Ten years ago, Jeffrey Remedios and Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew sat down at the behest of Brendan Canning and decided to start a new label, Arts & Crafts, to manage and release the band’s second album, You Forgot It In People. And then it all went nuts.
Broken Social Scene’s crazy hipster musical collective was a massive hit, and it spawned a number of other breakout acts including Feist, Apostle of Hustle, Stars and many more. It changed Canadian music. For a few short years beginning in 2002, Toronto was the centre of the musical universe once more.
On Saturday, June 8, Arts & Crafts is celebrating 10 years of musical mayhem with a massive festival at Fort York and Garrison Common dubbed Field Trip. The highlight of the concert will surely be the reunion of Broken Social Scene, but there is a long, long list of amazing acts along the way, including Hayden, Cold Specks, Zeus, Trust, Ra Ra Riot and many more. This will be one memorable day (and rumour has it there are still a few tickets floating around, but not for long).
We spoke with Arts & Crafts co-founder Jeffrey Remedios about the label’s humble beginnings, signing his hero Hayden and why it is more important to change than to grow.
Tell me about the beginning. How did you manage to steer this crazy musical collective of Broken Social Scene into such a successful company?
Well, at the time they were putting together what would become You Forgot It In People, I was working at Virgin Records and they came to me with this music. And it was just a time of a really supportive community coming together. Broken Social Scene were playing shows all the time… Kevin [Drew, co-founder of Broken Social Scene] and I were roommates for a short time and we had long talks about music and the industry and how bands grow and develop. When they finally brought me what was to become the finished product, You Forgot It In People, we decided to give it a go, and try and do something with this music.
What were your expectations back then?
On a certain level, we didn’t have expectations. I just thought I want to go as hard and as far as I can. At the very beginning, there were small victories. Can we get reviews of this record, the record in stores, can we get it played on radio stations, reviews online, play shows in other towns? It was a series of steps. At the same time, I never felt any limits. I always sort of believed.
This was such a great time in Toronto’s musical history, much like Yorkville in the ‘60s — a time that will be looked back upon as one of the city’s great moments. What is most memorable for you and how would you characterize that time?
I believe that, and I hope you’re right. Those were some iconic times in the Toronto music community. For me, it comes down to a couple of things. A real maturity started to happen within the musical community. Artists stopped looking for validation from outside. It came more from Toronto supporting Toronto. It was built as a scene. It wasn’t competitive, it was supportive, and it extended beyond music, which was key. There were writers, photographers, videographers etc. all working in different creative fields. And it has been maintained and evolved ever since… maybe it was always there, but I definitely felt like everything got a little bigger than before.
The label continues to grow, but is it still as much fun as it was, or is it more like work now?
It’s always been work. I heard someone say once that if you want to be happy in life, do something you love and do it with your friends. We had piles of work in the beginning and it is still that way, and I think it is going to continue that way. I’m not interested in growth. I’m interested in forward momentum. It doesn’t matter if we get bigger, but we need to keep changing, evolving, or we are going to get left behind. Things are moving very fast as the entire world digitally transforms.
Your latest signing is Hayden. He’s been around for so long, predates BSS even. Why did you change your pattern of introducing new artists?
I guess we never thought of it in those terms. We worked with emerging artists just by nature of our interest, exploration and excitement. We never said we’d never work with an established artist. We worked with The Stills after they had two records out on Vice. And we worked with The Constantines after they had a couple of amazing records. We’re interested in authentic music irrespective of where it comes from. We’ve been massive fans of Hayden for years. When it became possible to work with him, we jumped at it. In so many respects he’s a hero, but he’s also somewhat of an unsung hero. I really wanted to help spread the word of how great he is.
Who do you have your eye on these days?
There is a lot of stuff happening out there. We just signed artists from Calgary, Reuben and the Dark, that we’re really excited about, and they’ve got a record coming out.
What about Kevin Drew and Andy Kim’s album?
Kevin Drew and Andy Kim is this amazing marriage and it is coming along really well. Andy brings some stuff to Kevin he’s always wanted. They just have this amazing, brotherly, father/son kind of relationship, and at different times they play different roles. The record is almost done. It sounds like Kevin, and it sounds like Andy, in the most natural way you can image in.
Are you excited about this Saturday’s big event — the Field Trip concert at Fort York celebrating your 10 years?
It is going to be an amazing all-day event, doors at noon, incredible food on-site — it will be an amazing time. The lineup (on two stages) is completely staggered, so fans can see everything.