They came, they answered, and they left.
The Tragically Hip members Paul Langlois and Rob Baker dropped by Canoe's headquarters for a live chat yesterday (Oct. 23), and feverishly sifted through hundreds of submitted questions from fans all over the world.
The most typical ones sent in for the guitarists were tour queries, but among the favourites was a hair-related question that elicited a clever response from longtime long-stranded Baker.
"I'm not going to cut my hair into a mullet anytime soon," said Baker in response to a fan's question about following in the "hockey hair" tradition. "When I was 11 years old, I got David Bowie's 'Diamond Dogs' and I knew that hairstyle was my destiny. Soon after I was sporting a Kentucky Tophat. But back then it wasn't called a mullet - it was called really f*****g cool."
Who knew the Hip were so funny?
The Canadian icons took part in a live session to answer fans' questions about "World Container," their latest and largely polished effort produced by Bob Rock, the man known for his work with harder-sounding arena bands like Metallica, Motley Crue and Bon Jovi.
Baker and Langlois don't see the record as overtly commercial, despite the poppy sound of "In View," the first single, and explained their work with Rock as one that occurred organically.
"It was obvious on the first day that we were like-minded and that we could do this together," said Langlois. "Bob was a bigger help to us that we've had before in a producer," he added when asked by a fan what it was like to work with the revered producer.
"He's really good at identifying the hooks in something," said Baker. "Sometimes when you're playing, you get so involved in what you're doing that you can't step back and be objective or listen. And that's all we've ever really wanted in a producer - educated and objective ears. And Bob would listen."
Between recounting stories of meeting with a dazed Jimmy Page while on tour with Page and Plant in 1995, or revealing what it was like to shoot a video with the Trailer Park Boys ("That movie is fantastic. My second time, I took my 12-year old son, who is now swearing like a sailor - I'm so proud," deadpanned Baker), they maintained that every record they make is an achievement in its own right.
Playing a string of club dates in Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal, die-hard fans can expect a full dose of new tracks (including Langlois' current favourites "Luv (sic)" and "World Container") along with the usual set staples, until the Hip branch out for a Canadian tour in January and February, with more dates to come this summer.
Read the full transcript of the chat right here.
