Broken Social Scene Bringing All The Feelings Tour To Masonic

Photo Credit: Norman Wong / Post Production by Jimmy Limit

Before there was Broken Social Scene—the expansive, beloved musical collective that encompasses numerous different Toronto bands and artists—there was KC Accidental.

A humble two-person outfit, KC Accidental was composed of Kevin Drew (the K) and Charles Spearin (the C) and the origin of that project can be traced back to an unlikely source of inspiration.

“Kevin and I were both in this vocational music school together but we didn't know each other at first,” said Spearin. “I guess he heard that I liked [the Chicago band] Tortoise, so he came up, introduced himself and said, ‘you look like a Tortoise fan.’ I mean, at the time, I think that band sold maybe 5,000 records, so I have no idea what a ‘Tortoise fan’ would look like, but hey, I guess the rest is history.”

Growing from the humble roots of a couple of post-rock loving Canadians, Broken Social Scene has bloomed into something truly beautiful and inspiring. An amorphous, ever-evolving commune that includes members from Stars, Feist, Metric, Do Make Say Think and others, Broken Social Scene represent the idea that bands can not only stay thrillingly relevant 25 years into their careers, but can do so by embracing friendship and mutual respect as their core tenets.

On Sunday and Monday nights, Broken Social Scene will be joined by two of their longtime Toronto cohorts—Stars and Metric—at the Masonic as part of the bands’ “All The Feelings Tour.” It will be an opportunity to witness again the communal love that underpins the band's connective tissues.

“I think the secret here is that just a little bit of effort,” said Spearin, who is also a founding member of Do Make Say Think. “At the center of it all is Kevin—he has this spider web of connections and friends, and he just makes sure that we all stay in contact and keep this friendship together. This tour idea was actually Metric’s but Kevin is kind of the gravitational center. He might not be the absolute brightest star in our constellation, but he holds us all together.”

For their shows at the Masonic, the band will be supporting “Remember the Humans,” an album with the most Broken Social Scene-sounding title imaginable. The group’s first release in nine years, it is another triumphantly endearing piece of maximalist art—a collection of ambitious baroque pop offerings that somehow feel both deeply intimate and grandly expansive.

There are love songs aplenty on the album—some traditional boy-girl laments, some paeans to friendship—and each track is imbued with the tenderness that has become a trademark for Broken Social Scene. Extended instrumental jams and moments of quiet reflection and interspersed with creative horn arrangements, adding a new wrinkle to the band’s famous post-rock experimentation. 

And as one could expect for such a sprawling collective with little to no ego involved, the song from “Remember the Humans” tended to evolve from collaborative, formless beginnings.

“There has always been this core group of us who get together and just play and play and play,” said Spearin. “We let our imaginations go and we don’t worry about making mistakes or remembering things. We put everything out there and sort of find a collective feeling over those few days. And then Kevin and I will go through all those recordings and put markers on all the interesting parts. We make sure to hold space in those parts for anyone who might contribute further, and that’s where the real song formations take place.”

In addition to those iterative creative processes, “Remember the Humans” was buoyed by a few unexpected contributions. Lisa Lobsinger, who last played with the group on 2010’s “Forgiveness Rock Record,” and Leslie Feist, the eponymous singer-songwriter who has been an occasional band member throughout the years, both reached out to Drew and Spearin with ideas for “Remember the Humans.” The results are starring moments from Lobsinger on “Relief” and Feist on “What Happens Now.”

“For the Feist song, the two of us just spent weeks and weeks hanging out in my little garage studio together,” said Spearin. “We were ostensibly there to work, but most of the time we were just about life. I think that’s such an important part of the process, and you can see it reflected in the lyrics of “What Happens Now,” which are very introspective. To me, those conversations we had were all part of the process.”

With such deep collaboration involved—both emotionally and creatively—Broken Social Scene albums can be long, labored efforts. That investment is a reason why the band releases albums somewhat infrequently (just six full length records over 25 years)—when so much is poured into each effort, it can be draining.

“The egolessness and the kind of compromise that happens in Broken Social Scene can be exhausting,” said Spearin. “We’re constantly letting go of our own personal vision in favor of the bigger group dynamic. So, we need to take breaks and do our own projects. Then, after a while we somehow all realize that we’re better together, so we get back and begin the process all over again. I think that’s been the key to keeping this thing going for all these years.”

Show Details:
Broken Social Scene with Metric and Stars
Where: The Masonic
When: 8 p.m., Sunday and Monday, June 21 and 22
Tickets: Starting at $77 for Sunday, available here. Starting at $52 for Monday, available here.