Broken Social Scene Plan A Long Break After Fall U.S. Tour

Canadian indie rock supergroup Broken Social Scene will go on hiatus following a November U.S. tour, says co-founder Kevin Drew.

In an interview with Billboard.com, Drew hinted that the break was prompted by a loss of the collective creativity that first brought the group together.

"We've become that band that doesn't really rehearse anymore," he said.

"We just get together and go tour and play live. We've lost a bit of that thing we had at the beginning where we tried to challenge each other a lot more."

While forthcoming about the reasons for the impending break, Drew offered no hint about when, if ever, fans could expect a Broken Social Scene reunion or new album.

"If we kept going [without a break], we'd be taking it for granted. Next time, we'd be doing college tours for money. That sucks the music out of you. Next thing you know, you're trying to get teenagers to buy your albums."

The time off will allow band members to focus on their individual musical forays. Andrew Whiteman's Apostle Of Hustle has a new disc on the way, as does Feist. BSS producer Dave Newfeld has an as-yet unnamed project in the works that Drew said is shaping up to be a "hip-hop psychedelic folk album."

Drew has been working on a project of his own in collaboration with BSS cohorts Ohad Benchetrit and Charles Spearin. He's unsure what form the material might take, but suggested that he needed to take his hands off of it for a while and let some friends see what they can do with it.

Though dates haven't yet been set for the pre-hiatus tour, BSS will play at Tweed, Ont.'s World Electronic Music Festival on July 22. They also have a July 25 show scheduled for Vancouver's Deere Lake Park and a July 27 appearance at the Calgary Folk Festival.

The collective recently played two successful shows in Toronto, including their annual commandeering of Olympic Island and a stint as the backing band for former Dinosaur Jr. frontman J. Mascis.

"It was some of the most fun I've ever had live," Drew said of the Mascis show. "I mean, I used to play a canoe paddle to Dinosaur Jr. before I played guitar.

"That night on stage, I looked around and we were singing 'Get Me.' It was like, you know what? This is it. I'm turning 30 and I've achieved everything I've ever wanted to do in indie rock."