Great Big Sea, the pride of St. John’s, Newfoundland have never been the type of band to look back on their career, so their new box set XX is as much of a surprise to them as it is to anybody else.
“ When we started our original goal was to make pop music, but instead of using hip hop from L.A or blues from Chicago or corporate rock from Toronto, we were going to use traditional melodies and traditional instruments from Newfoundland. And we push that envelope more every day. But the original goal is still the same,” said founding member and multi-instrumentalist Bob Hallett.
Hallett and fellow founding members Alan Doyle, bodhran player Séan McCann, drummer Kris MacFarlane and former Moxy Früvous member and bassist Murray Foster play the Enmax Centre, Oct. 26.
The band took off in the early ’90s making pop music using traditional instruments and scored several hits in the process including ‘Ordinary Day,’ ‘Consequence Free,‘ Sea of No Cares,” and ‘Run Runaway,’ a cover of an old Slade song given the Great Big Sea traditional treatments.
“ We’ve never been the type of band to look back at our career. We’re always looking at the next step, but we owed our record company a greatest hits album. We were always telling them we have a new album or a DVD but we were running out of excuses,” he said.
He noted putting together the set was an educational experience.
“We were remembering a lot of moments which created such big rows in the band at the time. Now so much time has passed, we’d forgotten about them. There was so much passion there,” he said.
The band members all had different memories of the same incidents.
“We were remembering our first gig, and there are four different accounts of it from the guys,” he said.
“We had more fun than should have been allowed,” he recalled.
He noted it was a challenge to compile all of the material and the full colour booklet that comes with it due to the sheer amount of material available.
“On the greatest hits CD, some stuff just had to be there, but the other discs were a bit of a trick to juggle,” he continued.
They recorded a cover of Pete Townsend’s 1980 hit “Let My Love Open the Door” for the greatest hits CD.
“It was a great song that never got the attention it deserved because it was Pete Townsend song, not a Who song. But we saw a version of it on the Jools Holland TV show of Pete Townsend playing it on an acoustic guitar with no synthesizers and decided we just had to do it,” he said adding they wanted something new that showed how the band turns hits into Great Big Sea songs.
“It shows how we play with rock and roll songs and it was a great addition to the record,” he continued.
They never expected to be still playing 20 years later.
“ Not really, it seemed a little bit absurd. We started out playing along the docks in pubs for a few 80-year-old guys and then we got big, and we thought we could see us going on tour, but we were surprised it was 20 years,” he continued.
“We’ve played for 10,000 people, and to see them clapping their hands and smiling is a highlight, because it’s the audience that matters the most, we’re just the hosts of the party,” he said.
“So to be able to do music for living and get paid for something we probably would have done for free is simply amazing,” he continued. One of the highlights of this tour have included selling out the famous Fillmore in San Francisco.
“ It’s one of the the most famous rooms in the world. And everyone there was so appreciative. It’s been simply amazing. We get to do something we‘ve always dreamed of,” he enthused.
They are always writing new material.
“We’re pretty prolific writers,” he said.
“We’re all writers. They’re all different. I find the most successful songs are the ones where everybody contributes,” he said.
As the multi-instrumentalist for the band, he listens to each song the band does very carefully to determine what it needs.
“ For some of the tracks, the tin whistle just flows. The bouzouki is good for playing 12-string guitar parts, the accordion has a more effervescent sound and the violin is all about adding more energy,” he said.
They are excited to return to Lethbridge.
“It’s been at least a decade since we played Lethbridge. I think the first time we played there was in hall. I think it was a Ukrainian Hall. I want to say a Slavic Croatian club. I don’t remember it being well attended. But we always have a blast,” he said.
“This is an axe we’ve been sharpening for years. Your throats are going to be sore from singing your hands are going to be sore from clapping and your feet are going to be sore from dancing,” he promised.
The band plays the Enmax Centre, Oct. 26. Tickets cost $47. The show begins at 8 p.m.
