Rockers Sloan lead together

Four heads are better than one. They are for Sloan, anyway.

What once was perceived to be the band's main weakness -- their lack of a definitive leader -- has turned out to be their greatest strength, believes guitarist Jay Ferguson.

"We definitely got criticized for that early on," says the 42-year-old Haligonian from his Toronto home. "Some people thought that was a minus. But that has become our calling card. People recognize that as Sloan. We're this four-headed beast."

And if it sounds like the beast feels a little nostalgic this year, it oughta. The beloved pop-rock quartet -- rounded out by bassist Chris Murphy, guitarist Patrick Pentland and drummer Andrew Scott -- are celebrating their 20th anniversary by releasing their 10th CD The Double Cross (XX, get it?) and embarking on another Canadian crossing.

But before boarding the tour bus, Ferguson got on the blower to dissect their past, discuss music mutual funds and explain why he doesn't need another copy of Thunder Island, thanks.

I presume you've been taking stock lately. What's the verdict on the past 20 years?

When we started out, I don't know if we expected to be here for 20 years. Personally, I hoped we would. It's what I wanted to do, so I'm happy it's lasted this long. And I'm grateful we're here with the same four people. Not a lot of bands can claim that. Do I wish we were all millionaires or that we had a No. 1 record in the U.S. or something like that? Well, sure. But I'm fine with the fact that we've been able to do something we love and turn it into a career. I can't think of a better job, to be honest.

Do you feel you've had bad breaks, career-wise?

There's always an element of timing in a career that you can't control. But it happens to everybody. I've heard the same stories from every band. And we had a lot of those experiences early in our career, when we were on DGC, David Geffen's label. Our first record started off doing great, but basically fell apart because of behind-the-scenes musical chairs at the label. It was sobering; we realized, this is how the record industry works. But it didn't derail us. We already had our own label, Murderecords. And we realized if you want anything done, you have to do it yourself. That's been the mode we've operated on since. And things have been good. We've been able to manage our career the way we want. We weren't one of those bands that ended up getting dropped after five years and being broke and not owning our own records.

Like a lot of your albums, The Double Cross almost feels like a retrospective compilation -- it has everything from '60s pop to '80s post-punk.

Yeah, it's just the way our band operates. Sometimes we've thought it would be great to have a theme to a record, but it rarely works out because we've got four different singers and songwriters. But there are some songs on this record that could have fit on (1996's) One Chord to Another or (1998's) Navy Blues or even (2006's) Never Hear the End of It. I think there are little bits of our career scattered throughout this record. But it wasn't a master plan, I can tell you that. When we go in, the best we can hope for is that everybody's songs complement each other.

It sounds like you've settled into a good working groove. But do you ever worry that you're too settled?

I would if I felt we were making the same record over and over. But I still get surprised by the records we make. In the past, we've brought producers in to shake things up, but it's a real gamble and it costs money. We had a producer come in for one album and his idea was to take away all the experimental tinges and make a straightahead rock record. Instead of expanding the boundaries, he was narrowing the boundaries. That's not a bad thing -- you can make a really focused record for an audience to grab onto. But for us, it didn't become more of a Sloan record. It became less of a Sloan record. It was just a narrow vision of our band. And since we're pretty happy with the records we make ourselves, why rock the boat?

What's behind the band's longevity? Is it the personal relationships or the musical ones?

It's a weird combination. There's a number of reasons. It's an artistic outlet for everybody. So nobody gets left behind and has to go do a solo album to write songs or get their way. Everybody can do what they want. And not to be crass, but everybody benefits from it financially as well. Along with sharing the responsibility of making the records and the songwriting process, we also share in the benefits. We all share the money equally. So if one person's song does well, we all do well. And if somebody doesn't have any good songs one time around, somebody else's balance it and everyone benefits. I think Chris has used the analogy that we're basically a mutual fund.

Have you ever met the '70s rocker Jay Ferguson?

No, but I get a lot of people on Facebook writing me, saying 'I was a big fan of Jo Jo Gunne' or 'I have all the Spirit albums -- accept me as a friend.' And I'm like, 'Sorry dude.' But I was a fan of his song Thunder Island when I was a kid. I had the 45 -- still do. And in the early years of Sloan, a lot of people would come to shows and say, 'Hey look, I got something for you. I bet you've never seen it.' And it would be a copy of the Thunder Island album. And I'd say, 'Hey, thanks very much!' -- and then throw it in the closet with the other dozen copies I've been given.

Sloan's Canadian tour dates