Broken Social Scene, Deadmau5, Hollerado and More Talk Juno Awards

Posted on Mar 25th 2011 6:30PM by Jenny Charlesworth

Audiogram | Getty | Arts&Crafts | Royal Mountain Records

The 40th annual Juno Awards extravaganza is upon us with Saturday's gala award dinner and Sunday's televised ceremony -- hosted by Drake and featuring performances by Arcade Fire, Chromeo and Justin Bieber -- on the minds of most music-loving Canadians, especially this year's nominees. Spinner spoke to Broken Social Scene's Brendan Canning, DJ heavyweight Deadmau5, viral heroes Hollerado, underground rapper D-Sisive, Polaris Prize princes Karkwa, rising Franco star Bobby Bazni and jazz crooner Laila Biali to hear their thoughts on this weekend's historic award show.

Broken Social Scene, Brendan Canning

Best Group, Alternative Album, Packaging, Video

"It's nice to see that we covered a lot of bases, not that I had anything to do with the video. It's also a good time to be a Canadian artist; there's a lot to be proud of whether you're Drake, Justin Bieber, Arcade Fire, or Holy F---, you know? It goes in waves. It's not like Loverboy or Kim Mitchell weren't really happening in their day; everyone kinda has their moment."

Ollie Millington, Redferns

Deadmau5

Dance Record of the Year

"Oh, it's great,. This is my fourth nomination-type thing, so it's cool. I mean, not as cool as your first, but it's like really hard drugs, you know? You'll never get that first [high] again."

Deadmau5

Karkwa

Best Alternative, Francophone Album

"At first it's a surprise, and then it's flattering, because we're beside Arcade Fire. We were expecting more in Francophone category, but to be placed in the Alternative Album of the Year, with every big English band? It's an honour. The Polaris Music Prize changed something for us, because we had only a little exposure before. But to be accepted in both worlds is pretty surprising."

Audiogram

D-Sisive

Rap Recording of the Year

"I feel great, I feel really good. And it's a combination of feeling great because I'm nominated for a Juno Award but also I'm in really good company -- Ghettosocks, Shad, and MoSS & Eternia are all friends of mine. And I would be lying if I said I didn't listen to the Drake record a lot. I guess that style of hip-hop is not something that I listen to, but I did listen to that record. It was a very good record, he's very talented."

Urbnet

Laila Biali

Vocal Jazz Album of the Year

"I'm really excited, it was totally unexpected, it's my first nomination so this is my first real experience at the Junos. Obviously I'm someone who's been tracking them throughout the years, but this is different."

Courtesy of Laila Biali

Hollerado

New Group of the Year

"I think the Junos are really taking a step to be more a part of what's going on, and it's the 40th anniversary so what better year for us to be a part of it. Taking a look at the Grammys and the Junos, there's a lot of crossover between us and the US -- Drake, Justin Bieber, they're people that are definitely starting to dominate the American scene. So I think the playing field is definitely starting to even out."

Canvas Media

Bobby Bazini

Best Pop Album, New Artist

"It's amazing to be nominated for two categories. I seriously worked so hard on this record, there are songs on this record that I wrote when I was 18 years old. It's a lot of years working and hoping -- I wouldn't see myself doing it any other way."