Charles Spearin is a Canadian

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and more efficient employment of musicians, where ...

from

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. He is primarily known as a founding member of indie rock bands Do Make Say Think and

Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band, a musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed by Kevin Drew (vocals, guitar) and Brendan Canning (vocals, bass) in 1999. Alongside Drew and Canning, the oth ...

Career

As a teen, Spearin studied at

Etobicoke School of the Arts The Etobicoke School of the Arts (ESA) is a specialized public arts-academic high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located in Etobicoke, it has been housed in the former Royal York Collegiate Institute facility since 1983. Founded on September ...

, a music-oriented high school. In the mid-1990s, he studied audio engineering at the Harris Institute for the Arts. During this time, he became friends with

Kevin Drew Kevin Drew (born September 9, 1976) is a Canadian musician and songwriter who, together with Brendan Canning, founded the expansive Toronto baroque-pop collective Broken Social Scene. He was also part of the lesser-known KC Accidental, which con ...

over a mutual admiration of the post-rock band

Tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like oth ...

. For a short time, they played in a band called Djula, but grew dissatisfied with performing. In 1998, they released their first album under the name

KC Accidental KC Accidental were a Canadians, Canadian post-rock band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The band released two albums of mostly instrumental music.

. This collaboration grew to include many musicians who went on to form Broken Social Scene. In 2002, Spearin teamed with members of

Godspeed You! Black Emperor Godspeed You! Black Emperor (sometimes abbreviated to GY!BE or Godspeed) is a Canadian post-rock band which originated in Montreal, Quebec in 1994. The group releases recordings through Constellation, an independent record label also locate ...

, Silver Mt. Zion, Do Make Say Think,

Shalabi Effect Shalabi Effect is a mostly instrumental band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The band was originally formed in 1996 as a duo composed of Anthony Seck and Sam Shalabi. Shalabi is an Egyptian-Canadian musician who is also the founder of Swamp Circu ...

and Strawberry to make the supergroup Valley of the Giants. This project resulted in a self-titled album, released in 2004. In addition to his collaborative work, Spearin has toured extensively as a part of Feist's band. He played bass for

Gord Downie Gordon Edgar Downie (February 6, 1964 – October 17, 2017) was a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, musician, writer and activist. He was the singer and lyricist for the Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip, which he fronted from its form ...

's '' Secret Path'' album and subsequent tour. Spearin's debut solo album, '' The Happiness Project,'' was released on February 14, 2009, on the Arts & Crafts label. This album includes contributions from Do Make Say Think alumni Julie Penner,

Ohad Benchetrit Ohad Benchetrit is a Canadian musician. He plays guitar, bass, saxophone and flute for the post-rock band Do Make Say Think, and has also contributed to albums by Broken Social Scene, Feist, The Hidden Cameras and Charles Spearin. He coll ...

and

alumni Leon Kingstone and

Evan Cranley Evan Cranley is a Canadian musician based in Montreal, Quebec. He records with the bands Stars and Broken Social Scene, although he considered joining the band Metric before finally joining Stars. Musical career Early on, Cranley was in the band ...

. The concept for ''The Happiness Project,'' making music out of ordinary speech, is influenced by his early life with a blind father and his own Buddhist studies. On April 17, 2010, Spearin won a Juno Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album for ''The Happiness Project''. On August 28, 2020, Spearin and Swedish violinist Josefin Runsteen released ''Thank God the Plague is Over''. The album, titled just before the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

began, is a series of classical improvisations, featuring Runsteen on

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

and Spearin on

nyckelharpa A nyckelharpa (, "keyed fiddle", or literally "key harp", plural ) is the national musical instrument of Sweden. It is a string instrument or chordophone. Its keys are attached to tangents which, when a key is depressed, serve as frets to chang ...

. Spearin and Runsteen recorded this album in the Chiesa di San Vigilio, near Castel Campo, which experienced two waves of the Black Death that killed ninety percent of the local villagers. The title of the album is inspired by the interior walls of the chapel, which are covered in medieval graffiti pleading with God to rescue victims from the horrors of the disease. The most prominent graphic, a red X painted sometime after the end of the Plague, supposedly represents the cessation of suffering. Spearin has achieved seven Juno Awards from his various collaborations, including Alternative Album of the Year 2003 (Broken Social Scene, ''You Forgot it in People''), Alternative Album of the Year 2006 (Broken Social Scene, ''Broken Social Scene''), Recording Package of the Year 2011 (Broken Social Scene, ''Forgiveness Rock Record''), Adult Alternative Album of the Year 2017 (Gord Downie, ''Secret Path'') and Instrumental Album of the Year 2018 (Do Make Say Think, ''Stubborn Persistent Illusions''). Spearin lives with his wife and children in the Toronto neighbourhood of

Seaton Village Seaton Village is a neighbourhood and former village located west of Downtown Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is named after John Colborne, 1st Baron Seaton, Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada from 1828 to 1836. Seaton Village is bordere ...

, the inspiration for ''The Happiness Project''.

Discography

Solo

*'' The Happiness Project'' (2009) * ''Thank God the Plague Is Over'' (2020), with Josefin Runsteen * ''My City of Starlings'' (2021)

With Do Make Say Think

* ''Do Make Say Think'' (1999) * ''Besides'' (EP) (1999) * '' Goodbye Enemy Airship the Landlord Is Dead'' (2000) * ''& Yet & Yet'' (2002) * '' Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn'' (2003) * '' You, You're a History in Rust'' (2007) * '' Other Truths'' (2009) * '' Stubborn Persistent Illusions'' (2017)

With Broken Social Scene

* '' Feel Good Lost'' (2001) * '' You Forgot It in People'' (2002) * '' Bee Hives'' (2004) * ''Broken Social Scene'' (2005) * '' EP to Be You and Me'' (2005) * '' Forgiveness Rock Record'' (2010) * '' Lo-Fi for the Dividing Nights'' (2010) * ''

Hug of Thunder ''Hug of Thunder'' is the fifth studio album by Canadian indie rock musical collective Broken Social Scene. It was released by the Arts & Crafts record label on July 7, 2017. Background After declaring a hiatus in September 2011, Broken Social ...

'' (2017) * '' Let's Try the After (Vol. 1) & 2'' (2019)

With K.C. Accidental

* ''

Captured Anthems for an Empty Bathtub ''Captured Anthems for an Empty Bathtub'' is an album by KC Accidental, self-released in 1998 and re-released in 2003 on Noise Factory Records. Track listing All songs by Kevin Drew and Charles Spearin. #"Nancy and the Girdle Boy" - 5:00 #"Somet ...

'' (1998) * ''

Anthems for the Could've Bin Pills ''Anthems for the Could've Bin Pills'' is a 2000 album by KC Accidental. It is a companion album to ''Captured Anthems for an Empty Bathtub'', with tracks 1–6 on one album and 7–12 on the other.Valley of the Giants'' (2004)

With Gord Downie

* '' Secret Path'' (2013)

References

External links

The Happiness Project
official website
2009 Charles Spearin Interview at Bandega.comEverything Rock articleTorontoist article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spearin, Charles Living people Musicians from Toronto 20th-century Canadian keyboardists 21st-century Canadian keyboardists Arts & Crafts Productions artists Broken Social Scene members Canadian composers Canadian indie rock musicians Canadian male composers Juno Award for Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year winners Juno Award for Recording Package of the Year winners Valley of the Giants (band) members Do Make Say Think members 20th-century Canadian male musicians 21st-century Canadian male musicians Year of birth missing (living people)