Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies has a simple explanation for the band's successful 35-year career: “I think the secret recipe is to give as–t,” he says. Advertising sign'small Behind the Setlist podcast.
Of course, there's more to Barenaked Ladies than that. The Canadian foursome has gained a reputation for creating witty, quirky and melodic music with songs like 'One Week' and 'If I Had $1,000,000'. And the humor, too – that certainly comes through both in the music and in conversation with Robertson. But there's a reason the band is still playing to packed auditoriums and arenas across North America three and a half decades after its debut — “a fundraiser for a local food bank,” according to Robertson.
“I think every show we've ever done, the audience has never questioned that we want to be there, that we know where we are, that we know who we're playing for and that the show won't be the same as the night before and it won't be the same the next day says Robertson. “There is so much spontaneity and improvisation in the show. I know the songs are going to be great, you know? We're a good band. We have played together for a long time. We've rehearsed a lot. Every soundcheck every day is a 90-minute rehearsal where we work on whatever we think needs work.”
Putting on a great live show gave the band permission to play with their set lists. Last summer, Robertson says, the band played eight songs from their 14th studio album, In the flight, out September 15th on Raisin' Records. As the band plays the songs people want to hear most — including “If I Had $1,000,000,” “The Old Apartment,” “It's All Been,” “Theme From Big Bang Theory” and “Pinch Me” — audiences are receptive to newer material.
“My countryman [musician] Kim Mitchell always said what he does is rock and roll and customer service,” Robertson says with a laugh. “I'm a firm believer that you owe your audience a certain number of songs they've been waiting to hear. Now, I think we're also very lucky because we have a very good relationship with our successes. There's nothing that was a hit for the band that we were hesitant about or that wasn't a song written by someone else that was forced upon us by the record company. So we have, we have decades of songs that were popular and we still really like them. So it's very easy for us to make a setlist and say, “You know what, if we give them these 10 songs, we can do anything.”
“And we also remember that this band broke in America playing two-hour shows where people didn't know songs,” he continues. “We just had a strong enough live show and a good enough understanding of how to entertain people that I think we can get away with a lot.”
Listen to the full interview with Robertson at Behind the Setlist to the player below or go to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart the Amazon Music.
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