Holy F--- Say They're 'As Electro as the Beatles' Despite Electronic Album Juno Nod

To celebrate its 40th anniversary, Canada's Juno Awards have launched a new category in 2011: Electronic Album of the Year.

Brian Borcherdt of Toronto improvisational electronic act Holy F--- is thrilled that his group's latest album, 'Latin,' is amongst the inaugural nominees. But despite their team specifically submitting 'Latin' for Electronic Album of the Year, as opposed to the Alternative Album of the Year category which they were nominated for in 2008, Borcherdt's not sure they even fit.

"We are about as 'electro' as the Beatles," he tells Spinner.

Holy F--- use analog instrumentation to create a live electronic-sounding soundscape without the aid of computers or sequencers. If it makes life easier to call Holy F--- an electronic band, Borcherdt says that's fine; he doesn't want to tell people how to interpret the music. And given that most music critics and even their own label ascribe some variation of the term "electronic" to the collective's sound, he'd have his work cut out for him, anyways.

"I really don't ­­­­mind what people call it. I'm happy to let it be and have people come to their own conclusion," he says.

Watch Holy F---'s Video for 'Latin America'
Despite losing to Arcade Fire's 'Neon Bible' at the 2008 Junos, the nod helped his unconventional group win a more mainstream audience. With the addition of the Electronic Album of the Year category, Borcherdt applauds those behind the Junos for aiming to be more inclusive.

"It's a sharing of the wealth. By adding more categories, more groups can earn a nomination; they are supporting the fringe artists, and I think that is great," he says.

Awards shows like the Junos necessarily divide music into neat little boxes, and though he may not entirely agree with the genre tag, considering the list of nominees Holy F--- are up against (Caribou, Chilly Gonzales, Crystal Castles, and Poirier), Borcherdt knows he's in good company, at least.

"I feel like we are sitting at the cool table."

Holy F--- perform a special DJ set alongside Egyptrixx, Poirier, Bonjay and Denise Benson at Spinner's JunoFest Dance Party March 26 at Wrongbar in Toronto.