Official Blog of City Sonic Toronto

Director: George Vale, 2009
Brendan Canning of Broken Social Scene has witnessed the transformation of the Drake first hand. In December, 1991, Canning played the basement of the Drake when it was still a run-down hotel in a run-down neighbourhood. His band at the time, hHead, was opening for local indie rockers Phleg Camp as part of Elvis Mondays, a no cover new music series that continues to gives upstarts a friendly place to play. About ten years later the hotel / bar / live venue was transformed from dubious dive to chic hotspot, and saw its profile rise globally right while Canning was getting his own share of worldwide attention with his new band, Broken Social Scene. What forces shaped these two cultural success stories? The singer/bassist checks into a suite at the Queen Street landmark and recounts his most memorable nights spent rehearsing, performing, DJing and soaking up the sounds of a city coming into its own.