Bran Van 3000 (also known as BV3) is a Canadian alternative rock and hip hop collective from Montreal, Quebec. Founded by James Di Salvio and E.P. Bergen, they collaborated on a number of songs with Stéphane Moraille, Sara Johnston, Steve "Liquid" Hawley, Jayne Hill, Jean Leloup, Kim Bingham, Pierre-Luc Cerat and many other musicians. The name of the group is derived etymologically from Swedish liquor Brännvin, a general term referring to any type of distilled spirit. The name originated as a joke associated with the taupe-coloured Volkswagen Camper Van owned by Bergen in the mid-1990s which was said to run solely on bran flakes, brännvin and brand recognition when carrying the artists on tour around Canada. Between 1996 and 2016, Bran Van 3000 was among the Top 150 selling Canadian artists in Canada. History - 1994–1996: Formation In 1994, James Di Salvio had received a royalty cheque for work on a remix he had done on a track for Quebec songwriter Jean Leloup, and invited his friend E.P. Bergen to "come help him spend the money" in New York. Di Salvio was a video director and asked E.P. to teach him how to produce tracks with a sampler and turntables; in the process, they created Bran Van 3000. E.P. returned to Montreal and co-wrote/produced a single with Leloup called "Johnny Go"; E.P. invited James to record his first ever rap on that song. It later went to number one on the Quebec charts. Di Salvio also directed the music video. James and E.P. went back to New York to record "Forest" and "Ma Chambre" for Leloup's album Le Dôme. These tracks were very successful (the album went platinum); for BV3, this led to a record deal with Audiogram Records. Together with Haig V, they co-produced the first BV3 album, for which Leloup donated the song "Forest". Bergen started a cover of "Come On Feel The Noise" with plans to have Sara Johnston sing on it, but Di Salvio discovered Steve "Liquid" Hawley. In 1996, when the album was almost finished, James and E.P. sent a demo of the songs "Drinking In LA", "Couch Surfer" and "Everywhere" to the Canadian Music Week contest. Bran Van 3000 tied for first place with Jack Rustle, but was disqualified because there was no real band to perform the showcase. They finished the album and put together a touring band that included Gary Mackenzie, Nick