Stefan Doroschuk of Men Without Hats

In the 1980s, there were many synth-pop bands in the charts, but few had the talent or vision of Men Without Hats, who had two hits, The Safety Dance and Pop Goes the World, and did the classic albums Rhythm of Youth and Pop Goes the World. Recently re-formed, they just released their first new album of old-school synth-pop in 13 years, entitled No Hats Beyond This Point. Stefan Doroschuk, one of the founding members of the Hats, was kind enough to speak to the Lounge's own BBBob about the Safety Dance, the new album, and more...

BBBob: What is your personal favorite MWH song?

Stefan Doroschuk: On Tuesday is my favorite song followed by Telepathy, my new favorite song.

BBB: How do you feel about being pegged as a one-hit wonder by the music press?

SD: I guess it would have to be better than never having a hit at all, but when people say that, it usually is a sign that they're pretty ignorant of MWH. Safety Dance has not only opened doors for us but has allowed us to pursue music on our terms, and not have to always be trying to jump on the latest musical bandwagon to sell records.

BBB: I've heard that it was supposed to be about everything from nuclear proliferation to safe sex, but what is the Safety Dance actually about?

SD: Safety Dance is about non-conforming, about how you don't have to blindly follow the crowd, that you "leave your friends behind" and strike out on your own, even if no one else agrees with you.

BBB: What do you believe were the main influences on MWH's unique sound?

SD: Kraftwerk, Gong, Roxy Music, early Genesis and a desire to do something different. The type of gear that was available at the time also influenced the type of sound that we had.

BBB: What is the message you're trying to send with the new MWH album, No Hats Past This Point?

SD: There's not a specific message for the whole album, if it's not simply "hey, we're back!", it's more a collection of songs that each one tells its own story, or has it's own message.

BBB: What is your view on the mp3 and file-sharing issue?

SD: I think that it's been blown way out of proportion. Mp3's contain 1/10th the sound of a real CD (1 Meg or so per stereo minute versus 10 Megs/minute for a real CD). So for myself it's not even close, I don't listen to mp3s except when someone sends me a demo over the net, and for that, they're perfect. But I seriously don't think that the student who downloads 500 mp3s would have bought those 500 albums, so it's more of a promo tool than a serious music listening medium, and personally I'd prefer that the person who can't afford my album have at least a chance to hear some of the songs, because not everyone is going to get their songs on top 40 radio as well. If record sales are going down, it's because records are getter more shit by the minute, it's nothing but Britney Spears, Shania Twain, Justin Timberlake and all of the other similar generic garbage non-stop that's turning people off CDs.

BBB: The art in the booklet for the new album is stunningly good. Are there any visual arts in MWH's future?

SD: That's the first time Ivan did all of the artwork himself, he's always been awesome at drawing and the like. Although I doubt that there would be any strictly visual art project in the future.

BBB: Will Jenny and Johnny (from Pop Goes The World) be showing up again anytime soon?

SD: Ivan has always said that Jenny is the female part of himself, so she's always there, at least in spirit. John(ny) is the name of his 8 month old baby, so I imagine that he will never be too far away as well.

BBB: In 1991, MWH came out with Sideways, a grunge record, a surprise to many long-time MWH fans. Was that just a response to Nirvana's recent success or was it something MWH had been planning for a while?

SD: Actually, it came out just before Smells Like Teen Spirit, which is somewhat similar to the song Sideways. After the preceding album, I was hit by a car after an accident pushed one of the cars up on the sidewalk. I spent about 6 months in hospital, and during that time, Ivan started jamming with his friends, the drummer from Voivod (Michel Langevin), the lead singer/guitar players of 2 other Montreal bands, The Doughboys (John Kastner) and Idées Noires (Felix Matte, at the time, had a local rock/grunge french band). So when I came out of hospital, we decide to just go ahead and record it as it was, which became the album Sideways.

BBB: A recurring phrase in MWH's discography is "Folk of the 80's." The song "Folk of the 80's" seems to point toward the idea that synth-pop was the folk music of the 1980s. Is that what the folk of the 80s was, or was it some kind of inside joke?

SD: No, that's exactly what it is, folk music for people in the 80s. (The new one, NHBTP, we call "music for evolved humanoids in the 21st century".)

BBB: Was there a cast drinking party right before the shoot of the Safety Dance video? Just wondering because the blonde and the dwarf seemed a little loopy in the video.

SD: I don't think that there was a drinking party before, but I wasn't there, the band was back at home rehearsing for the tour, and Ivan flew over to Bath, England on the Concorde to shoot the video, and then came right back the day after. I still get people emailing asking who she is, but we never even knew her name.

BBB: Any juicy stories about MWH you'd care to share?

SD: We once had a Spinal Tap moment in Washington DC. We were playing in a wax museum that had been converted into a club. When it was time to go on stage, we got lost in the labyrinth of corridors backstage, going back and forth looking for the stage, our intro song ran out and we could hear the crowd kind of grumbling, wondering what's going on, and everything was caught on videotape! I'd have to say that it's not the only time we've had a Spinal Tap moment, we've had several, everything from driving for 24 hours from NY to Minneapolis to play in front of 5 people, to the meetings full of stupid ideas, to girlfriends sticking their nose in our business... It's a very funny movie that I'm sure a lot of musicians can relate to.

BBB: In an earlier response, you mentioned "Britney Spears, Shania Twain, Justin Timberlake and all of the other similar generic garbage." I tend to agree. What was the last good record you've heard?

SD: The last few records that I've bought that are great are: Lou Reed - The Raven, he's brilliant and still making relevant music. Frank Zappa - Studio Tan, contains the 20 minute epic the adventures of Gregory Peckary, probably his greatest achievement among a whole host of great achievements. Roy Buchanan - self title album that contains the classic the messiah will come again, if anyone ever wanted to know how to play electric guitar properly, just learn this album. Unfortunately, I don't listen to electronic pop music very often, mainly because there isn't any. Back in the 80s, there were tons of good electronic bands (The Cure, The The, Human League, Japan, Kraftwerk...) that actually made real music, but these days it's all bubble gum Brittney/Madonna bullshit, all the time, like seriously, who wants to hear Brittney Spears singing about masturbation? And the record companies wonder why sales are down. We need to get musicians back in the high decision-making positions at major labels, to get some real music out there for a change.

BBB: Can you dance if you want to?

SD: I can even leave my friends behind.

The Matador Lounge wishes Men Without Hats the best and sincerely appreciates Stefan's willingness to take part in this interview. Go hatless, people.

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