I know… completely crazy!! So… where to begin with all of this stuff that’s been going on? I’m just as shocked/excited/confused/pumped as all of you! So let’s start at the beginning… which was basically 2 weeks ago. Or maybe we go back further (6 months) when the idea and plans to use the 20th anniversary of Scenery and Fish as a theme to finally get playing coast to coast, and do something awesome for our fans.

Our basic concept was to use the entire year to play about 25 shows across all of Canada, release S&F on vinyl, a new digital release of the remixed record, a making of documentary, new music, acoustic versions etc. basically the whole shebang!!! This was shaping up to be the busiest year since the re-onion! We were really over-the-top-excited about the prospects.

However, behind the scenes, things were getting a bit more challenging schedule wise with all of it. We all have busy lives of course and with Brian now having a full time radio gig, travel schedules were really tight. That, plus his current efforts to chase a personal dream and join a different band,… the live prospects of this year actually becoming a reality became even more difficult. So what to do now?

I was resigned to just believing that there would be no live shows, no big celebration of this record, perhaps not even a goodbye to all of our fans who have invested years and years into this band. (this part was killing me personally the most!) It was a really sad and pathetic revelation to have, just sitting there in my pajamas, scratching my balls, wondering if this was it for IME. So I thought my days were best served by getting to work on all of the other things we had already been promising to fans and just try not to sweat it… maybe even get some sleep. Self pity doesn’t fit me very well, and within a couple of days this disappointment and confusion turned into something much more recognizable… motivation! (…to live just a question of where to get love..)

THE MEETING

However, within 3-4 days of Brian’s announcement that he was now focusing more of his attention on another band, an extremely serendipitous and unexpected meeting between myself and Edwin came together through a mutual friend. I was initially interested as far back as 8 months ago, to have a simple discussion to see if he had any interest in being a part of this ‘Making of the Fish’ doc that I have been thinking about… I just couldn’t get my head around actually hooking up to talk. Call it laziness, cowardice, indifference… whatever you want. I always had ‘something else to do’ and would ‘get around to it’… and you all know what that means.

As Chris and myself were continually talking about S&F concepts for the past 6 months, we were really getting an understanding from people just how much this record meant to them at one point in their lives… it’s an interesting feeling, to be consistently reminded that we owe a great debt to this time, and this record! There is no escaping it. We also really started to talk more frequently and easily about the possibilities of getting input from the people around us from that specific time. It isn’t possible to think about that record without thinking of all the people who helped to make it. Simple. My only problem? I haven’t even crossed paths let alone talked to Edwin in 18 years… I had no idea how would it go… Who is this guy now? (and who am I now for that matter?!)

So, when the possibility presented itself through this ‘mysterious friend’, we both said yes and met the next day. No time to think about it, chicken out, make excuses etc. The only way to go was to just give in and get it over with. I have to say that I was nervous, but actually really excited to reconnect. I’m confident that the man I am now is a million miles away from the man I was then, and really believed that if anything, it would be good for both of us to just reconnect and clear the air if needed and if that’s all that came out of it… it’s still a good thing!

However, when we saw each other, we hugged, relaxed a bit and talked about our lives. We didn’t really have the need or energy to get into old garbage. We actually had a really good laugh talking about the funny and insane ‘road stuff’ that happened continually to us and both admitted (contrary to what most people may think) that the good FAR outweighed the bad. All I could say about the past was that I vaguely remember being mad at him 18 years ago, but really can’t remember the details! lol! I think we’re both kind of foggy on that time. It’s too easy to just live with old feelings, good or bad, than actively try to change it I guess.

So, getting to the meat of the conversation. Scenery and Fish!! I gave my pitch about finding ways of working together on some of these concepts, how the fans would really love it, and how we felt that he deserved to have a voice in that. He agreed that it could definitely be fun and was into it, and just left it at that. I thought we would talk for 30 min or so, but it turned into 2.5 hours! So many things were talked about of course, but one thing kept coming back on the table: to play live again. Could we? Should we? Can we? This had been a non starter for so many years for the both of us, but the circumstances of the week put us in that room together in the right frame of mind, and at the exact moment it needed to be. The answer is yes to all.

Trust me, this is incredibly surreal for all of us in every way: coincidence, the universe conspiring , the dying stars we’ve known and loved aligning, or whatever other horseshit justification you care to apply, but it is definitely kind of weird! (just like reruns of the Mod Squad and cartoons!)

After deciding that playing live would freak everybody out and be really cool to do, we parted ways and I then gave Chris the Coles notes of our meeting. We started throwing the idea of playing a show together around from every angle: do we really want to get into any craziness again with fans? how do we explain it? can we play the old stuff together, not just good, but GREAT? do our personalities fit together enough to really get down to work? It’s normal to toss these things around but we kept coming back to the same conclusions: We WILL do this, and it WILL be awesome.

There is a lot of work ahead of us naturally but I really believe it’s going to rock to hear these songs just like the record, with quite a few surprises thrown in. Face it, you’re more than a little bit curious! I know we are.

It’s amazing how such lows can turn into highs in an instant if you focus on the opportunities, usually right in front of you. I think we all deserve the right to chase opportunity and realize dreams to look after our families, I can’t argue with that concept at all! IME now and always will be my greatest opportunity. We have always been living the dream, and have been given a real gift to share with our families and all of you.

All of us, including you, are part of this crazy partnership and being able to give you guys something that nobody believed could happen, is an absolute honor and privilege for us.

QUESTIONS

So you probably have a million questions about all of this (judging from the emails I am already receiving!) so I’ve decided to just keep the lines open and try to formalize it a bit via another blog later in the week. Ask the right questions, and you will get what you need. PM me on facebook and I will start to put it all together.

SO….

A strange and really exciting time.

Just love your fucking Mothers… and all wi’ be well.

jT