I was struck by the effortless way they moved between musical styles, all the while managing to make each their own. It was instantaneous that I knew I wanted to work with them.
I think I was making a Stephen Fearing record, and I mentioned to someone that the Tragically Hip were talking to me about working with them. The Canadians in the room couldn't believe it, as if the Beatles were getting back together again and asking me to produce them. I have to say, as an American, it's different; they're not exactly a national treasure here.
Because I'm sort of an honorary Canadian, I don't think the others grasped the cultural significance of who the Tragically Hip were before the tour. Talking to Sheryl Crow and her people and the guys in Wilco, everyone was ecstatic to be on the tour, it was a lot of fun. But it even took me a while to grasp the idea that this is not just a band, this is a cultural artifact, what the Hip means in Canada. There is nobody else like them.
I can't think of very many people who work as hard at the craft of songcraft as Gord Downie does. It was life or death. Every syllable was important.
It seems silly, but it mattered to Gord Downie. I don't know if I necessarily felt like it had to be one or the other, but he really wanted that engagement: "If you think it should be 'the' then tell me why it should be 'the.' " 'Uh, okay, well...' He was really serious.
Gord Downie is extraordinary. It's safe to say there's nobody like that guy that I've ever come across.
The Tragically Hip, more so than any other band I've worked with, approach their work like a team. This might sound way too pat, but they're like a great hockey team: all five of them have their roles. They go at their shows like an athletic event; they're in it to win it, and they'll lay it out there on the proverbial ice in order to win and get the crowd on their side. You can't do that when you just throw a band together. There's a sixth sense there that makes it easy.
Like any band, including mine, there's a comfort zone that's hard to escape. You kind of need an outsider to tell you that. You think it's your vocabulary, but it's a cocoon that's safe. Producers are supposed to tell you to try things a different way.
The lesson there is that there's no hiding the sound of a band that is bored with its own music. Whatever it takes to create the sound of excitement, that's what you want to do.
Another hard thing that Gord Downie makes easy: singing ironically. If you don't do it right, you come off like a snarky asshole or the whole thing just falls apart on its own. He has the ability to imbue something ironic with great seriousness, which is the only way to really make it work.
