Throughout a career that has spanned nearly three decades, the Barenaked Ladies have become one of Canada’s most successful and popular bands.
On Nov. 17, they release their 15th studio album, and on Nov. 29, they bring their cross-Canada Fake Nudes Tour to the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The Charlatan spoke to keyboardist Kevin Hearn to talk about what the band has been up to recently and their new album.
The Charlatan (TC): What have been some of the highlights of 2017 for you guys?
Kevin Hearn (KH): Well, earlier in the year, we recorded a record with the a cappella group The Persuasions and they are, of course, a veteran iconic a cappella group from Brooklyn, they started in the early 60s. So just hanging with those guys, and breaking bread, and hearing their stories, and making music with them was a very rich and wonderful experience.
TC: You’ve been on tour recently, how have those shows been going so far?
KH: Well, they’ve been great! We’ve got new material that we’re playing, which is fun. We’ve got Gordon, just was issued on vinyl for the first time for its 25th anniversary, so we’re reinventing those old songs. It’s harmonious right now, we’re getting along and enjoying what we’re doing and feeling grateful that we get to do it. Yeah, I have nothing bad to say about it really.
TC: And you’ve got some upcoming shows, what are you looking forward to about those?
KH: Well, it’ll be nice to have the record come out and have people familiar with the new songs, and yeah, they fit into the fabric of the show. I had a lot of songs on this record. I did six songs and I co-wrote three with Ed [Robertson, singer/guitarist], so I’m particularly excited about it. I got to participate on a whole new level with the recording, so talking about The Persuasions record, it was just fun making that record, but we carried that spirit into making this new one, and it was an enjoyable process.
TC: You wrote more songs for [Fake Nudes] than any other Barenaked Ladies album. What was that like?
KH: It was a little of of a surprise for me. There was a stage of making our records where we sort of show our cards, so to speak, and show what we’ve been working on and I just put everything on the table and said, “These are all the ideas I have going.” Usually the guys cherry pick one or two, but this time they were just like “Wow! We like all of these, let’s use them.” I said, “Okay, that’s great!” Ed asked me to co-write three with him, which was kind of new as well, but again, really enjoyable and I think it strengthened the bond, the creative bond in the band to a new place and a new strength.
TC: How would you describe the song-writing dynamic of the band?
KH: For the last few records, the majority of the songs have been Ed’s, so Jim [Creeggan, bassist] and I have one or two on each record. But on this record it’s really spread out a little more evenly, and we all embraced that. It feels like the band is mutating into a new stage, really, so it’s nice.
TC: For you, as a songwriter, what do you draw inspiration from?
KH: Generally personal experience, but I’ve also been trying to write songs that are inspired by personal experience, but not necessarily directly referencing it. Perhaps making up a story, like on this record, there’s a song called “The Township of King”, which is sort of just a made up fairy tale kind of song, but inspired by environmental concerns and observations.
TC: Which of the songs on the new album would be your favourite?
KH: “Flying Dreams” I love because it’s about my daughter, it’s very personal. It’s a song I’ve wanted to write for a long time, but I never knew how to. “Dusty Rooms” I enjoy, because it’s fun and my dad has a bit of a spoken word piece at the end of it, which I enjoy. I really like the song “Sunshine” that Ed brought in, I wrote the bridge for it, but it’s a beautiful song, that’s probably my favourite song on the record.
TC: Can you tell me what Fake Nudes is supposed to mean?
KH: Well, it’s on two levels for us. On one, it’s a word play on Donald Trump, one of his favourite expressions, “fake news”, so we just mutated it into “fake nudes.” But throughout our whole career, we always here this joke from people, “Hey, you guys are called Barenaked Ladies, but you’re not ladies, you’re a bunch of dudes and you’re all wearing clothes,” and it’s something we always sort of laugh at, but we’ve never really used it for anything until now. It kind of fit with “fake news” and “fake nudes” and Ed suggested it earlier on into the recording process and it just fit, so we used it.
TC: Since this is your 15th album as a band, how would you describe [the recording process]?
KH: I like to think we’re getting better at it as we get older, and we’re still really into it and we still love it. It’s pretty smooth, we know what we’re doing in the studio and I think creatively, it was a very positive experience, we were all in good shape and we were all playing our role in the band and yeah, we’re happy with it.
TC: Can you tell me about what you’re doing [with MusiCounts] and why it’s important?
KH: I think there’s a dollar from every ticket sale going to MusiCounts on this tour. It’s a cause that dear to our hearts, and we’ve worked with them before. We know what it was like to have access to music and instruments when we were growing up. I mean, it helped shape who we are, and there’s been scientific studies done that prove that playing music and learning an instrument is good for a child’s development, for the brain. Not to mention, it’s just a great outlet to have, creatively, so we like to help this organization get instruments into the schools, and help fund music programs, and try to help kids have more access to music and instruments in general.
TC: How often do you get to interact with fans?
KH: I’d say on a daily basis. We don’t show up with 12 security guards and people can’t talk to us. We’re pretty accessible as humans, and we do meet and greets. We’ve been having these soundcheck parties, where people come to the soundcheck and then we meet them afterwards and it’s really nice. It’s nice to meet the people who enjoy your music and to really, we couldn’t do this without them, so we have time for those people, we’re grateful for them and we’re happy to meet them.
TC: What is the greatest fan story you’ve ever heard during one of these meet and greets?
KH: The most recent for me was receiving a letter from a young man who is struggling with a health issue, and he told me that the song off our record Silverball that I wrote called “Tired of Fighting With You,” which is a song I wrote about struggling with cancer, he said it helps him every day, it comforts him and it offers him some empathy, and that meant a lot for me to hear that. And you know, that’s pretty personal and that means a song resonated with him on a deep level, which means a lot to me.
