The Jon Cohen Experimental

"Anything anybody needed I would provide," says Jon Cohen of his decade on the Montreal music scene. "You know, 'There's 100 guitarists on every street corner, but we need a harp. Let's call Jon.'" After turns in The Dears and The Social Register, Cohen put his own name out in front in 2006, with augmentation. "I have this record by Michael Cohen, I don't know where I got it, a garage sale or something, and it's such a depressing record---I didn't want to call the band Jon Cohen. But it's not experimental music, it's not bleeps and circuitry sounds. It's more the sense that this whole band is an experiment, the life associated with the music is an experiment." Cohen's latest is Behold, a gauzy folk blend, which features appearances from scene friends like Murray Lightburn and Evan Cranley from Stars. "I've really reached a plateau and with this band we showed we can make a great record. And having guests on a record, I've discovered, is the most enjoyable thing you can do."