HEDLEY UNCAGED
B.C. rockers kick off new tour
Far removed from the wild partying rock stars of yore, Hedley is a band driven by an almost lockstep work schedule.
Lead singer and founder Jacob Hoggard says the two-year new album cycle the Abbotsford band sticks to is on purpose.
“As far as the creative process goes for us, I’ve always made it my mandate to stay quite prolific because I function at that capacity and therefore like to maintain it,” Hoggard said.
“I’m lucky that I have an excellent band and a strong team around me that facilitates that momentum and keeps me focused. Otherwise I’m very easily distracted.”
The band’s seventh album, Cageless, dropped Sept. 29. In keeping with Hedley’s consistent hitmaking, the single Better Days hit heavy rotation on most pop radio stations — as Crazy for You (2015), Kiss You Inside Out (2013), Perfect (2011) and others had done before.
Driven by Hoggard’s piano, the mid-tempo tune is loaded with more contemporary electronic treatments and studio gloss than some of the earlier singles.
Hoggard says he has a piano in every room of his home to facilitate the writing process. That was key in the shaping of the new album’s more keyboard-oriented sound.
“I’m really sensitive to what’s happening around us because I’m a big fan and consumer of music, and also I’m really aware of where we’ve been before,” he said. “Since I don’t want to repeat the past but I know what has worked well for us before, it’s a bit of a mix-and-match process that keeps us moving forward and, yes, changing our sound.”
The quartet ranks alongside other acts from the region that consistently dominate the Canadian charts, including Marianas Trench and Carly Rae Jepsen. Keeping current is key to keeping on top of the scene, and Hoggard knows it.
“Avoiding going stagnant or sounding mundane and, like, more of the same is really important to the continued satisfaction we get as artists, and also what we want to give to our awesome fans,” he said.
“We’re eager to always be growing, and work hard at it. You mention Fraser Valley bands and I think that they all have that approach to some degree, going right back to Chilliwack.”
Hedley came of age in a time when the music industry was undergoing a massive shift that is still continuing. Albums and singles don’t shift units the way they once did, and any act that wants to make a go of it hits the road constantly.
Hedley has been defined by its heavy touring schedules, playing everywhere that will have it and playing all-ages shows.
“Growing up in a small town, you really learn to appreciate those bands that show up and play allages gigs because you can’t see them at the bar,” he said.
A Cold Lake, Alta., performance had to be postponed on the Cageless tour and Hoggard sounded truly bummed about it.
“You know, things come up and you can’t avoid that, but it’s something personal to me because those are the people who made it possible for me to have the best job ever,” he said. “These tours really demand a lot of planning when you go out in the winter because of all the different hockey team schedules and how that can affect venue availability. It’s a Canadian reality.”
Another reality is with an album to promote and a back catalogue of fan favourites, how can you throw in a fun cover or rare track and not disrupt the flow?
“Oh man, that is a million-dollar question, because there is only so much you can fit into those 90 minutes on stage,” Hoggard said.
“But sometimes, a cover can be a really special moment, like I wanted to do Adele’s Hello in the middle of our Hello. We’ve done everything from Rage Against the Machine to Bruno Mars, but it has to feel right, and I’m not giving you any answers right now.”
Wait and see what the band pulls out at the hometown kickoff for the tour. Hoggard says it’s awesome to be launching in Abbotsford.