House is a studio for The Dears

When bassist Martin Pelland was 6 years old, his father bought the family tickets to see B.B. King.

"I can still remember where we sat during that show," Pelland said by phone from Toronto. "I'm in my 20s now, and it has made a huge impact on me."

Pelland, keyboardist Natalia Yanchak, drummer George Donoso III, singer Murray Lightburn, flutist/keyboardist Valerie Jodoin-Keaton and guitarist Patrick Krief — collectively known as The Dears — have just released their third, full-length album, "Gang of Losers."

"We had some time to work on the album," said Pelland. "We had been playing nine of the 12 songs on the road before we even went into the studio to record them. So when it came time to make the album, we knew what we were doing."

The problem was finding a studio that would be suitable for what The Dears wanted to do. "We shopped around. We would find great studios, but the equipment would be bad. And then we'd find good equipment, but the studio room would be bad."

To make things more challenging was the fact that Donoso and his wife just welcomed a new baby into their family, said Pelland. "So George wanted to find a place that was close to his home, which is understandable."

The band decided to set up a studio in Donoso's house. "We rented the equipment and put it together. At first we didn't know if that was a good idea because of the newborn baby. But George said it would be OK. And it was.

"I liked the idea of having a studio in the house. We didn't worry about time costing us money. If we got hungry, we cooked. If we got worn out, we'd turn on a hockey game. And after it was over, we'd go back to recording."

The band recorded and sequenced the songs for the album, but they had two songs — "Bandwagoneers" and "Ballad of Humankindness" — that they didn't think would fit, music-wise. "We had these songs, and we all had a feeling that they would be thrown out," said Pelland. "But we worked with them and found something that worked.

"They turned out to be two of the best songs on the album."

If you go

What: The Dears

Where: Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East

When: Monday, 9 p.m.

How much: $12

Phone: 467-8499 or 800-888-8499

Web: www.smithstix.com

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E-mail: scott@desnews.com