What follows is a brief account of the making of Trouble At The Henhouse, the new record from The Tragically Hip. I will begin at the end.

This record was mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Studios in Portland, Maine. I know nothing of mastering but, I know everyone who made the trip to Portland raved about Ludwig. They were impressed with the man and very happy with his work. In return, Ludw ig was impressed by the music and he is no lightweight. Having mastered a zillion records (Lou Reed, Rush among a host of others) and with no contractual obligation to be nice, his favouable opinion meant a lot to the band. That's because this record is their first fully self-produced project and represents them in their most natural setting: together in a room with Mark Vreeken (the band's longtime soundman) at the controls. That room sits in an old limestone house on the outskirts of Kingston, Ontario. Though the bulk of the recording was done near Kingston, it was not the only session for this record.

Most of the songs from Trouble At The Henhouse, if not born on the road, were conceived on the road. When we tour and can find the time, the band steals away to a studio for a few days. We were lucky enough in 1995 to have several of these opportunities. I think the first one was in May, in Los Angeles. A month later, in the midst of a brief European swing, they spent a few days in Amsterdam putting some ideas down on tape. By the time August rolled around and hurricane season was in full swing (our driver had assured us the bus was weather-proof), they had the chance to get back to Kingsway Studio in New Orleans, one of their favourites. The south is always loads of fun in the summer, especially a quiet, peaceful town like New Orleans. In October we hooked up with Mark Howard (he had co-produced Day For Night eighteen months earlier), who had a new studio on the go in San Francisco. Usually, these sessions were a chance for the band (and crew) to have a little break from the road and to throw some ideas a round but, sometimes they produced complete or near-complete songs. San Francisco gave rise to Flamenco and Put It Off. It's also where the band got the nifty jet engine sounds. Those are courtesy of the U.S.A.F. Blue Angels who were buzzing the city one day. (Drummer) Johnny Fay was on the studio roof testing a new microphone when the jets were kind enough to nearly tear our heads off. To get the full effect, strap your stereo speakers to your head and turn the volume all the way up. Instant virtual reality.

The stage is also, and has always been, a favourite breeding ground for new material. Many fans will recognize Gift Shop and Springtime In Vienna from various shows from the summer and fall of 1995. Some might remember Ahead By A Century and Sherpa emerging from onstage jams in the middle of concert warhorse New Orleans Is Sinking, a particularly fertile song. It's quite natural for the band to experiment with new material this way, as they are forever working on stuff backstage and during soundchecks. I don't think the songwriting ever really stops.

That this new record is the first self-produced effort from The Hip should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the band. It's the end of one learning curve and the beginning of another. No one was too worried that there might be some ugly ego clashes over the theories and realities of self-production. I mean after all, we've spent a lot of time together over the years. Half of any given year we're chained together in a tour bus which is like a submarine with wheels and we surface only when we have to. Besides, producing the record themselves freed the band from the constraints of someone else's timetable. When they needed to get out of doors they could and since Trouble At The Henhouse was recorded mostly in the dead of winter, that freedom was important. In Canada, you must enjoy winter or winter will enjoy you.

The title of the album and the artwork have their own story too. Trouble At The Henhouse is actually the title of the photo adorning the cover. Though everyone was thinking about it, nobody had any really brilliant ideas for a concept. One day, fate
smiled upon us and (guitarist) Bobby Baker stumbled on a photograph in an old magazine he'd been leafing through. Everyone thought the photo was really cool and liked the title as well. The only problem was the magazine was at least ten years old and we didn't know if we would ever find the photographer (Avery Crounse) and get his permission to use the photo. Bobby discovered that Crounse hailed from Mississippi and promptly called directory assistance for that state. Well, a few days later he got through and presto! Instant title and cover.

With the artwork picked and the recording essentially finished, all that remained was the mixing and the mastering. The mastering you know about, for the mixing the band called on their friend Steven Drake (guitarist for Vancouver based band Odds). Steven is a great musician and has a great set of ears, so he and Mark Vreeken got together and began to tame the unruly beast. Working at a pace roughly equivalent to a song a day, they pushed ahead until everyone was happy with the mixes and the date for the mastering approached. Then it was off to Portland with the tapes. That is where this story began and so, that's where it will end. Put it on, turn it up and enjoy Trouble At The Henhouse.

David Powell, Tour Manager, March 1996