Sloan revisits classic One Chord To Another during Thunder Bay stop

--taken from: TB News Watch

by Leith Dunick

It’s almost hard to believe Halifax’s Sloan has been around the Canadian music scene long enough to celebrate the 20th anniversary of one of their albums.

And it wasn’t even their first – or second – record.

“This is as good as we get,” singer Chris Murphy said after the show, a rocking two-hour-plus affair that filled the floor at Thunder Bay’s Crocks.

The two-set show was a stroll down memory lane for fans of the band, who played their album One Chord to Another front to back.

Released in 1996 and heavily influenced by the sounds of the Beatles, One Chord to Another was a comeback album of sorts, after rumours of the band’s breakup on the heels of a heated dispute with label Geffen Records, who did little to promote their critically acclaimed Twice Removed.

One Chord to Another was recorded in just two weeks and captured the Best Alternative Album Award at the 1997 Juno Awards.

It’s stood the test of time, with singles like the opener The Good in Everyone, Everything You’ve Done Wrong and The Lines You Amend helping land it in the No. 34 slot in Bob Mersereau’s Top 100 Canadian Albums, 20 spots behind Twice Removed and one of three Sloan offerings on a list peppered with offerings from Neil Young, Rush and Joni Mitchell.

The Thursday night downtown crowd was only too happy to indulge the one-time indie darlings on their anniversary tour, lapping up the chance to hear One Chord to Another live, knowing a set of greatest hits and fan favourites was still to come.

Unlike many bands, where pieces come and go, Sloan has remained intact throughout their run, sharing singing and songwriting duties with a one-for-all and all-for-one Four Musketeers attitude.

Murphy, Patrick Pentland, Jay Ferguson and Andrew Scott, each took turns at the mic, belting out a parade of hits and sing-along staples like Money City Maniacs, Losing California, Unkind, Coax Me, If it Feels Good Do It and Who Taught You to Live Like That before closing with a two-song encore featuring The Other Man and 500 Up, the second single from their 1992 debut Smeared.

Murphy might have been selling the band a little short in his post-show comment.

This isn’t as good as Sloan gets, it’s as good as Canadian music gets.

They’ve earned their place in the country’s music pantheon and deservedly so. And their Thunder Bay show proved the quartet still has plenty to offer moving forward toward its 30th anniversary.

Sloan travels to St. Paul, Minn. on Friday night and carries on to Winnipeg on Saturday.

--taken from: TB News Watch

Sloan coming to Mule

--taken from: Penticton Western News

by  Dale Boyd

Sloan were in a unique position to watch the effect the internet age had on the music industry.

They had a front row seat as the band solidified after a break-up with their third album, One Chord to Another, in 1996.

Patrick Pentland, one of four members who are all songwriters, often switching instruments during a show, called the transition “the complete, utter decline of the music business.”

Sloan is currently touring to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their third album, One Chord to Another, a turning point for Sloan, coming to the Mule Nightclub April 19.

“One Chord to Another was our biggest selling record, at the time, and it happened very quickly. You were able to put a record out and within a week or a month you were able to sell 30,000 copies,” Pentland said. “Now, 30,000 copies is phenomenal for a band to sell in Canada, and it wasn’t even that great for us back then.”

It was around the release of Sloan’s fifth album, Between the Bridges, that music piracy and peer-to-peer networking programs like Limewire and Napster starting cutting into music sales, though that wasn’t the entirety of the problem, Pentland said.

“A lot of that wasn’t just people downloading, it was the music industry not really responding properly or responding too late to it. You can’t necessarily blame them because who knew what was going to happen, but the way that you promote and market bands and records now, the records aren’t even a big deal,” Pentland said.

The release of an album is only a part of promoting a band now, Pentland said.

“Whereas back then it was very much album-centric, the record was king, you put all your effort into making this record. Then you would tour to promote the record, now it’s just another component to what you do.”

Sloan continues to release albums, as most bands do, but Pentland said the model is shifting to releasing singles, or two or three songs here and there. Mostly due to the fact promoting and marketing have shifted to social media, which can put some distribution and marketing power back in the hands of the bands.

During his phone interview with the Western News, Pentland said he had spent the morning on social media interacting with fans, fielding questions. He’s not only adapted, but embraced the new normal in music.

“With One Chord to Another, you’d get a hand full of mail, actual mail, fan mail, that would ask you a question and you might answer it, you might send it off two months later and they’d get an answer. Now you can tweet to me when I’m on Twitter, which I often am, and I’ll answer your question right away,” Pentland said.

“For me to be able to write to a musician I was really into in 1996 and get an answer right away would be insane,” Pentland said. “I like it better. Back in ’96 I didn’t want people to have any access to me and now I feel like I don’t mind, it’s nice to be able to be in contact with people.”

It was a solidifying release for the band after a late 1990s break-up. All four original members still play together today.

“It was a big record for us,” Pentland said. “We did a record called Commonwealth a few years ago, we didn’t feel the need to do another new record right away, but we wanted to do something and we realize that this was the next record we wanted to revisit.”

“To me it’s the first sort of real Sloan record, whereas the first two were quite different from each other and we sort of split up a little bit after Twice Removed,” Pentland said. “When we got back together I think we were a bit of a different band and this is, in my mind, the beginning of what people now know as Sloan.”

--taken from: Penticton Western News

Sloan celebrates 20th anniversary of the album that almost wasn't

--taken from: Winnipeg Free Press

by Erin Lebar

It seems odd that one of the most pivotal albums of a band’s career was created while everyone, including the band members, thought the group had broken up. But such is the case with Sloan’s One Chord to Another, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

"This is the record that, in my mind, is like the first real Sloan record, in that the first two records were quite different from each other... this is kind of the blueprint to what we ended up doing from then on, basically," says Patrick Pentland, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for the Halifax-formed, indie-rock act.

Recorded "very cheaply" in a small studio in Halifax over the course of two weeks (though, Pentland says, the drum parts likely took no more than four hours), 1996’s One Chord to Another marked a turning point in Sloan’s career. Prior to working on the album, they parted ways with their U.S. label, Geffen, tensions were high as drummer Andrew Scott had moved to Toronto and the band members were generally unsure of their future together.

After the album was released, things became much more clear.

"At the time, we didn’t have a label because we left Geffen — we sort of asked them to let us out of the contract — and then when we got back together to do One Chord, we went to them and said, ‘Oh, turns out we’re not breaking up after all,’" Pentland says with a chuckle. "But we were sort of doing it on our own; nobody knew we were making the record except for some close friends.

"We had sort of broken up and then got back together again and initially we were just going to record a record and then that would be it. We weren’t going to tour or anything like that. We just felt that we wanted to just do a full stop on the band," he adds. "But then, as it came out and people were interested and really thought it was good, we thought, ‘Well maybe we’ll do some tour dates,’ and then it ended up we were back together and we just kept going."

Pentland, Scott and fellow bandmates Jay Ferguson and Chris Murphy ended up releasing One Chord on their own label, Murderecords, and the album — featuring the hit singles The Good in Everyone, Everything You’ve Done Wrong and The Lines You Amend — has since been credited as one of the top Canadian albums of all time, according to a poll by online music magazine Chart.

"I think the first record (Smeared) was a true record, in that it was our first thing that we did; I think the second record (Twice Removed) was us trying to not sound like other people; and this one, I don’t think we cared — we were just like, ‘We’re gonna do our own thing.’"

To mark the anniversary of the album’s release, Sloan has put together a box set (much as they did for 1994’s Twice Removed a few years back) that includes the original album, B-sides, demos, other recordings previously unavailable in Canada and a 32-page book, among other items.

The band will also be hitting the road — making a stop in Winnipeg April 9 at the Pyramid Cabaret — performing a double set every night. The first will run through the entirety of One Chord, front to back, while the second will be made up of career-spanning hits and deep cuts, including tracks from the oft-forgotten 7-inch Same Old Flame/Stood Up, released right before One Chord.

"The timing was right that we wanted to something, some project, and it was 20 years... But we were gonna do it anyway, even if it was 21 years or 19 years," Pentland says of the re-release and accompanying tour. "After we did our Commonwealth record (2014), we didn’t really feel an overwhelming need to do another record right away, so it just seemed like this was the right time to do it."

--taken from: Winnipeg Free Press

Sloan comes back to town

--taken from: The Chronicle Journal

by Angie Valente

SLOAN is an iconic Canadian power pop-rock band. All of your friends know at least two Sloan songs.
They’re recognizable, respected, loved, and cherished. Each member is a phenomenal multi-instrumentalist and song-writer. The ultimate hipsters with the haircuts and glasses to prove it, and though Toronto has claimed them, they are the sweethearts of the Maritimes.

Sloan are taking their successful 1996 album One Chord to Another on the road to celebrate its 20th anniversary. The tour hits Thunder Bay on Thursday, at Crocks.

Bassist and vocalist Chris Murphy calls me from his home. He’s friendly, hilarious, and sarcastic as hell, and didn’t even bother to block his number. After having a laugh about the fact that I may just sell his number on-line, Murphy doesn’t seem too concerned.

“We are accessible. After every show I’m pretty much able to talk to every single person who waits around,” he says.

Murphy is taking bites of his cold chicken curie and rice as we chat, and he’s making me hungry. He apologizes. This is one for the books, and I will always remember our lengthy and un-tructured chat that jumped around from music to haircuts to his children.

Post-interview, an email made its way to my inbox, showcasing his five-year-old son’s trendy new haircut, rat tail and all.

Forming back in 1991, when the Canadian music industry looked and sounded a helluva lot different than present day, Sloan have managed to stick together for 25 years, outlasting most marriages.

The band itself is a creative union between guitarist Jay Ferguson, drummer Andrew Scott and guitarist Patrick Pentland. Sure there’s been ups and downs, but Sloan have kept it functional with the original line-up intact, and zero trips to rehab.

The secret to Sloan’s longevity?

“Nobody’s a drug addict or a real (expletive)-up,” Murphy says. “It’s just like a family where you get mad at your brother, but it doesn’t last. Nobody’s really blowing it. I wasn’t interested in being a millionaire. I like working and this band has enabled me to work. We get lots of stuff done and everyone is really talented. We have an interesting asymmetrical balance. Patrick has generated the most money, Jay works the hardest, Andrew is the best musician and I’m the coolest and funniest.”

While Murphy jokes, the truth is, Sloan is cool. And without even trying.

Murphy’s been playing the Lakehead for decades and is pumped to bring some nostalgia back to a city that holds the same feelings for him.

“We’re psyched,” he says. “I like playing, I like working, and I like meeting people. I sometimes lose my own voice by the seventh show, because we tour kind of sporadically. We usually peak in Thunder Bay.”
In tow will be an exciting piece of memorabilia for Sloan fans; One Chord to Another deluxe vinyl box set. This collection will include 3LPs; a remastered OCTA from the original tapes, followed by an 11 track LP of unreleased 4-track and studio recordings called The Outtakes. The third LP is a remastered version of the often-requested-for-rerelease recorded live at a Sloan party. Originally included as a bonus CD/LP in the USA, this album was never properly released in Canada, until now. Also included is a seven-inch vinyl single with two early demo recordings.

As for art work, (which Murphy is a fan of and played a hand in) included is a photocopied-style fanzine compilation which were quite the rage back in the ‘90s.

“It feels like that era was a healthy time for fanzines that focused on artists from our Murderecords label and other underground bands in Canada, so we thought it was a cool and appropriate artifact to include in the set,” Murphy says.

Yet another bonus is a 32-page full colour book which is an extensive oral history by the four members recounting the recording and touring surrounding OCTA.

The book features tons of unseen photos, posters, artwork, lyric sheets and more. This is a Sloan fan’s dream come true.

“On a re-issue tour at least fans are guaranteed that we’ll play some of the songs they know and love,” Murphy says.

“I understand as a fan of music and as a maker of music. The experiment of the band is to try to keep it going and keep each member contributing equally and fairly and share the wealth evenly. We’ve released worth-while records the whole time. You can’t compete with the nostalgia people have for the first few records.”

The anniversary show is set to feature two sets. Firstly, OCTA in its entirety, and a second set of greatest hits and fan favourites. How does one choose a set with decades worth of albums and singles?
“I’d like to think we’re not playing the exact same set, we like to play different songs each time we come through,” Murphy explains.

“But, we’re really only in charge of your own songs and we do feel there is an obligation to play certain singles. Everyone gets their own real estate in the set. We play some recognizable songs and a weird one for someone who’s seen us 40 times. I also like to think that we’re representing every era of the band.”
What would Chris Murphy of Sloan tell himself 25 years ago, when he was just starting out, knowing what he knows now?

“I’m happy about the way everything has gone, the band is intact and has a body of work of which I am not embarrassed,” he says.

“As a 47-year-old man, I wished we had worked a little harder as younger guys before we had kids and got married. Maybe we’d be farther along.”

That being said, Murphy is satisfied with the career Sloan has built for themselves. “I got validated a lot as a young guy, and made enough money to buy a house. I feel fortunate. I know a lot of talented people who had to do a shitty joe job but I haven’t had to. I don’t have to work for anybody and I get to do something cool.”

--taken from: The Chronicle Journal

Sloan set to launch anniversary tour at Barrie's Roxy

--taken from: Simcoe.com

by Leigh Blenkhorn

Barrie fans will be the first to see Sloan’s One Chord To Another 20th Anniversary Tour when the band takes the stage at The Roxy Theatre April 5.

Johnson’s Residence puts twist on...
“This will be the first show of the tour, so it could be really good or it could be really bad,” laughs the band’s Patrick Pentland. “It could be a lot of bugs being worked out or it could be fine. Some place has got to be the first show.”

The tour is in support of the band’s third album, One Chord To Another, which features hits The Good In Everyone, Everything You’ve Done Wrong and The Lines You Amend.

Pentland said following the tour for their latest album, Commonwealth, they decided to rerelease One Chord.

“I didn’t even know it was the 20th anniversary until other people started saying it online,” he said. “It was a bit of a coincidence I think. People started calling it the 20th anniversary tour and I was like, OK, let’s go with it.”

The band — made up of Pentland, Chris Murphy, Andrew Scott and Jay Ferguson — plans to play the whole record followed by another set.

“We rehearsed a bunch of stuff from other albums that we don’t normally do,” Pentland said.

He said the album’s release 20 years ago was like a rebirth for the band. After recording their first two albums, the band broke up.

“One Chord is when, I consider, the Sloan you know today started,” he said, adding the track The Good In Everyone is “probably his favourite” from the album.

“It’s very short. For me, it was a statement of intent in terms of what I wanted to do musically with the band,” he said. “It’s more of a hard rock song. It’s the first song on the record and it was a new beginning.”

And his least favourite?

“There is a song of Jay’s called Junior Panthers, which I like, but I always screw it up,” Pentland said. “It’s a very quiet song, so if you screw up at all, it’s very noticeable.”

One Chord To Another allowed the band make to its mark on MuchMusic, building bigger audiences.

“I feel like we are much more of an established name now, where as back then, we were still trying to get it out there and prove something to everybody,” Pentland said. “We also carried a certain amount of guilt about having been signed to major labels, when other bands we knew were going a bit before us and they were still struggling. We don’t feel that way anymore because nobody from those days is around anymore. It’s just us and The Hip and Our Lady Peace, that’s about it.”

For anyone who hasn’t seen Sloan perform live, it can be like watching a game of musical chairs.

“We sort of switch around. No one really sings two songs in a row,” Pentland said. “It’s something we’ve done for a long time. I don’t ever think about it. We are capable of doing a lot of things. The way we tour now, we don’t bring an opening act. It’s an entire evening with Sloan, so we like to switch it up a bit.”

--taken from: Simcoe.com