When he was a student at what was then known as the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, Andrew Scott had a professor who regularly said that painting was something that could be done until someone dropped dead, while rock n’ roll had a best-before date.
It was a message that resonated with Scott, who attended the Halifax university, but in 1991, he faced a pivotal decision.
Three art history credits short of getting a bachelor of fine arts, Scott debated whether to finish school or pursue music with the promising new band he was in, Sloan, where he was the drummer.
Dropping out of school meant he wouldn’t have the satisfaction of completing something he’d started, and he wouldn’t be able to show his diploma to his mom.
“But with regards to the band … we had such a blank slate in front of us and it just seemed too good an opportunity to turn down,” said Scott.
The decision was made at a time when the band hadn’t even put out an album.
Besides, music wasn’t something that was going to be a long-term thing.
“I remember distinctly begging my mom for X amount of dollars to buy a certain drum kit and I was like, ‘Mom, I’m not going to be in a rock band when I’m 30,'” said Scott.
“I literally said those words. I’m basically 60 and I still love my job.”
Sloan has put out 14 studio albums, with some considered by critics and fans alike to be some of the best Canadian albums ever made, such as 1994’s Twice Removed and 1996’s One Chord to Another.
The band also criss-crosses the country regularly playing shows and they also tour in the United States as well, playing songs that have become an essential part of Canadiana, such as Money City Maniacs, If It Feels Good Do It and The Rest of My Life.
At NSCAD University’s May convocation ceremony, Scott is being named a Life Fellow, which is “awarded to individuals whose commitment and service have made a profound and lasting impact on NSCAD University,” says its website.
Scott said he’s thrilled and humbled by the honour. His mom is also very pleased.
“Oh my God, she was so over the moon,” said Scott, who spoke to CBC News by telephone from Hamilton just before the soundcheck of a recent concert.
When Scott left NSCAD, a professor suggested Scott mail postcards from the road, with the aim of granting some credits in exchange for this assignment. But Scott never mailed any.
For Scott, the Life Fellow honour is deeply personal. Sloan’s first show was in NSCAD’s cafeteria in February 1991. He met his wife while he was a student there and his son is now in his first year at the school.
The latter detail begs the question of what would Scott say if his son dropped out to chase a music career.
“I would say go with your gut and trust your heart,” said Scott. “I wouldn’t have any real guidance other than if this is what you wanna do, then do it, try it, try everything.”
While Scott, who moved from Halifax to Toronto in the mid-1990s, is best known for his work with Sloan, painting is a big part of his life.
It was on the back burner as the group’s fame rose in the 1990s, but by the late 1990s, he started painting again, renting some studios.
But for the past two decades, he’s been doing art off and on in an unheated garage at his Toronto home, and he also sells his work.
And when he tours with Sloan, art is how he passes the time between shows.
“I have all day, every day, to kill,” said Scott. “And what do I do? I go to art museums or art galleries. Like, I literally immerse myself in art history.”
Growing up, Scott said he always wanted to be an artist. He was influenced by his father, who worked with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, but was also a jazz musician and painter.
Scott’s father died in 1982. Despite his father’s artistic background, Scott thinks his dad would have dissuaded him from going to NSCAD.
“I will never know but he was way more a strict proponent of academics than he was a champion of art making when I was young and failing pretty much everything but in grade school,” Scott wrote in an email.
Just how hard it is to make a living as an artist was reinforced on the first day of Scott’s classes at NSCAD, where a professor told a class of 20-25 people that maybe one of them would make a living making art. The warning about bleak career prospects didn’t deter him.
Scott was nominated for the Life Fellow honour by sculptor Thierry Delva, who is also a former NSCAD professor. He said there’s lots of reasons why he nominated Scott, including that he’s a great ambassador for the university.
“To make a career out of two different streams can act as a great role model for students,” said Delva. “Very few artists in Canada can live from their work, so they have to do something else.”
At the May convocation ceremony, Scott isn’t the only person being recognized. German visual artist Gerhard Richter will receive an honorary doctorate in absentia.
Scott, who calls Richter his art hero, remembers going to New York City as an art student and seeing his paintings in person. He said just being mentioned in the same sentence as Richter is a huge honour.
“He instantly became the ‘bar’ as painter for me when I first saw some of his work,” Scott said in an email. “My dad set me off running and Richter pointed out the pathway. NSCAD provided the permission to follow it.”
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