Brendan Canning, founding member of Broken Social Scene, gave the Weekly a cryptic interview a few weeks ago to preview their show tonight at the Glass House. He's not a man of many words; if you want to learn more about their latest set or just want to see what Canning's day-to-day life is like, you're better off reading this. (Maybe I should've given him a popsicle or something, but I never did get past my warm up questions.) Read for yourself after the jump.
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OC Weekly: Your live shows are always a riot and you've been a band a long time
now; how do you sustain the energy of your concerts?
Brendan Canning: Lots of energy
drinks, calisthenics, a little bit of meditation and yoga before the gig
and equal parts tequila.
Was that the same tactic you employed for your latest set, the Forgiveness Rock Record? It must be pretty hard to corral all your members (most of whom have their own bands, such as Metric, Apostle of Hustle, Do Make Say Think) into one room.
Well, yeah. But that's what we do for a living. We're a band. We go on tour.
What was the process of writing it? Was it a lot different from You Forgot it in People or your self-titled album?
I can't give away all our secrets now–it would be like a magician giving away all their tricks. It's not all of us in the studio at the same time, if that answers your question.
How do the songs get born, then?
(Scoffs) It gets born. Whoever has an idea. Every song has a different story. I can't tell you exactly how it goes, I can't give you a recipe.
Did you have specific inspirations for songs in the album? Its kind of sounds like Forgiveness Rock Record, with title like “World Sick,” and “Forced to Love,” is tired of the world.
You know, just living life is inspiration.
You recorded in Chicago, and it was the first time you'd recorded music in America–did your geography change the way the album was made?
Wherever you are influences your work.
Did you miss Toronto at all?
No.
What was your favorite song on the album?
“World Sick.”
Why that one?
You gotta pick one, that's the one I'm going to pick today.
Broken Social Scene play at the Glass House tonight and at Coachella this weekend.
