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How Jamaica, the Cold War, and a disco diva created Canadian indie rock

Big Tugg | June 22, 2026



The Canadian invasion is the same as the British invasion but with maple syrup and hockey I guess?

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Co-written by Jimmy Pitts
Edited by @Ganwho

Written by Big Tugg

Comments

This post currently has 40 comments.

  2. @helenascorner

    June 22, 2026 at 8:42 pm

    I can take the “every Canadian knows each other” bit even further lol. Chad Krueger (lead singer of Nickleback, Avril Lavigne’s ex husband) owns the record label that Canadian pop rock darlings Marianas Trench are signed to. (Personally Marianas trench is my favourite band) Chad is also friends with Marianas Trench’s lead singer Josh Ramsay since they were signed to that label for so many years. Josh Ramsay also happens to be a VERY talented songwriter and producer and co wrote Call Me Maybe with Carly Rae Jepson and her guitarist Tavish Crowe. I’m so sure I could take it even further but that’s just off the top of my head.

    Basically, pretty much everyone in the various Canadian arts scenes know each other because there’s truly so few of us. Our country is HUGE but there’s not a lot of people. I’m a theatre performer here and after a while you start to realize everyone in the theatre scene known each other. Doesn’t matter if they exist in provinces on opposite sides of the country they’re probably no more than 3 degrees of separation

  11. @Mooskeletonz

    June 22, 2026 at 8:42 pm

    as a canadian, i am not kidding when i say every canadian is a few degrees of separation from each other lol. my elementary school principal was carly rae jepsen's step-dad. i have a friend that went to the same high school as hudson williams. my partner went to high school with someone on team canada in this world cup.

  15. @cstearry

    June 22, 2026 at 8:42 pm

    As someone in the arts I can vouch that Canada is basically a small town and everyone knows each other. There’s basically 2 or 3 art schools and the government is pretty determined to promote canada’s “unique cultural identity” and pumped money into the arts in the 2000s

  16. @xJawzFan2011

    June 22, 2026 at 8:42 pm

    I love how this whole video is an adhd rambling and he kept checking in with us to make sure we were still following along 😂 great video as always tugg!

  23. @Gurlzup123

    June 22, 2026 at 8:42 pm

    If you wanted to dig deeper into CanPop, I got something you can start with, since I am a Canadian who's favourite band is Canadian.

    Do you remember when Carly Rae Jepsen's Call Me Maybe was everywhere for a moment? The chorus was originally a pre-chorus for something that was a little more folk, but then someone really important to the song's success entered the picture: Josh Ramsay. Who is he? Other than the front man and main brain behind the band Marianas Trench (who just so happens to be signed to 604 Records, a record label with two owners, one of whom being Chad Kroeger from Nickelback). Josh is kinda all over the Canadian music scene now. He's worked with other Canadian artists as a writer and producer, he was also the one who heard that pre-chorus and said, "no, that's the song, Carly!" He helped her turn it into Call Me Maybe, the most Josh Ramsay thing on that track, besides his vocals as backing vocals, is the string section. Josh also loves his 4 part harmonies. He wrote a song with Michael from 5SOS once, and the whole band is friends with Down With Webster (another Canadian band). Marianas Trench has had a few songs break through into the American market: Stutter, Desperate Measures, Rhythm Of Your Heart (Taylor Swift added it to her playlist once), Haven't Had Enough, Who do you love. These songs didn't make it hugely big, but they did crack through. Also, once at and award show in Toronto they were performing after Lady Gaga, so Josh "stole" her sparkler bra and put it on while they were performing Cross My Heart. This was a move that Much Music had not approved, but apparently Lady Gaga thought it would be funny when Josh asked backed stage so she let him do it. This was in like 2009. Seriously, look into just how much Josh Ramsay is interwoven in the Canadian music scene. Also, at the start of their career, Marianas Trench's management thought it would be a good marketing idea to put the whole band in one house together so they could make silly little videos together for YouTube, basically, they were the first ever hype house before either of the Paul brothers made it cool. Just look up videos like Riverdance (from Marianas Trench), Marianas Trench spheres, and the Say Hot Chocolate Contest, just to name a few. Josh is also probably one of the all time best Vocalists in Canada, and he recently got challenged to record a pop rock cover of Defying Gravity, which he did in it's original key. Seriously, look it up, it's amazing. Josh Ramsay is criminally underrated.

    If it isn't obvious my favourite band is Marianas Trench.

  34. @Themohr

    June 22, 2026 at 8:42 pm

    We've always been there, man. The Guess Who, Neil Young (and therefore Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young), Joni Mitchell, Rush, Dream Warriors, Maestro Fresh Wes. . . sigh Drake. In nearly every creative field which Americans think they dominate, you'll find an incredibly influential Canadian.

Comments are closed.

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