EQ interview with Jay Ferguson - Fall 1993

Sloan: Contract Envy and How to Deal with It

by Will Richards

By now you no doubt might have heard the name Sloan around. But just in case you have been living in some kind of cave for the last 18 months, here's a little background: Sloan are a four-piece out of Halifax (in fact, probably the root cause of the present east-coast feeding frenzy) who play a not-too-abrasive noise-core, heavy on the melodies and harmonies and not too heavy on the guitars.

Last year, before you could say "pay your dues," the band had signed with the corporate champions of indie rock (said with tongue so far in cheek it hurts), Geffen. Sell out young? That remains to be seen, but after listening to this interview with guitarist Jay Ferguson it would seem that despite what you might assume, the band is well on top of a situation that would leave many others very much out of sorts.

EQ: So what's it like being in Sloan right now -- being on the road so much?

JF: I'm lying in a bed, our manager just showed up. Most of the shows on tour have been just great. No complaints right now. It gets a bit tiring but we remain focused on what we want to do, which is play to help set up our next record which will be out in the spring. When we toured the states it was for three months and it was exhausting. Being away from home for three months is no fun at all, especially if you have a slew of lame shows.

EQ: Where are you getting better received?

Jay: Probably in Canada because that is where we are best known.

EQ: Do you find that as a band you get treated better in the States?

Jay: No, for us we get treated really well in Canada and, actually, Germany. In the States it's up and down. There are a lot more shady promoters in there than there are in Canada. When we played at Concordia we got the weirdest rider -- we got pepperoni hot-rods and like two blocks of cheese. All in all, I think we've been really lucky because we haven't got dicked around much.

EQ: Are you getting better response from all-ages shows than bar shows?

Jay: For sure. Those are the best shows to play. Playing the bars is really boring I find. Well, not boring but not as exciting. Plus I'm sure that half the people that buy our records are under 19. All but two of the shows on this tour are all ages. The position that we are in in Canada we can demand to do all ages shows and not have to settle on a bar because of the money part. It's a nice position to be in. I think we're very lucky in that aspect.

I get the impression that the band feels this way not because of some self-righteous Fugazi-like dribble, but out of pure acknowledgement of who their audience is.

Make no mistake about it, Sloan make fairly lightweight, radio friendly rock -- hard enough to get a bit of pushing and shoving at the shows so the crowd can work off some suburban angst, but not so harsh as it wouldn't get played on the radio. One has to wonder what will happen to bands like this once the phase has passed -- are they totally at the mercy of their labels? Only those with a label strongly behind them will be allowed the time and effort to grow and change.

EQ: How do you feel about your contract now that the initial rush has subsided somewhat?

Jay: Again, we're really fortunate in that aspect. Chip Sutherland, who also manages us now, negotiated for us. We took our time to negotiate it. From the moment it was offered to us we didn't sign it for about five months, we went over all the picky little details. We have the right to give Geffen whatever we want, which is cool, but realistically, we couldn't give them like a record of one note of noise.

EQ: You couldn't hand in Metal Machine Music II and expect them to be thrilled.

Jay: Well, we could, but then they would just say, "We're not going to promote it, see you later" so it's not really in anyone's best interest.

EQ: It's unusual for a band at your level to have that much control.

Jay: Yeah, well, we took our time, we were lucky, and we didn't take a huge advance so later we would have some money coming in, and have some money for tour support. But Geffen have been cool about things like the cover. It was like, "So, what do want to put on the album cover?" and we said, "Well, we have this weird orange Polaroid, can we use that," and they were completely into that. It's all very together, they don't make decisions without asking us. A couple of things I couldn't believe we did. Once there was this promotion that they wanted us to do; they sent us these leather jackets to paint, and they were the ugliest leather jackets, with fringes, that you've ever seen. At first we thought it was a test -- that Geffen was testing us to see how lame we were. In the end we sent them back and said that we're not doing this and that was fine with them. What we did instead was we'd done a video for a song 500 Up and we'd worn these gas station attendant jackets and after we'd done with them we just wrote on them and gave those away as a promotion instead of these lame fringed-leather jackets. But so far I'm pretty happy with Geffen. You're bound to have fights with any label, independent or major, but for the most part I think we're really lucky, we've had opportunity to do things that we wouldn't have had elsewhere. We owe them five more records, with options for out on their part after every second album, no options for out on our part until after the sixth record but they only drop you if you're a total fuck-up. There are no actual figures in the contract saying we have to sell so many records. They do seem willing to stand behind their bands and let them grow in whatever direction as long as they sell.

EQ: How has the record been selling?

Jay: I don't know. In Canada I think it's between 30 and 40 thousand and about the same for the states, which isn't a lot for there. I think that maybe Geffen is a little disappointed with sales in the states but we've had some problems with radio down there. We had someone working the record there and then they changed positions at Geffen and they had a new radio person jump in the middle of our record and it didn't seem to work because he wasn't there from the beginning. But we have done well in certain places -- the east coast mostly and to some degree the mid-west. The only place where it was really hard was in the south. We did a whole loop around the States and it was difficult, you know, around places like Baton Rouge.

EQ: No matter what you're doing around Baton Rouge, it's hard. You're all fiscally independent now?

Jay: Pretty much. It's a really nice position to be in. It's a total dream, what we're doing -- being able to live off of playing music. It's what I've always been into.

EQ: How did you guys get noticed so such? (sp) I mean this was before the (second) Halifax Explosion.

Jay: We'd played four shows outside of Halifax by the time we were offered a contract with Geffen, which is totally absurd. We had to jump into it head first. We probably weren't as prepared as many other bands are, but I think we've gotten through it okay so far.

EQ: Do you feel you've been lucky as such?

Jay: A lot of it is luck and a lot of it is being in the right place at the right time. There are a lot of bands that have done well on luck, but I think ultimately we have really good songs and I'm very proud of the records we've made. In the long run that's what'll keep us going when all the luck or the hype is gone and once people are bored with hearing about us. I hope that we will still be able to make really good records that will last a really long time. I'd hate to make some really popular record that's totally lame and in ten years time just cringe at the thought of it.

The whole notion of working with major vs. indie labels has been a bone of contention for as long as people have been making records. Nowadays, the lines between majors and indies has been blurred practically to the point of being completely erased, and it would seem that if you keep your wits about you and don't go "Wow, a record contract. Cool. Where do I sign?" the first time someone shoves a piece of paper under your nose, you can probably get a lot more out of working with people with money than those without.

Seems obvious but...

The smart bands (or bands with smart advisers/lawyers seem to have gotten a grasp on this concept). Sloan seem to be a good example of this. Hell, even Nirvana had to go back and re-work the material they initially submitted for *In Utero*. Having said all that, not all bands are in the position that Sloan are in because of that ugly beast "commercial viability". The trick is not to get too bitter about it -- hey, you choose your musical path.

So, like it or not, Sloan goes forth into the world as a representative of Canada and its music. Maybe they can make up for some of the embarrassment that some of Canada's other so called "alternative acts" have caused us.

EQ: How have you found the response worldwide to being a Canadian band? Do people have preconceptions as to what they think Canadian music sounds like?

Jay: Some people do because the only exposure to Canadian music is either Bryan Adams or the Tragically Hip or, in England, the Doughboys. I know what you mean, though. In some places there is certainly a Canadian stereotype, or Canadian "fog" surrounding you. We haven't really promoted ourselves as a Canadian band, we've always promoted the fact that we're from Nova Scotia. Of course in the States they think Nova Scotia is in Europe. We did an interview with this person from New Jersey and they said at the end "...thanks for the interview, I thought there would be a language problem with Nova Scotia being in Europe," and it was like, "Oh, okay, see you later." I couldn't believe it. This was *New Jersey*! If it was in Louisiana or something I say, "Well, okay, that's fine" but this was unbelievable. Being from Canada certainly hasn't gotten in the way, in fact in some cases I'd say it's good because there's a certain media interest around Nova Scotia right now which is spreading to the States. There's a three-page article in *Harper's Bazaar* (EQ note: a fashion/lifestyles mag that probably spends more on paper clips than we do on putting out this mag) and *Spin*.

EQ: Are you going to continue to make Halifax your home?

Jay: I want to and see no reason not to. Andrew (Scott, drummer) moved to Toronto but just because his girlfriend lives there. It's been a bit of a logistic problem having one member live in another city, just in terms of practicing and working out new material, but usually he comes down before we tour or record and it hasn't been a problem as such. I don't think it gets in our way at all.