We're experimenting with the addition of episode transcriptions. Note: the audio is transcribed with AI, via Otter.
Kevin Hearn 0:00
I am home for a while. Suddenly, I don't know why exactly, but we have the month at home. And it's nice. We've been working hard. We were out all summer. And and I did some shows with the violent femmes in the last few weeks, which was really fun to sit in with them. I loved those guys for a long time.
Brian Heater 0:31
You You sat in on the trio? Are you a quartet?
Kevin Hearn 0:38
Let's see. It's Gordon and Brian, and then the drummer, John Sparrow, and a saxophonist named Blaze Garza. And I play and I play accordion with them.
Brian Heater 0:51
In my mind, they're a trio. I think they were for a long time. Maybe Yeah,
Kevin Hearn 0:57
that was kind of the classic lineup.
Brian Heater 1:00
That's interesting, you know, bands, you know, I assume that the four of them have worked together for a while now. What's it like being that extra ingredient?
Kevin Hearn 1:08
Oh, they're kindred spirits. And I played with them enough that I know the ropes. And I really enjoyed their spirit of adventure in their live shows. Every night, it's a bit different. They go, you know, there's moments in each song where they go outside and actually play together. You know, there's no click track, there's no tracks. It's really live and organic. And it's a lot of fun.
Brian Heater 1:36
I've seen some footage of the Barenaked Ladies playing live and some of the summer shows. And it seems like there's when you're playing acoustically that you're capturing a little bit of that, or you know, at least sort of like a little kind of like a more even traditional country and western band.
Kevin Hearn 1:57
Yeah, that's kind of our roots, the band started as a as an acoustic organic band. And we try to stay in touch with that, and incorporated into our shows. When
Brian Heater 2:10
did the transition to being more I guess more rock forward happen?
Kevin Hearn 2:14
I think our record started having songs that had, you know, more production qualities, using drum loops, drum machines, more layers of synthesizers, and guitars. And I think to present those songs live, it's fun to play them stripped down to but, you know, I think we kind of liked the idea of presenting the songs closer to how they sounded on the records. And so there's there's definitely a few songs that we use track and click track for. Was that
Brian Heater 2:55
around? What was that in the 90s? Mid 90s?
Kevin Hearn 3:00
Yeah, it was probably when we started working with Gavin Brown around the time of like, an album called grinning streak. And you have songs like odd czar that have an arpeggiator keyboard that is time locked into the, the tempo of the drums. And so to play it live, I had to be locked in and it all it sort of just mutated into that.
Brian Heater 3:29
Yeah, that's interesting, you know, because we were talking about the violet families. But you know, this is an instance it sounds like where you weren't, you weren't there from the beginning, obviously been there for a long time. And it was still, you know, fairly early on. But anytime you add or subtract a member, it's going to change the dynamic a little bit and that it strikes me because you're, you know, you're mentioning keyboards and electronic elements that you you had a pretty big influence on that direction.
Kevin Hearn 3:59
Yeah, the first studio record I took part in was a record called stunt. And that was sort of the record that broke the band in the USA. And something I brought to the table was more more electronic sounds and more found sounds and created sounds you know, when when he sings Bergkamp for Scott the Mad hits and you hear the horn shot that was you know, me doing little samples in the back room of the studio was a Bergkamp for sample Yeah. And we actually approached them to make sure it was okay and they said it was so short that they didn't care so I was was good. And then you know, there's a song on that record called when you dream and I, I sampled each of the guys singing, like just a note ah, and then a bit higher, bit higher. And I put them all into my Roland desk seven 60 sampler and layered them and added some reverb. And so the, the backing vocals you hear in that song are actually really like a, I'm playing them, like on a keyboard.
Brian Heater 5:12
Obviously, there's a lot of very good singers in the band. Was that just? Was that just a bit of experimentation on your part?
Kevin Hearn 5:21
Yeah, just having fun, you know, trying things and finding a way to, you know, explore the sound of the band in a different way,
Brian Heater 5:33
when you answer a band like that, because they were, it seems like he kind of stepped onto a rocket ship at that point, especially since the first first record that you played on was, you know, he has this huge head and as you said, like really establishes the band down here is, you know, when he when he first joined the group is, do you want to just sort of you want to fit in as well as possible? Or is it important to, I guess, leave your mark early on.
Kevin Hearn 6:05
I wasn't thinking in that terms, I was just, you know, they told me, they wanted me to do it. And they knew who I was, they knew what kind of work I did. And they encouraged me to be myself. And they seemed genuinely excited when I would bring ideas like that to the table. Because I don't think there was really anyone in the band, who was doing that, you know, and I think it helped bring sort of a contemporary flavor to what they were doing. And also, when I joined, we were still playing clubs in the USA. And it was, it didn't quite feel like a rocket ship yet, in the USA, we were very much still building our audience down there. Is
Brian Heater 6:53
it that story of like, you know, however many years, you know, they say like, 10 years to be an overnight success, was it that kind of feeling?
Kevin Hearn 7:03
Yeah, it was, there was a momentum that we had to we had to commit to and keep going down there and follow up and stay on the radar. And each time we'd go, we'd find we would play the next biggest venue in that city. Whereas there were people in the industry that might have been, you know, willing to write us off as a novelty group, because there was humor in our songs. They couldn't deny that, you know, we were filling the clubs and then the theaters. And so we started getting radio station involvement. We started having to go visit the radio stations, every city we went to, I say having to but it was an honor and a pleasure, you know, but and that really got the record company on board as well. And it was sort of developed in this into this kind of perfect storm of support and excitement for the band. So when we released that record stunted it was like lighting the kindling, you know, I've
Brian Heater 8:14
always wondered that about bands whether whether there's an extent to which you know, having a having a sense of humor or having funny songs like ultimately works against you. Sure.
Kevin Hearn 8:25
Well, I think Frank Zappa talked a lot about that, you know, does humor belong and music and I think he had a record called shut up and play your guitar.
Brian Heater 8:36
It wasn't just the humor, though, that I think had made him have trouble breaking through like I think he was a intentionally inaccessible
Kevin Hearn 8:48
yeah, sometimes it was the humor that was the most accessible part of what he was putting out. For us, I think our calling card if you hadn't seen our show, it was usually a humorous song you might hear like one week or if I had a million dollars, and some people were put off by that, but if you if you dig deeper into our records, you'll find songs like the flag or you know, there's many that are more serious and more rooted in as you said country in western tradition. And I think that's that's what's helped the band last as long as it has is that there's actual substance there and, and caregiving into the songwriting, we
Brian Heater 9:34
hear a lot of these stories about bands who their biggest hit is a novelty song, and then like their entire the rest of their catalogue is just completely different from that and they're like, cursed with the one funny song that they did out there. But you didn't really have that problem because, you know, that level of humor and that level of kind of playfulness, like permeates the catalogue.
Kevin Hearn 10:01
Sure. What's your favorite band?
Brian Heater 10:05
My favorite band just my favorite bands? I would say pavement. They had a novelty hit actually now that I know that no, I'm saying it that cut your hair was their big hit song and it was a you know, was a goofy song.
Kevin Hearn 10:18
He's an amazing lyricist though. Yeah. I love shady lane. Yeah. I love that band too.
Brian Heater 10:29
Since I got you, what's your favorite band?
Kevin Hearn 10:31
Well, my hero growing up was Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground. So I probably put them on top. And I ended up working with Lou, which was an honor. And today I was listening to the new Beatles single. And yeah. And it sent shivers, you know, I got shivers and it really reminded me of how that band really inspired me to be a musician in the first place.
Brian Heater 11:03
I will admit that I wasn't super impressed on first listen, but the thing that really got me was when that the George guitar part comes in towards the end. Yeah, that I was like, oh, okay, this is this isn't real deal.
Kevin Hearn 11:16
Yeah, I was beautiful. I just I love John's voice and the melody he's singing. You know, I, I kind of felt like it started feeling a little over produced in places but but how I can't complain, that
Brian Heater 11:34
Lou Reed story is an is an amazing one to me. And, you know, and it does really dovetail with the period of the band's, you know, breakthrough success that we were just talking about, which I mean, on top of being extremely sick, which is obviously horrible in and of itself. You've got this is gonna sound terrible, but it's happening at a very inopportune time.
Kevin Hearn 12:02
Oh, you mean my, my Connection with Lou started when I was sick? You mean,
Brian Heater 12:07
and that being sick? happened? Like right in that period of the band taking off?
Kevin Hearn 12:14
Oh, yeah, it was crazy. I was having a bone marrow transplant the same day, that one week went to number one on the Billboard charts. And it seemed like a really cruel joke at the time. But it also really acted as a motivate a motivator, you know, to get back to my life. And it's like, no, I deserve to be out there playing music and enjoying, you know, what I worked for for so many years. And it really helped me, in a way get back to my life. I
Brian Heater 12:51
hear a lot of stories from people about going through similar things. And it really, you know, in much the same way that you were describing, kind of reconnecting with The Beatles of, you know, the reason why you had to reconnect with Beatles is because we take the Beatles for granted, because they're the Beatles, they, you know, they've been around forever. And it's like, it's like breathing air. And it's really easy in life to start to take things for granted. And the stories that I've heard from people who have been through those sorts of difficult sicknesses, you know, when they come out on the other side, there's just this newfound appreciation for everything.
Kevin Hearn 13:33
Absolutely. And most of all time, you know, I used to think of ideas, creative ideas, and think, Oh, I'll do that down the road, somewhere. One day, I'm going to make a record on a piano in a church or whatever those ideas might be. But once you've been through a serious health crisis, and get back to the land of the living, you're like, okay, the time is now. And so that's why my work ethic is, you know, I work too hard, but that's why I just, I want to get the things done that I want to do.
Brian Heater 14:08
Looking at your career, it looks like you've always been, even before the Barenaked Ladies, you were a hard worker.
Kevin Hearn 14:16
That's true. Yeah.
Brian Heater 14:18
You went, you went double time, though, when, when this happened? I
Kevin Hearn 14:22
think so I think with the success of the band, I might have had the opportunity to do less, you know, but I kind of took what I earned in the band and put it into other projects that I wanted to, to do and creative avenues I wanted to explore. And that took time and energy but it's very fulfilling to me and I continue to learn a lot from it and bring that back to projects I work on with other people like the band,
Brian Heater 14:54
in that case in that instance, that in that specific period of time You know, did you feel like you should be focused on the band solely and really sort of like it's striking while the iron is hot? It, it sounds like you had time to work on other things during it.
Kevin Hearn 15:13
Well, while I was going through my transplant and recovering, I couldn't really be on the road. So I went into the studio whenever I was feeling well enough. And I made a record called H wing, which was about my, you know, experience and my journey. And I made it with a guy named Jeremy Darby who had was an amazing engineer still is, but he had worked with Lou Reed for many years. And if you look at a record called Songs for Drella, he was the engineer. He was the only other person in the room with Lou Reed and John Cale. And he, he sent my record a swing to Lou. And Lou wrote to me and said, he really loved it and said, Kevin, you've gone somewhere, most people don't come back from to report on it, and you've made something really beautiful. And that was kind of the start of our friendship. And you never know, with these these projects, what door might open who might hear it? You know, it's quite a fascinating thing. A
Brian Heater 16:22
given that subject matter? Was it a difficult album to write and record?
Kevin Hearn 16:26
It sure was, at the same time, it it helped me feel like myself, it helped me connect with my friends who wanted to be there for me, and some of them could in a in a musical way more than any other way. And I also knew I had to do it, then because I'd never be able to really feel that way. Again, I had to do it while I was in the moment and had those memories pretty fresh. You know,
Brian Heater 16:55
I really liked that idea of reporting back. I, you know, I think he put it really well to that feel like an accurate assessment of what you're doing. Well,
Kevin Hearn 17:05
Lou certainly had a way of putting things well. More than any other person I've ever met, but I hadn't thought of it that way until he articulated it that way. And now I think of it that way. It makes total sense to me he nail on the head. That
Brian Heater 17:26
must have been a highlight like a highlight among highlights. Having, you know, your favorite musician and your favorite bands give you that kind of feedback.
Kevin Hearn 17:40
Yeah, it's hard to put it into words what that what that means to me, you know, and it was the start of my friendship with Lou. We started a back and forth. And then one day, he said, Kevin, why don't you come to New York, and let's see if we can play together. So I ended up going down to New York and auditioning for Lu and Mike Rath keys kitchen. It clicked. It did. Yeah. I think he really appreciated that I knew every single one of his songs. And you know, I played one song called I remember from the mistrial record. And he said, Kevin, no one knows that song except you, me and seven seagulls.
Brian Heater 18:26
It was at a strategic decision on your part to pick like a super obscure track. No,
Kevin Hearn 18:31
it wasn't strategic. I was just it was like a dream come true that I was jamming with Lou in a kitchen and I played that song as a camp counselor. I played it with friends. It's just one of those songs I kind of always played because I liked it. And so I just played it because I wanted to play it with him. And I had the opportunity. I was right there with them. And so why not, you know, and I think he liked that. I think he liked that I was comfortable enough to just sort of take the wheel a little bit. Certainly
Brian Heater 19:06
not everyone would be in that situation. You know, he's, he's somebody. I assume that if I never I think I passed him on the street in Manhattan a couple times. I've never actually met him, but meeting somebody like that, that I would just sort of be deferential
Kevin Hearn 19:24
to them. Yeah. And part of me was freaking out. But, you know, the other part was just trying to be myself, you know, because I knew if I was myself that I I'd be okay. Yeah, I
Brian Heater 19:38
like that to it. You know, it's, it's like, I may never have a chance to play with Lou Reed. Again. This is an audition, so I might as well play the songs I want to play. Yeah. It's nice to hear something like that about somebody like him because like he has kind of a reputation for being a little a little gruff on this. side, but you didn't really experience that at all?
Kevin Hearn 20:04
No, he was always kind to me. And, you know, he could be grumpy and difficult. But he had a good heart. And I love them very much. And I miss him very much. And I'll always defend him till my dying day. You know, he didn't suffer fools. And if you said something, you know, stupid to him. He would he would call you out on it. And he could be mean, you know, I witnessed it, but never with me. treated me like a son.
Brian Heater 20:35
I mean, you were really playing with him? At the end of his life.
Kevin Hearn 20:40
Yeah, I was with them till the end. Yeah. We were getting we were getting to play at Coachella. And we were actually getting ready to do rehearsals. And then that's that never happened. Him
Brian Heater 20:53
having first reached out to you because of this life threatening disease that you have. And then, in a sense, sir, almost like coming full circle. Did you get the sense at the time that him sort of knowing what was ahead had an impact on his music?
Kevin Hearn 21:14
Well, I know the last few tours I did with them. I think he was aware. He was dealing with with health issues. And I know he was loving it and putting everything into every single show. So that was quite something to see and be a part of. And there's a new book about lose life that a guy named wil Hermes wrote. And in it, he talks about, well, I did an interview with Well, and, you know, Lou called me and said, Hey, I got some bad news. I know you've been through this. And so I, the roles kind of got reversed. And I became sort of a friend supporting him in the end, which was a real an honor. Yeah,
Brian Heater 22:09
there's a level of not that you have to experience something like this. But I do think that there's a level of empathy and compassion that comes with going through an experience like that, because, you know, you were you were similarly very supportive of gore Downey at the end of his life.
Kevin Hearn 22:32
That's right. Yeah. I was. And that was an honor to
Brian Heater 22:37
you. I mean, it sounds it sounded like you almost like turn your house into a studio for him.
Kevin Hearn 22:44
I did. Yeah. You can see behind me here, this is where we rehearse the secret path. I didn't, you know, I wanted to get the band up and running. So we weren't wasting his time at rehearsals. So I suggested I do three, or maybe four workshop days with the band here in my living room. And then we were going to move into a normal sort of rehearsal space, one that you rent, you know, that's equipped with a PA and can fit crew and stuff. So I thought the band was coming here to my place, and they did but Gord came as well, he didn't want to miss any of it. And at the end of you know, the second day said, Kevin, I don't want to leave. I love it here. Can we just stay here? And so that
Brian Heater 23:44
wasn't a hard decision for you? Was it?
Kevin Hearn 23:48
No, of course not. I would have done anything for them, you know, and I loved it. And we had a great time.
Brian Heater 23:57
I get the sense that similar to Lu like, he wanted to make the most out of every minute he had.
Kevin Hearn 24:09
Absolutely. And they were very, they were similar in the sense that they were both poets. And it was similar in the sense that I could empathize with them from the point of view of a cancer survivor. And an artist and a musician and
Brian Heater 24:29
a father to right. I mean, that that must play a pretty big role in in this kind of compassion that you have.
Kevin Hearn 24:36
I suppose so. Yeah. I mean, Lou Lou didn't have children but Gord certainly did. And I do you know, I have a special daughter so I I guess I some people have said that I'm an empath, and I think that's a great combo. Men if that's so that's nice. I
Brian Heater 25:07
think it is a compliment. And I think everything I know about you that it's true, but it's also something that I, you know, I, I experience, empathy or compassion on a level that like, sometimes makes me uncomfortable, you know? Like, you know, on
Kevin Hearn 25:27
a human level, you can't. You can't help but not want someone to suffer. You know,
Brian Heater 25:36
you know, I'm a journalist, myself and I have one of my close friends is also a journalist, and we talk about this all the time of, because, you know, I think she's, she's similar in that respect of it's real hard to cover the news. You know, it's real hard to be tuned into the news all day when you feel things like that. Because, you know, I don't know, these days think things feel different. And maybe part of it is the way that news is delivered, but it just sure feels like a constant barrage of really terrible things happening all the time.
Kevin Hearn 26:10
Sure, does. Yeah. heartbreaking and overwhelming. Yeah. I think it's important to allow ourselves, you know, still moments of joy and playfulness. You know, when when we have the opportunity, I
Brian Heater 26:27
feel like in a sense, not even in a sense in a very real way. The leadoff track for the most from the most recent Barenaked Ladies album is is is exactly that. It's almost like defiantly positive. Yeah, loving life. Yeah, I mean, is it a sense of just like? Not? I mean, I know, it wasn't when that UPenn personally, but is it a sense of not wanting to wallow in that anymore?
Kevin Hearn 27:04
I think so. I think it's, you know, expressing deep gratitude for what we have, and not being not being dragged down and allowing, and allowing himself to proclaim that. That is love and life.
Brian Heater 27:26
It's great. But even gratitude is a great thing. And I know, I went over this a little bit before, but you know, it's it's not always easy. Certainly. I mean, certainly, there are nights, and I'm sure that there are shows and you know, there are tours, and every bands has has a top that they hit like, you know, I coming down from the advice of the band has remained very successful. But coming down from that even a little bit like, is a challenge, I imagine.
Kevin Hearn 27:57
Sure, and Ed's not. I know, Edie Well, he's had a lot of challenges in life, and he's had dark times, and he's, he's transcended a lot personally. And so you know, I, I'm happy for him that he can express himself that way and appreciate the good things, and appreciate his life.
Brian Heater 28:21
It's incredible watching, you guys interact, because it seems like you still really like each other, which is, can be very rare in this industry.
Kevin Hearn 28:34
We love each other. We're like brothers. And then we, you know, we hate each other like brothers. I mean, that in a light sense, you know, like, you know, we're together all the time. But at the end of the day, we love each other and we still enjoy doing what we do in our show and making each other laugh and goofing around, and that the audience's enjoy that. So they keep coming to see us, thank goodness,
Brian Heater 29:04
I say this all the time. I feel like being in a band. I always say that the the best way to test a relationship is to move in with somebody, you know, to be in close quarters with them. A lot of people, a lot of people had that exact test during the pandemic. And the best way to know if you're going to, if you should be in a band with somebody is to you know, put yourself in the back of a van what that meant and drive a drive around the continent.
Kevin Hearn 29:33
I remember I was having lunch with the keyboardist named Robert Yan stips, from a band called The knits. And this was many years ago, but he said there's a lot more to being in a band than making music with someone. You also have to be able to sit in a restaurant and have a meal with that person, you know, does that work? Because if that doesn't work, then. You know, you're not gonna last long.
Brian Heater 30:03
You knew the guys before you joins, but it sounds like this was pretty much baked in from the beginning for you.
Kevin Hearn 30:12
Yeah, I didn't know them too well, but they were kindred spirits. And I'd worked with comedy groups, I had grown up with my cousin Harland Williams, who's a comedian. I worked in a band called look people who, who were very proud, gracchi, very kind of Zappa esque in their musical arrangements, which were very serious, even though the lyrics were silly, and I was in a band called The Real statics that were quite serious instrumentally, and the band liked all those groups. And so I think we kind of knew each other, even though we didn't, I
Brian Heater 30:57
have to admit that before I knew this interview was happening. And I read into a little bit, I wasn't familiar with the look, people. And I think that it's one of those, I think it's just one of those, like, being an American, just certain things, you know, certain things just don't, don't, don't, don't come through, but you did. Have you had a bit of success with that group?
Kevin Hearn 31:23
Oh, yeah, we were well known in Canada, and a big champion and fan of the band way back in the early 90s, was flee from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And he actually got us on the bill at Lollapalooza, in Los Angeles. So we were kind of, we had our foot Medora, a little bit in the States. And our last show was in LA at a place called Club lingerie. And it was very strange that night, but that was our last show. And so it was interesting that we ended everything in the United States.
Brian Heater 32:11
Did you know it was the last show going into it? No,
Kevin Hearn 32:14
it was just the last show of our tour. And then things kind of fell apart after that after I've been in the band eight years. But you know, we were not very accessible and slash ahead of our time, however, which way you want to look at it. But after shortly after we broke up a band called Primus came out, and they're actually doing like, kind of similar music. And, and I think we would have done better had we just been a little later.
Brian Heater 32:53
It's wild in hindsight that Primus was, you know, obviously, they're all really talented musicians, but that they managed to break through. It's, it's kids kind of incredible when you really think about it.
Kevin Hearn 33:06
It's cool. Yeah, I think people's tastes changed. And I think people were smart and more open to interesting music.
Brian Heater 33:14
I mean, you know, the violent femmes had had success too. And they, you know, they were pretty out there. That's true.
Kevin Hearn 33:21
That is a good point. But man, some of their songs were just very simple and very catchy blister in the sun. And, yeah, that's undeniable.
Brian Heater 33:35
I think Primus really benefited from that. That period, that period of activity in the 90s, you know, the sort of what ended up being the last gasp of record labels, you know, when they were willing to sort of go out and and try anything, and I don't know you, you probably got swept up in that a bit as well.
Kevin Hearn 33:57
Oh, sure. We had full record company support for for stunt. And yeah, we certainly experienced that. And then we experienced the downside. When everything kind of went downhill when you know, Napster came out and all that started happening and what a ride still going,
Brian Heater 34:21
how did you navigate that period? The downslope?
Kevin Hearn 34:29
Well, I know that we started making records and putting them out ourselves. Like we became sort of an indie operation for a few records and just drew strength from ourselves and that and worked with the people we had picked. And sort of just kept our shoulder to the wheel so to speak,
Brian Heater 34:53
indicates you know, I think it probably takes a lot of willpower for a band to have Have a massive song and not try to repeat that formula. Exactly. You know what wonderfully not? Yeah, let me one week is, you know, a very, very, you know, idiosyncratic song, I would say, was there. Was there at least pressure from the label to do that again?
Kevin Hearn 35:26
I think so yeah. From my point of view, they, they suddenly shifted their focus to that aspect of the band. But that aspect of the band wasn't just out of the blue, like, that is something we did every night in our shows Edward freestyle. And Steve would join in as well, he wouldn't really, he might sing a little more than that. But they were both making up words on the spot about whatever, you know, came to our minds at that time. And the song one week was really, Ed. Ed doing that, you know, that's how we wrote it. So it wasn't like a strange thing to want to do that again. And we have done that since. And it hasn't felt like we're trying to recapture anything, it's just part of our part of who we are part of our DNA.
Brian Heater 36:25
I know that you're still very close with, with Steve as well, when, you know, this really tight group of guys. You know, one who's been there since the beginning leaves is that is it still clear that the band continues? Well,
Kevin Hearn 36:42
certainly, we had to have few heart to hearts and all that some. But yeah, we all loved the band, and wanted to continue. And we're excited about the possibilities and also afraid and, you know, it was it wasn't, it was a tough time. But there was also a bit of a relief because things had so sort of not been great, you know, our show does actually rely on us genuinely making each other laugh and enjoying each other's company. And so if it starts feeling forced, like I think it was eventually it wasn't good, you know, we weren't enjoying it as much. So
I don't see Steve every day or talk to him every day. But we, we send the odd message back and forth and wish him well, when he achieved something and vice versa. You know, when I was sick, he came and visited me every day in the hospital, you know, so I'll never forget that.
Brian Heater 37:53
It is clear, though, at the time that that he's not going to be replaced, and nobody can replace him in the band.
Kevin Hearn 37:59
I don't think we're happy with with how things have grown.
Brian Heater 38:08
You alluded to the possibilities. What does that mean? Exactly? You know, what doors open up? You
Kevin Hearn 38:15
know, it was just we talked and said, What do we how do we want to move forward? What do we want to do? And you know, it was very much still we want to be a band and Jim and I bring songs to the table for every record. And you know, we each kind of stepped up in a different way. And that
Brian Heater 38:35
was a big motivator for you as far as bringing your songs to the group. Well, I
Kevin Hearn 38:41
am. Yeah, I consider myself a songwriter. And, you know, I was I was bringing songs to the group before that, but certainly now things are a bit different. And I kind of get to sing my own songs now as well, which is kind of nice. Although I loved when Steve sang my songs, you know, great singer.
Brian Heater 39:05
Is it clear after every record that there's absolutely going to be another one? I
Kevin Hearn 39:11
just take it one day at a time, you know, you know, will there be another record? Will I live be alive next week, you know? There's more important questions.