Brad Roberts, the heart and soul of Canada’s Crash Test Dummies, is back after taking a six-year hiatus.
“I basically shut down the band and let my manager go, because I just couldn’t do any more,” Roberts said during a telephone call while he drove around Manchester, N.H., trying to find a parking place. “I felt there was no way I could make another CD.”
The reason for stepping out of the spotlight was the shift in the music-business paradigm.
File sharing and other Internet piracy outlets took a toll on the music business. When it went sour, labels dropped bands like Crash Test Dummies from their rosters.
“You know I am very lucky because the peak of our success was at a time before the whole downloading file sharing thing dropped its bomb on the music industry,” he said. “I actually managed to make some money off that record and I squirreled it away.”
Back in 1991, Roberts and Crash Test Dummies released “The Ghosts That Haunt Me,” which featured the breakthrough single “Superman’s Song.”
The disc set the stage for the successful release of the follow-up CD “God Shuffled His Feet.” Hitting the charts with the strength of the MTV-friendly single “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm,” the CD earned a Grammy Award nomination and became the band’s first multi-platinum disc, selling more than 5 million copies.
The success didn’t save Crash Test Dummies from being dropped by BMG Music.
After releasing two independent CDs, Crash Test Dummies released its ninth CD, “Songs of the Unforgiven,” in 2004 and called it a day.
“Throughout the years, it’s been harder and harder to make records without losing money,” said Roberts, who cited XTC, Talking Heads and the Irish Rovers as some of his musical influences.
Still, the creative bug didn’t die, and Roberts continued to write songs because songwriting had become easier than in the past.
“When I was first writing songs, my process was basically grasping at straws,” he said. “I would take a week or two to write one song.
“Now I sit down and I just start hammering away, writing couplets on the computer keyboard,” he said. “I type out anything that comes into my head.”
Eventually, a phrase will come to mind that complements another phrase, Roberts said.
“Then I copy and paste them and stitch these things together,” he said. “Sometimes (the process allows me to) sit down and write a lyric in 20 minutes, and for some reason, it becomes the best lyric on the record.”
Roberts, who has a degree in philosophy and English literature, said he got into songwriting after seeing singer/songwriters such as Lyle Lovett and Steve Earle.
“Those are guys who could sit down and play a song that will stand on its own legs with just a guitar and voice,” Roberts said. “And I started thinking. Between philosophy and poetry, I was well trained to write lyrics.”
The songwriter began thinking of recording a new record last year and contacted producer Stewart Lerman, who has worked with Marshall Crenshaw, David Johanson, Sophie B. Hawkins and David rne.
“Stewart is an enormously talented man,” Roberts said. “He has been making records for 30 to 40 years and is an amazing music writer.
In addition, Roberts said, Lerman is a good engineer and producer.
“He sits back and gets the best out of me that can be got,” he said. “When I do my vocal takes and he has all kinds of great ideas for arrangements. He hears everything the first time through and he doesn’t have to play it back.”
Lerman also wrote and arranged the music for the new recording, “Oooh La La,” which was released in May.
“When I collaborate with another writer, it makes it more interesting and more exciting,” Roberts said. “It’s a social thing. I’m not trapped in a room by myself. All the habits I have accrued over the years get thrown out the window, because I’m working with someone who has different habits.”
Roberts originally thought he would release “Oooh La La” as a digital-only release, because of the cost of recording and distribution. But Lerman made him a deal.
“He’s quite willing to work as long as we split the publishing,” Roberts said. “So through him, I found a way to make records and again and not lose money.”
The arrangement has him thinking of the next CD.
“I have 10 songs nearly finished and three more I’d like to write before I release a new record, which I hope will be in the Fall of 2011,” Roberts said. “If I can release one CD a year, I’ll feel like I’m in pretty good shape.”
Crash Test Dummies will play the Eccles Center for the Arts, 1750 Kearns Blvd., on Saturday, Jan. 8. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $18-$65 and available at www.ecclescenter.org or by calling (435) 655-3114.