If you didn’t know that Kevin Hearn is a solo artist when he’s not performing as one of the Barenaked Ladies, then you probably didn’t know that his most recent release is his fourth album.

But he’s not offended if you didn’t know.

“It’s sort of under the radar,” Hearn tells andPOP. “I like it that way.”

Hearn, best known for playing the keyboards, guitar, accordion and other instruments in Barenaked Ladies, released the album, “The Miracle Mile,” in July.

It’s hard to believe that a member of the Barenaked Ladies – one of Canada’s most successful bands that has gone on to international fame – would even have to time to record one album on the side of the band, let alone four. So how does he do it?

“With great difficulty,” Hearn laughs. “It’s not easy and it takes a lot longer than it should. You know, I’ve always got the pot on the back element with stuff stewing. I’m not rushed; no one’s pressuring me to do it. I’m making them the way I want to make them. It’s sort of nice that way.”

Hearn says the songs were written in 2004, and the album itself was recorded by the end of 2005, but due to his work on the new Barenaked Ladies album, “Barenaked Ladies Are Me,” he was unable to finish the artwork for the album and the mixing, which is why it hasn’t been released until this year.

The Miracle Mile, an area in Los Angeles, inspired the album’s title, as well as a lot of the music on the album. It was there that most of the songs were written and Hearn received inspiration for the album.

If you are expecting the album to sound like a Barenaked Ladies album, you couldn’t be more wrong. Hearn, with his band, Thin Buckle, are softer and play feel-good-music. Hearn says he loves “The White Album” from The Beatles, and after listening to the “Miracle Mile” album, it is not too hard to not only see the influence, but also hear the similarities between Hearn and the four boys from Liverpool.

Hearn’s album is a mix of beats and styles; each song is different from the one before it. In fact if it wasn’t apparent that it was the Miracle Mile that provided inspiration for most of the songs (some had been written years ago), it’s hard to distinguish just what ties the songs together on the album. To a degree, Hearn says, that was intentional.

“I tried to make it a good mix of songs. I think they tie together in some way but mostly with the fact that it’s all one band playing the songs. A lot of people make records with the thought in mind that it’s like wallpaper and you don’t want things to jump around too much, but I sort of think the other way on it. I like it to be an experience with turns and twists and surprises,” Hearn says.

When asked why he likes to write songs and do his own solo work while still playing in Barenaked Ladies, Hearn answers without missing a beat.

“I like to write songs and I like to sing them and I like to explore music that is different from the Barenaked Ladies. I’m in Barenaked Ladies, but I’m one fifth of it and not one of their chief songwriters and I love my role in Barenaked Ladies but this is a chance for me to sort of take the wheel and try something different,” he says.

Hearn had his CD release party last week in Toronto at the Drake Hotel, where he performed to a packed crowd.

As for his favourite song? Hearn says that changes all the time.

“It sort of jumps around, (but right now) ‘Map of the Human Genome.’ It’s kind of rocking; I like it. It has switched though. I like ‘Hollow’ because it’s sort of weird and the ‘Miracle Mile’ song I love because the string arrangement on that is really great,” he says.

“The Miracle Mile” by Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle is available in stores now.






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