I think I think this this song. I don't know I. [50:58] Maybe this is one of the songs I need to hear live but this one like it was really close to being one of my favorites on the album there just was something wow something in therethat was just a little bit missing like I first few times I listened to this one I was like oh what is it about this song there's there just wasn't enough salt on it or something there wassomething in there so I want to go back and hear it again and maybe find some live version to see what's different about it. Yeah, it's definitely a banger live. [51:36] I think some great lyrics. I think one of the coolest vocal deliveries on the record. Like he's barely opening his mouth. He's like grinning these lyrics out almost. [51:51] A rock star using the word archipelago. Oh yeah, that's a great point. Like throwing words like that in there from a phrasing perspective is just a nightmare. And yet He does it and he does it with ease It's so crazy My father-in-law mentioned we're telling on because my wife's gonna Ibiza Ibiza Ibiza He beat that um next week and And or twoweeks and I was like asking where it was and like thinking about it Is it over here? Where's that? He's like and he said He said archipelago on, but he said it in Spanish, but I knew what he was saying, because it's a very similar word. And it made me think of this song, and I was like, oh yeah, Silver Jet, like, just to hear, I mean, how often do you hear the word archipelago? Never. On a given week? Yeah. On a month? No. And I heard it, like, the same day I was listening to this song, he said archipelago, and I was like, that's fucking weird. There's a glitch in the matrix somewhere, man. Yeah, totally. There's lots of great one-liners in this song. It's, it's, it's, it's chocked full. It's, it's a really, I don't know. Again, this was one I kept coming back to and kind of couldn't get enough of, you know, that I'm thinking it through. Your father-in-law's going to Ibiza? Is he going to a rave there? What's he, what's going to, does everyone know he's going there? [53:20] No, he's just going, she's going to a, just with her friend to visit. Oh, she's going this way. But I was going to say a minute ago, all the cheeseburger references by you, Tim, we're going to start calling you Randy. You start having to do this podcast to get your shirt off. [53:39] I don't know, Mr. Leahy. We haven't had a cuddle in a long time. I gotta say, I gotta say one thing, dude. I don't know, God, if she listens to this podcast, she's never gonna ever want to talk to me again, but my sweet, great and wonderful colleague, Barb, who lives on, um, I can never say hername. Canada is such a huge, huge country. It's more on the West Coast. But every time I just see her name, she sends me an email. I don't see Barb or Barbara. I just see burp. It's actually, I just see it spelled B-E-R-B. I just hear Randy saying, burp. [54:29] Like, it's just, and I know she would find it funny because she loves that show. She's a huge, ridiculously huge head fan. I think that's the booze talking, Pete. I think he might need to lay off of the booze. That's my best advice. Probably. So, uh, looking gla- throwing off glass. [58:21] Like, right when this one, maybe it had to do with me microdosing throughout the week, but wow, it was like, turn down the levels. There are some serious drums and cymbals and big, big loud king of pain, kind of. There's some serious production happening with this one. You know, it's overall, my comments on this one are super basic. It's a beautiful song In general, you know, I got the the dad vibes from it the teenage kids It's kind of like The daughter song. I don't know JD. I was like, oh this seems like to me this might be You know JD's song for his his girls, you know, it's just a beautiful beautiful song There's just wasn't a whole lot more toit than that for me. It's just like whoo. Okay Okay, that's a mouthful. I love this track. It was a great, like, in-between. [59:26] It was a great palate cleanser. I know that's like a negative connotation to say, in-between this song and the next, but it just was so needed and it was so well placed in the order of it.I love the way it's just, it was a super spacey track. Vocals were just echoed all over the place and yeah I don't have a ton to say about it other than I really really enjoyed it. I thought again this is the other one where Rob Baker's harmonics really really shined on it like they just drive the song and I'm like it's just Just awesome. [1:00:06] Loved it. Just loved it. Really, really good chill out song to kind of go, take a break, lower the blood pressure a little bit. You've been rocking out. We're only on song six. Yeah, it was kind of serene. It was its own movie, this one, I think. You know, it's definitely stands on its own. Yeah, the next song All tore up. Yeah, I'll tore up. Okay. So here's another really Gonna this is the last time I'm gonna talk about about holy shit the drums and the cymbals the high hats on this one It's just like whoa Turnit down guys. Like this is a this is my final call out on the production side of this one. It's just, Kaplow in my ear holes. So there you have that. But the there's Tim is Tim is Huey Lewis in that firstscene of Back Feature one. Sorry, guys. Just too loud. Next, please. Sorry, Tim, I didn't mean to cut you off. Love it loud. I just you know, I have. [1:01:23] Yeah, anyways, that there The bridge in this one, you might make it, right? You know, that really smacked me. This is just an amazing change in this one. I felt like this one stepped out a little bit more than previous songs and kind of was leaning a little bit more in a direction that I had been looking for, just musically, just tragic, hip-esque,you know? This one kind of brought me back to, I don't know, just what I want in a hip album. [1:02:00] I liked the finding, the reference towards Dottie Cormier, famous Canadian bluegrass singer. So kind of went down a rabbit hole and checked out her stuff and gave her a bunch of listens. Yeah, I mean, she's mentioned in there and she's one of the more famous bluegrass people of Canada, which is awesome. I'm not a huge bluegrass fan, but I definitely appreciate it when Icome across it, and it's great. But I thought it was a song about going for it, living life, just appreciating things, looking for moments of biggest impacts or things that matter. You know, I typed in, you just need to be you and keep moving. It's inspirational. This is a good, to me this is. This is a good hip song on this album. If somebody's going to say, what should I listen to? This would definitely be one of the songs. Oh, yeah, I liked it. Aside from the bright, fucking bloody. All right. Happening. [1:03:13] Well, to back that up, I will say one of the things I've written in my notes here is Johnny face snare is boosted. It is. And I love I do. Yeah, I love it, like for me, it fits with the album, like, I could see how you could look at it as a, as maybe a, like, I would do this differently, but like, I just feel like they did that onpurpose, and it fits with the record and I think it's done well. It's noticeable. That's the problem, though. But you know what, like, maybe, like, here's the thing, maybe it should be noticeable for a lot of reasons because the drums in a lot of these songs really, reallydrive the momentum of the tunes. The opening lick that I think is, I want to say it's Rob Baker playing, that opening lick with the double stop, just how he just, I'm like, wait, how do you play that again? Because it just, it doesn't stop, it doesn't stop and start where you think it's going to stop and start. It's really, and the drums come in at a different tempo, and it's just cool as fuck. Question JD, I have this written out, what are the school buses in Canada? Do you guys have like yellow school buses like we have in the States? [1:04:36] Because I mean, I don't know, are they big school buses like the big long ones? Yeah, Bluebird, which is like one of the big school bus manufacturers, used to have a plant in the town, like 20 minutes from where I grew up. And I worked there every summer building school buses. Yeah. Okay. Well, maybe you would have seen any bass player in the whole of Canada that was worth their salt getting on that school bus because literally Gordon Sinclair takes anybodylistening to this record who plays bass to fucking school on a bus. I mean, it's a master, it's a master's degree, it's not a master class, it's a fucking master's degree. I mean, the way he fucking goes up high with the bass in this, I'm just like, I listen, this is one of the very few songs where I like stopped and and clicked back and was like listening to itand going, what the fuck is he doing, dude? Like, I don't know anybody that can play that shit. I've met a few bass players in my day, but just so smooth and so cool, I mean, I loved it. [1:05:51] The only other thing I will say about this song is that the lyrics and the vocal phrasing by Gord, and I say this and I feel like people hate me for saying this, but if they hate methen they're not true Canadians, because it's very much a lot of Alanis phrasing the way Gord sings the lyrics on this. I listened to Jagged Little Pill last night, as a matter of fact, on vinyl. It's a fucking record that still stands up so great. But yeah, anyway, very much got some Atlantis vibes with the phrasing on it. It was a great song. So wild that you hear Atlantis all the time. Oh, I love that. It's Atlantis and Michael Stipe. I think those are the most referenced singers. [1:06:45] Yeah Yeah, that's far out let's keep moving so with leave JD did you ever hear this one live? Do you recall? I don't recall. No, I just this is this was definitely one right away I was like, oh, this is probably great life you know, I just I go there so often just because I've been to so many shows and I know theSerotonin boosts that you have when you leave a concert or hear a song you love, you know it's just this this one was me reaching for that um it felt uh oh just introspective anddeliberative and it it i the only thing about it is kind of towards the end i felt like it could go another minute you know i felt like we could have and have had another verse in there if it's ifthere's a live version of it being longer or if they mix it up because this song just compositionally felt like there was opportunity to play around and change it a little bit so it's I thought itwas a pretty cool song. How about you Pete? I thought it was really cool. I mean the way it started was very like spacey and mm-hmm like almost like Wait, what? [1:08:10] Did my Spotify malfunction or whatever? Like it couldn't have happened before with CDs, but really, the way it's like a shuffle, it kind of feels like a shuffle, you know, the waythe beat is. And the phrasing again, this is another one where Gord's phrasing is super, super diverse. [1:08:36] The chords are really... I got some heavy Stone Temple Pilots vibes. Oh, totally. Completely. Yeah. Really? Like, those guys from... I think I was almost going like Alice in Chains or something. There was something in there from the 90s. 100%. 100%. There's a part where Paul Langlois' guitar comes in, and the song, it starts to form, And there's a line that says, a routine flight for this bird tonight, more worms for earth in the afterlife. [1:09:15] Like, what the fuck, dude? Look at that. After that line, the song just like explodes open. [1:09:26] I love the chorus. It's just, yeah, I'm not displeased with this song at all. There's nothing. I'm trying not to wrap up the whole album, but you know, if you guys haven't figured out already, I really liked this album. There's not much negative shit I can say about it. So if you're looking for negative shit, just turn off the podcast and wait. Or just call me, you know, I have throat pain. Because this next one, if we can get into it. Yeah. Yeah. A beautiful thing. You know, it's kind of this cute start sing-along-y feeling. Definitely XTC. Definitely R.E.M. You know, like it's the bridge, the guitar solo kind of bridge that happens in there. When I heard that, I was like, oh, what happened? This song, it was the first time I heard it, I couldn't finish it. This was one of the few songs that this has happened to me. And I was like, God damn it. Here's the song that I need to talk about that it took me a handful of times to get through because it just, it wasn't a beautiful thing for me. It was, uh, I just, I just, I know I was totally questioning it. It was like, are they, were they trying to make a wedding song or like, what is, what is this song? I was like, what the fuck? This didn't need to be on the album. It just kind of... [1:10:52] Sorry, sorry hip fans. Yeah, I mean I hope you guys don't kick me off the pod, but this one I was like FF fast-forward with next week. We'll be joined by just We found Tom from Seattle who's gonna join us next week we sent him a supply of happy pills and Definitely told him he's not allowed to have any indica beforehe gets on the pod Tim, I felt you with this, man. I mean, here's the thing, though. At first I felt you with this and I was like, I started listening to some more and I was fucking love this. First thing I like, I thought this was the father daughter song when I heard it first. [1:11:42] But the three, four, this is a dance song. You can, there's definitely people, There's the guy, you know, with his arms behind. Somebody or the girl on his shoulders or whatever it is, swaying back and forth with this song at the concert. 100,000 percent. The chorus is super strong. The way they go, Beautiful thing. Toot toot toot. Exactly. This is the second song I've noted that I think Rob Baker switched out as his pick-up song. God, I, I, I, I, I, I, I hesitate to scour the internet for, for those, um, you know, when the musicians do those pedal reviews or they're like, it's like the Amoeba what's in your bag thing. Often like interview guitar players and be like, what's on your pedal board? Or like, what's the kind of guitar you're using? And like, I know if I find one of Rob Baker, my life's over. Cause I'm going to be like, Hmm, spending more money on shit. [1:12:49] I thought this song was a beautiful song, just fucking awesome to be cheesy and tie it up that way. It's basically one of three of the fewest listens on the album. I know Spotify isn't everything, but I take it as, you know, a guiding point. The last three songs are the three least listened to on this album. So and I felt like the album did take a little bit of a turn for me with that. All right. Well, let's move on to Dire Wolf then. Um, dude, drums, opening lick, a guitar solo, fucking clean as hell. It, it, it, it, this is going to sound weird, I got to phrase this properly. Because the opening, these last two songs are really unique because they change so much. The first part of the song made me feel like I'm going to phrase it properly. [1:14:00] Like I was in a wheat field during a cold, a cool summer day. The opening was so cool. I think Pauline Waas is opening up with the guitar. And this seems certainly like a Gord Downie Canadianism song, lyrically is it? Yeah, big time. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And what I want to know, Gord talking about what he loves themost, his country. And I wrote this down because I was thinking about it driving home yesterday. And it almost brought me to tears listening to this song. So I was like, dude, what a gift. [1:14:43] Sorry to get all serious for a second, like what a fucking gift this guy was to his country. Absolutely. I never got it before. Like my friend Barb, who I talked about earlier, I was making a joke about. Barb? Barb, yeah. And then you, JD, and then other people in my life who've mentioned The Hip to me have been super passionate. I'm just like, it's almost kind of like, God, okay. Hey, I just didn't get it. And this is a song where it just really hits home. And the more research I do about the band, the more I get into them, the more I look at interviews with Gord, I'm just like, like, I don't think Americans have anything as an equivalentbecause I know there was that hockey, the guy on like SportsCenter Canadian Hockey
Picture it, the turn of the millennium, and the dawn of the online music revolution. jD just shelled out his last few dollars on The Tragically Hip's seventh studio record, Music at Work, unaware that it would mark the end of an era for him - his final first-day purchase. From there we take a deep dive into the album's reception, its relevance today, and the debate if it was a step out of The Hip's comfort zone.Make sure to get your tickets for Longslice Presents: Getting Hip to the Hip - An Evening for the Downie Wenjack Fund today! https://bit.ly/GHTTHTicketsTranscriptTrack 1:[0:00] Welcome to getting hip to the hip. I'm JD. I'm here as always with Pete and. [0:06] Tim How are you fellas doing this fine day? Track 3:[0:10] Doing great doing great Just getting it going and excited to be here and see a couple of my favorite dudes over the interwebs. Track 2:[0:19] I Am doing supercalifragilisticexpialidocious to fucking discuss this fucking record Oh, wow. Track 3:[0:27] Oh, boy. Track 2:[0:28] Oh, boy. Track 3:[0:29] So... Fasten your seatbelts, folks. Track 1:[0:31] Fasten your seatbelts, folks. Track 2:[0:32] What does that mean? Spoons, plural. Spoons full of sugar. Not just fucking... Not just one. Track 1:[0:39] The Disney references are just rolling out. Track 3:[0:41] Jeez. Track 1:[0:44] Well, we're here today to talk about the 2000 release, June 2000, the seventh studio record by seminal Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip. Music at work. Before we go into our vaunted segment of song by song, let's just get a general sense of what you guys thought of this record. Where you listened to it, what you were exposed to, how it formed over time. What do you think there, Pete? Track 2:[1:21] I'll be brief, because I want to really dive into the songs, too, but I will say, I listened to this record at work. Well, I was at my computer. Come on, Tim, did you want that one? Were you waiting to use that one? Track 3:[1:42] No, it was your turn. It was your turn. A lot of listeners right now are like, oh my god, we're out of here. Track 2:[1:52] Listen to it in the car. The sound system in the car made it really pop. But I will say, probably the best place to listen to it was on runs. It was just... I love the record. I really, really enjoyed this record profusely. So I'll say that. I'll leave it there. All right. Track 1:[2:21] Mr. Leiden. Track 3:[2:22] Yeah, so I listened to this. I had a bunch of headphone-based physical therapy the past week, and I pretty much had it on for all of that, which was very much focused movement and definitely could consider audio. And it was it was pretty good. It took me back to, I think, mostly to Live Between Us, like if we're gonna go apples to apples or apples and oranges throughout their discography thus far, for many reasons. And there's some songs on here I really like a lot. There's a couple that I thought were pretty different, like definitely a step out than past albums. And yeah, at one point I thought this might be my favorite so far in our work to get to this point. I thought this might be one of my favorite albums so far, but I'm still questioning it. I'm still thinking that there might be another one out there in the future that I just I Give you know nine point five two or whatever. Album Rating and Discussion on Critics' OpinionsTrack 1:[3:35] It might be Gotcha Yeah, this was rated relatively low by all music and what? Track 3:[3:43] Big fucking surprise They're like the professor that doesn't give a is you know, yeah, yeah negative five out of five I I have a little bit of a vibe with that, but I understand sometimes there's a great piece of work out there that still doesn't get the accolades it deserves, and that happens so often. Track 1:[4:06] Yeah. Well, shall we get into it? Track 3:[4:10] Yeah. Track 2:[4:12] What did they give it, by the way, J.D.? I'm curious. Track 1:[4:14] Three out of five. Track 3:[4:15] Three, right? Three out of five. So just some quick research on the title that I found of the album, Music at Work. So from what I read, it's poking fun at a rock station in Canada, 100.5 FM. Yeah. E-Zed Rock or Easy Rock, whichever. Track 4:[4:38] You went with Zed first. You're so Canadian. Oh my God. So Canadian. Track 3:[4:45] Music at Work was their tagline, you know. It was like, imagine this kind of 80s looking logo in essence like a corporatized Van Halen Firebird Camaro looking Easy Rock 100.5 FM and underneath at music at work. That makes sense. But I thought maybe, yeah, I thought maybe the hip tagging, you know, taking this tagline was perhaps their, I guess, you know, maybe even, I think it was their stab at back at clear channel. I thought like Like, these guys, yeah, yeah, yeah, I thought these guys are still talking. Track 2:[5:36] Was that a Clear Channel station? Track 3:[5:38] Rock and roll. Track 2:[5:39] I'm sure they were. Track 3:[5:40] Dude. Track 1:[5:41] It's a heavy format. Track 3:[5:42] I didn't look it up, but if you look at everything about it, I'm sure it is. Track 2:[5:48] And at that time, dude, nowadays it's like, it's not even a competition. Like Clear Channel owns the Airwaves, but I remember at that time it was like, you were We were starting to realize that every station was a clear channel station. Track 1:[6:02] Yeah. Yeah. Track 3:[6:04] Yeah. So, that was kind of some brief history on the album title. The first song, you know, title track, album name. The First Single from the RecordTrack 1:[6:40] You I think it's a, little bit of a, a That chives. Yeah, it was the first single from the record too. So okay. Yeah, it dropped a couple weeks before the record came out. Track 2:[7:33] Well, not to correct Tim, but I'm going to do it. Do it. It is not the title track. Ah, yes. The name of the track is actually my music at work. Yeah, interesting. And I didn't... No, no, no. Track 3:[7:54] I was really close, man. Track 2:[7:56] You were close, too. Track 3:[7:58] You know, okay. The influence of the... The Groove and Tightness of the New RecordTrack 2:[8:07] I mean, if I picture myself as I have now, listen, have listened to the previous hip records, anticipating this new record coming out, hearing this first track on this new record and just like putting it on volume up, start my car, light my cigarette, open my Red Bull, whatever the fuck I was doing in the year 2000. And just fucking wow. I mean, they must have just been like, fuck yes. I mean, this song, it was, I wrote this down. This is one of the things I wrote down in the notes. The song was born in the pocket. Like when you talk about when you're in the pocket, musically, I think we all know what that means. I'm sure most of the listeners know what it means. But it's just, it's in the pocket. It's just the groove, the rhythm, the fucking instruments, everything is just fucking tight and it fits, gourd sounds fucking great. It's a great build after the La La La with the soft guitar. Oh God, I've got to eventually get there. Track 3:[9:29] I'll just quickly add in there the La La La. Track 2:[9:30] Johnny Cain? Track 3:[9:31] Okay, go, go, go. Track 2:[9:32] Go ahead. No, no. You go ahead. Track 3:[9:35] I was going to fill in for you. The La La La part for this one, I mean that was new. We haven't had La La La's yet in soft. No, not really. Right. Track 2:[9:42] No, no, yeah But but Johnny Johnny Faye. Yeah drummer. Yeah Really just fucking builds it into where the song you know starts to go at that point and then there's a There's a Lord of the Rings reference in there. I think I feel like it is I took it as what cuz he says middle of the earth. Ah Which I'm always My record store that I grew up going to in down in California, now out of business, was called Middle Earth. And it was a fucking great record store. This is the type of record store where dollars to fucking donuts, man. If you were there in the 90s, they were like, if you went up to the front and asked this guy Larry for a recommendation, he would have fucking slipped you a hip record. Hands down. I was just too scared to fucking go up to Larry cause he was cool. Larry had a picture of David Bowie where David Bowie was smiling, not Larry. Track 1:[10:47] Wow. Track 2:[10:48] Like that goes to show you how cool fucking Larry was. Track 3:[10:51] You know what? I can't tell you how many. Stories I've heard about like interviews with artists who had that record store They went to growing up and how walking up to the clerk whoever was working was like the most intimidating thing Like you like you like so many artists would walk I've read it about it so many times Walking a record store with like kind of tail between your legs and you're afraid to purchase what you've picked For being ridiculed or anything, right? It's just it was like the most I mean think about it back You know in the 80s or 70s or 90s like going to Tower Records or wherever you go and grabbing that Item and walking up to this like hipper than thou person Clerk and trying to make over just yeah Yeah, this was before that it was common where people had like, you know Sleeves of tattoos and like ear and nose piercings like you saw somebody up there at the front with a fucking a bar through the nose a two sleeves of tattoos, and green hair. Track 2:[11:56] Everybody's got fucking green hair nowadays, right? And you're just like. Track 1:[12:00] Makes me sick. Track 2:[12:01] No, but you know what I'm saying? Like, you know, my nephew's got green hair for crying out loud. But like, I don't give a shit, you know, I'm telling my nephew what I'm listening to, but if, you know, back in the 90s, I walked up to the counter and saw somebody like that, that I was like dude I am not bringing up anything that's on the radio right yeah that's so cool that's so cool that you had this this tragically hip frame of reference from back in the record store days I mean I completely don't have that I had a bumper sticker in college you know of my apartment complex neighbor so. The Second Song: Messy and IncoherentTrack 3:[19:00] Yeah. Track 2:[19:00] Do you want to? I don't know. I mean, I'm ready to fucking blow up in there. You know what I'm saying? Okay. The fucking the second song. I mean, it's hard to top this second song. I mean, it is when I first heard it. I loved how it faded in from the first track. And then he just starts saying this is what the fuck is Tiger the Lion? Track 1:[19:30] I don't. Track 2:[19:30] I'm just saying the first time I heard it, right. And I did my research on it, which I kind of regret. I gotta stop looking at lyrics. Once I stopped looking at lyrics, these songs really open up for me. Track 1:[19:41] You can't stop though. It's gorg, right? Like, you know? Track 2:[19:45] No, but he eventually started listening to them and internalizing them, which is better for me than reading them. Either way, this fucking song, it just opens up so messy and incoherent and I'm like, what the fuck? I mean, again, putting myself in the position of a hit fan when they hear this for the first time. They're like, is this gorgeous going off on his fucking, you know, he wrote some crazy poetry and he's just, you know, free-forming it right now. What's he doing? You know, but the The instrumentation on it, it's so well thought out. Track 4:[20:24] Right? It's... Track 2:[20:26] I love how, because for me as a musician, my writing style is pretty incoherent. A lot of people say, like, lyrics wise, my shit doesn't make sense, which is, you know, it's not like I'm going for it, but it's just, it is what it is. But the John Cage quote? Track 3:[20:45] Yeah. Track 2:[20:46] Oh, fuck. I mean, I'm a huge John Cage, but just all about who that guy was as an individual who brought his brain to art and music. There's a melodic drop down, the purpose is not unique. I just, I don't know, dude, I did a little bit of research on the meaning of the song about it being like a reference to fighter pilots. Did you get that too, Tim? Track 3:[21:21] Yep, yep, yep. Big time. There's been so many World War II references that I just, you know, I instantly went to that, which I have a emotional family connection to World War II, so that hits heavy for me. Track 2:[21:36] Two-way radio, yeah. But, uh, this, line... JD, I thought of you when I read this. But not to get order from chaos. Tell you how to create simply wait to your life like, like, there's, there, there is no order. Yeah, there's no other shoe that were, you know, and I don't know, dude, this fucking song is, I still can't fucking and unwrap it and make sense of it. It's just a fucking banger. Yeah. What a song. Living in the Music: Appreciating Art without Analyzing LyricsTrack 3:[22:15] I mean, Pete, as a, maybe you can clarify a little bit for me, as a songwriter, you, when this one came on and you listened through it and you say that you, sometimes you don't want to research lyrics just so you can live in it in your head as much as possible, right? Is that kind of your sentiment? Right? Track 2:[22:34] I mean, I think, I think the lyrics, Because I think that what you, for me, this is me personally, what I tend to do is, is rather than physically listen to the song, which is what the medium is meant to do for listening, I'm reading what I'm listening to. And so it starts to, I start to make judgment upon what I'm listening to based on what I'm reading. Which is never like there's so many weird fucking lyrics in this fucking record And I'm sure we can talk about it till the cows come home Yeah But it did me it did more damage for me in the beginning because it was like I'm not fucking getting this I'm not getting this and then I just was like, okay I put the lyrics down and then I just started to listen to it incessantly. Okay, this shit's fucking making sense. Okay. Got it and then not to Not to bury the lead, but I mean if you don't get the fucking Comfortably Numb, Rob Baker literally Channeling the fucking David Gilmour in this fucking song. I mean What do you I mean, what are we doing here? There's one drop where it doesn't it doesn't go down to the next chord that you just feel like it's like going to country, but it doesn't go there and it's just... [24:01] Yeah, his guitar tone, everything about it. He's using the Strat on this. [24:06] Fucking it's great song. Sorry. Yeah. Amazing song. Track 3:[24:10] For me to go from music at work to this was like, whoa, this is, you know, if this is second gear for taking off in the car, and it's like, what did our car just change into? Because the song is, Because the song is its own beast. Man, me and my dad jokes, dad puns, tiger, the lion. So I mean, this is the longest song on the album. It's 5 and 1 1⁄2 minutes. And I love songs that can hit 5, 6, 7 minute mark, and you don't even know they're that long. Track 1:[24:47] Yeah. Track 3:[24:48] Like sometimes you hear a song, and you're like, god damn, These guys just wanted this to be the longest song ever, and they succeeded. But this one, it's very, no, it doesn't feel that long. And I think, Pete, you touched on most of it. But the themes, I guess I should say, I don't read the lyrics or look into the lyrics until I've listened to one of these albums in great length or many times. So I try not to pay attention to the lyrics. If I'm listening to it in the car and I'm at a stop for too long, then I can actually hit the whatever on Spotify to make the lyrics pop up. I'll check it out for a minute. But I try to live in my head for as long as possible, I think, kind of like you, Pete, to just get deep into the song. [25:44] The John Cage references. I mean, there's so much in this song in both that theme and kind of World War II themes, but the kind of two big takeaways for me were this song is about challenging the listener and society and anyone to appreciate, like, nature, art in life, or just art, or like literature or whatever it might be. And if you live your life without recognizing any art form, then you're like a fucking robot, you know? That's kind of, that's what the song was about to me in that regard, the John Cage regard and all of that. The his radio goes silent, you know that like I imagined this as like World War two airplane Pilot, you know the his engines destroyed And he's just falling from the sky, you know, like and stops working. This is where my head my engine stops working You have this like last bit of life where you hear the wind the radio stops working You know, you're on your way down. That's kind of where I went with. Track 1:[27:03] Whoa, that's heavy, man. Introduction and Researching Band MembersTrack 3:[27:04] Yeah, that's kind of how it felt to me. Okay, so I did some research around who else is playing with this band. Because we've talked about, at least the past album, I've been talking about, you know, who's that on backup singing blah blah blah blah blah. Right. So with this, I guess I would have talked about this at the beginning, but with this song we have a guy named Chris Brown from Toronto on keys, right? So he toured, He recorded and toured with the band with this album. He came from a band or was in a band called, Bourbon Tabernacle Choir. Yep, you got it. And from the 80s and 90s, which I heard of that, man. Yeah, which I didn't know an ounce about until I kind of did this research. So finally, I was making some headway with this album to hear who else we have contributing, which is an obvious impact to me as a listener to hear kind of extra elements going on. But this song, man, it could be its own album. That's what I thought. Like this song, this song on a 7-inch on one side, like it's hand me that. I'll pay 20 bucks for it. Like let's go. It's fucking that good. Track 1:[28:30] Yeah, I agree. Track 3:[28:32] Lake Fever, the next one. This is where I was like, okay, maybe we're shifting gears into like this perfect love song or forlorn love or is this a song about loss or remembrance or you know what is this what is this going on there's amazing prose within this song like was the brief dude seriously i knew pete was just like i knew his heart was melting for this It was probably driving down, you know, here's Pete, everybody in Spain, in his awesome vehicle. I don't even know what it is, and I don't want to know until I visit him someday, so no spoilers, J.D. But here's Pete in his awesome vehicle driving down some coastal highway in fucking Spain. This is a dude from the LBC, right? And this song comes on, and there's tears coming from Pete's face on this beautiful sunny day. It's like, I, I, you know, I'm, I'm hearing this song during fucking physical therapy. Therapy just gone. [29:42] Is this a wedding song or is it a funeral song or do I want this at my wake or do I play this for Amy on her next anniversary? Like what the fuck is this emotional song going on in place three after my music at work and after Tiger the Lion we have this Lake Fever. It's like what the hell so yeah it was this you know this this is that third gear song where i'm like okay, let's see let's see where this is gonna go what's this about is it oh yeah okay maybe it is about the cholera outbreak in toronto in 1834 oh fuck god damn it okay that's what it's about guess i'm I'm not playing at my anniversary. No, not playing at next April 14th, honey. Track 1:[30:38] But it's more than that because the protagonist is regaling his potential lover with that story. Like the song isn't necessarily about like fever. It's like this couple are walking in the woods about to go, you know, have sex. And he's so nervous that he's trying to like, you know, talk to this girl and he's telling her, well, there was this time in Toronto that there was a sewer back up and cholera got in the way and it went all the way up to Ottawa and near Kingston and it was terrible, many people died and she's just like, hurry, just hurry. Just Coital Fury, you know, like, yeah, that wine, man. Track 2:[31:26] Fuck, it's good. Dude, you know, I tell you, it's it's funny because I think it's just the Canadian. I mean, last week, Tim and I both heard the rush in fireworks for last week's a record but you know I started to hear the first thing I heard and now I like don't hear it at all but the first thing I heard with this song was the percussion feeling very once again very Alanis, right wow but yeah put that all kind of behind it's kind of all in the past dude the glockenspiel which I think they're using and like the keyboard effect over when he says the the word courage is I'm just you're right Tim I'm driving down the fucking coast in the mountainous windy roads of Malaga Spain and just fucking crying with my wind blowing, my air blowing in the wind. Cigarette out the window, the arm just like, Oh, just fucking loving this. [32:42] We're going to get into it a little bit more, because I because there's a there's a couple of songs on this record. And I remember I don't know what record it was, oh, it was, was Troll Dan House that I referred to as the Tragically Hips Xerope. Track 1:[33:01] Yes. Track 3:[33:02] Right, right. Track 2:[33:05] But, do you know what this record is? Track 1:[33:07] Yeah. Track 2:[33:07] And it's funny because this record actually came out before the record I'm going to reference. And I'll tell you why. Track 1:[33:14] All right, hit me. Track 2:[33:15] This is fucking the Tragically Hips Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. All of the fucking instrumentation on it, all the pianos, the echoey pianos, a lot of the guitars. It's so fucking Wilco, man. And so I started thinking to myself, well, you know, what, what the fuck did, what, you know, what do we, well, I'll get into it, I'll get into the next one. Track 1:[33:44] We'll go. Give her. Track 2:[33:46] Yeah, we're going to put it down. So this song, there's a line in there saying the United States of ricochet. Something something happy in way. You know what I'm talking about, JD? Track 1:[34:02] I don't know the lyric offhand though, sorry. Track 2:[34:04] Great fucking line. And I'm getting very like, ashes of American flags like references to because I feel like I feel like Gord was really, um, getting, like, a lot of the shit that he focused on was the, God, the phrase, the term I'm trying to look for, like the plight of Canadians. Okay. Track 3:[34:30] I got it. I got it here if you want me to read it. Track 2:[34:33] Yeah, you want to read it, Tim? Track 3:[34:35] Yeah, it's just United States of Ricochet from the Boardwalk to the Appian Way, which I... From the Boardwalk to the Appian Way, yeah, that's what I'm looking for. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Track 2:[34:42] Diamond Files, Corporate Wraves, you know. So he's, I feel like up until this point, he's made a lot of references to not just the indigenous folks up north, in terms of, you know, what he's talked about, and what I know he's eventually going to talk more about. But I started to think like, God, what other band do I know that did that? And like, that's kind of where Wilco went, you know, they had Uncle Tupelo and then AM, which was their first record. And being there were kind of like a soft watered down version of, of that country vibe of Uncle Tupelo. And then when they hit Yankee Hotel, it was like, Whoa, what the fuck is this? This is not the same band. I remember hearing and I got the same vibe. And so I, anyway, I Googled and started doing a little research, come to find out. So I read Jeff Tweedie's. Memoir, which is a great book, you'll get through it in a day, man. It's called Let's Go So We Can Get Back. And he references them on tour with Tragically Hip during the Another Roadside Attraction tour. Track 1:[36:03] That's right. The third one. That's right. Yeah, yeah. Wilco's Similarities to Other Bands and Songwriting InfluencesTrack 2:[36:07] Yeah. And just this record came out a year before Yankee Hotel. So I don't know what if they were trading demos back and forth or they were playing music together on Tour and but fuck man. I mean so many similarities with this record and that record interest so many Do you feel you might catch my drift here? Track 3:[36:32] But do you feel like? When you hear other bands and are reminded of Wilco do you feel like Wilco has just borrowed so much from other bands or do you feel like I'm not gonna we're not going to turn this into a Wilco podcast by the way or do you feel like Wilco like really do you feel like Wilco just absolutely stand on their own as songwriters because I mean that's there that's like to me songwriting music you know what I mean yeah I know what you mean um it's a good question and I'll answer it as short as possible because I think This is something you could fucking have a garage with a, you know, half ounce and fucking go on forever. Track 2:[37:17] But I think Jeff Tweedy is an amazing songwriter, and he'd probably be the first one to admit that they've taken so much from other people. But I think that that band, especially when they went in, their record, two records after they did Yankee Hotel was a record called Sky Blue Sky. When they really got into that, they were just like... They were at the top of their fucking game. and they they they knew how to um, but it's It's hard to say man. I mean It's a great question tim because I you could say the same for Tragically him who are they both big time? Track 3:[38:05] Yeah, we've had so many references. Track 2:[38:07] I don't think I don't think rob baker would he be the last person to say he wasn't fucking fucking playing the exact notes that Gilmore played on fucking comfortably on that guitar solo or on Tiger the Lion. But it's not like you're saying, oh, you're stealing. It's like, it's an homage. It's also working it into a song that is not that song is, you know, you do it all. I've been writing a tune this week that is a is a indie rock tune adapted from the fucking Opening theme of the one of the Legend of Zelda songs. So cool. And am I stealing from Koji Kondo? Yes but It's in so I look at it more as an inspiration. Track 3:[38:54] Well, I mean they I mean all all artists, you know are inspired from every direction I just I don't I don't want to get into it too deep. Track 1:[39:01] I just went from no Writers I think good songwriters Make it almost Like a magician, you know, like a good songwriter. You don't see the sleight of hand. You don't see the Palming you don't see it like they're absolute pros and they stand on their own But of course you can't help but be affected by what you are exposed to and what you enjoy, you know You can't help it. Track 2:[39:34] Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and JD, you're right when you say that, because there was something that I put down, and I think I sent it to you, but I put this down about a month and a half ago, and there was a little guitar lick I put on there, and it was Nell. I recorded it with a fucking jazzmaster. It was Nell's Climb from fucking Wilco. And I was like, I was so worried that it was so obvious, and I played it for Issa, my wife, And I played it for you and I think I was like was it too much and like no it's just it was just right It was perfect. It was like kind of like a little but to me it was like My ears I literally stole the fucking Notes from him and like I took them and I said those are mine now. Thank you very much You know, but like it's it's not easy to do man. I don't know JD. Track 3:[40:25] Yes. I thought it I think they pulled it was just me JD that Pete Pete called up in the middle of my night and serenaded me with some guitar licks. Damn, I'm not feeling as special now. Track 2:[40:40] You'll get it Tim, you'll get it. Track 3:[40:42] Hey, I thought putting down... Track 1:[40:43] Putting down, yeah. Track 3:[40:45] Yeah, so putting down, I felt like, I mean Pete commented on the, you know, the references and stories of this great continent and what we did to the Indigenous folks that were already here and the land grabs and you know that's hitting hard with this one and I feel like with Gord's themes and songwriting and his connotations of it all, this is that song for the album, I thought it was like big and heavy. [41:22] I didn't really know what it was about my first handful of listens. I couldn't really peg it until I did a little bit deeper diving into it. But you know, it was my first few listens, it was kind of like a car ride sing-along song. I felt, you know, it just felt familiar. It felt hip. I didn't think like, this is the best song on the album, and I thought it held its place on the album for what it was. So that's kind of where it ended with me. Cool. The next one, Stay, on the other hand, I thought, man, this song, it's quiet, it's cute, it's cute. I hadn't had that feeling before. Is it a thank you? You know, the Bureau Chiefs and the Shrugging Spies, I thought this was at first when I first heard this? I thought this is hilarious. Without researching, I thought this was like a thank you or something to the band's road crew, because I heard beer and cheese and shrugging spies, not bureau chiefs. I mean, I was like, I was so incorrect with this song. You were a great crew. You were a great you. You know, what is the storyline here? Is it about going to war and relationships or what? What is going on here? Track 1:[42:48] Maybe a little of everything. Track 3:[42:49] Yeah, maybe, but one, you know, after I did, after the leak, Sit down and kind of research what it's about. Hopefully Pete you have some more music based Comments about it, but one person I need to shout out here. The the handle is The letter Y Salvatore, there was a song meanings.com. [43:15] Reference from 2005 so this this is amazing it said one theory is the song is about Fox Mulder from the X-Files lines like there's no one up above us and with the Bureau Chiefs and the shrugging spies on the X-Files series Mulder is often working against the establishment as a sentiment in this song you've got no business in here brother Mulder is obsessed Pete from I'll go with UFO so lines like you see a light and then another this this song maybe it's about UFOs maybe it's about aliens I don't know this this was like this was a total head-scratcher for me not to say that I didn't like it but it was like what is this song about it wasn't beer and cheese I don't know it's not it's funny that you say that because one of the lines already is this song makes me want to sit in a pub and drink beer with my buddy. I didn't say eat cheese, but like, that's the vibe I got. Appreciating the musicianship on this recordTrack 2:[44:21] I mean, it's, um, there's, there's, okay. I could say a lot. I really liked this song a lot. I loved it. It. The riffing that Gore does with the vocals. I think there's a bridge part of all things being balanced where John Fahy's drums... I feel like every musician on this record, on this record, really shines. Like everybody shines. Gord Sinclair, I feel like, has always been really top-notch. That guy is fucking flawless. He's so underrated. Extremely underrated. Uh, when it comes to, you know, I, I just because I'm, you know, playing wise, obviously Gordoni, I mean, there's nothing you can say about that, but playing wise, Paul Langlois, am I saying? Langlois. Track 1:[45:25] Langlois. Track 2:[45:27] Um, and Rob Baker. I've always kind of gone back. I'm starting to appreciate the differences between those guys because they're two Diametrically different guitar players. I mean so different and and That happened on this album. Track 3:[45:43] Don't you? Track 2:[45:43] Oh, yeah more so really noticeable and I went down a bit of a rabbit hole this week I'll try not to go as deep as I went, but I told JD I was watching some live stuff and looking at Rob Baker's set up. [46:05] Paul Ling Hua, he always plays that black Les Paul, but Rob Baker plays that Strat, which I fucking love. And he's got something called Lace Sensors pickups in it, which not to get too technical for the listeners. They were apparently these were like standard issue Fender pickups from 90 from 85 to like 96 and then they just became too expensive. But they're really cool. The only shitty part is they look horrible on a guitar. They don't look it doesn't make it look like a Strat anyway. But he also plays a Paul Reed Smith, which I absolutely hate those guitars because, and JD I told you this, they're the Carlos Santana guitar and when they first became like available to the public so to speak or like mainstream people were able to buy them. I remember walking into a guitar center in the 90s and seeing one up on the wall that was like, it was like $19,000 or $20,000 it was like ridiculous and just going, and now can buy a PRS for like $1,800, $2,000, but it just turned me off and I fucking hate it. And if I'm Rob Baker, if I'm Rob, if you're listening, just don't ever play the fucking PRS, man. Get rid of it. Ditch it. Rob Baker's guitar choices and preferences[47:30] The telly's cool, but that strat is where it's at, man. [47:35] He does play Tele, and there's one other one I can't remember, but there's a great website, and I sadly have been on it more times than I can count. Oh, and he plays an SG, and I play an SG too. The website's called Equipboard.com, and it's got, they can pretty much look at any like, musician that's like, you know, quote, unquote, made it, so to speak, and find their rig, and they have the references, like, not just like, they don't just tell you, but they go, this is why we know that this is they're playing and they have a link to like a concert video, or a picture of them pointing out the gear, which is fucking cool. Track 1:[48:24] It's really cool. Yeah. I love, neither of you guys mentioned it, but I love Gord's voice in this song. He's doing a different sort of thing with his voice. It's lower register, softer I suppose, right? Because it is a soft song. But it's down, it's, you know, sorry you can't see my hand, but it's down here, like belly button wise. Uh is really quite quite uh effective on this song i agree with that jd when are you gonna fix your your belly button cam you're gonna get that going next next pod what's that my belly button cam Yeah, that took me a minute to get. Sorry. All right, track number six. Track number 6 is The Bastard. Appreciating the Percussion and Lyrical InsanityTrack 2:[56:45] Wow. This song starts with the they're not bongos, but there's some sort of kind of cool percussion. Track 3:[56:54] They're there. Yeah, it's some kind of yeah, yeah, yeah. Track 2:[56:59] There's a lot. Track 3:[57:00] It's fun. I love when they bring those in. Track 2:[57:02] Yeah, it's really cool. This song lyrically is fucking insane. There's a word in there called crepuscular? Track 1:[57:16] Yeah, what is that? Like, what does that even mean? Track 2:[57:19] Yeah, it means, um, adjective of resembling or relating to twilight. Yeah, I mean, gnarly shit and- Oh, gourd. Track 1:[57:31] Oh, man. Track 3:[57:36] Crepuscular rays, as the sun groomed the plane with crepuscular rays. Track 2:[57:41] There's a line in there about the Purple Italians, like it's just... Track 3:[57:47] Yeah, what is that referencing? I meant to look that up. I meant to look that up more and did not. Track 2:[57:52] Some weird-ass lyrics. I noticed something too. I love the line, the presaging pel-nel. Yeah. Track 3:[58:03] Yeah, the pre-stage pel-nel. Track 1:[58:05] Pre-stage and pel-nel. Track 3:[58:06] Yeah, that was my favorite. Track 2:[58:09] It's um i noticed that in addition to to to um gordon sinclair being so in the fucking zone on this song like a like a like a hypnotized fucking i don't know dude he's just he's a fucking machine on this song song. He, I watched a little bit of the Woodstock, Woodstock live show 99. And in this song, during Grace 2, which is what they opened up with, Gord starts testing out some of these lyrics to this song during Grace 2. Bird's Eye View, right? Track 1:[58:54] He talks about a bird's eye view of a bird's eye view. Yeah, yeah. So cool that you got to see that. Track 2:[59:01] Finished watching the whole thing. Track 1:[59:02] And you recognize it. Track 2:[59:04] Go ahead. Frustration with lack of guitars in "Grace II"Track 1:[59:10] Yeah, I went down to Rabbit Hole the other day and was just watching a whole bunch. I started with that when I texted you guys and was like, yeah, I'm watching it. And for the beginning of Grace II, it's all drums and Gord's voice, which I don't mind, but I want to hear those guitars, you know? And then suddenly it kicks in. Track 3:[59:29] The purple people, the purple Italian people, I just found it was an Italian mass protest movement to call for the resignation of a prime minister, one of their prime ministers. I feel like, I don't know, there must have been an earlier historical use of this because this is actually from 2009. So yeah, I'm curious. Well, I forgot to tell you guys that Gord is actually reference a mystic he could see in the future yes I wouldn't be surprised yes guys if there's any more sorry there's any more insight on the purple people somebody somebody let us know Tim at getting hit So I got an email. Mention of an email received regarding the purple peopleTrack 1:[1:00:19] Yeah. Got to get our $80 worth. Track 3:[1:00:25] I loved the pre-staging Pell-Mel. There's been a handful. I wish I would have started a list of the gourdisms that would be so fun to learn and reference, because that was so good. When I first heard him sing that, it was like, you know. Track 1:[1:00:42] What is pell-mell? Track 3:[1:00:44] Well, it just means like, it just means like absurd craziness or warning, like presaging means like warning together. Well, pell-mell means confusion or disorder or like a confused haste. So it's, presaging is, you know, the warning of a disorderly moment or the warning of something about to go down. That's kind of what I took. Track 1:[1:01:16] That's dire, I love it. Track 3:[1:01:19] Pre-saging, yeah, it's good. I mean, it's a loaded three words, basically. I think Pete hit on a lot of it, but this song to me kind of got us back in the car and down the road again. It was like driving, rocking, feeling, which I totally dug. The reference of all of this auger as well, you know, auger meaning like a fucking coring, drilling, coring into something and it's just this good rocking song. Track 1:[1:01:55] It's different though. Auger spelled one way is coring, but there's another, like to auger is to portend a good or bad outcome. Track 3:[1:02:08] Okay. Track 1:[1:02:11] So it's like, to pretend. Yeah. And I believe that's what it, like, it's all this auger's well, like, but, right, like, auger a well could mean digging a hole. But auger's well means pretending to, portending to good things are going to happen. Track 3:[1:02:37] Okay, okay. I just thought there were some beautiful lyrics in here. Also, I mean, all this augurs well or yeah, it's the The stanza never mind that pool in the mountains victory came and went on winged elephants I saw you all this augurs. Well, like you know, what? What is what is going on there? But it I thought it was likely this loaded very story specific Specific song without researching it, you know, I heard the lyrics Billy Sunday shout in Philadelphia for Christ Like who really is this song about did you look up Billy Sunday? Track 1:[1:03:15] Yeah. Track 3:[1:03:16] Yeah. I loved I loved reading about that This is like one of those that is one of those songs easy, right? Yeah, you barely you barely touch into on the research side and Realize that you know Billy Sunday was baseball player. Track 1:[1:03:33] I want to say a pitcher from like 1891. Track 3:[1:03:36] Yeah, he was this total this this I guess amazing pitcher And he played for chicago and boston and philly and which During those times you played for a team like your whole career, you know, you stayed in the city You you you became a presence with the team and the community and all that stuff if you did but this this this fellow William Ashley or Billy Sunday Sunday was his family name he he was like a total drunk ladies man and he moved from team to team to team and I think this from what I read the cops and the ladies got to know him really well And then after playing in Philly, he was witnessed to on the street and ultimately became a traveling preacher. [1:04:32] He went from standout pitcher to traveling preacher. And while he was preaching, teams even were soliciting him to come back and pitch. And during those days, if you made like 400 bucks a month playing professional baseball, that was like, a great salary. Yeah, I'm sure. And at one point, I read the Pittsburgh Pirates offered him $2,000 a month, and he still declined, and he still continued to be a traveling preacher. And his kind of schtick was talking about like the sex and alcohol lifestyle, from what I gathered, a lot about alcohol. And it was so much that when towns heard he was coming, they would just close up the bars until he went out. Literally, because he was so like, you know, he was his own prohibitionist. So it's all the personality. Track 2:[1:05:37] Yeah Thinking of that was the runner then I Don't know Like losses lay or some Forrest Gump. Track 1:[1:05:45] No. Track 2:[1:05:45] No, this is a reference from the hip Oh Terry Fox Harry Fox. Track 1:[1:05:50] Very fine. Yeah no he's a guy that ran across canada or something and he got close but he died he ran a marathon everyday he ran a marathon everyday on one leg yeah. Oh okay yeah cuz he and he was he was like. He was twenty one years old and he got cancer they removed his leg and he decided he was gonna run across canada and he started on the east coast he passed away thunder bay so he passed away about one third of the way through. Track 3:[1:06:21] Wow. Track 1:[1:06:22] Oh, it's fucking still, man. That's crazy. But it's like, every day his stump was like, like, euchred because he was wearing one of the, like, now, probably, somebody could do it on one of those, like, one of those spring legs, you know? Track 3:[1:06:37] Yeah, yeah. Track 1:[1:06:38] Yeah, but back in the day, he had, like, just an old school prosthetic leg, and it was crazy. Yeah. Track 3:[1:06:45] Pete, on this one, did you feel like, Did you ever get an inkling like, uh, perhaps this one was music first lyric second, or did you pick up at all on like the kind of background guitar riffing that was kind of over here? And yeah, it was like, I don't know, it sounded a little after thought ish, that guitar riffing, just kind of carrying you through it all worked. But this one, this one, I think compositionally. You know, song, story, Billy Sunday reference aside, which is amazing to dive into and learn about. I mean, I almost want to paint Billy Sunday or something with like on the pulpit with a baseball bat. That's cool. A fifth of whiskey in the other hand or something. But anyways, I felt like compositionally, the song writing-wise fits in the album. It just It just kind of fits in there, but also like, eh. Track 1:[1:07:46] You weren't big on it. Track 3:[1:07:49] No, it didn't grab me. It was like, OK, let's get back in the car. We're back on the road. Let's get through the song. It's rocking. Yeah, let's see what's next. Track 2:[1:07:56] I think at first it was like that, but then the song really like, because instrumentally, it's so fucking rich. Yeah, but like Gord, dude, again, Gord could match, pick the most complex composition that any composers have ever written. And I'm sure there is some fucking book that Gord Downie wrote lyrics in, somewhere floating around or shoved in his fucking basement, that lyrics. Track 3:[1:08:29] I would hope there's like, yeah, like 200. Track 2:[1:08:32] Yeah, he could fit to that. I mean, they probably just, yeah. So I feel you. I feel you. I feel you. Yeah. Track 1:[1:08:40] So let's move into track number seven, The Completist. Track 2:[1:08:44] I don't have a ton to say about this. I would say I really love this song. Again, this is a fade in from the previous track. Gord Sinclair again. fucking standout performance on this song. The percussive chops of the band at this point in the record. I mean, there are other songs that come up that you're just like, what the fuck? But they're not a bar band anymore. I mean, I know they still, but I still think like, I don't know if it was Phantom Power before, a record or two before, you see that kind of bar band thing still rearing its head a little bit, Like, this is just so far from that. These guys are fucking, they've really become superb musicians from the EP to now. Like, they've honed their fucking craft. And then the... Musicians' dedication to improvementTrack 1:[1:09:51] Road tested. Track 2:[1:09:52] Yeah, I mean, it's the road, it's the recording, it's the composition. But it's clear that like, every single musician in this band is like, I want to become better at my instrument. And I'm going to do this. It wasn't just like they just played a bunch, kept doing it, like, they clearly actively tried to become better musicians, as they were continuing. Like, I would put that to any of these fucking guys, if they're standing in front of me, and tell me, like, tell me I'm lying. Like, tell me I'm full of shit. And they would say no. Like, Whether it's, I mean, fucking Kirk Hammett for fuck's sake was taking lessons from Steve Vai when he was already in Metallica. Like, what does that tell you? You know, like, musicians want to become better and they, these guys clearly. The only thing I was gonna say was the woman singing, I thought it was Kate Fenner from before, but it's not, right? Track 1:[1:10:52] I don't know, I thought it was Kate Fenner. Track 2:[1:10:54] Apparently it's, um, Julie. Do I run Dorian, Julie Dorian, Dorian. Track 1:[1:11:02] Oh, Julie Dorian. Track 2:[1:11:03] Okay. Track 1:[1:11:03] Yeah, yeah, yeah. That makes sense. Track 2:[1:11:05] But I, and this is just, you know, I want to say this earlier, Tim, but I want to say that I did do a little research on Kate Fenner and her, um, her label that she's signed to is called UFO music. So that's awesome. Track 1:[1:11:19] Oh, you must love that. Track 2:[1:11:20] I do. Track 3:[1:11:22] You just stole my thunder for Toronto 4. We'll get there. Track 2:[1:11:28] I thought the lyrics in the song were beautiful. It was fucking, the beautiful fucking lyrics. Amazingly beautiful. Track 1:[1:11:35] Yeah. Yeah. Track 3:[1:11:37] Well, I'll have to look into Julie Dorian. I had not found her. And we'll get to it, but we haven't talked much about Kate Fenner, nor who we mentioned earlier. Chris Brown. The fellow on keys, Chris Brown. Yeah, yeah, yeah. For me, this song to complete us, I felt like it was like at first it was kind of, OK, we're already back to a slowdown. Like, it felt a little bit of a chug placement-wise in the album, it's a beautiful song. You know, I just didn't, it kind of left me hanging a little bit. Like, it didn't grab me and shake me around or rattle me around or anything like that. It felt like it could have been an ender. Like, it felt like, is this the end of the album? I mean, this could be the end of an album, so that's good. Track 1:[1:12:29] Well, it's the end of side one, if you're thinking. Oh, maybe. LPs. Track 3:[1:12:36] Yeah, yeah, okay, okay. Track 1:[1:12:37] And that would make sense with our next song too, Freak Turbulence, opening side two with a banger, right? Track 3:[1:12:44] Yeah, big time. I mean, this is like we're alive again. We're back in the driver's seat or the passenger's seat. Like we have this backup singing again. I think this was Kate Fenner at this time. I'm not sure. Between the two. I don't know enough of Julie's voice to distinguish between the two. Track 1:[1:13:06] There are definitely people out there that will tell us for sure. Track 3:[1:13:10] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I'm gonna look it up because I think I got Kate Fenner down. I mean, yes, yeah, yeah. So back to the song though, there's a comedy factor here, am I wrong? Like, this is so much about Gord being afraid to fly or not liking flying or, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah, there's all this talk about. I don't know, it feels lighter and more fun than usual. Track 1:[1:13:39] Like, did the captain just say this? Like, did the captain just say, like? Track 3:[1:13:45] Well, we'll land in less than 10 minutes. Or he says, or unless. Did he say unless or less? Yeah, he's afraid. You know, I think this is the song that guys. Were had to fly back to Canada from the US because originally this album Was to be recorded on a moving locomotive train. Track 1:[1:14:11] They talked about doing that. Yes I don't know how that would have ever happened. Track 3:[1:14:15] No shit. What a fucking cool idea I mean imagine that Pete moving locomotive with all the sounds and shakes and rattles I mean maybe maybe for a song but a whole album yeah with some serious that was some serious weed smoking yeah I'm up with that idea you know we should do guys we should fly back down to Memphis take the train take the train to LA and record the home anyways this this is a this was kind of a fun song it was a little more jovial I dug it there's a There's a weird, PeepeePie caught this, there's some weird guitar feedback, like the last 10 seconds or so, which made the song feel kind of ominous, or maybe the Freak Turbulence was like the plane going down, I don't know. It was funny in that regard, it was like a total head-scratcher, but this one I kind of dug. Track 2:[1:15:15] Oh, I dug this one, man, there's a line in there that really stuck with me, it's Satan Holding back hands, our nose and our chin. Track 3:[1:15:22] Yeah, yeah. Track 2:[1:15:24] I love that. There's a really, I think, the mix, there was a lot of moments where I wrote down, this is probably the first time I've said it, but it's written on a ton of songs, the mix on this song, how they mix this song with the instruments, like the levels of all the instruments, it's just so, it really, you know, it makes the fucking song. It makes this song so fucking cool the vocals build, Yeah, I really, you know, I'll rather than to, I'll save my, you know, I'll yield my time only because I have some, some hefty shit to say about some stuff coming up. But I, this song made me run, like when this song came on and I was going on some runs, I definitely put it into a higher gear with this song. I loved it. I loved it. Yeah. Track 3:[1:16:20] Yeah. Yeah. Especially after the completed, you know, transitioning into this one. It's like, yes, OK, here we go again. This is definitely the if it's side two, it definitely is the the side one. Get us going again. "Sharks" - a monotonous but intriguing song[1:16:36] Sharks, can I go? Sharks. Yeah. This one kind of lazes along for me. It's got a few interesting bridges, but it's kind of monotonous, but not not. I'm not saying that in a negative way. It's almost like, it's almost got this head down, shoegazy kind of feel, you know? Then at the three minute mark, there's this like heavy tom kind of bass kind of transition in there. It's the bass guitar is like kind of all over the neck for just a brief second, but you know, it's one of, the, this song is, it has what I enjoyed because they they're starting to do this more because they're all just accelerating as musicians is that it has like well over a minute of music the last portion of it is just like great music carrying you through rather than singing until like the last seconds or giving like seven seconds at the end or what have you so it's. [1:17:42] It was kind of a fun song in that way. It just felt different than the rest, but also worked, you know, positively. Track 2:[1:17:52] I love, this is another fade in from the previous track, which I love, that they're doing that, making it very concept-y. I love the line in there about the Mariana's Trench. That's just fucking cool. It's such a, it's always been a fascination of mine, probably since I saw fucking, what was the name of that movie? Was that Harris? I don't know. I thought it was a James Cameron movie for Christ's sake, it was huge. The Abyss. The Abyss. Oh, The Abyss. The Abyss was in Maria's Trench. Track 1:[1:18:29] Right, right, right, right. Track 2:[1:18:32] But yeah, I mean, the big standout for me here is Rob Baker's guitar is just fucking insanity. He does these really cool arpeggios in the song. And the coolest thing for me was, I was like, what's that fucking effect on this guitar? And I was like, I wrote this down early on, I was like, he's got a, like a delay on the guitar, but not a delay. So it's going bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. It's so, the delay time is so small that you can't really hear it like a repetitive delay. It's just, when you put it down almost to zero, it just has this cool, and then I look on no shit by the time I found that website and he's got a Line 6 DL4 delay pedal that no doubt he was using on this fucking song. It just made me feel cool because I was like, my ears still work after all these years. But I fucking love it. If I didn't, I didn't think there was a song that could rival Tiger the Lion and I still don't think it beats it but it's pretty up there and that's fucking Toronto 4. An analysis of the opening guitar arpeggiosTrack 1:[1:26:42] Talk to me. Talk to me. Track 2:[1:26:44] I mean, the way it opens with the, like, the record static. Yep. Again, Rob Baker's doing these weird arpeggios, like he, like, it's kind of like a falling guitar, like he goes from a, like a, it's a D chord or whatever the hell, the octave, than the chord, then the seventh, then the diminished. Makes it feel really sad. It's just, or like, kind of sad and mysterious, and it's floating. It's like all the echo-y shit that there's, I don't know if it's Kate Fenner on this. It is. It is? Okay. Track 3:[1:27:26] Yeah. Track 2:[1:27:27] Yeah. The way that the, I don't know if it's like he's using mallets or what, but Johnny Fay is like coming in with the cymbals with these really soft mallets that like kind of give it like a gong sound to make it really super dramatic but the songs it's fucking awesome I mean I was like what it was weird because this was a song that early on I would get through the first nine tracks because I was doing like shorter runs when I would take it out and I didn't get to like Toronto for and then the first time I heard it I was like what in the fuck the surf tone on guitar is just... It's a cool jam dude. It's cool as fuck. A lot of Pink Floyd, I feel, influence on there. Track 3:[1:28:18] I agree with all that. I felt like the percussions on this, the drums on this one, had sort of this metronome, just more of a... I don't know. Track 2:[1:28:28] You do the panning on the left to right? Track 3:[1:28:31] Yeah, like the pace of the percussion really, to me, held the song like all the way through and was perfect. I mean, I often hone in on drum stuff like you do guitar and I felt like that was just, I don't know, this song is, it starts slow, it's emotional, it kind of feels like apologetic you know also feels like i don't know familiar maybe it's like the mention of Vesuvius as a metaphor for like family and stresses and breakups and i don't know the The song was just, it's pretty jam packed. I didn't. Look big into the background on lyrics or story or any of that, you know, I just questioned, which I said to JD like a week ago, I was like, why the hell Toronto four? Are there three other Toronto songs? Or what is what is that about? Track 1:[1:29:29] So if anybody knows, my only guess is, like my, as far as just guesswork, is might be, it might have been the fourth run, you know, it might have been the fourth take, like it's Sometimes you use the studio parlance to come up with the title of a song that you can't quite name. Track 3:[1:29:49] Yeah. Track 1:[1:29:50] Well, this is a great, it's a great song, and you're right, you nailed it on the head when you talk about family. Yeah, yeah. It's definitely familial. It's, you know, it's about the matriarch of his family, his grandmother, holding things up. And that what are the first the first lyrics are? Absolutely. They slay me and I can't recall them at the moment. Track 3:[1:30:17] You know, you were the rock plug for us all. Did you know you were the conduit of Vesuvius? You were far more unifying than, you know, I'm not a judge of suitable, but you almost had it all. I mean, if that's about his grandma being the what a tribute, the rock plug for their family. I mean rock plug is definitely a volcanic reference of you know a rock holding the mountain together before the magma just blows it apart so it's right fucking cool pretty pretty yeah I mean it's this this one maybe has the simplest lyrics that we've seen in a while. [1:30:59] It's it's a beautiful song. So Kate Fenner on this one just to touch on her because I Think we've heard her before although. I only found that she To recorded and toured for this album, but man, she's she's got this How do you describe her voice? I think it's just gorgeous. I think it's yeah, it's It's just, it's, it's, it's lovely. I, she, she, somebody described her as less, a lusty alternative to a Joni Mitchell ish sound. Like all of that is, is true. So she's got her own solo stuff. She's got, as Pete mentioned, UFO Records is her label. She's got this new album out that I touched on briefly over the weekend. It's it's pretty she's got a beautiful voice like if she ever tours and we get a chance to just Go and any of us hear her perform. I'm sure it would be worth it. She's got a dreamy voice So yeah, great great addition to me, too I don't know if you saw this tour JD, but what she did she yeah, do you recall her on stage or yeah? Track 1:[1:32:09] Because it was it was strange because both Chris Brown and her were on stage with them the whole time and that was It was just it was sort of a strange look because up until that point It had been the five of the month's age. Track 3:[1:32:20] Mm-hmm. Track 1:[1:32:20] That was it. And so this you know, it changed the dynamic for sure and I'll be the first to tell you that when this record dropped I Liked it But I didn't love it. But now 20 years later. Yeah, I fucking love this record Yeah, I can listen to this record at any time like yeah, yeah top to bottom. Okay, okay, Now let's go toward the bottom and talk about Wild Mountain Honey, dude. Track 3:[1:32:52] I love this one. So I'm taking I'm taking on this one. Mr Okay, you can you can fill in do it Yeah, like this this to me I heard Pink Floyd I heard Jerry Garcia of guitar effects Like I I heard like fish. I don't know like this song to me. They even the the title is is different, like this one was just a little bit different there. You know, it's the drums are soft, but they can sound kind of angry. This is one of the songs on the album, you know, the first time listening it through. Or I thought, OK, I need to find this one live and check it out because I'm sure it gets played harder and louder, maybe faster. [1:33:43] There's just really good chord changing and bridges and guitar riffs and it feels a little bit patched or contrived at the end you know I was hoping for like a big finish the first time I heard this one because it really grabbed me it made it just this to me was like hip fans who have seen the band play live a a bunch. Probably love this one live. You know, this one just, it hit some marks for me with going, with going after, like, followers of other bands who I knew probably in the same summer saw Grateful Dead play it or saw Phish play and saw the Tragically Hit play. Like a lot of, you know, A lot of times when I experience bands playing live over the course of a summer, it kind of, you know, dictates that summer. Like, you think back to that summer and you're like, oh, that's when I went to X Festival or that's when I saw 8Bandplay a couple times. The Papa Roach show. Yeah, like that's, yeah, definitely the Papa Roach show. But no, this one was, This kind of centered me back into the seat of the Tragically Hip. I really dug it. I ended up listening to it a handful of times by itself. Track 1:[1:35:08] Oh wow! Cool. Track 3:[1:35:11] Probably not a single though, right? Track 1:[1:35:13] Not a single, nope. Track 3:[1:35:14] Yeah, every once in a while they have a song that's not a single that's a little bit off character that I dig and this is one of those. Rhythms and Unique Drum Hits in "Wild Mountain Honey"Track 2:[1:35:23] I thought that I mean the song it's funny ironically it starts out like wild mountain honey it begins like the name does Soft like wild mountain honey, and it creeps up on you like a whiskey, and it fucking destroys. Yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, I think It's funny because I remember looking for the lyrics online and realized there's a Steve Miller song called why I'm not many as well But when I saw the title of this, I thought of the Peach Boys song, Wild Honey, which neither of those examples are even close to this song. But what I got from it was, I fucking love the rhythms in this fucking, the drums in the rhythms. The drum hits in this fucking song are so cool and they're so unique and they don't sound like another band. Like there's some songs that, like I mentioned, some Wilco stuff earlier, there's other songs from other hip records where it's like they're doing a drum hit or a drum fill and you're like, yeah, that's the same drum fill that this band did on this song and that's been, this is completely fucking different. And it's so fucking cool. So unique, the rhythms in the song. [1:36:43] There's a weird keyboard or flute effect in the background going down, it was really faint and hard to pick up. I'm pretty sure it was a keyboard, but it could have been some sort of setting, but I love the line, I don't want to put another thought in my head, I just thought that was so fucking cool towards the end. And then the song, the solo starts before, but the part at about 3 minutes 30 seconds of the guitar soloer. Just, I don't know, dude. I hope I run into him. Track 3:[1:37:18] That carries it to the end, right? Track 2:[1:37:22] It does. Yeah. I want to run into Rob Baker at a 7-Eleven or something. Him buying a Slurpee and me already up front and being like, hey, man, let me get this guy's Slurpee and I'll pay for it or something. Just be like, alright, man. Track 1:[1:37:41] What a gentleman you are. Track 2:[1:37:42] I want to be that guy. It's weir
TranscriptTrack 1:[0:00] Welcome to getting hip to the hip. I'm JD. I'm here as always with Pete and. [0:06] Tim How are you fellas doing this fine day? Track 3:[0:10] Doing great doing great Just getting it going and excited to be here and see a couple of my favorite dudes over the interwebs. Track 2:[0:19] I Am doing supercalifragilisticexpialidocious to fucking discuss this fucking record Oh, wow. Track 3:[0:27] Oh, boy. Track 2:[0:28] Oh, boy. Track 3:[0:29] So... Fasten your seatbelts, folks. Track 1:[0:31] Fasten your seatbelts, folks. Track 2:[0:32] What does that mean? Spoons, plural. Spoons full of sugar. Not just fucking... Not just one. Track 1:[0:39] The Disney references are just rolling out. Track 3:[0:41] Jeez. Track 1:[0:44] Well, we're here today to talk about the 2000 release, June 2000, the seventh studio record by seminal Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip. Music at work. Before we go into our vaunted segment of song by song, let's just get a general sense of what you guys thought of this record. Where you listened to it, what you were exposed to, how it formed over time. What do you think there, Pete? Track 2:[1:21] I'll be brief, because I want to really dive into the songs, too, but I will say, I listened to this record at work. Well, I was at my computer. Come on, Tim, did you want that one? Were you waiting to use that one? Track 3:[1:42] No, it was your turn. It was your turn. A lot of listeners right now are like, oh my god, we're out of here. Track 2:[1:52] Listen to it in the car. The sound system in the car made it really pop. But I will say, probably the best place to listen to it was on runs. It was just... I love the record. I really, really enjoyed this record profusely. So I'll say that. I'll leave it there. All right. Track 1:[2:21] Mr. Leiden. Track 3:[2:22] Yeah, so I listened to this. I had a bunch of headphone-based physical therapy the past week, and I pretty much had it on for all of that, which was very much focused movement and definitely could consider audio. And it was it was pretty good. It took me back to, I think, mostly to Live Between Us, like if we're gonna go apples to apples or apples and oranges throughout their discography thus far, for many reasons. And there's some songs on here I really like a lot. There's a couple that I thought were pretty different, like definitely a step out than past albums. And yeah, at one point I thought this might be my favorite so far in our work to get to this point. I thought this might be one of my favorite albums so far, but I'm still questioning it. I'm still thinking that there might be another one out there in the future that I just I Give you know nine point five two or whatever. Album Rating and Discussion on Critics' OpinionsTrack 1:[3:35] It might be Gotcha Yeah, this was rated relatively low by all music and what? Track 3:[3:43] Big fucking surprise They're like the professor that doesn't give a is you know, yeah, yeah negative five out of five I I have a little bit of a vibe with that, but I understand sometimes there's a great piece of work out there that still doesn't get the accolades it deserves, and that happens so often. Track 1:[4:06] Yeah. Well, shall we get into it? Track 3:[4:10] Yeah. Track 2:[4:12] What did they give it, by the way, J.D.? I'm curious. Track 1:[4:14] Three out of five. Track 3:[4:15] Three, right? Three out of five. So just some quick research on the title that I found of the album, Music at Work. So from what I read, it's poking fun at a rock station in Canada, 100.5 FM. Yeah. E-Zed Rock or Easy Rock, whichever. Track 4:[4:38] You went with Zed first. You're so Canadian. Oh my God. So Canadian. Track 3:[4:45] Music at Work was their tagline, you know. It was like, imagine this kind of 80s looking logo in essence like a corporatized Van Halen Firebird Camaro looking Easy Rock 100.5 FM and underneath at music at work. That makes sense. But I thought maybe, yeah, I thought maybe the hip tagging, you know, taking this tagline was perhaps their, I guess, you know, maybe even, I think it was their stab at back at clear channel. I thought like Like, these guys, yeah, yeah, yeah, I thought these guys are still talking. Track 2:[5:36] Was that a Clear Channel station? Track 3:[5:38] Rock and roll. Track 2:[5:39] I'm sure they were. Track 3:[5:40] Dude. Track 1:[5:41] It's a heavy format. Track 3:[5:42] I didn't look it up, but if you look at everything about it, I'm sure it is. Track 2:[5:48] And at that time, dude, nowadays it's like, it's not even a competition. Like Clear Channel owns the Airwaves, but I remember at that time it was like, you were We were starting to realize that every station was a clear channel station. Track 1:[6:02] Yeah. Yeah. Track 3:[6:04] Yeah. So, that was kind of some brief history on the album title. The first song, you know, title track, album name. The First Single from the RecordTrack 1:[6:40] You I think it's a, little bit of a, a That chives. Yeah, it was the first single from the record too. So okay. Yeah, it dropped a couple weeks before the record came out. Track 2:[7:33] Well, not to correct Tim, but I'm going to do it. Do it. It is not the title track. Ah, yes. The name of the track is actually my music at work. Yeah, interesting. And I didn't... No, no, no. Track 3:[7:54] I was really close, man. Track 2:[7:56] You were close, too. Track 3:[7:58] You know, okay. The influence of the... The Groove and Tightness of the New RecordTrack 2:[8:07] I mean, if I picture myself as I have now, listen, have listened to the previous hip records, anticipating this new record coming out, hearing this first track on this new record and just like putting it on volume up, start my car, light my cigarette, open my Red Bull, whatever the fuck I was doing in the year 2000. And just fucking wow. I mean, they must have just been like, fuck yes. I mean, this song, it was, I wrote this down. This is one of the things I wrote down in the notes. The song was born in the pocket. Like when you talk about when you're in the pocket, musically, I think we all know what that means. I'm sure most of the listeners know what it means. But it's just, it's in the pocket. It's just the groove, the rhythm, the fucking instruments, everything is just fucking tight and it fits, gourd sounds fucking great. It's a great build after the La La La with the soft guitar. Oh God, I've got to eventually get there. Track 3:[9:29] I'll just quickly add in there the La La La. Track 2:[9:30] Johnny Cain? Track 3:[9:31] Okay, go, go, go. Track 2:[9:32] Go ahead. No, no. You go ahead. Track 3:[9:35] I was going to fill in for you. The La La La part for this one, I mean that was new. We haven't had La La La's yet in soft. No, not really. Right. Track 2:[9:42] No, no, yeah But but Johnny Johnny Faye. Yeah drummer. Yeah Really just fucking builds it into where the song you know starts to go at that point and then there's a There's a Lord of the Rings reference in there. I think I feel like it is I took it as what cuz he says middle of the earth. Ah Which I'm always My record store that I grew up going to in down in California, now out of business, was called Middle Earth. And it was a fucking great record store. This is the type of record store where dollars to fucking donuts, man. If you were there in the 90s, they were like, if you went up to the front and asked this guy Larry for a recommendation, he would have fucking slipped you a hip record. Hands down. I was just too scared to fucking go up to Larry cause he was cool. Larry had a picture of David Bowie where David Bowie was smiling, not Larry. Track 1:[10:47] Wow. Track 2:[10:48] Like that goes to show you how cool fucking Larry was. Track 3:[10:51] You know what? I can't tell you how many. Stories I've heard about like interviews with artists who had that record store They went to growing up and how walking up to the clerk whoever was working was like the most intimidating thing Like you like you like so many artists would walk I've read it about it so many times Walking a record store with like kind of tail between your legs and you're afraid to purchase what you've picked For being ridiculed or anything, right? It's just it was like the most I mean think about it back You know in the 80s or 70s or 90s like going to Tower Records or wherever you go and grabbing that Item and walking up to this like hipper than thou person Clerk and trying to make over just yeah Yeah, this was before that it was common where people had like, you know Sleeves of tattoos and like ear and nose piercings like you saw somebody up there at the front with a fucking a bar through the nose a two sleeves of tattoos, and green hair. Track 2:[11:56] Everybody's got fucking green hair nowadays, right? And you're just like. Track 1:[12:00] Makes me sick. Track 2:[12:01] No, but you know what I'm saying? Like, you know, my nephew's got green hair for crying out loud. But like, I don't give a shit, you know, I'm telling my nephew what I'm listening to, but if, you know, back in the 90s, I walked up to the counter and saw somebody like that, that I was like dude I am not bringing up anything that's on the radio right yeah that's so cool that's so cool that you had this this tragically hip frame of reference from back in the record store days I mean I completely don't have that I had a bumper sticker in college you know of my apartment complex neighbor so. The Second Song: Messy and IncoherentTrack 3:[19:00] Yeah. Track 2:[19:00] Do you want to? I don't know. I mean, I'm ready to fucking blow up in there. You know what I'm saying? Okay. The fucking the second song. I mean, it's hard to top this second song. I mean, it is when I first heard it. I loved how it faded in from the first track. And then he just starts saying this is what the fuck is Tiger the Lion? Track 1:[19:30] I don't. Track 2:[19:30] I'm just saying the first time I heard it, right. And I did my research on it, which I kind of regret. I gotta stop looking at lyrics. Once I stopped looking at lyrics, these songs really open up for me. Track 1:[19:41] You can't stop though. It's gorg, right? Like, you know? Track 2:[19:45] No, but he eventually started listening to them and internalizing them, which is better for me than reading them. Either way, this fucking song, it just opens up so messy and incoherent and I'm like, what the fuck? I mean, again, putting myself in the position of a hit fan when they hear this for the first time. They're like, is this gorgeous going off on his fucking, you know, he wrote some crazy poetry and he's just, you know, free-forming it right now. What's he doing? You know, but the The instrumentation on it, it's so well thought out. Track 4:[20:24] Right? It's... Track 2:[20:26] I love how, because for me as a musician, my writing style is pretty incoherent. A lot of people say, like, lyrics wise, my shit doesn't make sense, which is, you know, it's not like I'm going for it, but it's just, it is what it is. But the John Cage quote? Track 3:[20:45] Yeah. Track 2:[20:46] Oh, fuck. I mean, I'm a huge John Cage, but just all about who that guy was as an individual who brought his brain to art and music. There's a melodic drop down, the purpose is not unique. I just, I don't know, dude, I did a little bit of research on the meaning of the song about it being like a reference to fighter pilots. Did you get that too, Tim? Track 3:[21:21] Yep, yep, yep. Big time. There's been so many World War II references that I just, you know, I instantly went to that, which I have a emotional family connection to World War II, so that hits heavy for me. Track 2:[21:36] Two-way radio, yeah. But, uh, this, line... JD, I thought of you when I read this. But not to get order from chaos. Tell you how to create simply wait to your life like, like, there's, there, there is no order. Yeah, there's no other shoe that were, you know, and I don't know, dude, this fucking song is, I still can't fucking and unwrap it and make sense of it. It's just a fucking banger. Yeah. What a song. Living in the Music: Appreciating Art without Analyzing LyricsTrack 3:[22:15] I mean, Pete, as a, maybe you can clarify a little bit for me, as a songwriter, you, when this one came on and you listened through it and you say that you, sometimes you don't want to research lyrics just so you can live in it in your head as much as possible, right? Is that kind of your sentiment? Right? Track 2:[22:34] I mean, I think, I think the lyrics, Because I think that what you, for me, this is me personally, what I tend to do is, is rather than physically listen to the song, which is what the medium is meant to do for listening, I'm reading what I'm listening to. And so it starts to, I start to make judgment upon what I'm listening to based on what I'm reading. Which is never like there's so many weird fucking lyrics in this fucking record And I'm sure we can talk about it till the cows come home Yeah But it did me it did more damage for me in the beginning because it was like I'm not fucking getting this I'm not getting this and then I just was like, okay I put the lyrics down and then I just started to listen to it incessantly. Okay, this shit's fucking making sense. Okay. Got it and then not to Not to bury the lead, but I mean if you don't get the fucking Comfortably Numb, Rob Baker literally Channeling the fucking David Gilmour in this fucking song. I mean What do you I mean, what are we doing here? There's one drop where it doesn't it doesn't go down to the next chord that you just feel like it's like going to country, but it doesn't go there and it's just... [24:01] Yeah, his guitar tone, everything about it. He's using the Strat on this. [24:06] Fucking it's great song. Sorry. Yeah. Amazing song. Track 3:[24:10] For me to go from music at work to this was like, whoa, this is, you know, if this is second gear for taking off in the car, and it's like, what did our car just change into? Because the song is, Because the song is its own beast. Man, me and my dad jokes, dad puns, tiger, the lion. So I mean, this is the longest song on the album. It's 5 and 1 1⁄2 minutes. And I love songs that can hit 5, 6, 7 minute mark, and you don't even know they're that long. Track 1:[24:47] Yeah. Track 3:[24:48] Like sometimes you hear a song, and you're like, god damn, These guys just wanted this to be the longest song ever, and they succeeded. But this one, it's very, no, it doesn't feel that long. And I think, Pete, you touched on most of it. But the themes, I guess I should say, I don't read the lyrics or look into the lyrics until I've listened to one of these albums in great length or many times. So I try not to pay attention to the lyrics. If I'm listening to it in the car and I'm at a stop for too long, then I can actually hit the whatever on Spotify to make the lyrics pop up. I'll check it out for a minute. But I try to live in my head for as long as possible, I think, kind of like you, Pete, to just get deep into the song. [25:44] The John Cage references. I mean, there's so much in this song in both that theme and kind of World War II themes, but the kind of two big takeaways for me were this song is about challenging the listener and society and anyone to appreciate, like, nature, art in life, or just art, or like literature or whatever it might be. And if you live your life without recognizing any art form, then you're like a fucking robot, you know? That's kind of, that's what the song was about to me in that regard, the John Cage regard and all of that. The his radio goes silent, you know that like I imagined this as like World War two airplane Pilot, you know the his engines destroyed And he's just falling from the sky, you know, like and stops working. This is where my head my engine stops working You have this like last bit of life where you hear the wind the radio stops working You know, you're on your way down. That's kind of where I went with. Track 1:[27:03] Whoa, that's heavy, man. Introduction and Researching Band MembersTrack 3:[27:04] Yeah, that's kind of how it felt to me. Okay, so I did some research around who else is playing with this band. Because we've talked about, at least the past album, I've been talking about, you know, who's that on backup singing blah blah blah blah blah. Right. So with this, I guess I would have talked about this at the beginning, but with this song we have a guy named Chris Brown from Toronto on keys, right? So he toured, He recorded and toured with the band with this album. He came from a band or was in a band called, Bourbon Tabernacle Choir. Yep, you got it. And from the 80s and 90s, which I heard of that, man. Yeah, which I didn't know an ounce about until I kind of did this research. So finally, I was making some headway with this album to hear who else we have contributing, which is an obvious impact to me as a listener to hear kind of extra elements going on. But this song, man, it could be its own album. That's what I thought. Like this song, this song on a 7-inch on one side, like it's hand me that. I'll pay 20 bucks for it. Like let's go. It's fucking that good. Track 1:[28:30] Yeah, I agree. Track 3:[28:32] Lake Fever, the next one. This is where I was like, okay, maybe we're shifting gears into like this perfect love song or forlorn love or is this a song about loss or remembrance or you know what is this what is this going on there's amazing prose within this song like was the brief dude seriously i knew pete was just like i knew his heart was melting for this It was probably driving down, you know, here's Pete, everybody in Spain, in his awesome vehicle. I don't even know what it is, and I don't want to know until I visit him someday, so no spoilers, J.D. But here's Pete in his awesome vehicle driving down some coastal highway in fucking Spain. This is a dude from the LBC, right? And this song comes on, and there's tears coming from Pete's face on this beautiful sunny day. It's like, I, I, you know, I'm, I'm hearing this song during fucking physical therapy. Therapy just gone. [29:42] Is this a wedding song or is it a funeral song or do I want this at my wake or do I play this for Amy on her next anniversary? Like what the fuck is this emotional song going on in place three after my music at work and after Tiger the Lion we have this Lake Fever. It's like what the hell so yeah it was this you know this this is that third gear song where i'm like okay, let's see let's see where this is gonna go what's this about is it oh yeah okay maybe it is about the cholera outbreak in toronto in 1834 oh fuck god damn it okay that's what it's about guess i'm I'm not playing at my anniversary. No, not playing at next April 14th, honey. Track 1:[30:38] But it's more than that because the protagonist is regaling his potential lover with that story. Like the song isn't necessarily about like fever. It's like this couple are walking in the woods about to go, you know, have sex. And he's so nervous that he's trying to like, you know, talk to this girl and he's telling her, well, there was this time in Toronto that there was a sewer back up and cholera got in the way and it went all the way up to Ottawa and near Kingston and it was terrible, many people died and she's just like, hurry, just hurry. Just Coital Fury, you know, like, yeah, that wine, man. Track 2:[31:26] Fuck, it's good. Dude, you know, I tell you, it's it's funny because I think it's just the Canadian. I mean, last week, Tim and I both heard the rush in fireworks for last week's a record but you know I started to hear the first thing I heard and now I like don't hear it at all but the first thing I heard with this song was the percussion feeling very once again very Alanis, right wow but yeah put that all kind of behind it's kind of all in the past dude the glockenspiel which I think they're using and like the keyboard effect over when he says the the word courage is I'm just you're right Tim I'm driving down the fucking coast in the mountainous windy roads of Malaga Spain and just fucking crying with my wind blowing, my air blowing in the wind. Cigarette out the window, the arm just like, Oh, just fucking loving this. [32:42] We're going to get into it a little bit more, because I because there's a there's a couple of songs on this record. And I remember I don't know what record it was, oh, it was, was Troll Dan House that I referred to as the Tragically Hips Xerope. Track 1:[33:01] Yes. Track 3:[33:02] Right, right. Track 2:[33:05] But, do you know what this record is? Track 1:[33:07] Yeah. Track 2:[33:07] And it's funny because this record actually came out before the record I'm going to reference. And I'll tell you why. Track 1:[33:14] All right, hit me. Track 2:[33:15] This is fucking the Tragically Hips Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. All of the fucking instrumentation on it, all the pianos, the echoey pianos, a lot of the guitars. It's so fucking Wilco, man. And so I started thinking to myself, well, you know, what, what the fuck did, what, you know, what do we, well, I'll get into it, I'll get into the next one. Track 1:[33:44] We'll go. Give her. Track 2:[33:46] Yeah, we're going to put it down. So this song, there's a line in there saying the United States of ricochet. Something something happy in way. You know what I'm talking about, JD? Track 1:[34:02] I don't know the lyric offhand though, sorry. Track 2:[34:04] Great fucking line. And I'm getting very like, ashes of American flags like references to because I feel like I feel like Gord was really, um, getting, like, a lot of the shit that he focused on was the, God, the phrase, the term I'm trying to look for, like the plight of Canadians. Okay. Track 3:[34:30] I got it. I got it here if you want me to read it. Track 2:[34:33] Yeah, you want to read it, Tim? Track 3:[34:35] Yeah, it's just United States of Ricochet from the Boardwalk to the Appian Way, which I... From the Boardwalk to the Appian Way, yeah, that's what I'm looking for. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Track 2:[34:42] Diamond Files, Corporate Wraves, you know. So he's, I feel like up until this point, he's made a lot of references to not just the indigenous folks up north, in terms of, you know, what he's talked about, and what I know he's eventually going to talk more about. But I started to think like, God, what other band do I know that did that? And like, that's kind of where Wilco went, you know, they had Uncle Tupelo and then AM, which was their first record. And being there were kind of like a soft watered down version of, of that country vibe of Uncle Tupelo. And then when they hit Yankee Hotel, it was like, Whoa, what the fuck is this? This is not the same band. I remember hearing and I got the same vibe. And so I, anyway, I Googled and started doing a little research, come to find out. So I read Jeff Tweedie's. Memoir, which is a great book, you'll get through it in a day, man. It's called Let's Go So We Can Get Back. And he references them on tour with Tragically Hip during the Another Roadside Attraction tour. Track 1:[36:03] That's right. The third one. That's right. Yeah, yeah. Wilco's Similarities to Other Bands and Songwriting InfluencesTrack 2:[36:07] Yeah. And just this record came out a year before Yankee Hotel. So I don't know what if they were trading demos back and forth or they were playing music together on Tour and but fuck man. I mean so many similarities with this record and that record interest so many Do you feel you might catch my drift here? Track 3:[36:32] But do you feel like? When you hear other bands and are reminded of Wilco do you feel like Wilco has just borrowed so much from other bands or do you feel like I'm not gonna we're not going to turn this into a Wilco podcast by the way or do you feel like Wilco like really do you feel like Wilco just absolutely stand on their own as songwriters because I mean that's there that's like to me songwriting music you know what I mean yeah I know what you mean um it's a good question and I'll answer it as short as possible because I think This is something you could fucking have a garage with a, you know, half ounce and fucking go on forever. Track 2:[37:17] But I think Jeff Tweedy is an amazing songwriter, and he'd probably be the first one to admit that they've taken so much from other people. But I think that that band, especially when they went in, their record, two records after they did Yankee Hotel was a record called Sky Blue Sky. When they really got into that, they were just like... They were at the top of their fucking game. and they they they knew how to um, but it's It's hard to say man. I mean It's a great question tim because I you could say the same for Tragically him who are they both big time? Track 3:[38:05] Yeah, we've had so many references. Track 2:[38:07] I don't think I don't think rob baker would he be the last person to say he wasn't fucking fucking playing the exact notes that Gilmore played on fucking comfortably on that guitar solo or on Tiger the Lion. But it's not like you're saying, oh, you're stealing. It's like, it's an homage. It's also working it into a song that is not that song is, you know, you do it all. I've been writing a tune this week that is a is a indie rock tune adapted from the fucking Opening theme of the one of the Legend of Zelda songs. So cool. And am I stealing from Koji Kondo? Yes but It's in so I look at it more as an inspiration. Track 3:[38:54] Well, I mean they I mean all all artists, you know are inspired from every direction I just I don't I don't want to get into it too deep. Track 1:[39:01] I just went from no Writers I think good songwriters Make it almost Like a magician, you know, like a good songwriter. You don't see the sleight of hand. You don't see the Palming you don't see it like they're absolute pros and they stand on their own But of course you can't help but be affected by what you are exposed to and what you enjoy, you know You can't help it. Track 2:[39:34] Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and JD, you're right when you say that, because there was something that I put down, and I think I sent it to you, but I put this down about a month and a half ago, and there was a little guitar lick I put on there, and it was Nell. I recorded it with a fucking jazzmaster. It was Nell's Climb from fucking Wilco. And I was like, I was so worried that it was so obvious, and I played it for Issa, my wife, And I played it for you and I think I was like was it too much and like no it's just it was just right It was perfect. It was like kind of like a little but to me it was like My ears I literally stole the fucking Notes from him and like I took them and I said those are mine now. Thank you very much You know, but like it's it's not easy to do man. I don't know JD. Track 3:[40:25] Yes. I thought it I think they pulled it was just me JD that Pete Pete called up in the middle of my night and serenaded me with some guitar licks. Damn, I'm not feeling as special now. Track 2:[40:40] You'll get it Tim, you'll get it. Track 3:[40:42] Hey, I thought putting down... Track 1:[40:43] Putting down, yeah. Track 3:[40:45] Yeah, so putting down, I felt like, I mean Pete commented on the, you know, the references and stories of this great continent and what we did to the Indigenous folks that were already here and the land grabs and you know that's hitting hard with this one and I feel like with Gord's themes and songwriting and his connotations of it all, this is that song for the album, I thought it was like big and heavy. [41:22] I didn't really know what it was about my first handful of listens. I couldn't really peg it until I did a little bit deeper diving into it. But you know, it was my first few listens, it was kind of like a car ride sing-along song. I felt, you know, it just felt familiar. It felt hip. I didn't think like, this is the best song on the album, and I thought it held its place on the album for what it was. So that's kind of where it ended with me. Cool. The next one, Stay, on the other hand, I thought, man, this song, it's quiet, it's cute, it's cute. I hadn't had that feeling before. Is it a thank you? You know, the Bureau Chiefs and the Shrugging Spies, I thought this was at first when I first heard this? I thought this is hilarious. Without researching, I thought this was like a thank you or something to the band's road crew, because I heard beer and cheese and shrugging spies, not bureau chiefs. I mean, I was like, I was so incorrect with this song. You were a great crew. You were a great you. You know, what is the storyline here? Is it about going to war and relationships or what? What is going on here? Track 1:[42:48] Maybe a little of everything. Track 3:[42:49] Yeah, maybe, but one, you know, after I did, after the leak, Sit down and kind of research what it's about. Hopefully Pete you have some more music based Comments about it, but one person I need to shout out here. The the handle is The letter Y Salvatore, there was a song meanings.com. [43:15] Reference from 2005 so this this is amazing it said one theory is the song is about Fox Mulder from the X-Files lines like there's no one up above us and with the Bureau Chiefs and the shrugging spies on the X-Files series Mulder is often working against the establishment as a sentiment in this song you've got no business in here brother Mulder is obsessed Pete from I'll go with UFO so lines like you see a light and then another this this song maybe it's about UFOs maybe it's about aliens I don't know this this was like this was a total head-scratcher for me not to say that I didn't like it but it was like what is this song about it wasn't beer and cheese I don't know it's not it's funny that you say that because one of the lines already is this song makes me want to sit in a pub and drink beer with my buddy. I didn't say eat cheese, but like, that's the vibe I got. Appreciating the musicianship on this recordTrack 2:[44:21] I mean, it's, um, there's, there's, okay. I could say a lot. I really liked this song a lot. I loved it. It. The riffing that Gore does with the vocals. I think there's a bridge part of all things being balanced where John Fahy's drums... I feel like every musician on this record, on this record, really shines. Like everybody shines. Gord Sinclair, I feel like, has always been really top-notch. That guy is fucking flawless. He's so underrated. Extremely underrated. Uh, when it comes to, you know, I, I just because I'm, you know, playing wise, obviously Gordoni, I mean, there's nothing you can say about that, but playing wise, Paul Langlois, am I saying? Langlois. Track 1:[45:25] Langlois. Track 2:[45:27] Um, and Rob Baker. I've always kind of gone back. I'm starting to appreciate the differences between those guys because they're two Diametrically different guitar players. I mean so different and and That happened on this album. Track 3:[45:43] Don't you? Track 2:[45:43] Oh, yeah more so really noticeable and I went down a bit of a rabbit hole this week I'll try not to go as deep as I went, but I told JD I was watching some live stuff and looking at Rob Baker's set up. [46:05] Paul Ling Hua, he always plays that black Les Paul, but Rob Baker plays that Strat, which I fucking love. And he's got something called Lace Sensors pickups in it, which not to get too technical for the listeners. They were apparently these were like standard issue Fender pickups from 90 from 85 to like 96 and then they just became too expensive. But they're really cool. The only shitty part is they look horrible on a guitar. They don't look it doesn't make it look like a Strat anyway. But he also plays a Paul Reed Smith, which I absolutely hate those guitars because, and JD I told you this, they're the Carlos Santana guitar and when they first became like available to the public so to speak or like mainstream people were able to buy them. I remember walking into a guitar center in the 90s and seeing one up on the wall that was like, it was like $19,000 or $20,000 it was like ridiculous and just going, and now can buy a PRS for like $1,800, $2,000, but it just turned me off and I fucking hate it. And if I'm Rob Baker, if I'm Rob, if you're listening, just don't ever play the fucking PRS, man. Get rid of it. Ditch it. Rob Baker's guitar choices and preferences[47:30] The telly's cool, but that strat is where it's at, man. [47:35] He does play Tele, and there's one other one I can't remember, but there's a great website, and I sadly have been on it more times than I can count. Oh, and he plays an SG, and I play an SG too. The website's called Equipboard.com, and it's got, they can pretty much look at any like, musician that's like, you know, quote, unquote, made it, so to speak, and find their rig, and they have the references, like, not just like, they don't just tell you, but they go, this is why we know that this is they're playing and they have a link to like a concert video, or a picture of them pointing out the gear, which is fucking cool. Track 1:[48:24] It's really cool. Yeah. I love, neither of you guys mentioned it, but I love Gord's voice in this song. He's doing a different sort of thing with his voice. It's lower register, softer I suppose, right? Because it is a soft song. But it's down, it's, you know, sorry you can't see my hand, but it's down here, like belly button wise. Uh is really quite quite uh effective on this song i agree with that jd when are you gonna fix your your belly button cam you're gonna get that going next next pod what's that my belly button cam Yeah, that took me a minute to get. Sorry. All right, track number six. Track number 6 is The Bastard. Appreciating the Percussion and Lyrical InsanityTrack 2:[56:45] Wow. This song starts with the they're not bongos, but there's some sort of kind of cool percussion. Track 3:[56:54] They're there. Yeah, it's some kind of yeah, yeah, yeah. Track 2:[56:59] There's a lot. Track 3:[57:00] It's fun. I love when they bring those in. Track 2:[57:02] Yeah, it's really cool. This song lyrically is fucking insane. There's a word in there called crepuscular? Track 1:[57:16] Yeah, what is that? Like, what does that even mean? Track 2:[57:19] Yeah, it means, um, adjective of resembling or relating to twilight. Yeah, I mean, gnarly shit and- Oh, gourd. Track 1:[57:31] Oh, man. Track 3:[57:36] Crepuscular rays, as the sun groomed the plane with crepuscular rays. Track 2:[57:41] There's a line in there about the Purple Italians, like it's just... Track 3:[57:47] Yeah, what is that referencing? I meant to look that up. I meant to look that up more and did not. Track 2:[57:52] Some weird-ass lyrics. I noticed something too. I love the line, the presaging pel-nel. Yeah. Track 3:[58:03] Yeah, the pre-stage pel-nel. Track 1:[58:05] Pre-stage and pel-nel. Track 3:[58:06] Yeah, that was my favorite. Track 2:[58:09] It's um i noticed that in addition to to to um gordon sinclair being so in the fucking zone on this song like a like a like a hypnotized fucking i don't know dude he's just he's a fucking machine on this song song. He, I watched a little bit of the Woodstock, Woodstock live show 99. And in this song, during Grace 2, which is what they opened up with, Gord starts testing out some of these lyrics to this song during Grace 2. Bird's Eye View, right? Track 1:[58:54] He talks about a bird's eye view of a bird's eye view. Yeah, yeah. So cool that you got to see that. Track 2:[59:01] Finished watching the whole thing. Track 1:[59:02] And you recognize it. Track 2:[59:04] Go ahead. Frustration with lack of guitars in "Grace II"Track 1:[59:10] Yeah, I went down to Rabbit Hole the other day and was just watching a whole bunch. I started with that when I texted you guys and was like, yeah, I'm watching it. And for the beginning of Grace II, it's all drums and Gord's voice, which I don't mind, but I want to hear those guitars, you know? And then suddenly it kicks in. Track 3:[59:29] The purple people, the purple Italian people, I just found it was an Italian mass protest movement to call for the resignation of a prime minister, one of their prime ministers. I feel like, I don't know, there must have been an earlier historical use of this because this is actually from 2009. So yeah, I'm curious. Well, I forgot to tell you guys that Gord is actually reference a mystic he could see in the future yes I wouldn't be surprised yes guys if there's any more sorry there's any more insight on the purple people somebody somebody let us know Tim at getting hit So I got an email. Mention of an email received regarding the purple peopleTrack 1:[1:00:19] Yeah. Got to get our $80 worth. Track 3:[1:00:25] I loved the pre-staging Pell-Mel. There's been a handful. I wish I would have started a list of the gourdisms that would be so fun to learn and reference, because that was so good. When I first heard him sing that, it was like, you know. Track 1:[1:00:42] What is pell-mell? Track 3:[1:00:44] Well, it just means like, it just means like absurd craziness or warning, like presaging means like warning together. Well, pell-mell means confusion or disorder or like a confused haste. So it's, presaging is, you know, the warning of a disorderly moment or the warning of something about to go down. That's kind of what I took. Track 1:[1:01:16] That's dire, I love it. Track 3:[1:01:19] Pre-saging, yeah, it's good. I mean, it's a loaded three words, basically. I think Pete hit on a lot of it, but this song to me kind of got us back in the car and down the road again. It was like driving, rocking, feeling, which I totally dug. The reference of all of this auger as well, you know, auger meaning like a fucking coring, drilling, coring into something and it's just this good rocking song. Track 1:[1:01:55] It's different though. Auger spelled one way is coring, but there's another, like to auger is to portend a good or bad outcome. Track 3:[1:02:08] Okay. Track 1:[1:02:11] So it's like, to pretend. Yeah. And I believe that's what it, like, it's all this auger's well, like, but, right, like, auger a well could mean digging a hole. But auger's well means pretending to, portending to good things are going to happen. Track 3:[1:02:37] Okay, okay. I just thought there were some beautiful lyrics in here. Also, I mean, all this augurs well or yeah, it's the The stanza never mind that pool in the mountains victory came and went on winged elephants I saw you all this augurs. Well, like you know, what? What is what is going on there? But it I thought it was likely this loaded very story specific Specific song without researching it, you know, I heard the lyrics Billy Sunday shout in Philadelphia for Christ Like who really is this song about did you look up Billy Sunday? Track 1:[1:03:15] Yeah. Track 3:[1:03:16] Yeah. I loved I loved reading about that This is like one of those that is one of those songs easy, right? Yeah, you barely you barely touch into on the research side and Realize that you know Billy Sunday was baseball player. Track 1:[1:03:33] I want to say a pitcher from like 1891. Track 3:[1:03:36] Yeah, he was this total this this I guess amazing pitcher And he played for chicago and boston and philly and which During those times you played for a team like your whole career, you know, you stayed in the city You you you became a presence with the team and the community and all that stuff if you did but this this this fellow William Ashley or Billy Sunday Sunday was his family name he he was like a total drunk ladies man and he moved from team to team to team and I think this from what I read the cops and the ladies got to know him really well And then after playing in Philly, he was witnessed to on the street and ultimately became a traveling preacher. [1:04:32] He went from standout pitcher to traveling preacher. And while he was preaching, teams even were soliciting him to come back and pitch. And during those days, if you made like 400 bucks a month playing professional baseball, that was like, a great salary. Yeah, I'm sure. And at one point, I read the Pittsburgh Pirates offered him $2,000 a month, and he still declined, and he still continued to be a traveling preacher. And his kind of schtick was talking about like the sex and alcohol lifestyle, from what I gathered, a lot about alcohol. And it was so much that when towns heard he was coming, they would just close up the bars until he went out. Literally, because he was so like, you know, he was his own prohibitionist. So it's all the personality. Track 2:[1:05:37] Yeah Thinking of that was the runner then I Don't know Like losses lay or some Forrest Gump. Track 1:[1:05:45] No. Track 2:[1:05:45] No, this is a reference from the hip Oh Terry Fox Harry Fox. Track 1:[1:05:50] Very fine. Yeah no he's a guy that ran across canada or something and he got close but he died he ran a marathon everyday he ran a marathon everyday on one leg yeah. Oh okay yeah cuz he and he was he was like. He was twenty one years old and he got cancer they removed his leg and he decided he was gonna run across canada and he started on the east coast he passed away thunder bay so he passed away about one third of the way through. Track 3:[1:06:21] Wow. Track 1:[1:06:22] Oh, it's fucking still, man. That's crazy. But it's like, every day his stump was like, like, euchred because he was wearing one of the, like, now, probably, somebody could do it on one of those, like, one of those spring legs, you know? Track 3:[1:06:37] Yeah, yeah. Track 1:[1:06:38] Yeah, but back in the day, he had, like, just an old school prosthetic leg, and it was crazy. Yeah. Track 3:[1:06:45] Pete, on this one, did you feel like, Did you ever get an inkling like, uh, perhaps this one was music first lyric second, or did you pick up at all on like the kind of background guitar riffing that was kind of over here? And yeah, it was like, I don't know, it sounded a little after thought ish, that guitar riffing, just kind of carrying you through it all worked. But this one, this one, I think compositionally. You know, song, story, Billy Sunday reference aside, which is amazing to dive into and learn about. I mean, I almost want to paint Billy Sunday or something with like on the pulpit with a baseball bat. That's cool. A fifth of whiskey in the other hand or something. But anyways, I felt like compositionally, the song writing-wise fits in the album. It just It just kind of fits in there, but also like, eh. Track 1:[1:07:46] You weren't big on it. Track 3:[1:07:49] No, it didn't grab me. It was like, OK, let's get back in the car. We're back on the road. Let's get through the song. It's rocking. Yeah, let's see what's next. Track 2:[1:07:56] I think at first it was like that, but then the song really like, because instrumentally, it's so fucking rich. Yeah, but like Gord, dude, again, Gord could match, pick the most complex composition that any composers have ever written. And I'm sure there is some fucking book that Gord Downie wrote lyrics in, somewhere floating around or shoved in his fucking basement, that lyrics. Track 3:[1:08:29] I would hope there's like, yeah, like 200. Track 2:[1:08:32] Yeah, he could fit to that. I mean, they probably just, yeah. So I feel you. I feel you. I feel you. Yeah. Track 1:[1:08:40] So let's move into track number seven, The Completist. Track 2:[1:08:44] I don't have a ton to say about this. I would say I really love this song. Again, this is a fade in from the previous track. Gord Sinclair again. fucking standout performance on this song. The percussive chops of the band at this point in the record. I mean, there are other songs that come up that you're just like, what the fuck? But they're not a bar band anymore. I mean, I know they still, but I still think like, I don't know if it was Phantom Power before, a record or two before, you see that kind of bar band thing still rearing its head a little bit, Like, this is just so far from that. These guys are fucking, they've really become superb musicians from the EP to now. Like, they've honed their fucking craft. And then the... Musicians' dedication to improvementTrack 1:[1:09:51] Road tested. Track 2:[1:09:52] Yeah, I mean, it's the road, it's the recording, it's the composition. But it's clear that like, every single musician in this band is like, I want to become better at my instrument. And I'm going to do this. It wasn't just like they just played a bunch, kept doing it, like, they clearly actively tried to become better musicians, as they were continuing. Like, I would put that to any of these fucking guys, if they're standing in front of me, and tell me, like, tell me I'm lying. Like, tell me I'm full of shit. And they would say no. Like, Whether it's, I mean, fucking Kirk Hammett for fuck's sake was taking lessons from Steve Vai when he was already in Metallica. Like, what does that tell you? You know, like, musicians want to become better and they, these guys clearly. The only thing I was gonna say was the woman singing, I thought it was Kate Fenner from before, but it's not, right? Track 1:[1:10:52] I don't know, I thought it was Kate Fenner. Track 2:[1:10:54] Apparently it's, um, Julie. Do I run Dorian, Julie Dorian, Dorian. Track 1:[1:11:02] Oh, Julie Dorian. Track 2:[1:11:03] Okay. Track 1:[1:11:03] Yeah, yeah, yeah. That makes sense. Track 2:[1:11:05] But I, and this is just, you know, I want to say this earlier, Tim, but I want to say that I did do a little research on Kate Fenner and her, um, her label that she's signed to is called UFO music. So that's awesome. Track 1:[1:11:19] Oh, you must love that. Track 2:[1:11:20] I do. Track 3:[1:11:22] You just stole my thunder for Toronto 4. We'll get there. Track 2:[1:11:28] I thought the lyrics in the song were beautiful. It was fucking, the beautiful fucking lyrics. Amazingly beautiful. Track 1:[1:11:35] Yeah. Yeah. Track 3:[1:11:37] Well, I'll have to look into Julie Dorian. I had not found her. And we'll get to it, but we haven't talked much about Kate Fenner, nor who we mentioned earlier. Chris Brown. The fellow on keys, Chris Brown. Yeah, yeah, yeah. For me, this song to complete us, I felt like it was like at first it was kind of, OK, we're already back to a slowdown. Like, it felt a little bit of a chug placement-wise in the album, it's a beautiful song. You know, I just didn't, it kind of left me hanging a little bit. Like, it didn't grab me and shake me around or rattle me around or anything like that. It felt like it could have been an ender. Like, it felt like, is this the end of the album? I mean, this could be the end of an album, so that's good. Track 1:[1:12:29] Well, it's the end of side one, if you're thinking. Oh, maybe. LPs. Track 3:[1:12:36] Yeah, yeah, okay, okay. Track 1:[1:12:37] And that would make sense with our next song too, Freak Turbulence, opening side two with a banger, right? Track 3:[1:12:44] Yeah, big time. I mean, this is like we're alive again. We're back in the driver's seat or the passenger's seat. Like we have this backup singing again. I think this was Kate Fenner at this time. I'm not sure. Between the two. I don't know enough of Julie's voice to distinguish between the two. Track 1:[1:13:06] There are definitely people out there that will tell us for sure. Track 3:[1:13:10] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I'm gonna look it up because I think I got Kate Fenner down. I mean, yes, yeah, yeah. So back to the song though, there's a comedy factor here, am I wrong? Like, this is so much about Gord being afraid to fly or not liking flying or, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah, there's all this talk about. I don't know, it feels lighter and more fun than usual. Track 1:[1:13:39] Like, did the captain just say this? Like, did the captain just say, like? Track 3:[1:13:45] Well, we'll land in less than 10 minutes. Or he says, or unless. Did he say unless or less? Yeah, he's afraid. You know, I think this is the song that guys. Were had to fly back to Canada from the US because originally this album Was to be recorded on a moving locomotive train. Track 1:[1:14:11] They talked about doing that. Yes I don't know how that would have ever happened. Track 3:[1:14:15] No shit. What a fucking cool idea I mean imagine that Pete moving locomotive with all the sounds and shakes and rattles I mean maybe maybe for a song but a whole album yeah with some serious that was some serious weed smoking yeah I'm up with that idea you know we should do guys we should fly back down to Memphis take the train take the train to LA and record the home anyways this this is a this was kind of a fun song it was a little more jovial I dug it there's a There's a weird, PeepeePie caught this, there's some weird guitar feedback, like the last 10 seconds or so, which made the song feel kind of ominous, or maybe the Freak Turbulence was like the plane going down, I don't know. It was funny in that regard, it was like a total head-scratcher, but this one I kind of dug. Track 2:[1:15:15] Oh, I dug this one, man, there's a line in there that really stuck with me, it's Satan Holding back hands, our nose and our chin. Track 3:[1:15:22] Yeah, yeah. Track 2:[1:15:24] I love that. There's a really, I think, the mix, there was a lot of moments where I wrote down, this is probably the first time I've said it, but it's written on a ton of songs, the mix on this song, how they mix this song with the instruments, like the levels of all the instruments, it's just so, it really, you know, it makes the fucking song. It makes this song so fucking cool the vocals build, Yeah, I really, you know, I'll rather than to, I'll save my, you know, I'll yield my time only because I have some, some hefty shit to say about some stuff coming up. But I, this song made me run, like when this song came on and I was going on some runs, I definitely put it into a higher gear with this song. I loved it. I loved it. Yeah. Track 3:[1:16:20] Yeah. Yeah. Especially after the completed, you know, transitioning into this one. It's like, yes, OK, here we go again. This is definitely the if it's side two, it definitely is the the side one. Get us going again. "Sharks" - a monotonous but intriguing song[1:16:36] Sharks, can I go? Sharks. Yeah. This one kind of lazes along for me. It's got a few interesting bridges, but it's kind of monotonous, but not not. I'm not saying that in a negative way. It's almost like, it's almost got this head down, shoegazy kind of feel, you know? Then at the three minute mark, there's this like heavy tom kind of bass kind of transition in there. It's the bass guitar is like kind of all over the neck for just a brief second, but you know, it's one of, the, this song is, it has what I enjoyed because they they're starting to do this more because they're all just accelerating as musicians is that it has like well over a minute of music the last portion of it is just like great music carrying you through rather than singing until like the last seconds or giving like seven seconds at the end or what have you so it's. [1:17:42] It was kind of a fun song in that way. It just felt different than the rest, but also worked, you know, positively. Track 2:[1:17:52] I love, this is another fade in from the previous track, which I love, that they're doing that, making it very concept-y. I love the line in there about the Mariana's Trench. That's just fucking cool. It's such a, it's always been a fascination of mine, probably since I saw fucking, what was the name of that movie? Was that Harris? I don't know. I thought it was a James Cameron movie for Christ's sake, it was huge. The Abyss. The Abyss. Oh, The Abyss. The Abyss was in Maria's Trench. Track 1:[1:18:29] Right, right, right, right. Track 2:[1:18:32] But yeah, I mean, the big standout for me here is Rob Baker's guitar is just fucking insanity. He does these really cool arpeggios in the song. And the coolest thing for me was, I was like, what's that fucking effect on this guitar? And I was like, I wrote this down early on, I was like, he's got a, like a delay on the guitar, but not a delay. So it's going bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. It's so, the delay time is so small that you can't really hear it like a repetitive delay. It's just, when you put it down almost to zero, it just has this cool, and then I look on no shit by the time I found that website and he's got a Line 6 DL4 delay pedal that no doubt he was using on this fucking song. It just made me feel cool because I was like, my ears still work after all these years. But I fucking love it. If I didn't, I didn't think there was a song that could rival Tiger the Lion and I still don't think it beats it but it's pretty up there and that's fucking Toronto 4. An analysis of the opening guitar arpeggiosTrack 1:[1:26:42] Talk to me. Talk to me. Track 2:[1:26:44] I mean, the way it opens with the, like, the record static. Yep. Again, Rob Baker's doing these weird arpeggios, like he, like, it's kind of like a falling guitar, like he goes from a, like a, it's a D chord or whatever the hell, the octave, than the chord, then the seventh, then the diminished. Makes it feel really sad. It's just, or like, kind of sad and mysterious, and it's floating. It's like all the echo-y shit that there's, I don't know if it's Kate Fenner on this. It is. It is? Okay. Track 3:[1:27:26] Yeah. Track 2:[1:27:27] Yeah. The way that the, I don't know if it's like he's using mallets or what, but Johnny Fay is like coming in with the cymbals with these really soft mallets that like kind of give it like a gong sound to make it really super dramatic but the songs it's fucking awesome I mean I was like what it was weird because this was a song that early on I would get through the first nine tracks because I was doing like shorter runs when I would take it out and I didn't get to like Toronto for and then the first time I heard it I was like what in the fuck the surf tone on guitar is just... It's a cool jam dude. It's cool as fuck. A lot of Pink Floyd, I feel, influence on there. Track 3:[1:28:18] I agree with all that. I felt like the percussions on this, the drums on this one, had sort of this metronome, just more of a... I don't know. Track 2:[1:28:28] You do the panning on the left to right? Track 3:[1:28:31] Yeah, like the pace of the percussion really, to me, held the song like all the way through and was perfect. I mean, I often hone in on drum stuff like you do guitar and I felt like that was just, I don't know, this song is, it starts slow, it's emotional, it kind of feels like apologetic you know also feels like i don't know familiar maybe it's like the mention of Vesuvius as a metaphor for like family and stresses and breakups and i don't know the The song was just, it's pretty jam packed. I didn't. Look big into the background on lyrics or story or any of that, you know, I just questioned, which I said to JD like a week ago, I was like, why the hell Toronto four? Are there three other Toronto songs? Or what is what is that about? Track 1:[1:29:29] So if anybody knows, my only guess is, like my, as far as just guesswork, is might be, it might have been the fourth run, you know, it might have been the fourth take, like it's Sometimes you use the studio parlance to come up with the title of a song that you can't quite name. Track 3:[1:29:49] Yeah. Track 1:[1:29:50] Well, this is a great, it's a great song, and you're right, you nailed it on the head when you talk about family. Yeah, yeah. It's definitely familial. It's, you know, it's about the matriarch of his family, his grandmother, holding things up. And that what are the first the first lyrics are? Absolutely. They slay me and I can't recall them at the moment. Track 3:[1:30:17] You know, you were the rock plug for us all. Did you know you were the conduit of Vesuvius? You were far more unifying than, you know, I'm not a judge of suitable, but you almost had it all. I mean, if that's about his grandma being the what a tribute, the rock plug for their family. I mean rock plug is definitely a volcanic reference of you know a rock holding the mountain together before the magma just blows it apart so it's right fucking cool pretty pretty yeah I mean it's this this one maybe has the simplest lyrics that we've seen in a while. [1:30:59] It's it's a beautiful song. So Kate Fenner on this one just to touch on her because I Think we've heard her before although. I only found that she To recorded and toured for this album, but man, she's she's got this How do you describe her voice? I think it's just gorgeous. I think it's yeah, it's It's just, it's, it's, it's lovely. I, she, she, somebody described her as less, a lusty alternative to a Joni Mitchell ish sound. Like all of that is, is true. So she's got her own solo stuff. She's got, as Pete mentioned, UFO Records is her label. She's got this new album out that I touched on briefly over the weekend. It's it's pretty she's got a beautiful voice like if she ever tours and we get a chance to just Go and any of us hear her perform. I'm sure it would be worth it. She's got a dreamy voice So yeah, great great addition to me, too I don't know if you saw this tour JD, but what she did she yeah, do you recall her on stage or yeah? Track 1:[1:32:09] Because it was it was strange because both Chris Brown and her were on stage with them the whole time and that was It was just it was sort of a strange look because up until that point It had been the five of the month's age. Track 3:[1:32:20] Mm-hmm. Track 1:[1:32:20] That was it. And so this you know, it changed the dynamic for sure and I'll be the first to tell you that when this record dropped I Liked it But I didn't love it. But now 20 years later. Yeah, I fucking love this record Yeah, I can listen to this record at any time like yeah, yeah top to bottom. Okay, okay, Now let's go toward the bottom and talk about Wild Mountain Honey, dude. Track 3:[1:32:52] I love this one. So I'm taking I'm taking on this one. Mr Okay, you can you can fill in do it Yeah, like this this to me I heard Pink Floyd I heard Jerry Garcia of guitar effects Like I I heard like fish. I don't know like this song to me. They even the the title is is different, like this one was just a little bit different there. You know, it's the drums are soft, but they can sound kind of angry. This is one of the songs on the album, you know, the first time listening it through. Or I thought, OK, I need to find this one live and check it out because I'm sure it gets played harder and louder, maybe faster. [1:33:43] There's just really good chord changing and bridges and guitar riffs and it feels a little bit patched or contrived at the end you know I was hoping for like a big finish the first time I heard this one because it really grabbed me it made it just this to me was like hip fans who have seen the band play live a a bunch. Probably love this one live. You know, this one just, it hit some marks for me with going, with going after, like, followers of other bands who I knew probably in the same summer saw Grateful Dead play it or saw Phish play and saw the Tragically Hit play. Like a lot of, you know, A lot of times when I experience bands playing live over the course of a summer, it kind of, you know, dictates that summer. Like, you think back to that summer and you're like, oh, that's when I went to X Festival or that's when I saw 8Bandplay a couple times. The Papa Roach show. Yeah, like that's, yeah, definitely the Papa Roach show. But no, this one was, This kind of centered me back into the seat of the Tragically Hip. I really dug it. I ended up listening to it a handful of times by itself. Track 1:[1:35:08] Oh wow! Cool. Track 3:[1:35:11] Probably not a single though, right? Track 1:[1:35:13] Not a single, nope. Track 3:[1:35:14] Yeah, every once in a while they have a song that's not a single that's a little bit off character that I dig and this is one of those. Rhythms and Unique Drum Hits in "Wild Mountain Honey"Track 2:[1:35:23] I thought that I mean the song it's funny ironically it starts out like wild mountain honey it begins like the name does Soft like wild mountain honey, and it creeps up on you like a whiskey, and it fucking destroys. Yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, I think It's funny because I remember looking for the lyrics online and realized there's a Steve Miller song called why I'm not many as well But when I saw the title of this, I thought of the Peach Boys song, Wild Honey, which neither of those examples are even close to this song. But what I got from it was, I fucking love the rhythms in this fucking, the drums in the rhythms. The drum hits in this fucking song are so cool and they're so unique and they don't sound like another band. Like there's some songs that, like I mentioned, some Wilco stuff earlier, there's other songs from other hip records where it's like they're doing a drum hit or a drum fill and you're like, yeah, that's the same drum fill that this band did on this song and that's been, this is completely fucking different. And it's so fucking cool. So unique, the rhythms in the song. [1:36:43] There's a weird keyboard or flute effect in the background going down, it was really faint and hard to pick up. I'm pretty sure it was a keyboard, but it could have been some sort of setting, but I love the line, I don't want to put another thought in my head, I just thought that was so fucking cool towards the end. And then the song, the solo starts before, but the part at about 3 minutes 30 seconds of the guitar soloer. Just, I don't know, dude. I hope I run into him. Track 3:[1:37:18] That carries it to the end, right? Track 2:[1:37:22] It does. Yeah. I want to run into Rob Baker at a 7-Eleven or something. Him buying a Slurpee and me already up front and being like, hey, man, let me get this guy's Slurpee and I'll pay for it or something. Just be like, alright, man. Track 1:[1:37:41] What a gentleman you are. Track 2:[1:37:42] I want to be that guy. It's weird that I did not expect to where I'm at so far in the discography of this band for him to slowly become one of my almost favored guitar players. And this guy that I never knew before. I fucking love his fucking guitar playing, dude. It's fucking awesome. Track 1:[1:38:09] Yeah, he's really good. Track 3:[1:38:11] That's an amazing gift for you, bro. What's that? So that's an amazing gift for you to have this discovery of a new influence. Track 2:[1:38:19] Totally, absolutely Tim, absolutely. Track 3:[1:38:22] So Train Overnight, the next
Ever find yourself reminiscing about the good old days when tunes from The Tragically Hip filled the airwaves? My pals, Tim and Pete, and I sure did, as we took a deep dive into their 6th studio album, Phantom Power. We discovered that our own past experiences and relationships managed to shape our views on this collection of radio hits, which seemed like a pivotal moment for the band. We weren't just content with superficially jamming out to the music. We dissected the unique sound and lyrical themes, compared them to previous Hip releases, and found ourselves swapping stories from past concerts. One standout memory was Tim being recognized by lead vocalist Gord Downie backstage. We also discussed the historical context of the album, like how its recording coincided with a major ice storm and a surprise tour that benefited a children's cancer camp. Stick around as we analyze some standout tunes like 'Poets' and its references to Gwen Jacobs' fight for women's equality. We also shared our thoughts on 'Fireworks' and how it reminded us of Canada's victory in the hockey series against Russia in 1972. So, whether you're a die-hard Hip fan or just love a good music chat, this episode is for you!TranscriptSpeaker 1 It's June of 1998 and I'm done with York University. To celebrate, my friends and I embarked on a camping trip to the Pinary Provincial Park just down the road from Grand Bend. It was just outside the liquor store in town that I heard a finished version of Pullets for the first time. Gord had long been one of my favorite Pullets, so to me this song resonated in a way that I can't quite describe. It was a feeling of euphoria and relief. This new record was going to be just fine, i thought to myself. Little did I know that several tracks on this record would stand the test of time and join the pantheon of great hip songs I still enjoy to this day, from the meandering escape is at hand to the traveling man, to the exquisite Bob Cajun and the downright delicious Emperor Penguin. Phantom power was right in the pocket, coming off of the exceptional trouble at the henhouse. As I got inside the truck to head back to the campsite I turned the volume up and just let Pullets sink into my brain. This was living. Today. We're going to hear from our friends Pete and Tim to check out what they think of Phantom power. Will it stack up? Find out today. On Getting Hip to the Hip. 0:01:41 - Speaker 2 Long sliced brewery presents Getting Hip to the Hip Hey it's JD here. 0:01:58 - Speaker 1 Welcome back to Getting Hip to the Hip. This week we are talking about Phantom Power, the sixth studio record by Seminole Canadian rock band, the Tragically Hip. I'm joined this week, as always, by my pals Tim and Pete Fellas. how are you doing? 0:02:19 - Speaker 3 Hey guys, hey guys, hey guys, glad to be here. Good to see you, i'm ecstatic to be here. 0:02:26 - Speaker 4 I'm ecstatic to be here right now. 0:02:27 - Speaker 1 Oh, I love it. 0:02:28 - Speaker 4 I love the energy This is happier than a pig and shit. 0:02:31 - Speaker 1 Oh boy, oh boy, that's pretty happy. I've seen some, some porcine creatures rolling in fecal matter and they sure love it. Okay, so if you are wanting to experience The Tragically Hip's music for the first time, tim and Pete are your avatars this week because they got to experience the record Phantom Power, which again is the sixth record produced by Steve Berlin, first record on Universal. But I guess I should tell you guys both. I guess I should say this to you both as honorary Canadians. Now, happy Canada Day. It's almost the 4th of July. It's July 3rd today, but it's July 4th tomorrow for you, but July 1st for us is Canada Day. So happy Canada Day, folks. 0:03:20 - Speaker 4 Wow, Yeah, Very close to the other 4th of July, which is America's Independence Day. In the UK they call that Thanksgiving. No, No, I had a. I took a flight one time on some shitty airline and the pilot was British and it was on the 4th of July and he was like so I just want to say you know, that's my shitty British accent Happy 4th of July was we call it. We're on from Thanksgiving. Enjoy Whatever. 0:03:57 - Speaker 1 That's great. Oh, anytime you can burn an American a little bit, it's. you know there's some fun. There's some fun there because you guys are so goddamn good at this shit, you know Anyway let's get into the record as a whole. Before we go into the song by song segment, let's just talk about this record, produced, like I said, by Steve Berlin. Five singles come from this record. All music rates at a three out of five Three. So there's that. What did you guys think? I want to know where you listen to it, how you listen to it and what your initial thoughts were, and you know, maybe, what they percolated up to. What do you say there, tim? 0:04:45 - Speaker 3 Well, there's a pause. I thought it was a three star album, kind of like all music I felt wasn't really sure. it felt a little bit deluded in a way. to me It felt a little bit, a little bit more generic from what I've heard in the past. But it also felt kind of expected for the whole catalog of albums this band has produced and the timeline going into the late 90s. You know this album felt like full of radio hits but at the same time I was missing a little bit of that raw kind of hip feeling. You know, i was wondering like, should I be okay with this album just being kind of fine? This was the turning point for me. I was really not sure. When I read kind of some reviews about it, i think there was some sentiment, some shared sentiment, and also some people were like it's my favorite album and some hip fans said it's their least favorite album. So this one's kind of a gray area for me. 0:06:00 - Speaker 1 It's funny. Well, I'll get into my, you know, sort of backgrounder on this for you guys after we hear from Pete. Pete, what did you think? 0:06:09 - Speaker 4 I hear you on the gray area, because I could totally see that. I could totally see how some hip fans are like this is the best album they did. Or this is not my favorite album. For me I listen to it everywhere. I listen to it in my office, so for my computer, with some some decent cans, i took it out running a lot. Probably. I think maybe the first time I listened to it was that took it in the car. It sounded great. The thing I found like I would say 3.5 for me, tim, instead of a 3. But you know I feel you on that My initial thoughts were that a lot of rawness of the hip was gone from this. In the first couple of listens it sounded very watered down. It was like somebody pulled Gord Downey aside and said Hey man, can we just like, kind of like the dude, can you, can, you fucking can you take it easy, man, you know, just like. Told him to just like chill out a little bit, and I don't know. The more I listen to it though, the more I dug into it and see how much work maybe not production, but just from the band themselves went into this record maybe changed my tune a lot Like I dig it. And Phantom Power, that was the coolest thing in the 90s, man Like because sometimes you didn't know what it was. If you never heard of Phantom Power before, it has a fucking cool name. If you had a guy that had like a condenser mic or something with Phantom Power, you're like dude, yeah, he's got a mic, that's got a Phantom Power. It was just like fucking. You were 17 and you heard that it was fucking cool. 0:08:00 - Speaker 3 Yeah, you know, i went and looked at a number of albums sold by a bunch of different bands, including the hip, and I was trying to kind of have this try to find this correlation of how many albums sold from the band start to like 10 years later, or 10 albums later, something like that. And I compared the hip with a bunch of bands And it's, it's. It's really all apples, oranges, of course, but when you look at how many albums they've sold and how they, you know, started off selling a ton and then just kind of went down to this million album mark. And then when I heard this album and I like UP, i listened to it all over the place. I listened to it on the plane I traveled, listened to it in the car, listened to it at home with the cans on. I mean I listened to it in more places than past listens because I was really trying to give it a go. I mean, it was the first time, upon first listened, that there were a couple songs where I was like okay, get it, i'm going to go to the next one, like I had not fast forwarded songs, you had her skipped ahead. So this, yeah, but but one of those songs that I skipped ahead on, sorry hip fans. You know I came back to and it's might be one of my most favorite on the album, so this this one like yeah, this one, this one to me like didn't grab me right away. Maybe it will more over time, maybe it's one of those types of albums, but well, i'll tell you what this record has. 0:09:36 - Speaker 1 An interesting, an interesting story, i think, and it it's my own headcanon This is. This is not like actual fact by any stretch, but in my opinion, trouble at the Henhouse, which is one of my absolute favorite records by the Tragically Hip or or or any other band, is, was maligned Like it, it, it, it, it both it and day for night didn't perform as well as fully, completely, and fully completely was very, if you recall, it was very polished, it was very produced. You know they went to London to record it. It was like a big deal. And then, following that, the next two records, they were sort of self-produced, with Mark Vreakin and Mark Howard on day for night and just Vreakin on fully, on Trouble at the Henhouse, and those records are sparse and they are. The core energy is, is there, it's, it's. It's like boiling hot magma, you know, and they're and they're forming these songs that are just age old now and and just wonderful, and then phantom power comes out and phantom power goes back to the like. To me it's sort of back to the back, to the basics. It's like back to really structured songs, really produced, and, like I always said, that this record was the baby of day for night and fully and completely, fully, completely, rather not fully and completely fully. It's sort of the baby of those two records. It's got the, it's got the production values, but it's still got songs. So I'll challenge you guys on that, because I think this record has songs and I think it has songs for days. You know what? 0:11:40 - Speaker 4 you are JD, let me tell you who you are. So when I was like 19 or 18, working with the movie theater, i dated this girl that that worked at the calendar place across the way And I just kind of went out with her because I was like really stoked. She gave me your number But I really wasn't that into her and all my friends were like, dude, she's really hot man, she's really amazing, and I just didn't see it. And so then like I stopped going out with her. We only went out a couple of times and that was that. And then I saw her again. I was like, damn, i really screwed that one up And that's kind of felt with this record, but I didn't want to like make that same mistake again. So like I, i'm sticking with it. I'm sticking with this being a solid album. Yeah, you know, yeah Masked it for, you know, a third and fourth date. 0:12:26 - Speaker 1 Yeah, i think, and I think three out of five stars is fair Like it's not it's not one of my. it's not my favorite record, but it's a lot of hit pants favorite record It's a lot Yeah, yeah. 0:12:39 - Speaker 3 That's that's what I found in my research. The covers are awesome. The covers are great. 0:12:43 - Speaker 1 They have that They actually have that panel in in their studio and bath, which is really cool. Yeah, so that's, you know this is. I want to say this is the second record they recorded at their studio. So they didn't go anywhere, you know, adventurous or anything like that, but they were at home. And what happened in 1998, i don't know if it made news anywhere else but Quebec and Ontario there was a major ice storm, yeah, major ice storm, and in Ontario it, like it absolutely shut down the city of Toronto. It shut down, you know, major thoroughfares. It was like devastating this ice storm. And we'll get into that a little bit more as we talk about the songs. But you know, they bring Berlin in and they're sort of trapped in the studio. You know like during during this, so really fascinating I think. 0:13:43 - Speaker 3 But yeah, it's a go ahead. Did you see this tour? Did you see them play on this tour? You want to hear a story Now? 0:13:52 - Speaker 1 people who listen to the movie and completely heard this. But the hip announced five secret shows that they were going to do, and all proceeds from these shows were going to go to a charity I forget which charity now at the oh, it was Camp Trillium. Camp Trillium, which is a camp for children with cancer, children that have cancer, and there's a location of that is near where I grew up And I'll show you when we, when you're in town for the finale. My friend's parents were on the committee for the cancer camp in our community, and so my friend Heather had intel and she she knew that they were going to go on sale at this time in this place in Hamilton, which is about an hour outside of Toronto, when traffic's good, and so we ended up getting third row center seats Wow, in this small theater in Hamilton, like 2000 people, and they blew the roof off the place. And a band called oh my goodness. They sang, come for a ride. Open for them, and they were tremendous as well. I forget the bands right now who open for them, but if you know it, send me an email. Jd at getting hip to the hipcom. So we're third row center. We watched the show, But the kicker here is is that Heather has got gifts to give the band And it's been arranged with the stage manager that we're going to go backstage afterwards to give. She's going to go backstage afterwards to give these gifts And she ended up inviting me along And so we got to go backstage and I introduced her to the tragic lab. So this was like this was like full circle for the two of us And it was just a wonderful experience. We went backstage after the show and they were all there and Gord had a. Gord Downey had a soccer ball And he was doing that thing where you flip it out, catch it and roll it back in your arms. Flip it out, catch it, roll it back in your arms And he just kept doing that And I remember at one point I must have looked silly or something, because somebody said and maybe it was Gord Downey said is everything all right? And I said, oh, everything is fucking perfect. I could go outside and get hit by a bus right now And it just wouldn't matter. And Gord Downey looked at me and he goes Oh, don't do that, jane. He called me Jane, only my mom calls me Jane. Like it was so cool It was cool. 0:16:37 - Speaker 4 How did I not know the story? How did I not know that you had interactions with Jesus? 0:16:44 - Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah, how was this? 0:16:45 - Speaker 4 coming up in episode. What fucking episode are we on. 0:16:48 - Speaker 1 Well, it was Tim asked me the question, yeah. 0:16:50 - Speaker 3 I don't know. We're like 15 minutes in. I think we could just call it. That was good enough. 0:16:55 - Speaker 1 Well, here's the kicker. Here's the kicker. I don't think I told this part on fully and completely, but the kicker is I had been dating a girl all through university and I broke up with her the summer of 98 and sewed my wild oats And this was all toward the end of the summer of 98. And she was in Hamilton to meet me after the show. So I'm backstage with the hip and they go Okay, well, we're going to go to the after party now in the next room over, because this was in the green room or whatever And we're going to go in the after party room and drink some beers. Do you guys want to join us? And I had to say no. I had to say no because my girlfriend was waiting outside for me. Now, in hindsight, what a boner move I made, because I wanted to get back together with her. Totally. It only lasted another two years after that, like I then absolutely blew up, but it was those. Those final two years were awful anyway, like they just weren't, you know, like both of us would agree to that now I'm sure the university years were wonderful, they were, they were great, but those those two years after our break up we're not so good And I blew a chance to go party with the hip. 0:18:15 - Speaker 3 You had a Davis Manning moment. 0:18:18 - Speaker 1 Yes, Yeah, yeah, absolutely. 0:18:22 - Speaker 3 He chose the girl over your fandom. 0:18:25 - Speaker 1 The hip lived between us. 0:18:27 - Speaker 3 They totally lived between you. They might still sorry, sorry, jess. 0:18:38 - Speaker 1 Well, folks, should we go song by song? 0:18:41 - Speaker 3 Yeah, let's do it, let's do it. 0:18:44 - Speaker 4 So I really liked this song. I really liked poets. This is probably the song I would say I have the least to say about. I really like the verse phrasing. I think it's probably the best part of this song, the way he phrases the verses. There's a part where the lines of a verse he kind of like carries into the next measure. It's really weird, like, like, like the mind, you think, okay, you sing the verse, then it's the next measure, but like he sings that verse over there Because it's when you look at it it's a complete line. I can't remember the line specifically, but it was. It was cool man. It's a hard thing to pull off man, but like that guy just does. It was so much, so much finesse. I liked the layered guitars in it, yeah. But I think, going back to what we're saying sort of at the beginning of the top of the show, it was, this song didn't punch me in the face Like right when I, right when I started listening, i dug it. I it was a soft open, it was a soft open. 0:19:59 - Speaker 1 All right, how'd you feel, tim? 0:20:01 - Speaker 3 I felt it was a harder open. I thought it was it. You know this. Like we've talked about before the cadence of songs and track orders. You know the first one I expect to really get me, bring me in, and this one did it. I thought it was pretty good. There's a fun kind of change over into the chorus It again I spoke about this a little bit before, but the kind of remind me of REM in REM's, like first half of the 90's albums, like they come on with like a punch of a song and then, like the cadence of the album kind of goes soft and then gets whoa, got a little dirty there, gets a little bit harder as time evolves. But yeah, this I thought this was a good start off. The themes you know I looked into a little bit of the song's meaning regarding lyrics and you know just talk about agriculture and super farms and like I don't know, ultimately fresh vegetables versus buying frozen and what that means. And this, this is the song that references Gwen Jacobs. Right, you know the story about her JD, and she was this woman who walked into town I think in Ontario topless and it created this whole. I don't have to look into this more, but I'm pretty sure this was the song about the Gwen Jacobs case. So Gwen was a woman who walked through town topless and was arrested and started this whole kind of woman's lib. You know movement with. You know making it okay to cut your lawn without a shirt on, just like the men do. That's kind of where the line in here from Gord comes from. It's a let's see. 0:22:02 - Speaker 1 Oh, that's great Lawn caught by breasted women. 0:22:04 - Speaker 3 Yeah, it's kind of this comment on pushing for women's equality and gender rights. So I thought that was fucking cool And that, to me also, is like really appropriate for the 90s or late 90s, you know it was. we were kind of circling back to, of course, some things we've had in North America before and prior decades. So I thought this song was cool. Again, it really reminded me of REM. I kind of went back and started looking at some of REM's albums and I wish, again, i wish I could know what the band listened to when they were traveling Me too. You know what they were sharing, what albums they were digging. you know if any of them were like Oh my God, did you hear REM's new one? We're going to put it in the the the buses stereo or whatever. Like I wish I could know what was influencing them, because I'm hearing, i'm hearing some some themes for sure. 0:22:57 - Speaker 1 Okay, earlier I was telling you about the ice storm. The next track, something on, was recorded and they literally were trapped in the studio. They were, you know, they couldn't leave the bath house, they couldn't leave the studio in bath. So they did what they do best They wrote a song and there's some lyrical content in there about the ice storm even And I think it's really wonderful lyricism. What did you guys think of something on? 0:23:33 - Speaker 3 I felt like, okay, i read about it, i read about this and I read about the ice storm and you know sounded awful. And for I hate to say this, but to go get stuck in a studio, for me that'd be like the time to really fuck things up, like really experiment. You know, you know, just hopefully somebody shows up with a huge bag of weed and somebody shows up with a bunch of acid and somebody shows up with a shit ton of beer and like this is when you like really go to town to experiment and what do we got out of it? We got like kind of a radio hit. So it was a little surprise to kind of hear the whole story and it just made me realize that maybe for this era, the guys were really I mean, they were at a point to where they could bust out a really good album, you know, and what, for me, that really good album is? like you go to a restaurant and it's like yo, that was a good meal. You know, everything was like satisfactory. 0:24:37 - Speaker 1 Well, yeah, it's a blooming onion man. 0:24:38 - Speaker 3 It's a blooming onion, Yeah, but to get stuck in a studio and ice storm, it's like I personally would want to just start going places. I haven't been before with my band, but you know this one's interesting take. Yeah, this one felt. This one felt a little radio felt a little you too, dave Matthews like splash of John Cougar melon camp or something like I don't know. Man, it felt, i know. I know, i know, i know. 0:25:10 - Speaker 1 And I was a big melon camp guy at one point. 0:25:13 - Speaker 4 But Dave, Matthews are regular. 0:25:16 - Speaker 1 Cougar and regular. 0:25:18 - Speaker 3 Yeah, like I couldn't get overly excited about this one. Well, again. 0:25:26 - Speaker 1 I think you were waiting for the follow up from the follow up to trouble at the house, and this isn't the follow up that you're expecting on a trajectory perspective. You know no no, i agree. 0:25:44 - Speaker 4 It's funny. You talk about getting trapped in the studio, like I mean, i don't know if I'd go like full steely Dan when they recorded the Albuquerque show, where, like you know, there maybe was not that much cocaine around, but I still agree with him, i would. I'd get really spacey, and I think they do it on a couple songs that we'll get into, but first time I heard this song got some heavy Jim Blossom's feels. Yeah yeah, Yes that's the first thing that hit me and I couldn't think of any of the band that it was like a buddy of mine used to play the band that they open for them a ton, and I was like the first band that came to mind like this Oh, and it was really poppy. And okay, my notes. Once you get past the repeated cheesiness of the chord progression and the vocal melody, it's not a bad song. 0:26:40 - Speaker 1 Oh dammit, with faint praise here. No, no, no, it's not a bad song. 0:26:44 - Speaker 4 I think it's a good song, but you know it's a good song. If, like you, take this song and go, is this a good song? Anybody will say it's a good song, but like you, said to me compared to the follow up of what you really wanted after trouble. Then else, and this was a song where I feel like Gord sounded a bit like he was put in the cage Like whoever was a universal when this record was getting recorded, put baby in the corner. And this is a song where really I feel like you know he's, he wants to be himself, but somebody's like, hey, man, just could you like you don't have to do it all the songs, but like at least on this one could you just, fucking, you know, tone it down a little bit. And I was just like, ah, where's my fucking, where's my lead singer. 0:27:33 - Speaker 3 Yeah, I totally agree, Because you know it's still a good song, because it's still all the guys and it still has themes, because it's Gord, you know you're still going to get one liners that are amazing. I feel like probably no matter what in any hip song there's going to be some standout lyric to me, some standout part like to the core fan. That's. That's really what I'm imagining. The line that stood out in this one for me was your imaginations having puppies, I mean yeah, yeah. I've had so many letters of puppies, you guys. It's like I'm just, i've got puppies all over the place. It's like. 0:28:11 - Speaker 4 I was a cool. I really like that one. Yeah, like that, like that video for new recruits or something. 0:28:17 - Speaker 3 Yeah, so I like identified in it. You know, at that personal level, which I think they're able to do just about on any song which is fucking amazing for a band to do, because I could probably name 10 bands right now. What that does not happen to me, yeah, so you know. So, in that regard, like hip fans, you know I'm, i'm I'm not really trying not to be the bad guy here, but we this, this, this just made this song, just made me keep going So into save the planet. I mean, i got to this one, arrived at this one, and I was like, is this the band's fucking Earth Day song? or stretch their reach to get on the farm aid bill, like what is going on here? I felt like I don't know, there's a flute in there. Who's playing the flute? 0:29:09 - Speaker 1 Who plays the flute? You know, i don't. I don't have the liner notes handy And on the wiki page it is remarkably barren in terms of additional players. Yeah, it doesn't, it doesn't have them, so I need people to write in. 0:29:25 - Speaker 3 If people know, let us know, because there's some flute in there And it made me wonder like what else? 0:29:31 - Speaker 1 there's keys all over this record. 0:29:33 - Speaker 3 Yeah, what else have I been missing in the background that maybe other people are participating in? But I felt, like you know this song, in the placement we were, we were filling, we were filling in the gaps on the menu And you're like, no, I had a burger yesterday. No, I'm not in the mood for that. Oh, I could really use some lasagna. Here we go. That's that's how Save the Planet felt, felt very time appropriate. This is, like you know, the millennial song. 0:30:02 - Speaker 1 Okay. 0:30:03 - Speaker 4 All right. So if anybody's got a line on the flute player, email Tim getting hip to the hip, talk there you go. Right, i copy Pete at getting hip Yeah. Save the Planet. I thought it was a banger. I really dug it. I at first I saw that too, but then I kind of look past the name of it And just look at the song itself. There's a. There's two references in this album to Crossing the Street, to pedestrian crossings. Yes, i'll point out the other one. This is the first one Fucking solo bangs in this. I thought the flute at the end was cool because it was so random. 0:30:47 - Speaker 3 I was like well, what the fuck is that? Yeah? 0:30:50 - Speaker 4 Same. 0:30:52 - Speaker 1 There's. You just can't imagine listening to road apples and having a flute right Like. It's just not part of this band. You know like and and and it works It works well, no, right? 0:31:05 - Speaker 4 Yeah, you know, if they went into that I'd be like, well, what the fuck's going on? 0:31:10 - Speaker 3 But I'll just quickly, quickly add that I'm okay with the flute. Like sometimes, the flute really is awesome. Oh, i think it's great. So you know, like some people like hear the flute and they're like oh why You know, but it works. 0:31:24 - Speaker 4 No, i dug it And this is again. This is not the first song, or not the only song in this record where I got some heavy Alanis vibes. The phrasing on if the bathwater is clear and my ears underwater, it's a tolerant hum from the core. Carry the water Like that the way he phrases that shit, it's just. I don't know if I see because it's a Canadian band, if I see everything through the lens of like Canadian pop artists. But like it's just the vibe I got from this and it's a great tune to get out and move your feet to get running. It's a fucking cool song to run. 0:32:09 - Speaker 3 All right, i'll put it on my point first I hear your Alanis vibes marry and up with my Michael Stipe vibes. I think those are in sync for sure, for sure. 0:32:20 - Speaker 1 I think there's a nice correlation between the hip and REM, like I think you're right, like they both have that enigmatic front man, you know, who is really literate and really interesting in the way they sort of phrase things and put things together. 0:32:39 - Speaker 4 They both went bold too, halfway through the careers, that's right, that's a fair point. 0:32:45 - Speaker 1 Fair point, fair point, all right, we're getting in the car right now and we are cruising northeast of here and we're going to Bob Cajun. I left your house this morning. 0:33:40 - Speaker 7 It was quarter after nine. I left your house this morning. I left your house this morning. I drove back to town this morning This morning with working on my mind, i thought I'd maybe try to leave an ear behind. I went back to bed this morning and it's time pulling down the blind. Yeah, the sky was dull, it was high but never come. And morning went down at a time that night in Toronto And I was jacking boardboards, riding on horseback and keeping order restored. Tell the men they couldn't hide. Step to the mic and sign and their voices rang with the area of time. To your house this morning. It was quarter after nine. In the middle of that riot I couldn't get you off of my mind. To your house this morning. It was just a little hour tonight Cause it was in my page on the rossard and constellation, but they themselves won't starve at time. To your house this morning It's a little after nine Cause it was in my page on the rossard and constellation, but they themselves won't starve at time. 0:37:32 - Speaker 5 Tell the men they couldn't hide, they didn't choose your bones and bones. They're all south of the wind and down the lawn to the lake For as long as it takes. 0:38:05 - Speaker 7 I don't want to be a hill of the birds last hour. I don't want the last words out of my mouth to be stained Out of my way. 0:38:16 - Speaker 4 Okay, I fucking love this tune. I got some heavy and Tim, yes or yes. If I hear no, I'm just I'm off this podcast Got some really strong G love special sauce vibes from this. Yes, Just the way they owe up. Am I my GD? 0:38:42 - Speaker 1 I don't know, i think I think I'm very familiar. 0:38:46 - Speaker 3 I did not go there, but I will Okay. 0:38:51 - Speaker 4 Right, i mean the. there's a oh dude that it could have been Willie, could have been the wine. I heard that song. The first time I heard that song I was. I took it out for a run and I came home and I like I listened to it again because I just thought it was such a good fucking song, because it's a weed. reference to may not necessarily be about them listening to Willie Nelson. It's like they were smoking weed or they were drinking wine, absolutely Yeah. The opening, like spacey guitar licks The dobro which I think he's playing. there's a dobro in there that he's playing which kind of gets sort of like a banjo slash guitar vibe. Oh God, just. 0:39:40 - Speaker 1 I feel like that lyric that you just quoted, though, could have been the Willie Nelson, could have been the wine. That's like one, like when he wrote that he should have just put the book down, put on a fedora, long overcoat, grabbed his briefcase, just went home for the day, that's. That's the days. That's the day at the office, that's a fucking. Exactly. 0:40:00 - Speaker 4 That's just a great lyric Exactly dude, no, 100%, it's so good. I was like you know. You know, a line is a good line when you hear it and it's so good you think you've heard it before. Meaning like I'm like right, i mean because it just sounds like it belongs on this in the history of life, Like like someone has, like if someone hadn't said it, they sure as shit should have said it. Does that make sense? Yeah, you know, it sounds like it's just. It's a great fucking line. I thought I maybe quit that line. It's just. It's really the part of this song where Gord starts coming out of the cage. On this record, i feel like that was the moment Somebody gave, somebody unlocked the door of the cage and he's starting to come out, and then the song ends on a random minor chord, which is so weird, it's such a happy, spacey song that ends on this minor chord. 0:41:09 - Speaker 3 I loved that. I loved that about it. So for me this one it felt a little Out of the gates. I need to listen to the beginning of it to see your G-Love reference. But out of the gates. It felt to me a little bit country and a little bit like are we reaching again for some crossover fans Along? the southern belt of the US. Like where are we? What's happening here? You know there's some slide guitar, but is it a song about lost love? You know looking up at the stars waiting for a reveal. You know there's synth work in here again, so there's some sort of keyboard happening, which is fucking cool. And to me, the first lesson I had all those kind of questions going through my head And then I thought at one moment like this is actually a fucking beautiful song. Like it's a little bit of an odd man out on the album, but it's actually a beautiful song. There's this long ending with no singing. It's just mysterious. Like you said, pete, the last five seconds or so, or this just bizarre tune out. It's like I found one quote when Gord was asked about this song. He said this was an interview in 2004,. He said this one asks the question evil in the open or evil just below the surface? That was his comment about this song. So it's like this song to me was super mysterious Yeah, super mysterious song which I fucking love, like I don't need literal storytelling every single song you know. Social themes, i don't know all these different things, i don't need that. Every single song I love you know kind of the knuckleball that comes in. You're like whoa okay, this is reeling me back in to the album in a good way, a way that I'm looking for, you know, i'm hoping for, but still, again, this one felt a little bit odd, man, just the way it fits into the album. They've done this before. They've gotten. 0:43:15 - Speaker 4 They lose green man. 0:43:16 - Speaker 3 Yeah, they've gone on this path of like okay, this one, now we're going to turn off the highway and head down this two-lane road and we're going to stop at this farm and we're going to have an afternoon barbecue with this family, and you know, i don't know, like it's just this one's off the highway. 0:43:35 - Speaker 1 Cool. What do you guys think of the bridge? It makes my arm hair stand up That night in Toronto with the checkerboard floors. There's a bar in Toronto that's famous legendary in fact called the Horseshoe and that references the Horseshoe, the checkerboard floors. Oh shit, that's one of the first big gigs they played in Toronto. 0:43:55 - Speaker 4 Can I get taken to that bar when I come visit Toronto? 0:43:57 - Speaker 1 Absolutely. Let's do it. Sure shit hopes so man. 0:44:00 - Speaker 4 That would be cool. This song is actually the most listened to hip song on Spotify. 0:44:07 - Speaker 1 Oh, wow Yeah. 0:44:09 - Speaker 3 Surpasses. I read something about that as well. 0:44:13 - Speaker 4 What was the one that it surpassed? 0:44:16 - Speaker 1 I can't remember Anyway yeah Well, so it's a hit all around Pop Cage. 0:44:21 - Speaker 3 Yeah, it was a fucking interesting song, right? This is. 0:44:25 - Speaker 1 So we shift gears now in a well, not in a huge way, because this is sort of low tempo or slower tempo. We go to Thompson Girl and you're both hesitating to start Thompson Girl. 0:44:41 - Speaker 4 Go ahead Tim. 0:44:42 - Speaker 3 Yeah, well, you know what's the story about here. I don't know. It's the story potentially about where is it here, This town in Manitoba, thompson, yeah, or it's. You know it's potentially about a nickel mining company up there. You know it's got this kind of sweet, forlorn grunt work somewhere between dream and duty, poking through with all them shoots of beauty. I mean, what is that about? You know, this is kind of a cute, in a way stripped down acoustic song. There's some banjo in there. You know, i've kind of been waiting for, I had been waiting for this type of stripped down, simpler song that you know it's kind of this forlorn, sad song to me at the same time. 0:45:42 - Speaker 1 Probably Pete. 0:45:44 - Speaker 4 I loved it. I thought it was cool. I think I don't know if it's consistent with you and I, tim, but like I really try not to look too deep into the lyrics because oftentimes I'm disappointed, that's why I don't do it. I know you do it a lot more than I do I totally do. 0:46:03 - Speaker 3 I mean it's because of Gord, like Gord Gord. for me, gord merits it. 0:46:09 - Speaker 4 I get intrigued though, but like dude so does. I mentioned Celie Daner earlier. Like Donald Fagan's lyrics are notoriously cool as fuck. But have you ever asked that guy like what he you know what's, what's the meaning of? you know Dr Woo or whatever, like he'll be, like I don't know man, we're on so much cocaine. Back in the day I was just getting shipped to prime or whatever you know like, and I know that's not really the case here. But that line, the way he goes up so high with grunt work, i can't. I'm not even gonna fucking try lest I fucking destroy your listener base JD by singing that line. But when he goes grunt work time between dream and duty the melody is so fucking good It's then there's a part. Um, i don't know if it's like, i don't know, i wouldn't call it the bridge, but it is a bit of a some sort of key change to the regular chord progression. When he goes really high and then the mandolin starts to come in fucking dug that. And then the piano kind of comes in at the end as well, it's fucking cool. I really dig it. Yeah, i liked it First. I didn't like it. I didn't like the chord progression. It just seemed to like, like you said, tim, acoustic. It's sending, like it was like this should be an acoustic song. 0:47:30 - Speaker 3 Keep it that way. Yeah, yeah. But then it grew on me real quick, which is maybe something I would potentially envision. From a stuck in the studio couple days, you know, you'd get to a point to where everybody's kind of burned out and you pick up the acoustic and somebody says to the piano and you talk about is it INCO, inco and the fucking nickel mining, and I, you know, i looked at it a little bit into that in Manitoba and was like, oh geez, here's, here's a historical. You know, just rabbit hole that I can't go down right now. But it just this, to me, is just one of those, one of those songs that fits in well with this whole album And it's something we haven't really had in the past. So it's kind of happy to hear it. Next one membership Who's who's singing backups Somebody found, is it Gord Is? 0:48:28 - Speaker 1 it Gord over. Usually it's Paul Angla, usually Well. 0:48:32 - Speaker 3 I don't think it's Paul. It might be doubled. If you, if you go in and listen again, check out membership and listen to the backups, because it sounds like a woman to me and it sounds really familiar, like I've heard this voice before And I've looked and looked and looked but I can't find anything. It might be one of the guys, just you know, editing it in post or something, i don't know. But there's, there's some beautiful backup happening. This one, though you know it's wasn't my favorite on the album, i'm not going to put it on the playlist There's kind of a big change after the three minute mark with, like this new chorus. Of course it has my fade out at the end. You know there's there's kind of this bigger start to the song, but it's kind of slow in a way. I don't know. It's maybe about addiction, it's kind of a ballad. you know this, this one, it just felt like it didn't really fit in, didn't really wasn't really sure how it was working and it it made me consider you know I've done this a few times that it made me consider the band and what they were feeling you know they're coming in on 2000 here What they were feeling after 10 years, which is long for any band to retain some amount of success 10 years of playing and predominantly being popular in their home country and not even gaining a huge you know the level they deserved in the neighboring USA. So this this kind of made me think about all those things. I just didn't know if it was like about power abuse of power addiction or longing loss, i don't know. This song was kind of all over the map for me, but ultimately the chorus bugged me and it stuck in my head for a little while. I was like, oh, i need, i need some other, i need some other hip song stuck in my head and that's kind of where, honestly, that's where, like blow a high dough, just comes and takes over my brain. So that's what happened. 0:50:50 - Speaker 4 on membership, I you know I have a ton to say about this song. It's kind of like I put in the same categories Poets. It wasn't my favorite song in the record. I liked it, felt it like it was a very drone rock with a chord progression. It's the way it sounded. I love the harmonies. Tim mentioned the harmonies being drawn along by it. Like that line with the harmonies come in The middle, guitar solo where they kind of tease you with the guitar solo helps build the song kind of cool. But then, yeah, the fade out at the end is just like to me. It felt like they maybe didn't have, they didn't nail everything down with this one. That's all I'll say, you know, but yeah we can move on if you want, let's slide over to fireworks. 0:51:46 - Speaker 7 You like fireworks? Yeah, me neither. The frustrating part Never back in old 72 Without school, just a gun, without a gun or trigger. I don't remember a reason. Set me sight of you. You said I couldn't get a fuck about the party. Never heard something true back before You held my hand. We were on the long way Loosing in my grip on Bobby Moore. Never heard anything wrong before I blushed. When these ever sensations get in your way, no doubt this shit me spurred right now By your shoulder, and that an amazing what you can't accomplish now I'm not together every single moment. That's what we thought. We'd be married. We both do deep with the grip of art, of fish chaos, believing in the country, me and you. Christ has a faith in Christ, the sinner cramming Yeah, we've heard all this before It's winter time. The house is solid to the bones, loosing in our grip on this fake cold war. Is it an amazing and a better accomplish When we don't let no nation get in our way? No doubt this shit me spurred right now By your shoulder, and that an amazing what you can't accomplish now, next to your comrades in the nation of fitness, the program regarding some eternal past time, clopping to the mind in a fit of laughter, showing no patience, no tolerance, no respect By your words, next to the distance, contemplating towering, towering star By your words. And in late, never, till there are no stars anymore By your words. And in, straight in heaven, contemplating towering, towering star, till there are no stars shining up in heaven, till there are no stars anymore. Isn't it an amazing and a better accomplish When we don't let no nation get in our way? No doubt this shit me spurred right now By your brand of error, shining up in heaven, contemplating towering, towering star. I think this one thing never goes away And this ones thing's always supposed to stop. Oh, this funny thing doesn't have to go away, and I'm gonna lie. 0:55:41 - Speaker 4 Oh fuck, How much time you got, then Fucking song, this song, i just have the word. It's this fucking rush, rush, rush, rush, rush. Just so much rush in this song. Really, there's a couple of rush references on this record and this is number one. I would say that is it. Gord Sinclair, yeah, so like and I think he would agree with me, because I don't know that I don't know any bass player in Canada, let alone the entire world, would put them up against Geddy Lee. So I can't like, true, Like. I don't think the bass in this song was supremely rushed, but the chord progression, the structure of the song, the lyrics, isn't it amazing? anything's accomplished Is fucking. It's so fucking dude, it's fucking rush, completely Fucking. It's like they should have just made a record with one song on it and sent it to Rush and been like this is for you guys, we love you guys. And dude, i'm not saying anything remotely like they jocked anything. It's an homage in the sweetest sense. It's fucking beautiful. I fucking listened to the song so many times. There's I don't know if he's playing a Les Paul or a Hamer Rob Baker, but it's got some hollow tone electric guitar. There's a line in there Christ in the Kremlin. I'm fucking. The words in this song are fucking spectacular. I bet it just destroyed. Destroyed. The crowd live Like. I mean if they played this fucking live you'd have to close with this or I don't know what you'd play with this. I mean it's just fuck. What's the other line Next year? comrades in the National Fitness Program caught in some external flex arm hang dropping the mat. Dude the lot. This that the way he speeds up that verse and fits all those fucking words into that, and then he goes back to the normal cadence, like when I say cadence I mean like the tempo, not a modal cadence, but like tempo. He goes back to that. I just bet when they, when they all listened to this track after it was mixed, or they all recorded everything, they all just fucking high-fived and hugged each other and had a big old fucking circle 100% Yeah. Dude, it's a fucking. It's one of my favorite fucking hip songs period. 0:58:23 - Speaker 3 Oh, you know what they. You know what they said after they recorded this. They were like this is going to be an every jukebox across Canada. I mean, it's a jukebox song. I mean, really, this is like play something by the tragically hip. Okay, i'm at the jukebox. Stick in a quarter. Oh, here's fireworks. Everybody loves this song. You know, that's that's. I couldn't agree more, pete. I just felt like this could be put on a seven inch only and out in the world. You know it was one of the first songs in a while where, like, i immediately just started snapping my fingers. It was like, okay, this, this song's, this song's moving. I completely agree with the rush references I love. I so identified with this girl. There was actually a girl who said she didn't give a fuck about hockey. I never heard a girl swear and I've never heard someone say that before. It was like there was some whole other world out there which is hard to fathom at times. I don't follow hockey. I totally identify with this. When I go on Facebook and it's like near the weekend it's mostly fucking NFL comments from people I know in Southern California. It's like, god damn, i wish I had a sports filter on my life because I don't really follow any sports. So the hockey the hockey comment, i was like yes, i, i want to hang out with you, let's go drink beers. You know, i probably follow that. It's whatever I just I just identify with that part, it's. You know this, though, you're right, pete, isn't it amazing you could do anything when the notion isn't in your way, believing in the country of me, and you, ah, you know, it's just, it's, it's, this is, it's more. It's more than an anthem. 1:00:17 - Speaker 4 You know, the crazy is so it's so, Getty Lee, though man. 1:00:21 - Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. What's? 1:00:24 - Speaker 4 this, it's, it's spirit of the radio. Okay. That's the song thing you have in so many ways. Yeah, i mean, and I don't think any musician in the band would say like they can you know drum? like Neil Pert? I think the guitar is pretty. It's got some solid Alex life and vibes. like you could fucking compare that guitar wise. but like bass and drums, you can't fucking come close to those, like it's just. but sorry, tim, i didn't mean to interrupt you, but it's just a fucking. 1:00:55 - Speaker 3 That's good. Good, it's such a JD. What JD, what? what were your thoughts on the song? Do you have, do you have memories of hearing the song, or anything, or like? 1:01:03 - Speaker 1 I think it's, I think it's a romantic song, Like. I think it's like the firework of like meeting somebody that is just, you know, absolutely the sparkle of your eye, you know, sort of thing. The context, to give you some context, the goal that he's talking about, the goal that everyone remembers, is when Canada beat the Soviets in 1972. And that was, that was during the Cold War. So it was a big deal, that series, Canada playing hockey against Russia. you know a few games here in Canada and a few games in Moscow. It was a big deal, Like for these Canadian hockey players to go to Russia. Like at that time Russia was so mysterious And there was a very famous goal that won the series by Paul Henderson that everyone remembers. It's one of those moments in Canada, the, if you're of the right age or generation I'm not, I'm born in 74. So it's over my head, But if you were there then it's one of those like you know where you were moments. you know what I mean. 1:02:10 - Speaker 3 It's huge huge moment in sports history. 1:02:13 - Speaker 1 So for him to be just blown away. Like you know, loosening my grip on Bobby Orr, like I just picture, the 16 year old who's in love with Bobby Orr has the hockey cards on the wall, you know, he's just tremendous and all of a sudden he just oh, there's girls out there. Oh, and there's this particular girl who doesn't give a fuck about what, like whoa fireworks, you know. 1:02:40 - Speaker 3 Yeah, great song, Great song. This. yeah, I could have had this song, you know, and had a satisfied meal and went to bed. 1:02:49 - Speaker 1 You and your food All right. Go next to vapor trails. 1:02:58 - Speaker 3 So vapor trails, like I started this one and paused and had to come back to it, i didn't keep going like this, this, this, this was one of the breaks. And now for me, where I was like, okay, i'm not, either not in it enough or not focused enough, let's come back to it and didn't hold your attention. He would not not at the get go, but eventually it did. Oh, eventually it did bring me in. It totally was one of those songs that I wasn't so sure about, but over time was like humming it while walking around the house. You know, there's just to me it has some mysticism to it. There's this mysterious not to say it again but backup singer, whoever is in there. I mean there's some really good backup singing happening, but I just love some of the lyrics. There's nothing uglier than a man hitting a stride. 1:04:00 - Speaker 1 What a great lyric, right Dude And just the way he says it as well. There's nothing uglier than a man hitting a stride, yeah. 1:04:09 - Speaker 3 I can't wait to use that some point in life. You know, watching something happen, yeah, chords, use that line, throw away the rudder, float away, like they portrayals. You know, i get this. It's like, it's this feeling of like giving up. You know, at some point we all, everyone, i think everyone has contemplated, you know, life being different or serious change, or giving up, or you know, we've all had these heavy times in our lives and maybe the song kind of hits on that. There's amazing guitar riffing just towards four minute mark. It felt, you know, just to kind of wrap it up. For me it felt like a produced ending. You know, the fade out was like it wasn't just let's wrap the song up, let's just fade it out, it was like let's produce the fade out. So it was a little, i don't know a little more, a little more orchestrated. But yeah, it's, this song is. This song was a banger. I think it was really good for the spot in the album. I think it was like really fitting. 1:05:27 - Speaker 1 Yeah, because we're well into the second side now. Yeah yeah. Second track, second side, if you're playing by those roles, It has a good place, good place in the album. What do you think of APR Trail's Pete? 1:05:39 - Speaker 4 Well, this is the other thing that I thought was it's not. It's not a Rush reference, but I actually think there's a possibility that Rush's 2001 record Vapor 12, vapor Trails was perhaps, maybe, an homage to Tragically Hip. Wow, i don't know, that's my, that's my in my dream world. I don't know if that's really true, but and I saw them on that tour and they were fucking just amazing. Saw them at the Irvine Meadows man. 1:06:18 - Speaker 1 Such a great show. 1:06:19 - Speaker 4 Never saw. 1:06:20 - Speaker 1 Rush. I was supposed to see Rush on a tour in 93 and guess who was opening for them? Who, tragically Hip Jesus Christ. Wow, on Road Apples. Yeah, dude. 1:06:30 - Speaker 4 I don't know what's a bigger fail That or not partying with them. 1:06:34 - Speaker 1 Oh God, it's the, that's the, that's the fail. 1:06:36 - Speaker 3 They're close. Not partying, I think. 1:06:39 - Speaker 4 Well, we, let's put it this way, we, we, we showed to that concert, i think, and they were they, we were at that time. It's strange, real quick, because I know. but during that time, because 2001 was coming out of the Napster years and years, right And into, like I think it was right where the iPods came out, um, so people started buying music online again, sort of. So bands didn't have money to pay for opening bands during that time, so a lot of bands would tour and be like who's opening? And like there's nobody opening. So we assumed that somebody was opening, for Rush happened to me with pavement one time, but that's another story Um, and we walked, we're, we're racing through the parking lot Because we hear a spirit of the radio, but right into Red Bar Chat after that and just fucking made my, made my life. But to the song. Paper Trails. Um, the fucking vocal melody in the opening verse same. I got the same cadence, Tim. I don't know if you mentioned this as Thompson girl. Um, but the song I loved it. I imagine when they sung this song live, that when Gord sings the line you can throw away the rudder. He probably blows out either part of the low end or part of the mid end frequencies in the fucking speakers at this this, this house, his voice is just at that frequency where, if he really punches it like he could, he could break. He could break some fucking windows, because it's, it's just fucking just the way he delivers that shit. Throw away the rudder, um, uh, what else? Yeah, just that line to me was worth buying the fucking record. Pulled the car over. There's nothing uglier. Yeah. Then a man hitting his stride. Yeah, there's a transition from the bridge back to the chord progression. That's super abrupt And it's so cool because there's no transition. It's just like boom, boom, they go right back into the chord progression and it's fucking cool. I'm not, can't think of any band that I've heard do that. And then the last thing is the line, and it's it's. It's maybe Rob Baker, i don't know who's singing the backup, but Mexicans dressed in beige shirts Crazy line, yeah. 1:09:16 - Speaker 1 Yeah, I've never heard that Mexicans dressed in beige shirts. 1:09:19 - Speaker 4 It's. It's like almost whispered. 1:09:25 - Speaker 3 Wow references you know references, folks who spend their life picking the strawberries and raspberries. 1:09:31 - Speaker 1 We, i believe, Yeah, I would guess so. 1:09:37 - Speaker 3 I believe it does So yeah. 1:09:39 - Speaker 4 Are we going to? 1:09:40 - Speaker 1 rules. You got it, dude. 1:09:48 - Speaker 4 I love the song. It was so fucking cool and so chill. This starts out with those huge cymbal crashes in the beginning. This is the second song in the record that references a pedestrian crossing, talks about a crossing guard not doing their job. 1:10:04 - Speaker 1 So yeah, it's really reference of and the second reference of super farmer. Uh-huh Right. 1:10:11 - Speaker 3 In that same in that same Stan's line. Got some agricultural themes happening. Probably the third agricultural theme. 1:10:21 - Speaker 4 Yeah, I don't know I just the phrasing was beautiful. I'm wondering what a bard is. B-a-r-d. 1:10:28 - Speaker 3 There's a couple of references with that. One is it has to do with a Shakespeare reference. 1:10:35 - Speaker 1 That's what I thought, yeah. 1:10:36 - Speaker 3 Yeah, and then the other one is I'm not going to butcher it, the other one has to do with fighting. I have to look it up. 1:10:46 - Speaker 1 Let's just go with Shakespeare. 1:10:48 - Speaker 3 Yeah, it's some Shakespeare reference. 1:10:52 - Speaker 4 And then to the line about the vacuum's got a guarantee. I just that line hooked me in so much because it was so random that I was like really in just pay super close attention to what he said. And the next line that he delivers, which is it could suck a virus, an ancient virus from the sea, is like what the like again put on the hat, put on your jacket, close the briefcase. Fucking. Done your job today. 1:11:23 - Speaker 1 Leave the office, gordon, that's right Punch out or whatever. 1:11:27 - Speaker 4 The whole, that whole stand is fucking amazing. There's a table slide And then oh, by the way, this song, and fuck, there was one other song. God damn this song. and one other song at the record. on the record It's earlier. I want to say it may be something on or say the planet. at the very end of it You hear the word somebody in the studio is cool. Yeah, so it doesn't feel so and there was one other two, one other song on the record that they did, so I was like they did that twice. 1:12:05 - Speaker 1 That's cool. I'm going to need access to your premium sound system. 1:12:10 - Speaker 4 Well, I mean GD, that's. We know this is not stuff we just hand on. It's kind of like you know top secret Clarence, There's a lot involved, A lot of screaming All right, all right, all right. 1:12:22 - Speaker 3 He passed. He's done it. Yes, true, yes, we're adjourning my current, for he's had it. Yeah, i heard the song and I thought Pete loves this song so much And when we come talk about it on the pod it's going to be all Pete. 1:12:43 - Speaker 1 You know how much to say. 1:12:44 - Speaker 3 I thought it was kind of a yonder. I got you know some, some from it, But you know I was like this. The song isn't for me. I thought it was kind of a yonder. I was going to leave it to Pete. 1:12:58 - Speaker 1 We're going to come back in a year because it's going to be a grower for you. I guarantee this song will be a grower for you. 1:13:04 - Speaker 3 If it's not, you guys both have to buy me beers. I can live with that, Yeah, yeah. 1:13:11 - Speaker 1 Okay. Well then let's slide into Sugar and Falls Ohio. 1:13:15 - Speaker 4 Take it Timbo. 1:13:17 - Speaker 3 Yeah, so Sugar and Falls. So this song I thought was basically a huge fuck off to corporate man, to the man. I thought this is like. This song is driving some culture into the fan base. It's probably, you know, was played a lot on the radio. I thought this one you know I could be wrong, but this song to me felt like on the verge of angry a little bit more than usual. I'd maybe really wonder about it live, if this got more raucous, if it got a little bit more I don't know violent feeling. And I think it's because it thematically, which is where I'm going to go, not so much with music on this one, but thematically it Sugar and Falls, in my research. That's the headquarters of Clear Channel, which at the time Clear Channel Corporation was slowly taking over media, especially North America. Yeah, so that's a lot of the references to Grand Falls. You know where the unknown won't even go. Because at this point I mean that line to me says if you're an artist and you're trying to make it like, avoid your Grand Falls, avoid Clear Channel, you know, be careful with what radio you're sending your tapes to your CDs to like this. This is that song that is kind of the band's shout to the world of, you know, corporate media is taking over the airwaves, you know, be aware So that that to me the song has like a mission. It felt like the first time I listened to it. When I got to you know, three quarters, two thirds of the way through, i thought is this song like over five minutes? you know it felt long, but it didn't feel long in a bad way, like it felt like a good, just a really well written song. Like I was kind of digging through Grand Falls, it felt like a five minute song, but it's not a five minute song. I didn't look up live versions of it but I definitely want to find something. 1:15:47 - Speaker 1 Yeah, get the answers to your questions. I can't, unfortunately, answer because I saw them on that tour and I don't remember if they played it, but I can't. 1:15:57 - Speaker 3 It was somewhat rare. I feel like it was probably going to be a rare rarely. 1:16:01 - Speaker 1 Yeah, it would be one that would be, you know, gosh. Well, let me just quickly look up how many times they played it. 1:16:09 - Speaker 3 I mean for people that don't know, Clear Channel took over corporate. I mean took over FM radio. Over time, like so many stations became Clear Channel stations and became programmed. And I remember hearing the transition because, as a big radio listener, being bored in 71, you know, i listened to radio for like 20 years, 15 at least, 20 years and they just completely took over And I remember hearing DJs demeanor changing from independent radio station to now being put into this box And I feel like that's what the band is trying to talk about in this song And I think it's their fuck you to this corporate system of being in a band and trying to make it and just to inspire people to be independently minded. 1:17:08 - Speaker 4 Yeah, it's funny you mentioned Clear Channel only because I want to talk about the song, because I feel a little bit different about the song in some ways than you do, tim, and it's funny, like Tim, i didn't do fucking a pubic here. The research you did for this fucking song. I had to look up where Chagrin Falls was but, and I dug it. But yeah, that's when there used to be a great station in classic rock station in LA called Arrow 93. And they went over to that Jack. You know that Jack format Jack FM, which is just, it's just a guy who like record something and it's like a cheesy line and he
Ever find yourself reminiscing about the good old days when tunes from The Tragically Hip filled the airwaves? My pals, Tim and Pete, and I sure did, as we took a deep dive into their 6th studio album, Phantom Power. We discovered that our own past experiences and relationships managed to shape our views on this collection of radio hits, which seemed like a pivotal moment for the band. We weren't just content with superficially jamming out to the music. We dissected the unique sound and lyrical themes, compared them to previous Hip releases, and found ourselves swapping stories from past concerts. One standout memory was Tim being recognized by lead vocalist Gord Downie backstage. We also discussed the historical context of the album, like how its recording coincided with a major ice storm and a surprise tour that benefited a children's cancer camp. Stick around as we analyze some standout tunes like 'Poets' and its references to Gwen Jacobs' fight for women's equality. We also shared our thoughts on 'Fireworks' and how it reminded us of Canada's victory in the hockey series against Russia in 1972. So, whether you're a die-hard Hip fan or just love a good music chat, this episode is for you!TranscriptSpeaker 1 It's June of 1998 and I'm done with York University. To celebrate, my friends and I embarked on a camping trip to the Pinary Provincial Park just down the road from Grand Bend. It was just outside the liquor store in town that I heard a finished version of Pullets for the first time. Gord had long been one of my favorite Pullets, so to me this song resonated in a way that I can't quite describe. It was a feeling of euphoria and relief. This new record was going to be just fine, i thought to myself. Little did I know that several tracks on this record would stand the test of time and join the pantheon of great hip songs I still enjoy to this day, from the meandering escape is at hand to the traveling man, to the exquisite Bob Cajun and the downright delicious Emperor Penguin. Phantom power was right in the pocket, coming off of the exceptional trouble at the henhouse. As I got inside the truck to head back to the campsite I turned the volume up and just let Pullets sink into my brain. This was living. Today. We're going to hear from our friends Pete and Tim to check out what they think of Phantom power. Will it stack up? Find out today. On Getting Hip to the Hip. 0:01:41 - Speaker 2 Long sliced brewery presents Getting Hip to the Hip Hey it's JD here. 0:01:58 - Speaker 1 Welcome back to Getting Hip to the Hip. This week we are talking about Phantom Power, the sixth studio record by Seminole Canadian rock band, the Tragically Hip. I'm joined this week, as always, by my pals Tim and Pete Fellas. how are you doing? 0:02:19 - Speaker 3 Hey guys, hey guys, hey guys, glad to be here. Good to see you, i'm ecstatic to be here. 0:02:26 - Speaker 4 I'm ecstatic to be here right now. 0:02:27 - Speaker 1 Oh, I love it. 0:02:28 - Speaker 4 I love the energy This is happier than a pig and shit. 0:02:31 - Speaker 1 Oh boy, oh boy, that's pretty happy. I've seen some, some porcine creatures rolling in fecal matter and they sure love it. Okay, so if you are wanting to experience The Tragically Hip's music for the first time, tim and Pete are your avatars this week because they got to experience the record Phantom Power, which again is the sixth record produced by Steve Berlin, first record on Universal. But I guess I should tell you guys both. I guess I should say this to you both as honorary Canadians. Now, happy Canada Day. It's almost the 4th of July. It's July 3rd today, but it's July 4th tomorrow for you, but July 1st for us is Canada Day. So happy Canada Day, folks. 0:03:20 - Speaker 4 Wow, Yeah, Very close to the other 4th of July, which is America's Independence Day. In the UK they call that Thanksgiving. No, No, I had a. I took a flight one time on some shitty airline and the pilot was British and it was on the 4th of July and he was like so I just want to say you know, that's my shitty British accent Happy 4th of July was we call it. We're on from Thanksgiving. Enjoy Whatever. 0:03:57 - Speaker 1 That's great. Oh, anytime you can burn an American a little bit, it's. you know there's some fun. There's some fun there because you guys are so goddamn good at this shit, you know Anyway let's get into the record as a whole. Before we go into the song by song segment, let's just talk about this record, produced, like I said, by Steve Berlin. Five singles come from this record. All music rates at a three out of five Three. So there's that. What did you guys think? I want to know where you listen to it, how you listen to it and what your initial thoughts were, and you know, maybe, what they percolated up to. What do you say there, tim? 0:04:45 - Speaker 3 Well, there's a pause. I thought it was a three star album, kind of like all music I felt wasn't really sure. it felt a little bit deluded in a way. to me It felt a little bit, a little bit more generic from what I've heard in the past. But it also felt kind of expected for the whole catalog of albums this band has produced and the timeline going into the late 90s. You know this album felt like full of radio hits but at the same time I was missing a little bit of that raw kind of hip feeling. You know, i was wondering like, should I be okay with this album just being kind of fine? This was the turning point for me. I was really not sure. When I read kind of some reviews about it, i think there was some sentiment, some shared sentiment, and also some people were like it's my favorite album and some hip fans said it's their least favorite album. So this one's kind of a gray area for me. 0:06:00 - Speaker 1 It's funny. Well, I'll get into my, you know, sort of backgrounder on this for you guys after we hear from Pete. Pete, what did you think? 0:06:09 - Speaker 4 I hear you on the gray area, because I could totally see that. I could totally see how some hip fans are like this is the best album they did. Or this is not my favorite album. For me I listen to it everywhere. I listen to it in my office, so for my computer, with some some decent cans, i took it out running a lot. Probably. I think maybe the first time I listened to it was that took it in the car. It sounded great. The thing I found like I would say 3.5 for me, tim, instead of a 3. But you know I feel you on that My initial thoughts were that a lot of rawness of the hip was gone from this. In the first couple of listens it sounded very watered down. It was like somebody pulled Gord Downey aside and said Hey man, can we just like, kind of like the dude, can you, can, you fucking can you take it easy, man, you know, just like. Told him to just like chill out a little bit, and I don't know. The more I listen to it though, the more I dug into it and see how much work maybe not production, but just from the band themselves went into this record maybe changed my tune a lot Like I dig it. And Phantom Power, that was the coolest thing in the 90s, man Like because sometimes you didn't know what it was. If you never heard of Phantom Power before, it has a fucking cool name. If you had a guy that had like a condenser mic or something with Phantom Power, you're like dude, yeah, he's got a mic, that's got a Phantom Power. It was just like fucking. You were 17 and you heard that it was fucking cool. 0:08:00 - Speaker 3 Yeah, you know, i went and looked at a number of albums sold by a bunch of different bands, including the hip, and I was trying to kind of have this try to find this correlation of how many albums sold from the band start to like 10 years later, or 10 albums later, something like that. And I compared the hip with a bunch of bands And it's, it's. It's really all apples, oranges, of course, but when you look at how many albums they've sold and how they, you know, started off selling a ton and then just kind of went down to this million album mark. And then when I heard this album and I like UP, i listened to it all over the place. I listened to it on the plane I traveled, listened to it in the car, listened to it at home with the cans on. I mean I listened to it in more places than past listens because I was really trying to give it a go. I mean, it was the first time, upon first listened, that there were a couple songs where I was like okay, get it, i'm going to go to the next one, like I had not fast forwarded songs, you had her skipped ahead. So this, yeah, but but one of those songs that I skipped ahead on, sorry hip fans. You know I came back to and it's might be one of my most favorite on the album, so this this one like yeah, this one, this one to me like didn't grab me right away. Maybe it will more over time, maybe it's one of those types of albums, but well, i'll tell you what this record has. 0:09:36 - Speaker 1 An interesting, an interesting story, i think, and it it's my own headcanon This is. This is not like actual fact by any stretch, but in my opinion, trouble at the Henhouse, which is one of my absolute favorite records by the Tragically Hip or or or any other band, is, was maligned Like it, it, it, it, it both it and day for night didn't perform as well as fully, completely, and fully completely was very, if you recall, it was very polished, it was very produced. You know they went to London to record it. It was like a big deal. And then, following that, the next two records, they were sort of self-produced, with Mark Vreakin and Mark Howard on day for night and just Vreakin on fully, on Trouble at the Henhouse, and those records are sparse and they are. The core energy is, is there, it's, it's. It's like boiling hot magma, you know, and they're and they're forming these songs that are just age old now and and just wonderful, and then phantom power comes out and phantom power goes back to the like. To me it's sort of back to the back, to the basics. It's like back to really structured songs, really produced, and, like I always said, that this record was the baby of day for night and fully and completely, fully, completely, rather not fully and completely fully. It's sort of the baby of those two records. It's got the, it's got the production values, but it's still got songs. So I'll challenge you guys on that, because I think this record has songs and I think it has songs for days. You know what? 0:11:40 - Speaker 4 you are JD, let me tell you who you are. So when I was like 19 or 18, working with the movie theater, i dated this girl that that worked at the calendar place across the way And I just kind of went out with her because I was like really stoked. She gave me your number But I really wasn't that into her and all my friends were like, dude, she's really hot man, she's really amazing, and I just didn't see it. And so then like I stopped going out with her. We only went out a couple of times and that was that. And then I saw her again. I was like, damn, i really screwed that one up And that's kind of felt with this record, but I didn't want to like make that same mistake again. So like I, i'm sticking with it. I'm sticking with this being a solid album. Yeah, you know, yeah Masked it for, you know, a third and fourth date. 0:12:26 - Speaker 1 Yeah, i think, and I think three out of five stars is fair Like it's not it's not one of my. it's not my favorite record, but it's a lot of hit pants favorite record It's a lot Yeah, yeah. 0:12:39 - Speaker 3 That's that's what I found in my research. The covers are awesome. The covers are great. 0:12:43 - Speaker 1 They have that They actually have that panel in in their studio and bath, which is really cool. Yeah, so that's, you know this is. I want to say this is the second record they recorded at their studio. So they didn't go anywhere, you know, adventurous or anything like that, but they were at home. And what happened in 1998, i don't know if it made news anywhere else but Quebec and Ontario there was a major ice storm, yeah, major ice storm, and in Ontario it, like it absolutely shut down the city of Toronto. It shut down, you know, major thoroughfares. It was like devastating this ice storm. And we'll get into that a little bit more as we talk about the songs. But you know, they bring Berlin in and they're sort of trapped in the studio. You know like during during this, so really fascinating I think. 0:13:43 - Speaker 3 But yeah, it's a go ahead. Did you see this tour? Did you see them play on this tour? You want to hear a story Now? 0:13:52 - Speaker 1 people who listen to the movie and completely heard this. But the hip announced five secret shows that they were going to do, and all proceeds from these shows were going to go to a charity I forget which charity now at the oh, it was Camp Trillium. Camp Trillium, which is a camp for children with cancer, children that have cancer, and there's a location of that is near where I grew up And I'll show you when we, when you're in town for the finale. My friend's parents were on the committee for the cancer camp in our community, and so my friend Heather had intel and she she knew that they were going to go on sale at this time in this place in Hamilton, which is about an hour outside of Toronto, when traffic's good, and so we ended up getting third row center seats Wow, in this small theater in Hamilton, like 2000 people, and they blew the roof off the place. And a band called oh my goodness. They sang, come for a ride. Open for them, and they were tremendous as well. I forget the bands right now who open for them, but if you know it, send me an email. Jd at getting hip to the hipcom. So we're third row center. We watched the show, But the kicker here is is that Heather has got gifts to give the band And it's been arranged with the stage manager that we're going to go backstage afterwards to give. She's going to go backstage afterwards to give these gifts And she ended up inviting me along And so we got to go backstage and I introduced her to the tragic lab. So this was like this was like full circle for the two of us And it was just a wonderful experience. We went backstage after the show and they were all there and Gord had a. Gord Downey had a soccer ball And he was doing that thing where you flip it out, catch it and roll it back in your arms. Flip it out, catch it, roll it back in your arms And he just kept doing that And I remember at one point I must have looked silly or something, because somebody said and maybe it was Gord Downey said is everything all right? And I said, oh, everything is fucking perfect. I could go outside and get hit by a bus right now And it just wouldn't matter. And Gord Downey looked at me and he goes Oh, don't do that, jane. He called me Jane, only my mom calls me Jane. Like it was so cool It was cool. 0:16:37 - Speaker 4 How did I not know the story? How did I not know that you had interactions with Jesus? 0:16:44 - Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah, how was this? 0:16:45 - Speaker 4 coming up in episode. What fucking episode are we on. 0:16:48 - Speaker 1 Well, it was Tim asked me the question, yeah. 0:16:50 - Speaker 3 I don't know. We're like 15 minutes in. I think we could just call it. That was good enough. 0:16:55 - Speaker 1 Well, here's the kicker. Here's the kicker. I don't think I told this part on fully and completely, but the kicker is I had been dating a girl all through university and I broke up with her the summer of 98 and sewed my wild oats And this was all toward the end of the summer of 98. And she was in Hamilton to meet me after the show. So I'm backstage with the hip and they go Okay, well, we're going to go to the after party now in the next room over, because this was in the green room or whatever And we're going to go in the after party room and drink some beers. Do you guys want to join us? And I had to say no. I had to say no because my girlfriend was waiting outside for me. Now, in hindsight, what a boner move I made, because I wanted to get back together with her. Totally. It only lasted another two years after that, like I then absolutely blew up, but it was those. Those final two years were awful anyway, like they just weren't, you know, like both of us would agree to that now I'm sure the university years were wonderful, they were, they were great, but those those two years after our break up we're not so good And I blew a chance to go party with the hip. 0:18:15 - Speaker 3 You had a Davis Manning moment. 0:18:18 - Speaker 1 Yes, Yeah, yeah, absolutely. 0:18:22 - Speaker 3 He chose the girl over your fandom. 0:18:25 - Speaker 1 The hip lived between us. 0:18:27 - Speaker 3 They totally lived between you. They might still sorry, sorry, jess. 0:18:38 - Speaker 1 Well, folks, should we go song by song? 0:18:41 - Speaker 3 Yeah, let's do it, let's do it. 0:18:44 - Speaker 4 So I really liked this song. I really liked poets. This is probably the song I would say I have the least to say about. I really like the verse phrasing. I think it's probably the best part of this song, the way he phrases the verses. There's a part where the lines of a verse he kind of like carries into the next measure. It's really weird, like, like, like the mind, you think, okay, you sing the verse, then it's the next measure, but like he sings that verse over there Because it's when you look at it it's a complete line. I can't remember the line specifically, but it was. It was cool man. It's a hard thing to pull off man, but like that guy just does. It was so much, so much finesse. I liked the layered guitars in it, yeah. But I think, going back to what we're saying sort of at the beginning of the top of the show, it was, this song didn't punch me in the face Like right when I, right when I started listening, i dug it. I it was a soft open, it was a soft open. 0:19:59 - Speaker 1 All right, how'd you feel, tim? 0:20:01 - Speaker 3 I felt it was a harder open. I thought it was it. You know this. Like we've talked about before the cadence of songs and track orders. You know the first one I expect to really get me, bring me in, and this one did it. I thought it was pretty good. There's a fun kind of change over into the chorus It again I spoke about this a little bit before, but the kind of remind me of REM in REM's, like first half of the 90's albums, like they come on with like a punch of a song and then, like the cadence of the album kind of goes soft and then gets whoa, got a little dirty there, gets a little bit harder as time evolves. But yeah, this I thought this was a good start off. The themes you know I looked into a little bit of the song's meaning regarding lyrics and you know just talk about agriculture and super farms and like I don't know, ultimately fresh vegetables versus buying frozen and what that means. And this, this is the song that references Gwen Jacobs. Right, you know the story about her JD, and she was this woman who walked into town I think in Ontario topless and it created this whole. I don't have to look into this more, but I'm pretty sure this was the song about the Gwen Jacobs case. So Gwen was a woman who walked through town topless and was arrested and started this whole kind of woman's lib. You know movement with. You know making it okay to cut your lawn without a shirt on, just like the men do. That's kind of where the line in here from Gord comes from. It's a let's see. 0:22:02 - Speaker 1 Oh, that's great Lawn caught by breasted women. 0:22:04 - Speaker 3 Yeah, it's kind of this comment on pushing for women's equality and gender rights. So I thought that was fucking cool And that, to me also, is like really appropriate for the 90s or late 90s, you know it was. we were kind of circling back to, of course, some things we've had in North America before and prior decades. So I thought this song was cool. Again, it really reminded me of REM. I kind of went back and started looking at some of REM's albums and I wish, again, i wish I could know what the band listened to when they were traveling Me too. You know what they were sharing, what albums they were digging. you know if any of them were like Oh my God, did you hear REM's new one? We're going to put it in the the the buses stereo or whatever. Like I wish I could know what was influencing them, because I'm hearing, i'm hearing some some themes for sure. 0:22:57 - Speaker 1 Okay, earlier I was telling you about the ice storm. The next track, something on, was recorded and they literally were trapped in the studio. They were, you know, they couldn't leave the bath house, they couldn't leave the studio in bath. So they did what they do best They wrote a song and there's some lyrical content in there about the ice storm even And I think it's really wonderful lyricism. What did you guys think of something on? 0:23:33 - Speaker 3 I felt like, okay, i read about it, i read about this and I read about the ice storm and you know sounded awful. And for I hate to say this, but to go get stuck in a studio, for me that'd be like the time to really fuck things up, like really experiment. You know, you know, just hopefully somebody shows up with a huge bag of weed and somebody shows up with a bunch of acid and somebody shows up with a shit ton of beer and like this is when you like really go to town to experiment and what do we got out of it? We got like kind of a radio hit. So it was a little surprise to kind of hear the whole story and it just made me realize that maybe for this era, the guys were really I mean, they were at a point to where they could bust out a really good album, you know, and what, for me, that really good album is? like you go to a restaurant and it's like yo, that was a good meal. You know, everything was like satisfactory. 0:24:37 - Speaker 1 Well, yeah, it's a blooming onion man. 0:24:38 - Speaker 3 It's a blooming onion, Yeah, but to get stuck in a studio and ice storm, it's like I personally would want to just start going places. I haven't been before with my band, but you know this one's interesting take. Yeah, this one felt. This one felt a little radio felt a little you too, dave Matthews like splash of John Cougar melon camp or something like I don't know. Man, it felt, i know. I know, i know, i know. 0:25:10 - Speaker 1 And I was a big melon camp guy at one point. 0:25:13 - Speaker 4 But Dave, Matthews are regular. 0:25:16 - Speaker 1 Cougar and regular. 0:25:18 - Speaker 3 Yeah, like I couldn't get overly excited about this one. Well, again. 0:25:26 - Speaker 1 I think you were waiting for the follow up from the follow up to trouble at the house, and this isn't the follow up that you're expecting on a trajectory perspective. You know no no, i agree. 0:25:44 - Speaker 4 It's funny. You talk about getting trapped in the studio, like I mean, i don't know if I'd go like full steely Dan when they recorded the Albuquerque show, where, like you know, there maybe was not that much cocaine around, but I still agree with him, i would. I'd get really spacey, and I think they do it on a couple songs that we'll get into, but first time I heard this song got some heavy Jim Blossom's feels. Yeah yeah, Yes that's the first thing that hit me and I couldn't think of any of the band that it was like a buddy of mine used to play the band that they open for them a ton, and I was like the first band that came to mind like this Oh, and it was really poppy. And okay, my notes. Once you get past the repeated cheesiness of the chord progression and the vocal melody, it's not a bad song. 0:26:40 - Speaker 1 Oh dammit, with faint praise here. No, no, no, it's not a bad song. 0:26:44 - Speaker 4 I think it's a good song, but you know it's a good song. If, like you, take this song and go, is this a good song? Anybody will say it's a good song, but like you, said to me compared to the follow up of what you really wanted after trouble. Then else, and this was a song where I feel like Gord sounded a bit like he was put in the cage Like whoever was a universal when this record was getting recorded, put baby in the corner. And this is a song where really I feel like you know he's, he wants to be himself, but somebody's like, hey, man, just could you like you don't have to do it all the songs, but like at least on this one could you just, fucking, you know, tone it down a little bit. And I was just like, ah, where's my fucking, where's my lead singer. 0:27:33 - Speaker 3 Yeah, I totally agree, Because you know it's still a good song, because it's still all the guys and it still has themes, because it's Gord, you know you're still going to get one liners that are amazing. I feel like probably no matter what in any hip song there's going to be some standout lyric to me, some standout part like to the core fan. That's. That's really what I'm imagining. The line that stood out in this one for me was your imaginations having puppies, I mean yeah, yeah. I've had so many letters of puppies, you guys. It's like I'm just, i've got puppies all over the place. It's like. 0:28:11 - Speaker 4 I was a cool. I really like that one. Yeah, like that, like that video for new recruits or something. 0:28:17 - Speaker 3 Yeah, so I like identified in it. You know, at that personal level, which I think they're able to do just about on any song which is fucking amazing for a band to do, because I could probably name 10 bands right now. What that does not happen to me, yeah, so you know. So, in that regard, like hip fans, you know I'm, i'm I'm not really trying not to be the bad guy here, but we this, this, this just made this song, just made me keep going So into save the planet. I mean, i got to this one, arrived at this one, and I was like, is this the band's fucking Earth Day song? or stretch their reach to get on the farm aid bill, like what is going on here? I felt like I don't know, there's a flute in there. Who's playing the flute? 0:29:09 - Speaker 1 Who plays the flute? You know, i don't. I don't have the liner notes handy And on the wiki page it is remarkably barren in terms of additional players. Yeah, it doesn't, it doesn't have them, so I need people to write in. 0:29:25 - Speaker 3 If people know, let us know, because there's some flute in there And it made me wonder like what else? 0:29:31 - Speaker 1 there's keys all over this record. 0:29:33 - Speaker 3 Yeah, what else have I been missing in the background that maybe other people are participating in? But I felt, like you know this song, in the placement we were, we were filling, we were filling in the gaps on the menu And you're like, no, I had a burger yesterday. No, I'm not in the mood for that. Oh, I could really use some lasagna. Here we go. That's that's how Save the Planet felt, felt very time appropriate. This is, like you know, the millennial song. 0:30:02 - Speaker 1 Okay. 0:30:03 - Speaker 4 All right. So if anybody's got a line on the flute player, email Tim getting hip to the hip, talk there you go. Right, i copy Pete at getting hip Yeah. Save the Planet. I thought it was a banger. I really dug it. I at first I saw that too, but then I kind of look past the name of it And just look at the song itself. There's a. There's two references in this album to Crossing the Street, to pedestrian crossings. Yes, i'll point out the other one. This is the first one Fucking solo bangs in this. I thought the flute at the end was cool because it was so random. 0:30:47 - Speaker 3 I was like well, what the fuck is that? Yeah? 0:30:50 - Speaker 4 Same. 0:30:52 - Speaker 1 There's. You just can't imagine listening to road apples and having a flute right Like. It's just not part of this band. You know like and and and it works It works well, no, right? 0:31:05 - Speaker 4 Yeah, you know, if they went into that I'd be like, well, what the fuck's going on? 0:31:10 - Speaker 3 But I'll just quickly, quickly add that I'm okay with the flute. Like sometimes, the flute really is awesome. Oh, i think it's great. So you know, like some people like hear the flute and they're like oh why You know, but it works. 0:31:24 - Speaker 4 No, i dug it And this is again. This is not the first song, or not the only song in this record where I got some heavy Alanis vibes. The phrasing on if the bathwater is clear and my ears underwater, it's a tolerant hum from the core. Carry the water Like that the way he phrases that shit, it's just. I don't know if I see because it's a Canadian band, if I see everything through the lens of like Canadian pop artists. But like it's just the vibe I got from this and it's a great tune to get out and move your feet to get running. It's a fucking cool song to run. 0:32:09 - Speaker 3 All right, i'll put it on my point first I hear your Alanis vibes marry and up with my Michael Stipe vibes. I think those are in sync for sure, for sure. 0:32:20 - Speaker 1 I think there's a nice correlation between the hip and REM, like I think you're right, like they both have that enigmatic front man, you know, who is really literate and really interesting in the way they sort of phrase things and put things together. 0:32:39 - Speaker 4 They both went bold too, halfway through the careers, that's right, that's a fair point. 0:32:45 - Speaker 1 Fair point, fair point, all right, we're getting in the car right now and we are cruising northeast of here and we're going to Bob Cajun. I left your house this morning. 0:33:40 - Speaker 7 It was quarter after nine. I left your house this morning. I left your house this morning. I drove back to town this morning This morning with working on my mind, i thought I'd maybe try to leave an ear behind. I went back to bed this morning and it's time pulling down the blind. Yeah, the sky was dull, it was high but never come. And morning went down at a time that night in Toronto And I was jacking boardboards, riding on horseback and keeping order restored. Tell the men they couldn't hide. Step to the mic and sign and their voices rang with the area of time. To your house this morning. It was quarter after nine. In the middle of that riot I couldn't get you off of my mind. To your house this morning. It was just a little hour tonight Cause it was in my page on the rossard and constellation, but they themselves won't starve at time. To your house this morning It's a little after nine Cause it was in my page on the rossard and constellation, but they themselves won't starve at time. 0:37:32 - Speaker 5 Tell the men they couldn't hide, they didn't choose your bones and bones. They're all south of the wind and down the lawn to the lake For as long as it takes. 0:38:05 - Speaker 7 I don't want to be a hill of the birds last hour. I don't want the last words out of my mouth to be stained Out of my way. 0:38:16 - Speaker 4 Okay, I fucking love this tune. I got some heavy and Tim, yes or yes. If I hear no, I'm just I'm off this podcast Got some really strong G love special sauce vibes from this. Yes, Just the way they owe up. Am I my GD? 0:38:42 - Speaker 1 I don't know, i think I think I'm very familiar. 0:38:46 - Speaker 3 I did not go there, but I will Okay. 0:38:51 - Speaker 4 Right, i mean the. there's a oh dude that it could have been Willie, could have been the wine. I heard that song. The first time I heard that song I was. I took it out for a run and I came home and I like I listened to it again because I just thought it was such a good fucking song, because it's a weed. reference to may not necessarily be about them listening to Willie Nelson. It's like they were smoking weed or they were drinking wine, absolutely Yeah. The opening, like spacey guitar licks The dobro which I think he's playing. there's a dobro in there that he's playing which kind of gets sort of like a banjo slash guitar vibe. Oh God, just. 0:39:40 - Speaker 1 I feel like that lyric that you just quoted, though, could have been the Willie Nelson, could have been the wine. That's like one, like when he wrote that he should have just put the book down, put on a fedora, long overcoat, grabbed his briefcase, just went home for the day, that's. That's the days. That's the day at the office, that's a fucking. Exactly. 0:40:00 - Speaker 4 That's just a great lyric Exactly dude, no, 100%, it's so good. I was like you know. You know, a line is a good line when you hear it and it's so good you think you've heard it before. Meaning like I'm like right, i mean because it just sounds like it belongs on this in the history of life, Like like someone has, like if someone hadn't said it, they sure as shit should have said it. Does that make sense? Yeah, you know, it sounds like it's just. It's a great fucking line. I thought I maybe quit that line. It's just. It's really the part of this song where Gord starts coming out of the cage. On this record, i feel like that was the moment Somebody gave, somebody unlocked the door of the cage and he's starting to come out, and then the song ends on a random minor chord, which is so weird, it's such a happy, spacey song that ends on this minor chord. 0:41:09 - Speaker 3 I loved that. I loved that about it. So for me this one it felt a little Out of the gates. I need to listen to the beginning of it to see your G-Love reference. But out of the gates. It felt to me a little bit country and a little bit like are we reaching again for some crossover fans Along? the southern belt of the US. Like where are we? What's happening here? You know there's some slide guitar, but is it a song about lost love? You know looking up at the stars waiting for a reveal. You know there's synth work in here again, so there's some sort of keyboard happening, which is fucking cool. And to me, the first lesson I had all those kind of questions going through my head And then I thought at one moment like this is actually a fucking beautiful song. Like it's a little bit of an odd man out on the album, but it's actually a beautiful song. There's this long ending with no singing. It's just mysterious. Like you said, pete, the last five seconds or so, or this just bizarre tune out. It's like I found one quote when Gord was asked about this song. He said this was an interview in 2004,. He said this one asks the question evil in the open or evil just below the surface? That was his comment about this song. So it's like this song to me was super mysterious Yeah, super mysterious song which I fucking love, like I don't need literal storytelling every single song you know. Social themes, i don't know all these different things, i don't need that. Every single song I love you know kind of the knuckleball that comes in. You're like whoa okay, this is reeling me back in to the album in a good way, a way that I'm looking for, you know, i'm hoping for, but still, again, this one felt a little bit odd, man, just the way it fits into the album. They've done this before. They've gotten. 0:43:15 - Speaker 4 They lose green man. 0:43:16 - Speaker 3 Yeah, they've gone on this path of like okay, this one, now we're going to turn off the highway and head down this two-lane road and we're going to stop at this farm and we're going to have an afternoon barbecue with this family, and you know, i don't know, like it's just this one's off the highway. 0:43:35 - Speaker 1 Cool. What do you guys think of the bridge? It makes my arm hair stand up That night in Toronto with the checkerboard floors. There's a bar in Toronto that's famous legendary in fact called the Horseshoe and that references the Horseshoe, the checkerboard floors. Oh shit, that's one of the first big gigs they played in Toronto. 0:43:55 - Speaker 4 Can I get taken to that bar when I come visit Toronto? 0:43:57 - Speaker 1 Absolutely. Let's do it. Sure shit hopes so man. 0:44:00 - Speaker 4 That would be cool. This song is actually the most listened to hip song on Spotify. 0:44:07 - Speaker 1 Oh, wow Yeah. 0:44:09 - Speaker 3 Surpasses. I read something about that as well. 0:44:13 - Speaker 4 What was the one that it surpassed? 0:44:16 - Speaker 1 I can't remember Anyway yeah Well, so it's a hit all around Pop Cage. 0:44:21 - Speaker 3 Yeah, it was a fucking interesting song, right? This is. 0:44:25 - Speaker 1 So we shift gears now in a well, not in a huge way, because this is sort of low tempo or slower tempo. We go to Thompson Girl and you're both hesitating to start Thompson Girl. 0:44:41 - Speaker 4 Go ahead Tim. 0:44:42 - Speaker 3 Yeah, well, you know what's the story about here. I don't know. It's the story potentially about where is it here, This town in Manitoba, thompson, yeah, or it's. You know it's potentially about a nickel mining company up there. You know it's got this kind of sweet, forlorn grunt work somewhere between dream and duty, poking through with all them shoots of beauty. I mean, what is that about? You know, this is kind of a cute, in a way stripped down acoustic song. There's some banjo in there. You know, i've kind of been waiting for, I had been waiting for this type of stripped down, simpler song that you know it's kind of this forlorn, sad song to me at the same time. 0:45:42 - Speaker 1 Probably Pete. 0:45:44 - Speaker 4 I loved it. I thought it was cool. I think I don't know if it's consistent with you and I, tim, but like I really try not to look too deep into the lyrics because oftentimes I'm disappointed, that's why I don't do it. I know you do it a lot more than I do I totally do. 0:46:03 - Speaker 3 I mean it's because of Gord, like Gord Gord. for me, gord merits it. 0:46:09 - Speaker 4 I get intrigued though, but like dude so does. I mentioned Celie Daner earlier. Like Donald Fagan's lyrics are notoriously cool as fuck. But have you ever asked that guy like what he you know what's, what's the meaning of? you know Dr Woo or whatever, like he'll be, like I don't know man, we're on so much cocaine. Back in the day I was just getting shipped to prime or whatever you know like, and I know that's not really the case here. But that line, the way he goes up so high with grunt work, i can't. I'm not even gonna fucking try lest I fucking destroy your listener base JD by singing that line. But when he goes grunt work time between dream and duty the melody is so fucking good It's then there's a part. Um, i don't know if it's like, i don't know, i wouldn't call it the bridge, but it is a bit of a some sort of key change to the regular chord progression. When he goes really high and then the mandolin starts to come in fucking dug that. And then the piano kind of comes in at the end as well, it's fucking cool. I really dig it. Yeah, i liked it First. I didn't like it. I didn't like the chord progression. It just seemed to like, like you said, tim, acoustic. It's sending, like it was like this should be an acoustic song. 0:47:30 - Speaker 3 Keep it that way. Yeah, yeah. But then it grew on me real quick, which is maybe something I would potentially envision. From a stuck in the studio couple days, you know, you'd get to a point to where everybody's kind of burned out and you pick up the acoustic and somebody says to the piano and you talk about is it INCO, inco and the fucking nickel mining, and I, you know, i looked at it a little bit into that in Manitoba and was like, oh geez, here's, here's a historical. You know, just rabbit hole that I can't go down right now. But it just this, to me, is just one of those, one of those songs that fits in well with this whole album And it's something we haven't really had in the past. So it's kind of happy to hear it. Next one membership Who's who's singing backups Somebody found, is it Gord Is? 0:48:28 - Speaker 1 it Gord over. Usually it's Paul Angla, usually Well. 0:48:32 - Speaker 3 I don't think it's Paul. It might be doubled. If you, if you go in and listen again, check out membership and listen to the backups, because it sounds like a woman to me and it sounds really familiar, like I've heard this voice before And I've looked and looked and looked but I can't find anything. It might be one of the guys, just you know, editing it in post or something, i don't know. But there's, there's some beautiful backup happening. This one, though you know it's wasn't my favorite on the album, i'm not going to put it on the playlist There's kind of a big change after the three minute mark with, like this new chorus. Of course it has my fade out at the end. You know there's there's kind of this bigger start to the song, but it's kind of slow in a way. I don't know. It's maybe about addiction, it's kind of a ballad. you know this, this one, it just felt like it didn't really fit in, didn't really wasn't really sure how it was working and it it made me consider you know I've done this a few times that it made me consider the band and what they were feeling you know they're coming in on 2000 here What they were feeling after 10 years, which is long for any band to retain some amount of success 10 years of playing and predominantly being popular in their home country and not even gaining a huge you know the level they deserved in the neighboring USA. So this this kind of made me think about all those things. I just didn't know if it was like about power abuse of power addiction or longing loss, i don't know. This song was kind of all over the map for me, but ultimately the chorus bugged me and it stuck in my head for a little while. I was like, oh, i need, i need some other, i need some other hip song stuck in my head and that's kind of where, honestly, that's where, like blow a high dough, just comes and takes over my brain. So that's what happened. 0:50:50 - Speaker 4 on membership, I you know I have a ton to say about this song. It's kind of like I put in the same categories Poets. It wasn't my favorite song in the record. I liked it, felt it like it was a very drone rock with a chord progression. It's the way it sounded. I love the harmonies. Tim mentioned the harmonies being drawn along by it. Like that line with the harmonies come in The middle, guitar solo where they kind of tease you with the guitar solo helps build the song kind of cool. But then, yeah, the fade out at the end is just like to me. It felt like they maybe didn't have, they didn't nail everything down with this one. That's all I'll say, you know, but yeah we can move on if you want, let's slide over to fireworks. 0:51:46 - Speaker 7 You like fireworks? Yeah, me neither. The frustrating part Never back in old 72 Without school, just a gun, without a gun or trigger. I don't remember a reason. Set me sight of you. You said I couldn't get a fuck about the party. Never heard something true back before You held my hand. We were on the long way Loosing in my grip on Bobby Moore. Never heard anything wrong before I blushed. When these ever sensations get in your way, no doubt this shit me spurred right now By your shoulder, and that an amazing what you can't accomplish now I'm not together every single moment. That's what we thought. We'd be married. We both do deep with the grip of art, of fish chaos, believing in the country, me and you. Christ has a faith in Christ, the sinner cramming Yeah, we've heard all this before It's winter time. The house is solid to the bones, loosing in our grip on this fake cold war. Is it an amazing and a better accomplish When we don't let no nation get in our way? No doubt this shit me spurred right now By your shoulder, and that an amazing what you can't accomplish now, next to your comrades in the nation of fitness, the program regarding some eternal past time, clopping to the mind in a fit of laughter, showing no patience, no tolerance, no respect By your words, next to the distance, contemplating towering, towering star By your words. And in late, never, till there are no stars anymore By your words. And in, straight in heaven, contemplating towering, towering star, till there are no stars shining up in heaven, till there are no stars anymore. Isn't it an amazing and a better accomplish When we don't let no nation get in our way? No doubt this shit me spurred right now By your brand of error, shining up in heaven, contemplating towering, towering star. I think this one thing never goes away And this ones thing's always supposed to stop. Oh, this funny thing doesn't have to go away, and I'm gonna lie. 0:55:41 - Speaker 4 Oh fuck, How much time you got, then Fucking song, this song, i just have the word. It's this fucking rush, rush, rush, rush, rush. Just so much rush in this song. Really, there's a couple of rush references on this record and this is number one. I would say that is it. Gord Sinclair, yeah, so like and I think he would agree with me, because I don't know that I don't know any bass player in Canada, let alone the entire world, would put them up against Geddy Lee. So I can't like, true, Like. I don't think the bass in this song was supremely rushed, but the chord progression, the structure of the song, the lyrics, isn't it amazing? anything's accomplished Is fucking. It's so fucking dude, it's fucking rush, completely Fucking. It's like they should have just made a record with one song on it and sent it to Rush and been like this is for you guys, we love you guys. And dude, i'm not saying anything remotely like they jocked anything. It's an homage in the sweetest sense. It's fucking beautiful. I fucking listened to the song so many times. There's I don't know if he's playing a Les Paul or a Hamer Rob Baker, but it's got some hollow tone electric guitar. There's a line in there Christ in the Kremlin. I'm fucking. The words in this song are fucking spectacular. I bet it just destroyed. Destroyed. The crowd live Like. I mean if they played this fucking live you'd have to close with this or I don't know what you'd play with this. I mean it's just fuck. What's the other line Next year? comrades in the National Fitness Program caught in some external flex arm hang dropping the mat. Dude the lot. This that the way he speeds up that verse and fits all those fucking words into that, and then he goes back to the normal cadence, like when I say cadence I mean like the tempo, not a modal cadence, but like tempo. He goes back to that. I just bet when they, when they all listened to this track after it was mixed, or they all recorded everything, they all just fucking high-fived and hugged each other and had a big old fucking circle 100% Yeah. Dude, it's a fucking. It's one of my favorite fucking hip songs period. 0:58:23 - Speaker 3 Oh, you know what they. You know what they said after they recorded this. They were like this is going to be an every jukebox across Canada. I mean, it's a jukebox song. I mean, really, this is like play something by the tragically hip. Okay, i'm at the jukebox. Stick in a quarter. Oh, here's fireworks. Everybody loves this song. You know, that's that's. I couldn't agree more, pete. I just felt like this could be put on a seven inch only and out in the world. You know it was one of the first songs in a while where, like, i immediately just started snapping my fingers. It was like, okay, this, this song's, this song's moving. I completely agree with the rush references I love. I so identified with this girl. There was actually a girl who said she didn't give a fuck about hockey. I never heard a girl swear and I've never heard someone say that before. It was like there was some whole other world out there which is hard to fathom at times. I don't follow hockey. I totally identify with this. When I go on Facebook and it's like near the weekend it's mostly fucking NFL comments from people I know in Southern California. It's like, god damn, i wish I had a sports filter on my life because I don't really follow any sports. So the hockey the hockey comment, i was like yes, i, i want to hang out with you, let's go drink beers. You know, i probably follow that. It's whatever I just I just identify with that part, it's. You know this, though, you're right, pete, isn't it amazing you could do anything when the notion isn't in your way, believing in the country of me, and you, ah, you know, it's just, it's, it's, this is, it's more. It's more than an anthem. 1:00:17 - Speaker 4 You know, the crazy is so it's so, Getty Lee, though man. 1:00:21 - Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. What's? 1:00:24 - Speaker 4 this, it's, it's spirit of the radio. Okay. That's the song thing you have in so many ways. Yeah, i mean, and I don't think any musician in the band would say like they can you know drum? like Neil Pert? I think the guitar is pretty. It's got some solid Alex life and vibes. like you could fucking compare that guitar wise. but like bass and drums, you can't fucking come close to those, like it's just. but sorry, tim, i didn't mean to interrupt you, but it's just a fucking. 1:00:55 - Speaker 3 That's good. Good, it's such a JD. What JD, what? what were your thoughts on the song? Do you have, do you have memories of hearing the song, or anything, or like? 1:01:03 - Speaker 1 I think it's, I think it's a romantic song, Like. I think it's like the firework of like meeting somebody that is just, you know, absolutely the sparkle of your eye, you know, sort of thing. The context, to give you some context, the goal that he's talking about, the goal that everyone remembers, is when Canada beat the Soviets in 1972. And that was, that was during the Cold War. So it was a big deal, that series, Canada playing hockey against Russia. you know a few games here in Canada and a few games in Moscow. It was a big deal, Like for these Canadian hockey players to go to Russia. Like at that time Russia was so mysterious And there was a very famous goal that won the series by Paul Henderson that everyone remembers. It's one of those moments in Canada, the, if you're of the right age or generation I'm not, I'm born in 74. So it's over my head, But if you were there then it's one of those like you know where you were moments. you know what I mean. 1:02:10 - Speaker 3 It's huge huge moment in sports history. 1:02:13 - Speaker 1 So for him to be just blown away. Like you know, loosening my grip on Bobby Orr, like I just picture, the 16 year old who's in love with Bobby Orr has the hockey cards on the wall, you know, he's just tremendous and all of a sudden he just oh, there's girls out there. Oh, and there's this particular girl who doesn't give a fuck about what, like whoa fireworks, you know. 1:02:40 - Speaker 3 Yeah, great song, Great song. This. yeah, I could have had this song, you know, and had a satisfied meal and went to bed. 1:02:49 - Speaker 1 You and your food All right. Go next to vapor trails. 1:02:58 - Speaker 3 So vapor trails, like I started this one and paused and had to come back to it, i didn't keep going like this, this, this, this was one of the breaks. And now for me, where I was like, okay, i'm not, either not in it enough or not focused enough, let's come back to it and didn't hold your attention. He would not not at the get go, but eventually it did. Oh, eventually it did bring me in. It totally was one of those songs that I wasn't so sure about, but over time was like humming it while walking around the house. You know, there's just to me it has some mysticism to it. There's this mysterious not to say it again but backup singer, whoever is in there. I mean there's some really good backup singing happening, but I just love some of the lyrics. There's nothing uglier than a man hitting a stride. 1:04:00 - Speaker 1 What a great lyric, right Dude And just the way he says it as well. There's nothing uglier than a man hitting a stride, yeah. 1:04:09 - Speaker 3 I can't wait to use that some point in life. You know, watching something happen, yeah, chords, use that line, throw away the rudder, float away, like they portrayals. You know, i get this. It's like, it's this feeling of like giving up. You know, at some point we all, everyone, i think everyone has contemplated, you know, life being different or serious change, or giving up, or you know, we've all had these heavy times in our lives and maybe the song kind of hits on that. There's amazing guitar riffing just towards four minute mark. It felt, you know, just to kind of wrap it up. For me it felt like a produced ending. You know, the fade out was like it wasn't just let's wrap the song up, let's just fade it out, it was like let's produce the fade out. So it was a little, i don't know a little more, a little more orchestrated. But yeah, it's, this song is. This song was a banger. I think it was really good for the spot in the album. I think it was like really fitting. 1:05:27 - Speaker 1 Yeah, because we're well into the second side now. Yeah yeah. Second track, second side, if you're playing by those roles, It has a good place, good place in the album. What do you think of APR Trail's Pete? 1:05:39 - Speaker 4 Well, this is the other thing that I thought was it's not. It's not a Rush reference, but I actually think there's a possibility that Rush's 2001 record Vapor 12, vapor Trails was perhaps, maybe, an homage to Tragically Hip. Wow, i don't know, that's my, that's my in my dream world. I don't know if that's really true, but and I saw them on that tour and they were fucking just amazing. Saw them at the Irvine Meadows man. 1:06:18 - Speaker 1 Such a great show. 1:06:19 - Speaker 4 Never saw. 1:06:20 - Speaker 1 Rush. I was supposed to see Rush on a tour in 93 and guess who was opening for them? Who, tragically Hip Jesus Christ. Wow, on Road Apples. Yeah, dude. 1:06:30 - Speaker 4 I don't know what's a bigger fail That or not partying with them. 1:06:34 - Speaker 1 Oh God, it's the, that's the, that's the fail. 1:06:36 - Speaker 3 They're close. Not partying, I think. 1:06:39 - Speaker 4 Well, we, let's put it this way, we, we, we showed to that concert, i think, and they were they, we were at that time. It's strange, real quick, because I know. but during that time, because 2001 was coming out of the Napster years and years, right And into, like I think it was right where the iPods came out, um, so people started buying music online again, sort of. So bands didn't have money to pay for opening bands during that time, so a lot of bands would tour and be like who's opening? And like there's nobody opening. So we assumed that somebody was opening, for Rush happened to me with pavement one time, but that's another story Um, and we walked, we're, we're racing through the parking lot Because we hear a spirit of the radio, but right into Red Bar Chat after that and just fucking made my, made my life. But to the song. Paper Trails. Um, the fucking vocal melody in the opening verse same. I got the same cadence, Tim. I don't know if you mentioned this as Thompson girl. Um, but the song I loved it. I imagine when they sung this song live, that when Gord sings the line you can throw away the rudder. He probably blows out either part of the low end or part of the mid end frequencies in the fucking speakers at this this, this house, his voice is just at that frequency where, if he really punches it like he could, he could break. He could break some fucking windows, because it's, it's just fucking just the way he delivers that shit. Throw away the rudder, um, uh, what else? Yeah, just that line to me was worth buying the fucking record. Pulled the car over. There's nothing uglier. Yeah. Then a man hitting his stride. Yeah, there's a transition from the bridge back to the chord progression. That's super abrupt And it's so cool because there's no transition. It's just like boom, boom, they go right back into the chord progression and it's fucking cool. I'm not, can't think of any band that I've heard do that. And then the last thing is the line, and it's it's. It's maybe Rob Baker, i don't know who's singing the backup, but Mexicans dressed in beige shirts Crazy line, yeah. 1:09:16 - Speaker 1 Yeah, I've never heard that Mexicans dressed in beige shirts. 1:09:19 - Speaker 4 It's. It's like almost whispered. 1:09:25 - Speaker 3 Wow references you know references, folks who spend their life picking the strawberries and raspberries. 1:09:31 - Speaker 1 We, i believe, Yeah, I would guess so. 1:09:37 - Speaker 3 I believe it does So yeah. 1:09:39 - Speaker 4 Are we going to? 1:09:40 - Speaker 1 rules. You got it, dude. 1:09:48 - Speaker 4 I love the song. It was so fucking cool and so chill. This starts out with those huge cymbal crashes in the beginning. This is the second song in the record that references a pedestrian crossing, talks about a crossing guard not doing their job. 1:10:04 - Speaker 1 So yeah, it's really reference of and the second reference of super farmer. Uh-huh Right. 1:10:11 - Speaker 3 In that same in that same Stan's line. Got some agricultural themes happening. Probably the third agricultural theme. 1:10:21 - Speaker 4 Yeah, I don't know I just the phrasing was beautiful. I'm wondering what a bard is. B-a-r-d. 1:10:28 - Speaker 3 There's a couple of references with that. One is it has to do with a Shakespeare reference. 1:10:35 - Speaker 1 That's what I thought, yeah. 1:10:36 - Speaker 3 Yeah, and then the other one is I'm not going to butcher it, the other one has to do with fighting. I have to look it up. 1:10:46 - Speaker 1 Let's just go with Shakespeare. 1:10:48 - Speaker 3 Yeah, it's some Shakespeare reference. 1:10:52 - Speaker 4 And then to the line about the vacuum's got a guarantee. I just that line hooked me in so much because it was so random that I was like really in just pay super close attention to what he said. And the next line that he delivers, which is it could suck a virus, an ancient virus from the sea, is like what the like again put on the hat, put on your jacket, close the briefcase. Fucking. Done your job today. 1:11:23 - Speaker 1 Leave the office, gordon, that's right Punch out or whatever. 1:11:27 - Speaker 4 The whole, that whole stand is fucking amazing. There's a table slide And then oh, by the way, this song, and fuck, there was one other song. God damn this song. and one other song at the record. on the record It's earlier. I want to say it may be something on or say the planet. at the very end of it You hear the word somebody in the studio is cool. Yeah, so it doesn't feel so and there was one other two, one other song on the record that they did, so I was like they did that twice. 1:12:05 - Speaker 1 That's cool. I'm going to need access to your premium sound system. 1:12:10 - Speaker 4 Well, I mean GD, that's. We know this is not stuff we just hand on. It's kind of like you know top secret Clarence, There's a lot involved, A lot of screaming All right, all right, all right. 1:12:22 - Speaker 3 He passed. He's done it. Yes, true, yes, we're adjourning my current, for he's had it. Yeah, i heard the song and I thought Pete loves this song so much And when we come talk about it on the pod it's going to be all Pete. 1:12:43 - Speaker 1 You know how much to say. 1:12:44 - Speaker 3 I thought it was kind of a yonder. I got you know some, some from it, But you know I was like this. The song isn't for me. I thought it was kind of a yonder. I was going to leave it to Pete. 1:12:58 - Speaker 1 We're going to come back in a year because it's going to be a grower for you. I guarantee this song will be a grower for you. 1:13:04 - Speaker 3 If it's not, you guys both have to buy me beers. I can live with that, Yeah, yeah. 1:13:11 - Speaker 1 Okay. Well then let's slide into Sugar and Falls Ohio. 1:13:15 - Speaker 4 Take it Timbo. 1:13:17 - Speaker 3 Yeah, so Sugar and Falls. So this song I thought was basically a huge fuck off to corporate man, to the man. I thought this is like. This song is driving some culture into the fan base. It's probably, you know, was played a lot on the radio. I thought this one you know I could be wrong, but this song to me felt like on the verge of angry a little bit more than usual. I'd maybe really wonder about it live, if this got more raucous, if it got a little bit more I don't know violent feeling. And I think it's because it thematically, which is where I'm going to go, not so much with music on this one, but thematically it Sugar and Falls, in my research. That's the headquarters of Clear Channel, which at the time Clear Channel Corporation was slowly taking over media, especially North America. Yeah, so that's a lot of the references to Grand Falls. You know where the unknown won't even go. Because at this point I mean that line to me says if you're an artist and you're trying to make it like, avoid your Grand Falls, avoid Clear Channel, you know, be careful with what radio you're sending your tapes to your CDs to like this. This is that song that is kind of the band's shout to the world of, you know, corporate media is taking over the airwaves, you know, be aware So that that to me the song has like a mission. It felt like the first time I listened to it. When I got to you know, three quarters, two thirds of the way through, i thought is this song like over five minutes? you know it felt long, but it didn't feel long in a bad way, like it felt like a good, just a really well written song. Like I was kind of digging through Grand Falls, it felt like a five minute song, but it's not a five minute song. I didn't look up live versions of it but I definitely want to find something. 1:15:47 - Speaker 1 Yeah, get the answers to your questions. I can't, unfortunately, answer because I saw them on that tour and I don't remember if they played it, but I can't. 1:15:57 - Speaker 3 It was somewhat rare. I feel like it was probably going to be a rare rarely. 1:16:01 - Speaker 1 Yeah, it would be one that would be, you know, gosh. Well, let me just quickly look up how many times they played it. 1:16:09 - Speaker 3 I mean for people that don't know, Clear Channel took over corporate. I mean took over FM radio. Over time, like so many stations became Clear Channel stations and became programmed. And I remember hearing the transition because, as a big radio listener, being bored in 71, you know, i listened to radio for like 20 years, 15 at least, 20 years and they just completely took over And I remember hearing DJs demeanor changing from independent radio station to now being put into this box And I feel like that's what the band is trying to talk about in this song And I think it's their fuck you to this corporate system of being in a band and trying to make it and just to inspire people to be independently minded. 1:17:08 - Speaker 4 Yeah, it's funny you mentioned Clear Channel only because I want to talk about the song, because I feel a little bit different about the song in some ways than you do, tim, and it's funny, like Tim, i didn't do fucking a pubic here. The research you did for this fucking song. I had to look up where Chagrin Falls was but, and I dug it. But yeah, that's when there used to be a great station in classic rock station in LA called Arrow 93. And they went over to that Jack. You know that Jack format Jack FM, which is just, it's just a guy who like record something and it's like a cheesy line and he
On this edition of the Richard Crouse Show we meet Emm Gryner. She is a Canadian musician and vocal coach. David Bowie named Emm as one of his two favourite Canadian acts. U2 frontman Bono named her song “Almighty Love” as one of six songs that he wished he had written. Gryner toured in David Bowie's band, singing and playing keyboards, and appears on the recordings Bowie at the Beeb and Glastonbury 2000. Emm helped make the first music video in outer space with Chris Hadfield and is also the author of a book called “The Healing Power of Singing: Raise Your Voice, Change Your Life: What Touring With David Bowie, Single Parenting And Ditching The Music Business Taught Me In 25 Easy Steps.” Her new album is “Business & Pleasure” is a celebration of the Detroit radio scene and the music that shaped her childhood. From Motown, jazz and pop, to Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac and the Doobies, Business & Pleasure is infused with the sunshine soul and stellar playing of the late 70s and early 80s. Then, Gord Sinclair stops by. Best known as the bass player and one of the songwriters in The Tragically Hip, he is now a “reluctant solo artist” with a new album called In Continental Drift, available now wherever you buy fine music. Finally, we go into the vault to revisit my interview with the late, great rock photographer Mick Rock. He is often referred to as ‘The Man Who Shot the Seventies', for his iconic images of Syd Barrett, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Queen, The Ramones, Blondie, Rocky Horror Picture Show, etc. London born, he has resided in New York for over 35 years. He has shot over 100 album covers. Rock was instrumental in creating many key rock ‘n' roll images, such as album covers for Syd Barrett's Madcap Laughs, Lou Reed's Transformer and Coney Island Baby, Iggy and The Stooges' Raw Power, Queen's Queen II (recreated for their classic music video ‘Bohemian Rhapsody') and Sheer Heart Attack, The Ramones End of the Century and Joan Jett's I Love Rock ‘n' Roll, among many others. He was the chief photographer on the films The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Shortbus. He recently shot special stills for the new TV version of Rocky Horror, featuring the transgender actress Laverne Cox as Frank n Furter. He also produced and directed the seminal music videos for Bowie: ‘John, I'm Only Dancing', ‘Jean Genie', ‘Space Oddity', and ‘Life On Mars'.
In this special episode of the podcast jD, Pete, and Tim sit down with Gord Sinclair for a broad conversation about touring with the Hip, the future of Rock music, and his new record In Continental Divide. Stay tuned for the big announcement following this episode. If you know you know. RateThisPodcast.com/ghtthTranscript0:00:00 - Speaker 1Well, we're really, really thrilled that you could take some time with us today. This is a pretty exciting And this is my pleasure. 0:00:07 - Speaker 2I appreciate it I. 0:00:09 - Speaker 1Don't know if you know what the premise of our podcast is, but I want to give you a. Snip it so you get a. You get an understanding of who these two gentlemen that you're, that you're with, are sure. 0:00:21 - Speaker 3Maybe you should tell them at the end JD, let's get the Way. 0:00:28 - Speaker 1No way, no way, i'm sorry out. So I did a podcast called meeting Malcolm s and it was about pavement and I met these two guys in Europe last year Going to see pavement a bunch of times and we got talking about music And I really love the way they talk about music, the thoughtfulness and the way they understand it and so, naturally me being a very big, tragically hip fan your, your name came up and Them being from Southern California, one by way of Malaga, spain, and one by way of Portland, portland, oregon. Now They hadn't, they hadn't had much experience with you. So I thought, dreamt up this idea of the podcast taking them through your discography, one record at a time, so that The listeners can experience, can experience what it's like to hear your music for the first time. Again, cool. 0:01:27 - Speaker 3It's been. It's been a journey man, it's been really. 0:01:31 - Speaker 2What do you guys up to now like record-wise? is it still work in progress or we have just released up to here. 0:01:39 - Speaker 1So Okay. Here's a fun fact for you. Did you know that if you take your entire catalog and Release them, starting on May 2 4 weekend, and release one a week for the summer, it ends on Labor Day? 0:01:58 - Speaker 2Oh, no, I didn't know that you're your catalog. 0:02:01 - Speaker 1Your catalog is perfect for the summer man. 0:02:03 - Speaker 2Okay, great, well, that's, that is kind of appropriate. For sure We're, you know, sir It. We're unlike Southern California. We kind of lived for the for the three or four months where You can actually sit outside and play guitar with it, your fingers falling off, you know. 0:02:21 - Speaker 4That's, that's definitely me. in Portland, oregon, we had the the soggy a spring I could remember in my 22 years here. 0:02:28 - Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, that's a great town. We we played Portland a bunch, the Aladdin theater, remember that place. 0:02:36 - Speaker 4Yeah, it's an awesome theater. 0:02:37 - Speaker 2Yeah, it's great Yeah. 0:02:39 - Speaker 4Yeah, it was. It was a cool room. It was fun to play that. We'd love to have you back there with your your current gig. So it would be yeah well, it would be great. 0:02:48 - Speaker 2It would be great. Things have changed for the live music business. Unfortunately, Do it for the most true. 0:02:56 - Speaker 1Yeah, so for now, the tour, the tour that you're doing In Toronto and like Southern Ontario, yeah, is that? is that what we're expecting to see for now, or will there be more dates in the future? 0:03:10 - Speaker 2I mean it's still. It's still up in the air. I I'm certainly not averse to doing more dates, but we, you know, yeah, but, but we'll, but we'll wait and see. You know it's it's it's not an easy proposition. Taking the show on the road, i mean the expenses are kind of through the roof from, just in terms of putting the boys up. That's why we're staying pretty close to home. To start, not only on my band leader now, but I'm also a father. My, my youngest son, is Playing bass in the group and he's got a day job, so I got to get him back. It would be irresponsible for for me to have him run away to the circus like I did, you know. But what it needs to be seen, you know it remains to be seen. 0:04:03 - Speaker 1So how is that turn? turning around to your left or right and seeing your son, you know, in your familiar spot? 0:04:08 - Speaker 2It's, it's, it's, it's pretty great, i gotta say it's pretty great. He's a On his own. He is an amazing musician. All my, all my kids can play, but but he, this one's got a particular Ear and talent Guitar and piano or his principal instruments. He's not really a bass player But he can play just about anything. He's just one of these kids that can hear a melody on the radio or on record and sit down the piano and play it back to you. So, on that regard, it's really, really great to see him actually playing the. The flip side of it is as a He's a singer, songwriter in his own right and it's in the process of finishing a record that he did while he was at university, mcgill. And it's tough, you know, it's tough for young kids starting out today to get that, to get that leg up. You know that opportunity to that a group like ours had, you know where we, you know We were able to start playing gigs while we were in school, you know, and and kind of built it up from there very, very, very organically. We got better as we played more and and and as we played more, more people came and Then we got more gigs and it sort of snowballed from there and, like we like most, we started as a cover band And, crazily enough, like back in the 80s when we were playing, they didn't really want original artists in the clubs in Canada. So we would, you know, we would we were playing mostly kind of B sides of old stone songs and pre things and Kinks and stuff like that and then thrown in on, and so when we played at our song we said, oh that's, you know, that's from an old Damn record from from 1967, just absolutely bullshitting our way because there's some clubs that you had to write down your set list, make sure you weren't playing original material, bizarre. So. So now it's yeah, it's just a different scene. I'd love to see him working and playing, making it, taking a go at it. 0:06:18 - Speaker 4Yeah, i kind of feel like this day and age to Make it in a band and get on an actual tour That's further away than your closest region, it's like, it's almost like becoming a professional athlete. Yeah, you know, it's just like your chance. Yeah, getting that notoriety and getting embraced and carried through it, it's, it's just tougher. I have a close, close cousin of mine is in a band here in Portland and They're going at it so hard and you know they're lucky to get, i don't know, the six, six or eight West Coast swing. Yeah, and happy about it, but I tell you the cost for them and all that. Just like you said, it's, it's, it's, it's a tough, that's a tough go. 0:06:58 - Speaker 2Yeah, it's, it's. It's very much the same here. It's like anything, you know it, that You put a group together, you just, you get that, jones, you know, you do it for the love of it, and if you see a little glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel, it's enough to keep you going. Right, the one gig leads to the next, the next, but, but, boy, if you get continued roadblocks thrown up against you, it's a little demoralizing. And certainly up in Canada the live music scene Was in a tough spot even before COVID, and COVID really, just, you know, cut the head off the vampire It was. It was just made it so, so difficult, particularly at the at the early stage gigs, like in most downtown cores They've been. You know, the small rooms where it would be your first gig when you came to Winnipeg, or your first gig when you came to London, ontario, those rooms don't exist anymore. Yeah, you know, in fact I was talking to my agent a little while ago and Again, it's been a while since I've been out to Western Canada But he was saying that there's not really a gig in Vancouver and Calgary, you know, you know, in a 500 seat capacity and that's, and that's tough when you're just coming through town for the first time. I mean it's tough is on a regional level. If you're a young band story or a colonial, let alone From Kingston, ontario, you know, which is a real shame. I mean, the great thing about being from Canada, you know I The biggest obstacle to touring in this country Is actually our greatest assets, the sheer size of the country. You know, once you, once you kind of break out of your region and play in the crap little clubs around your hometown, then you've got eight, ten, twelve hours in some cases driving in between The, the gigs and you learn really early and really really quickly How to play. You know an empty room on a Tuesday night and a shithole on a Wednesday night With the object of getting to a win, a peg, you know, for Friday and Saturday night and maybe selling some tickets. You either You either fall in love with the lifestyle and the guys in your group or the gals in your group is the case. Maybe you're you bust up before you get you out of our problem, yeah, ontario. And so you get a lot of hearty souls that are doing it and then in the meantime, during all the traveling, you just develop this rapport with your bandmates and if you're a composer at all, it's great. You have so much time sitting in the band or sitting hotel room. You, just you're right, shoot the shit and Become what you become. It's true for musicians, it's true for crew people in this country as well. You know, you look at any international group and their crews are populated by Canadians. Because they have that experience, you learn how to travel. You know, get along with people in a confined space of a Band or tour bus, and it's a real asset that we have. The, fortunately, is getting more and more difficult. 0:10:17 - Speaker 3It's a bummer, because I love you guys you guys own your, i mean, and I we know this. I know this because We've pretty much gone through the, the majority of the discography, at least for the hip, and You guys really honed your skills of those Tuesday, wednesday night shittles, yeah, that you're playing To get you know, you can either take those is like Oh man, there's, there's five people here. What do we do? Like let's, let's, let's, let's treat it like a really tight rehearsal. Yeah, you know, whatever, and it it shows, at least from my perspective, on those records, those early records, and like to you guys just peak and just, you know, coast at 35,000 feet, so to speak. But it's funny you mentioned about the touring scene because I live in Malaga, i grew up in Southern California but I live in Malaga, spain and I We had a record come out last year and we're getting ready to do a second record And it's in the city center. They don't want anything original, they want stones, beatles, you know, maybe a couple Zeppelin tunes thrown in. They don't, they don't want they, they want cover bands, that's all they want. 0:11:39 - Speaker 2Yeah yeah, it's, it's tough, it's, it's a funny time And in a lot of ways I think it's a kind of a dangerous time from a cultural perspective. I mean, i, i'm a Stones fan and I'm a Beatles fan and I'm Zeppelin fan, you know, got it second hand from older brothers and sisters, you know. But but I, honestly, you know, i honestly believe that every generation needs their own stones. They need their. They need, like I grew up on the clash, right, you know, and the jam and and that was I was able to define Myself away from older brothers and sisters because of the tunes that I was like. And then, you know, and I've been Quite honestly, i've been waiting around for the next Nirvana and honest believing in my heart that's somewhere in the world, in some mom and dad's basement, there is the next Nirvana, working it and learning how to do it. I just, i really honestly believe it. I mean, again, i we're very fortunate Over the course of our career, touring, you know, we have Mums and dads that are bringing their kids to the, to our shows, and now those kids are, you know, so great, right, stealing to the hip and stuff, which is awesome. But but I worry, we're For Canada anyway, where that next hip is actually gonna come from. You know, and it's again, i think it's a cultural thing and, and you know, into your point about the Learning how to play the empty rooms, i mean That's what allowed us to. We were back and forth across Canada a number of times before we got the opportunity to Make that left turn and British Columbia and start playing in the United States, and it was literally like starting over. So by that point we were playing like larger clubs and doing really, really well. And then You know, you go down to Seattle and you're back to, you know, 20 to 50 people and and It's actually it's really informed our career. You know, we learned really early on to play to each other, it totally, and and how to play on stage and we always had this mantra we learned to play The hockey rinks like they were clubs and we learned to play the clubs like they were hockey rinks. You know, and Cool, cool. 0:14:08 - Speaker 4I love it. 0:14:08 - Speaker 2And we were really. We were also really really fortunate that we would go to a region like the Pacific Northwest In the States and, you know, at the club live and you could look out and you could see familiar faces, the folks that were really into it, like maybe it actually bought the records and you can see them in the first couple rows and and It was the same when we started in Canada. So we would change up the set every night. You know, try to throw in as many different tunes and we wouldn't open with the same tune, we wouldn't close with the same tune and to make it look like we were Not even look like we were trying, we were really trying to entertain these folks. You know, and you guys are all music fans and there's nothing worse than you know, you catch an act and you catch the, the acclater and the tour and it's like Hello Cleveland on the teleprompter. You know yes, agreed, agreed 100% and it's kind of like If you avoid phoning it in, consciously avoid phoning it in, then you're not phoning it in and You're not thinking about your laundry or the fight you just had with your partner. While you're out on the road You're actually engaged with your fellow musicians and particularly with the crowd. And, yeah, it's important to me as a music fan, you know, i just think it's really when there's still groups out there, you know, at the rink level, that do that, you know. 0:15:29 - Speaker 4Yeah, yeah, to comment quickly about your, your wish for the new Nirvana, like I think it's happening in in these sub capsules, like these regional areas. You know, i, i, i hear about bands doing a West Coast tour and doing in small clubs, smallish clubs, but also doing house parties along the way. And When I first heard this one band, i followed when I first heard they were doing, you know, in between, let's say, san Francisco and Eugene, they're doing house parties in Arcada, california, or Eugene, you know, south of Eugene or in Ashland is like. So they're doing house parties, like people are showing up and getting shit-faced and rocking out and in. To me It was kind of brilliant. It was very old-school feeling like you know, i remember stuff like this happening in the 80s, but at the same time I'm like, Well, if that's a way to hustle and get more fans to support you know, your, your venue climb, then that's that's just amazing. So I think it's happening with, you know, some of these kind of post-punk, kind of yeah, yeah, art rock bands. You know it's, it's happening, but it's it's so, it's so capsule-based, yeah. 0:16:45 - Speaker 2Yeah. 0:16:46 - Speaker 4So to break out of that, it's pretty tough. 0:16:48 - Speaker 2Yeah, i mean that that's my understanding of it as well that the first show I've got is part of a festival in our hometown called Spring Reverb and we again, it's a very, very local promoter who who's, you know? God bless them there. They're all in on live performance and they're they're they're like the Don Quixote's of music in this particular region And they'll do whatever it takes and there's tons of groups on the bill That I haven't heard before. It's and it's an exciting, you know, and it's a. It's a really, really good thing. But I think for your average music consumer, my age, it's like No one's trying to Pitch new music to me in any way. You know which is a real kind of drag. I, i have the dough to buy the records, but I don't know which ones to buy. You know, and it's I Still it's a. It's a bit of a problem. 0:17:47 - Speaker 4I'd love to send you a list. I'm bugging these two guys all the time. Hey, you gotta. You know. I told these guys all the time Hey, please, listen to this. There's one band in particular. I told them three times listen to it. Just make me a playlist. Maybe I'll listen to it later. 0:18:02 - Speaker 2And it's cool. It's never been easier to produce a record, like again when I started. Recording was expensive and you had to have a deal to do it and Someone had to invest the money in it, which, again, was maybe part of the advantage that we had that we did have some resources behind us with our first, even with our first DP, private resources and but you know that that patronage system is, i mean, kind of goes back to the Mozart days where you know folks that had the resources were able to Have house concerts, just happened to be in Palaces, right, right, but right, it's a good thing. I mean. I think you know the kids will find a way. It's just, it's just how, how to take it to the next level. I mean we, when we first started touring the States You know it was still regional radio was a real big deal. It was just before Ronald Reagan and the clear channel days kind of ruined it so many ways where you And it's a real shame as a music fan and as an artist you know you could be stiffen in one market, but then you go to like Austin, texas, for us it's like holy crap, where did all these people come from? And then you find out that a local DJ's got an affection for the band and they're kind of, they're kind of paving the road for you in advance And it was such a great. It was a great time. It was a great time for music. 0:19:48 - Speaker 3It's about what's played to you, gord, because I mean I just want to you talk. You mentioned the Clear Channel thing, but it's about what you're exposed to. Like you said, the DJ, that it's got a, that's got a. You know, it's got an affinity for your band. I know, joke. I'm in California right now because I'm visiting family out here And I saw two of my best friends. One flew out from Texas, the other one lives out and he's got to play some Mexico but he works the train. And so we all met up and on separate occasions I told him about this podcast and we listened to, to some hip tunes and they're like who the fuck are these guys? And and like immediate fans. Strangely enough, and because we have the same like taste in music, the three of us we grew up we played in bands the others were five, but never, never were exposed to it. Yeah, Yeah. Never had it. 0:20:44 - Speaker 2Yeah, we would get that a lot over the course of our career. You know, we've always benefited from really passionate fans that that they would, they would get it, and just the old fashioned word of mouth thing, you know, we would come back through town like 18 months later and they, they would have brought all their friends and maybe got turned into some more corded music, but then they would see the band play live and it would all make sense Like live music is supposed to. It's just like, oh, i didn't even think of that song on the record, but when they play it it's like, ah, you know, that's my new favorite song. And then it grew just really, really organically. You know, we, we never really had the benefit in the United States of a single that was big enough to open up like a national type of market, but we, we, we maintained this ability to tour around this, the circumference of the country, you know, and, um, yeah, and you know, wherever they had a professional hockey team, we would do pretty good, you know, right? 0:21:56 - Speaker 4So And I will say, though, i read, i read, i read you know something about you guys playing the, the Fillmore in the nineties in San Francisco, and there was some comment. It was like, yeah, they always do, they always have a big crowd here because every Canadian in California comes to the show, you know. so it's, it's hard to, it was hard to get tickets because all the Canadians would show up. So, you know, i love, i love the story of how everything happened organically and you guys kind of started from playing small clubs and what have you, and cover songs and how it. that rise is just totally remarkable And it's, you know, it's obviously worthy of of sharing, which we're we're doing now. I I gotta fast forward and ask about this. this uh, air stream, though, and you guys recording and you tell us about that. So cool. We have our own fantasy in our minds right now. Well, it was really it was a. 0:22:54 - Speaker 2Again, it's a kind of a a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a. It's a COVID based reality that that I faced, sure, the group myself, we, we own a recording studio in in Bath, ontario. It's a residential studio. So, um, COVID, it was really super busy because you know, artists, musicians, could, you could test up and and you'd live there. You didn't have to go anywhere and and as long as our, our engineer, um, you know, was safe. It was, so I I couldn't get into it, you know, like I just couldn't. It was booked out and and, um, i had, uh, you know, i'd I'd put out a record called taxi dancers previously And it's one of those things like I had tunes left over from writing with the hip and stuff. She got years and years to do that and then. But COVID was great for me as a, as a songwriter. I was locked down in my home with my family and um, and I was writing and using the guitar and and and writing lyrics as my means of journalism journaling really And I wrote this record fairly quickly. My buddy James, who played with me a bunch, i produced a bunch of records for his band, uh, peterborough, called the Spades, and so we've just always had a really close relationship, And he is an engineer and producer in Peterborough, um, and had this great idea this summer, before COVID, and he bought up an Airstream trailer And he rigged it up so that he was able to strip down his gear from his studio space and transplant everything into the airstream and go completely mobile So he could record live shows and, you know, any sort of situational stuff which I thought was a genius idea. And then COVID hit and it kind of you know, it kind of went on the back burner and then we got talking and said, you know I got enough tunes for a record And you know he played with me on the first one and engineered, so we want to try to do it again. And so he literally recorded it in my house. We parked the airstream in the driveway and ran a snake underneath my garage door and plugged in And it was kind of great. I hoofed my family out and it was just. It was just James and Jeff Housechuck and I are a drummer And we kind of stripped things down. We learned all the songs as a three piece, you know, with me playing the bass and then and then tracked kind of pretty much live And Jeff and I would play together and put the bed tracks down to like a scratch guitar, scratch, vocal and kind of did it like that. It was really kind of wicked and and not only in office is recording is, you know. We learned the songs and we kind of had all the beds done in like three, four days. It was just bang bang bang, kind of like that It was. It was a lot of fun, like kind of old school recording. You know We trying to almost emulate it doing its 16 track. You know, really minimal overdubs and just to get that sound. You know we spent the majority of our time miking up the drum kit, you know, so that we could. You know the Jeff Housechuck the drummer is just a fantastic player, jazz guy, and he decided to slum it with us rock and rollers And he brought that, that complexity and the touch where you could actually hear the notes on the drums. 0:26:48 - Speaker 4Yeah, yeah. 0:26:49 - Speaker 2I could hear it. That's great. We actually ran into him. Ironically, james and I were supporting the group classic Canadian story. but our very first show of the tour that we were doing supporting the troops got snowed out. We got to the bottom of George and Bay and the road was closed. It was drifted in. and so we drove back down to Toronto and went to this great club called the Rex Jazz Club And and Jeff was playing with this organ trio you know like real kind of like just fantastic player and had a couple beers with him after and said, hey, do you want to want to do this If I ever make another record? he said yeah, tommy, and the rest is kind of his. Yeah, it's wicked, yeah actually the phone. 0:27:34 - Speaker 3Yeah, Yeah, No, like, for example, the song over and over. I think it is Yeah. Yeah you can tell. I mean you can tell throughout the record, but like that one in particular. Like, however, because once you lay down your initial, you know your drums and bass, your guitar, your bones you start playing with arrangements. And that I was wondering, like thinking about your process, you know how you go about recording and once you get stuff down, but the way you explain the Airstream that had to have promoted like some level of like creativity, like where you see something you're like let's do this, let's try this, because you're not sitting in a traditional studio, yeah, you know, with four walls, yeah, and a window and like do you know what I'm saying? Does that? Yeah? 0:28:29 - Speaker 2no, 100% That's. That's exactly what we were able to do, you know, within the confines of the house, like I have a small home studio, i have an open house, so I got curtains everywhere to kind of allow, you know, for not only privacy but to kind of the dead and the sound and stuff. We had to be creative with what we were doing and trying to figure out where we're going to put drums and what we're going to do with bass. And it was literally because of the way Jeff played And my natural affinity for records that were done in the 70s that we wanted to, instead of getting the big, boomy Bob Rock kind of like we're going to play in the cabin, smash, smash, smash drum kit, we wanted to, like Jeff plays with jazz sticks, that's, you know it's with. Well, let's put them in this curtained off room where everything's totally dead and and do the do the Jeff Emmerich, you know and kind of play and play and play and move the mic and move the stand until we got the kit sounding perfectly. And then in the meantime, you know, we're rehearsing And James is playing with us, and then we, you know, we get tempos down and stuff and, and you know, do a scratch acoustic guitar and vocal. So we know the arrangement And then Jeff or James would go out into the air stream and we counted off and Jeff and I would play together, you know. And the bass amp is elsewhere in the house So there's no chance of it bleeding in, but we didn't have walls or rooms or anything like that. And again, it was the same process. Most of the bass is not DI, it's, it's. I've got an old, you know, portaflex B15 from 1965, the James Jamerson right And it was kind of like you stick the right mic in front of it And it sounds like, it sounds like Motown, you know, and and that's that's kind of the way we get it And obviously I knew the tunes real well And Jeff is just such a good enough player. That was like, oh, you know, you kind of get it in one or two takes and go out and listen to it. And then again is a cool thing that we go to the driveway, to the air stream, which was really our control room, and you listen to it all stripped away or it's just bass and drums And it's kind of like, oh, it's got even without a lyric and without a guitar or even a music Or even a melody. It's like, oh, this sounds pretty wicked. It's kind of the inverse of being a songwriter where I've always believed if you can sing a song around a campfire, and it can, and it can exist on that level and subsist on that level. And it's like, oh, okay, this is a decent song. And we kind of combined those two ethos and to make this record And it was again, it was just because of the circumstances of making it that you know, we all had to be tested up And we, you know, it was just the three of us and we were also living together and eating together and drinking beer together and playing pool pool table in one part of my house And it was great. It's like it's the band camp, you know it's the hardest way to kill time 0:31:49 - Speaker 1you know, sure, gord, i have a question from somebody on Twitter. We let them know that we were meeting with you And he said it's Craig Rogers from Twitter. And he said, curious if he curious of Gord finds himself writing on guitar or bass more often, or a mixture both with this album and when he wrote for the hip. His bass playing is very melodic, so does he have a chord progression in mind first and then works out a baseline, or does the bass melody come first? 0:32:17 - Speaker 2I primarily write on on guitar, for sure, you know, certainly with the hit, even the songs I would bring to the hip, i would have written riffs and started out on acoustic guitar, not all the time Like they were. on occasion I would try to do something on bass. Bass is kind of tough to sit around on your own. Keep yourself entertained. You know you can play along and stuff. But certainly like my main contributions writing with the hip because we had developed that cooperative songwriting style where you know no one in the group would bring a finished idea to the band. You know we would basically throw out a riff, be it a guitar riff, in some cases a bass riff, and we would start playing together And Gord would start putting a melody on top and a lyric on top And it was great that way. As the bass player you'd like oh here are all these holes all like add melody in here. Or in a lot of cases it was from the middle of songs while you were jamming or sound checks. You know we were always playing And but yeah, it was great fun. I miss making music with those guys big time because it was as a songwriter. It's different now, like you, never when you're, when I was in the hip, you never had to finish an idea And even if you had writers, if you were stuck with something, we would get together frequently And someone always had something new and fresh And that would, you know, cause a light bulb to come on And it would suggest a change that maybe the guy that brought the briefing hadn't thought of it Meanwhile, gord just being Gord, he would be riffing on top and his melody would suggest a change that he would make. And it was great. I loved being in that band And I miss it because it's like you know, like, yeah, you start, i still start the same way, i start with the riff, but man, it takes a lot longer, you know, to come up with complimentary parts and the lyrics and stuff. And again, i credit Gord. I really, you know, i tried to bring some heft to the lyrics that I was writing for this project and my previous one as well, cause he's, you know, he set a pretty high bar as a songwriter you know and can't really you can't really put out a solo record I've said this a few times, but it's absolutely true Like you can't write. Yummy, yummy, yummy. I've got love in my tummy, you know, and feel good about yourself with some of the lyrics that Gord has, Yeah. So yeah, the writing's a, it's a. It's a, it's a fun, it's a fun process. I'm not a sit down and write every day kind of guy. I don't do the Stephen King and lock myself in my studio for 2,500 words a day. You know, I kind of sit around and watch hockey playoffs or baseball playoffs and with the guitar in my lap and noodling all the while, and then you're like, oh, and The cascade begins from there. You know, kind of not really paying attention to either, and It's amazing if you're receptive to the idea, It'll come from somewhere. It's, it's great fun, It's great fun. 0:35:47 - Speaker 1Gordon, i'm so thrilled that you laid down in 2020, you laid down get back again. Yeah, so it was. So we have a like a proper studio version of that song, because I gotta tell you, that was one of the hip songs that I came to early on and in my young hip career, and I was like whoa, this is something that's not on the record. It's like this is like a bootleg, or this is so cool And I gotta I gotta wonder, though, how did it never end up on a record like that? It's such a phenomenal song. 0:36:17 - Speaker 2It's, it's a funny one. I mean that it was That's. It's an old song. I mean that was back from the day when we were we were kind of clubbing it, he just kind of in southeastern Ontario and and we were all learning how to write and we were Writing a little bit together. You know Gord Downey and I would and Paul were living together at a student house But yeah, and it it was kind of a mainstay when we would play live and it was in the running, you know for for up to here for sure as a song. But interestingly enough we We recorded a demo version of it. That was just dynamite. Like You know, the performance across the board is great, particularly by Gord, like he just sang the song beautifully. And it was one of those circumstances where the The, the guy that was helping us the demo, said, oh, that was really really great, one more time just like that and we'll run tape. And we're like, oh, what do you mean? you weren't running tape? and oh, tried it again and collectively we were so disappointed. You know that I don't know we never, we never seemed to Capture that vibe that we had on this unrecorded Demo. You know this is again, we were really young, we were still learning how to play in the studio where it sounded like us and Again it sounds old-fashioned and everything, but it was back in the day We recorded live like we would, you know, put the bass somewhere and you know, drums are in a booth and gorge in a booth And we were learning how to do it, but still get that feeling like with headphones on that, we know, you know It sounds like awesome. We're listening to each other Again and then, yeah, it just never. It just never made the cut. After that, i guess I mean there is a version of it somewhere, at least I thought we had reported it for up to here There is some kind of version of it somewhere. We're finding it Odd with. We've always been signed to Universal in various shapes or forms. We were signed to MCA back in the day. But the tracking down on old tapes, a little demo stuff And studio stuff, is proving very, very challenging from an archival point of view. Like stuff is You'd think it'd be, you know, t, hip or Or it would be alphabetized or the Dewey decimal system or something, but it seems pretty random and stuff is in different storage area Areas and our drummer John has just been. He's just been like a dog on a bone tracking down Material and just relentless trying to find stuff. We kind of process kind of started for us with Road apples and but we were still. We were only able to manage to find Two-thirds of the tapes. You'd think they'd all be somewhere together. You know, when we heard about that fire on the universal lot we hit the panic button like right. You know, wow is our? do you think some our stuff is in there? and then read the list in the paper and there was our name. You know, in between Mel Torme and the down Trop family singers, you know it's like oh crap, i hope we do, because that, that, because, to your point, that's exactly the kind of stuff that we were looking for. Turns out there were dupes and some of its backup in Canada. Definitely Yeah, it's a. 0:40:11 - Speaker 3I just I'd be remiss if I didn't ask a gear question What, what, what, what, what? what type of guitar do you do you like to sit in? Because when you're sitting watching a ball game and you're just noodling or you're just whatever like what's your go-to? 0:40:26 - Speaker 2I, honestly, i've got a. I've got a few favorites, in fact, like there's a song on this, this latest record called change your mind, i I bought a. I bought an old Martin D18, saw it. I bought it sight unseen because it's just always wandered one and down. I Picked it up and Literally pulled it out of the case and it became my main guitar for about a week and that was that that. I Written that song on it within Got probably a day or two, you know it. Just it felt right, sounded right. 0:41:08 - Speaker 1What's that? there's sort of like a dreamy stony sound on that song. 0:41:11 - Speaker 2Yeah, and I would credit the guitar. You know, i guess I I Have a lot of, i've got a lot of instruments laying around the house and I will, you know, i will, i'll trick myself and I'll keep one guitar With a capo on the second fret, you know, and thereby changing the key of the song. But you just, in certain cases, different chord shapes and different you know, composite chords, like you know, a D over G or whatever to sound different in a different key or it'll trigger something melodically and then that will Send it in a different direction. So I I kind of rotate them in and out. You know I I Got an old the first kind of cool guitar about was an old J 160, you know mid 50s old beaver of a guitar, and it's always out on a stand somewhere and I'll Pick it up and I'm playing. Right now I'm going out and playing this old, the ES 125, like a, like a hollow-bodied arched top, electric and And it's been laying around and it's just, you know It sounds kind of got a little more sound to it. Yeah, i just kind of believe in the magic of it. You know that it's just like oh, this, you know it's rules right and sounds right in the. The tones of these older instruments, to my ear anyway, are so nuanced that that each one has a different character and Suggests different things, you know, and some chords sound better on them than others. And yeah, it's so, so it's cool. I like I say, i trick myself and I mix it up. 0:42:50 - Speaker 3That's the per. That's the perfect answer. Had you said this is the guitar, that's trick Bs and me bulls it me right on that school Yeah my question was more what kind of beer we were you drinking where you were recording and the Not as young as I used to be, so I. 0:43:13 - Speaker 2There's always a case of the in this kicking around here, for sure, but I'm more of a light beer guy now. Unfortunately, i just I can't afford to Drink the loaf of bread like I used to when I was a young man. Live to tell it. 0:43:29 - Speaker 4I'm right there with you. Yeah, i'm right there with you, gord. 0:43:33 - Speaker 2Yeah, I'm pretty much a logger and a Guinness guy. 0:43:36 - Speaker 4Yeah, sorry. 0:43:49 - Speaker 1Well, I'd love to talk more about the. I'd love to talk more about the. The record sure. You gotta ask the video to man and we haven't touched. We haven't even touched on the video. 0:43:59 - Speaker 2Yeah, I'm glad you like it. I, i yeah, that's a friend of my, my youngest son's It's aspiring filmmaker and videographer and, obviously, videos on what there used to be. I'm like I'm a survivor of the MTV era where You just saw your recoupable account go up and up and up with your record company because you'd spend more money making videos And you would make the record. But it's. But he's a creative young guy having feral is his name and I I Was reading the newspaper And there was an article I can't think this one Facebook change just named in Metta, and Mr Zuckerberg had proclaimed that the future of the world, the future of reality, is going to be virtual reality. And They ran a little clip of the journalists were testing it out with the, with those goggles or that, whatever that is. I said, wow, this is the future of reality. The graphics are kind of shitty, you know, and and And I bounced it off heaven and I want to make this video about these tech guys that are kind of changing the way we interact with each other and getting rich in the process. And could we make a virtual reality kind of video for this song about kind of love in the VR world? and and man he ran with it. He was like I know exactly what you're talking about. 0:45:34 - Speaker 3And it's clear who everybody is. It's very clear who everybody is. 0:45:37 - Speaker 2He ran into a little problem with the record. Here it was, it was clear, still in the legal department And hit the panic button real quick. But we just, i think. 0:45:52 - Speaker 4You know, it's a good thing when that happens And it was fun. 0:45:55 - Speaker 2The song I think Google Guy has a bit of a sense of humor to it And yeah, i got when all that stuff was going on, when they were talking about how their algorithm there were purports to bring people together was actually the algorithm itself was based on making people butt heads, because there was more engagement when the conversation was contentious, as opposed to fluffy, puffy stuff. And that young woman, francis Hogan, really kind of went official with it. She kind of blew the whistle on these, these guys, and I thought right away to myself like oh, what would what would Joe Strummer do with a concept like this? You know, like you wouldn't know all have very much and try to call the guy out. And it was actually the last song I wrote for the record And it came real, real quick because I kind of got my dander up just a little bit. I'm not a social media guy. I understand how people do it. It's a great way to stay in touch with friends all over the world and stuff, and I get it. But God, imagine if you're Instagramming or Facebooking with your pals. But there was a artificial intelligence kind of trying to get you guys to fight about something you may have said to each other in high school and dragging that your relationship through them. 0:47:21 - Speaker 3I'm sure it's already there. 0:47:22 - Speaker 2Exactly, you know. I mean, i'm in a. I was in a band with my high school friends and, oh my God, we fought about crap that was 35 years old. You know, sometimes it was kind of anyway, yeah, so I yeah anyway, i glad you liked the video. It was fun to do. I'm going to do a follow up. He's one of them for call Yeah, but I don't know, i haven't seen it, yet I'm dying. He's okay. I'll be anxious to check that out. 0:47:56 - Speaker 4I enjoyed the video and the song and the song. Honestly it brought me. There's this kind of 80s feel to it, like it's it's interesting kind of the juxtaposition of I don't know had money for nothing Yeah yeah, and then what? Yeah, I'm not, i'm not sure, yeah it's. Yeah, it's reminded me of I don't know a couple of things, but anyways, the the video is great, and it was just I love the personification of the characters, and it's just. I just really related it. I was, i was in, i was in Italy recently. We were staying with family and I'm kind of a handy guy, so I was helping them do some stuff and I said, well, can you work and we get this? you know, we needed something in particular. My aunt there says, well, we could just order it on Amazon, and sure enough it was there the next day. And I'm like I mean Italy and Jeff, jeff, still knocking on the front door delivering, yeah yeah, it's not so I conveniently unbelievable. 0:48:57 - Speaker 2I totally understood. And obviously the pandemic Unbelievable fall for those companies because all the stores are closed, you know, but Massive. You know I'm from a small, small ish city. You know we got 150,000, 200,000 people here. You know, if the if you don't support your local hardware store owner, who may very well be your neighbor down the street, you know it's, it's kind of like the kind of the 100 mile Right Diet approach to living. You know where you live in a community and if you got a couple Extra bucks for things like I get it like people go to the big box stores to buy 10,000 rolls of toilet paper and junk like that. But but you know I go to the local record store and my local stereo shop and my local guitar store and we shop at a small little market And it's important, you know it's. It's important if, if the pandemic taught us anything, it was to kind of value community Because we would support each other more. And meanwhile, that's what I love to do. Devon's portrayal of the of. They call themselves founders. I understand the founders in the orbiting space station above, above the world, that slowly falling apart. And frankly, that's what I try to articulate in the, in the lyric of the songs, that we all know the reason, and the reason is really us. It's up to us, you know, to build community and to support community And and everyone wants to save a buck. I understand that stuff, but at what cost, you know. And what cost? Yeah, in many cases, like mm. Hmm, there's a lot of each cylinder vans all over North America as we speak, idling in people's driveways dropping off stuff that they ordered on Amazon last night, you know, and there's a cost to that, ever, you know. And that's what I was trying to articulate anyway, yeah, yeah. 0:51:21 - Speaker 4What I notice nowadays on, i mean, i'm in Portland, we're in the city, you know, downtown Portland is about three miles away, and what I notice is, when we don't have any deliveries, like, i'll just stop, i'm mostly home. I'll stop in the house and think, boy, it's actually been quiet today. You know it's. You have to wait for the white, the white noise to go away in order to I have a Kingston question for you. 0:51:45 - Speaker 1These gentlemen we are recording, we're doing a live finale for this podcast in Toronto on September 1st. So Pete is coming from Spain and Tim is coming from Portland and we're doing it at the rec room in Toronto. We're doing like a live podcast. There's going to be a standup comedian, There's going to be a hip tribute band, et cetera. But as part of their coming to Toronto, I've booked us a day in Kingston and I booked an Airbnb just yesterday. What are some? what are some hip, hip must see spots, Some you mentioned a record store earlier, a guitar store. What are some cool spots that we should go when we're? Yeah, I got to hit the store. 0:52:29 - Speaker 2You know what there's there's. so there's so many of it like this. First off, about Kingston. You know I'm born and bred and raised here. I went to university here and you know, like most young men, like Rob Baker and I, grew up across the street from each other And all through high school together and you know, gordon, Paul and I lived together in university And John was a little bit younger than us behind us, but all went to the same high school Parents, on to each other, and nonetheless, like most young men, we couldn't wait to shape the dust off this one horse town off our boots. You know, move on, or big city, and as it turned out, you know, our career took this home, over Europe and North America and traveling all the time And we kept coming back home And because it was home, you kind of learn to fall in love with where you're from By leaving it, you know, and you kind of realize, oh, there's no better place to come back to. And it still is a really, it's a really special place. Even even with the, the dearth of of live music venues and various cities and stuff, we still have five, six places in town that run live entertainment nightly. You know, and I think that's a big reason Kingston is as it is is produce so many great recording artists, you know Sarah Harmer, headstones and the Glorious Suns, and because they all came up the way I came up, you know, you kind of start playing in downtown Kingston and you play the bigger bar and the bigger bar after that. So there's, there's some great live music venues. The place I'm playing in town is called the, called the the Brune factory, which is kind of a multi multimedia approach to live. It's a film place, it's comedy, it's an office building for the local promoter during the day And it's, it's great. It's very DIY in town, you know it's. Also Kingston is an interesting place because it's a university town, a very large, very good university here. So we kind of punch above our weight for for restaurants and actually activities to do. We have a local symphony orchestra to symphony halls. You know it's just there's, it's a, it's a really special place And it's also it's right at the confluence of Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence River. So it's where the Great Lakes kind of funnel all down and the area just east of us is the start of the Thousand Islands, which is again it's we kind of take it for granted. But you guys coming from out of town, you know it's worth jumping on a, on a boat, and you've never seen anything like it. It's, it's just absolutely spectacular, you know, and it's, yeah, it's just really, really cool. There's so many great rooms. You know, the club that we played our first gig was called the the toucan, but it still exists, you know, and it's still still there. It's not a great place to see music or play music, but it's still running live. It's pretty wicked. There's another place called the mansion. That that they're again. They're fighting the good fight. They're trying to bring acts in all the time and get people a place to play. You know, and it's in, it's kind of great. It's kind of a great place to be. I feel very comfortable here. You guys are like it. 0:56:15 - Speaker 3If people, if they have places to play there and there's places that they make available, i mean there's. there's no doubt that's why the city thrives. 0:56:25 - Speaker 2I really think so as well, because people, obviously they people get used to live music being a viable option. You know, that was something that we experienced as young musicians First time we went to Europe. You know, it was again like starting over. But we got to the Netherlands And it was like that was. It was the case of like, where are all these people come from? how do they? but it's because the the nature of the culture and it was back in the CD days, when they were Ridiculously expensive, you know. So you'd have to pony up whatever 30, 40 Gelder's they were called back then so people would literally would go see a band play live before they would pull me up for the record, which was perfect for a group like us, because you know they huh, there are all these Magnificently tall people standing there and all speaking English, hang them boards, every word, yeah, it was great. It's all like. That's all about the amazing thing. I am such a such a believer. It's just so important. 0:57:36 - Speaker 1I I totally feel the song sometimes. Yeah, did you write that? like thinking, live in mind, like, like that feels like a live song. 0:57:46 - Speaker 2Yeah, i Did it's, it's, It's for sure, it's. There's an anger to it for sure, and it's it's not the easiest thing when you're sitting by yourself in a pandemic to To write an uptempo song. But like I, like I was seeing earlier, i was using that experience, i would close the sliding doors of our family room and, and, like everybody, there were moments during when I was locked down or where I was Wasn't quite myself. You know I was feeling. You know, being locked down in the middle of the winter in Canada is You get some dark days for sure, not only Physically dark days, but but the mood kind of translates on you and that's that's really what that song's about. And and I Attempted to turn that frown upside down and kind of went back to the old punk rock me, and It's basically like a confessional more than anything, because it was true, sometimes I felt like I was losing my mind, you know, and and sometimes you know, weed, weeds legal up here and and and so maybe sometimes I'm they've, you know, smoked a bomber a little too early in the day, you know, or maybe a little Bailey's in my morning coffee just to take the edge off. Even quite confessional about that as well. Much sugar in, yeah. 0:59:23 - Speaker 3That's really cool of you sharing my songs with us Share. 0:59:28 - Speaker 1I mean, for me it's been. It's been 38 years of you sharing songs with me, so I really appreciate that and Love that you made time for us today, well. 0:59:39 - Speaker 2I appreciate that. I appreciate that I'm a music fan as well and I and I I Made music with guys I know really well, guys I love, you know, and and We always took it really, really seriously and we always never took whatever success we may have achieved, we never took that for granted, you know, and we knew it was because of the people that liked our music and that supported the group and we, you know, with the past, you know Gordon Lightfoot. It was also such a huge believer in live performance and the love and respect for his audience. you know We came up, you know, very much the same way, just like getting our getting in front of people and, you know, and thanking them. You know, and being truly grateful and trying to allow the music to reflect our growth as people and but our commitment to making really good music and you know I'm I Love it I'm still trying to do it on my own. You know, i'd give anything to have gourd still here and be working my, my normal day job, you know. But but In no small way he still is. You know, he wouldn't have wanted any of us to stop playing, you know, and to stop making music and Yeah, and so I'm kind of doing it to honor him, but it's also it's because it's the only thing I know how to do. I kind of They caught into my, it's my, my yearly cycle of like, oh I'm, you should be making a record soon. I think the song start pouring out. Anyway, i'd go on, but I appreciate you guys for doing this and listening as it is intently, as I Listen to music like that's the way I listen to it too, you know I turn it up. 1:01:31 - Speaker 3Yeah, pleasure's our pleasure We've. 1:01:34 - Speaker 4we've got great time, so thank you so much. 1:01:37 - Speaker 2I'll get a list of places to see in Kingston, and there's some that would be great. It's a pretty, it's a pretty special. It's a pretty special little town. You'll, you'll get the vibe right away. You know, september is a great time of year. Kids are just coming back to school and the and the sailors are still hanging around. It's a touristy town. So there's a. There's a good, it's a good vibe here. It's a nice place to visit. I can't wait. Yeah, i can't wait awesome, awesome. 1:02:02 - Speaker 1Well, thank you so much Thanks for a pleasure, guys. 1:02:06 - Speaker 2I really really appreciate your time. It's fun. 1:02:08 - Speaker 3Yeah, thank you boys. 1:02:10 - Speaker 2Okay, take care, we'll see you real soon. Yeah, thank you. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/fully-and-completely/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
In this special episode of the podcast jD, Pete, and Tim sit down with Gord Sinclair for a broad conversation about touring with the Hip, the future of Rock music, and his new record In Continental Divide. Stay tuned for the big announcement following this episode. If you know you know. RateThisPodcast.com/ghtthTranscript0:00:00 - Speaker 1Well, we're really, really thrilled that you could take some time with us today. This is a pretty exciting And this is my pleasure. 0:00:07 - Speaker 2I appreciate it I. 0:00:09 - Speaker 1Don't know if you know what the premise of our podcast is, but I want to give you a. Snip it so you get a. You get an understanding of who these two gentlemen that you're, that you're with, are sure. 0:00:21 - Speaker 3Maybe you should tell them at the end JD, let's get the Way. 0:00:28 - Speaker 1No way, no way, i'm sorry out. So I did a podcast called meeting Malcolm s and it was about pavement and I met these two guys in Europe last year Going to see pavement a bunch of times and we got talking about music And I really love the way they talk about music, the thoughtfulness and the way they understand it and so, naturally me being a very big, tragically hip fan your, your name came up and Them being from Southern California, one by way of Malaga, spain, and one by way of Portland, portland, oregon. Now They hadn't, they hadn't had much experience with you. So I thought, dreamt up this idea of the podcast taking them through your discography, one record at a time, so that The listeners can experience, can experience what it's like to hear your music for the first time. Again, cool. 0:01:27 - Speaker 3It's been. It's been a journey man, it's been really. 0:01:31 - Speaker 2What do you guys up to now like record-wise? is it still work in progress or we have just released up to here. 0:01:39 - Speaker 1So Okay. Here's a fun fact for you. Did you know that if you take your entire catalog and Release them, starting on May 2 4 weekend, and release one a week for the summer, it ends on Labor Day? 0:01:58 - Speaker 2Oh, no, I didn't know that you're your catalog. 0:02:01 - Speaker 1Your catalog is perfect for the summer man. 0:02:03 - Speaker 2Okay, great, well, that's, that is kind of appropriate. For sure We're, you know, sir It. We're unlike Southern California. We kind of lived for the for the three or four months where You can actually sit outside and play guitar with it, your fingers falling off, you know. 0:02:21 - Speaker 4That's, that's definitely me. in Portland, oregon, we had the the soggy a spring I could remember in my 22 years here. 0:02:28 - Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, that's a great town. We we played Portland a bunch, the Aladdin theater, remember that place. 0:02:36 - Speaker 4Yeah, it's an awesome theater. 0:02:37 - Speaker 2Yeah, it's great Yeah. 0:02:39 - Speaker 4Yeah, it was. It was a cool room. It was fun to play that. We'd love to have you back there with your your current gig. So it would be yeah well, it would be great. 0:02:48 - Speaker 2It would be great. Things have changed for the live music business. Unfortunately, Do it for the most true. 0:02:56 - Speaker 1Yeah, so for now, the tour, the tour that you're doing In Toronto and like Southern Ontario, yeah, is that? is that what we're expecting to see for now, or will there be more dates in the future? 0:03:10 - Speaker 2I mean it's still. It's still up in the air. I I'm certainly not averse to doing more dates, but we, you know, yeah, but, but we'll, but we'll wait and see. You know it's it's it's not an easy proposition. Taking the show on the road, i mean the expenses are kind of through the roof from, just in terms of putting the boys up. That's why we're staying pretty close to home. To start, not only on my band leader now, but I'm also a father. My, my youngest son, is Playing bass in the group and he's got a day job, so I got to get him back. It would be irresponsible for for me to have him run away to the circus like I did, you know. But what it needs to be seen, you know it remains to be seen. 0:04:03 - Speaker 1So how is that turn? turning around to your left or right and seeing your son, you know, in your familiar spot? 0:04:08 - Speaker 2It's, it's, it's, it's pretty great, i gotta say it's pretty great. He's a On his own. He is an amazing musician. All my, all my kids can play, but but he, this one's got a particular Ear and talent Guitar and piano or his principal instruments. He's not really a bass player But he can play just about anything. He's just one of these kids that can hear a melody on the radio or on record and sit down the piano and play it back to you. So, on that regard, it's really, really great to see him actually playing the. The flip side of it is as a He's a singer, songwriter in his own right and it's in the process of finishing a record that he did while he was at university, mcgill. And it's tough, you know, it's tough for young kids starting out today to get that, to get that leg up. You know that opportunity to that a group like ours had, you know where we, you know We were able to start playing gigs while we were in school, you know, and and kind of built it up from there very, very, very organically. We got better as we played more and and and as we played more, more people came and Then we got more gigs and it sort of snowballed from there and, like we like most, we started as a cover band And, crazily enough, like back in the 80s when we were playing, they didn't really want original artists in the clubs in Canada. So we would, you know, we would we were playing mostly kind of B sides of old stone songs and pre things and Kinks and stuff like that and then thrown in on, and so when we played at our song we said, oh that's, you know, that's from an old Damn record from from 1967, just absolutely bullshitting our way because there's some clubs that you had to write down your set list, make sure you weren't playing original material, bizarre. So. So now it's yeah, it's just a different scene. I'd love to see him working and playing, making it, taking a go at it. 0:06:18 - Speaker 4Yeah, i kind of feel like this day and age to Make it in a band and get on an actual tour That's further away than your closest region, it's like, it's almost like becoming a professional athlete. Yeah, you know, it's just like your chance. Yeah, getting that notoriety and getting embraced and carried through it, it's, it's just tougher. I have a close, close cousin of mine is in a band here in Portland and They're going at it so hard and you know they're lucky to get, i don't know, the six, six or eight West Coast swing. Yeah, and happy about it, but I tell you the cost for them and all that. Just like you said, it's, it's, it's, it's a tough, that's a tough go. 0:06:58 - Speaker 2Yeah, it's, it's. It's very much the same here. It's like anything, you know it, that You put a group together, you just, you get that, jones, you know, you do it for the love of it, and if you see a little glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel, it's enough to keep you going. Right, the one gig leads to the next, the next, but, but, boy, if you get continued roadblocks thrown up against you, it's a little demoralizing. And certainly up in Canada the live music scene Was in a tough spot even before COVID, and COVID really, just, you know, cut the head off the vampire It was. It was just made it so, so difficult, particularly at the at the early stage gigs, like in most downtown cores They've been. You know, the small rooms where it would be your first gig when you came to Winnipeg, or your first gig when you came to London, ontario, those rooms don't exist anymore. Yeah, you know, in fact I was talking to my agent a little while ago and Again, it's been a while since I've been out to Western Canada But he was saying that there's not really a gig in Vancouver and Calgary, you know, you know, in a 500 seat capacity and that's, and that's tough when you're just coming through town for the first time. I mean it's tough is on a regional level. If you're a young band story or a colonial, let alone From Kingston, ontario, you know, which is a real shame. I mean, the great thing about being from Canada, you know I The biggest obstacle to touring in this country Is actually our greatest assets, the sheer size of the country. You know, once you, once you kind of break out of your region and play in the crap little clubs around your hometown, then you've got eight, ten, twelve hours in some cases driving in between The, the gigs and you learn really early and really really quickly How to play. You know an empty room on a Tuesday night and a shithole on a Wednesday night With the object of getting to a win, a peg, you know, for Friday and Saturday night and maybe selling some tickets. You either You either fall in love with the lifestyle and the guys in your group or the gals in your group is the case. Maybe you're you bust up before you get you out of our problem, yeah, ontario. And so you get a lot of hearty souls that are doing it and then in the meantime, during all the traveling, you just develop this rapport with your bandmates and if you're a composer at all, it's great. You have so much time sitting in the band or sitting hotel room. You, just you're right, shoot the shit and Become what you become. It's true for musicians, it's true for crew people in this country as well. You know, you look at any international group and their crews are populated by Canadians. Because they have that experience, you learn how to travel. You know, get along with people in a confined space of a Band or tour bus, and it's a real asset that we have. The, fortunately, is getting more and more difficult. 0:10:17 - Speaker 3It's a bummer, because I love you guys you guys own your, i mean, and I we know this. I know this because We've pretty much gone through the, the majority of the discography, at least for the hip, and You guys really honed your skills of those Tuesday, wednesday night shittles, yeah, that you're playing To get you know, you can either take those is like Oh man, there's, there's five people here. What do we do? Like let's, let's, let's, let's treat it like a really tight rehearsal. Yeah, you know, whatever, and it it shows, at least from my perspective, on those records, those early records, and like to you guys just peak and just, you know, coast at 35,000 feet, so to speak. But it's funny you mentioned about the touring scene because I live in Malaga, i grew up in Southern California but I live in Malaga, spain and I We had a record come out last year and we're getting ready to do a second record And it's in the city center. They don't want anything original, they want stones, beatles, you know, maybe a couple Zeppelin tunes thrown in. They don't, they don't want they, they want cover bands, that's all they want. 0:11:39 - Speaker 2Yeah yeah, it's, it's tough, it's, it's a funny time And in a lot of ways I think it's a kind of a dangerous time from a cultural perspective. I mean, i, i'm a Stones fan and I'm a Beatles fan and I'm Zeppelin fan, you know, got it second hand from older brothers and sisters, you know. But but I, honestly, you know, i honestly believe that every generation needs their own stones. They need their. They need, like I grew up on the clash, right, you know, and the jam and and that was I was able to define Myself away from older brothers and sisters because of the tunes that I was like. And then, you know, and I've been Quite honestly, i've been waiting around for the next Nirvana and honest believing in my heart that's somewhere in the world, in some mom and dad's basement, there is the next Nirvana, working it and learning how to do it. I just, i really honestly believe it. I mean, again, i we're very fortunate Over the course of our career, touring, you know, we have Mums and dads that are bringing their kids to the, to our shows, and now those kids are, you know, so great, right, stealing to the hip and stuff, which is awesome. But but I worry, we're For Canada anyway, where that next hip is actually gonna come from. You know, and it's again, i think it's a cultural thing and, and you know, into your point about the Learning how to play the empty rooms, i mean That's what allowed us to. We were back and forth across Canada a number of times before we got the opportunity to Make that left turn and British Columbia and start playing in the United States, and it was literally like starting over. So by that point we were playing like larger clubs and doing really, really well. And then You know, you go down to Seattle and you're back to, you know, 20 to 50 people and and It's actually it's really informed our career. You know, we learned really early on to play to each other, it totally, and and how to play on stage and we always had this mantra we learned to play The hockey rinks like they were clubs and we learned to play the clubs like they were hockey rinks. You know, and Cool, cool. 0:14:08 - Speaker 4I love it. 0:14:08 - Speaker 2And we were really. We were also really really fortunate that we would go to a region like the Pacific Northwest In the States and, you know, at the club live and you could look out and you could see familiar faces, the folks that were really into it, like maybe it actually bought the records and you can see them in the first couple rows and and It was the same when we started in Canada. So we would change up the set every night. You know, try to throw in as many different tunes and we wouldn't open with the same tune, we wouldn't close with the same tune and to make it look like we were Not even look like we were trying, we were really trying to entertain these folks. You know, and you guys are all music fans and there's nothing worse than you know, you catch an act and you catch the, the acclater and the tour and it's like Hello Cleveland on the teleprompter. You know yes, agreed, agreed 100% and it's kind of like If you avoid phoning it in, consciously avoid phoning it in, then you're not phoning it in and You're not thinking about your laundry or the fight you just had with your partner. While you're out on the road You're actually engaged with your fellow musicians and particularly with the crowd. And, yeah, it's important to me as a music fan, you know, i just think it's really when there's still groups out there, you know, at the rink level, that do that, you know. 0:15:29 - Speaker 4Yeah, yeah, to comment quickly about your, your wish for the new Nirvana, like I think it's happening in in these sub capsules, like these regional areas. You know, i, i, i hear about bands doing a West Coast tour and doing in small clubs, smallish clubs, but also doing house parties along the way. And When I first heard this one band, i followed when I first heard they were doing, you know, in between, let's say, san Francisco and Eugene, they're doing house parties in Arcada, california, or Eugene, you know, south of Eugene or in Ashland is like. So they're doing house parties, like people are showing up and getting shit-faced and rocking out and in. To me It was kind of brilliant. It was very old-school feeling like you know, i remember stuff like this happening in the 80s, but at the same time I'm like, Well, if that's a way to hustle and get more fans to support you know, your, your venue climb, then that's that's just amazing. So I think it's happening with, you know, some of these kind of post-punk, kind of yeah, yeah, art rock bands. You know it's, it's happening, but it's it's so, it's so capsule-based, yeah. 0:16:45 - Speaker 2Yeah. 0:16:46 - Speaker 4So to break out of that, it's pretty tough. 0:16:48 - Speaker 2Yeah, i mean that that's my understanding of it as well that the first show I've got is part of a festival in our hometown called Spring Reverb and we again, it's a very, very local promoter who who's, you know? God bless them there. They're all in on live performance and they're they're they're like the Don Quixote's of music in this particular region And they'll do whatever it takes and there's tons of groups on the bill That I haven't heard before. It's and it's an exciting, you know, and it's a. It's a really, really good thing. But I think for your average music consumer, my age, it's like No one's trying to Pitch new music to me in any way. You know which is a real kind of drag. I, i have the dough to buy the records, but I don't know which ones to buy. You know, and it's I Still it's a. It's a bit of a problem. 0:17:47 - Speaker 4I'd love to send you a list. I'm bugging these two guys all the time. Hey, you gotta. You know. I told these guys all the time Hey, please, listen to this. There's one band in particular. I told them three times listen to it. Just make me a playlist. Maybe I'll listen to it later. 0:18:02 - Speaker 2And it's cool. It's never been easier to produce a record, like again when I started. Recording was expensive and you had to have a deal to do it and Someone had to invest the money in it, which, again, was maybe part of the advantage that we had that we did have some resources behind us with our first, even with our first DP, private resources and but you know that that patronage system is, i mean, kind of goes back to the Mozart days where you know folks that had the resources were able to Have house concerts, just happened to be in Palaces, right, right, but right, it's a good thing. I mean. I think you know the kids will find a way. It's just, it's just how, how to take it to the next level. I mean we, when we first started touring the States You know it was still regional radio was a real big deal. It was just before Ronald Reagan and the clear channel days kind of ruined it so many ways where you And it's a real shame as a music fan and as an artist you know you could be stiffen in one market, but then you go to like Austin, texas, for us it's like holy crap, where did all these people come from? And then you find out that a local DJ's got an affection for the band and they're kind of, they're kind of paving the road for you in advance And it was such a great. It was a great time. It was a great time for music. 0:19:48 - Speaker 3It's about what's played to you, gord, because I mean I just want to you talk. You mentioned the Clear Channel thing, but it's about what you're exposed to. Like you said, the DJ, that it's got a, that's got a. You know, it's got an affinity for your band. I know, joke. I'm in California right now because I'm visiting family out here And I saw two of my best friends. One flew out from Texas, the other one lives out and he's got to play some Mexico but he works the train. And so we all met up and on separate occasions I told him about this podcast and we listened to, to some hip tunes and they're like who the fuck are these guys? And and like immediate fans. Strangely enough, and because we have the same like taste in music, the three of us we grew up we played in bands the others were five, but never, never were exposed to it. Yeah, Yeah. Never had it. 0:20:44 - Speaker 2Yeah, we would get that a lot over the course of our career. You know, we've always benefited from really passionate fans that that they would, they would get it, and just the old fashioned word of mouth thing, you know, we would come back through town like 18 months later and they, they would have brought all their friends and maybe got turned into some more corded music, but then they would see the band play live and it would all make sense Like live music is supposed to. It's just like, oh, i didn't even think of that song on the record, but when they play it it's like, ah, you know, that's my new favorite song. And then it grew just really, really organically. You know, we, we never really had the benefit in the United States of a single that was big enough to open up like a national type of market, but we, we, we maintained this ability to tour around this, the circumference of the country, you know, and, um, yeah, and you know, wherever they had a professional hockey team, we would do pretty good, you know, right? 0:21:56 - Speaker 4So And I will say, though, i read, i read, i read you know something about you guys playing the, the Fillmore in the nineties in San Francisco, and there was some comment. It was like, yeah, they always do, they always have a big crowd here because every Canadian in California comes to the show, you know. so it's, it's hard to, it was hard to get tickets because all the Canadians would show up. So, you know, i love, i love the story of how everything happened organically and you guys kind of started from playing small clubs and what have you, and cover songs and how it. that rise is just totally remarkable And it's, you know, it's obviously worthy of of sharing, which we're we're doing now. I I gotta fast forward and ask about this. this uh, air stream, though, and you guys recording and you tell us about that. So cool. We have our own fantasy in our minds right now. Well, it was really it was a. 0:22:54 - Speaker 2Again, it's a kind of a a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a. It's a COVID based reality that that I faced, sure, the group myself, we, we own a recording studio in in Bath, ontario. It's a residential studio. So, um, COVID, it was really super busy because you know, artists, musicians, could, you could test up and and you'd live there. You didn't have to go anywhere and and as long as our, our engineer, um, you know, was safe. It was, so I I couldn't get into it, you know, like I just couldn't. It was booked out and and, um, i had, uh, you know, i'd I'd put out a record called taxi dancers previously And it's one of those things like I had tunes left over from writing with the hip and stuff. She got years and years to do that and then. But COVID was great for me as a, as a songwriter. I was locked down in my home with my family and um, and I was writing and using the guitar and and and writing lyrics as my means of journalism journaling really And I wrote this record fairly quickly. My buddy James, who played with me a bunch, i produced a bunch of records for his band, uh, peterborough, called the Spades, and so we've just always had a really close relationship, And he is an engineer and producer in Peterborough, um, and had this great idea this summer, before COVID, and he bought up an Airstream trailer And he rigged it up so that he was able to strip down his gear from his studio space and transplant everything into the airstream and go completely mobile So he could record live shows and, you know, any sort of situational stuff which I thought was a genius idea. And then COVID hit and it kind of you know, it kind of went on the back burner and then we got talking and said, you know I got enough tunes for a record And you know he played with me on the first one and engineered, so we want to try to do it again. And so he literally recorded it in my house. We parked the airstream in the driveway and ran a snake underneath my garage door and plugged in And it was kind of great. I hoofed my family out and it was just. It was just James and Jeff Housechuck and I are a drummer And we kind of stripped things down. We learned all the songs as a three piece, you know, with me playing the bass and then and then tracked kind of pretty much live And Jeff and I would play together and put the bed tracks down to like a scratch guitar, scratch, vocal and kind of did it like that. It was really kind of wicked and and not only in office is recording is, you know. We learned the songs and we kind of had all the beds done in like three, four days. It was just bang bang bang, kind of like that It was. It was a lot of fun, like kind of old school recording. You know We trying to almost emulate it doing its 16 track. You know, really minimal overdubs and just to get that sound. You know we spent the majority of our time miking up the drum kit, you know, so that we could. You know the Jeff Housechuck the drummer is just a fantastic player, jazz guy, and he decided to slum it with us rock and rollers And he brought that, that complexity and the touch where you could actually hear the notes on the drums. 0:26:48 - Speaker 4Yeah, yeah. 0:26:49 - Speaker 2I could hear it. That's great. We actually ran into him. Ironically, james and I were supporting the group classic Canadian story. but our very first show of the tour that we were doing supporting the troops got snowed out. We got to the bottom of George and Bay and the road was closed. It was drifted in. and so we drove back down to Toronto and went to this great club called the Rex Jazz Club And and Jeff was playing with this organ trio you know like real kind of like just fantastic player and had a couple beers with him after and said, hey, do you want to want to do this If I ever make another record? he said yeah, tommy, and the rest is kind of his. Yeah, it's wicked, yeah actually the phone. 0:27:34 - Speaker 3Yeah, Yeah, No, like, for example, the song over and over. I think it is Yeah. Yeah you can tell. I mean you can tell throughout the record, but like that one in particular. Like, however, because once you lay down your initial, you know your drums and bass, your guitar, your bones you start playing with arrangements. And that I was wondering, like thinking about your process, you know how you go about recording and once you get stuff down, but the way you explain the Airstream that had to have promoted like some level of like creativity, like where you see something you're like let's do this, let's try this, because you're not sitting in a traditional studio, yeah, you know, with four walls, yeah, and a window and like do you know what I'm saying? Does that? Yeah? 0:28:29 - Speaker 2no, 100% That's. That's exactly what we were able to do, you know, within the confines of the house, like I have a small home studio, i have an open house, so I got curtains everywhere to kind of allow, you know, for not only privacy but to kind of the dead and the sound and stuff. We had to be creative with what we were doing and trying to figure out where we're going to put drums and what we're going to do with bass. And it was literally because of the way Jeff played And my natural affinity for records that were done in the 70s that we wanted to, instead of getting the big, boomy Bob Rock kind of like we're going to play in the cabin, smash, smash, smash drum kit, we wanted to, like Jeff plays with jazz sticks, that's, you know it's with. Well, let's put them in this curtained off room where everything's totally dead and and do the do the Jeff Emmerich, you know and kind of play and play and play and move the mic and move the stand until we got the kit sounding perfectly. And then in the meantime, you know, we're rehearsing And James is playing with us, and then we, you know, we get tempos down and stuff and, and you know, do a scratch acoustic guitar and vocal. So we know the arrangement And then Jeff or James would go out into the air stream and we counted off and Jeff and I would play together, you know. And the bass amp is elsewhere in the house So there's no chance of it bleeding in, but we didn't have walls or rooms or anything like that. And again, it was the same process. Most of the bass is not DI, it's, it's. I've got an old, you know, portaflex B15 from 1965, the James Jamerson right And it was kind of like you stick the right mic in front of it And it sounds like, it sounds like Motown, you know, and and that's that's kind of the way we get it And obviously I knew the tunes real well And Jeff is just such a good enough player. That was like, oh, you know, you kind of get it in one or two takes and go out and listen to it. And then again is a cool thing that we go to the driveway, to the air stream, which was really our control room, and you listen to it all stripped away or it's just bass and drums And it's kind of like, oh, it's got even without a lyric and without a guitar or even a music Or even a melody. It's like, oh, this sounds pretty wicked. It's kind of the inverse of being a songwriter where I've always believed if you can sing a song around a campfire, and it can, and it can exist on that level and subsist on that level. And it's like, oh, okay, this is a decent song. And we kind of combined those two ethos and to make this record And it was again, it was just because of the circumstances of making it that you know, we all had to be tested up And we, you know, it was just the three of us and we were also living together and eating together and drinking beer together and playing pool pool table in one part of my house And it was great. It's like it's the band camp, you know it's the hardest way to kill time 0:31:49 - Speaker 1you know, sure, gord, i have a question from somebody on Twitter. We let them know that we were meeting with you And he said it's Craig Rogers from Twitter. And he said, curious if he curious of Gord finds himself writing on guitar or bass more often, or a mixture both with this album and when he wrote for the hip. His bass playing is very melodic, so does he have a chord progression in mind first and then works out a baseline, or does the bass melody come first? 0:32:17 - Speaker 2I primarily write on on guitar, for sure, you know, certainly with the hit, even the songs I would bring to the hip, i would have written riffs and started out on acoustic guitar, not all the time Like they were. on occasion I would try to do something on bass. Bass is kind of tough to sit around on your own. Keep yourself entertained. You know you can play along and stuff. But certainly like my main contributions writing with the hip because we had developed that cooperative songwriting style where you know no one in the group would bring a finished idea to the band. You know we would basically throw out a riff, be it a guitar riff, in some cases a bass riff, and we would start playing together And Gord would start putting a melody on top and a lyric on top And it was great that way. As the bass player you'd like oh here are all these holes all like add melody in here. Or in a lot of cases it was from the middle of songs while you were jamming or sound checks. You know we were always playing And but yeah, it was great fun. I miss making music with those guys big time because it was as a songwriter. It's different now, like you, never when you're, when I was in the hip, you never had to finish an idea And even if you had writers, if you were stuck with something, we would get together frequently And someone always had something new and fresh And that would, you know, cause a light bulb to come on And it would suggest a change that maybe the guy that brought the briefing hadn't thought of it Meanwhile, gord just being Gord, he would be riffing on top and his melody would suggest a change that he would make. And it was great. I loved being in that band And I miss it because it's like you know, like, yeah, you start, i still start the same way, i start with the riff, but man, it takes a lot longer, you know, to come up with complimentary parts and the lyrics and stuff. And again, i credit Gord. I really, you know, i tried to bring some heft to the lyrics that I was writing for this project and my previous one as well, cause he's, you know, he set a pretty high bar as a songwriter you know and can't really you can't really put out a solo record I've said this a few times, but it's absolutely true Like you can't write. Yummy, yummy, yummy. I've got love in my tummy, you know, and feel good about yourself with some of the lyrics that Gord has, Yeah. So yeah, the writing's a, it's a. It's a, it's a fun, it's a fun process. I'm not a sit down and write every day kind of guy. I don't do the Stephen King and lock myself in my studio for 2,500 words a day. You know, I kind of sit around and watch hockey playoffs or baseball playoffs and with the guitar in my lap and noodling all the while, and then you're like, oh, and The cascade begins from there. You know, kind of not really paying attention to either, and It's amazing if you're receptive to the idea, It'll come from somewhere. It's, it's great fun, It's great fun. 0:35:47 - Speaker 1Gordon, i'm so thrilled that you laid down in 2020, you laid down get back again. Yeah, so it was. So we have a like a proper studio version of that song, because I gotta tell you, that was one of the hip songs that I came to early on and in my young hip career, and I was like whoa, this is something that's not on the record. It's like this is like a bootleg, or this is so cool And I gotta I gotta wonder, though, how did it never end up on a record like that? It's such a phenomenal song. 0:36:17 - Speaker 2It's, it's a funny one. I mean that it was That's. It's an old song. I mean that was back from the day when we were we were kind of clubbing it, he just kind of in southeastern Ontario and and we were all learning how to write and we were Writing a little bit together. You know Gord Downey and I would and Paul were living together at a student house But yeah, and it it was kind of a mainstay when we would play live and it was in the running, you know for for up to here for sure as a song. But interestingly enough we We recorded a demo version of it. That was just dynamite. Like You know, the performance across the board is great, particularly by Gord, like he just sang the song beautifully. And it was one of those circumstances where the The, the guy that was helping us the demo, said, oh, that was really really great, one more time just like that and we'll run tape. And we're like, oh, what do you mean? you weren't running tape? and oh, tried it again and collectively we were so disappointed. You know that I don't know we never, we never seemed to Capture that vibe that we had on this unrecorded Demo. You know this is again, we were really young, we were still learning how to play in the studio where it sounded like us and Again it sounds old-fashioned and everything, but it was back in the day We recorded live like we would, you know, put the bass somewhere and you know, drums are in a booth and gorge in a booth And we were learning how to do it, but still get that feeling like with headphones on that, we know, you know It sounds like awesome. We're listening to each other Again and then, yeah, it just never. It just never made the cut. After that, i guess I mean there is a version of it somewhere, at least I thought we had reported it for up to here There is some kind of version of it somewhere. We're finding it Odd with. We've always been signed to Universal in various shapes or forms. We were signed to MCA back in the day. But the tracking down on old tapes, a little demo stuff And studio stuff, is proving very, very challenging from an archival point of view. Like stuff is You'd think it'd be, you know, t, hip or Or it would be alphabetized or the Dewey decimal system or something, but it seems pretty random and stuff is in different storage area Areas and our drummer John has just been. He's just been like a dog on a bone tracking down Material and just relentless trying to find stuff. We kind of process kind of started for us with Road apples and but we were still. We were only able to manage to find Two-thirds of the tapes. You'd think they'd all be somewhere together. You know, when we heard about that fire on the universal lot we hit the panic button like right. You know, wow is our? do you think some our stuff is in there? and then read the list in the paper and there was our name. You know, in between Mel Torme and the down Trop family singers, you know it's like oh crap, i hope we do, because that, that, because, to your point, that's exactly the kind of stuff that we were looking for. Turns out there were dupes and some of its backup in Canada. Definitely Yeah, it's a. 0:40:11 - Speaker 3I just I'd be remiss if I didn't ask a gear question What, what, what, what, what? what type of guitar do you do you like to sit in? Because when you're sitting watching a ball game and you're just noodling or you're just whatever like what's your go-to? 0:40:26 - Speaker 2I, honestly, i've got a. I've got a few favorites, in fact, like there's a song on this, this latest record called change your mind, i I bought a. I bought an old Martin D18, saw it. I bought it sight unseen because it's just always wandered one and down. I Picked it up and Literally pulled it out of the case and it became my main guitar for about a week and that was that that. I Written that song on it within Got probably a day or two, you know it. Just it felt right, sounded right. 0:41:08 - Speaker 1What's that? there's sort of like a dreamy stony sound on that song. 0:41:11 - Speaker 2Yeah, and I would credit the guitar. You know, i guess I I Have a lot of, i've got a lot of instruments laying around the house and I will, you know, i will, i'll trick myself and I'll keep one guitar With a capo on the second fret, you know, and thereby changing the key of the song. But you just, in certain cases, different chord shapes and different you know, composite chords, like you know, a D over G or whatever to sound different in a different key or it'll trigger something melodically and then that will Send it in a different direction. So I I kind of rotate them in and out. You know I I Got an old the first kind of cool guitar about was an old J 160, you know mid 50s old beaver of a guitar, and it's always out on a stand somewhere and I'll Pick it up and I'm playing. Right now I'm going out and playing this old, the ES 125, like a, like a hollow-bodied arched top, electric and And it's been laying around and it's just, you know It sounds kind of got a little more sound to it. Yeah, i just kind of believe in the magic of it. You know that it's just like oh, this, you know it's rules right and sounds right in the. The tones of these older instruments, to my ear anyway, are so nuanced that that each one has a different character and Suggests different things, you know, and some chords sound better on them than others. And yeah, it's so, so it's cool. I like I say, i trick myself and I mix it up. 0:42:50 - Speaker 3That's the per. That's the perfect answer. Had you said this is the guitar, that's trick Bs and me bulls it me right on that school Yeah my question was more what kind of beer we were you drinking where you were recording and the Not as young as I used to be, so I. 0:43:13 - Speaker 2There's always a case of the in this kicking around here, for sure, but I'm more of a light beer guy now. Unfortunately, i just I can't afford to Drink the loaf of bread like I used to when I was a young man. Live to tell it. 0:43:29 - Speaker 4I'm right there with you. Yeah, i'm right there with you, gord. 0:43:33 - Speaker 2Yeah, I'm pretty much a logger and a Guinness guy. 0:43:36 - Speaker 4Yeah, sorry. 0:43:49 - Speaker 1Well, I'd love to talk more about the. I'd love to talk more about the. The record sure. You gotta ask the video to man and we haven't touched. We haven't even touched on the video. 0:43:59 - Speaker 2Yeah, I'm glad you like it. I, i yeah, that's a friend of my, my youngest son's It's aspiring filmmaker and videographer and, obviously, videos on what there used to be. I'm like I'm a survivor of the MTV era where You just saw your recoupable account go up and up and up with your record company because you'd spend more money making videos And you would make the record. But it's. But he's a creative young guy having feral is his name and I I Was reading the newspaper And there was an article I can't think this one Facebook change just named in Metta, and Mr Zuckerberg had proclaimed that the future of the world, the future of reality, is going to be virtual reality. And They ran a little clip of the journalists were testing it out with the, with those goggles or that, whatever that is. I said, wow, this is the future of reality. The graphics are kind of shitty, you know, and and And I bounced it off heaven and I want to make this video about these tech guys that are kind of changing the way we interact with each other and getting rich in the process. And could we make a virtual reality kind of video for this song about kind of love in the VR world? and and man he ran with it. He was like I know exactly what you're talking about. 0:45:34 - Speaker 3And it's clear who everybody is. It's very clear who everybody is. 0:45:37 - Speaker 2He ran into a little problem with the record. Here it was, it was clear, still in the legal department And hit the panic button real quick. But we just, i think. 0:45:52 - Speaker 4You know, it's a good thing when that happens And it was fun. 0:45:55 - Speaker 2The song I think Google Guy has a bit of a sense of humor to it And yeah, i got when all that stuff was going on, when they were talking about how their algorithm there were purports to bring people together was actually the algorithm itself was based on making people butt heads, because there was more engagement when the conversation was contentious, as opposed to fluffy, puffy stuff. And that young woman, francis Hogan, really kind of went official with it. She kind of blew the whistle on these, these guys, and I thought right away to myself like oh, what would what would Joe Strummer do with a concept like this? You know, like you wouldn't know all have very much and try to call the guy out. And it was actually the last song I wrote for the record And it came real, real quick because I kind of got my dander up just a little bit. I'm not a social media guy. I understand how people do it. It's a great way to stay in touch with friends all over the world and stuff, and I get it. But God, imagine if you're Instagramming or Facebooking with your pals. But there was a artificial intelligence kind of trying to get you guys to fight about something you may have said to each other in high school and dragging that your relationship through them. 0:47:21 - Speaker 3I'm sure it's already there. 0:47:22 - Speaker 2Exactly, you know. I mean, i'm in a. I was in a band with my high school friends and, oh my God, we fought about crap that was 35 years old. You know, sometimes it was kind of anyway, yeah, so I yeah anyway, i glad you liked the video. It was fun to do. I'm going to do a follow up. He's one of them for call Yeah, but I don't know, i haven't seen it, yet I'm dying. He's okay. I'll be anxious to check that out. 0:47:56 - Speaker 4I enjoyed the video and the song and the song. Honestly it brought me. There's this kind of 80s feel to it, like it's it's interesting kind of the juxtaposition of I don't know had money for nothing Yeah yeah, and then what? Yeah, I'm not, i'm not sure, yeah it's. Yeah, it's reminded me of I don't know a couple of things, but anyways, the the video is great, and it was just I love the personification of the characters, and it's just. I just really related it. I was, i was in, i was in Italy recently. We were staying with family and I'm kind of a handy guy, so I was helping them do some stuff and I said, well, can you work and we get this? you know, we needed something in particular. My aunt there says, well, we could just order it on Amazon, and sure enough it was there the next day. And I'm like I mean Italy and Jeff, jeff, still knocking on the front door delivering, yeah yeah, it's not so I conveniently unbelievable. 0:48:57 - Speaker 2I totally understood. And obviously the pandemic Unbelievable fall for those companies because all the stores are closed, you know, but Massive. You know I'm from a small, small ish city. You know we got 150,000, 200,000 people here. You know, if the if you don't support your local hardware store owner, who may very well be your neighbor down the street, you know it's, it's kind of like the kind of the 100 mile Right Diet approach to living. You know where you live in a community and if you got a couple Extra bucks for things like I get it like people go to the big box stores to buy 10,000 rolls of toilet paper and junk like that. But but you know I go to the local record store and my local stereo shop and my local guitar store and we shop at a small little market And it's important, you know it's. It's important if, if the pandemic taught us anything, it was to kind of value community Because we would support each other more. And meanwhile, that's what I love to do. Devon's portrayal of the of. They call themselves founders. I understand the founders in the orbiting space station above, above the world, that slowly falling apart. And frankly, that's what I try to articulate in the, in the lyric of the songs, that we all know the reason, and the reason is really us. It's up to us, you know, to build community and to support community And and everyone wants to save a buck. I understand that stuff, but at what cost, you know. And what cost? Yeah, in many cases, like mm. Hmm, there's a lot of each cylinder vans all over North America as we speak, idling in people's driveways dropping off stuff that they ordered on Amazon last night, you know, and there's a cost to that, ever, you know. And that's what I was trying to articulate anyway, yeah, yeah. 0:51:21 - Speaker 4What I notice nowadays on, i mean, i'm in Portland, we're in the city, you know, downtown Portland is about three miles away, and what I notice is, when we don't have any deliveries, like, i'll just stop, i'm mostly home. I'll stop in the house and think, boy, it's actually been quiet today. You know it's. You have to wait for the white, the white noise to go away in order to I have a Kingston question for you. 0:51:45 - Speaker 1These gentlemen we are recording, we're doing a live finale for this podcast in Toronto on September 1st. So Pete is coming from Spain and Tim is coming from Portland and we're doing it at the rec room in Toronto. We're doing like a live podcast. There's going to be a standup comedian, There's going to be a hip tribute band, et cetera. But as part of their coming to Toronto, I've booked us a day in Kingston and I booked an Airbnb just yesterday. What are some? what are some hip, hip must see spots, Some you mentioned a record store earlier, a guitar store. What are some cool spots that we should go when we're? Yeah, I got to hit the store. 0:52:29 - Speaker 2You know what there's there's. so there's so many of it like this. First off, about Kingston. You know I'm born and bred and raised here. I went to university here and you know, like most young men, like Rob Baker and I, grew up across the street from each other And all through high school together and you know, gordon, Paul and I lived together in university And John was a little bit younger than us behind us, but all went to the same high school Parents, on to each other, and nonetheless, like most young men, we couldn't wait to shape the dust off this one horse town off our boots. You know, move on, or big city, and as it turned out, you know, our career took this home, over Europe and North America and traveling all the time And we kept coming back home And because it was home, you kind of learn to fall in love with where you're from By leaving it, you know, and you kind of realize, oh, there's no better place to come back to. And it still is a really, it's a really special place. Even even with the, the dearth of of live music venues and various cities and stuff, we still have five, six places in town that run live entertainment nightly. You know, and I think that's a big reason Kingston is as it is is produce so many great recording artists, you know Sarah Harmer, headstones and the Glorious Suns, and because they all came up the way I came up, you know, you kind of start playing in downtown Kingston and you play the bigger bar and the bigger bar after that. So there's, there's some great live music venues. The place I'm playing in town is called the, called the the Brune factory, which is kind of a multi multimedia approach to live. It's a film place, it's comedy, it's an office building for the local promoter during the day And it's, it's great. It's very DIY in town, you know it's. Also Kingston is an interesting place because it's a university town, a very large, very good university here. So we kind of punch above our weight for for restaurants and actually activities to do. We have a local symphony orchestra to symphony halls. You know it's just there's, it's a, it's a really special place And it's also it's right at the confluence of Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence River. So it's where the Great Lakes kind of funnel all down and the area just east of us is the start of the Thousand Islands, which is again it's we kind of take it for granted. But you guys coming from out of town, you know it's worth jumping on a, on a boat, and you've never seen anything like it. It's, it's just absolutely spectacular, you know, and it's, yeah, it's just really, really cool. There's so many great rooms. You know, the club that we played our first gig was called the the toucan, but it still exists, you know, and it's still still there. It's not a great place to see music or play music, but it's still running live. It's pretty wicked. There's another place called the mansion. That that they're again. They're fighting the good fight. They're trying to bring acts in all the time and get people a place to play. You know, and it's in, it's kind of great. It's kind of a great place to be. I feel very comfortable here. You guys are like it. 0:56:15 - Speaker 3If people, if they have places to play there and there's places that they make available, i mean there's. there's no doubt that's why the city thrives. 0:56:25 - Speaker 2I really think so as well, because people, obviously they people get used to live music being a viable option. You know, that was something that we experienced as young musicians First time we went to Europe. You know, it was again like starting over. But we got to the Netherlands And it was like that was. It was the case of like, where are all these people come from? how do they? but it's because the the nature of the culture and it was back in the CD days, when they were Ridiculously expensive, you know. So you'd have to pony up whatever 30, 40 Gelder's they were called back then so people would literally would go see a band play live before they would pull me up for the record, which was perfect for a group like us, because you know they huh, there are all these Magnificently tall people standing there and all speaking English, hang them boards, every word, yeah, it was great. It's all like. That's all about the amazing thing. I am such a such a believer. It's just so important. 0:57:36 - Speaker 1I I totally feel the song sometimes. Yeah, did you write that? like thinking, live in mind, like, like that feels like a live song. 0:57:46 - Speaker 2Yeah, i Did it's, it's, It's for sure, it's. There's an anger to it for sure, and it's it's not the easiest thing when you're sitting by yourself in a pandemic to To write an uptempo song. But like I, like I was seeing earlier, i was using that experience, i would close the sliding doors of our family room and, and, like everybody, there were moments during when I was locked down or where I was Wasn't quite myself. You know I was feeling. You know, being locked down in the middle of the winter in Canada is You get some dark days for sure, not only Physically dark days, but but the mood kind of translates on you and that's that's really what that song's about. And and I Attempted to turn that frown upside down and kind of went back to the old punk rock me, and It's basically like a confessional more than anything, because it was true, sometimes I felt like I was losing my mind, you know, and and sometimes you know, weed, weeds legal up here and and and so maybe sometimes I'm they've, you know, smoked a bomber a little too early in the day, you know, or maybe a little Bailey's in my morning coffee just to take the edge off. Even quite confessional about that as well. Much sugar in, yeah. 0:59:23 - Speaker 3That's really cool of you sharing my songs with us Share. 0:59:28 - Speaker 1I mean, for me it's been. It's been 38 years of you sharing songs with me, so I really appreciate that and Love that you made time for us today, well. 0:59:39 - Speaker 2I appreciate that. I appreciate that I'm a music fan as well and I and I I Made music with guys I know really well, guys I love, you know, and and We always took it really, really seriously and we always never took whatever success we may have achieved, we never took that for granted, you know, and we knew it was because of the people that liked our music and that supported the group and we, you know, with the past, you know Gordon Lightfoot. It was also such a huge believer in live performance and the love and respect for his audience. you know We came up, you know, very much the same way, just like getting our getting in front of people and, you know, and thanking them. You know, and being truly grateful and trying to allow the music to reflect our growth as people and but our commitment to making really good music and you know I'm I Love it I'm still trying to do it on my own. You know, i'd give anything to have gourd still here and be working my, my normal day job, you know. But but In no small way he still is. You know, he wouldn't have wanted any of us to stop playing, you know, and to stop making music and Yeah, and so I'm kind of doing it to honor him, but it's also it's because it's the only thing I know how to do. I kind of They caught into my, it's my, my yearly cycle of like, oh I'm, you should be making a record soon. I think the song start pouring out. Anyway, i'd go on, but I appreciate you guys for doing this and listening as it is intently, as I Listen to music like that's the way I listen to it too, you know I turn it up. 1:01:31 - Speaker 3Yeah, pleasure's our pleasure We've. 1:01:34 - Speaker 4we've got great time, so thank you so much. 1:01:37 - Speaker 2I'll get a list of places to see in Kingston, and there's some that would be great. It's a pretty, it's a pretty special. It's a pretty special little town. You'll, you'll get the vibe right away. You know, september is a great time of year. Kids are just coming back to school and the and the sailors are still hanging around. It's a touristy town. So there's a. There's a good, it's a good vibe here. It's a nice place to visit. I can't wait. Yeah, i can't wait awesome, awesome. 1:02:02 - Speaker 1Well, thank you so much Thanks for a pleasure, guys. 1:02:06 - Speaker 2I really really appreciate your time. It's fun. 1:02:08 - Speaker 3Yeah, thank you boys. 1:02:10 - Speaker 2Okay, take care, we'll see you real soon. Yeah, thank you. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/gettinghiptothehip/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Title: Straight outta Kingston!Keywords: Tragically Hip, Canadian rock, podcast, musical journey, storytelling, discography, live tracks, vinylIn this episode, join JD and friends Pete and Tim as they embark on a musical journey into the world of the Tragically Hip. As die-hard fans of the band, they discuss their experiences and thoughts on the music and storytelling of the Tragically Hip. From their early beginnings to their debut album and beyond, JD, Pete, and Tim break down the tracks, compare studio and live versions, and explore the unique sound and identity of this iconic Canadian rock band.https://ratethispodcast.com/ghtthChapters:(0:00:00) - Getting Hip to the Hip(0:07:46) - Musical Roots and Taste(0:17:52) - Canadian Rock Band Discussion(0:36:02) - Exploring the Tragically Hip's Debut AlbumJoin the discussion on Twitter and Instagram at @gettinghippot and join the Facebook group at facebook.com/groups/fullyandcompletely. Questions or concerns? Email JD at JD@gettinghiptothehip.com.Subscribe, rate, and review the show at gettinghiptothehip.com.The live music featured in this episode comes from:Dead Flowers - 1985 BathAll Canadian Surf Club - 1989 LondonTranscript0:00:00 - Speaker 1Hey, hip bands. it's JD here. Have you ever imagined what it would be like if you could listen to the tragically hip for the first time again? This is something I've spent a great deal of time considering. I can still remember my first experience with the band, While it was a while ago. I still remember it like it was yesterday. It was July of 1990, and I was working in a small town quick serve restaurant in Dairy Bar called Yeti's Arctic Safari. The new owner, Jeff, brought in a stereo system to replace the dinky radio that had entertained us with classic rock while we worked. He had a mix tape that featured a band he called The Trag. As the first notes rung out, something happened inside of me. The music resonated with my 13 year old self. I could feel a change coming over me that was more powerful than the puberty I was working my way through. It was hard rock, but it was different than the hard rock I was listening to at home. Instead of dripping with machismo and bravado, this music cut deeper to me. It featured lyrical twists and turns. the phrase that left me wanting more. Fortunately, I got to come of age with The Trag, the hip. Most of my experiences I discussed on the podcast fully and completely with my friend Greg, And while that podcast satisfied my desire to share my takes on one of Canada's greatest bands, it still didn't hit the mark of taking me back to that moment at Yeti's Or the longing I felt listening to Road Apples, the ahas I had with fully, completely, The coming of age I experienced with Day for Night, Or the simmering beauty of Trouble at the Hen House, And so on. That's where this podcast comes in. You see, my friends Pete and Tim have never heard of the hip before. It turns out there are a lot of people who have never heard of the band before. So for those of you that fall into this category, experience the music of the tragically hip along with Pete and Tim as we travel the discography and tackle the music and storytelling of our band, the Tragically Hip. If you're already at Die Hard, listen along and hear what they know, what they notice and how often they get it wrong. Every week we'll tackle a new record. So strap in and get ready to listen to the hip for the first time I'll get ["Tragically? 0:02:17 - Speaker 2Hip"] Long Slice Brewery presents Getting Hip to the Hip. 0:02:33 - Speaker 1Hey, it's JD here and welcome to Getting Hip to the Hip. I hope you are ready to rock and roll. I know my friends Pete and Tim are. Let me just take their muzzles off here and let them have at it. Fellas, before we go anywhere, tell me why you did this, Because it could turn out like incredibly sideways. I don't know where this is gonna go. I think that this is the greatest Canadian band of all time And I think they rank in the world stage as well, but you guys haven't heard of them. So, Tim, what do? 0:03:10 - Speaker 3you think, Thanks for having us, JD. I hope, I hope, I hope. I told my family what we were up to and my oldest son was like alright, do you like this band? If you listen to this band, are you gonna be able to do it? You know this is gonna be like a fucking marathon listening to all the albums. And I said I'm not really sure. You know there, this Canadian rock band from what I know. I remember living at the beach in San Diego and one of my neighbors had a tragically hip sticker on his truck and I always wondered like that's weird, a band popular enough to have stickers on a bumper of a truck. but I don't know who it is. So you know, there's not a lot of bands you know from the past 10 to 20 years who made it kind of big that I'd never, ever listened to any song from. So yeah, we're curious to see where this goes. And you know, of course I've listened to Rush, I've seen Rush play. you know there's all kinds of music out of Canada Arcade Fire, and you know more present. So let's see what the tragically hip is. We'll see if it's gonna be tragic or not. Oh, oh. 0:04:36 - Speaker 1Maybe it'll be super hip Ground. oh God, Oh, he doesn't stop. You wind this guy up and he just does not stop. Oh, finally, P Ground control to major P Yeah yeah. 0:04:51 - Speaker 4So I got into this. this was a court ordered thing for an offense that I've made one time. No, no, no, JD, you asked me to do this and you know I actually have heard of the tragically hip and it's funny because back in like I wanna say, the mid 2000s, like 2006, 2007, I was working at a bar. I knew a couple really good folks that used to come in there a lot. They were both Canadians Kurt and I can't remember the other girl's name And there were a couple and we used to talk about trailer park boys all the time, which they loved. They would always talk about tragically hip And it's kind of one of those things that, like, can't really force anything on people. You know, you gotta kind of just lead the horse to water and hopefully they drink. And then, more recently, in like 2018, 2019, I ran into somebody else and they were just like check out this song and download this out on Spotify And love it was my favorite album. You're gonna love if you like this and I'm just like it. just it wasn't organic And I'm hoping that this, you know, this adventure that we're all three embarking on will be. you know, it'll take, so to speak, because previous attempts had not done so, And I'm excited, though, but I know it's gonna be a big sandwich to take a bite out of, that's for sure. 0:06:29 - Speaker 3You know JD JD, if you would depend. you know some dude from Florida or I don't know. you know somewhere else in the US and asked me to do some other band, US based band or something. I don't, it's hard. my point is it's really hard to say no to a sweet Canadian guy. 0:06:49 - Speaker 1So yeah. 0:06:50 - Speaker 3So you know, it's like I said to my wife Amy, you know JD, who she had heard about but not meant to ask me to do this like multi week podcast about some band I don't know. And I'm a little concerned like what if? what if me and Pete were just like JD? we're gonna have to end the podcast early. We don't get it, you know, but I'm sure we all get it. 0:07:15 - Speaker 4What JD didn't tell you is that the original this was originally gonna be a Papa Roach podcast And we're gonna go through the through the discography of Papa Roach, but last minute he changed it to the end, so thank God, Yeah So where are you No? 0:07:34 - Speaker 1offense to. Papa Roach, Where are you guys hailing from at this point? I mean, I know, but if people are actually listening to this, that means that we completed the task. So that's one thing. Where do you come from And where do you come from musically? 0:07:53 - Speaker 4I live now. I live in Malia, Spain, which is in the south. For those of you who can pick Spain out on a map, it's the closest part to North Africa. but I come from Southern California, born and raised in the LA area, more specific the Long Beach and Downey area. Most of my life in Long Beach, though. Musically, help me out, man. 0:08:27 - Speaker 1I think you're both, like, big fans of music, like the full spectrum, and that's why I chose you, Like you know. 0:08:36 - Speaker 4I'm not, let's put it this way, I'm not a Steve Albini. I don't diss any type of music. Okay, Steve Albini fans out there, I just I let I like there are music that I will gravitate towards and listen to, which tends to be rock and roll, indie rock, Stuff like that. but yeah, I'm never gonna sit there and go. you know, I don't. I didn't like Kendrick Lamar's record. I don't think you should have got out of mother air. Fuck that. like whatever dude, to each his own man. Some people really like it, some people really like this and that. so even those who like poppy roach started bring it up twice. 0:09:15 - Speaker 3We know, we know, we know it. next, the vinyl. Yes, I've lived in Portland over 20 years, just over 20 years this year, But I hail from Southern California as well. So I'm kind of just like a West Coast, you West guy I guess, but lived overseas for a stint of time and hope to do it again because we Head over to Europe at least once a year. Musically, you know, I don't Play anything but air guitar really well, just kidding, kind of not mediocre I guess. and I've, I will listen to a lot, of, many, many genres of music. if you, if this was to not to be like some contemporary Country artists, I probably would have either killed you guys through the, the interwebs, or myself or all of us. That's about one of the genres I just can't do. but yeah, I Drew up, I guess you know, listening to FM radio and Making mixed tapes on cassette and yeah, baby, you know, like I, I could hear. I was telling my son this year that I could hear the first seconds of a song and have record Set up on my tape deck It just record off the radio. So you know, huge music fan from early age, like fifth, sixth grade. So been listening to music forever and a fan forever and at one point, like huge AD of you have lists and track things, Like I tried to start to try to formulate, formulate the shows I've been to in my life, the gigs, because I'm still a Often good goer. I'm still recuperating from the one I went to last Friday night, But, gee she, I've been to lots, of, lots of, lots of concerts. So I feel like I know you know music fairly well and can talk about it and no artists and some personally and, um, yeah, I'm excited to Give this rodeo a. you know, around the Around the corral, see what happens. 0:11:26 - Speaker 1Yeah, I think it's gonna be. I think it's gonna be fun and it's gonna be different. There are gonna be phases We're gonna listen to where you will like it more than others. I'm sure You know Pete the, the person that was telling you you got to listen to this. if this is your favorite record, You would like this. I can't even imagine saying that with the hips, because their uvra is like is all over the place. It starts out as real well, we'll get into it with the p, but it starts out It's, it's bar rock. It's you know, it's It's bluesy bar rock. They were disciples of, you know early Early garage and late 60s stones. You know that type of music. uh, I mean, they had a saxophone in the band, for god's sake, You know. so they were that type of band. Uh, the saxophone ultimately was gone by the time they started to record. That's uh, davis manning, um, but uh, Yeah, It's all over the map. It's all over the map. So why don't we kick into a live song right now and then we'll get talking about the record in in question here, which is the Tragically Hip EP. This is Dead Flowers by the Rolling Stones, covered by the Tragically Hip, with Davis Manning playing sax. Hope you like it. let's get into it. 0:13:20 - Speaker 5Talking to some rich folks that you knew And I hope you won't see me in my rated community. You know I could have been. Thank you, Send me Dead Flowers, by the way. You know, when you're sitting by in your own big black bag Making bets on Kentucky Dirt today, When I'm in my big skin room with a head on my head and a spoon, Another girl did jump in the way. Send me Dead Flowers, by the way. You know, when you're sitting by in your own big black bag Making bets on Kentucky Dirt today, Send me Dead Flowers, by the way. Take me down, let our sins and break me down. I know you think you're the queen of the underground. Send me Dead Flowers, by the way. Send me Dead Flowers, by the way. Send me Dead Flowers, by the way. 0:16:41 - Speaker 1Isn't that great, Yeah, Okay, before we get into the EP specifically, I just played you Dead Flowers and I sent you some other live tracks. Just want to get a sense of what you thought of that first group of songs and listening to this band play them live. 0:17:02 - Speaker 3I thought of so many different things as I first heard some of the songs. I mean, I instantly wondered about Gordon. Some of the songs were specific storytelling. I really wondered about his songwriting process, which I think is one of the most boring questions. I ask a band, But I immediately went to that His vibrato. Okay, that was like instantly, what is going on with this guy's voice and the way he sings? Is he trying to protect his vocal cords? I think some singers use vibrato when they're like on massive tours or something to exercise their voice or something. But you know, it sounded like a really good kind of bar rock and roll. to me That's what it sounded like. It sounded like I want to be in a club or in a bar with like a couple hundred people, You know, drinking not the bats Another great Canadian beer And just kind of rocking out. You could hear the fans loving the band. It sounded very 80s to me too, Very 80s. I mean it was like every song was its own book, if you will, Its own little story, and it just sounded like a reminder me of I don't know, Reminded me a little bit. His voice, reminded me a little bit of how Elvis sings, Reminded me a little bit of Freddie Mercury, But also a little bit sinister, like Glenn Danzig. 0:18:57 - Speaker 1I don't know if you guys know who he is. 0:18:58 - Speaker 3You know, it was just charismatic. He's a very charismatic guy. He's probably a lot of fun to hang out with Gordon. But yeah, it sounded very time specific to that era. 0:19:15 - Speaker 1Well, there's something about it that makes it more time. specific too, Pete. what did you think? 0:19:21 - Speaker 4Well, I gotta be honest with you, JD. I listened fully and completely to the actual EP, The live link that you sent me. The only one that I was able to hear was Highway Girl. 0:19:40 - Speaker 1Oh, and that's sort of cheating, because that came out in 91. So I'm sorry about that. 0:19:46 - Speaker 4No, no, not at all. I mean, I have my comments on the EP itself and kind of what I thought, But I don't want to jump the gun if you're not ready to hear that. 0:19:56 - Speaker 1But I got loads of thoughts, Cool. Well, that leads us to 1986 and them finding their way to a studio with Ken Greer. I'm not sure if you guys know who Ken Greer is. He's a Canadian as well. He was a producer, but he played in a band called Red Rider. If you're not familiar with Red Rider, check out the song Lunatic Fringe, Check out the song White Hot. Those are great songs and he was the guitarist in that band. but then he stepped away and started doing some production work. A friend of mine is the engineer on this record. I found that out years and years ago, but years after I had been a fan. I'm hoping to be able to talk to him for this podcast as well. It would be really cool to hear what he thought back in 86. This EP comes out in 87 on cassette prominently on cassette, but it does come out with a bonus song All Canadian Surf Club on the CD version. CDs were peaking through and they were making their way there. Three singles off this record Small Town, Bring Down Highway Girl and Last American Exit. I don't think that any of those songs are a surprise in terms of singles when you listen to the album in its entirety. This record isn't my favorite, but as a collection of songs it acts as sort of An amuse-bouche, as it were. What did you guys think of this record? This is your first time hearing it and first time talking about it. We'll start with you, Pete. 0:21:44 - Speaker 4I made a point of putting myself into multiple scenarios when I listened to it. I kept having this struggle because I remember you saying you said to me multiple times, and every Canadian who I've ever talked to about this band has said, oh, they started out as a bar band. I kind of got that in my head and I was like something I wanted to shed and not really pay attention to, because you don't really take a bar band seriously. You know what I mean A bar band is a bar band. But then I understood, the more I listened to it, kind of what you, What the Canadians, including yourself, JD, meant when you said that. And I got so much I mean I'll be honest with you The first track So the first time I listened to the record I went for a run And then I listened to it sitting at my desk and doing some work and then just kind of like alone, not doing anything, Not preoccupying myself with all this stuff. The first song, I was just like And you said that was a single, correct? 0:22:54 - Speaker 1Yeah, first single. 0:22:56 - Speaker 4It just. I mean, I was Every time wildly underwhelmed. It didn't hit me at all. Last American Exit it picked up a little bit and then Killing Time was just, I mean, that was a fucking bohemian. 0:23:50 - Speaker 5I got a kick when I walked down And I said I'd done my girl to tap To make my wounds with the sea dog sound A drink. I never wanted to, but it's for the never to take you back, My old man. I was all that bad. What you call compromise? I don't understand. What you call compromise. I don't understand. I walk away. I do you walk away? I walk away from a woman that comes down here on. She had done it wrong. I need your confidence even though you're mine When it gets right down to the killing time. I know your heart's bad, But it's all I've ever had. We can never lie on this righteous crime. I do you walk away. I do you walk away. I walk away from a woman that comes down here on. I know this time we walk away. you just can't walk away. I walk away from a woman that comes down here on. She had done it wrong. I do you walk away. you just can't walk away. I walk away from a woman that comes down here on. She had done it wrong. I need your confidence, even though you're mine, When it gets right down to the killing time. 0:27:50 - Speaker 4It just really really dug it. And what Tim said, too, is is it Rob Baker? 0:27:58 - Speaker 1Yeah, Rob. 0:27:59 - Speaker 4Baker. I can't remember what song was it, but I absolutely got some Huey Lewis vibes on his guitar tone. I mean it was super 80s, and not in a bad way. 0:28:12 - Speaker 1No, I hear you, It's very 80s, like production wise, Because it has no choice but to be. I mean, it was the 80s after all. 0:28:20 - Speaker 4But the weird thing about that is because I was hearing, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I was hearing some stuff in terms of like thinking about, okay, like I hear like some like the same sort of stuff you've heard going on in appetite, Because that was around the same time that that record came out. Appetite construction was what 86, 87. Yeah. But then what I really settled on was like there is a lot of like I hear a lot of that record in early Pearl Jam, early Alice in Chains. Yes, I mean his voice too, I think that record. you can see his voice progress into some amazing shit just by listening from song one to song seven or eight, whatever. 0:29:09 - Speaker 1Wow, Okay, We'll have to come back to that because that's really interesting. You can hear it right through the course of the record. 0:29:17 - Speaker 4Oh yeah. 0:29:18 - Speaker 1Tim, what were your initial thoughts? 0:29:21 - Speaker 3Eddie Vedder definitely came up for me because he has he'll get to this guttural I don't know what to call it this guttural vibrato thing where all of his syllables kind of run together and I feel like some of Gordon's singing goes the same way, but it really varies. Just going through the album, just first listening to it, I thought, okay, I kind of catch what this is. and Last American Exit kind of reeled me. back in small town, Bridgetown, was kind of like okay, that's interesting way to start The killing time in. Evelyn, you know, was like okay, who's this Evelyn gal? what is the story here? Like I wanted to know more conceptually what was going on in his head. That's kind of. I mean, I'm drawn to lyrics, you know, and at one point I was like, oh, maybe Evelyn's a cat, you know, I was feeling bad for her, I was worried about Evelyn, you know. but then Cemetery Side Road, so weird it's like let's throw this in there, you know. and so that got me kind of into not not deep rap at all, but you know, like I mentioned before, wanting to know about his process and hearing that they would play music and then he would basically put lyrics to music, and that kind of blew my mind too. not many bands do that. a lot of songwriters, you know, start with their prose or what have you. I don't know, I'm a werewolf baby. what? like kind of honestly did this come out around Halloween? like why, Why is that? Why is that in there? It's so weird. I think Highway Girl was the first song. like Pete was saying, Highway Girl is the first one I listened to and it was kind of a messed up sinister song. it's like where is this going? they're killing people, their cops are on the run, where we dump in the body like WTF is the tragically hip all about. But I will say All Canadian Surf Club. I've listened to that song the most times out of the world. 0:31:37 - Speaker 5There's a song for the summer. it's called the All Canadian Surf Club. goes over real big. It's a song for the summer. it's called the All Canadian Surf Club. it's called the All Canadian Surf Club. It's a song for the summer. it's called the All Canadian Surf Club. it's called the All Canadian Surf Club. It's a song for the summer. it's called the All Canadian Surf Club. it's called the All Canadian Surf Club. It's a song for the summer. it's called the All Canadian Surf Club. it's called the All Canadian Surf Club. It's a song for the summer. it's called the All Canadian Surf Club. it's called the All Canadian Surf Club. It's a song for the summer. it's called the All Canadian Surf Club. it's called the All Canadian Surf Club. It's a song for the summer. it's called the All Canadian Surf Club. It's a song for the summer. it's called the All Canadian Surf Club. It's a song for the summer. it's called the All Canadian Surf Club. It's a song for the summer. it's called the All Canadian Surf Club. It's a song for the summer. it's called the All Canadian Surf Club. It's a song for the summer. it's called the All Canadian Surf Club. 0:36:02 - Speaker 1Yeah, if this was a single song and I'm a werewolf baby, I don't know that I would have followed through on this band. 0:36:13 - Speaker 3It was really fun. but I'm like, okay, some of these songs are very specific to maybe parties people throw. I don't know, it's a wild mix. 0:36:26 - Speaker 1Yeah, yeah it is. And what's interesting is writing credit wise. the chief songwriter at this time is the bassist, Gord Sinclair, writing both songs and lyrics, or music and lyrics and melody. by and large, There's a few songs that are Gord Downey songs and he becomes. as time goes on, he becomes the chief lyricist. He's almost like a poet laureate of Canada, for heaven's sake. But on this one he's got Killin' Time. that he wrote and I'm a werewolf baby is on his docket, So is Highway Girl and so is nope. that's it for him. That's it for him. So I thought All Canadian Surf Club was him, but it was not. Pete, what did you think of All? 0:37:18 - Speaker 4Canadian Surf Club. At first it's really weird because I was like it's funny that you made the distinction about it being on the CD, Because I was like is this song belong in this record? Because it sounded that's the last song, correct? Yeah, it just sounded different, But I really liked it, Like All Canadian Surf Club. and then I started thinking about like is there a lot of surfing that goes on in Canada? And like started thinking like all the places in the world where people don't surf I would think Canada would definitely be on that list. 0:37:59 - Speaker 1Yeah, I don't know where, like there's, you know like little surfing, like little wave surfing, you know like Right. 0:38:07 - Speaker 5Or your water park. 0:38:08 - Speaker 1Yeah, but yeah, the water park, But yeah, not a great deal of surfing. Now, if you are listening to this and you're an avid surfer in Canada, then by all means reach out to us, JD, at getting hip to the hipcom and give us the old what's for there. 0:38:25 - Speaker 3Tofino is the place. I'll just say Tofino, that's tofino. 0:38:29 - Speaker 1Yeah, you know like that's. 0:38:30 - Speaker 3I mean it's on my list to go to someday. 0:38:33 - Speaker 1I'm being schooled here by the Pacific Northwestern. 0:38:38 - Speaker 3Yeah, well, I'm a West Coaster in general. There you go. 0:38:42 - Speaker 1So any themes or any themes or anything like that, throughout these songs um vibing you. I mean, this is, this is a band. you know they say you write your first record. you know, from the moment you start playing, This is what, this is what went down on wax as their, you know, as their first material. And then you enter, you know the sophomore slump or or whatever. but I can, I can assure you you know where we begin with. the next record up to here is, you know, not so much of a slump. but back to this record. Did you like the studio version of Highway Girl? Like, obviously, the live version is is riveting. What did you think of the studio version? 0:39:25 - Speaker 4I liked it. I liked it a lot because it would give you Highway Girl was the only one I had heard the live version of, But, um, I think I liked it a little bit more, but if I put myself in the context of like being at that show, yeah, yeah, I'd absolutely want to much rather see it live. Yeah, of course. 0:39:44 - Speaker 1Yeah, So these songs to me are written. it sounds, it sounds dumb, but this is, you know, a young band and they're not doing any trickery in the studio at all. These songs are written to be played right back on the road, you know, uh, leading the leading the charge of their, of their uh, of their gigs, so they can start to play less stones material and play more of their own material. You can hear that in theoh sorry, Oh no, no, go ahead, man No. 0:40:15 - Speaker 4I was just gonna say like there's some parts where you're just like I remember listening to it and being like dude. I mean I can Just what you said at the beginning, Tim. I could picture myself at a bar with like 100 or 150 people and hearing this band and like 80% of people in there, including the bar staff, singing along to it because it's just so catchy and, like you said, JD, it was like it was written to be played live. 0:40:46 - Speaker 1Yeah. 0:40:46 - Speaker 5You know, Yeah. 0:40:48 - Speaker 3And on the live version of Highway Girl. you know his storytelling. before they were even playing, the audience was eating up. I mean, you hear people laughing, you hear people cheering and I just imagined when they were on tour there was a lot, a lot of banter. I would just guess he's kind of a rambler, you know, connecting with the audience. But at the same time, like hearing that live version and hearing the audience and thinking about them being a bar band, like they really reminded me a lot of the Grateful Dead. Yeah, like I just just I don't know there's something very Bruce Springsteen about it. you know, upstate New York, Cleveland, Detroit kind of, but in all those regions, like the Grateful Dead was huge also and it's just this touring type of band that has a lot of followers. They're going to play like this mixed mash of hits, of songs that people love. you know there's they're going to be a little bit different every time. Just, I don't know there's something about them that didn't make me think jam band but made me think like, oh yeah, these guys definitely have. yeah, these guys definitely have. you know, in the 80s they probably had a couple hundred thousand like real fans by the end of the decade in Canada. Can you remind us where Canada is again? I forget. 0:42:16 - Speaker 1Canada lives on the roof of the USA and we intercept all airmail. 0:42:26 - Speaker 3Yeah, Highway Girl's a weird song, you know, I don't know just like. this whole album to me was kind of a pizza with the works. That's made me hungry but yeah. 0:42:36 - Speaker 5Yeah, I'll drink to that, Yeah. 0:42:38 - Speaker 1I like that. Well, any final thoughts on this record, or what you're looking for in the next record, or you know anything along those lines, Pete? 0:42:51 - Speaker 4You know, JD, you and I have obviously talked over time about the hip and I've talked a few other people, I think one of my co-workers, Barb, who's a big hip fan, and I. you know, I haven't really found a roadmap, It's just been this hodgepodge. It's like Tim said, you know it's been this pizza with the works, but I feel like I've digested this whole record, or I at least eaten it. I'm starting to digest it very well and I'm really excited for the next meal. I'm stoked to take the analogy step further, Like I'm genuinely excited for myself to listen, not for anybody else, if that makes sense. 0:43:42 - Speaker 1Oh, that's cool Yeah. 0:43:45 - Speaker 4Excited. 0:43:48 - Speaker 3I, you know, I really tried to refrain from any listening or research and tried to come up with what I knew about them beforehand and think about that. I guess I'm excited because it is a band from the 80s. I love 80s era music that I haven't really given a listen to. There are certain songs on this album that make me think okay, I can definitely hear some more from these guys, and there's some total headscratchers where I'm thinking what am I in store for? You know, I told my son about this whole exercise and his reaction was kind of like overwhelmed for me at the thought of focusing on one band, so much. And when I first listened to Small Town Bring Down, you know, in his presence we look at each other like oh no, What am I in for? Well, yeah, what is this band going to be like? I dig that song. No, I totally do. 0:44:56 - Speaker 1There's something about it that I grew up in a small town and something about that idea of you know not another small town, hometown, bring down Yeah sure It's generic, It was very storytelling also, though. 0:45:12 - Speaker 3but then, at last, American exit. when we got into listening to that, I was in the car, you know, driving from Detroit or wherever upstate New York, I don't know Coming into Canada, like I was kind of right there. It sounded kind of great. 0:48:59 - Speaker 5Yeah. 0:49:17 - Speaker 3And to know that this band… you know, played together first and then tried to play a handful of shows Till they, I guess, got their bearings and then recorded. I mean, that's what bands did in the 70s and 80s for sure. You know, it wasn't very often that somebody got together and somebody already had 20 songs and they went and recorded. You know, so it's, it's so. this is a pretty a special, you know way to Start up a group. So I'm curious to, I'm curious to hear where they go. I like, I like some of the songs, you know, Yeah well, it gets pretty, it gets. 0:50:02 - Speaker 1You know we're off on a journey. Let's put it that way. This will be. I do, like you know, to carry on the food analogy, I do like this you're in a new country and every day you're gonna get a new dish and it's it's gonna be spiced a little bit differently. Early on it's gonna be a little bit more rudimentary, But as we go on there's gonna be more nuance and you know deeper flavor profiles. and then there's context. you start to Listen to the songs differently because you start to understand the past and what this group has went through and when, ultimately, they played their last show in Kingston, Ontario, and You know almost a third of this country tuned in to watch that like it was like 11, over 11 million people watch. She's the last concert because they broadcast it on our national broadcaster, CBC. Wow, yeah, you know The they they've. they cover a great distance between that time and what you guys are listening to right now. 0:51:04 - Speaker 3So it'll be interesting to To hear from you on this journey as we continue on one other just little mysterious kind of wow fact that I read about them was having to do with Them being double booked with Nirvana in 94. Do you know about this? 0:51:24 - Speaker 1Yeah, they played. they played a show in Milwaukee. It was eight dollars a ticket and it was right to the hip and right. Anna Nirvana was actually opening for the hip. that not opening. it was a double bill, but you know, yeah and. The story from from all the books is that Gord went to go meet Or the band rather went to go meet Kurt and he was passed out on a pool table like he was. he was dead to the world, So they didn't end up getting to meet, but we'll hear an interesting Tribute to Mr Cobain in in a future song, for sure. 0:52:00 - Speaker 3Yeah, I'm intrigued. I'm intrigued, no more. 0:52:02 - Speaker 1Okay, before we say goodbye, we're gonna do one more thing. We are gonna pick an MVP track, One track that you'll take away, that you'll put on a playlist. we're gonna do a playlist for each of you and It'll have your takeaway track from each record, and then you know, when we're done this exercise, We can put those up on Spotify and Apple music. 0:52:23 - Speaker 4Well, for me, I'll do it for me while you're. while you're thumbing through it, Tim, for me, I think the track on this EP would the one that I would Would choose to be would be killing time. Yeah, okay, certainly, certainly, Certainly, to stand out for me might, if I had to pick. Well, you do be a crowd, so there you go. 0:52:52 - Speaker 1Where you at there, Timmy, Hmm, Hmm. 0:52:54 - Speaker 5Hmm. 0:52:55 - Speaker 1Oh, you're gonna predict it. 0:52:57 - Speaker 3I was kind of all over with this. I was no, that's hilarious, I know what you're gonna do too. I was kind of all over with this album. You know it was full of surprises for me. you know I already talked about Evelyn and You know it's like oh, poor Evelyn. whatever The werewolf I'm a werewolf baby Hilarious, like where is this fan going? like, this was a wild ride of an album for me. highway girl, I think was a first song you sent us JD, and That one has so many twists and turns and it just, I think, the most. My recollection, like maybe the most listens, was on that album from via Spotify, highway girl, But it closed out early, strong with me for all Canadian surf club. I think that's a fun sign. No, My. California homie right there. 0:53:51 - Speaker 1AP hadn't written down the whole time for those watching at home. 0:53:55 - Speaker 3That was a fun track. 0:53:57 - Speaker 1That's what, uh, we call the first episode. right there, boom done, theater the mind, we traveled straight out of Kingston. Thanks a lot, fellas. It means a lot. Thanks, JD. 0:54:07 - Speaker 3Can't wait. 0:54:07 - Speaker 1Thanks guys pick up your shit. 0:54:11 - Speaker 2Thanks for listening to getting hip to the hip. Please subscribe, share, rate and review the show at getting hip to the hipcom. Find us on Twitter and Instagram at getting hip pot And join our Facebook group at facebookcom slash groups slash fully and completely. Questions or concerns email us at JD. at getting hip to the hipcom. We'd love to hear from you. 0:54:52 - Speaker 1Do, Do, Do, Do, Do, Do, Do, Do Do. 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On this edition of the Richard Crouse Show we meet Gord Sinclair. Best known as the bass player and one of the songwriters in The Tragically Hip, he is now a “reluctant solo artist” with a new album pon the way. His new single “Gool Guy” marks a continuation of the solo career he never anticipated embarking on before the 2017 passing of The Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie. Following decades of music-making with the band's frontman, Gord Sinclair continues to honour his friend through music. The new song is the follow-up to his debut solo project, 2020's Taxi Dancers, which was released to critical acclaim, and brings back a more rhythmic and driving rock ‘n roll energy that just might put you in the mind of The Hip. Then, bestselling Métis author Cherie Dimaline stops by. Her breakout book, The Marrow Thieves, has been widely acclaimed for its portrayal of Indigenous colonization and ecological devastation and was named one of Time magazine's top 100 YA novels of all time and her other novels, like Empire of Wild and Hunting By Stars have won many awards, including the Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature. Her new book, VenCo is a novel about a coven of modern-day witches. It is an epic adventure that unfolds involving secret witches, witch hunters, magic spoons and an epic road trip from Toronto, to Salem, through Appalachia and into New Orleans.
Beloved in their native Canada but often unheralded elsewhere, Kingston Ontario's The Tragically Hip made intelligent, intensely evocative rock music that won them legions of fans in the Great White North. Their final concert in 2016 - after lead singer Gord Downie's tragic diagnosis of terminal brain cancer a year earlier - was broadcast globally by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a cross-platform television, radio and internet streaming special. This week's returning guest (and non-Canadian) Eric Loehrmann, brings us their 3rd release, 1992s iconic 'Fully Completely'. Check it out, eh? Songs featured in this episode: Fifty Mission Cap (Live Kingston, ON 8/20/2016), Wheat Kings, Grace, Too, Ahead By A Century (Live Cobo Arena Detroit, MI Nov 1996) - The Tragically Hip; Best Of Both Worlds - Midnight Oil; Rockstar - Nickelback; Magic Power - Triumph; Great White North - Bob and Doug McKenzie with Geddy Lee; Courage (For Hugh MacLennan), Looking For A Place To Happen, At The Hundredth Meridian, Pidgeon Camera, Lionized - The Tragically Hip; Fire Woman - The Cult; The Dead Heart - Midnight Oil; Locked In The Trunk Of A Car, We'll Go Too, Fully Completely, Fifty Mission Cap, Wheat Kings - The Tragically Hip; In The Square - The Pretty Things; The Wherewithal - The Tragically Hip; Pssyche - Killing Joke; Eldorado, Ahead By A Century (Live Kingston, ON 8/20/2016) - The Tragically Hip
Gord Sinclair on life after The Tragically Hip, his “reluctant” solo career and his upcoming sophomore album. Gord Sinclair, bassist and songwriter, member of The Tragically Hip A Canadian-American documentary receives an Oscar nomination for a tale of two scientists unraveling the mystery of volcanoes Shane Boris, writer and producer, Fire of Love & Jocelyne Chaput, writer and editor, Fire of Love New long-term care home standards highlight ‘time is of the essence' Dr. Samir Sinha, director of geriatrics at Sinai Health and the University Health Network in Toronto and chair of the HSO (Health Standards Organization) technical committee that drafted the standards
Charles Dickens published the novella A Christmas Carol in 1843. It was an instant success, and he would read the story aloud to live audiences. The classic tale of redemption, charity and cheer has been retold countless times, and now, the team at CJAD 800 has adapted and recorded our own version, set in 1840s Montreal. Enjoy!
S.01 E.02 & S.03 E.11 This episode features interviews with Gord Sinclair and Paul Langlois of Canada's most iconic homegrown rock band, the Tragically Hip. It would be difficult to overstate the influence that the Hip has had on my band, the Trews. Beyond their incomparable ability as songwriters and performers, they were also a guiding north star for us on how to conduct a career in music with integrity and grace. I'm lucky to call them my friends and these chats we're a great chance to catch up with Gord and Paul. We touched on everything from how they spent their lock downs to their favorite Hip songs. And of course, they make some recommendations for the playlist. Original Instagram live streams here : Gord Sinclair (May 2020) : https://www.dropbox.com/s/s7wt4mtprfwct4a/Video%202021-02-16%2C%202%2015%2046%20PM.mp4?dl=0 Paul Langlois (January 27, 2021) : https://www.instagram.com/tv/CKkhGaLniO2/?utm_medium=copy_link Spotify Playlists : Season 1/2 : https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0w7PG6jILZKa7yLZgcSzcX Season 3 : https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1ZLoTT1p0fi4TkbAyBNbOe
In an exclusive interview, The Tragically Hip's Gord Sinclair, Johnny Fay, Paul Langlois and Rob Baker open up about the band's career, their three decades of brotherhood, and the loss of their friend and bandmate, Gord Downie. Singer-songwriter Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child discusses her candid new memoir, Checking In, which follows her mental health journey from depression to healing.
In an exclusive interview, The Tragically Hip's Gord Sinclair, Johnny Fay, Paul Langlois and Rob Baker open up about the band's career, their three decades of brotherhood, and the loss of their friend and bandmate, Gord Downie. The nominees for the 2021 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour — writers Joseph Kertes, Thomas King and Morgan Murray — join us as we announce the winner live on the air, followed by an acceptance speech. Canadian singer Anne Murray reflects on her incredible career in the music industry and the barriers she broke through to reach No. 1 on the U.S. charts.
Five Little Indians author Michelle Good talks about winning the Governor General's Literary Award for English-language fiction, and why we must continue telling stories about residential school survivors. Norwegian pop sensation girl in red discusses her acclaimed debut album, if i could make it go quiet, and how she feels about being called a "queer icon" for a new generation. The Tragically Hip's Gord Sinclair introduces us to the band's new song Reformed Baptist Blues off their latest album, Saskadelphia. Chef Alice Waters talks about her new book, We Are What We Eat: A Slow Food Manifesto, and explains how the popular farm-to-table movement grew from her quirky little Californian kitchen in the '70s.
The Tragically Hip's Rob Baker and Gord Sinclair call in to talk to iHeartRadio's Jesse and JD about the bands new record 'Saskadelphia' out now! Rob and Gord reminisce on the early days of The Tragically Hip. They explain the meaning behind the album title, 'Saskadelphia' Rob and Gord explain the decision to release these songs, and go through the vaults. They discuss how tough it has been since the death of Gord Downie, to go through old music and put this album together. They talk about how it has actually been 30 years since listening to the songs on the album 'Saskadelphia'. Gord talks about how any die hard Tragically Hip fans will know some of the songs off the album, as they road-tested some of the songs when they first wrote them. Rob talks about how fond his memories are of the time the band opened for Rush. They talk about the decision to have Feist perform with them at the 50th JUNO awards, and the decision to play shows without Gord. Finally, they talk about if there will be more releases of unreleased songs! Listen to songs off The Tragically Hip's new album 'Saskadelphia' on iHeart New Music: https://www.iheart.com/live/iheart-ne...
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The Hip bud! This week we're joined by Gord Sinclair of The Tragically Hip to talk about his first solo album, Taxi Dancers, released just before the Covid-19 pandemic stopped all musical tours. Gord speaks candidly about the recording process, songwriting, The Tragically Hip, and performs two songs, Get Back Again and It's Already Too Late. As always, Falcon and Chenier dish the dirt on what they're doing and what they're thinking.
Enjoy this month’s conversation with The Tragically Hip’s bassist, Gord Sinclair, who released his first solo effort earlier this year.
Special guest Gord Sinclair. Bassist, singer, and songwriter for The Tragically Hip. On Friday the 28th he releases Taxi Dancers the first solo lp following the death of Gord Downie and the end of The Hip. Terry talks about the new album, what life is like post Tragically Hip and the emotional journey he underwent to create the album.
After a career spent with the Tragically Hip, bassist Gord Sinclair is ready to tell his own story on his new solo album, Taxi Dancers.
Gord Sinclair stopped by the Seaway studio to discuss his new album Taxi Dancers and a variety of other topics.
Should you ever stop chasing after your life's passion? Musican Gord Sinclair, Comedians Tom Papa and Donnell Rawlings, Founder and CEO JamStackAmp Chris Prendergast.
He scored among the most iconic goals in Stanley Cup history, then disappeared without a trace. You may know Bill Barilko from the Tragically Hip’s ’50 Mission Cap.' But prepare to meet the man behind the myth. Amongst the treasured images and memorabilia inside the Leafs' locker room, few are quite as esteemed as one of two original lyric sheets to the Tragically Hip's '50 Mission Cap.' Signed by the band, and framed alongside the Pro Set 1991 hockey card that inspired lead singer Gord Downie to pen the song, the lyric sheet has pride of place in the equipment room - where it continues to inspire. As Hip bassist Gord Sinclair tells it, the song was nothing but a riff until, mid jam, Downie opened up a pack of hockey cards, read the Barilko story, and became an extemporaneous freestyle. That hockey card, written by historian James Duplacey, reads as follows: " Bill Barilko, The End of Innocence" Although he was not noted for his offensive skills, Bill Barilko scored one of the most celebrated goals in NHL history during the 1951 Stanley Cup Finals between Toronto and Montreal. This series was the only championship final that required overtime in every contest. In Game Five, the extra session was nearly three minutes old when Barilko spotted a loose puck near the Montreal crease. He dove in from the blueline and fired a shot over Montreal goaltender Gerry McNeil's outstretched arm to give the Leafs the Cup. Unfortunately, it was the last goal of Barilko's career. He disappeared that summer on a fishing trip, and the Leafs didn't win another Cup until 1962, the year his body was found." As Downie himself said of Barilko, and the song, 'we are all united in tragedy.' To learn more about Barilko's amazing life, check out Kevin Shea's Barilko: Without a Trace. This podcast could only scratch the surface. Bill's time as 'Hollywood Bill Barilko' alone could fill a book of its own. And be sure to check out Gord Sinclair's first solo album, 'Taxi Dancers,' out on February 28th. CREDITS: Leafs Forever is hosted by Scott Willats & written by Paul Matthews. This episode was produced by Katie Jensen & Vocal Fry Studios. Production & research assistance from Ellen Payne Smith, Erin Brandenburg, and Erika Dreher. Special thanks to Mike Ferriman, Kevin Shea, Gord Sinclair, and Frank Klisanich for speaking with us. And special thanks to Nick Konarowski for helping us out with the archives. Subscribe to Leafs Forever on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Gord Sinclair on his debut solo album Taxi Dancers, how the Tragically Hip worked together and his role in the band, his feelings about Gord Downie and the Hip’s final tour, what may become of unreleased Hip material and whether or not they might play together again, his own future plans, and more! Supported by Pizza Trokadero, the Bookshelf, Planet Bean Coffee, and Grandad's Donuts. Please take this listener survey.
In this episode, Mark shares a live discussion from the Rock Apocalypse conference and workshop in Cleveland, OH that took place in early May 2019. The session is a recorded panel discussion from the two day event. Zach Bohannon moderated a panel discussion with T.W. Piperbrook, J, Thorn, Jim Kukral and Mark. Prior to the interview, Mark reads a few comments from listeners from the previous episode and thanks Patrons and commenters for engaging with the podcast. He then shares a word from the episode's sponsor. You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. In his personal update, Mark shares the details of how he planned a marriage proposal for his girlfriend with Alicia Witt at her recent Toronto live concert performance, and plays a few clips from the song Alicia wrote for the engagement. The panel discussion that was recorded at the Cleveland conference features Zach asking the panelists about: How they got started in publishing What's advice they'd offer their 2019 self What they think might be coming in the future of publishing Links of Interest Alicia Witt A clip from the end of the song "Liz" that Alicia wrote A recent blog post where Mark gushes about Alicia's music The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto The Career Author Summit Findaway Voices J. Thorn Zach Bohannon T. W. Piperbrook Jim Kukral Patreon for Stark Reflections Stark Reflections Survey The music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Additional music in this episode: "Liz" was written, composed and produced by Alicia Witt. Copyright © 2019 Alicia Witt. "Bobcaygeon" written by Rob Baker, Gord Downey, Johnny Fay, Paul Langlois, Gord Sinclair, from the album Phantom Power Copyright © 1999 by The Tragically Hip
Hebsy talks about the Jays sweep, Josh Hader, Molinari beating Tiger, Johnny Manziel going to Montreal and chats with Gord Sinclair of The Tragically Hip.
Ep6: Sarah Burke And Drew Khan catch up with Chuck Dailey who has played with The Salads, David Wilcox and is part of I Mother Earth on tour. He is also busy with a band called Hundred Suns. https://hundredsuns.bandcamp.com/ https://www.instagram.com/chuckdailey/ https://www.facebook.com/TheSaladsMusic/ Plus - Miss Emily stops by to tell us about her new album "In Between" working with Rob Baker and Gord Sinclair of The Tragically Hip and much more! https://www.themissemily.com/ Upcoming Show: Tuesday Jan 23, 2018 Cadillac Lounge, Toronto, ON - Tickets $25 https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1619569?utm_medium=bks twitter.com/BandsNBuds facebook.com/BandsNBuds Music Heard In Episode: The Passion HiFi - Untouchable - Rap Beat / Instrumental Freehiphopbeatsforyou – Free-the-passion-hifi-untouchable-boom-bap-beat-instrumental
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