Artist · chart history
Bran Van 3000
Band Montréal Formed 1997
Bran Van 3000 formed in 1997 in Montréal. Bran Van 3000 has 11 chart appearances on 10 radio countdowns from 6 stations on RockLists, spanning 1998–2002. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Drinking In L.A.”, which appears on 10 lists with a best position of #9. The station that charted Bran Van 3000 most often is The Buzz (Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC), with 4 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1998.
Bran Van 3000 was less a band than a Montreal house party with a recording budget. James Di Salvio and E.P. Bergen founded the collective, and a revolving cast piled in: Stéphane Moraille, Sara Johnston, Steve "Liquid" Hawley, Jean Leloup, Kim Bingham and plenty more, mashing alternative rock into hip hop, and anything else that happened to be lying around, with a shrug and a grin.
Even the name is a joke. It comes from brännvin, the Swedish word for distilled spirits, and from Bergen's beat-up taupe Volkswagen camper, which was said to run on bran flakes, booze and brand recognition while it hauled the crew around Canada on tour.
"Drinking In L.A." was the one that got away from them in 1998: a sunny, slacker-hazy hangover of a song, all loping beat, lazy hooks and wry, wandering talk. It rode rock countdowns for a spell, and the collective, on the Audiogram label, went on to sit among the 150 top-selling Canadian artists at home between 1996 and 2016.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Bran Van 3000 on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drinking In L.A. | 10 | #9 | – | 1998 | |
| 2 | Everywhere | 1 | #73 | – | 1998 |
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