By Nancy Dorrance
with photography by Ian MacAlpine
Late January, 2005: It was one of those perfect winter nights, clear and frosty and still, with a dusting of snow on the lake behind The Tragically Hip’s recording studio in Bath, Ontario. Producer Adam Kasper (Foo Fighters/Pearl Jam) and The Hip members were inside, putting the finishing touches on two new tracks that would be added to the group’s Yer Favourites double album, aided by in-house assistant engineer Aaron Holmberg.
“The weather was just right for playing hockey on the nearby beaver pond, so we all hiked out there with our skates and had a game by moonlight,” Aaron recalls nostalgically. “I wish I could have recorded that moment, but no one had phone cameras then. It was a magical evening that really captured the camaraderie and spontaneous fun back then!”
Two decades later, the 46-year-old technical director at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts reminisces in his office — also overlooking Lake Ontario — as a lone sailboat drifts across the horizon on a perfect autumn morning in Kingston. He’s come a long way from those bohemian days of living in the attic of The Hip’s residential studio, multi-tasking 24-7 to meet the diverse needs of musicians who recorded there.
One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is Aaron’s commitment to his clients, the majority of whom today are classical performers. . . .
