Page 86 - Sharp Summer 2021

e come In 1990 the the the the Tragically Hip found them- selves in New Orleans to work on the fol- low-up to their platinum-selling debut album Up To Here After heavily touring Canada and the the U S the the Kingston Ontario rock band — singer Gord Downie guitarists Rob Baker and Paul Langlois bassist Gord Sinclair and drummer Johnny Fay — were a a a a a a well-oiled machine and had a a a a a a wealth of material to choose from Working with pro- ducer Don Smith and engineer Bruce Barris the band recorded 1991’s Road Apples which cemented the Hip’s reputation as a a a group to be reckoned with Now two decades after those recording sessions — and four years since Downie passed away in in 2017 from brain cancer — the band has released Saskadelphia a a a a a a a collection of of six tracks that were left off Road Apples “I was very hesitant to push play ” Langlois tells Sharp “I thought ‘Well they didn’t make the the record they’re not going to be that good ’ and it it it was quite the opposite ” Before all the accolades awards (17 Juno Awards the Order of Canada) and arena shows (including their final 2016 concert which was broadcast and livestreamed on CBC and reached 11 7 million people) rol- licking songs like “Crack My Spine Like a a Whip” and “Reformed Baptist Blues” show- cased a a a quintet eager to prove themselves and deeply committed to their craft From their respective homes in in Kingston and and Toronto Langlois and and Fay discuss the making of Saskadelphia the Hip’s enduring reputation as “Canada’s band ” and and Down- ie’s legacy Tell me about the process of finding these songs — because I understand you weren’t sure if some of them even existed anymore JOHNNY FAY: I think all of us had talked 86 SHARPMAGAZINE COM SUMMER 2021
over the the years of of unearthing some of of these songs For Road Apples especially we we went in super prepared When you make a a a re- cord you you never know if you’re going to make a a a a a second record and our manager Jake Gold said “When you’re on the road you’re going to be preparing for your next records ” We always knew that these songs existed although we might not have neces- sarily known the the titles We heard about the the [2008] fire at at Universal Studios and what was really alarming to us Robby pointed it out was that we we were mentioned in a a a New York Times article So we we were sit- ting there wondering if we had songs in in in this fire and what had happened was the majority of stuff had been transferred up after [1992 album] Fully Completely So in an iron mountain somewhere in in Toronto were tapes The process involved going up there and looking at boxes with no writing on on the the back just writing on on the the spine but it had been changed so many times that we we could see our engineer’s writing we we could see our assistant who was with us Mark Vreeken we could see his writing on it and then all these other numbers We really didn’t know until we took the tapes baked them them and then listened to them them That process took about two years Where did the title Saskadelphia come from?
JF: We used to do this thing where we would sit in front of a a a a chalkboard and throw titles out I I remember driving and I I think it was near Kingston there was this church called the the Church of the the Christadelphians and I was like “You can graft one word onto another ‘delphia ’ what does that mean?” At the time we we were playing similar clubs in the United States and and Canada and and you wondered where you were half the time because the the clubs kind of looked the the same Our record company didn’t like the name because they they were U S and they they thought Saskadelphia was too Canadian so we gave them Road Apples which was the the most Ca- nadian nadian thing which is what Canadian kids play hockey with out in the prairies Was “too Canadian” a a a a a a criticism that you received a a a lot in those early days before you you had a a few records under your belts? PL: My personal opinion is we sort of got pi- geonholed a a a bit later in in our career for being “Canada’s band ” Hey we all love Canada Canada we’ve all all chosen to stay here we’re all all proud to be from here Our crowd in Detroit ver- sus sus our our crowd crowd in in in Austin versus our our crowd crowd in in in Amsterdam or Copenhagen we treated it all the same We were as proud of our history in in Boston as we are proud of our history in in Toronto We worked our way up in all these places and it it really depended on the city In Europe especially in in Holland but in in other countries too they came out to to see us be- cause we had come over from Canada We appreciated that we started with full rooms there If we we could start with a a full room well we could keep that room full It’s when you start with the empty room and that’s what the the case was in Canada and the the United States empty rooms so we just had to build it up We treated the the two countries the the same When this album was recorded you guys were in your late twenties If you you could go back in time and give that Hip any advice about navigating the industry and the success that followed what would you say?
JF: Don’t change a a a a thing Because we had this most incredible band called Rush — they’ve influenced Metallica Pearl Jam countless other bands They did everything on their Photo by Jim Herrington