Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
He picks one of six.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Good Morning Rob, You're on with Queen can Tara.
Speaker 3 (00:04):
Rob Baker from The tragically Hip talking about this new
documentary No Dress rehearsal.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to the show man.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Hey, it's good to be here.
Speaker 4 (00:11):
Yeah, you're in Canada. What do you uh? You're from Canada.
What do you what do you think of the decisions
we're making down here the States?
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Rob, Well, you know what, they're your decisions. I'm not
going to.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Comment on the probably enough, you're so smart.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Well, the way the tragically Hip was, it didn't matter
what you said. You couldn't get people in the States
to watch you, to come to your shows. It was
all smaller shows. So as a gigantic fan it always
kind of bothered me. I feel like you'd be okay
if you wanted to say something about about our decisions.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
You know, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I don't need to. I don't need to weigh in
on that. And you know what, people did come to
our shows. It wasn't no, they weren't the same as
in Canada. But we had a we had great shows.
We had good shows in Albany. Yeah, I remember playing
the Eggs there, which is a lovely venue.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
I think it's our loss for not I think it's
America's loss for not paying attention to the Tragically Hit more.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Look no further than this docuseries, right, I mean it's
it is polarizing difference the entire it was the JFK
shooting of Canada.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Trying to put it in perspective.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Uh, and we're talking about the final tour that the
band did with Gordownie, who was who was ill and
had been fighting back to be able to tour. And
it's start to finish a tragically hip band docuseries, and
it's it's phenomenal. You know, how you can be so
big that the Canadian, the leader of the Canada is
(01:41):
crying but nobody, nobody is crying down here.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Blows me away.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
So when I do meet a Tragically Hit fan, I
grab him by the arm and.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
I sit and I talk to him for hours.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Dude, thank you?
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Right on?
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Did you grow across the street?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I grew up across the street and Gorge Sinkler are
bass player? Okay, okay, yeah we yeah, we were neighbors
from he moved in when he was one and a half,
across the street from me and but we all went
to the same high school together, and you know, we
go way back.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
So Rob Baker, lead guitar's co founding member of The
tragically Hip. The tragically Hip docuseries No Dress rehearsal streaming
now on Amazon Prime, Talk Shop Live tonight at age
You've got the up here box sets. As somebody who's
learning about you, tell me about the how difficult that
final tour was and how and how how personal you
(02:41):
wanted to make it or not make it for Gord's sake.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Well, uh, you find out that one of your five
best friends on Earth is is dying of brain cancer
and he wants to go on the road, and it
made no sense to me, but it made sense to him,
and no one was going to say no. You know,
you grant the dying wish of your friend. So we
(03:10):
went out thinking, well, it's never actually going to happen,
but he wants to do this and will indulge in.
And then it started to happen, and he got stronger
every day, and by the end it was it was
really good. I mean I think it started out pretty good.
(03:31):
They got yeah, it got stronger and stronger.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Well, Rob was it was. It was it fun. Was
it emotionally draining to do that tour?
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Yeah, I could not. You know, on every tour I
would meet the people after words, and I just couldn't.
On that tour, I was I had to shut down
emotionally and I just had to focus on getting up
and doing my job on stage and playing the music.
And then the rest of the time I was kind
(03:58):
of just shut down because I couldn't come to terms
with the fact that I'm losing my friend, I'm losing
my career, which has been my lifelong dream. All this
stuff is like winding up in real time in front
of me, and it was just it was too much.
And I couldn't have walked on stage thinking well, this
(04:20):
is the last time I'll ever be in the city
playing music here with my friends, because I would have
just broken down. I wouldn't have been able to get
through the gigs. So and the same thing with the
Kingston show, the final show, it was just we kind
of had to treat it like it's just another gig,
It's just another day at the office. And at the
(04:41):
end of the show, you clean out your wardrobe trunk
and take all your stuff all and then sit and
twiddle your thumbs for the next eight months figuring out
what just happened.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
This Kingston show was then at the very same time,
was broadcast throughout Canada, like everybody in Canada was watching
this at the same time.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Yeah, it was. It turned into a pretty big event. Yeah,
and it was. It was a lot. It's I think
it's wonderful for us as a band that people embraced
us that way, but for us as individuals trying to
go through the grieving, it didn't make it easier. I'm
(05:23):
not saying it made it harder, but it sure didn't
make it easier.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
In the docuseries, I think I read that they show
Gored towards the end. Were you protective of how close
the camera would get to him at the end?
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah? Absolutely. That's a big part of why I was
so nervous about going out on that final too. I
just thought, if he has a seizure on stage, there
are going to be fourteen thousand cell phones recording it,
and it's just that just gave me the skivies. I
hated the thought of it.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
And.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Everyone wanted, you know, giving him advice and have you
tried drinking olive oil through I don't know, it's ridiculous advice.
How they you know, people with their cures, and they
all wanted the music.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
The performance was the cure.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
That was the closest to a cure, right, don't you.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Think Yeah is the cure. It gets us through the
bad time good times. It's a friend when you need it.
It's a it's a teacher. Music is the air for us.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
So it's Rob Baker from the Tragically hit.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
But but when Gordon was on stage and you didn't
think he could do it, as soon as he started
doing it, the music was progressively helping him like a
like medicine, which is just phenomenal. Look this, this docu
series is about everything that this band is about, not
just Goored. It's about the friendships, the long term struggles,
(06:52):
the dealing with the producers that didn't get you guys
as a band, and having to make these decisions and
then you know, wrapping things up as buddies.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
It's really really good and very touching. Thank you for
making it man, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
I'm glad people are interested in it. It was it
was our life, you know, it was.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
It's it's a beautiful stories streaming now Amazon Prime. We
mentioned the up Here box set, available through the hip
dot com and talk Shop live tonight at eight. Are
you officially retired now? Real quick?
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Well, I don't know. They keep dragging me in. There's uh,
you know, I'm I am officially retired. I'm not going
on the road, but I record almost every day. I
was at the studio producing a young artist last week
and I'm still writing and playing, so who knows. And
(07:52):
I'm certainly busy with our directing these packages, the box
sets and the coffee table book and all that's so,
there's lots of lots of stuff going on.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
It's a great story. I really appreciate the time.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
I'll never forget sitting above Derek Galvan's parents' garage learning
how to play New Orleans is sinking, and just having
the best time of my life.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Thanks for everything, man,
He picks one of six.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Good Morning Rob, You're on with Queen can Tara.
Speaker 3 (00:04):
Rob Baker from The tragically Hip talking about this new
documentary No Dress rehearsal.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to the show man.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Hey, it's good to be here.
Speaker 4 (00:11):
Yeah, you're in Canada. What do you uh? You're from Canada.
What do you what do you think of the decisions
we're making down here the States?
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Rob, Well, you know what, they're your decisions. I'm not
going to.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Comment on the probably enough, you're so smart.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Well, the way the tragically Hip was, it didn't matter
what you said. You couldn't get people in the States
to watch you, to come to your shows. It was
all smaller shows. So as a gigantic fan it always
kind of bothered me. I feel like you'd be okay
if you wanted to say something about about our decisions.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
You know, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I don't need to. I don't need to weigh in
on that. And you know what, people did come to
our shows. It wasn't no, they weren't the same as
in Canada. But we had a we had great shows.
We had good shows in Albany. Yeah, I remember playing
the Eggs there, which is a lovely venue.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
I think it's our loss for not I think it's
America's loss for not paying attention to the Tragically Hit more.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Look no further than this docuseries, right, I mean it's
it is polarizing difference the entire it was the JFK
shooting of Canada.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Trying to put it in perspective.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Uh, and we're talking about the final tour that the
band did with Gordownie, who was who was ill and
had been fighting back to be able to tour. And
it's start to finish a tragically hip band docuseries, and
it's it's phenomenal. You know, how you can be so
big that the Canadian, the leader of the Canada is
(01:41):
crying but nobody, nobody is crying down here.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Blows me away.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
So when I do meet a Tragically Hit fan, I
grab him by the arm and.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
I sit and I talk to him for hours.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Dude, thank you?
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Right on?
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Did you grow across the street?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
I grew up across the street and Gorge Sinkler are
bass player? Okay, okay, yeah we yeah, we were neighbors
from he moved in when he was one and a half,
across the street from me and but we all went
to the same high school together, and you know, we
go way back.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
So Rob Baker, lead guitar's co founding member of The
tragically Hip. The tragically Hip docuseries No Dress rehearsal streaming
now on Amazon Prime, Talk Shop Live tonight at age
You've got the up here box sets. As somebody who's
learning about you, tell me about the how difficult that
final tour was and how and how how personal you
(02:41):
wanted to make it or not make it for Gord's sake.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Well, uh, you find out that one of your five
best friends on Earth is is dying of brain cancer
and he wants to go on the road, and it
made no sense to me, but it made sense to him,
and no one was going to say no. You know,
you grant the dying wish of your friend. So we
(03:10):
went out thinking, well, it's never actually going to happen,
but he wants to do this and will indulge in.
And then it started to happen, and he got stronger
every day, and by the end it was it was
really good. I mean I think it started out pretty good.
(03:31):
They got yeah, it got stronger and stronger.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Well, Rob was it was. It was it fun. Was
it emotionally draining to do that tour?
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Yeah, I could not. You know, on every tour I
would meet the people after words, and I just couldn't.
On that tour, I was I had to shut down
emotionally and I just had to focus on getting up
and doing my job on stage and playing the music.
And then the rest of the time I was kind
(03:58):
of just shut down because I couldn't come to terms
with the fact that I'm losing my friend, I'm losing
my career, which has been my lifelong dream. All this
stuff is like winding up in real time in front
of me, and it was just it was too much.
And I couldn't have walked on stage thinking well, this
(04:20):
is the last time I'll ever be in the city
playing music here with my friends, because I would have
just broken down. I wouldn't have been able to get
through the gigs. So and the same thing with the
Kingston show, the final show, it was just we kind
of had to treat it like it's just another gig,
It's just another day at the office. And at the
(04:41):
end of the show, you clean out your wardrobe trunk
and take all your stuff all and then sit and
twiddle your thumbs for the next eight months figuring out
what just happened.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
This Kingston show was then at the very same time,
was broadcast throughout Canada, like everybody in Canada was watching
this at the same time.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Yeah, it was. It turned into a pretty big event. Yeah,
and it was. It was a lot. It's I think
it's wonderful for us as a band that people embraced
us that way, but for us as individuals trying to
go through the grieving, it didn't make it easier. I'm
(05:23):
not saying it made it harder, but it sure didn't
make it easier.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
In the docuseries, I think I read that they show
Gored towards the end. Were you protective of how close
the camera would get to him at the end?
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah? Absolutely. That's a big part of why I was
so nervous about going out on that final too. I
just thought, if he has a seizure on stage, there
are going to be fourteen thousand cell phones recording it,
and it's just that just gave me the skivies. I
hated the thought of it.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
And.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Everyone wanted, you know, giving him advice and have you
tried drinking olive oil through I don't know, it's ridiculous advice.
How they you know, people with their cures, and they
all wanted the music.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
The performance was the cure.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
That was the closest to a cure, right, don't you.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Think Yeah is the cure. It gets us through the
bad time good times. It's a friend when you need it.
It's a it's a teacher. Music is the air for us.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
So it's Rob Baker from the Tragically hit.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
But but when Gordon was on stage and you didn't
think he could do it, as soon as he started
doing it, the music was progressively helping him like a
like medicine, which is just phenomenal. Look this, this docu
series is about everything that this band is about, not
just Goored. It's about the friendships, the long term struggles,
(06:52):
the dealing with the producers that didn't get you guys
as a band, and having to make these decisions and
then you know, wrapping things up as buddies.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
It's really really good and very touching. Thank you for
making it man, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
I'm glad people are interested in it. It was it
was our life, you know, it was.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
It's it's a beautiful stories streaming now Amazon Prime. We
mentioned the up Here box set, available through the hip
dot com and talk Shop live tonight at eight. Are
you officially retired now? Real quick?
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Well, I don't know. They keep dragging me in. There's uh,
you know, I'm I am officially retired. I'm not going
on the road, but I record almost every day. I
was at the studio producing a young artist last week
and I'm still writing and playing, so who knows. And
(07:52):
I'm certainly busy with our directing these packages, the box
sets and the coffee table book and all that's so,
there's lots of lots of stuff going on.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
It's a great story. I really appreciate the time.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
I'll never forget sitting above Derek Galvan's parents' garage learning
how to play New Orleans is sinking, and just having
the best time of my life.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Thanks for everything, man,
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