Call It Fate, Call Them The Brokes: An Interview With Toronto's Premiere Strokes Cover Band

Have you ever had an experience that felt like a higher power pushing you towards something? Around a year ago, while walking down Rue St. Denis in a truly horrendous snowstorm, I was treated to a wonderful experience, which I now think can only be described as fate. As I walked past the bustling subterranean mecca that is Bar L’Escogriffe, a call came out to me: “Hey you! Do you like The Strokes?” Standing in the dark doorway of L’Esco was a group of 5, bundled to holy hell, beckoning me to come over to them. “There’s a Strokes cover band playing in 5 minutes, and our friend can’t make it. Do you want to take his ticket?” A free concert, and a chance to escape the slushy mess of St Denis? How could anyone possibly say no? I do believe this moment was fate, as it led me to discover Ontario’s premiere Strokes cover band, The Brokes, a group of guys who, in their words, have “accidentally stumbled upon greatness.” And I for one couldn't agree more.

Now, as I sit in the green room of Foufounes Electroniques, I am reminded of that first L’Esco show; heartier moshpits than I’ve seen at some punk shows, a triple encore, and an intense commitment to nailing the source material are all now components of your average Brokes show. While I can proudly confirm that Montreal shows up for the band like few other cities, more and more stops seem to be bringing the ruckus to The Brokes. This absolutely irks me, and it’s something that The Brokes have had to mull over themselves. “I think it's because it validates something in Strokes heads,” says guitarist Tony Traub, taking a break from plucking Strokes riffs on his white Stratocaster to answer my question. “It just shows that [the music] is a thing, and it’s worth paying respect to, and these guys spent the time to do it.” “It’s less of a show and more of a celebration of The Strokes and their aesthetic, and we can be a kind of conduit for that celebration” chimes in singer Marlon Chaplin, mounted atop a window sill in a very Julian Casablancas-esque pose. It also doesn’t hurt that the band plays Strokes songs the band themselves has never played live before. “Blur your eyes a little and you can say you saw The Strokes do “Happy Ending” encourages Chaplin, garnering a laugh from everyone.

It can however be a little tricky to please a crowd of die-hard Strokes fans, who show up toting decades-old merch, and even a few tattoos. “The whole point of [the audience] coming to see us is for them to hear the parts played perfectly,” says guitarist-turned-bassist Dan Bedard. “People will actively sing the parts out to us, so they have to be spot on.” This is no exaggeration either, as even over the sound of 4 instrumentalists packed onto the Foufounes stage, one can clearly hear 200 half-drunk Quebecois scream out the opening riff to “Reptilia”. Thankfully, The Brokes seem wholeheartedly unaffected by this pressure, proudly claiming to have 54 Strokes jams perfected under their belt. While fans herald this dedication to source material, it’s garnered the attention of some pretty big names as well, with the most prominent being Gordon Raphael, producer for both Is This It and Room On Fire. “He said it was weird seeing how much attention we paid to these little idiosyncrasies on the record, these little moments of feedback, or a guitar hit, that were never planned,” says Chaplin, with a hint of pride. 

While there’s no official confirmation of recognition from any Strokes members, most Brokes fans seem to think it's only a matter of time. “I can see why they wouldn’t want to come to a show,” Chaplin states, “but so many things have happened with this band that really none of us foresaw.” This statement seems to be mirrored by the rest of the band, and really by most Brokes fans themselves. “We originally were only ever meant to play a Halloween show in Toronto” recounts Bedard, “Then there were two, and those both sold out, and then it was one out of town, and then we went to the states, and it all kind of snowballed.” “Snowballing, really,” adds guitarist Brandon Wall. “We didn't have the New York Times on our radar a year ago, but here we are” (In reference to their piece in the NYT from back in July). Where the snowball stops rolling, nobody really knows, says drummer Connor MacArthur. “We seem to be doing this at the right time, with the right spirit and organization,” he says, going on to recount how, in combination with TicketMaster “ruining the market”, The Brokes have come to pass during a perfect storm for cover bands. The trend cycle is quickly brought up by Chaplin, as he states that “even The Strokes themselves are in a bit of a renaissance, with The New Abnormal back in 2020, and the rumours of new music on the horizon. Everything seems to be coming together at a perfect time.” It seems like all The Brokes need are a Yeah Yeah Yeah’s cover band and a Kimya Dawson figure to tour with, and it’s 2001 New York all over again. 

Though, on the floor of Foufounes, it's almost impossible to tell that it isn't. The crowd looks like they’ve been pulled directly from a scene in Meet Me In The Bathroom, only with baggier jeans and newer phones. The excitement in the air is palpable as The Brokes take the stage, and over the next hour and a half, I am subject to a set that any Arlene’s crowd would be jealous of. Barely a song goes by without the audience screaming out lyrics (and guitar lines), and by the end, the moshpit has grown into a hivemind mass, with crowd surfers and stage jumpers to match. An encore comes and goes, egged on by a hearty round of Olé’s and applause. As the crowd begins to pour out, slipping on the beer/sweat-stained floor, I take a second to appreciate what makes The Brokes special, and why I decided to do this piece in the first place: a cover band being this successful, this beloved, is weird. But in a time like now, where the state of the future is worryingly uncertain, why not embrace the weird? Why not embrace The Brokes? I talk a lot about fate in this article, and while it’s not a construct I’d bet my life on, there is a definitive right-place-right-time phenomenon going on with these guys, and I urge you to take part. 

Go catch The Brokes live at The Phoenix in Toronto on Dec. 13th, and take in the spectacle for yourself. There’s magic in the air around this band that one has to experience live, it’s just a little Hard To Explain (sorry, had to).

Sam Kitch is the editor for the CJLO magazine, and the host of I Think You  Might Like This, a high-concept hip-hop showcase on air every Tuesday at 2pm.