This is the first interview Travis Good has given regarding the new collaborative project that sees Toronto band The Sadies team up with Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip fame. And, true to the anarchic nature of the seven-year project, he’s having trouble explaining how it all came together so brilliantly.
Who knew these Canadian roots and rock veterans could be so punk?
“I don’t know what to say about it,” says Good, with a laugh and an explanation. “We’re just kind of showing up. We’re not going on tour per se, but we’re taking shows, which is different than we’d done in the past. This is the first interview; really the band doesn’t even quite exist yet.”
Dubbed Gord Downie, The Sadies, and The Conquering Sun, the 10-song album delves exuberantly into youthful punk-pop hooks and melodies that turn back time. The end product is far from what most would expect from such a collaboration. Even Good was surprised.
“We didn’t mean to do that, and kind of for me that’s one of the nice surprises of it,” says Good. “It could have easily turn into a Gord Downie roots, acoustic, country sort of direction. It’s kind of nice that it went completely the opposite way to where I even expected it to go.”
It all started approximately seven years ago when the Sadies were opening for the Hip on their World Container tour. The fellas got to talking about working together at some point. Then Downie and the Sadies collaborated for a CBC program and it clicked. There was no grand scheme, no songs were written. But as the years went by, they got together, wrote some tunes, put them down in the studio, and kept going.
“About halfway through when we had five songs down we thought were pretty good and cohesive, we thought we had something,” Good explains. “We sounded like a band, just something different than anyone was doing.… We didn’t have any set expectations before, and then it all started to shape up a lot heavier than I thought it would. That was a surprise. We didn’t say, ‘Let’s make this heavy.’ ”
The Sadies are no strangers to collaborations, recently working with such artists as American roots singer-songwriter Neko Case and legendary R&B singer Andre Williams. Downie has kept a busy solo career outside of his work with the Tragically Hip in addition to working with Dallas Green on some of his early City and Colour material. But, again, this project proved itself to be unique.
“It was different. Usually these people, we get together because they know exactly what we sound like. They are going after more of a sound,” says Good. “With Andre, we were more chasing his sound, always chasing after the sound of the artist we are working with. It’s good for the Sadies to be chameleons. Country for Neko, R&B for Andre, but this one is so different.”
Currently, the band is in rehearsals as they prepare for their first shows south of the border starting with New York City’s Bowery Ballroom on May 2. They will also be playing the Field Trip festival in Toronto, June 7.
The new album is set for release on April 15 via Arts & Crafts record label and was recorded at the Bathhouse Studio in Bath, Ont., and mixed by Bob Rock.
For more information go to www.gorddowniethesadies.com.