Episode 88: Kevin Drew

Listen to an interview about the new K.D.A.P. solo album, ‘Influences,’ and much more.

By Team JamBase Jul 22, 2021 • 12:02 pm PDT

Episode 88 of The JamBase Podcast, a partner of the Osiris Media Network, features an interview with Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene. JamBase’s Andy Kahn interviewed Drew, who recently released a new solo album, Influences, which was his first under his K.D.A.P. moniker.

Drew was at home in Toronto when he spoke with Kahn during a recent video call. The pair discussed the time Drew spent last spring in the South of England, right at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. While there, Drew discovered the phone app Endlesss, which became an integral component for making the album. Drew talked about how he used the app to create music while on long walks through the woods of the English countryside.

Influences is almost completely instrumental, touching on elements of ambient music and other forms of electronic music. Drew explained his decision to make an instrumental album and how the album took shape from the initial Endlesss recordings. Drew talked about releasing the album as K.D.A.P., which stands for “Kevin Drew A Picture,” and how he thinks in visual terms, especially when making an instrumental album.

The interview also touched on Drew’s close working relationship with Jordan Allen (What Gifs), a Toronto-based digital visual artist who created visualizers — a term Kevin revealed was new to him — and other videos for Influences. Drew also explored the basis for some of the song titles on Influences, like “Explosive Lip Balm” and “Willner’s Parade” — the latter is a tribute to the legendary producer and Kevin’s friend, Hal Willner who died last year at age 64 from complications from COVID-19.

Drew also went into the prospects of touring in support of Influences, what the actual influences were that impacted the record and much more. He also briefly touched on what’s happening with Broken Social Scene, as the band has a few things in the works.

Stream Episode 88 of The JamBase Podcast below or via all major podcast services including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Google Podcast: