Bran Van 3000 is an electronica

Electronica

Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...

 collective

Musical collective

Musical collective is a phrase used to describe a group of musicians in which membership is flexible and creative control is shared. Such entities have transitioned from the traditional hierarchical configuration that features either a frontman , or a plurality of band members in tension for...

 from Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

, New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

. Founded by DJ 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

Kim Bingham

Kim Bingham is a Canadian singer-songwriter.She began her career in music as a member of the Montreal, Quebec third wave ska band Me Mom and Morgentaler...

 and other musicians.

History

James Di Salvio and E.P. Bergen got together in Manhattan and coined Bran Van 3000 in 1994.
Di Salvio was a video director and asked E.P. to come teach him how to produce tracks with a sampler and turntables. Together they went and bought studio equipment in Times Square.
E.P. returned to Montreal and immediately co-wrote/produced a single with Jean Leloup called: "Johnny Go". E.P. invited James to come over and record his first ever rap on that song. It later went to number one in the Quebec charts. James Di Salvio also directed the music video.
This was in effect the first ever Bran Van 3000 collaboration.

Together James and E.P. went back to New York to record "Forest" and "Ma Chambre" for Jean Leloup's platinum album "Le Dome

Le Dôme

Le Dôme may refer to:*Le Dôme de Marseille, a multi-purpose arena in France*Le Dôme , a garagiste wine label of French winery Château Teyssier...

".
These tracks were very successful, leading to a record deal with Audiogram Records. Together with Haig V, they co-produced the first BV3 album. Jean Leloup gave "Forest" to Bran Van 3000. Bergen started a cover of "Come On Feel The Noise" with plans to have Sara Johnston sing on it. Di Salvio discovered Liquid. In 1996, the album was almost finished. As a joke, James and E.P. sent a demo of the unfinished songs "Drinking In LA", "Couch Surfer" and "Everywhere" to the Canadian Music Week contest. Bran Van 3000 came in first place with another act, but got disqualified because there was no real band to perform the showcase. They finished the album and E.P. started auditioning the touring band that included Gary Mackenzie, Nick Hynes and Rob Joanisse.

Bran Van 3000 finally released their first single, "Drinking in L.A.

Drinking in L.A.

"Drinking in L.A." is a song by Bran Van 3000, released as the band's first single. On VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders, James Di Salvio was quoted saying: "It's about me being in LA trying to make a movie and getting really bored with it and going out clubbing and DJ-ing, eventually taking the...

", in February 1997 in Canada. In April of the same year, the band released their first album, called Glee. The record went gold in 1998 and won a Juno Award

Juno Award

The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...

 for best alternative album. It contained 17 tracks, one of them entirely in French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 called "Forest" featuring Jean Leloup. "Afrodiziak", produced by E.P. Bergen sold 100 000 copies in Germany with EMI and appeared in the movie XChange. The song "Everywhere" was featured on the soundtrack to the film Practical Magic

Practical Magic

Practical Magic is a 1998 American fantasy film directed by Griffin Dunne and starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as witches who carry on a family legacy of witchcraft and tragedy. The film is based on a book of the same name by Alice Hoffman...

and "Drinking in L.A.

Drinking in L.A.

"Drinking in L.A." is a song by Bran Van 3000, released as the band's first single. On VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders, James Di Salvio was quoted saying: "It's about me being in LA trying to make a movie and getting really bored with it and going out clubbing and DJ-ing, eventually taking the...

" was featured in the soundtrack to Playing by Heart

Playing by Heart

Playing by Heart is a 1998 comedy-drama film, which tells the story of several seemingly unconnected characters.-Plot:Among the characters are a mature couple about to renew their vows ; a woman who accepts a date offer from a stranger ; a gay man dying of AIDS and his mother who has...

. "Ceci n'est pas une chanson" (later "Une chanson") contains the main melody of "Perfect" song from The The

The The

The The are an English musical and multimedia group that have been active in various forms since 1979, with singer/songwriter Matt Johnson being the only constant band member.-Early years :...

.

In March 1998, Glee was released internationally albeit some changes: "Ceci n'est pas une chanson" became an instrumental

Instrumental

An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....

 simply called "Une chanson"; the French song, "Forest", was reworked with several English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 verses. The international version has 19 tracks. Previously unreleased songs are "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 endlessly across the United States in Bob Dylan's Tour bus.
Every day, the band was waiting for confirmation of show dates. The dates were sometimes confirmed the day before and the band would have to drive for ten hours to the next gig, only to find the posters rolled up in the coat check of many venues instead of on the walls. This inadequate tour planning forced the band to play in front of 20 to 50 people a night. Things eventually got better.

In Europe, EMI booked the band months ahead of time so that there was adequate promo. The band enjoyed larger crowds and got the rockstar treatment in every country in Western Europe. They also opened up for Massive Attack, Bjork in sports arenas, as well as Pulp and Moby when they got back home.

In July 1998, "Drinking in L.A." reached No. 36 in the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

, 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

Rolling Rock

Rolling Rock is a 4.5% abv pale lager launched in 1939 by the Latrobe Brewing Company. Although founded as a local beer in Western Pennsylvania, it was marketed aggressively and eventually became a national product. The brand was sold to Anheuser-Busch of St...

, and peaked at No. 3 in the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

In 2000, E.P. Bergen temporarily quit Bran Van 3000 to make a solo record: Airport Lounge and work on HBO movie scores: "Dead Awake" starring Stephen Baldwin and "Swindle" starring Tom Sizemore and Dave Foley of The Kids in the Hall.

In the summer of 2001, Bran Van 3000 released the album Discosis

Discosis

Discosis is the second album from Canadian group Bran Van 3000 released in summer 2001. The album features several collaborators, including Curtis Mayfield, Youssou N'Dour and reggae artist Eek-a-Mouse. The album cover was derived from an artwork by Boris Vallejo."Astounded" is the collective's...

. The song "Astounded" featured the final recorded performance from soul legend Curtis Mayfield

Curtis Mayfield

Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...

 before his death and became the most successful Canadian single by the collective. Other collaborators on the album were Senegal

Senegal

Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...

ese singer Youssou N'Dour

Youssou N'Dour

Youssou N'Dour is a Senegalese singer, percussionist and occasional actor. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, in Senegal and much of Africa, "perhaps the most famous singer alive." He helped develop a style of popular music in Senegal, known in the Serer language as mbalax, a type of music...

 and reggae

Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

 artist Eek-a-Mouse

Eek-a-Mouse

Eek-A-Mouse is a Jamaican reggae musician. He is one of the early artists to be described as a "singjay".-Biography:...

. The song Go Shopping was featured on the soundtrack to the Mexican film Y tu mamá también

Y tu mamá también

Y tu mamá también is a 2001 Mexican comedy-drama film directed by Alfonso Cuarón, and co-written by Cuarón and his brother Carlos. The film is a coming-of-age story about two teenage boys taking a road trip with a woman in her late twenties; it stars Mexican actors Diego Luna and Gael García...

.

As of summer 2002, the band's website indicated that they were not working on new material or touring, nor did they have any plans to do so.

Unbeknownst to fans in 2006, E.P. Bergen contacted Audiogram and the publishers to obtain the initial financing of a third album. It was later announced that BV3 was working on a third album, Rosé

Rosé (album)

Rosé is the third studio album from Canadian collective Bran Van 3000.After the release of their second album Discosis in 2001, and the subsequent folding of their then-label Grand Royal, the band went on hiatus. In mid 2006, leader James Di Salvio contacted the other members of the band in order...

, which was released in Canada on October 30 and in the US on November 27, 2007. Rosé

Rosé (album)

Rosé is the third studio album from Canadian collective Bran Van 3000.After the release of their second album Discosis in 2001, and the subsequent folding of their then-label Grand Royal, the band went on hiatus. In mid 2006, leader James Di Salvio contacted the other members of the band in order...

was co-produced by James Di Salvio and Sara Johnston with the collaboration of Fatlip

Fatlip

Fatlip is a Los Angeles-born hip hop musician. He started his career in the hip hop group The Pharcyde.-The Pharcyde:...

, Max-A-Million

Max-A-Million

Early LifeDurand Maxamillian Estev`ez [es te be] was born on April 1 in the Black Woods of Clarendon in May Pen Jamaica, West Indies. As a youth, Max lived not only in the Yard but also in the Brixton community of Birmingham, London, England. As a teen, he lived between New York’s Bedfordsty...

, Swanza, Chris Opperman

Chris Opperman

Chris Opperman is an award-winning composer who has recently emerged into the mainstream. Opperman is known mostly for his work orchestrating the music of guitar heroes Steve Vai and Mike Keneally for their respective performances with Holland's Metropole Orkest...

, Noel Osborne

Noel Osborne

Noel Osborne is a Los Angeles based recording artist, producer, song writer, actor and C.E.O of O entertainment group inc. Noel Osborne is best known for his work on the Bran Van 3000 album Rosé in which Noel is referred to as a quantum producer...

 and others. The album was written in Los Angeles and was recorded at Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...

's studio and in Hollywood at Steve Vai

Steve Vai

Steven Siro "Steve" Vai is a three time Grammy Award-winning American guitarist, songwriter and producer who has sold over 15 million albums. Steve Vai is widely known as a flamboyant guitar virtuoso....

's Studio. On July 1, 2008, the original group got back together, on stage, at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, playing songs from Rosé as well as some of their previous hits, in front of a crowd numbering around 180,000.

Shortly after the reunion shows, E.P. Bergen released a solo album on iTunes and Amazon called "Angelic Kingdom",
Stephane Moraille also released a solo album the same week.

On 25 February 2010, James Di Salvio signed, together with 500 artists, the call to support the international campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israeli apartheid.

On August 2010, Di Salvio confirmed the band was in the process of completing a Bran Van 3000 new album, The Garden, which is set to release on October 19, 2010.

Studio albums

• Glee (1997) Gold (CAN)
• Discosis
  Discosis
  Discosis is the second album from Canadian group Bran Van 3000 released in summer 2001. The album features several collaborators, including Curtis Mayfield, Youssou N'Dour and reggae artist Eek-a-Mouse. The album cover was derived from an artwork by Boris Vallejo."Astounded" is the collective's...
  
  (2001)
• Rosé
  Rosé (album)
  Rosé is the third studio album from Canadian collective Bran Van 3000.After the release of their second album Discosis in 2001, and the subsequent folding of their then-label Grand Royal, the band went on hiatus. In mid 2006, leader James Di Salvio contacted the other members of the band in order...
  
  (2007)
• The Garden
  The Garden (Bran Van 3000 album)
  The Garden is the fourth studio album from Canadian collective Bran Van 3000. It was released on October 19, 2010.The first single was "Grace ", released on September 7, 2010.The album debuted at #17 on the Canadian Albums Chart....
  
  (2010)

Singles

• "Drinking in L.A.
  Drinking in L.A.
  "Drinking in L.A." is a song by Bran Van 3000, released as the band's first single. On VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders, James Di Salvio was quoted saying: "It's about me being in LA trying to make a movie and getting really bored with it and going out clubbing and DJ-ing, eventually taking the...
  
  " (1997) #36 CAN
• "Couch Surfer" (1997)
• "Everywhere" (1998) #12 CAN
• "Afrodiziak" (1999)
• "Astounded
  Astounded
  "Astounded" is the first single by Bran Van 3000 from their second studio album, Discosis. The song features the late Curtis Mayfield, whose performance was recorded before his death in late 1999. The song was very successful in Canada, receiving heavy airplay on Muchmusic and reaching #3 on...
  
  " (2001) #3 CAN
• "Call Me (I'll Be Around)" (2007) #50 CAN
• "Grace (Love on the Block)" (2010)
• "Jahrusalem" (2010)

External links

• Official Bran Van 3000 Site
• Official Stephane Moraille Site
• Official E.P. Bergen Site
• http://www.branvanrecordings.com
• Bran Van 3000 - Shopping – An extended-length music video from the band's 2001 album, Discosis, starring Liane Balaban
  Liane Balaban
  Liane Balaban is a Canadian actress. Her film debut was in New Waterford Girl , playing Agnes-Marie "Moonie" Pottie, and has since appeared in the films Definitely, Maybe , Last Chance Harvey , and the independent drama One Week .-Early life:Balaban was born in North York, Ontario, the daughter of...
  
  and directed by Oakley Centre.
• Bran Van 3000: The Answer: a large BV3 fan site