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Dan Mangan Favours Broken Social Scene and Shad for Polaris Prize
The last time Vancouver-based troubadour Dan Mangan played San Francisco, he was camped out on the weathered linoleum of some no-name laundromat, serenading strangers with his acoustic folk as they loaded up washing machines with dirty socks and nightshirts. This time, the singer-songwriter is opening up for the Walkmen at the city's historic venue, the Fillmore, and is days away from possibly winning the 2010 Polaris Music Prize. To say that things have changed, wouldn't be an understatement.
"If you were to read my bio, you'd see that I've been fortunate enough in the last two years to walk away with some awards and accolades, but what you wouldn't read are the years of disappointment and non-awards before that," Mangan tells Spinner.
As for this whole award business on Monday (Sept. 20), the west coaster says that while things are definitely going his way these days, he's not anywhere close to getting cocky. "I'm quite well trained at assuming that nothing is going to come my way. I don't know if that's a self-defense mechanism or what, but in general, I'm totally convinced I have no chance of winning."
Mangan names his Arts & Crafts labelmates Broken Social Scene, as well as rapper Shad, as the frontrunners for the prestigious honour. "That's where my gut is leading," he says. "It's so hard not to be bias in terms of the list of nominees, though. There are some that I am closer with than others, so I immediately lean in those directions."
"I just think they're both really great artists," continues Mangan, "and they are the type of artists that the Polaris judges tend to dig. But then, you have to take that all with a grain of salt because the second someone becomes the favourite, they become the un-favourite -- that's kind of the nature with awards."
Despite his serious doubts about being named this year's Polaris Music Prize winner and walking away with the $20,000 cash purse, the singer admits that he might wind up "holding his breath ever so slightly" all the same at that pivotal moment.
"I was actually at the awards last year up in the balcony, and my breath was even held then, and I had no stakes in it whatsoever," he says. "Just in terms of being involved in the Canadian musical community, I feel invested in the award, let alone the fact that there's a small chance that I could walk away with some money and recognition." 09/15/10 >> go there
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