A Chat with Brad Roberts (03.04.26)
Interview with Jay Lowe (Guest contributor)
Brad Roberts is the lead singer of the Canadian band Crash Test Dummies. We speak with him about his music career, songwriting, and much more.
When did you discover that you had this distinctive, baritone style of singing? Has it been something you’ve worked on?
Roberts: You know, I never did work on it. As a matter of fact, when I first started writing songs, I didn’t think that my voice was appropriate. I just thought it was too low, that it sounded incongruous and that nobody would be interested in hearing a voice in that range. You gotta remember I came out of the 80s, when screamers and heavy metal were all the rage. Not just in metal but in general, men have often sung in a higher range than me. So I didn’t think it was very likely that anyone would want to hear me sing. And then we put our record out, and everyone was like, “Where did your voice come from?”
Your first album, The Ghosts That Haunt Me, seemed to be a lot more experimental with a lot of Celtic influences. Was this a fun one to make?
Roberts: No, it wasn’t, it was a pain! We had barely any budget, and our drummer was terrible with a terrible attitude. I had to fire him. In retrospect, those were the first songs that I ever wrote. And aside from ‘Superman’s Song’, which I think is quite excellent, there are songs on that record I don’t even like anymore.
God Shuffled His Feet is a fantastic, very well-made album. Did you put extra effort into making this release a success?
Roberts: Well, our first record did so well in Canada that we got a much nicer budget to work with on our second record. So it went much better, yeah. It’s a very layered record; it took a lot of time to come up with all those pieces that I put together for that record. It’s been a while since I’ve listened to it.
‘Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm’ topped the charts in eight countries and was kept off the top spot in the UK by Prince. Did you envisage the popularity the song would have?
Roberts: No, I didn’t, and frankly, I think that anyone who imagines they’re going to be popular is probably bound to be disappointed. I never thought I could afford to be complacent about that. When I first wrote the song, I didn’t have words for the chorus. So I just hummed the melody, I gave the demo to my band and said, “Listen, I’ll put lyrics in later, but for now let’s just go with this, so go ahead and learn the song”. They all came back at me and said, “No, don’t put words there, we love it like this”. So we just kept it that way.
How much do you think the music video to ‘Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm’, with its heavy rotation on MTV, helped with the song’s success?
Roberts: Well, you know, unfortunately, music videos were pretty important in the market at that time we released the album. I’m not really that into videos; I like writing songs. I don’t need to see a bunch of pictures go by as I listen to the song. It just doesn’t interest me.
How did you cope with the fame that the band had found by the mid-90s? How did you feel to receive three Grammy nominations?
Roberts: It was nice to be nominated, though we didn’t win any. How did I feel about all that? I mean, it was fantastic. Most of the time, when you get signed to a label, you deliver a record, and it drops to obscurity and is never heard from again. So the fact that we had any success at all was a great, joyous surprise.
Where does your unique, maybe unorthodox style of songwriting come from? Tracks like ‘Swimming In Your Ocean’ and ‘How Does A Duck Know?’ are good examples of this.
Roberts: Well, thank you. I took a lot of my inspiration from a variety of bands, one of which is a band called XTC. I don’t think they enjoyed as much popularity in the UK as they deserved to. I think they’re one of the most unique bands in the history of popular music. I really think that Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding, for that matter, are both truly great songwriters.
What’s it like being in a band with your brother, Dan, all these years? Has it affected you both on a personal level?
Roberts: Oh, it’s great, Dan and I get along very well. I didn’t have to hire my brother; I chose to. The band became our whole lives when it started to take off. I don’t think it’s changed our relationship. We’ve seen enough families breaking up in the business.
How important has Ellen Reid’s contribution been to the band? I think her backing vocals give a lovely contrast to your own voice.
Roberts: Yes, I think so too. Ellen’s very important. My voice, I think, alone would become grating after a while. So I think that she alleviates the depth of my voice with some sweetness. And she’s just a naturally gifted backup singer. She’s got harmony oozing out of her. It just comes very naturally to her, so I’m very fortunate to have met her at all.
What was it like being involved with Dumb & Dumber? The band contributed ‘The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead’ to the soundtrack, and ‘Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm’ was in a famous scene with Harry and Lloyd.
Roberts: That was great fun. We were asked to record that song for the album’s soundtrack. I’m really not sure why, but they asked us to do it. We had been doing it as a cover song. I had wanted Ellen to sing lead on one song. Jeff Daniels came along and appeared in the video, so that was a real treat for us. Tremendous exposure for the band.
Find out more about Crash Test Dummies on Instagram, Facebook and Spotify.
