After over four decades, Canada’s legendary electro-pop band Men Without Hats (MWH) is still going strong, and still taking its trademark sound to unexpected places. On September 24, MWH released Again (Part 1), a five-song EP featuring covers of The Tragically Hip, Lou Reed, The Rolling Stones and David Bowie, along with an all-new reimagined version of the group’s signature hit “The Safety Dance,” reimagined as “No Friends of Mine” and available as a single on August 25.
Ivan Doroschuk has kindly taken the time to answer a few of our questions.
How have you been keeping creative during the Pandemic?
We finished our new record “Men Without Hats Again Parts 1 & 2” and recently we’ve been able to start performing again. It feels great to be back on stage
When you first started the band, did you have a sense of which type of music you wanted to make, or did it take a while to land on a sound?
We started off as a noise/punk/guitar band, but made the transition to electronic keyboards pretty quickly. I wanted to reach as many people as possible, so Pop Music seemed a better way to go
Were you surprised that songs like ’Safety Dance’ were so popular?
When you’re a young songwriter, you think that every song you write is a hit, at least I did. So it seemed normal, because you don’t write songs for people not to like!
How did you go about choosing the tracks that made it onto this new EP?
The EP had started out as a cover album for piano and voice. We had over a dozen songs originally and narrowed it down from there. All of the songs we recorded are long-time favorites of mine and I thought it would be fun to experiment and transform them into dance tracks.
Who helped out making this EP?
My brother Colin produced it with me, he also played guitar and sang. His daughter Sahara Sloan provided the soprano voices, and Sho Murray played guitar, engineered and co-produced the album with us.
Tell us about the recording process behind these new songs
We were lucky enough to spend 7 months isolated in a mobile studio that we put together in a house on top of Vancouver Island, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We used the time to record over 20 songs, including the ones on the EP. It was a beautiful experience and again, we were really blessed to be able to take that time to make music.
How would you describe your music in three words?
Synth driven pop.
Is there a moment or memory in your life as a musician that you always want to hold onto?
Being nominated for a Grammy in 1983 for Best New Artist.
Or a moment that has taught you a lot?
Arlo Guthrie once told me to space out my fights after seeing me perform in the early ‘80s and get into an altercation with a bouncer who wouldn’t let people dance
Describe your favourite and least favourite part about being a musician
Favorite: getting to do what I love for a living
Least favorite: having to hang out with musicians
When you kick back who are some of the artists you listen to?
Gong, Miles Davis, Sex Pistols, Lil’ Wayne
