August 25, 1999
Fans can pre-order 54.40's double-live CD, Heavy Mellow, via a link from the Vancouver rock band's web site, www.5440.com, which will send them to the page of one of five top music retailers in Canada -- HMV.com, Chapters.com, SamsCD.com and absound.com. Those who order the album before the official Sept. 7 street date will receive an autographed copy.

Except for a handful of live dates, a minimum of interviews and the release of "Ocean Pearl" as the single, bassist Brad Merritt says that's all the promotion the band will be doing behind the record.

"We consider it a great achievement just getting the damn thing out," he laughs. "I think (the album is) a very positive reflection of us -- at least we feel that way, and we feel very confident that our fans will feel that as well. So it's from us to them. It's being sold for an incredibly attractive price. It's essentially two CDs for $15 or something. The idea is it's accessible for the fans and that's what it's all about. If we make new fans with it, that's great, but that isn't the purpose of this record."

Every concert was recorded on 54.40's last tour in support of the studio album Since When, amounting to some 40 hours of music. What was unique about the two-hour shows was it included alternate versions of many of the band's classics from the past two decades. Those are preserved on the "Mellow" disc; the more traditional takes on the "Heavy" disc.

Tracks on the "Heavy" CD include "Ocean Pearl", "Nice To Love You" and "Baby Ran"; and on the "Mellow" CD include "One Day In Your Life", "Miss You", "I Go Blind" and "She La" -- readdressed with the added instrumentation of guest musicians David Osborne on vocals, accordion, piano, organ, saxophone and harmonica, and Coco Love Alcorn on backing vocals and trumpet.

"It's not just good performances," says Merritt of choosing the best tracks for the double album. "It's the sound of the hall. It's the ambient quality of the room that you're playing in and also the crowd has something to do with it as well. Two halls that sounded particularly good were the Walker Theatre in Winnipeg and the Vogue in Vancouver. But almost every city is represented on this record."

54.40, comprised of Merritt, singer-guitarist Neil Osbourne, drummer Matt Johnson and guitarist Phil Comparelli, will head into the studio in late October to record its next album.

"It's probably 80 percent written," says Merritt, "but it's going to be more of a studio intense record, as opposed to that natural sounding. It's going to have a life of it's own, trying to capture the band at that moment and invent it as we go along. The plan right now is for us to produce it on our own."