We are throwing it back to 2018 when Oklahoma trio (now duo) Sports toured their debut album Everyone's Invited and stopped at Montreal's Le Ministère. The album, to this day, remains one of my favourites and I got to chat with Christian, Cale and Jacob before the gig about specifics and the making of. In this interview, revisit or get to know the record before new music is released!
What’s your favourite song to perform?
No Pressure. When we get to that song in the set, it's such a switch up from what we played first, it slows things down and it feels fresh.
Mine’s easily Gotta Know Better (I’m Crazy). I get to go into the crowd and it has a high energy. Its also one of our less known songs but everybody enjoys it like it was one of the hits.
What inspired the album artwork?
I think we’re pretty into Spaghetti Westerns and I just remember being at party and talking about being on horses.
We thought it would be funny and cool. Back home it isn’t hard to find a horse or two. It was great, a bit scary. One of the horses was a wild horse that had just been tamed and it had a history of going crazy.
Cale, your alter-ego is Cadillac, does it have anything to do with the song?
Yes it does. So I (Jacob) wanted to make a song that had a typical dance beat because I never do that. The first thing that came to my mind - because I used to not sing a lot, so when I started, I sang about Cale and its kind of how it happened. I’m definitely not as good as him yet but that’s where it came from. I may not be him but I can still do it.
Is there a reason Cadillac is the last song on the album?
Lyrically no but just how the song sounded, we thought it would be a good last song. Its one that could go on forever. Also, the melody at the very end of the track happens in the middle of the record so its a motif to something that happened earlier on.
Talking about the middle of the record, Palaver, what sparked that sort of interlude?
When we were working on the album, you (Cale) showed us that demo and it helped with the direction of the album. The instrumental was really cool and we liked the feeling of it, it fit the whole cowboy thing. It transitions into the more cowboy style of the record; Rob Las Vegas, Let’s Get Married. Cale wrote the poem for it and we had my (Jacob) friend Paul, an older man, talk and he nailed it. He’s one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met.
Do you had any special attachment to Las Vegas?
I’ve never been.
I love it, i’ve only been for one night.
I’ve been during the day and it was very hot and a ton of people.
The song is about Rob Las Vegas, a man who basically wants to get a new life and move on. Its like thinking that anybody can move away to solve their problems. He wants to go and snag all the riches of the world, and Las Vegas, well your problems are still there.
I think the song that is the most 80’s sounding on the album is Be Like Me -
All three in unison: Really??
Because it sounds like a song that would play in a John Hughes movie or any prom scene during a slow dance
That’s so opposite of how we see it! It’s very Beach Boys. We were trying to make a Beach Boys song. But prom is the right word, it is a prom chord progression for sure.
What was your favourite song to write?
For a lot of the record we wrote altogether in a room which was new for this album, we hadn’t done that before. The ones that came from that were Don’t Tell Me, No Pressure, Never Fall In Love. I would say No Pressure is the most memorable for me (Cale). The easy ones have been the most fun in my opinion (Jacob), when you have to fight it is it even worth it?
There’s a bit of talk about Shiggy. Tell me how you guys came to work with KeithCharles
We met him through the guy that shot the cover of the album. Before he shot it, he brought Kieth to the show in New York and we just thought he was cool. He then messaged us saying he’d be down to write on anything and we decided Shiggy would be perfect. We brought him on tour and he’s amazing.
You can listen to Sports Everyone's Invited here: