With their sophomore album, You Forgot it in People, Toronto natives Broken Social Scene commenced a world tour starting in Buffalo. on September 18. With anywhere from five to 16 members, a Juno award for best alternative album, and a new deal with Mercury records, Broken Social Scene has become one of Canada’s premier names in indie-rock.
This very large and eclectic group, along with their Canadian friends, Metric and Jason Collett, played an amazing show at Mohawk Place. Right before Metric took the stage I interviewed a trio of from the band: Kevin Drew (vocals, and keyboard), Justin Peroff (drums), and Charles Spearin (guitar, vox). The instruments I mentioned are just what I saw them playing. Constantly throughout their set, they band members would switch instruments.
GENERATION: How many people are in the band?
JUSTIN: When we are in Toronto there could be fifteen, but when we tour there is are about seven.
KEVIN: Well there’s six and there’s seven, because Metric plays on the record, who you have to go watch. So they are here, and they are going to play with us tonight.
JUSTIN: There is no proper answer to that question.
G: How hard is it to unite everybody with different projects going on at the same time?
ALL: It’s difficult.
G: How can you go on tour with one band?
K: There is a solid crew of about five people and the rest are interchangeable, or we tour with our friends’ bands. Case in point, we are touring with Metric and Jason Collett. Then we are going on tour in the UK with the Stars.
G: So let me get this straight. You and Brendan are the founders of BSS.
K: We are the founders because we made a record before this record called Feel Good Lost and we just sort of made it in our basement. And that name sort of kicked in, sort of represented this unit. So we kept the name.
J: It was a duo and now it’s a collection. A lot of people that were on Feel Good Lost are part of this album as well. But we would never play those songs live, so we recorded a whole new record.
K: The lineup is going to change each recording we do based on who is around. And that is about as simple as it really is. While the first record is about two guys in the basement in the winter having guests, this one (You Forgot it in People) is about us jamming in Toronto for a year where everybody is involved and important.
G: And it won you a Juno award. Any comments on that or are you sick of talking about that?
ALL: Sick of talking about it!
K: But it was nice, that’s all I can say about that.
G: And as far as signing to Mercury, did that have any impact or change?
K: That is just in the UK, that is an experiment in our lives, and we will see if that works.
G: I also heard you guys made a few music videos.
J: One of them is on the site. “Stars and Sons” is on the site, you should check it out.
K: Our good friend Chris Mills who did the Interpol video (“PDA”) did the “Stars and Sons.” Next to come out is a “Cause=Time” video. After that, there is a video for “Lover’s Spit,” which is basically my wife and I making out, in super slow motion. I just hope people see it. All that stuff is unpredictable.
G: What are your influences?
J: I am listening to the new Fanny Pack album right now. It’s fucking funny! I like Myra Advisory Committee which you can hear on K-Rock. But I am a fan of many, many things. I like the new Forte album Manitoba.
K: My favorite band is Dirty Three. I grew up on Dino Jr.
CHARLES: Metallica Master of Puppets, anything after that is not worth it.
G: What about the Allentown Street Festival, was that at least a good time?
K: Yea, we hung out with Cracker. We were rapping.
G: I heard on Pitchfork that the Toronto music scene is about helping out the underdogs.
K: That’s basically how I believe the system of rock and roll works in Toronto. I think we are the advocators for that in the last little while. We’ve been trying to pass records around. There is a lot of great music happening, and it’s the best it has ever been.
(Looking at the tape recorder) You’ve been on pause the whole time, man.…
G: (Awkward pause)
K: Just kidding.
Broken Social Scene came on and finished what was to be a great night. As they played, Mohawk got more crowded, and soon filled the building. The band was an all-star lineup consisting of Kevin, Charles, Justin, Brendan Canning (bass), Andrew Whiteman (guitar), and Jason Collett (guitar). Emily Haines and James Shaw of Metric came on to play a few songs as well. Highlights included excellent live renditions of their hits, “Stars and Sons” and “Cause=time.” With “Shampoo Suicide” and “I’m still your fag,” the band switched instruments mid-play, and, at times, did played two instruments at once. Just as memorable was Haines’ beautiful vocals in “Anthems for a seventeen-year-old.”
The unity of many diverse musicians combined with the abundance of varied instruments and effects to create a sound that was both experimental in its process and perfected in its presentation. As I looked around, it was clear that everybody in the crowd was enjoying the show.
