Following some anniversary celebrations earlier this year, Sloan have divulged details about their in-progress new album, which will come as a double LP where the four members — Jay Ferguson, Chris Murphy, Patrick Pentland and Andrew Scott — each occupy their own side of wax.
"You can't help but have someone say it's like the Kiss albums," Murphy explains in a recent interview, referring to that band's ill-advised 1978 solo marketing venture. "And that's fine, it is like the Kiss albums. Except that they were successful right up until they did their solo albums. We haven't been successful for a long time."
All joking aside, the group are pretty proud to take on this unique conceptual challenge, instead of doing a more conventional Sloan record where songs alternate between the four songwriters.
"I don't know if it sounds obnoxious but if there's any band out there that could do something like that, maybe ours could," Ferguson explains. "Our band has been around a long time and we could just keep making regular records, but it feels like you need a story with each record you put out, just to get some attention. Now feels like the right time to do it.
"Maybe everyone will think, 'That was stupid.' And then we'll come back with a regular record where everyone's like, 'Yay, it's great!'"
At last check, Murphy was the furthest along in the recording process, Ferguson and Scott are tied in terms of having a lot of music but no lyrics, and Pentland is pulling up the rear.
"I've heard a bunch of [Pentland's] stuff," Murphy says. "I know some songs he wants me to play bass on, but he and I know he's doing the least, but that's par for the course. Our last double record, he claims he didn't know it was a double record until it was mixed. That's his story."
At this point, the upcoming double album is without a firm due date or title.
As previously reported, Sloan's label Murderecords recently released a photo/music book called Murderecords 7" Singles 1993-1998, which includes photos by Catherine Stockhausen, an oral history about all of the singles, a 28-song download, and a 7-inch of a long-lost pair of songs by the Certain Someones, which featured Murphy, Jale's Jennifer Pierce, and Matt Murphy of the Super Friendz. Check that track out below.
Full disclosure: Exclaim! contributor Vish Khanna has a podcast called Kreative Kontrol with Vish Khanna, for which this interview was initially conducted for. You can listen to this interview here.
"You can't help but have someone say it's like the Kiss albums," Murphy explains in a recent interview, referring to that band's ill-advised 1978 solo marketing venture. "And that's fine, it is like the Kiss albums. Except that they were successful right up until they did their solo albums. We haven't been successful for a long time."
All joking aside, the group are pretty proud to take on this unique conceptual challenge, instead of doing a more conventional Sloan record where songs alternate between the four songwriters.
"I don't know if it sounds obnoxious but if there's any band out there that could do something like that, maybe ours could," Ferguson explains. "Our band has been around a long time and we could just keep making regular records, but it feels like you need a story with each record you put out, just to get some attention. Now feels like the right time to do it.
"Maybe everyone will think, 'That was stupid.' And then we'll come back with a regular record where everyone's like, 'Yay, it's great!'"
At last check, Murphy was the furthest along in the recording process, Ferguson and Scott are tied in terms of having a lot of music but no lyrics, and Pentland is pulling up the rear.
"I've heard a bunch of [Pentland's] stuff," Murphy says. "I know some songs he wants me to play bass on, but he and I know he's doing the least, but that's par for the course. Our last double record, he claims he didn't know it was a double record until it was mixed. That's his story."
At this point, the upcoming double album is without a firm due date or title.
As previously reported, Sloan's label Murderecords recently released a photo/music book called Murderecords 7" Singles 1993-1998, which includes photos by Catherine Stockhausen, an oral history about all of the singles, a 28-song download, and a 7-inch of a long-lost pair of songs by the Certain Someones, which featured Murphy, Jale's Jennifer Pierce, and Matt Murphy of the Super Friendz. Check that track out below.
Full disclosure: Exclaim! contributor Vish Khanna has a podcast called Kreative Kontrol with Vish Khanna, for which this interview was initially conducted for. You can listen to this interview here.