Many songwriters have told me about getting ideas from observing other people. It's all about keeping the brain going in some fashion. It's a constant sociological and anthropological study. I live in a big city and bike everywhere, so there are lots of opportunities for that. I imagine what their life must be like and the stories behind them. I like going on bike rides and just staring at people. If you're a thoughtful soccer player, you're trying to create, to make things happen. I find all of those things to be creative outlets. I like cooking, tending to the garden, and playing soccer. I do a little bit of sketching and color collaging, but that comes in waves as a stress releaser when I want to retreat into another world and not make any noise. And watching how other people react to music other than my own can be helpful.
It keeps my ears in tune to what I should be listening to.
I DJ, which keeps me sane because I can play music that's not my own. Listen to the single "Skyline" off the new album, then read my interview with Canning about his creative process. Hug of Thunder is the band's fifth album, out now on Arts and Crafts Records. So if you're in downtown Toronto and notice Canning staring you down, there might be a Broken Social Scene song in there somewhere. The important thing is that Canning is always keeping his brain going in some fashion. In fact, you can often find him on the streets of Toronto on his bike, staring at people and wondering what their stories are. "I live life with my curiosity piqued," he told me. But Canning is always creating: he cooks, he gardens, he plays soccer, and he DJs. Of course, I might be reading too much into this. Canning probably does too, but as a songwriter who creates original art, hackneyed phrases like these must especially make him cringe. I agree with Canning's point, and I hate these phrases because they are lazy. He's also not a fan of any reference to "hump day" in emails he gets on a Wednesday. If you email Broken Social Scene's Brendan Canning, a word of advice: don't ever greet him with "nice to e-meet you!" This is horrible, and Canning hates it.
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