Sloan Facts

August 19, 2010

• In the early 90s we met Wayne Kramer from the MC5 in a motel lobby. We also managed to offend him, slightly.

--each Sloanfact was shared on Twitter via @Sloanmusic on the date above it

Songwriter GETS LEAN AND MEAN on latest recording

--taken from: Winnipeg Free Press

by Rob Williams

Luke Doucet is far from a masochist, but he was looking to take a bit of punishment while working on his new album, Steel City Trawler.

The Winnipeg native hired Sloan's Andrew Scott to produce his fifth solo effort in order to jolt him out of his comfort zone after producing his last three albums on his own.

"I told him, 'I want you to tell me when my songs are done or not done, what's good and what's not good.' I got what I wanted out of that," Doucet says over the phone from his Toronto practice space. "He pushed me around a lot. I gave him free rein. I wrote the songs at least three times and played them over and over, so he pushed me around, saying, 'We need a new bridge here, we need a new chorus, this needs to be shorter or longer.'

"I consider him a genius for his work, but I consider myself a genius for hiring him. I take end credit,"
Scott had never produced an album before, but helped Doucet create a concise 10-track release that the songwriter admits would have sounded entirely different if he'd been left to his own devices.

"There are things in the indie world of DIY that say you have to be responsible for everything or it lacks integrity," says the guitarist, who also plays with Sarah McLachan. "I call bulls--t. I think integrity is it needing it to be the best it can be. The point is not to highlight yourself; it's to make good work."

The album is a departure from 2008's Blood's Too Rich, which featured songs averaging five minutes in length. This time he wanted to make a rock record with more direct, in-your-face material.

"It's lean and mean," he says. "I didn't want to drag things on an extended journey. I wanted things to be brief; I like short records. Live, the songs might get a little longer," he says.

Winnipeggers will get to hear the new songs live when Doucet and his band the White Falcon -- which also happens to be one of his guitars, a 2003 Gretsch White Falcon -- headline the inaugural River Barge Festival Saturday night. The free festival, which started Wednesday, features a wide cross-section of local and national musical talent, along with some theatre and a talk show.

Doucet calls Steel City Trawler a true collaborative effort, because it also includes a comic book by Hamilton artist Dave Collier with lyrics, quotes and observations that combine to create the story/liner notes/comic LD in Steel City.

Collier was given a blank canvas to do what he wanted -- the art didn't even have to be about the music -- and the results are better than expected, Doucet says.

"He just took these little things that may or may not be related and painted a stark picture of Hamilton, my music, myself and Melissa (McClelland, his wife)," he says. "There might be more layers to his onion than mine. He's a compelling person and I'm really glad he's involved."

By layers, Doucet is referring to the fact his lyrics are devoid of clever literary devices -- he prefers to present his feelings and ideas in a straightforward manner instead of wrapping them up in allegories and metaphors.

"I'm simple-minded. I don't have the patience to write a story and bury it between layers of bean dip," he says.

Doucet hooked up with Collier after discovering his work in a comic-book store in Hamilton, where the 37-year-old and McClelland moved nearly three years ago after living in Nashville for six months and deciding it wasn't for them.

The working-class city has many similarities to Winnipeg, but it's closer to Toronto, where Doucet travels frequently. Since it's more affordable than Toronto, it's becoming a place where musicians and artists are migrating, he says.

--taken from: Winnipeg Free Press

Sloan - Coax Me

Coax Me (live) @ the Cactus Festival in Dundas, Ontario - recorded on August 21, 2010:



--this SlnVdOfThDy was shared on Twitter via @Sloanmusic on the date above it

Kids in the Hall Guy Calls Sloan GGBB

--taken from: CHARTattack

It's not the guys in Sloan Kids In The Hall member Kevin McDonald hates… it's their band.

McDonald made the comment in an interview with The A.V. Club, The Onion's music and pop culture publication. He was part of the website's "Random Roles" column, in which actors and comedians discuss characters they've played throughout their careers.

The A.V. Club criticized McDonald for his role as Harry Potter in 2007's Epic Movie, saying jokes based on pop culture references are something Kids In The Hall have always stayed away from. The interviewer also stated he believed McDonald had been "trying too hard" in the role, and McDonald agreed.

Then came the diss, after the interviewer said McDonald's role was like "a crappy band that you know: 'They're super nice, though.'"

"Yeah, that's like that Canadian band Sloan," McDonald replied. "What's that thing? 'GGBB: Good guys, bad band.'"

Yeeeowch! Them's fighting words! That may not seem like a particularly harsh thing to say and he could have dissed their mommies or daddies or something else, but as anyone in a band or the music industry knows, GGBB is the ultimate diss against any musician.

It's like basically saying, "I like you and all, but I think you're really horrible at what you do for a living."


--taken from: CHARTattack

I Can Feel It

I Can Feel It @ Sappyfest 2010 - Twice Removed "surprise show" - recorded on August 1, 2010:



--this SlnVdOfThDy was shared on Twitter via @Sloanmusic on the date above it

Sloan with Rick White & Julie Doiron - Smother (Eric's Trip)

Sloan backing Rick White and Julie Doiron @ Sappyfest in Sackville, New Brunswick - recorded on August 1, 2010 - uploaded on August 2, 2010:




--this SlnVdOfThDy was shared on Twitter via @Sloanmusic on the date above it

Sappyfest

Sloan Perform "I Can Feel It" At Sappyfest 2010 from EastCoastMusic.tv on Vimeo.