articles
Broken Social Scene
from volume 01 issue 06 // Michael Rabinowitz
Broken Social Scene
Interview with Brendan Canning
November 2, 2006
Jannus Landing
Words: Michael Rabinowitz
Photos: Wendy Lynch
The term "synecdoche" is defined by Webster's Dictionary as "a figure of speech by which a part is put for the whole or the whole for a part."
(Akin to using such slang as "threads" for clothing or "wheels" for car.) The same can be said for Broken Social Scene. Each member of the 12-person collective has success in their own right. Feist, Metric, The Weakerthans, and Stars are just a few of the bands that comprise what appears to be the entire Toronto indie populace in Broken Social Scene. As a whole unit (if everyone's schedule allows) BSS presents a power pop sound that is categorically inimitable.
Founding member Brendan Canning sat down with REAX in anticipation of their Jannus Landing show on Nov. 2 to discuss the logistics of utilizing a dozen-plus musicians, the dangers of falling into the "Matchbox 20 trap," and what constitutes a great music festival.
REAX: You sometimes perform with six guitars and three drummers. Who is conducting?
Brendan Canning: Our front man is our sound guy, Marty Kineck. He is ultimately the conductor. We are all playing and all quite familiar with the arrangements we played but, when it gets out to the front of the house, we leave it up to our soundman. Because if there are four guitars playing and someone is a bit wonky or bit out of tune or if the violin isn’t sitting quite right, ultimately its not going to make the mix up.
REAX: The best way I can describe your recent album is simple song structure with complex layers from multiple sources added on. Is there room to improvise when performing live?
BC: There is. Not as much as we would like sometimes because either you’re getting really experimental or you’re a pop band. So, I guess we are trying to bridge that gap, I suppose. There is plenty room in certain tunes to takeoff on tangents. Those are the type of tunes that are enjoyable for me and I think for a lot of us too.
REAX: What is the bond that attracts the group to come back from their individual projects? Is this a home for a lot of people?
BC: Yeah. These days, not nearly as often as it used to be because everyone’s career is taking them in different directions and quite frankly, the group is going to have to go through a lot of changes in order to continue on to the upcoming years. But, for a long time it was the meeting place for everyone. For all of these bands this was like home base, checking in, seeing everyone, playing a few shows and off everyone went again. And, at some points not everyone is there. It is a bit of an open-door policy that we try to keep somewhat of a grip on but it’s difficult.
REAX: Was it purposeful to try and go beyond what a traditional sounding pop album is?
BC: Oh yeah, there was. You make one false move and all of sudden you end up sounding like Matchbox 20. That is obviously what we are trying to avoid at this point. Our group tries to fearlessly add sounds that you can take away later.
REAX: Since your lineup changes regularly, you have this organic symmetry in your shows. Does that help or hinder the group when you go from show to show?
BC: That’s been the great thing and the downfall of this band. You get changes it’s great and the next night you are missing someone. But, ultimately everyone knows what each other brings to the group so when someone is missing it is just known you should fill in that gap somehow, to the best of your ability.
REAX: The new album has a definite avant-garde feel to it, almost like performance art sometimes. Have you or anyone in the band studied art, academically?
BC: No formal training. But, a few in the group went to an arts high school. That’s where a lot of people went, this Utopical School of the Arts. But, that’s 15 years ago kind of thing. But, as far as improvised music or avant-garde music, personally I am into a lot of different things that I am not going to be turning the dial to find pop radio generally. I would be much more interested into listening to Sun Ra than I would be, I don’t know, Gnarls Barkley. … I guess. No offense (laughs).
REAX: What is it like when band members do return to BSS? Do they need to be brought up to speed or do they immediately bring something to the table?
BC: If there are new tunes or new ideas, it is a bit of a catch-up. But, ultimately our songs are not that difficult and, especially for the people that have been playing with us for a long time, they know what to expect. We have a sound like any other group. And, certain ideas will work and certain ideas won’t work.
REAX: BSS opened the Virgin Festival (in Toronto) and closed as a last minute substitute for Massive Attack and you guys knocked it out of the park. Was it civic pride or a professional duty as a musician that motivated you to step in?
BC: We try to rule out the civic pride thing because we throw a similar festival in the same location. It’s also on Toronto Island. We’ve been doing it for three years. Last year, we brought Modest Mouse up. The year before it was more Canadian acts where we were added and then we decided to keep the tradition going. So this past year we had Feist and J Mascis and Dinosaur Jr. Well, BSS was Dinosaur Jr. and we backed J up. And, Bloc Party came up for that one too. It was strange going into the V Fest after having a triumphant show of our own in the same location, just a couple months earlier. Which is like a real homecoming show for us here in Toronto. So, it can’t compare with that because it’s our festival. And, you know, when it comes to the Virgin Music Festival: yeah, you’re a musician, you have to play a gig, and you can’t turn some of these things down.
REAX: In the YouTube clip I saw, BSS really knocked it out of the park.
BC: It was good. I enjoyed it too. I didn’t have as much fun as our own festival but that’s because we run things a little smoother than Virgin Mobile. They try to make it a little bigger than it should have been and I think they kind of fucked it up. But, the Raconteurs were really good that night.
REAX: How was the Virgin festival compared to Lollapalooza?
BC: Lollapalooza was maybe the highlight of the year for us so I wouldn’t compare to our performance at V Fest just because it was something new.
REAX: What makes a successful festival for you?
BC: Is the crowd with you or not. What sort of bands do you have to endure that day? Is it going to be music you want to hear or is it just going to be a bunch of fucking annoying bands? Like at Redding or Leeds in the U.K.
REAX: Have you been to those festivals?
BC: Yeah, we’ve played there this summer. It was pretty poor. If we had The Shins and Wilco on the other side of the complex, or Queens of the Stone Age, then I really can’t complain about those bands. You just don’t want to go to a festival and hear music very loud all day long and then try and get inspired to do your own show.
REAX: Since all the members are from Toronto and everyone is finding their own individual success, do you feel a responsibility to the scene when you do tour?
BC: In the beginning we took out Stars as our support act and Do Make Say Think (on this tour), Metric, Feist, and Jason Collett as well. Toronto has been so supportive of us the last five or six years, you don’t want to all of sudden embarrass yourself and embarrass the people who used to support you. I guess you want to try and maintain your integrity and do the right thing because so often there are so many opportunities to do the wrong thing. The whole thing with BSS, we have to keep everyone together, as far as membership goes, we take out the other bands that are in our band on our tour. A win-win situation, I suppose.
REAX: What can we expect in Tampa as far as BSS’s lineup?
BC: Some of the Do Make Say Think guys are joining us and we’ll pick up an additional drummer for some songs. I’d say probably 10 or 11 of us. At that point we will be at the halfway point of the tour and well into the swing of things. I expect us to be firing on all cylinders at that point.
Interview with Brendan Canning
November 2, 2006
Jannus Landing
Words: Michael Rabinowitz
Photos: Wendy Lynch
The term "synecdoche" is defined by Webster's Dictionary as "a figure of speech by which a part is put for the whole or the whole for a part."
(Akin to using such slang as "threads" for clothing or "wheels" for car.) The same can be said for Broken Social Scene. Each member of the 12-person collective has success in their own right. Feist, Metric, The Weakerthans, and Stars are just a few of the bands that comprise what appears to be the entire Toronto indie populace in Broken Social Scene. As a whole unit (if everyone's schedule allows) BSS presents a power pop sound that is categorically inimitable.
Founding member Brendan Canning sat down with REAX in anticipation of their Jannus Landing show on Nov. 2 to discuss the logistics of utilizing a dozen-plus musicians, the dangers of falling into the "Matchbox 20 trap," and what constitutes a great music festival.
REAX: You sometimes perform with six guitars and three drummers. Who is conducting?
Brendan Canning: Our front man is our sound guy, Marty Kineck. He is ultimately the conductor. We are all playing and all quite familiar with the arrangements we played but, when it gets out to the front of the house, we leave it up to our soundman. Because if there are four guitars playing and someone is a bit wonky or bit out of tune or if the violin isn’t sitting quite right, ultimately its not going to make the mix up.
REAX: The best way I can describe your recent album is simple song structure with complex layers from multiple sources added on. Is there room to improvise when performing live?
BC: There is. Not as much as we would like sometimes because either you’re getting really experimental or you’re a pop band. So, I guess we are trying to bridge that gap, I suppose. There is plenty room in certain tunes to takeoff on tangents. Those are the type of tunes that are enjoyable for me and I think for a lot of us too.
REAX: What is the bond that attracts the group to come back from their individual projects? Is this a home for a lot of people?
BC: Yeah. These days, not nearly as often as it used to be because everyone’s career is taking them in different directions and quite frankly, the group is going to have to go through a lot of changes in order to continue on to the upcoming years. But, for a long time it was the meeting place for everyone. For all of these bands this was like home base, checking in, seeing everyone, playing a few shows and off everyone went again. And, at some points not everyone is there. It is a bit of an open-door policy that we try to keep somewhat of a grip on but it’s difficult.
REAX: Was it purposeful to try and go beyond what a traditional sounding pop album is?
BC: Oh yeah, there was. You make one false move and all of sudden you end up sounding like Matchbox 20. That is obviously what we are trying to avoid at this point. Our group tries to fearlessly add sounds that you can take away later.
REAX: Since your lineup changes regularly, you have this organic symmetry in your shows. Does that help or hinder the group when you go from show to show?
BC: That’s been the great thing and the downfall of this band. You get changes it’s great and the next night you are missing someone. But, ultimately everyone knows what each other brings to the group so when someone is missing it is just known you should fill in that gap somehow, to the best of your ability.
REAX: The new album has a definite avant-garde feel to it, almost like performance art sometimes. Have you or anyone in the band studied art, academically?
BC: No formal training. But, a few in the group went to an arts high school. That’s where a lot of people went, this Utopical School of the Arts. But, that’s 15 years ago kind of thing. But, as far as improvised music or avant-garde music, personally I am into a lot of different things that I am not going to be turning the dial to find pop radio generally. I would be much more interested into listening to Sun Ra than I would be, I don’t know, Gnarls Barkley. … I guess. No offense (laughs).
REAX: What is it like when band members do return to BSS? Do they need to be brought up to speed or do they immediately bring something to the table?
BC: If there are new tunes or new ideas, it is a bit of a catch-up. But, ultimately our songs are not that difficult and, especially for the people that have been playing with us for a long time, they know what to expect. We have a sound like any other group. And, certain ideas will work and certain ideas won’t work.
REAX: BSS opened the Virgin Festival (in Toronto) and closed as a last minute substitute for Massive Attack and you guys knocked it out of the park. Was it civic pride or a professional duty as a musician that motivated you to step in?
BC: We try to rule out the civic pride thing because we throw a similar festival in the same location. It’s also on Toronto Island. We’ve been doing it for three years. Last year, we brought Modest Mouse up. The year before it was more Canadian acts where we were added and then we decided to keep the tradition going. So this past year we had Feist and J Mascis and Dinosaur Jr. Well, BSS was Dinosaur Jr. and we backed J up. And, Bloc Party came up for that one too. It was strange going into the V Fest after having a triumphant show of our own in the same location, just a couple months earlier. Which is like a real homecoming show for us here in Toronto. So, it can’t compare with that because it’s our festival. And, you know, when it comes to the Virgin Music Festival: yeah, you’re a musician, you have to play a gig, and you can’t turn some of these things down.
REAX: In the YouTube clip I saw, BSS really knocked it out of the park.
BC: It was good. I enjoyed it too. I didn’t have as much fun as our own festival but that’s because we run things a little smoother than Virgin Mobile. They try to make it a little bigger than it should have been and I think they kind of fucked it up. But, the Raconteurs were really good that night.
REAX: How was the Virgin festival compared to Lollapalooza?
BC: Lollapalooza was maybe the highlight of the year for us so I wouldn’t compare to our performance at V Fest just because it was something new.
REAX: What makes a successful festival for you?
BC: Is the crowd with you or not. What sort of bands do you have to endure that day? Is it going to be music you want to hear or is it just going to be a bunch of fucking annoying bands? Like at Redding or Leeds in the U.K.
REAX: Have you been to those festivals?
BC: Yeah, we’ve played there this summer. It was pretty poor. If we had The Shins and Wilco on the other side of the complex, or Queens of the Stone Age, then I really can’t complain about those bands. You just don’t want to go to a festival and hear music very loud all day long and then try and get inspired to do your own show.
REAX: Since all the members are from Toronto and everyone is finding their own individual success, do you feel a responsibility to the scene when you do tour?
BC: In the beginning we took out Stars as our support act and Do Make Say Think (on this tour), Metric, Feist, and Jason Collett as well. Toronto has been so supportive of us the last five or six years, you don’t want to all of sudden embarrass yourself and embarrass the people who used to support you. I guess you want to try and maintain your integrity and do the right thing because so often there are so many opportunities to do the wrong thing. The whole thing with BSS, we have to keep everyone together, as far as membership goes, we take out the other bands that are in our band on our tour. A win-win situation, I suppose.
REAX: What can we expect in Tampa as far as BSS’s lineup?
BC: Some of the Do Make Say Think guys are joining us and we’ll pick up an additional drummer for some songs. I’d say probably 10 or 11 of us. At that point we will be at the halfway point of the tour and well into the swing of things. I expect us to be firing on all cylinders at that point.
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