Answered by Patrick, Jay, and Chris.
Chris: I think we actually considered calling the band Cindy. Thank the lord we didn't. We would have broken up by now if we had called the band Cindy. Andrew and I played in a band that kept changing its name. Among those names were Close Line, Right Arm, The Despots, and Furious George.
Chris: I worshipped Ian Mackaye as a kid and he was great when I went up to his door in 1987 under the auspices of buying records but really just to meet him. He was totally patient with me, sold me some records cheap and showed me around his house. I want to think I'm as good to people but I can think of several times when I have been less than patient.
Jay: Although earlier I mentioned how I would like our band to have a long career, I find that a lot of my fave bands have short concise careers...The Smiths, The Velvet Underground, even The Beatles only made records for 8 years, although the amount they accomplished in those years would be more like 15 or 20 years these days. I feel content about our place right now. I don't see any sour marks on our career (LPs that were bad....gross, dated videos) I don't really feel jealous of other bands, but there are definitely current groups that I admire for what they have managed to accomplish....The Beastie Boys especially (Grand Royal record label, GR magazine, their own good LPs, etc.)
Patrick: The Moffatts seem to be in a good place right now.
Patrick: Andrew's the brooding one, Jay's the record collector, Chris just wants everyone to get along, and Patrick's gay.
Chris: ???
Chris: I use a Fender Mustang bass. Jay uses a Fender thin line Telecaster and a Richenbacher. Patrick uses a Gretch Roc Jet and a Hagstrum Swede. Andrew uses a Gretch Chet Atkins.
Patrick: We tend to stick to the general drums, bass, and guitars, with the odd keyboard here and there. You can hear us using these on records such as Smeared, Navy Blues, and Revolver.
Chris: Getting us to play involves contacting our booking agents. We have different ones in each country. You could contact murderecords and we could pass it on to our appropriate agent for that territory. The main factors would be money and routing but there is also the fun factor. We played in Saskatoon at a beer sponsored thing that was not convenient or all that fun but it paid a lot. We played in some town near Zurich, Switzerland that didn't pay very much and was limited in its fun-ness but we were driving through anyway. We played in Vancouver opening for Stereolab for no money and it was far away but we love Stereolab.
Patrick: All you have to do is ask. We don't do nearly enough, as Chris can attest to.
Chris: I hate being involved with selling anything except Sloan stuff. Selling beer is down pretty far on the list of things I enjoy being associated with too. I just wish we were selling lots of records and we wouldn't have to endorse anything. If I had to, I would endorse...
Patrick: It's silly to complain about endorsing something like a beer company when our records are distributed by a company that manufactures hard liquor, something that is far worse for your health than life giving beer. Why don't we just have our records distributed by cancer?
Chris: If vinyl is dead, then our office is a graveyard. Does anyone want a copy of 4 Nights on triple vinyl in a box with beautiful artwork?
Jay: Proppin' up the short end of the desk, as it were. I love making records for the fun of creating the artwork and the limited pressings. Maybe if we have more leftover material at the end of this record, maybe we'll consider doing a single again....although we often need these for bonus tracks in other territories.
Chris: Maybe someday. But we thought the internet eliminated the need for fan clubs.
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