All language subtitles for its.all.gonna.break.2024.1080p.web.h264-cbfm

-[applause]
-[guitars tuning]

ANNOUNCER: Are you guys
ready for one of

our final bands tonight?

[crowd cheering]

ANNOUNCER: Chicago,
give a warm welcome

to Broken Social Scene!

-[applause]
-ALL: Two, three, four...

["Ibi Dreams of Pavement
(A Better Day)"

by Broken Social Scene]

♪

♪

♪

♪

-♪ Well, I got shot
right in the back ♪

♪ And you were there,
you were there ♪

♪ I said I was never
coming back ♪

♪ And you were there,
you were there ♪

♪ Well I know the eyelids
are under attack ♪

♪ You were there,
you were there. ♪

♪

KEVIN: This is the part
where you gotta cheer with us

because we are alive, Chicago!

♪

Lots of fucked up things
goin' on right now,

so let's just cheer
for ourselves, alright?

On the count of three,
cheer as loud as you can.

One, two, three, go!

[crowd cheering]

KEVIN: Last chance, here we go.

One, two, three... scream!

[crowd screaming
and band playing on video]

[concert video stops]

♪

-Slide to me
a little bit more.

So, this is a movie that I
shot and edited together.

Um...

2008.

What year were you born?

-'07.
-'07, okay.

So, we put this together
the year after you were born.

Actually, this movie
never got finished.

-Are you gonna
try and finish it?

-Yeah.
It's time to finish it.

-Mm-hm.
-Yeah.

["KC Accidental"
by Broken Social Scene]

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

[electronic distortion]

STEPHEN (V.O.): In the late '90s
and early 2000s,

I was living
in downtown Toronto.

At that time, you could
get a sweet place to live

for under $500.

People bought records
from Sam the Record Man

and rented movies
from Blockbuster.

Most people were discovering
mainstream music

on the MuchMusic Countdown.

They also watched Citytv
and Speakers Corner.

And Drake?

He was just an actor
on a TV show called Degrassi.

[school bell rings]

STEPHEN (V.O.): Toronto
also had this youthful

and creative underground.

It's where I found
this exciting group of artists.

-Come on!

I'd like to welcome to the room,
Mr. Stephen Chung!

[everyone cheering]

STEPHEN (V.O.): That's me,
Stephen.

Stevie. Chung. Chungie.

I'm a cinematographer.

Words are not my strong suit.

-♪ I think it's almost time... ♪

BRENDAN: Let's do that again!

STEPHEN (V.O.): There's
so many players

in the Broken Social Scene.

It's almost impossible
to keep track of them all.

The first person I met
was Brendan Canning,

AKA "The Champ."

He's the DJ, the selector;

he's the heartbeat of the party.

["Steal My Sunshine" by Len]

BRENDAN (V.O.): It was the '90s,

so there were
lots of different bands.

I kind of joined Len
around '96...

by accident.

♪ I was lying on the grass of
Sunday morning of last week ♪

♪ Indulging in
my self-defeat... ♪

BRENDAN (V.O.): But
I was still in hHead.

Grunge was happening,
and so all the Canadian labels

were trying to play catch-up,
like, "Oh, they're a trio.

"They got plaid shirts
and army shorts."

That led into winning
a radio station contest

and winning a hundred grand.

["Happy" by hHead]

BRENDAN (V.O.): We didn't
make a great record.

I feel like a fucking idiot.

Smoking too much weed, in a band
who wasn't quite all together...

Whatever. You're 24.
You make mistakes.

♪ I'm on your side, y'all... ♪

BRENDAN (V.O.): Then I started
playing in By Divine Right.

You know, I wasn't
feeling like I'm living up

to some kind of potential
that I believe I have.

♪

BRENDAN (V.O.): It was kind of
a little confusing because I was

really into house music as well,
just loving staying out late,

doing some ecstasy,
hearing DJs play house music.

I was obsessed.

♪

♪

STEPHEN (V.O.): While
Brendan and I were

partying our asses off,

I discovered Charlie Spearin
and his boys Do Make Say Think.

["The Landlord is Dead"
by Do Make Say Think]

♪

♪

♪

CHARLIE (V.O.): I'm familiar
with the chill-out room.

4 in the morning, warehouses,

and when everybody's too
freaked out on MDMA or whatever,

they go into this room
filled with couches,

and then there would be this
quartet of dudes with guitars

and delay pedals making
the most gentle ambient music.

I listened to you guys in awe.

I'd never heard
anything like it before.

["The Landlord is Dead"
by Do Make Say Think]

♪

♪

♪

♪

CHARLIE (V.O.): It felt like the
way music was supposed to be.

It was such a contrast
to the struggling

to get radio play or struggling
to get mainstream attention.

For me, the real forefront
of interesting music in Toronto

came from Peaches.

-♪ Let's get over this ♪

♪ I'm your lovertits... ♪

CHARLIE (V.O.): She encouraged
everybody to get their freak on.

There was a sense of,
you're never gonna make it,

so there was
this counterculture freedom

to just book shows
and play shows

and do whatever
the hell you want.

CHARLIE: Holy cow,
look at that dust.

This is my Tascam 388 Studio 8.

This was how you made friends.

This is how you brought
people together.

This is how you made music.

This was the, you know,
poor person's perfect studio.

This is basically
what everybody wanted to do

instead of watching television,
instead of consuming television.

It was a way to create.

So much joy, so much
possibility, so much music.

STEPHEN (V.O.): Tell me
when you first met Kevin.

CHARLIE (V.O.): This kid
comes up to me and says,

"You look like a guy
who likes Tortoise."

And I thought,
"Is there a look?

"Do I have this look?
'Cause I do like Tortoise.

"I love Tortoise!"

That was that icebreaker
that he came up to me with,

and it worked.

KEVIN: Okay, let's go.
Let's go on mix.

[keyboard and drum pad playing]

KEVIN: What key are you in?

CHARLIE: I dunno.

-[singing]

♪

♪

♪

♪

CHARLIE (V.O.): Kevin and I just
started talking about music

all the time.

He would come over
and we'd do recordings,

and then we started
KC Accidental,

the idea being that we
would just sort of embrace

spontaneity,
and whatever happens happens.

-Love this guy!
I want it on film.

[Charlie laughs]

STEPHEN: Sweet, sweet track.

CHARLIE (V.O.): Kevin
and Charles, Accidental.

BRENDAN (V.O.): I would see
Kevin around town a little bit.

You know, boppin' around.

This one DJ night,
I had Kevin doing security.

He looked a little distressed;

I'm like,
"Oh, what's goin' on?"

He's like, "Oh, man, someone
brought in Red Baron beer here,"

and he's like, "I gotta
go try and find the guy.

"He's, like, sneakin' beers
into the bar."

And I was just like,
"Well, fuck, let me help you

"try and find the guy."

So I'm makin' a show of, like,
lookin' around the bar

for Red Baron beer,

but meanwhile it's like I'm
going into my bag to be like...

[mimics beer opening sound]
Fuckin' guy!

'Cause I had brought beers
from the last gig.

Kevin made me
a couple of mix cassettes

that had some
KC Accidental on it.

It spoke to me.

I just said it's like,
"Oh! Oh, that's good."

It's like, "Maybe I'll
make this kid a star."

KEVIN: So talented!

MAGGIE: You are lucky guys.
See you tomorrow.

-Bye, Mom!
-Alright.

-Okay, bye Mama!

STEPHEN (V.O.): I was
immediately drawn to Kevin,

and so was my camera.

He had this amazing ability
to inspire and connect people.

But for us, it was really the
music that glued us together.

KEVIN (V.O.): So, we met,

and then we started
to see each other

at certain parties at
three, four in the morning.

-Yeah!

KEVIN (V.O.): You had
a hard time communicating.

You did. You had a hard time
expressing yourself.

You were the poster child for

"You're never alone
when you listen to music."

I still remember,
Pavement was playing

and you looked at me
and you said,

"I don't really
understand that much,

"but I understand this."

That was the start.

♪

JO-ANN (V.O.): Like a lot
of good art and music,

in the beginning...

I mean, there's nothing
like a beginning.

KEVIN (V.O.): Brendan,
the story goes,

he just got my number
and he called me, twice.

BRENDAN (V.O.): He was moving
in with Jo-Ann to Afton,

and I started just kind of
pursuing him, per se.

-I like the way he sways.
I like the way he moves.

There was something
about his speed.

He was slow,
but yet so accurate.

I got all this gear from Charlie

because the Do Makes
went on tour,

so I got his 8-track and I said,
"Why don't you come over?"

BRENDAN (V.O.): So we just
started hanging out

in the basement.
That was kinda it.

JO-ANN (V.O.): We would always
call him our second wife.

He would be at our house
all morning, all afternoon,

all evening, into the next day.

He was an inspiration to Kevin.

He was a bit older and had
lots of experience in music.

He had his sea legs
maybe a little bit.

KEVIN (V.O.): Like, I just
would wake up and be like,

"I gotta just hang out
with this guy."

He just made my life better.

Brendan and I'd stay up
till around 6 am,

just messin' around
in the deep part of the winter.

It was having the best
of both worlds.

It was having, you know,
the woman you love

and just being so excited
about this guy coming over,

making a really mellow, simple--

because we only had 8 tracks
to work with-- record.

BRENDAN (V.O.): I think
he thought he was

making my solo record,
and I was just thinking,

"Nah, it's like who wants
a fuckin' solo career?"

You know, like,
we got a thing happening.

There's a thing.

["Passport" by
Broken Social Scene]

KEVIN (V.O.): And it turned out
to become Feel Good Lost.

♪ Coming to you live ♪

♪ Passport radio almost mine ♪

♪ Coming to you live ♪

♪ Passport radio almost mine ♪

BRENDAN (V.O.): We had this one
jammer going and I was like,

"We should get Leslie
to sing on this."

She was living at
West Queen Street with Peaches.

-♪ We want it... ♪

LESLIE (V.O.): I remember
Queen Street felt exciting.

Kensington Market felt exciting.

I remember walking
into Songbird.

BRENDAN (V.O.): Yeah.

-It would be kind of
this church feeling of, like,

"Ah! Ah!"
Like a hallowed hall of gear.

And you, it must have been

that we kind of got
reconnected through--

-'Cause you're frickin'
By Divine Right.

We were in By Divine Right
together.

-Oh, good God!
[laughs]

LESLIE (V.O.): By the time
we were jamming at Afton,

I felt like a road warrior,

and then you played
for a whole lifespan before me.

And then, this guy Kevin
had none of that experience,

had never played shows,

and yet had
the really optimistic,

positive hubris
to tell us what to do.

And I felt really confused
but charmed and convinced

by his clarity of things.

-Feel Good Lost, it wasn't
really a band, you know?

It was kind of a concept
that Brendan and Kevin started.

Those two cats were
manipulating the tape machine

like an instrument,
creating this world,

these soundscapes;

this cloud,
this beautiful cloud.

That's all I can really call it.

I can't remember
how the invitation came.

I guess, like,
me playing trombone was--

and bringing a trombone
into this type of music

was another original thought.

And they were doing it
in this basement.

CHARLIE (V.O.): It became
a real hub, real fast.

It was basically
guest after guest.

-Hey.
-Hey.

-Jesus, come on in!

Always recording.

Always.

-Hey, I'm Sammy, by the way.

-Nice camera.
-Is this thing on, man?

STEPHEN: Yeah.

KEVIN: We should do this.

SAM: Yeah, let's go.

JUSTIN (V.O.): This is just
another one of those evenings,

I guess.

[guitars tuning]

JUSTIN (V.O.): You just
live in the moment.

But you knew that you were
a part of something

that was just really awesome.

♪

♪

♪

♪

JIMMY (V.O.): I went over
to Kev's house on Afton

and he introduced me
to this guy named Brendan.

They just had a really
good connection.

They both kind of see
things I think as

the person
who's playing the part

is more important than
the part that they play.

ANDREW (V.O.): All these
different little scenes

came together.

Charles bringing
different people,

I brought different people.

We jammed there all the time,

but they also had
lots of parties,

and then they had brunches
that would turn into parties.

JO-ANN (V.O.): Everybody
was interested in each other.

Everybody wanted
to talk to each other.

Everyone was welcome.

There was food.

There was excellent lighting.

There was, like,
a warm place to land.

KEVIN: You've got it.
In the pocket!

I'd say sometimes drop out,

just so it can be even better
when it comes back in.

-I'm just trying to,
make sure I remember...

-Yeah, don't forget the...

JASON (V.O.): I've always
worked as a carpenter.

I would go directly
from the shop.

I got the nickname, I think
it was Peroff that coined it,

"Dusty Pants."

[guitar playing]

JASON (V.O.): You would
come over in the afternoon

and you'd hang around.

There'd be a lot of just
hanging around.

The endless hanging out.

It was just gettin' high
in the middle of the day

and goin' into that basement.

There was something
about the camaraderie

that was just super fun.

[band jamming]

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

JASON (V.O.): And you all
fall in love with each other

in different ways, and you all
get crushes on each other

in different ways,
musical and otherwise.

And because
there's so many of us,

there's lots of ways that you
could personally get to know

one other person off to the side

and create your own
relationships with them.

Jo-Ann and Kevin already
made Afton into this hearth.

It was like the eternal present.

KEVIN (V.O.): It certainly felt
like there was some kind of

renaissance going on.

It wasn't so hard
to be an artist

around 2000 in Toronto.

Rent was cheap.

The creativity was on fire.

JO-ANN (V.O.): Queen West,
there was hardly anybody

in that neighbourhood
that we knew.

Katharine Mulherin's
gallery was there,

and if Katharine's gallery
is here,

then it's gonna be cool
'cause all the artists

are gonna be there.

BRENDAN (V.O.): You could
walk across Queen Street

on a Thursday night

when there'd be
a new show opening up.

It was just--
it was very vibrant.

And also very innocent
and really creative.

-Hey, Kevvy!

BRENDAN (V.O.): Just felt like
you could do your own thing.

At least, it did for us.

-We were all kind of
doing weird things

with whatever venues
we could find in Toronto.

We kind of also wanted, I think,
to be in these unusual settings

'cause we were weirdos.

[crowd cheering]

BAND MEMBER (V.O.):
We were basically broke

but we went to see shows
all the time.

YVONNE (V.O.): Ted's was
looking for a new booker,

so he asked me if I could
come and weave my magic there.

I gave Jonny Dovercourt
his Wavelength Sunday nights.

That was the start of
all the interesting stuff

that was going to go on there.

BRENDAN (V.O.):
The Wavelength guys,

they were keeping the spark
of indie rock alive.

EVAN (V.O.): Ted's Wrecking Yard
upstairs,

which ended up being
the BSS clubhouse. [chuckles]

If we weren't playing there,
we were there watching shows.

That was an important venue.

KEVIN (V.O.): Everyone
was supporting each other.

You just suddenly found
that there was a way

that you could connect everyone.

There wasn't a competition
to stop each other.

[crowd cheering]

KEVIN: What are ya gonna do?

Any time...

-Oh my God!

Yes!

-We need to spread some love.

What are you gonna do?

-I'm gonna do the... 95!

[crowd cheering]

EVAN: Justin Peroff!

-I'm gonna do the 95!

[crowd cheering]

[indistinct voices]

-I remember there being
a lot more people there.

[band playing]

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

BAND MEMBER (V.O.): It wasn't
like a normal band.

Most of the players
were all songwriters

and had solo careers.

-I remember there being
a conversation of a conceptual,

"Let's play once a month and
write the songs for the shows."

-One, two, three, four!

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

CHARLIE (V.O.): For me,
it was this great freedom

of not pretending to be a thing.

Like, this is just people
playing music, right?

It's playing music together.

Like, we're gonna
make new songs.

We're gonna have new people.

There's no goal.

JOHN (V.O.): I would miss
a practice for Social Scene,

and then I would show up at
a gig and Kevin would be like,

"We wrote three songs!"
you know? [laughs]

LESLIE (V.O.): Those early jams,

I remember just feeling like
the storm was gathering.

[applause and cheering]

KEVIN: It's been nice,
ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you very much.

Andrew Whiteman,
Charles Spearin,

Brendan Canning,

John Crossingham,
Justin Peroff.

And Kevin Drew!

KEVIN: And Kevin Drew.

That's all for you tonight,
limited edition.

GEORGE: It's like, fuck, man.

I was hoping someone
would videotape this

so we could watch it
when we're, like, 70.

KEVIN: I want to welcome
our friend, our love,

Miss Emily Haines.

[crowd cheering]

-I also want to welcome
to the stage at this time,

Mr. James Shaw.

[crowd cheering]

-♪ Park that car,
drop that phone ♪

♪ Sleep on the floor,
dream about me ♪

♪ Park that car,
drop that phone ♪

♪ Sleep on the floor,
dream about me ♪

JIMMY (V.O.): Someone called
a meeting and was like,

"We gotta go talk about
the fact that these shows happen

"and they were really great.

"Let's, like,
make a record or something."

And I think Kevin was like,

"Yeah, let's do it.
Let's make this a thing."

In my memory, that was the
moment that it kind of, like,

it turned from, like,
a thing that just happened

to a thing that then
we decided to make happen.

KEVIN: Here we go!

[crowd cheering,
band playing]

♪ I know you're dyin', baby,
I know it's good, yeah ♪

♪ And I know there's 360 things
you'd rather be doin' ♪

♪ But you fuck what you love

and you love what you fuck ♪

CHARLIE (V.O.): It started
with us looking for

a recording studio
that was affordable.

We really didn't
have much money.

I had some money
'cause I was touring

with Franklin the Turtle
at the time.

Everybody pitched in.

We just needed some place
that was cheap.

♪

[band stops playing]

BAND MEMBER: Thank you!
Goodnight!

♪

♪

♪

DAVE (V.O.): I wanted
to make great records,

but I did not have high hopes.

I was just hoping that
I wouldn't fucking go bankrupt!

I'm just hoping to, like,
make, like, 1,500 a month

just to cover rent,
kind of thing.

DAVE (V.O.): I knew I've got one
of the top bands in the city.

These guys got somethin' real
special on their own without me,

so I'd love to be able to,
like, bring my thing in

to that as well.

I just felt like,
"I'm at that level,"

or, "I'll get to that level,

"so then we'll both bring
each other up."

-Like Dada?

-No, no, no, there was
a band called Dada.

DAVE (V.O.): He calls me because
they thought they're gonna

go into the place with, like,
a big room and a couch

and all that shit.

I was sitting there in
that dirty kitchen and you said,

"What do you charge?"

And I was like,
"Boy, they're gonna probably

"come in for maybe two weeks.

"I'll make, like, a thousand
bucks or somethin'.

"I need the money!"
[laughs]

So, I'm like,
"150 bucks a day?"

And there's, like,
about a 45-second pause,

and then Kevin comes back,

"Well, why don't we just book,
like, five weeks?"

[laughter]

DAVE (V.O.): Just before
they came in,

a friend of mine said,
"You need a proper patch bay,"

and so I ended up going down
a patch bay rabbit hole.

-Did you get some
good drum, Canning?

DAVE (V.O.): The gear
is kind of working,

but then it started on fire
and smoking out of the back.

It's like,
"Whoa, unplug that!"

[drumming]

BAND MEMBER: Is that good?

[piano playing]

DAVE (V.O.): Oh my God, here I
got the patch bay, you know,

and I got the new board,
and I was so excited.

And it's just all
falling to shit.

BAND MEMBER: Chung,
turn off the camera.

Don't put pressure on Dave

to try to find
the feedback, okay?

Kill the camera, Chung!

[Jason laughing]

-Wassap!

Euh!

-Wow.

That's the beginning.

That's amazing.

Watching myself
walk into a portal.

It changed all of our lives,
straight up.

I had no idea at the time.

[bass riff from
"Stars and Sons" playing]

DAVE (V.O.): So, Charlie,
he started playing.

He's just monkeying around
and he kept playing it

over and over 'cause
he liked what he was doing

and he kept expanding the
[humming riff].

So that kept him occupied.

♪

DAVE (V.O.): I remember
Kevin said,

"Justin, oh, here's a drum beat
that you should try!"

[drumming begins
along with bass riff]

♪

DAVE (V.O.): Later that night,
we were listening to it,

and then that's when
Brendan was mumbling,

and I'm like,
"Oh, go in there and try it."

I said, "Brendan has
an idea he wants to try."

I knew he wouldn't
normally do it,

but they had just met me
so I could, like,

make a bold thing like that
and they wouldn't, like,

just go, "Oh, okay..."

["Stars and Sons"
by Broken Social Scene]

♪ Then when you let it ♪

♪ You asked for nothing ♪

♪ Why don't you share it? ♪

♪

♪ All of the time you live... ♪

CHARLIE (V.O.): But we
ended up using that take!

DAVE (V.O.): That is
what you hear on that record.

That's his first attempt.

CHARLIE (V.O.): It is.

Charlie taught me
accidents are amazing,

but you taught me
that the vibe is usually

while you're finding it.

DAVE (V.O.): The session
where the person's, like,

still exploring
and discovering the song,

there's some little nanoseconds
of the playing or something

that's being expressed
that's more exciting.

♪

-Let's do it again.
I need a...

CHARLIE (V.O.): I don't think
Kevin played anything

for the first half of the song,

and then he comes in with

this microphone going through
a guitar amp, screaming,

"You forgot it in people!

"You forgot it in people!
You forgot it in people!"

That's where the album title
comes from.

♪

[with amp distortion]
♪ You forgot it in people! ♪

♪ You forgot it in people! ♪

-[in falsetto]
♪ You forgot it in people... ♪

Nobody knows that.

I don't think anybody
can pick it out.

Maybe somebody did.

♪

♪

CHARLIE (V.O.): He played it
to me the next morning

and I was like,

"Don't change it!
It's amazing!"

BRENDAN (V.O.): He just said,
"My boys!"

and he had, like, a hand
on mine and Kevin's back,

like we hit something good.

♪

♪

♪ All the time you live ♪

♪ There's something out there ♪

DAVE (V.O.): It just happened
because it happened, you know?

We had now this new, fresh tune.

It suddenly made it seem like
this is a redeeming experience,

or that maybe
this isn't all lost.

[clapping]

DAVE (V.O.): And then
it just got better and better.

[band cheering]

-Dave, tell me
you recorded that!

[laughter]

♪

BAND MEMBER (V.O.):
The pervading spirit of

"Stars and Sons" was Newfeld.

EVAN (V.O.): The way he could
take everyone's personalities

and make it sound whole...

He's a scientist.

He used the studio
as an instrument.

He would, like, ride it,
not like an instrument,

ride it like a piece
of machinery

that he wanted to kill.

BAND MEMBER (V.O.):
There's no other like him.

An absolute original.

He internalized
and made it painful

in how badly he wanted
our records to sound

the best that they could.

DAVE (V.O.): It became
really clear very early

that you can't have everyone

constantly having input
and the same amount of, like,

jurisdiction or involvement
in the record-making process.

Later at night,
it was a little easier

to maybe think about it or--
you know what I mean?

To see it
from a different perspective.

We felt at ease with
each other's presence,

and the same thing with you
coming in with the camera.

-I mean, how many times were we
recording and we look over,

Stevie's in the corner
of the room, behind a plant,

and has a mirror
and he's shooting my reflection!

-Wicked.

-Right now, we're battin'
a 10-song record,

with this song in two parts,
making it 11.

-♪ Stevie won't
leave me alone! ♪

-That doesn't include,
Mama doesn't like it

when you go downstairs.

♪ Stevie won't leave me alone. ♪

♪ Oh, Stevie... ♪

♪ Always with
your fuckin' camera! ♪

♪ Always through the leaves... ♪

STEPHEN (V.O.): If you're
already rolling,

people don't--
they forget that you're there,

and then natural stuff
kind of happens.

It's a really fine art to go in
and be part of somebody's life

without interfering
with something special

that's happening.

[playing drums]

[guitar joins in]

♪

-One more time.
Let's slow down.

KEVIN: Keep that bit in.

Oh, it's in A.

-No, the B string.
The B string.

[guitar tuning]

-Play the whole D chord, buddy?

[guitar plays D chord]

-It's goin' down now.

[guitar tuning]

JUSTIN (V.O.): I was
in the room,

but I wasn't in the room,
if you know what I mean.

Like, I was in the drum booth,

so I couldn't always hear the
conversation that was happening.

-It's getting hot in here.
-Let's get it hotter.

JUSTIN (V.O.) I remember
the first version

of "Almost Crimes."

It wasn't called
"Almost Crimes."

It was called, like,
"The Dinosaur Jr. Song,"

'cause the original version
of that sounds exactly like

a Dinosaur Jr. song.

-[indistinct lyrics]

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

-[laughs]

STEPHEN: So, what does
that remind you of?

-My role in that band
was defined in that moment.

You know, it's like,
I'm just yellin' at everybody;

I'm like, "No, man,
that's not fuckin' good.

"No, gotta do this,
gotta do this."

Like, the song was
too fuckin' long.

"Let's go.
Let's cut it.

"Let's make
this fuckin' thing happen."

And Kev's like, "Okay,
everyone's gotta be chill, man."

[guitar playing]

♪

[drumming begins]

♪

DAVE: Is that the chorus?

♪

[bass begins]

♪

♪

JIMMY (V.O.): Cranley likes to
be adjacent to the spotlight,

and he'll make sure that
the person in the spotlight

sounds fantastic
by what he does musically.

Like, he made up an instrument:
two-stringed guitar, two-tar.

Because there's four other dudes
playing a six-string guitar.

That's the most
Cranley thing ever.

♪

-Oh, yeah, yeah.

-That sounded pretty cool, eh?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Oh, shit!
That was a moment!

-[humming]

-Well-oh-ah-oh!

-♪ Well, I told you,
I told you, I told you ♪

♪ I told you
I wouldn't do it once ♪

[in low voice]
♪ But I'm gonna do it twice. ♪

-Of course, then
when Feist came in

and heard what you had done

and added her part,
then it was just like...

signed, sealed, and delivered!

-♪ I told you! ♪

[indistinct lyrics]

♪ I told you! ♪

[indistinct lyrics]

♪ Waited! ♪

♪ I waited, waited, oh-ho! ♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

[crowd cheering]

["Almost Crimes"
by Broken Social Scene]

♪

♪

♪

♪

-The Afton aesthetic
and the 95 aesthetic

kind of met here.

-So with the synths,
and the vocals, the saxophone,

it started to feel
like something

that had its own identity.

There's a sort of
now-ness to it.

We're living it.
This is what we do.

♪ We've got love and hate,
it's the only way ♪

♪

-♪ I think it's almost... ♪

-♪ Crime! ♪

♪

♪

-♪ I think it's almost... ♪

♪ Crime... ♪

CHARLIE (V.O.): But then
You Forgot it in People came out

and we had to be a normal band.

Like, we had to tour.

-♪ I think it's almost crime. ♪

BRENDAN: Should do that again!

[harmonica playing]

BRENDAN (V.O.): Soundscapes
was in line with

something like Wavelength.

You know, keeping music alive.

-Social Scene, and specifically
You Forgot it in People,

was the type of record
that was, you know,

musically quite transformative,

but did not fit in any
traditional commercial box.

-This one's for Soundscapes.

Thank you very, very much, guys.

Thank you very, very,
very, very much.

[applause and cheering]

["Stars and Sons"
by Broken Social Scene]

-Oh my God, Crossingham.

Is that Millan back there?

-Yeah.
-Little cutie.

♪

-♪ And in the red room
at a distance... ♪

♪

♪ How would you know it? ♪

-Chewing gum!

Terrible!

-You're just like, "I don't
even care what I'm singing."

-"I don't even care,
I'm just chewing gum,

"I got a scarf on."

Good tempo of the song, though.

-♪ This one will know
how far to live on... ♪

LESLIE (V.O.): Am I here?

-No.
-Maybe not.

-No, no.
-But then, who did, [clapping]?

♪

KEVIN: We need some audience
participation over here!

[all clapping to beat]

♪

LESLIE: He...
I don't know, is that Now?

BAND MEMBER: Are we
gonna play tomorrow?

KEVIN: You're not out, are you?

BAND MEMBER: Yeah, I'm gonna
take my shit to [inaudible].

KEVIN: And are you
gonna come back, or what?

-It's 4:30 or something.

-It's 4.
We're still jamming today.

-And we need
to jam tomorrow, too.

-And we need
to jam tomorrow?

Wha... Wait a second.
What the fuck?

I thought you were whipping
over there and whipping back.

-Okay.

-We still have tons
of shit to do, do we not?

-♪ There's love in the air! ♪

KEVIN (V.O.): I remember
being very...

just wanting it
to happen so badly,

wanting to make the record,
wanting to rehearse.

I was always on top
of everybody.

I think I was very annoying.

BRENDAN (V.O.): Kev's obviously
a massive glue factor

for the group because, you know,

it's like it started off
in his basement.

-And I feel like leading,
he was the leader,

even though he wasn't,
but he was.

You know, he absolutely was.

KEVIN (V.O.): We had
the right chemistry,

especially with Brendan
and Jason Collett and Leslie.

Like, people that had been
doing it for so long,

and we had a nice parallel
of people that had been there

and done it and those who
were eager to just get started.

JUSTIN: And then we did
a song called "Build."

♪ Build, you've got to
learn how to build. ♪

-[laughter]
-[scatting]

JUSTIN: ♪ You've got to change,
change and build! ♪

[laughter]

[indistinct conversation]

-Circus of Sour...!
-[laughter]

ANDREW: And the covers.
The covers! [indistinct].

Have you ever seen Shrek?

[arcade game noises]

LESLIE (V.O.): I was just
following the fun opportunities.

-These are rubles.

-Rubles?
-Yeah!

LESLIE (V.O.): I mean,
there was no "making it."

There was actually no thought

that that would even be
anywhere on the table,

near the table,
the table adjacent.

There was no making a living
playing music

that was, at all, on my mind.

I was working any way
I could to pay my rent,

but none of those ways
were music.

The feeling was,
there's something really cool

to get to do with friends,
and I'm gonna go do that.

You know what I mean?

One gig to the next.

♪

-[indistinct lyrics]

♪

BRENDAN (V.O.): Like, I was
seven years older than you,

so maybe I have a different
perspective on, like,

music success.

-Right.
You'd gotten close to something

that you thought was success.

-Yeah, like a bunch of times.

So, it's like, "Fuck,
like, I'm in my 30s.

"I have no backup plan.
Like, this shit has to work."

You know?

LESLIE: But that
does explain a lot,

that if you were already in your
30s and I was in my early 20s,

that's exactly the cognitive
difference between,

"What are we doing here?"

I don't think
I felt I had to leave,

but I just kept leaving.

["Anthems for a
Seventeen-Year-Old Girl"

by Broken Social Scene]

♪

♪

♪

EMILY (V.O.): There were a lot
of challenges at that time.

There was a major label system
that was sort of a disrespected

Canadian offshoot
of the major labels.

Distribution was really,
like, an obstacle.

You just had to, like,
kiss all these weird asses.

[laughs]
And it was just like...

I mean, you know me;
I was just like, "No." [laughs]

"I'm not doing that.
It's ridiculous."

And that's why
Jimmy and I went to New York.

We felt if we wanted to do
it on a global scale,

we couldn't do it here.

AMY (V.O.): I remember
Lula Lounge.

It was the CD release party,
and Emily and Leslie were away.

I had to fill both shoes.

Well, I'd been singing
with Emily since I'm 15.

I've sung with her so much
that I know how to sing along

in my mind with how
she would be as a person.

-[indistinct lyrics]

♪

AMY (V.O.): She'd been
my best friend since I was 15.

But I remember Peroff,
like, behind the scenes,

being like, "Okay, like,
'Anthems,' like, you know,

"it's not lackadaisical.
Like, it's on the beat!

"You've gotta, like,
you know, keep"--

You know, it's like,
"Stay on the beat."

And I just remember
being under, like,

an incredible amount of pressure
to, like, pull off both humans.

-[indistinct lyrics]

♪ Park that car,
drop that phone ♪

♪ Sleep on the floor,
dream about me ♪

♪ Park that car,
drop that phone ♪

♪ Sleep on the floor,
dream about me ♪

♪ Park that car,
drop that phone... ♪

AMY (V.O.): What
I'm always trying to do

is just be where I am

and let the voices
of fear leave.

-♪ Used to be one of the rotten
ones and I liked you for that ♪

♪ Now you're all gone,
got your make-up on

and you're not coming back ♪

[applause and cheering]

AMY (V.O.): I think it's
important to be present

as much as you can be.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

SOOK YIN LEE: So,
the Broken Social Scene

is really causing a stir.

They've gotten three
5 out of 5 star reviews

in the Toronto Area,
and they're pretty hot, eh?

JOHN SAKAMOTO: That's
right, and well-deserved.

A very strange collective.

They started out
with a core of two members,

but they've expanded
on their second album,

called You Forgot it in People,
to a ten-member band.

[crowd cheering]

-♪ All your kind,
they're coming clean ♪

♪ They sleep through keys,
they kill their needs ♪

♪ All your kind,
they're spool and lance ♪

♪ They crash their kiss,
they harmonize... ♪

-Oh my God!

-You probably didn't realize
that that conversation

was being recorded.

-Uh... [laughs]

I mean, I don't remember
that conversation,

but there were many
conversations like that.

It was, um...

Holy shit, Chung.

DAVID (V.O.): I like
to be called David Drew.

I went through
this whole period of life

when I had first got involved
with Broken Social Scene

being introduced
as Kevin Drew's father.

I was nameless.

Kevin decided
that he needed help.

"Can you help me
with the band's finances?

"Can you give me some advice
about the record label?"

You know,
Kevin now constantly says,

"I've saved your life,
you know?"

And there are times
when I've said to him,

"You know what?
Enough of the life-saving.

"You know, this stuff gets
a bit overwhelming sometimes."

-[indistinct lyrics]

♪

JEFFREY (V.O.): It's a
post-Napster, pre-iTunes world.

Large music companies
were focused on

shifting environments
that were scary.

-With Remedios,

it's one of those things
where you immediately go,

"Okay, we're getting married
and this is gonna be a marriage.

"There's gonna be good times
and there's gonna be bad."

He gave up so much
to come and be with us,

and he just pushed
everything forward,

and then he also did everything
he said he was gonna do.

JEFFREY (V.O.): I remember
telling my parents,

"I'm leaving
my really stable job

"to go partner with
this musician, Kevin."

That was when
everything kicked off

with Broken Social Scene
and Arts & Crafts.

DAVID (V.O.): Kevin introduced
me to him, and clearly,

you know, this was a driven guy.

He was charming,
to say the least.

If I was gonna get a business
partner again in my life,

Jeffrey would be fine.

But he's too
good-looking for me.

Yeah, I'd have to get
someone slightly uglier.

STUART (V.O.): In Jeffrey, you
had this guy who had worked

in the traditional label system,

but unlike a lot of people
in the music industry,

Jeffrey wasn't afraid
of the internet.

He really embraced it.

And so, he really saw
the internet as a way of, like,

turning fans into ambassadors
for this group.

[audience cheering]

JEFFREY (V.O.): The exuberance
of something totally new

and totally fresh.

People were hip to it
and excited by it.

YVONNE (V.O.): It was
almost instantaneous.

They'd have a really good crowd.

You know, friends,
family, and then fans.

♪

♪

♪

♪

-Thank you.
Everything's okay here?

-Everything's fine.

-I'm just trying to find
a spot with some light

to put your gear.

-Like I said,
there's no favourites here.

-There's no favourites?
-No.

-But she's the mother
of the lead singer!

-Of the bride.
[laughs]

-I have to ask you
a question, then.

What's your favourite thing
about Broken Social Scene?

-Uh, they don't
live in my house anymore.

-[blasts note]
-[laughs]

BRENDAN: Why do I have
a mic in my pocket?

Chung, did you put that thing
in my back pocket?

[laughs]
I'm all wired!

STEPHEN (V.O.): This
was like a hometown,

just pre-holiday show.

Biggest venue I think
they'd ever done in town.

Totally sold out.

-♪ The weather
outside is frightful! ♪

[indistinct conversation]

-You know what?
Don't point that weapon at me!

BAND MEMBER (V.O.): And I
remember you filming that.

STEPHEN (V.O.): Phoenix show
was one of the landmarks.

-Brendan, do you trust him?

-Chung?

-Yeah, I trust him.
-Yeah?

STEPHEN (V.O.): And that's
the first time I feel like

I wanted to shoot a movie.

[audience cheering]

-♪ All these people
drinking lover's spit... ♪

BAND MEMBER (V.O.):
You Forgot it in People

is the honeymoon of
Broken Social Scene.

BAND MEMBER (V.O.): I do
actually kind of remember

playing with Social Scene
at the Phoenix,

but I think I remember
slow-dancing with Peroff.

BAND MEMBER (V.O.): Doing
a show is a reciprocation.

You put it out,
the audience gives it back,

and then it goes
to another level.

BAND MEMBER (V.O.): Not
necessarily through lyrics

and a song, but just a feeling.

KEVIN: This is
"It's All Gonna Break."

Thank you very much, folks.

Enjoy your lives.
Goodnight.

♪

KEVIN: ♪ It's all...

♪

♪ Gonna break! ♪

♪

♪ Treat me like a sign ♪

♪ Sounds like so well ♪

♪ I know times like
these are the hell ♪

♪ And when you do the tricks,
the tricks look so good ♪

♪ I got buried rumours
waiting in the woods ♪

♪ And they try to climb
awake and call me over ♪

♪ Skies they rape
and skies are sober ♪

♪ Minds they fake
and minds rolled over ♪

♪ It's good, it's good,
it's good, it's good to love ♪

♪

♪

♪ But it's all... ♪

[sustains note]

[distortion]

[crowd cheering]

KEVIN: ♪ Gonna break! ♪

♪

-♪ It's all, all, all,
all, all, all, all ♪

♪ All, all, all, all,
all, all, all, all, all ♪

♪ All-all-all-all-all... ♪

[sustains note]

♪ Gonna break! ♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

-Let's go!
Raise your hands up high!

-Are we brunching
in the morning?

KEVIN: Yeah, we're gonna try.

Thanks, babe.

Thanks for comin'.

♪

KEVIN (V.O.): As much
as I had some of the best

live experiences
being on stage with that band,

I also had some of the best
backstage experiences.

The show never fuckin' stopped.

JEFFREY (V.O.):
I have this memory,

they did back-to-back nights,
and the first night, like,

the backstage
was just total chaos.

LESLIE: Me, too!
Don't forget about me, Stevie!

Don't forget about me, alright?

I'm here!
Talking shit!

JEFFREY (V.O.): The second
night's show, and they said,

"Alright, listen,it needs to be
a closed backstage tonight.

"Like, nobody's
coming in tonight,

"except for this person,
and except for that person.

"And except for, like,
you know, indie rockers."

Okay, so, uh,
it's a totally open backstage!

-I was pretty cocky
last night.

I'd give myself a 9.5 out of 10.

-Oh, yeah?

JEFFREY (V.O.): At that time,
they were, like,

both mayors of our scene
in the city.

-This will never, ever,
ever, ever happen again.

So let's just know that
all we have is right now.

-Always, man.
Always and forever.

-Chungie, I'm so glad
you were there tonight.

-Yeah. You know?
-I am, too.

-Are you Broken Social Scene?
-Yes.

-Why is everyone
comin' to our house?

-'Cause you fuckin' said,

invited people back
to our house to smoke pot.

-That's a big crowd...

-Yeah, and I have no idea why.

JO-ANN (V.O.): Things
got a little, like, nuts.

I wasn't always happy
with the people hanging out.

The crowd started to change

and the people who came over
started to change.

The community
part of it diluted.

It became something different.

EMILY (V.O.): It's an age-old
tale of changing times.

I don't think it's, like--

I don't think there's
anything tragic about it.

I think it's amazing,
what happened,

'cause we all wanted
something to happen.

And it did.

["Cause = Time"
by Broken Social Scene]

♪

BAND MEMBER (V.O.): We were
all toiling away in Canada

at a time where
people didn't pay much

mind to Canadian music
internationally.

The band was in the right place
at the right time

and made the right record.

BAND MEMBER (V.O.): That was
the first BSS video.

That was probably before
anything had happened.

KEVIN: It's gonna be
an art/cult video.

In this backyard, everyone
will be wearing camouflage.

We're gonna do band performance
and we're gonna mock

sort of the whole band
performance stylization of it.

What we're gonna be doing down
at the bottom of that hill

over there is we're gonna have
an orange screen in the back,

and we're gonna do
the band performance

with everyone rocking out
with bags over their heads.

-What's with
the bags on our heads?

-The bags on our heads?

What do you mean
what's with them?

It just makes it better.

JIMMY: Can we cut
holes in this for eyes?

'Cause that'll freak me out
if I have a bag over my head

the whole time.

I'm gonna get all
claustrophobic and weird.

DAVID (V.O.): And then that
crazy Pitchfork Media review.

Who the fuck is Pitchfork?

-When the Pitchfork
review came in,

it was like
a different world to me,

'cause it was like
reviews on the internet,

which I normally was like,

"Did we get written up
in the Toronto Star?"

It's like, "No, don't worry
about your print anymore."

RYAN (V.O.): Basically
when I got online in 1994,

I was kind of seeing, like,
"This internet thing

"has a lot of potential
as a publishing platform."

I kind of felt a little
bit of a responsibility

because we had such
a megaphone within this world.

And I was hugely passionate
about indie music.

2002, and I'm digging
through all of these CDs,

and I come across
Broken Social Scene,

You Forgot it in People,
and I'm like,

"God, that is
a terrible band name."

From the moment it comes on,
that record is amazing!

It's got this lush,
beautiful intro,

and then it just kicks in
and it doesn't stop.

♪

♪

♪ And they all
want to love the cause ♪

♪

♪ They all need to be... ♪

RYAN (V.O.): I think
I gave it a 9.1 or a 9.2,

something just over a 9.

At this point, though,
Pitchfork's readership is maybe,

like, 50,000 people a day.

50,000 a day seems like a lot.

BAND MEMBER (V.O.): I didn't
have the internet.

I didn't have a cell phone.

Suddenly, this website
changed the game for us.

STUART (V.O.): So when
Pitchfork slaps a 9.2

on this unknown band
from Canada with a weird name,

it really piqued
a lot of people's interest.

Like, "Who the fuck
are these guys?

"You know, they're not Wilco.
They're not Radiohead.

"I need to seek
this out right away."

-It was timed so well
that two months later

we were on the road,
and everywhere we went

it was basically just sold out.

♪

[audience cheering]

BAND MEMBER (V.O.):
We were excited about,

you know, playing around town.

Suddenly, you can just
play anywhere in the world.

[crowd cheering]

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

BAND MEMBER (V.O.):
We caught America so off-guard

that Canada snuck in somehow
with the indie rock explosion.

BAND MEMBER (V.O.):
This record was growing.

It was global.

It was getting bigger
and bigger and bigger.

All the shows were sold out.

BAND MEMBER (V.O.): These
festivals that we played, like,

early days in Europe,
were just like that phrase,

like just a rag-tag
group of kids, you know?

-Holland, Holland.

Jimmy in Holland.

[crowd cheering]

♪

♪

BRENDAN (V.O.): And when
you're all new to the game,

everyone's new.

Like, even Jeffrey had
never managed a band before.

He had worked;
he was label side.

It's not easy.

-[indistinct lyrics]

♪

♪

[applause]

-We got a bag of those?

JEFFREY (V.O.): Everyone was
trying to figure it out.

What can we afford?

How many people
could we afford to bring?

It was usually like "one more
musician versus lights,"

was typically how it all went.

BAND MEMBER (V.O.): No one knew
what the fuck we were doing.

-You guys got an adventure.

EVAN: Yeah, I'm all for that.

-Seeing the world through
this shuttleus

scenario of teenage heartbeat,
summer camp, music.

BRENDAN (V.O.): We have
a successful record.

It catches heat in America,
then it catches heat in the UK,

then it catches heat in Europe,
and then you're going to Japan;

you're kind of playing catch-up.

And then, you know,
we also gotta get

the next record out the door.

-When they had to
make the follow-up record,

what became
the self-titled record,

they would jump into
the studio when they had, like,

an extra spare day off.

We didn't have that
sort of consistent window

in their creative process
at that time.

-Can we hear that, too?
-Yeah.

-So just let it ring.
-[guitar tuning]

-The beat's so groovy
in this, man.

KEVIN (V.O.): Justin, I know
I talked to a lot of bands

about how
when they heard his rhythms,

it changed the way
they wanted to play.

JUSTIN: Hey, you
know what, guys?

Do another version,
and remember, this time,

it sounds so good
when there's lots of space, too.

You too, Brendan.
You hear that, too?

-Yeah.
-So just let it ring.

BRENDAN (V.O.): You've got
a producer like Dave Newfeld

colouring in a lot of the lines
when we would go on tour,

and we'd come back and we'd
be like, "Oh, this is great.

"This sounds like
your song now."

KEVIN (V.O.): He wanted
everything to sound as great

as it possibly could,
and it was intense,

but then the results, and just
being around that energy,

it worked.

-We were very burnt out.
-At that point?

What about now?!

-I think we'll always be
burnt out, too.

It seems to be the way
I'm looking for.

I don't want to tour
this fall, but Canning...

Canning's insisting
that we're going to.

-It's back to school.
It's back to school.

-Back to school.
Apparently.

KEVIN (V.O.): All you
ask for in life

is just to try
to make it simple,

and this band is not that.

JO-ANN (V.O.): Kevin and
Brendan had to be at the whim

of these other entities
that were ambitious.

Metric...

-I'm gonna play
a coliseum in Croatia.

-The timing couldn't be worse.
It's writing.

JO-ANN (V.O.): Stars...

BAND MEMBER: We're
goin' away on Friday.

JO-ANN (V.O.): Feist...

They had people,
and then they didn't.

-By this point,
Broken Social Scene had hired

Lisa Lobsinger to be
the female voice of the band.

Emily, Amy, and Feist
weren't available as much.

KEVIN (V.O.): But Lobby
sort of came

and allowed us
to continue on,

and she sang
other people's songs,

and she took on a lot.

Some of the best times I had
on the road were with her.

-I think the original
architecture

of what Broken Social Scene was
wasn't a band, but it was,

"How do you tour this thing?"

JIMMY (V.O.): I'd see
a tour announcement come up

and I'd look at the tour
and call up Kevin and be like,

"Alright, man,
I'm gonna come to LA, San Diego,

"I'll do New York, Boston,

"as long as it's a tour bus,
I'm gonna take three days off,

"and then I'm gonna do
the three European festivals."

And he's like, "Sure, man.
I'll make it work. For you."

-Super hungover!

BRENDAN (V.O.): Now you've got

all these ego-driven
personalities,

myself included;
it's tricky manoeuvring.

You never know who's gonna
show up from tour to tour.

ANDREW (V.O.): There was
a tour we did where, like,

Emily, Amy, Leslie,
none of them were available.

It was pre-Lobsinger.

And so, we solved this problem

by getting
the promoter in each town

to find a local woman singer.

We did it in Singapore.

We did this in Mexico City.

Yeah, you know
what I'm talkin' about.

-Hi, Chungie.
-Hi, Stevie.

KEVIN: Um,
how should we do this?

CHARLIE: We could
do a song each.

But it's kinda nice for "7/4"
to have everybody sing,

it's comin' in hard,
and stuff like that.

KEVIN: Yeah, "7/4"...

-We can all sing!
-We can have both of you, yeah.

And then "Almost Crimes,"
you can kill it.

-Okay.
-Awesome.

We gotta get some horn players.

-We're just gonna
go to Mariachi Square

and try and find some.

[speaking in Spanish]

-They want 3,200
for the whole group.

They won't separate.
And that's for an hour.

-We need a Plan B.
-Yeah.

-We need horns, man.
We need horns.

-What happened?
-Three.

200 bucks, and they're gonna
stay for the four songs.

-They're gonna
be there at 11, too.

-I can't believe
we just got some guy.

-Five, six, seven, one, two,
three, four, five, six, seven.

[trumpet playing]

-That's it.
-That's it.

-[laughter]
-That's one song!

-That's all there is to it.
-That's it.

[speaking in Spanish]

-Do you have it in writing?

-I don't.
I can try and write it out.

BAND MEMBER (V.O.):
That sprawling collective

of a revolving door
of musicians coming and going,

that's hard to sustain.

BRENDAN (V.O.): 'Cause
it's in trumpet language.

I can transpose it.

BAND MEMBER (V.O.):
It's really difficult

to put that much chaos on stage.

You can't just remove the chaos
because it's built on chaos.

BAND MEMBER (V.O.):
It was a little much.

It was a little much.

ANDREW (V.O.): Social Scene
has never been able to control

our presentation of ourselves.

We've never been able to do it.

-♪ It's a shoreline ♪

♪

♪ And it's half speed ♪

♪

♪ It's a cruel world ♪

♪

♪ And it's time... ♪

♪

[trumpets playing]

♪

[crowd cheering]

[applause]

JO-ANN (V.O.): Our lives
were just kinda like...

[mimics explosion]

They were away a lot more.
I was doing things here.

Brendan and Kevin
got what they wanted:

they were able to survive
off their art.

They were given more access to
keep creating and doing things.

KEVIN: Thank you
so much, everybody!

[applause and cheering]

STEPHEN (V.O.): I had
two kids at that time,

and hangin' out
with your buddies,

smoking pot and taking pictures,

was just not gonna happen
at that point in time.

-That's not a job.

-No! You guys were
jettin' all over the place.

-Nine, ten...
Check, one, two...

-Everybody's hungry,
so I have 20 meals

being brought over
to the Q101 stage.

We're all leaving here
right now on golf carts.

STUART (V.O.):
Lollapalooza in 2006

was a very special moment
for this group.

A lot of people like Emily
and Feist and Amy

had been off touring with
their own bands and projects,

and this was a rare occasion
for everyone to come together

at one show, which is something
that wasn't happening

a lot back then, and hasn't
really happened a lot since.

BAND MEMBER (V.O.): And it
was just this magical moment

where you've got
tens of thousands of people

completely going on
this emotional journey

that a Social Scene show
takes you on.

ANNOUNCER: Are you guys
ready for one of

our final bands tonight?

[applause and cheering]

ANNOUNCER: Chicago,
give a warm welcome...

to Broken Social Scene!

[applause and cheering]

-We've got 45 minutes to play
our guts out for you tonight,

so here we go!

Thank you so much
for doin' this for us.

[ambient brass music]

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

CROWD: [chanting]
One! Two! Three! Four!

["Ibi Dreams of Pavement
(A Better Day)"

by Broken Social Scene]

[applause and cheering]

♪

♪

♪

-♪ Well, I got shot
right in the back ♪

♪ And you were there,
you were there ♪

♪ I said I was
never coming back ♪

♪ And you were there,
you were there ♪

♪ Well I know the eyelids
are under attack ♪

♪ You were there,
you were there... ♪

♪

KEVIN: This is the part
where you gotta cheer with us,

because we are alive, Chicago!

Lots of fucked up things
goin' on right now,

so let's just cheer
for ourselves, alright?

On the count of three,
cheer as loud as you can.

One, two, three, go!

[crowd cheering]

♪

KEVIN: Last chance, here we go.

One, two, three, scream!

[crowd screaming]

♪

♪

♪

♪

[applause and cheering]

KEVIN: Enjoy your lives.

We are, and will always be,
Broken Social Scene.

Goodnight
and thank you for this.

This was incredible.

[loud cheering and applause]

[music stops]

[applause continues]

CROWD: [chanting]
One more song!

One more song!
One more song!

One more song!
One more song!

[chanting continues]

One more song!
One more song!

One more song!
One more song!

One more song!
One more song!

[chanting continues]

[chanting continues]

[cheering and booing]

ANNOUNCER: Oh my God!

70,000 people!

-I think we're done!
[laughs]

♪

♪

♪

["Superconnected"
by Broken Social Scene]

♪

♪

♪ Does it come in cages? ♪

♪ Does it come in threes? ♪

♪ Shipping on our time ♪

♪ Shipping on our seas ♪

♪ Never the carpet ♪

♪ Never the key ♪

♪ Art can fail you ♪

♪ Not for me to believe ♪

♪ And I won't be leavin' ♪

♪ And everyone can see ♪

♪ There's a dirty cheque stub ♪

♪ I know, I know they're free ♪

CHARLIE (V.O.): I remember
the band broke up

over and over again.

Like, "This is our last show!"

"No, this is really
our last show!"

We didn't like the idea of
chasing our dreams or whatever.

It was just like
we're living it.

This is what we do.

-I, uh, I gotta say
my heart is... [tapping]

-Are you nervous?

-Not nervous, it's just,
we sound like shit on TV, so...

You know, when you don't
rehearse and you just hang out

and you're always
on the cusp of breaking up,

you've gotta take
some pavement licks.

[sound of traffic]

KEVIN: I realize,
like, Social Scene,

we just did stuff
out of friendship.

I don't necessarily know
if that comes across well on TV,

because TV makes everybody think

that that's how
it's supposed to be.

Hey, there it is right there.
There's the Late Show building.

-What do we do?
How do we get in?

-Uh, we just go
around the corner.

KEVIN: Big day coming, champion.

-Big day.

KEVIN: Into
the homes of fuckin'...

-Millions.

-Here we go, 219.

-Justin. Nice to meet you.
-Hi!

-A pleasure.
-I'm Kevin.

-How are you?
-Very well.

-Hi!

-Meet the band:
there's a lot of us!

LETTERMAN: Our next guests
are an acclaimed band

from, uh, Toronto.
Great city.

Uh, this is their current
self-titled CD.

Please welcome
Broken Social Scene!

[applause]

♪

♪

♪

♪

-♪ Fire eye'd boy
gave them all the slip ♪

♪ Fire eye'd boy
gave them all the slip ♪

♪ If you're going to come,
you better make it quick ♪

♪ Fire eye'd boy
gave them all the slip ♪

-Oh, wow. That was good, B.
-Yeah.

That's the big time.

David Letterman.

-We work hard.
-Yeah.

And there's a lot of fuckin'
whatever they are.

-That's tuna.
-That's a crunchy bun!

-That's stale, dude!
-I guess.

-That's stale, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-I got this stuff on.

-Yeah, like right up in there,

there's some nice
reflections happening.

-Yeah.

[indistinct conversation]

-[Indistinct] Christmas trees.

All the lights
and the Christmas trees.

-Yeah!

Woo!

KEVIN: I think it's
I'm either sick,

or I'm struggling to,
you know, maintain some sanity.

I mean, yeah.

LESLIE (V.O.): Everyone knows
what they've gleaned

from their own life experiences.

This bizarre job
that we have stumbled into

gives us a strange sense
of our opinions

needing a microphone.

BRENDAN (V.O.):
Playing in the band,

it's half existential crisis
and then half celebration.

It's like it's all the things.

It's all the things
'cause you're just...

You have to meld
into this one organism.

♪ It's a cruel world
and it's time ♪

♪

♪ It's coming,
it's coming in hard ♪

♪ It's coming,
it's coming in hard... ♪

♪ It's coming,
it's coming in hard ♪

♪ It's coming,
it's coming in hard... ♪

♪ It's coming,
it's coming in hard ♪

♪ It's coming,
it's coming in hard... ♪

♪ It's coming,
it's coming in... ♪

EMILY (V.O.): People
who were kids

had to grow up a little bit.

It's all gonna break.

That's what we
were experiencing.

STEPHEN (V.O.): And
it's a bit fucked up

at that point, I imagine.

-It is, yeah.
-Yeah, yeah, so...

-The honeymoon's over, man!
-[both laugh]

-At that point.
-Yeah.

-Definitely.

-♪ The worst things
I thank you for... ♪

EMILY (V.O.): Having friendships
that are so deep

that you get called out
in ways that you can

actually develop and grow.

That's why you make music,

to find out who you are.

BAND MEMBER (V.O.): It's just,
it's too hard

to put into this one little box.

-Can't we make
the song instrumental?

-Yeah.

-You two guys, outta here!

♪ Fire eye'd boy
gave them all the slip ♪

♪ Fire eye'd boy
gave them all the slip... ♪

ANDREW (V.O.): The group is
this plastic, ever-informing,

ever-influencing
and de-influencing each other,

but that's not the story.

And the only reason why I'm
in with you in this movie now

is because part of the story
is about you growing up

and your intersection with this
group of people making art.

-I feel like I didn't
grow up until I had kids.

KEVIN: I never saw somebody
flip the script

and go and work
harder than you.

When you had Quentin,

that's when we first started
to not see you that much,

and then when you had Miles,
you were gone.

-Yeah.
-You were just like,

"I have to provide
for my family."

-So you finish this, like,
rough cut of the film.

What happens after that?

-They said...
I can't even remember, but...

I wish I had the email still.
It disappeared.

I want to say
it felt like they said,

"This movie will never
see the light of day!"

-There was lots of
really great footage,

but I just didn't feel like
there was enough of a story.

-He knew I was fuckin'
devastated, I guess.

-I needed to make it up to you!

And you needed a second
to just recalibrate, too.

-Yeah.

-'Cause, like I said,
you were working so hard,

and those party days were over.

-Yeah.

KEVIN (V.O.): The seven years
I knew you before

You Forgot it in People
came out,

we were religiously
listening to Pavement.

♪

KEVIN: Here we are in Seattle.

KEVIN (V.O.): Scott Kannberg,

who is "Spiral Stairs"
in Pavement,

had invited me to
come and stay in his home

for a few days in Seattle,
and I wrote him back and said,

"Can I bring my friend Stephen?"

-We would love it if you
could show some footage of

what we've done
since we've been here.

[guitar tuning]

-He told me that you said that.

I don't know that.
I don't believe it. Really?

-Episodes...
-[laughs]

-Here we go,
Stephen Chung and Spiral Stairs.

KEVIN: Are we spoonin' tonight?

We need to spoon!

-Hey, look at that.
-We're on.

-You know you'd love to.
-Yeah.

But you can't.

-Of course you can.
Andrea would let you spoon me.

Come here!

KEVIN: How can you think
that you can capture someone,

within taking photographs
and filming things?

That's not ever capturing
somebody's truth.

KEVIN (V.O.):
We went down there.

He gave us these
rare Pavement...

STEPHEN (V.O.): Dude,
he gave me the motherlode.

KEVIN (V.O.): And I saw Scott
giving him these vinyls,

and Stevie just took 'em
and he just said,

"Thank you very much!"

KEVIN (V.O.): And I
thought to myself,

"You're gonna be okay!"

SCOTT: Yeah, that's right!

Kevvy gets somethin' in the end!

-I'm okay.
-I'm okay.

-I'm okay.

KEVIN: Goodbye, goodbye.
This is ours. This is ours.

KEVIN: It was a lot of fun.

Thanks for filming
it all, Stevie.

[Stephen laughs]

KEVIN (V.O.): Then I didn't
see you much after then.

You went off and did your life.

And I went off and did mine.

♪

♪

♪

♪

JEFFREY (V.O.): What this band
and this record

meant for people,

like, I think you can
only see that looking back

with some time and distance
and some perspective.

The fact that we're sitting here
today is filled with optimism

that the answer you got
in 2007 was not, "No,"

but it was, "Not now."

-They were right.

The story wasn't ready.

It wasn't ready.

CHARLIE (V.O.): Like every band,
it's always changing.

There is no such thing as BSS.

There is no such thing as
Do Make Say Think.

There is no such thing as bands.

Like, it's fuckin' people.

-I'm curious why you felt like
you needed to make this movie.

-Um, great question.

It was just like,
"This is the time,"

and I want to make a movie,
and it's about this.

It's evolved, it's changed,
but it's still, you know,

it's really about
my relationship with these guys,

this group of amazing people,

this creative collaboration
and friendship and love

and just having a good time
together and being creative.

-They want to have
the same traditional story

of how bands work, and it's
bullshit because for us,

we had ups and downs
and lefts and rights

and all kinds of things,

but we also had so much fun.
It was so much fun.

STUART (V.O.): The thing that
hasn't changed about this band

is they're still
the best of friends,

and they've been through
a lot of, you know,

roller coaster drama
to get to this point.

-Goin' strong, 23 years later.

Everyone told us
we were gonna break up.

We didn't; we're still here.

-I have to say thank you.

KEVIN: Oh, you're welcome.

-Because you've given me
the time, you've welcomed me in,

and you just let me
live with ya.

-You gave us memories, Stevie.

You gave us memories
about things that

I would not have
remembered and...

-No, I certainly
would not have remembered.

-No. And people say,
"Don't look back,"

but I disagree with that.

I say look back so
that you can know

how you continue on
moving forward.

It was really cool to get on
this journey with you again,

as annoying as it was.

In the end,
it's always worth it.

-Cheers!
-Cheers.

-Cheers.
-Don't spill it on the Neumann!

-Yeah!

-[glasses clinking]
-[indistinct conversation]

[laughter]

BRENDAN: There you go.
I stand corrected.

-Chungie, that was
so much fun, man.

[indistinct conversation]

-Yeah, that's the only way.

DAVE: You wanna
resume with that quickly

and then move on?
-Yeah.

-And then he goes,
"That's how we broke up!"

BAND MEMBER: The documentary's
comin', buddy!

DAVE: It's like, slow;
I like it all that way.

♪ I like it all that way. ♪

KEVIN: ♪ I like it
all that way. ♪

DAVE: Yeah.
Just to get nit-picky.

[laughter]

-Do this! Brendan!

-Say goodnight, everyone.

-Goodnight, everyone!

-And I'll see you
in a couple days.

See ya!

KEVIN: I thought I did it,
dude, and if I didn't,

then I'll never do it.

DAVE: I know, but it's...

♪ I like it all that way. ♪

That's just the way you
used to sing it. It's sorta...

-How am I singing it now?

DAVE: You're like...

♪ I like it all that way. ♪

-♪ I like it all that way. ♪
-Yeah.

-Alright, let's try again.

♪

♪

♪

♪

[trumpet tuning]

-It works?
-Yeah.

-Great.

BRENDAN: It's a big show!

It's the big show!

It's the big show...!

It's the big show!

It's the big show!

[crowd cheering]

-Sing it if you know it,
come on.

[crowd singing along]

♪

KEVIN: ♪ I like it
all that way ♪

♪

♪ I like it all that way ♪

♪

[crowd cheering]

[crowd cheering,
music playing]

-♪ I'll keep them out girl,
yeah, I'll keep it true ♪

♪ I'll do anything
inside the skin of you ♪

♪ Because I know
that the sound of your heart

is a god I can trust ♪

♪ Like a man, not a boy, ♪

♪ I don't love,
I just fight

with the violence
in ourselves ♪

♪

♪ It's all... ♪

[crowd cheering]

♪

[applause]

[applause]

♪ Gonna break! ♪

[crowd cheering]

♪ It's all, all, all,
all, all, all, all ♪

♪

♪ All, all, all... ♪

♪ All, all, all... ♪

♪

♪

♪ Gonna break! ♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪ And you all want the lovely
music to save your lives ♪

♪

♪ And you all want the lovely
music to save your lives ♪

♪

♪ Keep it coming, there is
no lie to save your life ♪

♪

♪ Keep it coming, this is
the lie to save your life ♪

♪

♪

[crowd cheering]

STEPHEN (V.O.): You were asked
if the band was breaking up;

you said, "You can't
break up something

"that's already broken."

-[laughs] Right!
-You remember this?

-No.
-No?

The only way you could destroy
it is to actually fix it.

- Wow, I went-- I knew things
long ago, apparently.

Well, yeah, what I said then.

I hope they don't fix it, then.

I hope this movie
doesn't fix it.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

[people cheering]

♪

♪

EMILY: ♪ Used to be one
of the wretched ones

and I liked you for that ♪

Used to be one of
the wretched ones

and I liked you for that

♪ Used to be one
of the wretched ones

and I liked you for that ♪

♪ Now you're all gone,
got your make-up on

and you're not coming back,
can't you come back? ♪

♪ Used to be one of
the rotten ones

and I liked you for that ♪

♪ Used to be one of
the rotten ones

and I liked you for that ♪

♪ Used to be one of
the rotten ones

and I liked you for that ♪

♪ Now you're all gone,
got your make-up on

and you're not coming back ♪

♪ Bleaching your teeth,
smiling flash ♪

♪ Talking trash,
under your breath ♪

♪ Bleaching your teeth,
smiling flash ♪

♪ Talking trash,
under your breath ♪

♪ Bleaching your teeth,
smiling flash ♪

♪ Talking trash,
under your breath ♪

♪ Bleaching your teeth,
smiling flash ♪

♪ Talking trash,
under my window ♪

♪

[crowd cheering]

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪ Park that car ♪

♪ Drop that phone ♪

♪ Park that car

♪ Drop that phone ♪

♪ Park that car,
drop that phone ♪

♪ Sleep on the floor,
dream about me ♪

♪ Park that car,
drop that phone ♪

♪ Sleep on the floor,
dream about me ♪

♪ Park that car,
drop that phone ♪

♪ Sleep on the floor,
dream about me ♪

♪ Park that car,
drop that phone ♪

♪ Sleep on the floor,
dream about me... ♪

♪ Sleep on the floor,
dream about me ♪

♪ Park that car,
drop that phone ♪

♪ Sleep on the floor,
dream about me ♪

♪ Park that car,
drop that phone... ♪

♪ Park that car,
drop that phone ♪

♪ Sleep on the floor,
dream about me ♪

♪ Park that car,
drop that phone ♪

♪ Park that car,
drop that phone ♪

♪ Park that car,
drop that phone ♪

♪ Park that car,
drop that phone ♪

♪ Park that car,
drop that phone... ♪

[applause and cheering]

[applause and cheering]

♪

♪

♪

♪ Used to be one of
the rotten ones

and I liked you for that ♪

♪ Now you're all gone,
got your make-up on

and you're not coming back ♪

[applause and cheering]