Barenaked Ladies talk about new album, Fake Nudes
Indie-pop rockers Barenaked Ladies released two albums this year, first a collaboration with the legendary vocal group, The Persuasions, and then a studio album, Fake Nudes.
The members of the Torontobased band — Ed Robertson, Tyler Stewart, Kevin Hearn and Jim Creeggan — have also spent a lot of time touring Canada over the past few months. Robertson spoke to Lynn Saxberg about the newest record, and their most extensive Canadian tour in more than a decade.
Q Why did you call the new album Fake Nudes?
A I like it because it alludes to the political situation and it’s the first time we’ve made the joke about our band. For almost 30 years now, almost every single introduction of the band has been something like, ‘They’re not naked, nor are they ladies, ladies and gentlemen, Barenaked Ladies.’ We’ve heard every variation on that for three decades. So we wanted to make a joke about it ourselves that was also a very timely wordplay.
Q Do you feel the world needs some brevity right now?
A Yeah, absolutely. There are themes on the record that touch on racism and bigotry but I think for me, the overriding theme of this record is a positive one. It’s an alternative to this narrative of constant peril and doom and impending danger. I think it’s a bit of a false narrative. I think we are projected so much violence and so much misfortune on a daily basis that I’m trying to provide an alternative set of facts, which is the fact that there’s a lot to be hopeful about, a lot of good, a lot to celebrate.
Q Are you able to say that because you’re Canadian?
A I don’t live in the U.S., but I do most of my work there. I spend probably more than 80 per cent of my working life in the United States. It’s full of my friends and family members. It’s more than just a neighbouring country to me, it’s definitely a second home. I care about what happens in it, and I feel very invested in it.
Q I like the electronic sounds on the record. How did that evolve?
A That’s Kev (Kevin Hearn), he’s a genius in the keyboard world. We have just been pushing a little more into that direction, and (producer) Gavin (Brown) loves that stuff. The core sound of the band is the four of us play- ing together and that’s there on every song. Pushing into those electronic spaces just brings an interesting new dimension to the songs. It’s exciting for me to add those inorganic elements that really differentiate the soundscape and give a unique sonic signature to the record.
Q You and the band have spent a lot of time touring Canada this year. How come?
A Yeah, that was very much a concerted effort on our part to get back home and play because, like I said, for many years, we’ve done most of our work in the U.S. Now with this Canada 1-Five-0 and Fake Nudes tour, it’s the most extensive Canadian tour we’ve done in over 15 years. I think it’s over 32 dates in Canada. So it was very much, ‘Let’s get back out there and remind our friends in Canada that we’re still here.’ It’s also a bit of the celebration of the 30th year of the band. October of 2018 will be the 30th year.
Q Wow, 30 years. Does it surprise and shock you?
A I have completely opposite feelings about it. Sometimes I’m shocked and cannot believe it’s been 30 years because so much of it has flown by so quickly, but then other times I think about what we’ve done and there’s no way to have done it in less than 30 years. When I really look back and start to think about everything we’ve done, all the recordings, the touring, it should have been 50 years by now. Q How exhausted are you from this tour?
A This has been an amazing trip. I honestly was dreading this tour because touring through the Prairies in early winter is no cup of tea. It’s cold, there’s snow everywhere. Sleeping on the bus in the winter is not easy. You hear the ice under the tires or the rumbling wakes you up, and you think for a minute, ‘Oh, are we hurtling over a guardrail in the mountains right now?’ But it’s been an amazing tour. We’re playing, depending on the night, a third of the set from the new record, and it’s all just flowing seamlessly amid all the other music. It’s been really great, affirming, rewarding. A tour that I thought was going to be a slog, 32 shows across the country in early winter, and nightly, we’ve just been getting offstage laughing and high-fiving, and just really having a blast. I think we’ve really left the impression that this is a band firing on all