CanEHdian's Dave Brosha speaks with Blue Rodeo drummer Glen Milchem on the release of the band's Greatest Hits, Vol.1 release.
DB: You just released Greatest Hits, Vol. 1. How excited is the band on this release?
GM: Although this album marks a bit of a milestone, I think that it's just business as usual. After we finish making a record, we don't go home and play them and think "Wow, listen to what we just did." We're more interested in the process of making music. After I have made a record with someone, I can't listen to it because all I hear are the mistakes. Greatest Hits, for most of the people in the band, is business as usual because it's all stuff we have already done. For someone like Bazil (Donovan), who has been with the band since the beginning, he's already very aware of what they've accomplished and how long it took them to get there. He was saying just last night that he would never listen to it. However, it's a nice package and it's nice to have that benchmark. It's also a nice excuse to go back out on tour. I'm really glad to back on the road touring every night.
DB: You joined a young Blue Rodeo back in 1991. What is the most profound difference in the band of today compared with the band a decade ago?
GM: I don't know if there are any profound differences, but there are a lot of subtle differences. There have been a lot of changes with personnel, but in many ways it is still the same. It's still very much Jim and Greg's band; it's also a band that is very much a sum of its parts. Everyone has input. The most profound change is that we have been playing together for ten years and that we have each developed a lot in that time, the fact that we have grown together over the decade.
DB: For you personally, do you think the group dynamics have changed any since you joined the band?
GM: I wasn't nervous when I first came here, although it was strange. I think when I joined it was in disarray; something that sort of happens every few years where things fall apart a little, and you think that it might be the end of Blue Rodeo. Then through necessity, perseverance, or love we get through it and come out the other end. I'm much more part of the band now.
DB: How would you describe the band's working relationship, as far as the musical process is concerned?
G.M.: It changes all the time. It depends on where the band is, and how clear everybody's vision is, and sometimes it requires more input than others. On our last album, The Days In Between, it was a record where we really tried to strip it down to a four-piece. The four of us would work on the tunes and then add the other instruments. That was a record where I probably had a lot more input than on other records. At the moment Jim and Greg have their own concepts on where we are going. I think our input is more taking this sound and making it work in the moment. There is a lot of improvisation; it is more about experimenting and staying on your toes.
DB: Do you find that the members play a role in each other's life more on a personal level?
GM: I suppose a little. We spend so much time together on the road that there is a tendency to move apart when we're off. We all have our own things on the side, projects outside of Blue Rodeo. We don't go out of our way to seek each other out. It's more like we come across each other at gigs or in the neighborhood. It's not because we are sick of each other; it's just that we have other things going on.
DB: Have you found that playing with Blue Rodeo has influenced or helped The Swallows (Glen's side project)?
GM: I think that it has done both of those things. In terms of influence it's very subtle. Blue Rodeo is very different from The Swallows. There is not really any country to speak of in The Swallows: it's more of a rock thing. Blue Rodeo has helped me finance Swallow, they have lent me gear and they are extremely supportive of it, as they are with all of our solo projects. The website helps and being able to sell my CDs at (Blue Rodeo) shows is also really helpful. Blue Rodeo has influenced me because I have learned a lot about writing and arranging through being with the band. A lot of it is sitting in the back lounge of the bus with Basil. He'll start talking about chord substitution and music theory and writing and that sort of thing. You learn from everyone in the band; we all learn from each other just by hanging out, listening and talking about music.
DB: What do you enjoy most about the moments when you put Blue Rodeo to the side, and the Swallows becomes your main project. Do you enjoy having the chance to become the singer-songwriter?
GM: I enjoy it all. I enjoy writing, and I write because I have to. It's a therapy and strong form of expression for me. It's something that once you start you sort of have to continue for some reason. It keeps you sane. The songwriting is probably the most important aspect of it for me. I was writing songs quietly for a long time for myself before I decided to make a record or perform publicly. I love playing guitar and singing. I love playing with my own band. I enjoy it all equally. The songwriting is the reason it exists at all.
DB: Do you find that you can handle criticism easier now than you could a decade ago?
GM: I can definitely handle it better than I could then. For once thing I got a few nice reviews (laughs), so that helps. It makes it a little easier to swallow the bad reviews. I made an independent record in 1986 and I was nervous. I was known as a drummer, and I don't think that people expect a lot from a drummer in terms of music. I was also very self-conscious. I just want to make the music. For me it's completely tedious to try to sell the music and make someone else want to like it. I would rather go into the studio and make a record and walk around giving it to people. Out of necessity you have to go out and sell it and it is a huge pain in the ass as far as that goes, but it's okay. People have been very respectful and kind to me, so I have that to hold me up if I get shot down again. The first time I was 22. It was the first thing I had put out and it got pretty lambasted. It did scare me a bit. It was good however, because I knew I'd have to make something very strong before I attempted (releasing an album) again.
DB: What do you find to be the most difficult aspect of your job with Blue Rodeo?
GM: The most difficult is trying to find that balance between the band and your personal life. I have a couple of kids, and having a routine is very important when you have children. It is difficult for them when one or both of the parents don't have a normal routine or schedule in their life. I can have a routine for short periods of time but normally my life isn't like that. Normally I'm home for a few days and then gone for a few days. Or, I have played really late the night before and it is really hard for me to get up at 8:00. Then I'll be absent for three weeks at a time. I have a 2-½ year old daughter and that's a bit hard for her to swallow, but she's used to it. That's difficult.
DB: When you're an old man, sitting on your porch in your rocking chair, what will you remember most about your musical career?
GM: That's a good question. I have been thinking a lot about my musical career lately. There's this new book out called Have Not Been the Same. I really recommend that you go and look for it. It's the history of Canadian rock; a lot of independent rock but also stuff that came out through the major labels. It's about all the bands in Canada that were a big influence between 1985 and 95 that encouraged other bands to get out touring across Canada. There is a lot on the Toronto scene that I got my start in, as well as a lot on all the different scenes during that period. It is interesting for me to read that book because there is some stuff there that I had forgot about. I think if I were going to remember anything, it would be the bands and musicians that nobody remembers and do not know about. For example, if you are in some little club with about 30 people and there's a band that blows you away and then two years later they have broken up and they're forgotten. There are a lot of bands like that mentioned in this book. I was sitting with the horn section on the bus listening to a recording by a group called Vector, who were huge about fifteen years ago. But now, no one outside of Toronto remembers them. I think that's what I'll remember: all of the amazing musicians I've known who do not get Juno awards or major record deals, but have moved me and have been a privilege to know. That's what I'll remember.
By Dave Brosha, CanEHdian.com (October 16, 2001)
