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December 5, 2000 Interview with band member Paul Langlois
DB: How's the tour going so far?PL: We're half way through and it is so far so good. We just played Toronto the night before last and that went really well. It's fun you know, it was a longer show and it was nice to hook up with a crew that we only see every couple of years we're having fun.
DB: It's always fun to see you. The Hip have amazed fans for 15 years, do you ever get tired of performing?
PL: No, I wouldn't say so. Performing would probably be last on the list of things that I would get tired of. There is a difference between touring and performing and performing is by far the best part of touring. We seem to have been able to manage our time pretty well over the last five years, better than the five years before that. The less we're on the road the more we enjoy the road. Any given day on the road the best part is playing the gig. It's a lot of fun and it looks as fun as it is for anyone who isn't given the opportunity to play in a club or a library or an arena. It's really fun to play, especially when you have taken part in the writing of the songs - and in our situation with the same group of guys all along - so its really a nice feeling up there.
DB: So what would you say is your main inspiration to continue year after year?
PL: I think that we just sort of feel lucky and inspired by that fact that everything has worked out well. The fact that we're still together and still enjoying ourselves is kind of our inspiration.
DB: How do you think your music has evolved since 1987?
PL: I don't know, but I would definitely agree that it has evolved. It is hard to say how that happened it has just been accidental, which I think is good because we have never sat down and tried to do a different kind of record or a different kind of song. We've just continued to grow as individuals, as songwriters and musicians. We've just sort of continued to feel each other out over the years musically and respect each other, which has led naturally to an evolvement. Comparing Music @ Work to Up to Here it's hard to say. We're learning more and attempting to play with things we've learned in the studio since Up to Here, but at the same time I think that the group is the same. The basic instrumentation is the same although now we might add little parts and little touches and take a little more time than we may have with our first couple of records.
DB: There is no doubt that you have a sound that is unique to you.
PL: Well thanks that was one of our main things from the start. That was a goal and fortunately it happened naturally - as opposed to trying to force it - but it did take many years trying to establish that sound. We certainly went through a lot of years of comparisons and accusations of being derivative, but we ultimately found that we were putting our own spin on rock and roll. It feels good to at least have a unique voice, and fortunately a few others think so too.
DB: Speaking of Music at Work, many of the album's tracks were available online before their official release. What are your feelings on MP3 files and the whole Napster controversy?
PL: Well, I don't have any problems with Napster at all because you know that if it's not Napster it's something else. The exchange of music is a cool thing it doesn't hurt anybody. Songwriters should be paid for their songs, two cents or three cents (or whatever), it's just the whole principle of the thing. Napster's format is quite like radio or video and to pay a certain fee to a songwriter or an organization might be an idea. But the exchange of music doesn't hurt anybody, and it certainly doesn't hurt musicians. I think what Napster does is get people a lot more into music than they would be if Napster wasn't around. I think it helps. Our particular situation was difficult because it was released without our knowledge. We had just mastered it, we were getting ready to release it no one had heard it. A lot of my friends had never heard it. That's one of the things about being in a band where your friends like the band; it's not awkward to play it (new albums) for them. It was stolen by someone and downloaded and that was the only downer. The fact that it was being exchanged and that people had it as an MP3 - I have no big problem with that. It still feels like the package is important and the loyalty to the principle of payment, and I think a lot of people will still buy records (at least at this point). I'm sure that there is a tonne of people who have checked out Music @ Work and downloaded it who never would have considered listening to it.
DB: What do you personally use the Internet for?
PL: I'm sort of into a couple of regular sites. I'll go into our site just to keep tabs on what is happening, find out what (The Hip) are doing next. Mostly e-mail, but I'll do some browsing once in awhile.
DB: Paul, if you could choose if you could choose one song from your entire Tragically Hip collection that you would call your best, what song would it be? Why?
PL: Good question! It changes. Pulling out an old song where we don't necessarily know exactly how it goes, and just hoping that we do when it gets to that critical section, whether that be that bridge or the third verse, and pulling it off we did that with "Three Pistols" the other day, and also with "Looking For A Place To Happen". We haven't played them in years and were not entirely sure, so it was fun pulling them off very satisfying. As far as songs to listen to, I've always enjoyed playing "Escape Is At Hand". I like all of our records so fortunately there would be a lot of examples. I like all of our songs and there are very few that I wouldn't enjoy playing, so it would really very difficult to choose just one. On this tour "Tiger the Lion" is fun, it's kind of different - heavy - it's fun to play live. There are lots of songs that are fun to play.
DB: On the same track, is there any one song that you wish would go away?
PL: Because we are a bit of a collective, it would be pretty hard for an uncomfortable song to slip in through the cracks. There are five people there to say "I'm not sure about that song" and that's the huge benefit of working with a group. There are checks and balances in the process, so fortunately I can't come up with anything. Take our very first record, which we would refer to as our baby record, the blue one (The Hip's self-titled debut release). The songs on there are cool, it just seems that it's a bit much to listen to. It doesn't sound like I picture us sounding. As for the songs themselves I would say that we enjoy playing them, but to play any of those songs now would be a bit out of the question hard to do with a straight face. I really remember them and remember playing them and they certainly felt to be good songs at the time
DB: What are you listening to these days?
PL: Well, it varies. On the road, there is certainly a soundtrack that happens. There are a lot of people on the bus who bring a lot of music and so music is big part of touring on a bus. And it is for any band - just ask any band - what's on the stereo is sometimes key for a long drive. I've been listening to quite a bit of country; George Jones and Dwight Yoakam have been on the play list a lot. There is a lot of Bowie on our bus that we listen to it really varies. It just sort of depends on who is sitting at the CD player changing it up. It's a big part of touring around.
DB: If the Tragically Hip had never happened, how would you envision your life today?
PL: I don't know what it would be like. I don't think that it would be that bad I don't think that I would be in jail (laughs). I'm sure that at some point in the last 15 years I would have either stuck with music or with something else that I enjoyed doing. It's a pretty lucky thing to be a musician and to get paid for it. To take part in the making of art and expression is an amazing thing. I always say that I feel pretty lucky because I ended up with the right combination of people. To have this situation, I couldn't ask for something quite this good and that's a big statement to make. I'm sure that I would have worked out my happiness, though I'm not quite sure what it would be. It would have been a little to late to get into the high tech field, so I wouldn't be rich like all you guys are (laughs), but who knows. I would have worked it out, but it was nice timing that this band came along.
DB: When this is all over, what do you see yourself doing?
PL: It feels like our level of communication and our connection with each other will enable us to keep doing this for a long time. As far as how much time that takes within my life, I'm unsure. We certainly feel like we've learned a lot about playing and writing - especially with the last few years spent with playing in the studio. I would expect that there would be options afterwards to fiddle with what we want to do. For me to just to stay involved in music without major ambitions is sort of what my ambition would be. Maybe just continue playing and continue being in the studio (and fortunately we have one so that option is there for us to go and fiddle around) with absolutely no purpose. People and friends that wanted to fiddle around with me could do that and we all have personal set-ups at home. Hang with the families and work away in the basement, when we are not in the studio, and if anything else came up we would probably do it if it were fun. It is hard to speak for individuals, so I would say that I would do it if it were fun those low pressure, low expectations kind of things. There is nothing planned and we're about to get into some time off when this tour ends on the 23rd. Then I would guess there would probably be a few months of nothing before we got together to start writing again. But being in this band you are often writing for the next album on your own, and trying to come up with cool ideas. It gives you purpose and takes away the need to go produce a band or whatever. I don't really have one thing in mind and it feels good that way. Fiddle around if I want but if something came up I wouldn't be on the road, that's for sure . I would be at home.
DB: Thank you very much for your time
PL: No problem Dave