[edgoffin]

Really great interview with Steve Berlin, producer of Phantom Power and Music@Work plus toured on ARA with Los Lobos. Would love to hear the trombone version of Fireworks.

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[Moof_Milker]

Would love to hear the trombone version of Fireworks

I was thinking the same thing! Great article -- loved hearing Berlin's insights on those two albums. I was deep into the live concert recordings in the year prior to Phantom Power, so I remember hearing some of those songs taking shape. The Chagrin Falls riff (sped up) with the lyrics from Poets was a favourite of mine. Another musician who played on PP but not mentioned in the article was Bob Egan, formerly of Wilco now with Blue Rodeo. He played pedal steel on several songs including Bobcaygeon. I met him in a bar in Montreal in the late 90s and chatted about his experience recording with The Hip. Cool guy and great musician. Thanks for sharing this article!

[direwolf74]

Another great interview. I really liked this quote in particular:

"I think the Hip and Gord in particular is always powerful. This new record is some of the most powerful stuff they’ve ever written; I think it’s fabulous. And that’s hard to do, let me tell you, as a guy who’s been in the same band for 40 years or so, it’s really hard to come up with something that powerful that far into their discography. To hit one out of the park in your third decade? That is not an easy trick."

And I also thought this bit about Fully Completely was interesting:

"Q: That can go either way, though. Fully Completely, while I love the songs on it, I’ve always hated that record. When I found out how it was made—track by track, not playing together, in a cold studio in suburban England — it made sense that it seems to have the life sucked out of it. It sounds like a Def Leppard record to me, and that’s not who this band is. And yet it’s their most successful record, so what do I know?

A: That might be part of the reason I got the job. They told me how they made that record and said, “Well, I guess that’s how people make records now.” I said, “F–k that, if that’s the way you want to do it then I’m definitely not the right guy for this job. That’s the opposite of what I think records should sound and feel like.” It’s like in my band, we did a record where we just played everything a million times and then we got in the studio and it sounded like we were bored, because we were. The lesson there is that there’s no hiding the sound of a band that is bored with its own music. Whatever it takes to create the sound of excitement, that’s what you want to do."

I feel the exact same way about FC. I love the songs, but I've never been a fan of the production on that record.

[ashtrayrock]

steve berlin is great again. love him
such a great interview
LOVE that he loves escape at hand and this of course:

Q: Anything else you want to add?

A: I’m sure that just like everyone else that loves those guys, it’s impossible to put into words how I feel now, and how brave I think they are, and in particular Gord is, to go out this way. It’s the path of most resistance. It speaks to what kind of people they are, that he’s willing to put his life on the line to go play for people one more time. It’s just — I just love those guys

[chancellor]

Fantastic interview
Fireworks with trombrones would be quite interesting.