The following interview took place on November 5, 2002, shortly after the release of the Midway album. Mary Beth Horvath interviews Ian Thomas (IT) for Forever Young (FY).
FY:	You, Rick, Peter and Bill each have a solid career, so just how and why did The Boomers happen? Does the name Boomers have anything to do with the fact that all four of you are baby boomers?
IT:	Originally I was working on a solo album when The Boomers organically became this thing. The Boomers became a natural evolution and, yes, the name is relative to age.
FY:	When The Boomers toured Germany in 1991, I read there was a spiritual effect on both band and audience. What happened?
IT:	When you're younger, being front and centre, one perceives the experience differently. It's an ego, vanity-driven business and the consciousness of it all was a slow get for me. Then, in Germany, the audience knew words to every song... (there) was a sense of communication with the audience, like howling at the moon together. The other guys in the band were usually side men but now they were on stage as equal partners. The Boomers were a musical entity.
FY:	Have you ever composed a song intentionally for another artist?
IT:	No, I'm not a tailor songwriter. My songs are such a personal expression. I love recording, it keeps me going. I guess I'm a selfish writer.
FY:	Who or what provides you with the inspiration to write?
IT:	Inspiration is a reference level. I can write a batch of songs, then I can't write for awhile. I then need to acquire new life experiences ... My Dad once said, life is unquestionable answers with unanswerable questions. We accept partial truths (better than) the truth in its entirety. There are no absolute truths.
FY:	What is the longest amount of time it's taken you to compose a song and the shortest amount of time?
IT:	The song I Remember from the Midway CD took me two years. I couldn't get it to sit. There is an old Inuit metaphor, "Sculpture is to release a figure trapped in stone." That's how it felt for me with this particular song. The shortest amount? Well I've been know to scribble down lyrics in about 10 minutes. I like to refer to this as "easy gets." I recall a night sitting around with Tom Cochrane, Amy Sky and Marc Jordan. We all agreed that there have been one or two songs for each of us that we did not really write but were just handed to us. There was a reverence among us that the sensation and knowledge of something bigger than us – a spiritual consciousness.
FY:	Do you still have an interest in acting?
IT:	After my Dad passed away in 1996, I felt I lost my sense of humour. The vanity of wanting to act dissipated, in and around that window. I just don't enjoy selling myself on camera, but I still do voice-overs in cartoons and commercials – actually I'm the voice of SNAP with Rice Krispies commercials. But lately I've been chatting with my brother Dave, who lives in Malibu and is my best friend in life, about doing a stage show with shtick and music.
FY:	When you take a break, how do you like to relax?
IT:	I have an old 1968 Mercedes 280 SL Roadster. I love going out and shining that damn thing up and going on jaunts with Catherine. I bought it from an old man who use to love going on jaunts with his wife, so I feel like I am continuing that tradition. I also enjoy walking the Bruce Trail with my dogs.
FY:	What are your greatest achievements, professionally and personally?
IT:	I guess my greatest achievements on both levels is that I am not completely jaded, not consumed with the bitterness of failure. My personal achievement is that I've managed to hang onto Catherine, my wife of 32 years, that she is still interested in this fool. I'm of the belief system that relationships are investments: if there are no investments there are no dividends. After my Dad's death in 1996, I was very grief stricken. Catherine finally said that I was overdrawn in the emotional/relationship bank account. When she said that I experienced a personal revelation and a new or different way of thinking. When one passes away, we need to discover how to continue loving that person in their absence as we did with loving that person in their presence.