The Sheepdogs know when to trust their instincts.
So when the shaggy Saskatoon rockers met Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney at a gig in New York last summer, they knew right away he was the man to produce their new album.
"We met Pat backstage and we were just chatting with him," recalls frontman Ewan Currie. "And he was genuinely interested in what we were going to do for our next album. And because we sort of sensed this interest from him, we just said, 'Why don't you produce this?'
"I hate this phrase, but to be honest, it was a no-brainer. Obviously we love the kind of rock music he makes and the kind of music that he's into. But he's also a guy who's also been at every stage of a successful rock career. They've been the struggling indie band, and they've been the band that's had a long steady climb before the crazy ascent into whatever you want to call them now — the kings of the rock 'n' roll world, I guess. He's seen a lot from every level of the music industry. He's an insightful guy."
And on the group's self-tited fourth album — their first to score a major-label American release, thanks to their victory in last year's Rolling Stone Choose the Cover contest — Carney helped them learn a few new tricks. Recorded in Nashville over two hectic weeks in January, the disc expands their rootsy Southern rock 'n' boogie with everything from fuzzy neo-blues to spacey 5/8 jams and layered keyboards.
Before heading home to Saskatoon for a well-earned break, Currie talked about Carney, the endless road and where he keeps the three Junos the band won this spring.
You've had albums out before, but this must feel different.
Absolutely. This is our first major-label album, and there's a lot more work that goes into getting everything ready. I mean, we were done recording in January and we're just getting it out now. But everybody feels pretty good and we feel like we've been navigating everything fairly well. No doubt there's a little bit more tension and pressure, but we don't see it as a bad thing. We kind of use it as motivation. It's made us a little stronger — forced us to keep alert and keep working. That's how we approach it, anyway.
What did Patrick Carney bring to the table as a producer?
Focus — just knowing when to hone in on this or trim that away. Little directional things like that — cutting the fat out and knowing what elements to add. I think that's what every producer needs to do; push the band toward their strengths and help direct the musical sound.
You recorded this really quickly. Was that a better way to work?
I don't know if it was better way; it was just a different way. When I read about the history of the bands that I like, they made albums under all these different circumstances. Some people labour for years. Then there's something like Led Zeppelin II — they basically made that album in different studios all over the U.S. while they were touring, and eventually they put together one of the greatest albums of all time. There's different ways to go about making different records. This was the right way for us to make this record. It represents where we're at in our career.
Stylistically and musically, this definitely takes a few steps forward. What are you proudest of?
In terms of stretching, I really like that we had three or four rock songs, but also this song Javelina that's in 5/8 time. And the song In My Mind has the sitar on it. Well, it's not actually a sitar; it's some sort of tenor ukulele that's strung up in a weird way, but I figured out a way to become a fake George Harrison. And there's a track called Ewan's Blues that's got a sort of different vibe than anything we've ever done before.
Speaking of touring the U.S., you're heading back out again soon. Isn't the endless road becoming a grind?
Oh, definitely. It's very tough. But the way we look at it, this is such a great opportunity we've been given. And we want to justify all that attention and seize this opportunity and strike while the iron is hot, so to speak. We don't want to let this chance fall through the cracks. We've been poor musicians who had nothing going on for such a long time. I think we're terrified of going back there. We just want to do all we can to keep things going. And to be in enough demand to tour nonstop is a pretty great thing.
Where are your Juno Awards?
Ha! Good question. I think they're at our drummer Sam's house. Well, his parents' house actually; that's The Sheepdogs' headquarters. It's where we rehearse. When we go back to Saskatoon soon, I'm going to finally see those things. Then they're going to go on display at my mom's house.
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