Brian Borcherdt

“Sign them now,” reads the caption beside Brian Borcherdt’s second full-length disc in this December’s issue of SPIN. Flipping a few pages back in the same issue one can find a photo of Borcherdt with his other project Holy Fuck, referring to their recent performance at the NYC’s Bowery Ballroom as a CMJ festival highlight. This, as well as the remarkable success of other acts on Dependent, Borcherdt’s indie label/ co-op he started in his late teens, suggests what many Canadian indie music fans are saying, and that is that 2006 will be a big year for the Nova Scotia born singer, songwriter.
To understand Brian and his many songs and diverse projects one must realize that he is constantly writing, constantly working through his music in his head (much to the dismay of past girlfriends and concerned family members). He writes from the heart with a unique style, one that suggests an equal balance of melancholy and triumph. His songs are built upon fragile and sincere emotion, and seethe with urgent delivery.
Brian first stepped out on his own in 2001, recording a deeply personal record for a fallen comrade. The Moth EP was an anonymously presented, handcrafted offering. Every copy was given away or sold for only a couple bucks. It clearly was not intended as any type of calling card or product designed for mass consumption. However at the end of 2002 Toronto weekly, NOW magazine hailed it as one the best local releases of the year. Soon after Borcherdt simultaneously recorded his two full length “Remains of…” CDs with fellow band mates from By Divine Right, a legendary Canadian rock band of which Borcherdt was also playing guitar for at the time. In just over a year since releasing the first of the two volumes he has toured throughout Canada, Europe, and the US. Accolades continue to pour in.

"Moody, magnificent… alternating between dreamy and aggressive,
like the best of 30 years of Neil Young compressed into 12 songs." - The
Halifax Herald "Best of 2004"

"...so honest it's like he's plugged his guitar straight into your heart."
Eye Weekly

“…unlike anything else. Heady and heartfelt.”
Sarah Liss, Now Magazine

‘During an era where soulless pawns of music corporations rule the airwaves, it's uplifting to hear someone "real". Brian Borcherdt's The Remains of Brian Borcherdt Vol. 2 is an emotional and thoughtful hybrid of folk, alt-country, and rock that can be uplifting and saddening at the same time.” – Mote Magazine

“While the record may begin in your bedroom, it’ll soon take you on a journey, out your front door, through crowded city streets, until you’re at the mouth of an ocean, where you’ll want to just pour your entire heart out—at least that’s what you’ll be feeling under your headphones.” - Queen’s University Journal

These tunes are ecstatically joyous celebrations of life. And when some enervating anger does rise to the surface, it only throws the total gorgeousity of the proceedings into sharp relief.”- Wavelength