Gord Downie - The Interview Thread

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Gord Downie - The Interview Thread - Tthip - 09-21-2010

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I got tired of making a new thread for every interview.

Don’t tell me what this poet’s been doing
Written by MAYAN FREEBORN
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.calgaryjournalonline.ca/arts-a-entertainment/37-ae/1301-dont-tell-me-what-this-poets-been-doing">http://www.calgaryjournalonline.ca/arts ... been-doing</a>

Gordon Downie makes his way across Canada for his solo tour

As a performer, Gordon Downie is known for acting wild on stage, but that reputation may change with the release of his third solo album.

The Tragically Hip’s frontman has enjoyed a lengthy and successful career as a Canadian rock star, but his work away from the band has been more reserved, both on record and in front of crowds.

Before the release of Downie’s first solo album, Coke Machine Glow in 2001, the Tragically Hip had eight albums under their belts and 11 Juno Awards, including Group of the Year for 1995 and 1997, Canadian Entertainer of the Year in 1991 and 1993, and Best Rock Album for 1998’s Phantom Power.

Initially, when Coke Machine Glow first appeared, a book of Downie’s poetry under the same title was sold along with it. As a result, the book became one of the best-selling volumes of poetry by a Canadian writer. The album itself was a collection of spoken word pieces mixed in with minimalist rock and country influences.

After the Tragically Hip released In Violet Light, Downie came out with his second solo album Battle of the Nudes in 2003, which was more accessible than its predecessor and contained songs based in garage rock and folk-rock.

It wasn’t until after the Tragically Hip made three more albums – In Between Evolution (2004), World Container (2006) and We Are the Same (2009) – and compiled the career-spanning box set Hipeponymous, that Downie would put together his third studio album, The Grand Bounce, which was released this past June.

Chris Walla, the guitarist from Death Cab for Cutie, produced the record, which contains Downie’s usual mix of storytelling and abstract poetry over upbeat pop-rock with country undertones, courtesy of his regular backing band, the Country of Miracles.

Before he hits the Jack Singer Concert Hall on Oct. 4, The Calgary Journal caught up with Downie to discuss The Grand Bounce and his solo career.

Calgary Journal: How has tour gone so far?

Gordon Downie: It’s been sort of a country western tour this summer. It’s been festivals right done on the weekends, sort of here or there. Just done about 13 festivals and it’s been very disparate -- a folk fest here, a blues fest there, a rock fest. I finished one in Hamilton, at Gage Park, right downtown, there was like 30,000 people. It was really fantastic.

CJ: What do you get from playing festivals instead of a regular marquee show?

GD: Uncertainty…a thrill of the unknown. You go and go with these things…. It’s a “clustercuss,” to quote Fantastic Mr. Fox. But that’s what keeps you coming back…. I don’t water ski, but it’s kind of like starting out of the water as opposed to on the dock. A five-to-six-piece rock band [has to get] up onto its knees then onto its feet and then walking and then running. And at the festival you hope to get running by the first chorus or the first song. It’s a challenge…. The people are outside and music just tastes better outside.

We’re coming indoors in September. I think this will allow us to get in touch on more of our material. The other difference with festivals is that you kind of do songs that are more bombast or [have] bigger requirements. Going indoors, we’re going to be able to stretch things out and touch on songs that might not work on a festival stage. I look forward to something even more fluid, agile and nimble.

CJ: How are your solo shows different compared to the Tragically Hip shows?

GD: You’ll just have to come and see. It’s all about passion.... It’s all about playing music…. The simple answer is I play guitar most the night…that’s something I really enjoy is playing electric guitar. A five-year-old from Mars could say the same thing: playing electric guitar is thrilling; it’s like riding a jet…. The [Tragically Hip] is a different thing.

CJ: Why such a long time between The Grand Bounce and The Battle Of The Nudes?

GD: I did a couple of [Tragically Hip] records in that time…. It was kind of a concentrated, intense three or four years and I kind of knew it would be. [The Tragically Hip] made three records in that time. But it was a fast moving vection in time and when I came out of the first [Tragically Hip] record I met Chris Walla at the Pemberton Festival and started thinking about a solo record after that…just chatting with him about things and possibilities…. I didn’t go chasing it down.

CJ: Do you get a lot of your inspiration for your lyrics from books?

GD: Sure and from conversations…getting up too early in the morning and looking out over the lake. I mean, everything is just asking to be written about or being lyrics in a song…. In every way, shape and form, I love writing so much. Writing is like a dream.

CJ: Do you feel that you had to make this album and your other solo albums because you had to let something out that you couldn’t let out in the Tragically Hip?

GD: No. Not that simple. We’re here to create things; we’re not here to inspire pity. We’re here to create and make things. It’s what I do and what I love to do. Making the stuff is the thrill. Putting it out is a whole different story, and that’s a whole other machine required to release and distribute records, to market and promote them. But the impulse to make them is always true. It’s always a true one.

CJ: What’s keeping you with the Tragically Hip? Why not go on your own completely?

GD: Because I love them.

Re: Gord Downie - The Interview Thread - Tthip - 09-21-2010

Tuesday September 21st
Posted on September 21, 2010 by Matt Schichter
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.thesound.ca/blogs/afternoons/">http://www.thesound.ca/blogs/afternoons/</a>

Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie phoned in to the show to promote his show at the Horowitz next Tuesday. We aired parts of the chat, but here’s the whole thing – Gord Downie Uncut
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.thesound.ca/blogs/afternoons/wp-content/uploads/gorduncut.mp3">http://www.thesound.ca/blogs/afternoons ... duncut.mp3</a>

Re: Gord Downie - The Interview Thread - direwolf74 - 09-22-2010

Did I hear him say he wants Gord Sinclair to produce the next Hip album? Interesting.

Re: Gord Downie - The Interview Thread - Tthip - 09-24-2010

[youtube]g5Qap-Wr8e0[/youtube]
[youtube]7LtujwaPJrQ[/youtube]

Re: Gord Downie - The Interview Thread - Shane Kroeker - 09-24-2010

I think we should search the archives for the best Downie interview clips and merge them into a 70 minute rambling track, complete with sublet hip music to transition the conversation.
Any one interested in trying to throw this together?

Re: Gord Downie - The Interview Thread - chris - 09-24-2010

Shane Kroeker Wrote:I think we should search the archives for the best Downie interview clips and merge them into a 70 minute rambling track, complete with sublet hip music to transition the conversation.
Any one interested in trying to throw this together?

I've been collecting all of the video interviews that have been posted - I was planning to put them all on a DVD compilation.

Re: Gord Downie - The Interview Thread - Tthip - 09-29-2010

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.thestarphoenix.com/entertainment/Gord+Downie+risky+business/3594649/story.html">http://www.thestarphoenix.com/entertain ... story.html</a>

Gord Downie's risky business
Downie inspired by collaborators in latest project
By Stephanie McKay, The StarPhoenix September 29, 2010

After nearly 30 years of making music, Gord Downie still wants a reaction. But he's just as happy hearing someone dislikes his art as loves it.

Case in point, the iconic Canadian artist and Tragically Hip frontman played a set of his solo music at this summer's Edmonton Folk Festival, where some of the attention wasn't exactly fawning.

"I remember seeing a woman with her two index fingers plunged deeply into her ears in full view of everyone, needing me and everyone to see that she entirely disapproved. . . . But I was really happy about that; my punk rock self was really happy about the prospect of garnering disparate levels of reaction from 'I hate what you do' to 'I love what you do.'

"That's the dream you dream as a musician, to elicit strong feelings. No one wants a five out of 10."

Downie is no stranger to creating strong feelings among music lovers. Though critical reception has been overwhelmingly positive during his career, impassioned Hip fans have sometimes complained about changes in the band's style.

At 46, Downie said he's simply working to express his best thoughts perfectly, "trying to get to the better part of my nature." So arrives The Grand Bounce, Downie's third solo album, a record that continues in Downie's lyrically introspective tradition. Every piece of the album is poetically detailed on the musician's website, from the cover art (which Downie himself painted) to the font used inside.

He has released two other albums under his name, but doesn't differentiate his solo songs from the ones created under the Tragically Hip moniker.

"I don't know what differentiates them. The cover art? The name on the cover?" he said. "I just use the music up and get it out there. It's probably arrogant to do otherwise. I don't even know if I'm going to be here tomorrow."

The Grand Bounce was recorded during a two-week session at Bathouse Recording Studio on the shores of Lake Ontario, the very same studio where 1996's Trouble at the Henhouse -- and many Hip records since -- was created. "We kind of got that place as part HQ, part witness protection program and it has sort of evolved into just a great Shangri-La."

As one of the few remaining Canadian studios where musicians can work, eat and sleep, Bathouse allowed Downie and his backing band Country of Miracles to completely immerse themselves in the work.

The intimate studio sessions were videotaped for a six-part YouTube series. Downie, wearing a red Return of the Jedi T-shirt -- sometimes layered with an unbuttoned gingham shirt and a loosely knotted striped tie -- offers insight into his creative process at the homey, crimson-painted studio. The videos show Downie working with Chris Walla, the guitarist for Death Cab for Cutie, and producer for The Grand Bounce.

Downie said Walla's impact on the creation was "seismic." In fact, he wasn't even thinking about making an album until the two met at 2008's Pemberton Festival. Downie was so struck by the American musician/producer that he immediately had a hunch they would one day make a record together.

"In an hour's conversation I was able to determine that he was a guy without a hint of snobbery and an encyclopedic knowledge of music past, present and future," said Downie.

He also had a hunch that Walla and the Country of Miracles (made up of Dale Morningstar, Julie Doiron, Dave Clark, Josh Finlayson and John Press) would get along great. Turns out, Downie's hunches are pretty reliable.

Downie has reason to want to please Country of Miracles, a collective of musicians with ties to various Canadian bands including the Skydiggers and the Rheostatics. He has worked with them since his debut 2001 solo album Coke Machine Glow and called them friends even longer.

"We make sense together. We have a great old time together and really have a lot of fun," he said. "They really push me and encourage me and challenge me and teach me about risk and reward. In fact, there really is no risk when it comes to music."

Re: Gord Downie - The Interview Thread - Tthip - 10-12-2010

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.edge.ca/DJsandShows/DaveBookman/BookieAtNight/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10150496">http://www.edge.ca/DJsandShows/DaveBook ... D=10150496</a>

Gord Downie Special Wednesday Night at 930 PM on The Edge
I've been friends with Gord Downie for over 15 years. I've spent time with him at home, on the road and at the rink. In that time i've come to appreciate his original take on rock n roll and and life and how to live it. With the release of his third solo record 'The Grand Bounce" Gord and producer Chris Walla of Death Cab For Cutie have crafted a unique musical journey which has brought him a whole new audience and made long time Hip fans take notice. As he tours the record across Canada, a tour which brings him to the Queen ElizabethTheater Friday, November 5th, I caught up with him last week in Grand Prarie, Alta. where he had just called what he says was "his first and last band meeting" Our conversation covers everything from life as a solo artist,the next Hip record,his time with Gordon Lightfoot and of course, hockey.

The Gordfather is at the top of his game and shares his thoughts on things in as open an honest a way as i've ever heard him.

Hear for yourself. This Wednesday at 9 30 PM..it's "Gabbin' With Gord"

Re: Gord Downie - The Interview Thread - The Heron Outside - 10-12-2010

Tthip Wrote:http://www.edge.ca/DJsandShows/DaveBookman/BookieAtNight/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10150496

Gord Downie Special Wednesday Night at 930 PM on The Edge
I've been friends with Gord Downie for over 15 years. I've spent time with him at home, on the road and at the rink. In that time i've come to appreciate his original take on rock n roll and and life and how to live it. With the release of his third solo record 'The Grand Bounce" Gord and producer Chris Walla of Death Cab For Cutie have crafted a unique musical journey which has brought him a whole new audience and made long time Hip fans take notice. As he tours the record across Canada, a tour which brings him to the Queen ElizabethTheater Friday, November 5th, I caught up with him last week in Grand Prarie, Alta. where he had just called what he says was "his first and last band meeting" Our conversation covers everything from life as a solo artist,the next Hip record,his time with Gordon Lightfoot and of course, hockey.

The Gordfather is at the top of his game and shares his thoughts on things in as open an honest a way as i've ever heard him.

Hear for yourself. This Wednesday at 9 30 PM..it's "Gabbin' With Gord"

Won't be able to catch this. Really hoping someone captures the audio...

Re: Gord Downie - The Interview Thread - catechism - 10-13-2010

The Heron Outside Wrote:Won't be able to catch this. Really hoping someone captures the audio...

Ah, thanks for the reminder. I'm now set up for capturing; let's hope it works.

Re: Gord Downie - The Interview Thread - catechism - 10-13-2010

Okay, I captured it, but I really don't think it's worth editing down and posting. It's pretty much all stuff we've heard before, and it was mostly him talking for a few seconds and then the DJ would play a Hip song. I'll do it if there's a big clamor, but here's the transcript minus roughly 150 instances of "you know."

DB: You're listening to 102.1 the Edge, Bookie with you, it is 9.32 in the city. November 5, Gord Downie brings his solo project, it's record number three, it's called the Grand Bounce, Gord Downie and the Country of Miracles, to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Now, he's also gone over and above and made this a reserved-seating show. Limited tickets are still available. We caught up with Gord about a week ago. He's on tour [something], right across this country, playing everywhere and anywhere, and it's a little different for him, it's not with the comfort of The Tragically Hip. I asked Gord, what's it like being on tour with your own band?

GD: What I'm enjoying probably is certain, I don't know, disparity of reaction, not playing to sort of like-minded folks, you know, I'm playing to people that don't know a lot about what we're doing. And that's exciting for any musician, that's actually pure gold. We were playing the Edmonton Folk Fest and a woman had her fingers plunged into her ears for the entire set. Ultimately, I guess maybe we were an affront to her idea of folk music, but that is really what I miss, and what I love. And I think most musicians would probably concur, like I placate my kids or try to make them feel better when they're down or beaten up about how many times I've been spat on in my life, and it brings a smile to their face. Kids, really, they want to hear about it, things thrown at me. Boots -- you know how many boots I've taken in the face? And looking back on it, I guess those were the good old days, when you're getting that sort of Pete Seeger reaction to your music. Pete Seeger with the axe, I mean, wanting to chop your power. When you're being an affront. And I guess that's certain bits of my punk-rock roots coming out.

(The East Wind)

DB: blah promo, the Grand Bounce, the record produced by Chris Walla, who did the Death Cab record, and Decemberists, and he really brought some beautiful reverbing rock-folk sound to this record, and over the next 20 minutes or so we're going to hear Gord talk about what's going to happen on the next Hip record (maybe), his thoughts on hockey, his work with Gordon Lightfoot. But besides doing a solo record and taking it out and recording it on his own, there's also the little matter of being on the road, and I asked Gord, what's it like, game day, being on your own without the Hip.

GD: Yeah, I mean, a Hip show is a machine, and the idea is to not let the balloon touch the ground, and so I don't. You talk about Willie the Weird, I have to be part decathlete to somehow make those shows brand-new every night, for myself. It's still the name of the game for me, transcendence, to get above and beyond. For a show to be great, something has to happen. And that may sound like a simple statement, but for something to have to happen, there has to be some risk. And that means risking the whole thing falling apart at any moment.

DB: You know, I looked at the itinerary for the tour, and let's just call this the highways and byways tour. There's a lot of take Exit 15s on this tour. And obviously a conscious choice to get to some places where you may not get to all the time, and touch the nation, isn't it?

GD: Yeah. I think you're right on that one. And so far, I mean, the last night in Edmonton, looking out, and a second cousin of mine was there, and commented on it. Just that it was very disparate kind of crowd, all kinds of different people, curious, and I guess anybody that wasn't at the Slash show. And bless them. Yeah. God love 'em.

(Courage)

DB: blah Courage, and even Gord needed a little bit of Courage when he had to team up with the great Gordon Lightfoot earlier this year.

GD: Well, we were asked to be part of this songwriter's evening where just the two of us would sit down and play and chat about songwriting, with Laurie Brown hosting, I think something to do with the songwriter's hall of fame. And the first one was to have Gord Lightfoot, and he apparently asked that I do it with him. And I was very-- that was really a great feeling. And so I prepared long and hard for it, like you would I guess, made a list of questions and really thought about what I wanted to ask Gord Lightfoot, probably on behalf of all songwriters out there given the chance and the opportunity. But I wanted to concentrate on why songwriting, Gord, not how or what, which I guess can be sort of googled. But why -- why write a song? No one's asking for it, no one's going to-- it doesn't affect people's lives. Why write a song? Ultimately you're banging your fork against a wine glass -- ching, ching, ching -- "Excuse me, everyone, I have something to say." And no one asked you to do it. So, given that, why?

And so I had all kinds of questions: to mourn, to love, to forgive yourself in public. I had all these lined up to say. And ultimately it didn't go that way at all. We just chatted amiably and I think had really good chemistry. He's just a wonderful guy with an incredible memory and an incredible amount of stamina. I would defy anyone to play a guitar, or even hold a guitar, with Gord Lightfoot perched on your headstock. He just craned his head over and watched everything I did, and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, really, I was making a ton of mistakes. But not because I was nervous, because I was emotional, just sitting there with one of my heroes, maybe my hero.

(ABAC)

DB: blah blah promo commercial blah... continues a series of great records he's been a part of. The last two Hip records, World Container and We are the Same are really two of the best of their great, great catalog of music. And I asked Gord Downie, is there a status or an update on the new Tragically Hip record.

GD: No, in fact. Bob Rock would get a lot of credit for those last two records. And I agree with you, I think those are two of the best things we've ever done. And only because I was there for every minute of it and watched Bob and tried to support him and be enthusiastic about what he wanted. All he wanted was to make... he had to do what he did, to take the Hip and I don't know, make huge records or something, but I don't know, I'm getting off track. Bob Rock gets all the credit. But I think the next record will have to come from a different place, and it'll have to start with the songs, so I look forward to hearing from those guys and finding out what it is we want to do.

(In View)

DB: We've discussed this new record, we've discussed life on the road without the Hip, we've discussed Gordon Lightfoot, we've discussed what seems to be a bit of ambiguous plans so far for a new Hip record, and just as the Leafs have just skated off to a 4-3 win over Pittsburgh, it's only fitting that we talk some hockey with Gord. Now, I asked Gord to break down what he thinks his favourite team, the Boston Bruins, would do this year. He didn't want to talk Bruins. Actually, he had some very, very interesting and, for him, radical thoughts on the game of pucks.

GD: Well, you know, I don't know, Bookie, I'm trying to kick hockey, I'm on the patch. For what it's worth, I think everyone should wear a full cage. Zdeno Chara broke his nose last year and never played tougher than when he had that cage on. I think you'd get rid of all those bogus phoney stick infractions -- basically, you eliminate high-sticking -- and the other great byproduct is that you eliminate fighting from the game. That's not what you asked me, Bookie, but I went beyond the Bruins to the game itself.

(Fireworks)

Re: Gord Downie - The Interview Thread - tigerthelion88 - 10-13-2010

thanks for posting .. I missed it .
Full cages. wow imagine that game. IM all for itt!! Tho how far away is that, it really sucks to say , but it will probabaly take a death, (like back in 68, with Masterton),,, like everything else in this world does, to promote change. heers to hoping it doesn't.. stem from sometin that awful.
Peace, love, and grace too.

Re: Gord Downie - The Interview Thread - sullivand - 10-13-2010

The bold part below seems noteworthy. Bye bye, Bob?

catechism Wrote:GD: ... Bob Rock gets all the credit. But I think the next record will have to come from a different place, and it'll have to start with the songs, so I look forward to hearing from those guys and finding out what it is we want to do.

Re: Gord Downie - The Interview Thread - senrab - 10-14-2010

not down with his thoughts on hockey. Sorry Gord. LOL

Re: Gord Downie - The Interview Thread - direwolf74 - 10-14-2010

sullivand Wrote:The bold part below seems noteworthy. Bye bye, Bob?

catechism Wrote:GD: ... Bob Rock gets all the credit. But I think the next record will have to come from a different place, and it'll have to start with the songs, so I look forward to hearing from those guys and finding out what it is we want to do.

Let's hope so. (crosses fingers)