by Barbara Woolsey
With four members playing equal parts in songwriting and nary a lineup change in over 20 years, Sloan must be the most democratic band in rock ‘n’ roll. But now, Canada’s long-beloved indie pop darlings are reaching for another level of egalitarianism with the new album, Commonwealth.
“Our story has been for the past 10 years or more (that) Sloan are still together, same line up,” said singer and bassist Chris Murphy. “Just making the record this way has forced people to talk instead about the ways our band is unique. And not just a bunch of old guys.”
Commonwealth, Sloan’s eleventh studio album, is actually a double disc with four solo EPs fitted together. Each member got to write and sing his own side of the compilation.
The band is already known for its communal approach, with everyone contributing at least two songs to every record. Commonwealth, however, was an opportunity to give everybody a taste of full autonomy, from composing right down to sequencing songs.
“It wouldn’t upset me if people conclude, and some have said that, ‘Oh I don’t like it this way, I like what they do normally,’” said Murphy. “This was just a fun experiment for us, it doesn’t mean this is how we are going to be represented from now on.”
According to Murphy, making the album in such a way was a satisfying creative experience too. He particularly lauds the work of bandmate Andrew Scott, who does vocals and drums, for one adventurous track that’s more like six or seven tracks mashed together.
“I think that Andrew making a song just shy of 18 minutes is obnoxious in the best way,” Murphy laughed. “I think it’s really fun. At the risk of sounding like a journalism student, I think it’s even a fun talking point. Everybody in the world is releasing a record every week, so that is something unique.”
The band is now touring Canada and the U.S. promoting the new album, and relishing every second of it.
“Being on tour is the easiest time of my year,” said Murphy. “Being at home is hard, fighting about who had more Smarties (with my kids) and all that. Being on the road is just about sleeping in as long as I want and eating fries.”
Sloan’s long-term success in an industry that’s built on marketing frontmen, is no small feat. It’s proof that rock bands don’t necessarily need to break up and dissolve in the stereotypical showdown of egos.
“We are a band that’s created a giant body of work, basically 200 released songs, and I’ve written about 70 of them,” said Murphy. “But I wouldn’t have been able to write 200 of them. Sometimes I joke about if one writer is like investing in a stock, investing in four writers is like a mutual fund. Even if one stock is down, it’s buoyed by hopefully the others. It doesn’t necessarily skyrocket, but there’s always steady growth.”
--taken from: The Regina Leader-Post
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