While Toronto has become comfortably ensconced in the annals of electronic music, who knew that Dundas, Ontario was about to become the next big thing in cutting-edge, organic electronica?  When composer/DJ Manitoba (a.k.a. Dan Snaith) quietly released his first EP in 2000 that included a track named after his hometown, he put the tiny hamlet on the electro map in a big way.  His ensuing album on the UK upstart Leaf label, Start Breaking My Heart, topped critics' year-end lists and catapulted the unassuming 22-year-old math student to international stardom.

The surprise success of Manitoba's melodic, accessible take on electronic music meant that Snaith went from being a complete unknown to moving to London to be closer to his label.  Not only is he in demand for live DJ sets all over the globe, he continues to pursue his doctorate in mathematics at London's Imperial College at the same time.

The indefatigable Snaith was in Toronto for a rare hometown gig at Gypsy Co-Op for the fifth anniversary of Denise Benson's (an early supporter) weekly Glide party.  His brief return home marked a flurry of activity—endless radio interviews and the cover of NOW Magazine made for relentless buzz.   But if the unassuming, bespectacled Snaith was at all fazed by the 'hail the conquering hero'-style attention, he didn't let on.

"It's especially nice to have success here in Canada—that's been really, really rewarding that things have been going so well here," he said.  "But also it's crazy to go to Japan and have guys come up to you, and they want you to sign the album and shit like that—it's pretty surreal."

If he sounds surprised at the success of an album he made at home on his computer, it's because he's been quietly at it for years.

"I've played since I was really young.  I played piano and was really obsessed and practiced for hours and hours every day," he explained.  "I got a really cheap computer and stole a cheap sampler from my high school, and I've been making music that way since I was 13 or something.  I've always really been interested in music that I really like, and was like, 'Well, I could do that,' and tried to do the same thing, that's all."

Start Breaking My Heart found a home on the well-regarded Leaf label after Kieran Hebden of like-minded Brit outfit Four Tet passed Manitoba's music on to the folks there.  A tuneful mix of low-key electronic touches underscored by Snaith's skillful keyboard and guitar melodies, the album touched a chord with a wide spectrum of listeners, not just the usual electronic 'heads.  Influenced by his diverse musical interests from hip hop to electro, critics quickly dubbed Manitoba's hybrid sound "folktronica", a term Snaith himself eschews.

Dan Snaith Manitoba Caribou Dundas Ontario

"'Folktronica' is bullshit, some journalist made that shit up," Snaith declared.  "But as far as I'm concerned, I want to do a lot of different things because I have a lot of varying tastes in music.  I'd prefer to—I know it's already a cliché—but to try and avoid, like, describing it as some kind of music or other.  It's sort of like my music ends up being more electronic more by accident, because that's the kind of equipment I can afford 'cause I'm poor and shit like that, rather than like, me being a really techie, electronic kinda nerd or whatever."

Early 2002 saw the domestic release of Manitoba's new "Give'r" EP, featuring dance-ier, more beats-heavy tracks compared to the very gentle, ambient sound of the full-length.

"It was definitely a conscious thing that I decided I wanted to do something that was more in that sort of vein," Snaith said.  "I definitely want to do some more dance-influenced stuff.  Also, I just wanted to tell people to stick the fuckin' 'folktronica' name up their ass.  Give 'em something with a little more bass-lines and that type of shit."

Snaith hopes to release his second full-length later this year, and said it will yet again confound the expectations of what electronic music should be.

"Even though I'm making it in exactly the same way I made the first one, it's going to be less obvious that it's, like, an electronica album.  And it's going to be more sort of song-based and more influenced by, like, a lot of the indie and rock and psychedelic pop stuff," Snaith explained.  "Just less sort of woozy, sleepy electronica-sounding and more dramatic, decadent, richer-sounding."

Though the electronic music scene has embraced him, Snaith has been critical of the genre's inability to think outside the box.  His crossover success has proven that electronic music doesn't have to sound a particular way for music lovers to embrace it.

"I just think it's a bad idea, being so insular, and being so, 'well, we're electronic musicians and this is what we do', and everything's gonna be minimal, or everything's gonna be, like, deep tech house or something," Snaith declared.  "I just think that's a really boring and restrictive attitude to have."

"It's really the case (that the scene is very closed), and I sort of realized it when I did interviews with people who'd be like, 'Have you heard of like, Luftenshnuft?' or something, and I'd just be like, 'What?!'" he continued, laughing.  "I really don't listen to much electronic music at all—I probably listen to old Aphex Twin or something, and some new stuff that's come out, you know.  But most of the stuff that I listen to is new hip hop, old hip hop, and garage and rock and pop and psychedelic rock and shit like that— so it would just be crazy if I made music that didn't reflect at all what I was into.  It sort of has pissed me off a little bit—I've done gigs for electronic festivals and stuff and they're just really sort of closed-minded sometimes."

As a DJ, Manitoba's long been known to rock a party with sets heavy on hip hop and old-skool electro, but his Glide visit was the first time he unveiled his current live setup at home.  A mixture of manipulating his own music via laptop and spinning on the decks, it's a good compromise between the languid, headphones-feel of the album and his need as a DJ to get the dance floor movin'.

"Obviously I want it to sound like music that I made, but also having a live show demands that you have some kind of energy or something that's exciting.  I wouldn't want to go see Boards of Canada press 'play' and reproduce their album exactly, because they really don't need to be there for that to happen!" Snaith joked wryly.  "So definitely I've been trying to get a live show happening that has some sort of energy and is sort of halfway entertaining."

Finally becoming as well known at home as he is across the pond, the spring saw Manitoba headlining several dates of Exclaim magazine's 10th anniversary cross-Canada tour before he headed back to Europe for festival gigs this summer.

International success, hometown kudos and famous friends all add up to pretty heady times for the kid from Dundas, Ontario.  So perhaps it's fitting that when asked why on earth he's called 'Manitoba', his simple reply was:  "I'm just keeping it real."