Deixo-vos uma entrevista, interessante mas nada de extravagante, da Pitchfork com Brendan Canning, dos canadianos
Broken Social Scene (que, recordo, deram um concerto e peras em Paredes de Coura). Em jeito de 'spoiler' posso dizer-vos que fala do próximo clip, dos próximos tempos de concerto e da forma como se vêem os álbuns e o estúdio, arranhando a possibilidade de um novo registo dos
BSS - mas sem outros novidades, além desta.
Pitchfork: Is it true that "Churches Under the Stairs" was written during a "Juan's Basement" shoot for Pitchfork.tv last fall?
Brendan Canning: That was definitely the first time that it was played. It's a bass line I had, and we were doing the Pitchfork thing, so yeah, that was essentially the first time I busted it out and Kevin [Drew] said, "Hey, here's a vocal idea I have," and as soon as we got off that tour, I was still working on my record.
Pitchfork: So the idea occurred to you at that shoot?
BC: You know what, I had the idea in a sound check. Then we were looking for a jam, [and I was] like, "Well here's something easy. Here's a bass line that everyone can understand quickly, and it's got a good hook." Yeah, that was the first time I busted it out.
Pitchfork: Did it come together pretty quickly after that?
BC: You know what, it didn't. It wasn't recorded with that same band lineup in the studio, just because I was trying to finish a record, trying to wrangle up Broken Social Scene. Like, [guitarist] Jimmy Shaw from Metric was in on that jam. You know, it wasn't even Justin [Peroff] playing the drums in the Pitchfork thing because he wasn't even there that day. It was actually our front-of-house sound engineer Marty Kinack. So he's in the video, even though he actually doesn't play on the recorded track.
Pitchfork: In the official video for the song, you mean, not the "Juan's Basement" video?
BC: Yeah, the video is me, Justin, Kevin, Sammy [Goldberg], and Marty.
Pitchfork: From the stills, the video looks like it's sort of a "dueling bands" thing?
BC: Yeah. Kevin's got one band on one side, and I've got the other band on one side. You know, the video is still getting flushed out. It was an idea that my friend Jamie Dagg had for the song, and he actually used the song in his short film [Sunday --Ed.] that just premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. It's about a guy who eventually self-combusts. He starts to realize slowly throughout the film, catching fire here and there.
Pitchfork: How did you and Kevin pick your bands for the "Churches Under the Stairs" video? Was it like kickball, with you each getting to pick one guy at a time?
BC: Ah, no. It's the same band on either side, just different outfits. But there were 90 people that came out for the video that day. George Vale directed it, my former roommate, who has worked on lots of videos under the Experimental Parachute Moment moniker. That's the video team.
But you know, it's kind of cool that the birthplace of the song definitely was "Juan's Basement". I had come back [home], and Kevin came up to the studio one night and was like, "Oh, this song." I just was like, "Well, fuck, let's just start recording it," and then I added some guitars on it and he showed up [and said], "Yeah, all right, I'll just lay down some vocals."
Pitchfork: Do you know what the lineup on the upcoming Broken Social Scene tour is going to be?
BC: As far as who is in the band? Yeah, it's Kevin, myself, Justin, Charles [Spearin], Andrew [Whiteman], Sam Goldberg, Leon Kingstone, and we got Liz Powell from Land of Talk because they're the support act on the tour, so she's kind of handling the female vox. She's great.
Pitchfork: When you guys play live, does it feel different to play the songs from your and Kevin's solo records, or do they feel like Broken Social Scene songs?
BC: No, they sound like-- they're not a huge departure from what the band sounds like, and we're not going out and playing 12 songs from my record. We're going out and playing five or six tunes from my record and a whole handful of tunes from Kevin's record and some old Broken Social Scene favorites. We're going to put together a different program than when we were touring this summer on the festival [circuit], different shows than we had all summer long.
Pitchfork: I'm not sure when it started, maybe between You Forgot It in People and the self-titled record, but people used to paint Broken Social Scene as this bunch of studio geeks and perfectionists who took a long time to release records. You guys have been more prolific recently, and it seems like that's because of these solo records, like everyone can say, "Hand this one off to Kevin. Hand this one off to Brendan."
BC: Yeah, I feel like we spent too much time in the studio, sort of tweaking.
Pitchfork: On the solo records?
BC: Yeah, and on records in general. We're all guilty of that.
Pitchfork: Still, it seems like it's been easier for you all to release records at a consistent clip. Handing over leader duties for one at a time seems to make it that way.
BC: I think it's just kind of necessary-- just to understand yourself a little bit more. Whether I'm learning about myself making my record or Kevin is [while] making his record, [it's about] finding out about your strengths and your weaknesses, being happy to collaborate with your bandmates again, and [being] thankful for them rather than resenting each other, which will ultimately lead to the demise of any band.
Pitchfork: Do you feel any more ownership over the songs on your record than you do on full group songs?
BC: It's different, because it's got my name featured prominently on the album [laughs]. Yeah. They're slightly more my creations or my directive than most of the times with Broken Social Scene records. I'm really happy the way the collaboration went down. It's all relatively personal music at the end of the day.
Pitchfork: What's next? Do you have anything else going on?
BC: Maybe another Broken Social Scene record.
Pitchfork: Any details you care to share about that?
BC: Not right now, no. If I had some, I would share them, but, like I said, we're just trying to put another show together for a fall tour.
Pitchfork: Are people going to hear the new songs on the tour?
BC: Yeah, I think we could at least throw in two or three. We have some songs that aren't recorded, and whether they make a record or not is anyone's guess. You never really know 'til you sit down, start writing, kind of figure out what shape and size the record is going to come in.
Pitchfork: Do you guys have definite plans to write? Do you write in collaboration?
BC: Sometimes, yeah.
Pitchfork: Have you made those plans?
BC: Tentatively. December, maybe? That being said, come December, we might all need a break. It hasn't been full-on this year, but we've been on the road since February. We've had time off here and there, but no long lengths of time away from each other. It's been pretty steady. But it's been a good year.
Pitchfork: Is there anything else you want to get off your chest that we didn't cover?
BC: [Laughs] No, no I think that I'm good. I just got off another video shoot for another song, so I'm a little tired.
Pitchfork: Which song is that?
BC: "Love Is New". That's the next one coming down the pipe...so everyone's sick of music videos. We just keep making them.
Pitchfork: Apparently not you!
BC: No, no! I'm having fun.
Assinalo só que o álbum deste senhor está muito BSS, ou seja, muito porreiro e curtido.
