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.

Musical career

Early on, Cranley was in the band The Universe of Forums. In the 1990s, he was the trombonist for the Toronto-based band Gypsy Soul (later Gypsy Sol). He was also a part of

Big Rude Jake Andrew Jacob Hiebert (1 March 1963 – 16 June 2022), known professionally as Big Rude Jake, was a Canadian songwriter, singer, musician, and bandleader based in Toronto. The original "Swing Punk", he was associated with the neo-swing trend of t ...

's back-up band in the late 1990s (he later quit, stating there are only so many shows one can do dancing around in a flesh-coloured zoot suit with a trombone). Cranley was one of the original line-up of Broken Social Scene after the band was expanded from the core members

Kevin Drew Kevin Drew (born September 9, 1976) is a Canadian musician and songwriter who, together with Brendan Canning, founded the expansive Toronto baroque-pop collective Broken Social Scene. He was also part of the lesser-known KC Accidental, which con ...

and Brendan Canning. One of the songs on their first release, ''

Feel Good Lost ''Feel Good Lost'' is the debut studio album by Broken Social Scene. It was written and recorded primarily by founding members Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning. Unlike their better known 2002 outing ''You Forgot It in People'', ''Feel Good Lost'' i ...

'', is named after him ("Cranley's Gonna Make It"). He is a contributor to all Broken Social Scene albums in various capacities. In live performances with Broken Social Scene, he usually plays trombone or guitar. He was also a contributor to the original lineup of Canning's pre-BSS project Cookie Duster."Broken Social Scene's Brendan Canning Reviving Cookie Duster Project?"
'' Spinner'', November 10, 2011. Cranley, along with

Chris Seligman Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...

, is the main composer of Stars' music. The band was formed by Seligman and Torquil Campbell in the late nineties, and Cranley was approached to join the band when it expanded. (He was also approached with an offer from Metric, a band containing Broken Social Scene bandmates

Emily Haines Emily Savitri Haines (born 25 January 1974) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is the lead singer, keyboardist and songwriter of the rock band Metric and a member of the musical collective Broken Social Scene. As a solo artist, she has ...

and James Shaw). Cranley and Seligman's compositional style is to repeat a riff or tune until something develops, and then Campbell and

Amy Millan Amy Millan (born December 3, 1973) is a Canadian indie rock singer and guitarist. She records and performs with the bands Stars and Broken Social Scene as well as having a successful solo career. Her second solo album, '' Masters of the Burial'' ...

will write lyrics. He is most often seen playing bass and guitars during live performances. Cranley does string arrangement on the song, "My Favorite Book" and also does bass, guitars, percussion, mandolin and many other instruments for the band's album '' In Our Bedroom After the War'', released in 2007. Cranley played various instruments on bandmate and wife Amy Millan's solo debut, '' Honey From the Tombs''. Cranley has recently been involved with Montreal hip-hop act

Da Gryptions Da Gryptions is a Canadian hip hop band from Montreal, formed in 2009. The band consists of Future Shark (a.k.a. Trevor Barnes) (vocals), Dark Science (a.k.a. Patrick Guay) (vocals), Apsobibi (a.k.a. Evan Cranley of Stars) (R&B vocals), and Rip ...

alongside friends from the music scene. They released a single in the summer of 2010 that was an ode to the Montreal public bike system BIXI Montréal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cranley, Evan Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian rock bass guitarists Canadian indie rock musicians Canadian indie pop musicians Stars (Canadian band) members Musicians from Montreal Broken Social Scene members 20th-century Canadian guitarists 21st-century Canadian guitarists 20th-century Canadian bass guitarists 21st-century Canadian bass guitarists Canadian mandolinists