Toronto Treasures

Jeremy Greenspan

Junior Boys, Canada

In 1999, while your Aunt Linda was still stocking up on bottled water and nailing her doors shut for the Y2K apocalypse, Hamilton native Jeremy Greenspan quietly formed Junior Boys, an electronic duo with his pal Johnny Dark. Cut to 2003, when the JBs released their Birthday/Last Exit EP, followed by the Last Exit album, and suddenly the electronic scene found itself with a couple of wunderkinds on its doorstep. Universal critical acclaim and a slew of other records including their second full length, So This Is Goodbye, followed – and landed them on the shortlist for the 2007 Polaris Music Prize. Greenspan has a profound perspective on music as a medium. With an eye cast constantly towards the cutting edge, Greenspan once said he likes "doing stuff that is rooted in the moment and could only be made now. That's why I get turned off when people say I'm doing something retro, because what was exciting about the 80s was how forward-looking it was."