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Broken Social Scene's Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning on surviving as a band after 20 years

Broken Social Scene perform a few songs off their latest album Hug of Thunder, and Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning talk about the gut feeling that led them to start the band 20 years ago.
CBC Radio ·
Broken Social Scene pose in this undated handout photo. Members of Broken Social Scene had to make a difficult decision whether to perform on May 23 in the wake of the suicide bombing attack that left 22 people dead in Manchester. (Norman Wong/The Canadian Press)

There's a moment you might arrive at when you're on the brink of starting something new — a gut feeling that makes you realize what you're experiencing is going to be something special. Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning had that moment almost 20 years ago when they were considering putting together a band.

That band would eventually become one of Canada's biggest indie rock groups, quite literally. Broken Social Scene have welcomed a rotating cast of musicians over the years, which can sometimes grow to as many as 19 people. Drew and Canning think of the band as a family.

The two of them and a bunch of their musical cousins all stopped by the q studio to perform a few songs off their latest album Hug of Thunder. Drew and Canning talk to Tom Power about that gut feeling that started it all and, in a rare moment, they open up about their relationship with the late Gord Downie. 

— Produced by Mitch Pollock​

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