Canucks have it tough sometimes. Never mind the burgeoning independence movement of those pesky Québécois, or the occasional spate of mind-numbing cold. No, the biggest irritant for inhabitants of the Great White North is surely how frequently they are mistaken for Americans. The ignominy of being the New Zealand to the USA's Australia aside, Canadians make a really good fist of differentiating themselves culturally from their bulkier neighbours. Musically, the emergence of a stunning and unique indie music scene, marked by strong traditions of orchestral and post-rock themes, has seen bands like Arcade Fire flourish not only in North American markets, but globally.

The puzzle of Born Ruffians then, is a captivating one. They are a band of native Ontarians signed to a seminal English music label who trade in the staples of American indie rock; they are, in the words of bandleader Luke LaLonde, "frequently assumed to be American". I ask LaLonde whether he and his two bandmates make a conscious effort then to include distinctly Canadian motifs and influences within their music, and the importance they place on them. "No. I don't think so. Often when people come to our shows or simply haven't heard much about us, they usually guess that we're American or English actually. We also get a lot of fans who are just fans of Canadian music in general, which I always found sort of strange. By that I guess they're just fans of Arcade Fire and big indie bands that have come out of Canada in past years, and they're fans of us because we're Canadian."

LaLonde continues on, now specifically referring to the identity of his own band. "I don't think my lyrics are really that geographically relevant. Some people write tied to a particular place, but I've never done that; it's more personal feelings. More stuff that happens to me, which I integrate into the lyrics. To be honest, the majority of my influences are American music too – I guess lyrically and musically the feeling of American music definitely works with my own influences. The main one beyond that would probably be English music."

Of course, it's a peculiar type of demand to suggest that all bands should reflect traits of their homeland, but it is surprising how little importance LaLonde places on those signifiers of identity, particularly in a marketplace where each band is seeking whatever advantage they can to emphasise their originality. But the truth is, Born Ruffians don't really show the traits now expected of 'Canadian indie'. Due to the influences they have absorbed and subject matter they choose to write about, Born Ruffians are, conceptually and musically, a very American Canadian band. They have rejected the defining characteristics of what is now a distinct sub-genre – their guitar rock is indebted much more to first-generation American indie than the orchestral themes of the big Canadian groups. Perhaps it provides one reason they get mistaken for American.

Born Ruffians are, as mentioned before, signed to an English label. The label is Warp Records, home to some of the most inspiring and left-field electronic music of recent past, produced by artists such as Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada, as well as atypical rock bands such as Battles and Grizzly Bear. On whether he felt any unease about whether a label like Warp could service the needs of an emerging rock band (Born Ruffians have been signed since before their 2006 debut EP), LaLonde offers, "I think when we first signed, I didn't know enough about Warp to have a real idea of what they were going to do... now it's something that I'm very aware of and try and have more knowledge of the label, and for the next record even more so. Back then, I just wasn't really aware, you know? I didn't really know that much about electronic music, and Warp weren't really on my radar. Since then, I've come to know and love much of their back catalogue, and maybe now I'd be a little more intimidated if I were to have signed to Warp. I probably would realise the weight a little more, but being young and stupid probably helped block a lot of those things off."

No longer sheltered by the ignorance of youth, LaLonde and the other Born Ruffians have even covered Warp pin-up Aphex Twin for a recent compilation, perhaps a bizarre choice given the latter's predilection for synthetic instrumentation and avant-garde production techniques. "It's funny you should bring that up. I've been trying to figure out what's recently gotten me into a lot more electronic music. I think it's just the usual; I'll be at a friend's, and they'll put something [electronic] on, and I'll be like, 'Whoa, I really like this, what is this?'. Then I search out a lot more electronic music; and that process of deepening my knowledge of electronic music has been happening for about a year now." Does this mean he would consider incorporating more electronic influences into future Born Ruffians releases? "I don't see ourselves putting out a straight-up electronic record, but incorporating those elements is something I could definitely see ourselves doing, whereas 3 or 4 years ago I definitely wouldn't have; I would have joked about it. I wouldn't now shy away from releasing something and having people hear it and go, 'Oh, I didn't know this was Born Ruffians.'"

Another element that Born Ruffians have softened on and would be more willing to include in future releases is greater collaboration. LaLonde did a guest vocal for the closing track on fellow Canuck Caribou's 2010 opus, Swim. Daniel Snaith, a mathematics PhD who isn't signed to Warp, but sounds as though he could be, toured extensively with Born Ruffians in early 2010. "We did a full UK tour, and an American tour, and so kind of became friends over that time. Dan was trying to work on that song ['Jamelia'] and he was singing it over and over, and he finally decided he was too frustrated with trying it himself, and he thought of me, which I was very flattered by, and he emailed me and asked if I wanted to help out. I couldn't have said 'yes' faster." On the inclusion of more collaboration on Born Ruffians albums, and whether it is consistent with what is planned for the band: "Yeah. Very, very much so. I think that that collaboration sort of sparked an interest in reaching out to other artists – it showed me, all you have to do is ask. All Dan did was shoot me an email and was like, 'Hey, you wanna do this?', so it was really low-key. It got me thinking, 'Well, who else? I respect a lot of musicians that are friends of mine. Within my band, we work on songs together, but the other guys don't take songs home with them and they don't work music at home. And just that alone makes me want to reach out to other musicians who are working on music all the time."

It seems that there was more going on than perhaps meets the eye. A band often dismissed as overly nondescript are actually honest, thoughtful, and totally committed to learning their craft and taking on board advice that will help them improve. LaLonde demonstrates a refreshing open-mindedness when it comes to his music. Kudos to him and the rest of the band.