Alden Penner

Alden Penner
Alden Penner performing with Clues
Background information
Born	(1983-01-12) 12 January 1983 (age 34) Loretteville, Quebec, Canada
Genres	Indie pop Indie rock Alternative rock Folk
Instruments	Vocals, electric guitar, bass guitar, keyboard
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Alien8 Rough Trade Art School Dropout Constellation Records Caterpillars of the Community Beep! Beep! Back Up the Truck Villa Villa Nola Take This Hammer
Associated acts	All Makes Parts & Collision The Unicorns Clues The Hidden Words Michael Cera
Website	Alden Penner at Bandcamp Clues at Constellation Records

Alden Penner (born 12 January 1983) is a Canadian musician and producer best known for his work with the Unicorns, Clues, and for his solo output.

In December 2000 Penner formed the Unicorns with Nicholas Thorburn in Campbell River, British Columbia. The duo's first release was a limited edition CD entitled Unicorns Are People Too on their own label, Caterpillars of the Community. This was shortly followed by their début LP Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?, released by Alien 8 in North America and Rough Trade in the UK. With the addition of drummer Jamie Thompson the band embarked on a hectic tour of North America, Europe and Australia throughout 2003/04 before announcing their split in January 2005.

Penner's first release as a solo musician was a limited-edition 7" entitled The Ghost of Creaky Crater. The single was recorded in Melbourne whilst the Unicorns were on tour and released by the label Art School Dropout in 2005. Penner reissued the single on his own Montreal-based label Take This Hammer in 2006, soon followed by a split 7" with Brendan Reed (formerly of Arcade Fire) entitled Surface To Air Missive / I Love What U Did. Penner and Reed then formed Clues, playing their first show at the Pop Montreal festival in October 2007. Clues' self-titled debut album was released on May 19, 2009 by Constellation Records, and toured across North America and Europe throughout 2009. The band have been on "indefinite hiatus" since 2010.

Also in 2009, Penner was credited as producer and musician on the soundtrack to the film Paper Heart. He had previously worked as a composer on various independent films, including the 2005 Larry Kent dark comedy The Hamster Cage,Surfing The Waste ("a musical documentary about dumpster diving"), and The Visible Will vs. the Invisible Wall in which Penner collaborates with Algerian refugee Abdelkader Belaouni.