The following is an interview conducted a short time after the release of "Artificial Paradise".

"The music that we've made on "Artificial Paradise" takes a little more listening to get used to but that's because there's probably a lot more there than ever before. It's certainly tighter and we're getting closer to each player's full potential musically - including Kurt, Garry, and myself. We've got really good players to bounce off and there's an infinite variety of directions to go in. Peterson even thinks it sounds more like the old Guess Who now, but it's really a new band and "Artificial Paradise" was an experiment to see what we could come up with."

The Guess Who are putting themselves solidly behind the sounds on the new album. That became obvious from the enjoyment Cummings derived expounding about the songs, one by one, as they appear on the Album....

"Side one opens with "Bye Bye Babe" which was written by Kurt and Billy. Bill sings the lead about a female singer in Winnipeg that he was playing with before he joined our band. It's just an old rock'n'roll stomper. Wallace's singing reminds me of Mick Ahbrams or Bob Mosely of the old Moby Grape, but not too much of anyone else."

" In "Samantha's Living Room", Don describes a typical family scene. He's very close to his family and it could be them - all he's basically saying is that peoples' family lives just continue down through the years no matter what else happens to them. The song might seem a little bare concept-wise but that's the way McDougall wrote it and we didn't try to shove anything down his throat. Kurt plays steel guitar for the first time and Wallace play Euphonium in the break. It's very hard to play with a relaxed feel at that tempo but I think we bring it off o.k. "

" The third cut, "Rock and Roller Steam" was written by Kurt and Bill. It's just stomp, stomp rock-and-roll. I don't know what the lyrics mean, but I like'em. I guess they reflect a genuine dissatisfaction with everything.... with people's stupidity. "

" Follow Your Daughter Home" is an older cut dating back to when Kale and Leskiw were still in the group. It came out of a jam ... all those Jamaican rhythms gave us a good laugh and from there we went on to write the song. It's simple but it's very catchy. The lyrics just say that today chicks are crazy by the time they're thirteen so parents better keep an eye on their young daughters. "

" Side one ends with "Those Show Biz Shoes" and it's a song about a pair of white shoes that I wore for about two years. They were around from the time our band hit until they fell apart and I used to polish the hell out of them, but the funny thing is that as the tune came out it turned into more of documentary of the life of someone in a rock band. The show biz shoes were just the focal point for me to thank people for the success they have bestowed upon me... "Bright lights, big city, impress the women; gettin' gold records in my show biz shoes". It came off right and I'm very pleased with it and that doesn't happen all the time. "

" The next song is without a doubt one of the best cuts the band has ever done, as far as playing goes; yeah "All Hashed Out" ... it was written by Kurt Winter, Bill and myself. I wrote some of the lyrics and some of the little riffs. Kurt wrote most of the guitar lines and Wallace filled in everything else. Lyrically, the whole thing vaguely denotes the use of an illicit substance - it's like a double entendre. Somebody thinking he has things all hashed out because he is all hased out but once he straightens up he finds that he has no more answers than before he got blasted. "

"Orly" I wrote in the Paris Airport waiting for a plane to Rome. I was stitting around in a bar there for about five hours listening to these goddamn bells that ring every time a plane arrives or departs. Like a major ascending triad as they take off and a descending triad when they land, so we put those in the tune. It's just a song about being in Europe and going to Rome to see my aunt (younger sister of my dad). We used a violin player from Portage la Prairie (Manitoba) named Stanley. We packed him and his fiddle off to L.A. and the track really added something to the song. "

"Lost and Found Town" is a song Donny wrote about Winnipeg. He'd been away in Toronto for about two years and he tells about coming home and how good it felt to see his folks again. This song is also one of my favorites musically. Wallace did an amazing bass solo in that cut and Donny sings a little like Jesse Colin Young, which is a compliment, for sure. "

" There's not much to say about "Hambe Gahle" ... The words are traditional Zulu chant which means "Go in peace, Go with God". Somebody I met on a plane told me about the chant and it was such a rhythmic sound that we arrange it into this song. "

" The album closes with "The Watcher" which Bill and I wrote together. There are no guitars on the cut. I played harpsichord piano and sang while Wallace played bass, euphonium, and trombone. Peterson played a full drum track. It's very intricate- another musician's cut. Oonce in a while Bill writes a really good set of lyrics and this is one of them. It's about a guy who used to come and watch Bill's band when they were playing pubs. Apparently he came every night for about a year, always sitting way in the back, so Wallace wrote this song. "What'll become of the watcher when the lights go out and the band packs up and goes home?" I think a lot of people can identify with this tune. "

"The album really has a lot of different things on it... little pieces of what we're about as individuals. I nearly always feel this way about a new album, but this time I'm sure it's the best thing the Guess Who has ever done."