There's a fun story behind this tune...

We were all at Terry's (and Russ's) studio (2nd or 3rd floor?) in a historical building in the Distillery District on the outskirts of downtown Toronto. We had done portions of 'Window Dressing' there (and photos) and recorded all of 'Fly Paper' (and did photos). Great vibe. We crashed on air mattresses but had bathroom and kitchenette amenities.

Of questionable coincidental benefit was "The Canary" restaurant on the first floor. A popular greasy spoon in all the traditions of that description. Like White Castle, it was very tasty during consumption - but quite a shock to any normal person's digestive tract during 'processing.'

Anyway, we were recording bed tracks, and when 'Hide & Seek' was next we started running through the tune with bass, guitar, and drums. After a few takes, Jeff said he wasn't feeling well and needed to lie down - so we took a break. After a while, it became apparent the previous night's festivities, exacerbated by a hearty meal at the Canary, had impacted Jeff's participation. So..., no worries - these things happen.

Mark and I proceeded to record the track (at this point we were looking to capture the drum performance) and it went quite well. After all..., this is how the foundation of the first Tiles album was recorded - including songs that appeared later (Changing the Guard, Reasonable Doubt).

What's kind of interesting is the jam at the end. The full length (as you can now hear) was a tad "warty" in a developmental sense, so Terry chose the spot where the energy peaked to do a fade for the official release. But as an interesting tidbit here's the full-length version - which is still kind of cool.

In hopes of finally tying the story together, this is a one-take performance (drums and guitar solo). Although Jeff later overdubbed his bass (great interaction with what was already there), Mark and I improvised. I used a 1997 Strat (you've seen the photos) and was inspired a bit by Jeff Beck since we had been listening to recent (at that time) albums of his on the trek from Detroit. Disclaimer: I by no means am implying it's Jeff Beck quality, however!

Anyway..., properly mastered for sonic quality. We hope you like it - at least as a behind-the-scenes story.

- Chris Herin