Community, melody and family: 25 years of Broken Social Scene.
A quarter of a century after its formation, Broken Social Scene It remains much more than a band: it is a living organism built from collaboration, loss, memory and the need to continue creating. In conversation with Kevin Drewthe Canadian collective reflects on its history, the emotional weight of You Forgot It in Peoplehis reunion with David Newfeld and the beginning of a new chapter with Remember the Humans. Surrounded by new music like their new single titled “The Call”between nostalgia and reinvention, the band confirms that its essence remains intact: making music as a way of belonging, resisting and staying human.
Indie Rocks!: This year marks 25 years of Broken Social Scene as a collective. Looking back, what does it mean to you to have built such a broad musical community around the band?
BSC: Yes, I am very surprised that we continue to do it. It was something we approached without knowing if it would be temporary or not, but because it fit so well not only in our lives but in the lives of many others. It's about what you know, and I think we push ourselves to know other things, we go away and we try to educate ourselves in other worlds, but this was the one that worked for us. Being here in this community, back in Mexico City talking about the band, about how we're still together… it's definitely because we want to keep doing it. We don't have a big need to do it anymore, but in the times we live in, we enjoy playing live so much and we wanted to have some new songs.
GO!: The documentary It's All Gonna Break shows the band's early days in Toronto. What was the most special (or even strange) part of seeing yourselves in those early years?
BSC: I have great memories thanks to the footage they showed us. I didn't realize the feeling. Looking back and being able to see all the footage you didn't even know existed makes the memories come flooding back. Neurological pathways are built in aspects that I had forgotten so much about, and seeing all of us fresh and ready, with so much desire and need within us together on this screen is… almost as shocking. It made me very sentimental to go back and see what we had done. I hope that answers your question.
GO!: A large part of the documentary revolves around the creation of You Forgot It in People. Why do you think that album continues to resonate so strongly in the history of indie music?
BSC: I'm not sure I can answer that. I just feel like maybe we were in the right place, at the right time, with the right emotion, the right way of working with David Newfeldthe producer. I cannot and do not ask these things. I'm grateful that it caught on like it did. I just think you ask the universe to put you somewhere that means something and luckily for us it did.
GO!: That's very sentimental in a good way.
BSC: Well, it's very sentimental. It has to be because that's life. It's sentimental and you know, when you get older and you lose friends to death or to drugs and alcohol, you lose friends to mental health. When you see yourself here chatting with you… I think that trees have the history that reminds us to continue growing. That was a little cheesy.
GO!: It's okay to be cheesy once in a while. Broken Social Scene has always operated more like a community than a traditional band. How has that collective dynamic evolved over time?
BSC: Collective dynamics is about this word that we've been pushing since we started giving interviews again called commitment. It's also about understanding that someone else sees something and hears something different than you. And that can come together and make something beautiful. It is not always the easiest on a financial level. It's not always the easiest on a spiritual level because they come from different aspects, but if you open yourself to the understanding that there is something there bigger than you and you have to trust others and how they interpret what they see, hear and feel, then it can really give great results.
GO!: In addition to the documentary, they are back with new music and presented the single “Not Around Anymore”, the first glimpse of the next album Remember the Humans. What does this new chapter represent for the band?
BSC: I think we always need an intro, we always need a beginning, and that's the first song on the album. It seemed that by working with our producer again David Newfeldwho put us on the map with You Forgot It in Peoplewas a way of saying that we have been away for a while, we return with a sound and an emotion that we hope will touch people and allow them to interpret the song in how we have to give up to continue continuing.
GO!: After this introduction we have one more preview called “The Call”, what was it like choosing the album previews before having the full album?
BSC: I didn't do it. Again, if I controlled everything, I don't know how it would turn out, but I think the reason they decided on this is because it has the elements of who we are and how we've been. It shows the aspect of where we're going and how we still want to write songs about people and transitions, the idea of looking back, community in moments, trying to be human, trying to change. That's what ““The Call” and ““Hey Amanda” represent for me. It also shows the band at its best, being a band, being something we are together. I think we have our own sound, and I think that sound still has a place in today's turntable catalog.
GO!: The album also marks a reunion with producer Dave Newfeld. How did reconnecting with him influence the sound of this new material?
BSC: I moved closer to him. I left town and ended up near where he lives. We hadn't spent much time together. We started spending more time and I told him I'd like to try it. We talked before, but I said, “It would be great if we got together.” Upon immediately hearing the material we were working on, we all knew it was what we wanted. He was a massive part of our success and sound. It felt great to return to his passion, his way of hearing things, his control, his ideas. It just felt like it propelled us forward.
GO!: Over the years, Broken Social Scene has been a hotbed for incredible artists like Feist, Metric, and Stars. How do you see the impact of that scene that you helped build today?
BSC: We build a platform for everyone. Then success hit everyone differently. I don't think it hurt that we encouraged each other, pushed each other. Other bands like Do Make Say Think and Feist, Metric, Stars, They were there before we formed Broken Social Scene. Toronto and Montreal were exploding. There seemed to be a way to connect all these bands to push them forward. On a personal level, in our little scene, we definitely did it for each other. Over the years, I think we lost sight of that sometimes. Once you have success outside of this group, it allows you more control. I tried. I tried a solo career. It was never bigger than this band. I tried to control my life and have people who work for me just say yes. But it didn't work. I've had to force myself into real relationships where I'm challenged. That's Broken Social Scene. It's about not having control. And I think friendship is about not having control. And here we are, 26 years later, still doing it.
GO!: As part of the Ambulante Documentary Tour, the public in Mexico will be able to see the documentary and also interact with some of you. What does it mean for the band to present this story in Mexico City?
BSC: Mexico City entered my life at a time when I didn't know what was happening. It resurrected me to a place of understanding what joy was again. I've been coming for almost 20 years. The people, the city itself have given me life. As a band, hearing how they absorb the music and make it such a big part of who they are, it was a no-brainer to try to open a label here and work with people we love. We had the boys from Chiquita Valenta helping us enter this community. I don't think there are better people than Mexicans. They are kind, compassionate. I have said it in all the interviews, they have romance, but they take care of each other. At this point in our lives with this country, people need to know that it is still one of the most beautiful and kind countries. If I can make my life coming to this city, my soul is better for it. As for how music is heard here, they believe in song and the power of music. There is no better place for a musician than this city.
GO!: After 25 years, new albums, documentaries and tours, what is the secret to continuing making music without falling into monotony?
BSC: Everyone says the word grateful. You have to understand that if you keep doing it, you are part of that aspect of the gratitude coloring book. I think that when it becomes part of your communication, there is no monotony in the music itself. There is monotony in fighting to be heard, going to labels, distribution, looking for money to play. That gets monotonous because everyone I know has it or had it. That conversation falls into ageism, class, up half down, young old. But when you approach something with the true nature that you want and it's part of who you are, none of that matters because it helps you continue in life. A race is only a race if you let it be. This is my 50th year, I look at the guys and girls in the band, I see their struggles and where they are, and how we're still here. I think a lot of it had to do with determination, responsibility, the idea of what they needed to communicate with themselves and keep going. But in the end, it's because it's how they breathe. It is your identity. It's who they are. Take them off and they may not last long.
GO!: For someone who hasn't discovered Broken Social Scene yet, what song would you recommend as the best entry point into your discography?
BSC: “Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl”, “Stars and Sons”, “Lover's Spit”, “7/4 (Shoreline)”, “It's All Gonna Break”, “Sweetest Kill”, “Halfway Home” and “Stay Happy”. An interesting selection of songs, don't you think?
GO!: Very good selection. And finally: Describe Broken Social Scene in 3 words.
BSC: Community, melody and family.
