While we were loading some gear into Spaceland in Silver Lake L.A. a middle-aged man parked his motorcycle in a conspicuous spot on the sidewalk and passed me on his way into the building. He exuded an air of confidence and his all-black-leather look was very eye-catching. He shot me a friendly smile which I returned.
Later, Dave told me that the famous Canadian musician/producer Daniel Lanois was somewhere in the bar and I realized that he was the dude on the bike! Now, I'm not really a star-chaser, I'm a little shy around new people and I rarely just barge up to people who don't know me and try to engage them in conversation, particularly rich and famous people.
But I'm an engineer/producer myself and so is Dave, and I'd have to admit that since the early eighties I've been impressed over and over again by Mr.. Lanois' work. It was people like him and Brian Eno and Steve Lilywhite who really got me fired up about producing pop music when I was a teen. So I thought to myself 'He's at my show and he isn't even talking to anyone right now, maybe he'd even like some company' So I made my move.
I went up to the pool-room/lounge when he was sitting and shook his hand. I will attempt to re-create some of our conversation:
JC: Are you Daniel Lanois?
DL: Yes.
JC: My name's John. I just thought I'd come and say hello. I'm a fan of your work.
DL:Thankyou.
JC: Actually, I'm a musician and my band the Evaporators is playing tonight.
DL: That's great. Are you guys from L.A.?
JC: No we're from Vancouver!
DL: Ah! You're on tour!
JC: Yep.
DL: How much do you guys make?
JC: Uh... not that much. I guess the band is pulling in about a hundred bucks a night on average. It's really just kind of a hobby not so much a way of earning income but we've been at it since high school and now we can't stop.
DL: How old are you?
JC: I'm thirty-five. But it's not the only thing I do. I'm a record producer too!
DL: Like me!
JC: Yes! And I'm also in another band that is a bit more of a money earner, we're called the New Pornographers. Maybe you've heard of us?
DL: That's great!
JC: Maybe you've heard of the lady who sings with us; Neko Case? She has like a country career too.
DL: I don't know...
JC: Actually, my partner Dave and I are going to be working as producers on a project in a month or so with a couple of Canadian twin singing ladies who are really great and it's going to be kind of a big, legitimate deal. I mean they're on Vapor; Neil Young's Label.
DL: Oh. Have you ever had something really explode?
JC: I guess the New Pornographers have sold over fifty thousand.
DL: I mean really blow up.
JC: No.
JC: I'm not bothering you am I? I mean, do you mind talking?
DL: Oh no. You're not bothering me.
JC: Great. So, how come you're not in New Orleans?
DL: Oh, I moved. It was time to move on.
JC: So you live in L.A.?
DL: Not far from here.
JC: Are you working on anything?
DL: I'm always working on stuff.
JC: Your own stuff? Cool!
DL: Yeah it's pretty heavy stuff. Really cutting edge...
And with that Daniel bolted to his feet. Going from neutral to overdrive. He went to the pair of people that were playing pool and engaged them both animatedly showing the woman whose turn to shoot it was how he thought she should play the next few shots. It was clear that he wanted to get in on the next game with the winner of that game and thusly put an end to the boring part of his evening. He was charming and a little weird and I didn't feel too snubbed.
Later that night I found out that he had watched our show and I thought that was cool. I also found out that before I went up and talked to him, when Harold Ray Live were playing their set. Daniel walked up to the stage and dumped all the cash from his wallet at their feet! So that explained a lot! When he asked me how old I was and how much we made every night he was just feeling my pain! Dumping cash on the stage was a very concrete show of support for the touring band. And they were playing first and to a very small crowd. I overheard that he thought that they were the Canadian band so he must have been surprised when I told him that WE were from Vancouver. Anyway, I hope I get another chance to talk to him some time as I'm anxious to hear all about that "really cutting edge" stuff.
-John Collins, bass, The Evaporators
From:
Mariko
(Tue 08 Jun 2004 03:19:59 EDT)
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From:
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Jack from Harold Ray Live in Concert here. Hope this fits on your web page!
WOW! What an honor to have shared the stage with the Evaporators -- doubless, one of the most entertaining bands on the planet. If we had the socialized health care that those wily Canadians have, 1/3rd of the band would've been admitted for mild neck injuries, the by-product of having been a human keyboard stand - ailments, that ultimately, were alleviated by the aural ointment that is THE EVAPORATORS.
Who knew the crowd at 924 Gilman would've given a hoot about the Harold Ray sound? The most receptive, energetic audience of the tour. The Evaporators fed off this energy, like, uh, Ontario feeds off of Niagara Falls. (Sorry. I'm stretching for metaphors here -- Like most of us ignoramii, don't know much about the Canadizuuh.) It was marvelous to hear Nardwuar's most verbose set-ups for each song before they played 'em.
We played in an aptly named venue called The Smell. It was in skid row, and we weren't sure we had the right place! Thee Goblins from Canada were fantastic, and the Nardwuar vids were amazing. The crowd didn't know what to make of us, ...? It was awkward. The Evaporators, using their supernatural powers, were able to crack this tough nut of a crowd.
Spaceland was run with Swiss precision, and as the opening band, starting on official time, we began playing to .. uh .. two people. Literally. Two people. Thankfully, the crowd quickly amassed, and about 5 songs into our set, a man enthusiastically emptied the currency from his wallet onto the stage. Upon conclusion of our set, Nardwuar asked me: "DO YOU KNOW WHO THAT WAS?!" "No..?" "That was Daniel Lanois, the record producer!" Daniel produced U2, and the mighty Brian Eno, and many many other things. Charlie (Sax player / HRLIC co-founder w/ me) went to talk to 'em: as it turns out, Daniel enjoyed us, but he also was under the impression that we were impoverished and Canadian, and he being Quebecois, thought he'd kick down a little charity for his fellow countrymen. The extra funny part? He thought he was throwing hundreds of bucks at us, but it turned out to be $41. HAH! It still helped. Oh, the other funny part about playing in Silverlake: We saw Ben Stiller at the 7-11.
San Diego for us was a breath of fresh air - drunken hipsters, just dying to shake their handsomely preened booties. It was awesome. Props to the Licorice Quartet and the Viewmasters. I crave San Diego-style Mexican food. MMMMMMMMMH.
Thee Parkside was our homecoming. We love Thee Parkside. Thee Parkside loves us. Thee Parkside loves The Evaporators. It was a love-fest.
Can't wait to see these guys again in Austin! We can't wait to play in Vancouver with them some day!
