03-01-2012, 11:27 PM
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The past ... the present ... the future ... The Hip
Gord Sinclair discusses Tragically Hip Way, another Kingston concert, the band’s new album and a Canada Day concert series, among other things
By Jan Murphy
They are as Canadian as maple syrup and as Kingston as Limestone, but for me there has always been a little mystery surrounding The Tragically Hip.
I’ve always admired the band from afar, having worn out more than a few of their albums over the years — my wife and I both count The Hip among our favourite bands, which is rare, given that we share little in the way of common musical interests — but somehow, more than a dozen years into my career, the only time I’d crossed paths with any member of The Hip was when I spotted guitarist Rob Baker while Christmas shopping at Cataraqui Centre. Baker was getting all sorts of attention from shoppers — I was no different — but all respectfully gave him his space and didn’t bother him.
Prior to that, the only other time I was even in the vicinity of the band was at the Richardson Stadium concert in September 1993.
All of that changed this week, after the Hip announced they will be performing two Canada Day concerts, June 30 at The Commons at the historic Butler’s Barracks in Niagara-On-The-Lake and a day later in Oro, Ont., the heart of cottage country, for a Canada Day show at Burl’s Creek, an outdoor venue. I received an e-mail informing me Gord Sinclair would be calling me to discuss the announcement.
Beyond the Canada Day concerts, Sinclair talked about the topic on many people’s minds — renaming a portion of Barrack Street to Tragically Hip Way.
Sinclair said the gesture holds special meaning for the band.
“We’re very grateful that city council saw fit to do it this way,” he said. “We’ve been very touched by the support and the initiative that undertook this to begin with.
“It’s certainly not something that we asked for or invited, but John Wright, Kim Wright, were very instrumental in getting this done and we received a great deal of support from friends and strangers alike, who felt we deserved this or should have this. That, in itself, is reward enough.
“The legacy of having a Kingston walk of fame, where we can recognize other people that helped build the community and have given back to the community, that’s going to be a really great thing, and an ongoing thing, which I’m fully in favour of. It’s all really great.
“It’s very humbling to know you’re so well thought of. ”
The Hip have never shied from their roots, with three members still calling Kingston home. The band also owns its own recording studio in Bath. It’s at that studio — and at Toronto’s Noble Street Studios — where the band has been hard at work producing its next album, expected to drop some time in 2012.
“We’ve been working (in Bath), with Gavin Brown, for the last few months, sort of going in and out and writing and recording there,” Sinclair said over the phone during a break from recording in Toronto. Of the Toronto studio, Sinclair said “it’s a great space — a big, large space, which is kind of ideal for tracking drums.”
“We kind of pulled up the tents and moved up here,” he said, adding the band is there for 12 days before returning to Bath to “put the finishing touches on everything.”
This album is the first from the Hip since 2009’s We Are The Same. It is the band’s first in what can truly be described as the digital era of music, with iTunes and digital downloads dominating the industry.
“It’s a weird business right now for sure,” Sinclair agreed. “It’s no big secret that the music business has undergone some really radical shifts. I think collectively we still believe in the album as a format. We’re specifically writing a group of songs that are meant to be listened to in the context of each other.”
The Hip have always made records, first and foremost, Sinclair said.
“We’ve been very fortunate to get some attention on radio and have singles and stuff like that, but I think we’re the type of band, and certainly our favourite musicians are the type of people, that put together a strong collection of material.
“I’ve always been one to gravitate toward the more album-oriented tracks on different artists’ records than singles.”
That issue took centre stage, so to speak, recently at the Grammy Awards, when Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl delivered a passionate speech after the band won one of its five Grammy awards.
Grohl said the band’s latest album, “shows that the human element of music is what’s important. Singing into a microphone and learning to play an instrument and learning to do your craft, that’s the most important thing for people to do. It’s not about being perfect, it’s not about sounding absolutely correct, it’s not about what goes on in a computer. It’s about what goes on in here,” pointing to his heart.
Sinclair didn’t see the speech — “I generally don’t watch the award shows,” he said — but he understands where Grohl is coming from.
“I’m very aware of how Dave Grohl’s been approaching the music business and what his opinions are and I couldn’t agree more with him.
“When we first started making records, there wasn’t digital recording. We were cutting a two-inch tape, we were limited to 24 tracks, 16 tracks, and you learned how to do it. You learned how to play.
“It’s like being a journalist and trying to imagine not having a word-processing software package,” he continued, “but the fact is, if you’re a good journalist, all you need is a piece of paper and a pencil and you can get the job done.
“I think that’s what Dave Grohl was implying and that’s certainly the case with The Hip. We can certainly use modern technology as a tool, as an asset, to make our output better, but we can still play. There are a lot of artists that rely a little too heavily on the technology to cover up, shall we say, flaws, in their material or their ability actually to perform.”
Sinclair spoke of Madonna’s recent halftime performance at the Super Bowl.
“There was absolutely nothing live about the performance other than the fact that she’s walking into the football stadium,” he said.
“Then I saw (jazz musician) Wynton Marsalis play at Massey Hall the other night and it’s a really strong reminder that musical performance is a unique artform and that it’s a moment that you are sharing with your audience as a musician.
“To have the opportunity to go and see (people who can really play) and experience them creating music in the same room with you at the same time is a really wonderful, magical thing.
“I mean, I’ve got nothing against Madonna,” he added, “but it’s one of those things where, hey, if she’s just running tracks through her computer at the front of the house, it would probably easier and better to get the DVD and watch it at home.”
Sinclair suspects music fans don’t demand as much from their artists as they used to.
“I get it,” he said, “I understand the spectacle that a lot of these shows are and stuff like that (but) I think a lot of younger artists are realizing it now, too. They’re practising their craft, they’re learning to play their instruments, learning how to sing and learning how to do it live.”
It’s been nearly 30 years since The Hip formed, but the excitement of producing a new album never gets old.
“That’s still the idea that drives the band,” he said. “The mutual creativity that we share and creating the material and playing. It’s exciting stuff. It’s a great reminder, when you’re in a recording environment, of how fortunate you are to actually be doing this for a living.
“You’re playing music … guys are playing at their best and it’s sounding really good and you’re working with really great people in the studio, so it’s really exciting.
“If you can’t get excited playing music for a living, I think you’ve got a problem.”
Does someone who has done this for so long still get nervous?
“Not so much,” Sinclair said. “There’s always a level of anticipation ... 15 minutes before you go on. Nervous isn’t really the word. Certainly charged up. There’s an anticipation there that is pretty undeniable, for sure.”
The Canada Day gigs will see crowds that could climb into the tens of thousands, particularly at the outdoor show, but whether in front of a small crowd in a pub or in front of tens of thousands at an outdoor venue, The Hip has always used the same approach, Sinclair said.
“We’ve been really fortunate over the length of our career that we were always sort of bouncing from one size of venue and one size of stage to the next so I like to think we got really good at turning our performances inward and playing with each other.
“I’ve always said the trick is to play the 30,000- and 40,000-seat venues and the hockey rinks … like you’re in a small club and you play a small club like you’re in a hockey rink. If you keep that paradigm going in your head, you can’t go wrong. All the shows turn into great shows.”
The Hip, Sinclair says, are very selective at this point in their career when it comes to which venues they play, and with whom.
“The most important thing for us is the show that the fans are going to have,” Sinclair says. “We know what we do and I think our fans know what we do, but putting together the right bill to give everyone a great day out, is definitely most important thing.
“We like to think that with the lineup we’ve got for around Canada Day with The New Pornographers and Death Cab (For Cutie), it’s going to be something that people are going to want to come out early and stay late and have a great day of music. You don’t go on with any old band. That’s why when we were able to firm up Death Cab wanting to do this, then for us, that kind of made sense to do these shows.”
Also playing the gigs will be The Rural Alberta Advantage.
Beyond the Canada Day gigs, Sinclair said “there’s a strong possibility we’ll be doing other shows outside of Ontario this summer.”
Will The Hip come home and play the K-Rock Centre again?
“It’s a little too soon to tell,” Sinclair said, adding “I would suspect once we get the record out and figure out what we’re doing that we’ll be swinging through Kingston at some point again and playing.
“It’s definitely home and it’s a great venue to play and we’ve always been really well supported. It just depends on when this record comes out.”
Needless to say, that will be one show my wife and I will agree on attending.
The past ... the present ... the future ... The Hip
Gord Sinclair discusses Tragically Hip Way, another Kingston concert, the band’s new album and a Canada Day concert series, among other things
By Jan Murphy
They are as Canadian as maple syrup and as Kingston as Limestone, but for me there has always been a little mystery surrounding The Tragically Hip.
I’ve always admired the band from afar, having worn out more than a few of their albums over the years — my wife and I both count The Hip among our favourite bands, which is rare, given that we share little in the way of common musical interests — but somehow, more than a dozen years into my career, the only time I’d crossed paths with any member of The Hip was when I spotted guitarist Rob Baker while Christmas shopping at Cataraqui Centre. Baker was getting all sorts of attention from shoppers — I was no different — but all respectfully gave him his space and didn’t bother him.
Prior to that, the only other time I was even in the vicinity of the band was at the Richardson Stadium concert in September 1993.
All of that changed this week, after the Hip announced they will be performing two Canada Day concerts, June 30 at The Commons at the historic Butler’s Barracks in Niagara-On-The-Lake and a day later in Oro, Ont., the heart of cottage country, for a Canada Day show at Burl’s Creek, an outdoor venue. I received an e-mail informing me Gord Sinclair would be calling me to discuss the announcement.
Beyond the Canada Day concerts, Sinclair talked about the topic on many people’s minds — renaming a portion of Barrack Street to Tragically Hip Way.
Sinclair said the gesture holds special meaning for the band.
“We’re very grateful that city council saw fit to do it this way,” he said. “We’ve been very touched by the support and the initiative that undertook this to begin with.
“It’s certainly not something that we asked for or invited, but John Wright, Kim Wright, were very instrumental in getting this done and we received a great deal of support from friends and strangers alike, who felt we deserved this or should have this. That, in itself, is reward enough.
“The legacy of having a Kingston walk of fame, where we can recognize other people that helped build the community and have given back to the community, that’s going to be a really great thing, and an ongoing thing, which I’m fully in favour of. It’s all really great.
“It’s very humbling to know you’re so well thought of. ”
The Hip have never shied from their roots, with three members still calling Kingston home. The band also owns its own recording studio in Bath. It’s at that studio — and at Toronto’s Noble Street Studios — where the band has been hard at work producing its next album, expected to drop some time in 2012.
“We’ve been working (in Bath), with Gavin Brown, for the last few months, sort of going in and out and writing and recording there,” Sinclair said over the phone during a break from recording in Toronto. Of the Toronto studio, Sinclair said “it’s a great space — a big, large space, which is kind of ideal for tracking drums.”
“We kind of pulled up the tents and moved up here,” he said, adding the band is there for 12 days before returning to Bath to “put the finishing touches on everything.”
This album is the first from the Hip since 2009’s We Are The Same. It is the band’s first in what can truly be described as the digital era of music, with iTunes and digital downloads dominating the industry.
“It’s a weird business right now for sure,” Sinclair agreed. “It’s no big secret that the music business has undergone some really radical shifts. I think collectively we still believe in the album as a format. We’re specifically writing a group of songs that are meant to be listened to in the context of each other.”
The Hip have always made records, first and foremost, Sinclair said.
“We’ve been very fortunate to get some attention on radio and have singles and stuff like that, but I think we’re the type of band, and certainly our favourite musicians are the type of people, that put together a strong collection of material.
“I’ve always been one to gravitate toward the more album-oriented tracks on different artists’ records than singles.”
That issue took centre stage, so to speak, recently at the Grammy Awards, when Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl delivered a passionate speech after the band won one of its five Grammy awards.
Grohl said the band’s latest album, “shows that the human element of music is what’s important. Singing into a microphone and learning to play an instrument and learning to do your craft, that’s the most important thing for people to do. It’s not about being perfect, it’s not about sounding absolutely correct, it’s not about what goes on in a computer. It’s about what goes on in here,” pointing to his heart.
Sinclair didn’t see the speech — “I generally don’t watch the award shows,” he said — but he understands where Grohl is coming from.
“I’m very aware of how Dave Grohl’s been approaching the music business and what his opinions are and I couldn’t agree more with him.
“When we first started making records, there wasn’t digital recording. We were cutting a two-inch tape, we were limited to 24 tracks, 16 tracks, and you learned how to do it. You learned how to play.
“It’s like being a journalist and trying to imagine not having a word-processing software package,” he continued, “but the fact is, if you’re a good journalist, all you need is a piece of paper and a pencil and you can get the job done.
“I think that’s what Dave Grohl was implying and that’s certainly the case with The Hip. We can certainly use modern technology as a tool, as an asset, to make our output better, but we can still play. There are a lot of artists that rely a little too heavily on the technology to cover up, shall we say, flaws, in their material or their ability actually to perform.”
Sinclair spoke of Madonna’s recent halftime performance at the Super Bowl.
“There was absolutely nothing live about the performance other than the fact that she’s walking into the football stadium,” he said.
“Then I saw (jazz musician) Wynton Marsalis play at Massey Hall the other night and it’s a really strong reminder that musical performance is a unique artform and that it’s a moment that you are sharing with your audience as a musician.
“To have the opportunity to go and see (people who can really play) and experience them creating music in the same room with you at the same time is a really wonderful, magical thing.
“I mean, I’ve got nothing against Madonna,” he added, “but it’s one of those things where, hey, if she’s just running tracks through her computer at the front of the house, it would probably easier and better to get the DVD and watch it at home.”
Sinclair suspects music fans don’t demand as much from their artists as they used to.
“I get it,” he said, “I understand the spectacle that a lot of these shows are and stuff like that (but) I think a lot of younger artists are realizing it now, too. They’re practising their craft, they’re learning to play their instruments, learning how to sing and learning how to do it live.”
It’s been nearly 30 years since The Hip formed, but the excitement of producing a new album never gets old.
“That’s still the idea that drives the band,” he said. “The mutual creativity that we share and creating the material and playing. It’s exciting stuff. It’s a great reminder, when you’re in a recording environment, of how fortunate you are to actually be doing this for a living.
“You’re playing music … guys are playing at their best and it’s sounding really good and you’re working with really great people in the studio, so it’s really exciting.
“If you can’t get excited playing music for a living, I think you’ve got a problem.”
Does someone who has done this for so long still get nervous?
“Not so much,” Sinclair said. “There’s always a level of anticipation ... 15 minutes before you go on. Nervous isn’t really the word. Certainly charged up. There’s an anticipation there that is pretty undeniable, for sure.”
The Canada Day gigs will see crowds that could climb into the tens of thousands, particularly at the outdoor show, but whether in front of a small crowd in a pub or in front of tens of thousands at an outdoor venue, The Hip has always used the same approach, Sinclair said.
“We’ve been really fortunate over the length of our career that we were always sort of bouncing from one size of venue and one size of stage to the next so I like to think we got really good at turning our performances inward and playing with each other.
“I’ve always said the trick is to play the 30,000- and 40,000-seat venues and the hockey rinks … like you’re in a small club and you play a small club like you’re in a hockey rink. If you keep that paradigm going in your head, you can’t go wrong. All the shows turn into great shows.”
The Hip, Sinclair says, are very selective at this point in their career when it comes to which venues they play, and with whom.
“The most important thing for us is the show that the fans are going to have,” Sinclair says. “We know what we do and I think our fans know what we do, but putting together the right bill to give everyone a great day out, is definitely most important thing.
“We like to think that with the lineup we’ve got for around Canada Day with The New Pornographers and Death Cab (For Cutie), it’s going to be something that people are going to want to come out early and stay late and have a great day of music. You don’t go on with any old band. That’s why when we were able to firm up Death Cab wanting to do this, then for us, that kind of made sense to do these shows.”
Also playing the gigs will be The Rural Alberta Advantage.
Beyond the Canada Day gigs, Sinclair said “there’s a strong possibility we’ll be doing other shows outside of Ontario this summer.”
Will The Hip come home and play the K-Rock Centre again?
“It’s a little too soon to tell,” Sinclair said, adding “I would suspect once we get the record out and figure out what we’re doing that we’ll be swinging through Kingston at some point again and playing.
“It’s definitely home and it’s a great venue to play and we’ve always been really well supported. It just depends on when this record comes out.”
Needless to say, that will be one show my wife and I will agree on attending.
"We're forced to bed, but we're free to dream"
Dana
