Broken Social Scene's Charles Spearin Win Best Contemporary Jazz Juno Award

Broken Social Scene is a collective built from many disparate parts, but perhaps its most eclectic side-project is Charles Spearin's Happiness Project, which won its creator a best contemporary jazz prize at the 2010 Juno Awards.

"It's supposed to be a tribute to happiness," he said from the podium, a wide smile plastered across his face, " ...and here I am I'm holding a Juno. I really have to thank my neighbours for their wisdom and their words and their thoughts."

Indeed, this unusual album takes voice recordings of Spearin's neighbours and turns them into music.

"It really was a science experiment," Spearin explained backstage. "I wasn't planning to make a record out of it, I just wanted to see if I could take the rhythm of speech and make it into songs. So I invited my neighbours over to my house and I asked them questions about happiness and they actually said some very wise and profound things.
Then I took the melodies of their voices and friends played around it and arranged it and that's what it ended up being."

Spearin is, of course, no stranger to the Juno Awards. "With Broken Social Scene, it was an honour to win both times with the band, but...like I said, I didn't expect the record to be released didn't expect it to be a live band, and I've toured it, and now I've won a Juno. It's ridiculous."

Spearin was particularly surprised at winning in the contemporary jazz category. "I never went to school for music and all the jazz musicians I know are such dedicated players and there's such a tradition of jazz music so it's an honour to being the category. I didn't expect to win it, I'm a visitor in the world of jazz, I live my life in the rock'n'roll world.

Speaking of, while Spearin does have future plans for Happiness Project, but it might be awhile til he gets around to it. "I've talked to people about making a film version," he said, "but at the moment Broken Social Scene has a record coming out in a couple weeks and will be touring it for a year, so..."