In many ways, Brendan Canning was no different than your average kid growing up in the suburbs of Toronto. “I was always into music,” he says, “But also soccer and pro wrestling.” What set him apart from throngs of other adolescents who dabble in guitar to fill their suburban summer days is that he stuck to it long enough (not to mention actually had an affinity for it) to form a band — or rather several bands: he’s been a member of By Divine Right, Head, Blurtonia and most famously Broken Social Scene.
Formed by Canning and “a couple of groups of friends converging after knowing each other from around town” — friends like Leslie Feist, Metric’s Emily Haines and Stars’ Evan Cranley, to name a few — Broken Social Scene is now the greatest indie success story to come out of the Toronto music scene in the last decade.
“We never really dealt with the industry,” Canning says of the band’s rise to fame. “We just kind of did our own thing.”
Bypassing the major record companies to sign with indie label Arts & Crafts seems to have worked out well for him. In the past 10 years, Canning and his band mates have won two Juno Awards and accrued massive followings both at home and across the globe.
In 2008, he released a well-received solo record, Something for All of Us, which includes cameos bym many of his BSS collaborators. “We’re just happy that we’re still the people of Toronto’s band,” Canning says of their success. “That’s always been our thing: don’t let the hometown down.”
The hometown will indeed be pleased to know that Canning and Broken Social Scene are working on new recordings and touring extensively throughout the summer and into the fall, including shows with another iconic Canadian band: the Tragically Hip.