The Happiness Project is the title of Charles Spearin

Charles Spearin

Charles Spearin is a musician from Toronto, Ontario. He is a founding member of Do Make Say Think, KC Accidental and Broken Social Scene and also contributes to Valley of the Giants...

's debut album. Best known for his work with Toronto-based bands Do Make Say Think

Do Make Say Think

Do Make Say Think is a Canadian instrumental post-rock band from Toronto, Ontario. Their music combines jazz style drums, distorted guitars and wind instruments, as well as a prominent use of the bass guitar.-Biography:...

 and Broken Social Scene

Broken Social Scene

Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band, a musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed in 1999 by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning. Most of its members currently play in various other groups and solo projects, mainly based around the city of Toronto...

, Charles Spearin has been performing samples of The Happiness Project live during Broken Social Scene concerts this past year, offering insight into the inspiration and concept of the album, which has been long-listed for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize

Polaris Music Prize

The Polaris Music Prize is a music award annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label...

. On April 17, 2010, Spearin won a Juno Award for the Best Contemporary Jazz Album for the The Happiness Project

The Happiness Project

The Happiness Project is the title of Charles Spearin's debut album. Best known for his work with Toronto-based bands Do Make Say Think and Broken Social Scene, Charles Spearin has been performing samples of The Happiness Project live during Broken Social Scene concerts this past year, offering...

.

Concept

The project sprung from casual interviews with people in Spearin's neighbourhood on the subject of happiness.

After each interview I would listen back to the recording for moments that were interesting in both meaning and melody. By meaning I mean the thoughts expressed, by melody I mean the cadence and inflection that give the voice a sing-song quality. It has always been interesting to me how we use sounds to convey concepts. Normally, we don’t pay any attention to the movement of our lips and , and the rising and falling of our voices as we toss our thoughts back and forth to each other. We just talk and listen. The only time we pay attention to these qualities is in song. (Just as when we read we don’t pay attention to the curl and swing of the letters as though they were little drawings.)

Meaning seems to be our hunger but we should still try to taste our food. I wanted to see if I could blur the line between speaking and singing - life and art? - and write music based on these accidental melodies. So I had some musician friends play, as close as they could, these neighbourhood melodies on different instruments (Mrs. Morris on the tenor saxophone, Marisa on the harp, my daughter Ondine on the violin, etc.) and then I arranged them as though they were songs.

–Charles Spearin

Charles Spearin

Charles Spearin is a musician from Toronto, Ontario. He is a founding member of Do Make Say Think, KC Accidental and Broken Social Scene and also contributes to Valley of the Giants...

, on The Happiness Project

Guest appearances

Performers on the album include fellow Broken Social Scene

Broken Social Scene

Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band, a musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed in 1999 by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning. Most of its members currently play in various other groups and solo projects, mainly based around the city of Toronto...

 members Kevin Drew

Kevin Drew

Kevin Drew is a Canadian musician and songwriter who, together with Brendan Canning, founded the expansive Toronto baroque-pop collective Broken Social Scene...

 and Evan Cranley

Evan Cranley

Evan Cranley is a Canadian musician based in Montreal, Quebec. He records with the bands Stars and Broken Social Scene, although he considered joining the band Metric before finally joining Stars. His partner is currently Stars bandmate Amy Millan....

 as well as fellow Do Make Say Think

Do Make Say Think

Do Make Say Think is a Canadian instrumental post-rock band from Toronto, Ontario. Their music combines jazz style drums, distorted guitars and wind instruments, as well as a prominent use of the bass guitar.-Biography:...

 member Justin Small.

Track listing

1. "Mrs. Morris"
2. "Anna"
3. "Vittoria"
4. "Vanessa"
5. "Marisa"
6. "Ondine"
7. "Mr. Gowrie"
8. "Mrs. Morris (reprise)"

External links

• The Happiness Project official website
• Art & Crafts page