The Province
Tom Harrison
By now, Glen Hansard expects the
unexpected. Or should. The Frames recorded a live album. It wasn't the
thing to do. Hansard watched it sail past double platinum in his native
Ireland. The Frames went to Chicago, thinking they were going to make an
album with Steve Albini. Instead, they were greeted by Rob Bochnik, who
not only became their engineer in the studio but The Frames' new guitarist
on the road. After 14 years, The Frames were named best Irish band at last
week's equivalent of Canada's Juno Awards, The Meteors. It was the first
award for anything The Frames have done and Hansard didn't think he'd win
anything. Maybe it's a good thing that U2 didn't record in 2003. "In Ireland,
it doesn't mean a whole lot," the singer says of the prize with unusual
candour. "Except to my mother. "We've been a band for 14 years. It's reached
such a point where we can't be ignored." Hansard and Colm Mac Con Iomaire
are the last remaining founders of The Frames. The personnel has been different
for all seven of their albums, arriving at the live album, Set List, which
features Hansard, Mac Con Iomaire, Bochnik, Joseph Doyle, David Hingerty
and Bradford Hutchinson. Set List was a modest undertaking. "It's a very
weird calling card to send out to the world," Hansard says. Until Set List,
The Frames had a low profile. The live album wasn't going to change that.
The band's previous studio albums had sold 5,000-6,000 copies each and
Set List was intended to raise the money that would pay for the next studio
recording. Instead . . ."It went to No. 1 in Ireland. We just put it out
for people who liked the band." Set List is a more relaxed and loose affair
than The Frames' more reflective and comparatively subdued studio recordings.
"I think a lot of people would prefer us live." Hansard says. "We are more
spontaneous. A studio is like a hospital ward. A performance is more like
a bank hold up where everybody in the band is a gangster and you've got
the getaway car outside with its motor running. "As soon as you start looking
at your bellybutton, you end up with frustration." So a spontaneous Frames
album was what the fans were waiting for. Hansard did the unexpected and
gave it to them. |
