Kim Mitchell on ‘Go For Soda,’ ‘Patio Lanterns,’ ‘I Am a Wild Party’

Kim Mitchell won’t let a recent heart attack keep him off Canadian concert stages.

Months after being hospitalized, the Toronto-based rocker is planning a series of concerts timed for the busy summer festival season.

Mitchell talked to The Canadian Press about five songs he loves to play live and the stories behind each one:

— “Go For Soda”
“Everyone thought it was about drinking and driving but it wasn’t at all — it was about two people in conflict. (They’re) saying, ‘You’re in a blue mood. I had it your way but I want it my way. We’re not getting anywhere. Might as well go for a soda.’ In the United States … Mothers Against Drunk Driving grabbed onto it and thankfully gave the song a push. All of a sudden there was this hoopla around it, and the record company was like, ‘Don’t say anything … go along with it.’ (I said,) ‘Does this mean I can get a new car after the tour? OK, sure I’ll go with it.’”

— “Patio Lanterns”
“Lyricist Pye Dubois said, ‘I have this set of lyrics, I don’t think you’re going to like it, it’s kind of different.’ I literally wrote (the music) at the corner of Queen and Sherbourne (in downtown Toronto) in my van. I remember pulling over, pulling my guitar out and kind of wrote the first verse. But this is how my brain thinks: I hated the snare drum sound in it. It wasn’t crispy and tight enough, it was a little more loose and warm. The engineer mixed it like that (and said), ‘Oh that sounds really nice, it’s a nice lighter tune.’ And it’s always bothered me.”

— “Rock N’ Roll Duty”
“A co-worker came over and my wife at the time was making dinner. We went upstairs to a little room, I had a tape recorder, and we wrote ‘Rock N’ Roll Duty.’ Literally it was probably one of the quickest songs I wrote in my life. I was maybe up there 15 minutes tops and the song was done, top to bottom.”

— “All We Are”
“I’m not a keyboard player, but I wrote it on a keyboard I bought when I lived at an apartment (above) Tom Cochrane. I remember sitting and playing and it was mainly all the black keys, which is why it was so easy for me to write. But I didn’t have anybody to sing it (with me) until Peter (Fredette) got into the band.”

— “I Am a Wild Party (Live)”
“Mike Fraser, who mixed a lot of AC/DC records, mixed that. It was kind of recorded live, but with no audience. We were in rehearsal (and) set up a board and some microphones. I had a cold that day and we were singing like (expletive). We recorded “I Am a Wild Party” in one take. We added the audience later. We recorded the audience in two spots — Maple Leaf Gardens and Guelph, Ont. — had people yell and we inserted (it) into the mix.”

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