Canned Hamm is a duo of dueling karaoke kings from Vancouver, BC.  But eight years ago, when they stopped fighting and joined forces, they created a comedy band unlike any other.

Chief Magazine:  So you guys started around 2000? 

Canned Hamm:  Yeah, that’s right.  It’s been about eight years now.  Originally, we were gonna call our first album, and I wish we had, Millennium Fever because it came out in 2001 and we wanted to have a little “Y2K compatible” sticker in the corner.  That just gets better with age. 

[Laughs] That’s good.  That’s real good.  Maybe you can make one now.  It’s still the new Millennium… sort of.

Robert:  We’re still pretty compatible with Y2K.  We fit like a glove.  [Laughs] 

Robert, I know that you were doing zines and writing a lot…

R:  A lot of high kicks, too. 

[Laughs] High kicks?  You have to find a place to do that.  So, how did you and Stephen meet?  How did Canned Hamm come about?

R:  You want the real story or the real, real story?  How hard-hitting are ya, here?

We are pretty hard-hitting.  Give me the REAL, real story…  

S:  Robert “Little Hamm” and I had been buddies for a long time and we were doing a lot of karaoke at the time.  We were both competing, essentially, at this fantastic karaoke bar in Vancouver.

R:  Where all circles met. 

S:  It’s where it’s at.  We all used to go down there, and, instead of competing against each other, we decided to join forces.

R:  We found that we were Y2K compatible.

S:  As the millennium turned, it took our forces from negative to positive.  It’s a lot easier to just sing without having to play instruments.

R:  We put the 2 in Y2K.  It’s funny, you know, we were offering radically different versions of songs.  For example, I would do the Prince version of “Kiss” and he would do the Age of Chance version. [Laughs]

S:  [Laughs] Wow, that’s right. 

R:  I’m not down with the Age of Chance. [Laughs]

S:  We just brought it all together and that’s how we came up with the sound.  Also, at the time, we were both really, really into the Adult Child album by The Beach Boys.  That was a huge influence on our first album.  So, yeah, karaoke and… 

R:  Late 70’s synthesizer-oriented Beach Boys.

S:  That’s what Canned Hamm is all about. 

I feel like if I had to sum it up, that’s what I would say…

R:  Well, that definitely summed up how we started.  We have influences a mile long.  The other big influences, of course, are Paul Williams and Pat McCormick in all three Smokey and The Bandit movies.  They were Big Enos and Little Enos.  That was always kind of an unseen influence.  A lot of these things sort of seep in through the back door, you know?  And that was one.  It was like “Oh yeah!” and even after we started…

S:  It was one of the things we both enjoy and have in common… late 70’s Burt Reynolds movies.  Originally, we started as a song and dance act but then we removed it.  We get bored easily.  We changed it a couple years later to a dance and song act. 

[Laughs]

S:  We kinda went disco.  You can see that if you listen to our second album, Erotic Thriller.  We covered the scene from Cannonball Run, which was written by Chuck Mangione. 

R:  He’s always feeling good.  If not, he’ll turn his lawyers on you.

S:  [Laughs] That’s a different story all together. 

R:  With Erotic Thriller, that whole thing was kind of a core mandate.  We were listening to a lot of dance pop.  We were really realizing that the only place where any technical innovations or innovations in song craft was happening, was actual dance pop with Britney Spears and Kylie and whatnot.  Actually, that new Britney album is actually pretty good.  The problem with Britney, though, is that I know, I personally, didn’t like what she was actually saying.  I liked the music but the message was disgusting.  So, it was like, “Well, what if we take dance pop on our terms and write our own message?”  While also trying not to have any filler on the album, because a lot of dance pop albums have those few amazing tracks that are jaw-dropping and then there are just fillers.  It was like, “Ok, let’s make an album you wanna put on at a party from start to finish.”  That was our mandate. 

I recently read an article with M.I.A.  She was originally an artist, not a musician, but she decided to turn to music because she saw people like Britney and Christina making great music but then just talking garbage.  She comes from a pretty turbulent political background and she was like, “I wonder if I can make….” 

R:  Dude, we’re from Canada!  [Laughs]

[Laughs]  Yeah!  Sri Lanka and Canada… same thing.  Interchangeable, really.  But, I really appreciated that.  It’s kind of a little bit subversive and duping people but you still can’t help but be impressed by it.  It’s still good. 

Also, talking about pop and that whole entertainment thing… There’s been a resurgence of vaudeville and, especially here in New York, burlesque shows popping up.  I feel like with television, and even in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, moving in the screen, pushing out the stage actors.  Actors used to be able to sing and dance and act, as well.  That’s not really the case anymore. 

S:  The death of The Sonny and Cher Show, the variety shows like The Carol Burnett Show and all of those shows, it’s… I was flipping through the channels last night and you’ve got like Deal or No Deal and American Idol, and it’s so sad.   

R:  When you turn on the TV now days, you get something that’s anti-entertainment.  It’s like the exact opposite of entertainment.  It’s this parallel universe where everyone is vapid and vacant.  It’s a scary other world. 

Yeah, The Hills, that’s it… that’s a weird show.  That is the apex of anti-entertainment.  It’s amazing, fascinating. 

S:  Yeah, it is.  There’s also America’s Got Talent…

America doesn’t have talent. [Laughs]

S:  You’re in New York City; you would know. [Laughs]