Amy Millan
Encyclopedia
Amy Millan is a Canadian indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 singer and guitarist. She records and performs with the bands Stars 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...

 as well as having a successful solo career. Her second solo album, Masters of the Burial
Masters of the Burial
Masters of the Burial is the second solo album from Canadian musician Amy Millan of Stars and Broken Social Scene. It was released in Canada on September 8, 2009, on the Arts & Crafts label and features guest performances by Stars bandmate Evan Cranley, Leslie Feist and others.Produced by Martin...

, was released by Arts & Crafts
Arts & Crafts (record label)
Arts & Crafts Productions is a Toronto-based independent artist services company, offering expertise as an independent record label, management firm, merchandiser and music publisher both in Canada and internationally...

 Records in September 2009.

Early life

Amy Millan grew up in the Cabbagetown neighbourhood of Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

. She attended high school at Jarvis Collegiate
Jarvis Collegiate Institute
Jarvis Collegiate Institute is a high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Jarvis is located on Jarvis Street. Founded in 1807 it is the second oldest high school in Ontario after the Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute, and the oldest high school in Toronto.-History:Jarvis Collegiate was...

, and later the Etobicoke School of the Arts
Etobicoke School of the Arts
The Etobicoke School of the Arts is a specialized public arts-academic high school located in Etobicoke area of Toronto, Canada. Founded on September 8, 1981, the Etobicoke School of the Arts has the distinction of being the oldest, free standing arts focused high school in Canada...

 where she studied drama alongside future 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...

 bandmates 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 Emily Haines
Emily Haines
Emily Haines is a Canadian indie rock singer-songwriter. She is the lead singer and keyboardist of the band Metric and a member of Broken Social Scene. As a solo artist, she performed with her own name and under the alias Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton...

. Millan and Haines joined with future novelist Ibi Kaslik
Ibi Kaslik
Ibolya "Ibi" Kaslik is a Hungarian-Canadian novelist, freelance journalist, and teaches creative writing at the University of Toronto.-Early life:Kaslik attended high school at Etobicoke School of the Arts...

 to form the band Edith’s Mission. Although short-lived, Edith’s Mission did play a sold out show at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto. After high school, Millan moved to 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...

 for three years to attend Concordia University and gained experience as a solo performer by playing in coffee shops. Upon returning to Toronto, she formed the roots-rock band 16 Tons and wrote many of the songs that she would use to launch her solo career several years later. After the breakup of 16 Tons, Millan moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

. While living there, she contributed the song "Bury Me" to the soundtrack of the film Drowning Mona
Drowning Mona
Drowning Mona is a 2000 comedy-mystery film starring Danny DeVito as Wyatt Rash, a local police chief from Verplanck, New York, who investigates the mysterious death of Mona Dearly, a spiteful, loud-mouthed, cruel and highly unpopular woman, who drove her son's car off a cliff and drowned in a...

. However, living in Los Angeles did not work out, and Millan returned to Toronto.

Stars

Stars was formed by Torquil Campbell
Torquil Campbell
Torquil Campbell is the lead singer and songwriter for the Montreal-based indie rock band Stars. He also records and performs with Broken Social Scene. In addition to singing, he also plays the melodica and trumpet...

 and Chris Seligman in 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...

. The line-up subsequently grew to incorporate 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....

, with whom Millan had played gigs while a member of 16 Tons. Feeling that Millan would be a good fit for the group, Cranley invited her to 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...

 to audition in December 1999. After receiving assurances that she would be actively involved in the songwriting process, Millan agreed to join the band. As much of their debut album had been recorded prior to her joining, Millan’s involvement in 2001's Nightsongs
Nightsongs (Stars album)
Nightsongs is the first album by Canadian indie rock band Stars, released in 2001 on Le Grand Magistery. At this time, Stars consisted only of Torquil Campbell and Chris Seligman, although both Amy Millan and Emily Haines of Metric make appearances. There is also a very rare vinyl pressing of the...

was limited, although she did sing lead vocals on "Toxic Holiday". Desiring to return to Canada, but not wanting to move to Toronto, the band relocated to Montreal. Drummer Pat McGee was recruited as their fifth member prior to the release of their second album, Heart
Heart (Stars album)
Heart is an album by the Canadian indie rock band Stars, released on Paper Bag Records in Canada and on Arts & Crafts in the USA.The album features three regional covers; the Canadian cover features a man embracing a woman resting on his lap, the US cover features a billboard with a girl's eyes...

, in 2003. Millan's influence was more evident on this album, and a number of the tracks were performed as duets between her and Torquil Campbell, establishing a style for which the band would become well known. Stars' commercial breakthrough came with their 2004 album Set Yourself on Fire
Set Yourself on Fire
Set Yourself on Fire is the third album by Canadian indie rock band Stars. It was released in 2004 on the Arts & Crafts International record label in Canada and the United Kingdom, and in 2005 in the United States....

and the accompanying single "Ageless Beauty
Ageless Beauty
Ageless Beauty was the fifth single released by the Canadian indie pop group Stars. It was the second single from the critically acclaimed album Set Yourself On Fire...

", which featured a lead vocal by Millan. Their fourth album, In Our Bedroom After the War
In Our Bedroom After the War
In Our Bedroom After the War is the fourth studio album by Stars, released on September 25, 2007 on the Arts & Crafts record label. It was released to digital retailers on July 10, 2007, in an attempt to battle the album's leak...

, was released in 2007 and was followed by the EP Sad Robots the following year. In June 2010, they released their fifth full-length album, The Five Ghosts
The Five Ghosts
-Bonus tracks:#"You Do It to Me and I Do It to You Too" [iTunes pre-order only]#"Asleep" [Limited Edition 7" Box Set Exclusive] [Also available as part of the compilation, "Sing Me To Sleep: Indie Lullabies"]-The Seance EP:...

.

Broken Social Scene

Although she did not officially contribute to 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...

's first two albums, due to scheduling conflicts for BSS members Emily Haines and Leslie Feist, she was asked by former classmate Kevin Drew to "be the girl" and sing with the band for the release concert of the band's second album, You Forgot It in People
You Forgot It in People
You Forgot It In People is a 2002 album by Broken Social Scene. It followed Feel Good Lost, and was the band's commercial breakthrough...

. From 2002 onward, Millan has often performed in BSS alongside fellow Stars members Evan Cranley, Chris Seligman and Torquil Campbell. She appeared on their 2005 self-titled album and also contributed vocals and writing to Kevin Drew's 2007 solo album Spirit If... as well as to Brendan Canning's 2008 solo album Something For All of Us. As in Stars, Amy usually sings with BSS but also plays guitar and percussion during live shows.

Honey from the Tombs

Amy Millan released her debut solo album, Honey from the Tombs
Honey From the Tombs
Honey from the Tombs is the debut solo album by Canadian singer Amy Millan from the bands Stars and Broken Social Scene. It was released on May 30, 2006 on the Arts & Crafts record label.-Track listing:#"Losin You" #"Skinny Boy"...

, in 2006. It consisted of songs largely written before 2000, from when Millan was a member of 16 Tons. The album title was inspired by a Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...

 interview where he compared the release of older songs to the discovery of sweet honey buried in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

ian tombs. The album was produced by Ian Blurton
Ian Blurton
Ian Blurton is a Canadian musician and record producer. He was born in Chicago in 1965, and moved to Toronto in the mid 1970s.He has been a part of Toronto's indie music scene since the early 1980s, playing drums in the original line-ups for Cowboy Junkies and A Neon Rome before becoming the lead...

 and musical contributors included Brendan Canning
Brendan Canning
Brendan Canning is a founding member of Broken Social Scene and a veteran indie rock performer who has been a member of various notable bands including By Divine Right, Blurtonia, Valley of the Giants, Len, and hHead....

 and 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...

 of 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...

 and Dan and Jenny Whiteley
Jenny Whiteley
Jenny Whiteley is a two-time Juno Award winning Canadian country and folk singer-songwriter.The daughter of blues musician Chris Whiteley and niece of folk musician Ken Whiteley, she began her musical career as one of the kids on Raffi albums, and her name notably appears on "Baby Beluga". She...

 from Crazy Strings.

In contrast to her work with Stars, Millan’s solo work is strongly influenced by country and folk music. Thematically, many of the songs deal with loss and loneliness, and taking solace in alcohol is sung about numerous times. Millan's upbringing in Toronto provided the inspiration for the song "Wayward and Parliament", which is based on her time working in the coffee shop "Jet Fuel" on Parliament Street.

Two videos were shot to promote Honey from the Tombs: "Skinny Boy" was directed by George Vale, and "Baby I" was directed by Anthony Seck. The songs "Losin' You" and "Baby I", were released as 7" singles in Europe. Millan also toured extensively to support the album, playing dates in North America, Japan and Europe.

Masters of the Burial

Millan released her second album, Masters of the Burial, on September 8, 2009. The album is produced by Martin Kinack
Marty Kinack
Martin Davis Kinack is a Canadian record producer and sound technician. He is most noted for his work with Broken Social Scene, Hayden and Sarah Harmer. He was also a member of Transistor Sound & Lighting Co., who released an album on ViK. Recordings in 1998.-References:...

 and musicians appearing include Evan Cranley, Dan and Jenny Whiteley, Leslie Feist and Liam O’Neil. The album features several cover songs, including some written by Death Cab for Cutie and Sarah Harmer.

Personal life

Millan's partner is Stars bandmate 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....

. In September 2010, they announced they were expecting a baby together. Their daughter, Delphine Rita Jane Cranley, was born on March 21, 2011.

Albums

Title Label Year
Honey from the Tombs
Honey From the Tombs
Honey from the Tombs is the debut solo album by Canadian singer Amy Millan from the bands Stars and Broken Social Scene. It was released on May 30, 2006 on the Arts & Crafts record label.-Track listing:#"Losin You" #"Skinny Boy"...

Arts & Crafts
Arts & Crafts (record label)
Arts & Crafts Productions is a Toronto-based independent artist services company, offering expertise as an independent record label, management firm, merchandiser and music publisher both in Canada and internationally...

/City Slang Records
City Slang Records
City Slang is an independent record label based in Berlin, Germany. It was created in 1990 by former tour agent Christof Ellinghaus. Its main goal was to provide American, Canadian and German independent artists with a way to distribute their records in the European market, particularly the UK,...

2006
Masters of the Burial
Masters of the Burial
Masters of the Burial is the second solo album from Canadian musician Amy Millan of Stars and Broken Social Scene. It was released in Canada on September 8, 2009, on the Arts & Crafts label and features guest performances by Stars bandmate Evan Cranley, Leslie Feist and others.Produced by Martin...

Arts & Crafts
Arts & Crafts (record label)
Arts & Crafts Productions is a Toronto-based independent artist services company, offering expertise as an independent record label, management firm, merchandiser and music publisher both in Canada and internationally...

2009

EPs

Title Label Year
KCRW.com Presents Morning Becomes Eclectic
KCRW.com Presents Morning Becomes Eclectic
KCRW.com Presents Morning Becomes Eclectic is a digital EP by Amy Millan featuring five live tracks recorded during a session for Santa Monica radio station KCRW.-Track listing:# "Skinny Boy"# "Baby I"# "Losin' You"# "Look Up"...

Arts & Crafts
Arts & Crafts (record label)
Arts & Crafts Productions is a Toronto-based independent artist services company, offering expertise as an independent record label, management firm, merchandiser and music publisher both in Canada and internationally...

2007

Singles

Single B-Side Label Format Year
Losin’ You "We All Lose One Another" by Jason Collett
Jason Collett
Jason Collett is a Toronto based singer-songwriter. He has released four solo albums, and is a member of Broken Social Scene. His latest album, Rat a Tat Tat, was released in March, 2010.-Early life:...

Arts & Crafts Europe
Arts & Crafts (record label)
Arts & Crafts Productions is a Toronto-based independent artist services company, offering expertise as an independent record label, management firm, merchandiser and music publisher both in Canada and internationally...

7" 2006
Baby I "Murder Train Song" Arts & Crafts Europe
Arts & Crafts (record label)
Arts & Crafts Productions is a Toronto-based independent artist services company, offering expertise as an independent record label, management firm, merchandiser and music publisher both in Canada and internationally...

7" 2006

Compilations

Album Year Songs Notes
Drowning Mona
Drowning Mona
Drowning Mona is a 2000 comedy-mystery film starring Danny DeVito as Wyatt Rash, a local police chief from Verplanck, New York, who investigates the mysterious death of Mona Dearly, a spiteful, loud-mouthed, cruel and highly unpopular woman, who drove her son's car off a cliff and drowned in a...

Soundtrack
2000 "Bury Me" Performed with Grindig; the song appeared in the movie, but was not included on the soundtrack album
XM: Live at the Verge 2006 "Skinny Boy (Live)"
CBC Radio 3 Sessions, Volume III 2007 "Skinny Boy (Live)"
Mamma Yamma and Friends 2008 "Broccoli Song" Rewritten version of "He Brings Out the Whiskey in Me" performed on children's television
Arts and Crafts Sampler Volume 6 2009 "Bruised Ghosts"

Collaborations

Album Artist Year Songs
A Good Day Sailing Memphis
Memphis (band)
Memphis is a musical duo consisting of long-time friends Torquil Campbell and Chris Dumont.Dumont, originally from North Carolina, first met Campbell in New York City in the early 1990s. With Campbell's childhood friends Chris Seligman, James Shaw, and Adam Marvy, the pair played together in a band...

2002 "The Phone Call"
Folkloric Feel
Folkloric Feel
Folkloric Feel is Apostle of Hustle's debut album. The album is described as indie rock with very subtle Latin influences, such as incorporating the sound stylings of the tres and permutations of Latin rhythms.- Track listing : # "Folkloric Feel" – 7:49...

Apostle of Hustle
Apostle of Hustle
Apostle of Hustle is a Canadian indie rock group, formed in 2001 by Andrew Whiteman.-History:The band is more or less the brainchild of Andrew Whiteman, who has been in such groups as Bourbon Tabernacle Choir and Que Vida. He released a solo effort titled Fear of Zen in 1995. He is also the lead...

2004 "Baby You're in Luck"
Live at Radio Aligres in Paris 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...

2004 "Almost Crimes", "Baby You’re in Luck", "Starts with a Big Finish", "Cause=Time", "Bruised Ghosts", "Let’s Get Out of Here"
Broken Social Scene
Broken Social Scene (album)
Broken Social Scene is the third studio album by Broken Social Scene, released on October 4, 2005. The album was originally to be titled Windsurfing Nation....

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...

2005 "Ibi Dreams of Pavement", "Major Label Debut", "Hotel", "Bandwitch"
Idols of Exile
Idols of Exile
-Track listing:#"Fire" - with Amy Millan#"Hangover Days" - with Emily Haines#"Brownie Hawkeye"#"We All Lose One Another"#"Parry Sound"#"I'll Bring the Sun"#"Tinsel and Sawdust"#"Feral Republic"#"Pavement Puddle Stars"#"Almost Summer"#"Pink Night"...

Jason Collett
Jason Collett
Jason Collett is a Toronto based singer-songwriter. He has released four solo albums, and is a member of Broken Social Scene. His latest album, Rat a Tat Tat, was released in March, 2010.-Early life:...

2005 "Fire", "Parry Sound", "I'll Bring the Sun", "These Are the Days"
Alone, Not Alone Montag
Antoine Bédard
Antoine Bédard is a Canadian electronic musician, best known for his recordings under the stage name Montag.Originally from Montreal, he sings in both French and English, and is currently residing in Montreal again, after a stint in Vancouver, British Columbia...

2005 "Perfect Vision", "Angles, Country & Gerrain Connu"
Going Places Montag
Antoine Bédard
Antoine Bédard is a Canadian electronic musician, best known for his recordings under the stage name Montag.Originally from Montreal, he sings in both French and English, and is currently residing in Montreal again, after a stint in Vancouver, British Columbia...

2007 "Mechanical Kids", "Safe in Sound"
Spirit If...
Spirit If...
Spirit If... is the debut solo album by Broken Social Scene co-founder Kevin Drew. It was released on September 18, 2007. The album is the first in a series entitled Broken Social Scene Presents:, with each album in the series being a particular member's solo efforts, assisted by fellow Broken...

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...

 Presents: 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...

2007 "Broke Me Up", "Aging Faces/Losing Places", "When It Begins"
Everything I've Forgotten to Forget Amos the Transparent
Amos the Transparent
Amos the Transparent is a Canadian rock band from Ottawa, Ontario. Everything I've Forgotten to Forget was released on Pop Culture Records in 2007, and most recently an EP, My What Big Teeth You Have on Sunday School Music...

2007 "After All That, It's Come to This"
The Priddle Concern The Priddle Concern
Bill Priddle
Bill Priddle is a Canadian indie rock musician, who has been in the bands Treble Charger, Broken Social Scene, Don Vail and The Priddle Concern.Priddle released an album 6 May 2008 under the name The Priddle Concern.-External links:*...

2008 "Back Around"
Something for All of Us 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...

 Presents: Brendan Canning
Brendan Canning
Brendan Canning is a founding member of Broken Social Scene and a veteran indie rock performer who has been a member of various notable bands including By Divine Right, Blurtonia, Valley of the Giants, Len, and hHead....

2008 "Antique Bull"
A New Tide
A New Tide
A New Tide is the sixth studio album by the British indie rock band Gomez. It was released on 28 March 2009 in Australia, 30 March 2009 in the UK, and on 31 March 2009 in the US.-Reception:Initial critical response to A New Tide was generally average...

Gomez
Gomez (band)
Gomez are an English indie rock band from Southport, comprising Ian Ball , Paul "Blackie" Blackburn , Tom Gray , Ben Ottewell and Olly Peacock . The band is distinguished for having three singers and four songwriters, employing traditional and electronic instruments...

2009 "Win Park Slope"
It Goes, It Goes Halves
Halves (band)
Halves are an ambient/alternative/electronic band based in Dublin, Ireland.They are composed of Brian Cash and brothers Tim and Elis Czerniak, with additional live members Frankie Pollard and Margie Lewis. Halves were designed when Dave , Brian and Tim sat down together and listed bands & composers...

2010 "Growing and Glow"
Forgiveness Rock Record
Forgiveness Rock Record
Forgiveness Rock Record is the fourth studio album by Canadian indie rock musical collective Broken Social Scene, released by the Arts & Crafts record label on May 4, 2010...

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...

2010 "Chase Scene", "Sentimental X’s"


For Amy Millan's work with Stars, see Stars discography
Stars discography
-Studio albums:-Remix albums:-EPs:-Singles:-Compilations:...

.

External links

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