In our 2007 and 2008 Best of Vancouver Bands extravaganzas, Dan Mangan seemed to end up name-checked as the guy that every second musician in the city wanted to sleep with. This year, the 26-year-old singer-songwriter managed to make himself an even hotter commodity. Thanks to his sophomore disc, Nice, Nice, Very Nice and the radio hit “Robots”, Mangan is officially the Vancouver indie scene’s current It Boy.

Best local release other than yours
“Veda Hille’s This Riot Life. It shows that, 12 records deep, she refuses to lose her weirdness and awesomeness.”

Most mind-blowing concert of the year
“Fond of Tigers at the Biltmore [July 2] for the jazz festival. They had this Swedish phenom sax player with them—Mats something [Mats Gustafsson]—and they were just insane. I spent the whole concert right up front  geeking out, watching their feet as they tap-danced on their pedals. I walked away feeling incredibly inadequate.”

We just found Bruce Allen’s platinum card. Where are we eating?
“I’d take us to the Raincity Grill [1193 Denman Street] down in the West End. Every time I go there I have some cheap, early bird special. I’d like to go at regular dining hours. I’ve never had anything bad on their menu, but I think the best salmon I ever had in my life came from the Raincity Grill”

With apologies to Katy Perry, who would you like to wake up in Vegas with?
“Either Ben [Worcester] or Tyler [Bancroft] from Said the Whale. They both bring the sexiness in different ways. Ben’s more scruffy, Tyler’s more capable of Teen Beat covers.”

We’re going to a desert island. What record are you bringing?
“I’m gonna go with [Radiohead’s] OK Computer. I think it’s probably the most innovative—well, not innovative because there are a lot of jazz records out there—but possibly the most culturally important record recorded since I’ve been born.”

The city has given you a blank cheque. Where are we opening a live-music venue?
“I was thinking that old mansion on Davie where the Macaroni Grill [1523 Davie Street] used to be would be a pretty killer spot to make a multi-tiered venue. You could do rock shows in the basement and a concert hall up top or something like that. That would be pretty neat. It’s all boarded up right now and looks incredibly mysterious.”