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Bran Van 3000

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Bran Van 3000
Jayne Hill, Sara Johnston, Gary McKenzi, Kim Bingham & Stephane Moraille Taken at the Bran Van 3000 Concert @ Montreal Jazz Festival 2008, Place des Arts, Montreal, Quebec, Canada on July 1, 2008
Jayne Hill, Sara Johnston, Gary McKenzi, Kim Bingham & Stephane Moraille Taken at the Bran Van 3000 Concert @ Montreal Jazz Festival 2008, Place des Arts, Montreal, Quebec, Canada on July 1, 2008
Background information
OriginMontreal, Quebec, Canada
Genres
Years active
  • 1996–2002
  • 2006–present
LabelsAudiogram, Virgin Records, Capitol Records, Grand Royal, Remstar Interaction, Productions Root Boogie
MembersJames Di Salvio
E.P. Bergen
WebsiteBran Van 3000 (defunct)

Bran Van 3000 (also known as BV3) is a Canadian alternative rock and hip hop collective from Montreal, Quebec. Founded by James Di Salvio and E.P. Bergen, they collaborated on a number of songs with Stéphane Moraille, Sara Johnston, Steve "Liquid" Hawley, Jayne Hill, Jean Leloup, Kim Bingham, Pierre-Luc Cerat and many other musicians.

The name of the group is derived etymologically from Swedish liquor Brännvin, a general term referring to any type of distilled spirit. The name originated as a joke associated with the taupe-coloured Volkswagen Camper Van owned by Bergen in the mid-1990s which was said to run solely on bran flakes, brännvin and brand recognition when carrying the artists on tour around Canada.[1]

Between 1996 and 2016, Bran Van 3000 was among the Top 150 selling Canadian artists in Canada.[2]

History

[edit]

1994–1996: Formation

[edit]

In 1994, James Di Salvio had received a royalty cheque for work on a remix he had done on a track for Quebec songwriter Jean Leloup, and invited his friend E.P. Bergen to "come help him spend the money" in New York.[3] Di Salvio was a video director and asked E.P. to teach him how to produce tracks with a sampler and turntables; in the process, they created Bran Van 3000. E.P. returned to Montreal and co-wrote/produced a single with Leloup called "Johnny Go"; E.P. invited James to record his first ever rap on that song. It later went to number one on the Quebec charts. Di Salvio also directed the music video.

James and E.P. went back to New York to record "Forest" and "La Chambre" for Leloup's album Le Dôme.[4] These tracks were very successful (the album went platinum); for BV3, this led to a record deal with Audiogram Records. Together with Haig V, they co-produced the first BV3 album, for which Leloup donated the song "Forest". Bergen started a cover of Cum On Feel the Noize with plans to have Sara Johnston sing on it, but Di Salvio discovered Steve "Liquid" Hawley. In 1996, when the album was almost finished, James and E.P. sent a demo of the songs "Drinking In LA", "Couch Surfer" and "Everywhere" to the Canadian Music Week contest. Bran Van 3000 tied for first place with Jack Rustle, but was disqualified because there was no real band to perform the showcase. They finished the album and put together a touring band that included Gary Mackenzie, Nick Hynes and Rob Joanisse.

1996–1999: Glee

[edit]

Bran Van 3000 finally released their first single, "Drinking in L.A.", in February 1997 in Canada. It peaked at number 35 on Canada's RPM Top Singles chart on July 28.[5] In April of that year, the band released their first album, Glee.[6] The record went gold and at the Juno Awards of 1998, won a Juno Award for Best Alternative Album. BV3 was nominated for Best New Group and "Drinking in L.A." was nominated for Single of the Year.[7][8] Glee contained 17 tracks, with "Forest" in French and featuring Leloup. "Afrodiziak", produced by E.P. Bergen. sold 100,000 copies in Germany and appeared in the movie XChange. The song "Everywhere" was featured on the soundtrack to the film Practical Magic and "Drinking in L.A." was featured in the soundtrack to Playing by Heart. "Ceci n'est pas une chanson" (later "Une chanson") contains the main melody of "Perfect", a song from The The.

In March 1998, Glee was released internationally, albeit with some changes: "Ceci n'est pas une chanson" became an instrumental simply called "Une chanson"; the French song, "Forest", was reworked with several English verses. The international version has 19 tracks. Previously unreleased songs were "Rainshine", "Carry On" and "Old School".

After signing with Capitol Records, Bran Van 3000 began a massive touring schedule. It started across Canada, then zigzagged across the United States. The played the H.O.R.D.E. festival, Endfest; in Europe, they opened for Massive Attack, Björk and Pulp and, back in Quebec, for Moby.[9]

In May 1998, "Drinking in L.A." reached number 34 in the UK Singles Chart,[10] becoming their first transatlantic hit. In August 1999 the single was re-released after the song was featured in a popular TV commercial for Rolling Rock and peaked at number 3 in the UK.[10]

2000–2002: Discosis

[edit]

In the summer of 2001, Bran Van 3000 released the album Discosis. The song "Astounded" featured the final recorded performance from soul legend Curtis Mayfield and became the most successful Canadian single by the collective, reaching number 3 on the Canadian Singles Chart.[11] Other collaborators on the album were Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour and reggae artist Eek-a-Mouse. The song "Go Shopping" was featured on the soundtrack to the Mexican film Y Tu Mamá También. A remix of the song "The Answer" was done by the Latch Brothers and was featured in the 2002 video game, Jet Set Radio Future.[12]

2006–2007: Rosé

[edit]

BV3's third album, Rosé, was released in Canada on October 30 and in the US on November 27, 2007. Rosé was co-produced by James Di Salvio and Sara Johnston with the collaboration of Fatlip, Max-A-Million, Swanza, Chris Opperman, Noel Osborne and others. The album was written in Los Angeles and was recorded at Depeche Mode's studio and in Hollywood at Steve Vai's Studio. On July 1, 2008, the original group got back together to perform at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, in front of a crowd numbering around 180,000.

2010–2012: The Garden

[edit]

After the death of his friend and father,[13] Bobby Di Salvio, James got the collective back together. The album The Garden was released on October 19, 2010.[14]

Di Salvio and parts of the group then toured through Canada, collaborating with different singers and instrumentalists like Pierre-Luc Cérat, Nick Hynes, Pascal Lepage and Stéphane Moraille.[15][16] In 2015, they released the album French Garden.[17]

On May 3, 2022, on its Facebook page, Bran Van 3000 announced an upcoming 25th anniversary tour of Canada, the US, the UK and Europe.[18]

Discography

[edit]

Studio albums

[edit]
Title Details Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales threshold)
CAN
[19] 		AUT
[20] 		BEL
[21] 		FRA
[22] 		GER
[23] 		UK
[24]
Glee 59 15 — 120 96 77
Discosis 5 15 38 89 49 97
Rosé
  • Release date: October 30, 2007
  • Label: Remstar
  • Formats: CD, music download
 9 — — — — —
The Garden
  • Release date: October 19, 2010
  • Label: Audiogram
  • Formats: CD, music download
 15 — — — — —
French Garden
  • Release date: March 2, 2015
  • Label: Productions Root Boogie
  • Formats: CD, Album
 — — — — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Compilation albums

[edit]
Title Album details
Greatest Hits
  • Released: 2014
  • Label: Audiogram
  • Formats: CD, MP3

Singles

[edit]
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
CAN
[26] 		AUS
[27] 		NLD
[28] 		SWE
[29] 		UK
[24] 		US
Dance
[30]
"Drinking in L.A." 1997 35 79 46 9 3 — Glee
"Couch Surfer" — — — — — —
"Everywhere" 1998 12 — — — — —
"Exactly Like Me" 1998 — — — — — —
"Afrodiziak" / "Forest" (French version) 1999 — — — 25 — —
"Astounded" 2001 3 — 72 49 40 35 Discosis
"The Answer" — — — — — —
"Love Cliché" — — — — — —
"Forever" 2006 — — — — — —
"Call Me (I'll Be Around)" 2007 50 — — — — — Rosé
"Grace (Love on the Block)" 2010 — — — — — — The Garden
"Jahrusalem" — — — — — —
"La Dolce Vita" (Fred Everything Remixes) 2011 — — — — — —

Soundtrack credits

[edit]

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ "The Bran Van Clan Can, Man Oh Man!". montrealjazzfest.com. Archived from the original on 2015-09-25. Retrieved 2017-01-14.
  2. ^ "NIELSEN MUSIC & BILLBOARD PRESENT CANADA 150 CHARTS" (PDF). bdsradio.com. p. 28. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 2, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  3. ^ Patch, Nick (29 Jan 2017). "Thinking (back) in L.A." Toronto Star. Toronto. Retrieved 29 Jan 2017.
  4. ^ "Jean Leloup – Le Dôme". discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  5. ^ "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 17 July 2013.
  6. ^ Shemesh, Yasmine. "'Glee' at 25...April 2022". exclaim.ca. Exclaim!. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Nominees & Winners, 1998, Bran Van 3000". junoawards.ca. Juno Awards. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  8. ^ Larry LeBlanc (21 February 1998). "McLauchlan at top of Juno nominations". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 14–. ISSN 0006-2510.
  9. ^ "Bran Van 3000 Concert History". concertarchives.org. Concert Archives. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  10. ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 75. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  11. ^ "Canadian Billboard Weekly Digital Song Sales Charts from 2001". Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  12. ^ Jet Set Radio Future manual. United States: Sega. 2002. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
  13. ^ "Interview with James Di Salvio: Bran Van's master crafter has the fever for the flavour". nightlife.ca. 28 October 2010. Retrieved 2012-05-10.
  14. ^ "Bran Van 3000 – The Garden". discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  15. ^ "Bran Van 3000: Une bourrasque d'énergie". 7jours.ca. Archived from the original on 2017-01-20. Retrieved 2012-05-10.
  16. ^ "10e Festival Ford Racing Bran Van 3000 fera la fête sur Crescent samedi". 7jours.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-03-12. Retrieved 2012-05-10.
  17. ^ "Bran Van 3000 – French Garden". discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  18. ^ "Bran Van 3000". facebook.com. Facebook. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  19. ^ "CAN Charts > Bran Van 3000". RPM. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  20. ^ "Discographie Bran Van 3000". austriancharts.at. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  21. ^ "Discografie Bran Van 3000". ultratop.be. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  22. ^ "Discographie Bran Van 3000". lescharts.com. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  23. ^ "Discographie von Bran Van 3000". offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  24. ^ a b "Bran Van 3000 | full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  25. ^ "Gold Platinum Database: Bran Van 3000". Canadian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 2012-05-24. Retrieved 2011-07-30.
  26. ^ "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada - Top Singles". RPM. Archived from the original on July 23, 2012. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
  27. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (pdf ed.). Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 40.
  28. ^ "Discografie Bran Van 3000". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  29. ^ "Discography Bran Van 3000". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  30. ^ "Bran Van 3000 Chart History - Dance Songs". Billboard. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
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