The last time Kevin Drew appeared on stage at the Marquee Club, it was as part of the free-wheeling, multi-member rock and roll caravan of Broken Social Scene.
On Saturday, Drew gets to hold his own, touring behind his new solo record Spirit If . . ., but it’s hardly a solo show, with a band that includes fellow BSSers Brendan Canning and Justin Peroff, plus Andrew Kenny from American Analog Set, Treble Charger’s Bill Priddle, and Sam Goldberg, whose projects include Uncut and Hawaii.
With the intense dynamic of Spirit If . . . — which comes under the banner of "Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew" — the songs seem to demand a substantial group to do justice to the CD’s multi-layered production by Do Make Say Think’s Ohad Benchetrit and Charles Spearin.
"It’s a lot of fun, the guys are really good. I’ve got Brendan and Justin with me, so I’ve got my solid rhythm section and old friends," says Drew, fresh from soundcheck for an appearance on MTV Live in Toronto. "Canning agreed to come out and play, even though he’s running around trying to finish his record at the moment, so it’s good."
With a Canning record due in 2008 under the Broken Social Scene Presents imprint, it seems like fans of the Juno Award-winning collective have much to look forward to, even though the band proper enjoys a hiatus. Drew likes to think the series is more "like the Buena Vista Social Club" spotlight releases than the 1978 KISS solo album debacle (of which Drew notes: Ace Frehley, "not bad"; Peter Criss, "not so much.")
"When we were finishing it up and saw that everyone was on it, and all our friends were there . . . it’s very hard to avoid my friends because I’ve been so musically addicted to them for the past five years musically, there’s no way that I wouldn’t play with them again," he says. "So we came up with this Social Scene Presents idea so we could have another outlet to put out music within the family and the brand of Social Scene, but also with some more freedom to do things that wouldn’t necessarily align with what the band has become over the past four or five years.
"Doing this is obviously an experiment, seeing how people react to it first time out. But we’re gonna have Canning’s record come out and then start putting out a lot of b-side material that never found a way out before."
At this point there’s a beep over the phone, and Drew’s voice vanishes briefly before reappearing.

"Can you hold on for a second? I’ve got Tom Cochrane on the other line, and you’ve gotta answer when Tom calls."
Yes, THAT Tom Cochrane, the Canadian rock icon who cameos on the song Lucky Ones and also appeared with Drew on MTV Live and at the Lee’s Palace show on Thursday night. One of many special guests on Spirit If … (including Feist, Dinosaur Jr.’s J. Mascis and Spiral Stair from Pavement), Cochrane is actually an inspired choice to underline Drew’s all-out approach.
"I cold called him," Drew explains. "I just knew . . . someone from Social Scene’s gonna cold call Tom Cochrane, let’s get this together. In my heart I knew it would work, and it just did. I knew the song was perfect for him, and nobody could deliver a line like, ‘I know we’re gonna be the lucky ones’ better than him. I knew it needed to have his vibe, and it just all came together.
"It was amazing that he’d do it with us. That emotional wail, he owns that sound. We jammed Boy Inside the Man with him, and when he busts out into ‘When I walked out with my girl . . .’ I got chills. Goosebumps. Down the spine."
Having the freedom to do things like including Cochrane is what made recording Spirit If . . . such a freeing experience.
"I was grateful to be able to get back to the lone star approach for a moment, and reconfigure my brain to the idea that I do make music, and it is outside of chaos, and pressure, and doing things to maintain a career or a lifestyle or a financial living. This record was made out of pure honesty, and the biggest struggle was trying to figure out what the record was gonna be and what was going on it."