Jason Collett

Jason Collett
Jason Collett performing in Guelph, Ontario (January 17, 2008).
Background information
Born	Bramalea, Ontario
Origin	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Alt-country, indie rock
Years active	1999–present
Labels	Arts & Crafts
Members	Jason Collett Robbie Drake (live) Afie Jurvanen (live) Mike O'Brien (live) Michael P. Clive (live)

Jason Collett is a Toronto-based Canadian singer-songwriter. He has released four solo albums, and is a member of Broken Social Scene. His latest album, Song & Dance Man, was released in February, 2016.

Collett was born in Bramalea, Ontario, a Greater Toronto Area suburb. He began writing songs at a young age to escape the boredom of his suburban life, and cites Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson and Nick Lowe as influences. Eventually, Collett moved to downtown Toronto where he worked as a woodworker and carpenter, doing renovations and custom home building, while he pursued his music. He was a part of the short-lived alternative country group Bird, of which Andrew Cash and Hawksley Workman were also members. Bird released one album, 2000’s Chrome Reflection. Collett is also credited as a collaborator on the Grievous Angels' Toute la Gang record; Chuck Angus was a band member. Collett also took part in Toronto’s popular indie music gathering, Radio Mondays. Collett, along with others such as The Weakerthans and artists on the record label Arts & Crafts, would perform and write songs together. Collett has mentioned how Radio Mondays were great community-building events, with five or six artists on stage at a time.

It was his work with Broken Social Scene that allowed Collett to give up woodworking and become a full-time musician. Collett became a member of Broken Social Scene, serving as one of their guitarists, after the band’s album You Forgot It In People. Collett was eventually convinced by Kevin Drew to join the band once they moved from a strictly instrumental band into one that wrote their own songs (digphilly). Though Collett took a break from touring with Broken Social Scene in the fall of 2005 to pursue his solo career and spend time with his family, Collett has made many musical connections through the band. His 2005 album, Idols of Exile, produced by Howie Beck, featured many prominent Canadian artists. Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew, Leslie Feist and Brendan Canning all contributed, as did members of Stars and Metric.