Everything To Everyone - Creative Process

Creative Process

After recording and touring incessantly from 1992 until 2001, Barenaked Ladies opted to take some time off for 2002 and most of 2003. It was the first serious hiatus for the band since their inception. Upon returning to the recording studio to being recording what would become Everything to Everyone, BNL adopted a new policy of keeping the writing exclusively within the band members. This resulted in increased contribution from Jim Creeggan and Kevin Hearn, and the band ended up recording more songs than usual (which in turn resulted in a 14 song album plus a bonus track). The album was recorded in Los Angeles, and was the first album the band recorded following the inception of their online blog. This allowed the band to communicate with their fans on a continual basis during the recording, and gave additional insight into the creative process.

The band took to the facility's B-studio near the end of the recording to record versions of the album's songs on acoustic instruments. This was quickly setup, and drummer Tyler Stewart ended up using a drum kit assembled from various unusual objects. The band performed eleven songs which comprised the entire released album except for "Shopping", "Unfinished", "War on Drugs" and the bonus track "Yes!, Yes!!, Yes!!!". This acoustic session proved successful, and a similar performance would be undertaken for their next album, Barenaked Ladies Are Me (abbreviated as BLAM).

The album's cover was painted by Canadian Chris Woods, and depicts the band in profile displaying a white flag of surrender. The title text was displayed over the flag, though to preserve the meaning of the white flag, the album title was not printed on the cover itself. It was instead placed as a sticker on the transparent wrapping, and was "flat", not wavy to match the flag's contours. For the special edition, the title was on the clear plastic sleeve, and matched the flag's waves. The original painting, a 60" x 60" oil on canvas, reportedly hangs at Page's farmhouse studio, Fresh Baked Woods.

Tracks recorded but not included on the album:

• "Statue of Los Angeles" (unreleased) - a Hearn song; released on his album The Miracle Mile
• "Sign Me Up" (unreleased) - described as "basically us swearing our heads off for six minutes"
• "Adrift" (re-recorded for BLAM, and released on the album Stop Us If You've Heard This One Before)
• "What a Let Down" (re-recorded for BLAM)
• "I Can, I Will, I Do" (previously recorded on Disc One, and re-recorded for BLAM; appears on iTunes Originals - Barenaked Ladies. Later released on "Stop Us").
• "Yes! Yes!! Yes!!!" (bonus track on the special edition's DVD, and b-side on the UK single for "Celebrity". Later released on "Stop Us").

As with each of their early albums, the band recorded one song, "Sign Me Up", completely naked.