Slow Death

Slow Death were a punk/hardcore band from Summerside, Prince Edward Island circa 1984. Arguably, they were the first straight edge band in Canada and certainly the first punk or hardcore band from PEI. They released one demo tape in 1985 and did a small amount of local touring, gaining some moderate attention at the time. I tracked down drummer Dale Hussey for a look back almost 30 years in the past.

Basic starter question – who was in the band and how did it all start? What year would this have been?

The band was my brother Dan on vocals, Jeff Tarka on guitar, Steve Ellis on bass and myself on drums. Jeff was a longtime military base-rat buddy of ours and he was pretty good on guitar and Dan was playing some guitar too and writing songs. One day Dan decided to buy some drums and put me to work and that was the beginning I guess…we met Steve at high school and hit it off. This would be say 1984 or 83…fuzzy.

Tell me about what was going on musically in PEI at the time…were there any other punk bands around?

We were in our own world musically for sure…I guess there were shit cover bands and stuff around as well as school bands but we were the only punk band around…hell if it wasn’t for our military base friends we were the only punks around.

In Kill The Posers #1 zine (included in the demo download!) you say you were a straight edge band. How did you even find out about straight edge in PEI? Were there any other straight edge bands in Canada that you knew of? Were you the first?? 

We were born of boredom and frustration with what was going on around us…the booze guzzling townfolk and jocks were just doing their thing and so were we, but they really didn’t dig what we were doing so we tried to separate ourselves from them as much as possible. We were aware of bands like Minor Threat etc. but it was more a personal choice thing than anything…clear your mind. I had my fair share of alcohol and experimental drugs at a very young age.

You also mentioned in that zine you hadn’t made up your mind about anarchy…how do you feel about it now? Haha 

Anarchy…hmmm well i’m not one to preach politics but i know when something is fucked. At the time, for myself, anarchy was more about being responsible for your actions and trusting people to make good decisions…didn’t always work out but i still try to live that way.

How important was the link between skateboarding and punk rock at this time?

Skateboarding was my link to punk rock and vise versa…no rules and no limits…just yourself. When I started skating I didn’t know what I was doing but it felt right…same with music.

You released a demo tape. Do you remember anything about recording it. Once it was done, how did you get it out to the masses? Any idea how many copies of it you made?

A guy named Jim Streight recorded the demo with us. He worked at the post office and had some gear…he had recorded bands before and seemed interested in doing something different…Steve and Dan made the connection and so we recorded it out at the military base in place called the teen club which was just a hang out for the underage crew on the base…I’m pretty sure it all went down in a day and live off the floor…I dont remember overdubs of any sort…we were just stoked to hear ourselves because we really had no idea what we sounded like. I think i had been playing drums for like a few weeks at this point…haha
Dan was our distributor…any band we knew of and all the mags at the time were sent a copy as well as any radio show we thought might pay a listen. We use to stay up late listening to Brave New Waves on CBC and catch some cool bands being played and one night there we were going out across the airwaves…it was a trip. I do remember one review from MRR comparing us to the Minutemen and that was crazy to me…I loved the Minutemen! I forget how many copies we made – I think 500 rings a bell but Dan would know for sure. My only copy was stolen at a party at my place one night…still trying to get my hands on an OG version.

Did you get to tour around much?

Shows were mainly our basement parties or at friends’ houses…we did play a show at University Of New Brunswick with a band from the Boston area called Cancerous Growth and some local bands that we came to be good friends with. Steve our bass player had to bail very last minute and one of the bass players from an opening band that had heard our tape filled in on the spot…that’s punk! We also played a show at Veith House in Halifax as a 3 piece with Dan playing guitar and singing…everything else was random…we did get a call to play a show in Montreal opening for the Circle Jerks but our guitar player at the time was bound for the military and he bailed…ah well.

I know you went on to many other bands like Rebecca West…what else have you and the other guys been up to?

Dan and I also had a band here in Halifax later called Merge along with Kevin Lewis and longtime base buddy Paul “The Wookie” Murray which led me to Rebecca West and now I still jam with The Art Department(AndyMiller/Peter Boileau).Dan had a 2pc. band called Sanisoft for sometime here in halfax after Merge parted ways. I believe Jeff went on to his military career and I kinda lost touch with Steve…perhaps he is on facecrack somewhere…he was super smart and way more political than the rest of us…who knows!

That about sums up my life in high school and the first year I lived in Halifax with Slow Death. Maybe a 30 year reunion gig at the bowl should go down…I wil keep you posted!!!

And of course the music (plus a show flyer and zine interview):

SLOW DEATH DEMO 1985

System Overload

System Overload were a hardcore/punk band from Halifax, NS during the mid to late 80′s. They were also the first punk band I ever saw live at a free outdoor show in downtown Halifax. As well, I got to see their last show in 1989. I recently got a hold of their singer John Vine for this brief interview that will hopefully give you a little peak into this under rated band that remains one of my local faves to this day!!

 

 

What years was the band around and who was in it?
System Overload was founded in Dartmouth, NS in the summer of 1984. Bjarni (Dave) Schandall and I founded the band (originally called Forced Submission) when we were in Ellenvale Junior High School. We were blown away by Black Flag, specifically the “Everything Went Black” record that had all the different Black Flag singers and all the ads for Flag shows in the early 80′s. That was a huge inspiration for us to form a band. The original lineup was Bjarni (drums), myself (screaming) and a guitarist named Billy Coulter. Billy’s two favourite bands at the time were Black Sabbath and the Forgotten Rebels, so he was in. Soon Johnny MacKenzie, formally of False Security, joined us on bass and System Overload was born. We played our first show at Veith House, a woman’s shelter in Halifax, during the winter of ’85/86. Unfortunately, after this gig, Billy and System Overload parted ways, but not long afterwards Leonard Woolley left STD and joined us. In 1987 Todd Calder joined SOL as a second guitarist to beef up the sound. This line up played together for several years. We played our last show in May 1989 at the Dalhousie SUB with a great Montreal band called Bliss.

Did you only have the one demo? I know there is a live set with songs not on the demo but were they ever recorded? Was there ever any talk of doing a 7″ or LP?
Yes, the only official recorded document of System Overload’s time together is the 1986 “Rocks Off” cassette. There is also a 1988 live recording of us playing at the CKDU TUNS festival. It’s actually a decent recording and it captures most of the songs that we had written at the time which would never have been recorded otherwise. No, we never seriously discussed recording or releasing records. We were a gigging live band throughout the 80′s, into playing shows and the tape trading scene, so records were not a big deal to us.

Did you tour much and if so where??
We did a fair amount of touring, playing all over Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. We had one (semi) serious tour that included NS, NB, Quebec and Ontario. Thankfully, we had the chance to play or tour with several great bands: Warzone (NYC), SCUM (Mtl), Problem Children (Hamilton), SNFU (Edmonton), Mallethead (ex-Gang Green, Boston), Neighbourhood Watch (Fredericton), Moral Support (Hfx), False Security (Hfx), Black Forest Cake Trade (Saint John), Killing Time/Burnt Offerings (Moncton) and many more.

Could you tell me about the show you played with Warzone! That is amazing!
We actually played a few shows with Warzone on their debut Canadian tour for “Don’t Forget the Struggle, Don’t Forget the Streets” in Aug./Sept. 1988 throughout Ontario and Quebec. Raybeez was very serious and supportive of what we were doing and was enthusiastic about us coming to NYC, which never happened. The rest of the guys in Warzone at that time were younger then Raybeez. They were having a blast being on the road. They were a riot! I remember they just tore it up at les Foufounes Electriques in Montreal, bloody great show.

What caused the band to end? What are the members doing now? I hear you are still doing music and have a band!
System Overload, like most bands, just ran its natural course. We were together for five years and accomplished everything we hoped to. By ’89 we were all older, listening to different music and moving in different directions. I do believe it’s important to recognize when something is over, although it can be difficult when all individuals involved are not on the same page. Thankfully that wasn’t the case with SOL. In the 90′s Johnny, Leonard and Todd had a great band called the Quahogs, with the late, great Scott Tappen singing. Bjarni became heavily involved in sailing after the band and has sailed all over the globe. I’ve been playing in bands across Canada for the last 20+ years, although I have slowed down over the last two years.

How would you compare the music scene back the to the way it is now?
This is a difficult question because technology has transformed everything. I think there are as many incredible bands out there today as there were back then. Networking is definitely easier for bands today. It’s still nice to see a band piling into a van to venture into the unknown to bring their music to the people. Thankfully that hasn’t changed over the last 25+ years.

 

And as usual…download this:

SYSTEM OVERLOAD DISCOGRAPHY

 

 

Neighbourhood Watch

Neighbourhood Watch were from Fredericton, New Brunswick and existed between 1985 and 1988. They released a 7″ EP called Death At The Hands Of Time on Real World Records based in Durham, UK. There were a few other bands with the same name, though these guys used the Canadian spelling of neighbour with the “U” in there. It was no small feat for a band from eastern Canada to have a record out during this time period. In fact I would say this is the first punk 7″ from this entire area. The following is an interview I did in Febuary 2011 with their vocalist Grant Forsythe. Enjoy! MP3′s at the end as usual!

Tell me about the start of the band. When was it and who was in the band? Why did you start it?
Ciaron Lewis and I had talked on and off about starting a band because really, there was fuckall else to do. Although there was a very early version involving Pat Oanicia (who went on to sing for S.C.U.M.) and Rich Ivey, we didn’t really come into our own until late ’85 when Ciaron brought Nick Oliver into the fold. For quite a while we had no bassist. In fact our first show, we had to bring in my room mate to fill in. Finally we settled on Rob Melvin for bass. That was pretty much the first solid line-up we had. It’s the line-up you hear on the 7″ EP and on the No Frontiers compilation EP. It was also the line-up that was on the first tour.
By the time we got back we were plagued with a line up that slowly kept changing. Other former members included:
Bill Brown, Tim Gorman, James Hamilton, Daren Greene, Steve Vienot, Johnny Whalen, Al Muir, Steve Duggan, and a few others who’s names I can’t remember at this time.

What was the scene in NB like at the time? Was there any sort of rivalry between fredericton and other cities in NB or with Halifax?
I know there was a difference of opinion with the SJ (Saint John, NB) crew, but a rivalry? Fuck no. The scenes were just too small to warrant that kind of foolishness. I don’t recall any rivalry with HFX either. The HFX kids were always awesome when we hit there. I think we were somewhat tight with System Overload and Shane from Early Warning Syndrome is still a pal of mine to this day.

Did you do much touring? Any cool show/tour stories?
We only did two tours which went up to Ontario and back and that was in the summers of ’86 and ’87. I think even some of the shittier gigs were cool. We, along with The Jellyfish Babies and Florida’s No Fraud totally got screwed by a promoter in Ottawa and he pretty much had to be threatened with a baseball bat to get any money from him, but it was a wicked fun show. Ironically it wasn’t until two years ago when I was drinking with Colleen that we realised that we were both on that same bill and didn’t know it! We made friends with some bands like Problem Children, SCUM, etc…
Cool tour stories? Not sure how cool, but some definitely memorable ones.
We were staying at a punk house in MTL and I forgot exactly what was so funny but I fell backwards into a door and it flew open and there was this guy with his lady friend and his bare ass up in the air for all of us and SUDDEN IMPACT to see. There was much hilarity. Some loon in HFX tried to convince us that the street we parked on outside the YWCA was his property.

How did you get hooked up Real World Records in the UK?
I ordered a copy of a zine called 10 Years On and mentioned in my letter I was in a band. He asked for a copy of our Coming Of Age demo for review. He liked it and interviewed us. Then told us he was starting a lable and would we be interested in releasing the demo on vinyl. Naturally we jumped at the chance.

What about Guilt Parade – were they an influence or were you around about the same time?
Guilt Parade and NW were both around at the same time and would share bills from time to time. I don’t think either band had an influence on the other to be honest. If you can find it, get their “Animals That Talk Like Men” demo. It’s hands down the best thing they ever did and a total barn burner! (Ian – Oh you can find it on this blog!! – http://howcantheyintendtoheal.wordpress.com/2010/12/26/guilt-parade/ )

When and why did the band break up?
I think our last show was in the summer of ’88. The band had gone through so many member changes that we spent more time teaching people the old songs than doing anything new. Nick was tired of doing it I think. Our last show resulted in a flooded building and some very pissed off people (I was channeling my inner Lee Ving that night.)
Other than Rob Melvin I still stay in contact with most of the former members.

Check out their Death At The Hands Of Time 7″ plus 2 live sets (Hamilton, ON 1986, Fredericton, NB 1988) and the song Time To Care off the No Frontiers comp 7″. The Coming Of Age demo is nowhere to be found just yet.
NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH MP3′s

The Chitz

The Chitz were a punk/hardcore band from Halifax, Nova Scotia and were around from 1994-1998. Drawing influence from a wide range of bands such as The Exploited, Agnostic Front and even Ramones-y pop punk, the band released an LP, split LP, 2 split 7″s and appeared on many compliations. They were considered one of the premier bands from Atlantic Canada at the time. As with most bands from that area, touring was difficult and they never received too much international exposure. Here is their story.

In the far off time of 1994, Derrick Hiltz and Mike Brygyder wanted to start a new band after the break up of their previous band The Shitheads. They enlisted the help of Cara Macdonald who had been in a band called Gorgonzola. They rounded up the lineup with Richard Lafortune who had never been in a band before but had done a zine and accompanying cassette compilation called Mass Turbulence. The band existed in this form for a year with Derrick on drums, Cara on vocals, Mike on bass and Richard on guitar. Richard was known for never having a D string on guitar which forced him to slide up and down the fretboard more the usual which you can hear on the recordings. Stubbornness can be seen as the main reason for this!

With this lineup, they recorded a 15 song demo tape which they self released. Playing mostly in Halifax, particularly at the new all ages venue, Cafe Ole. They started to gain popularity with their back to basics punk sound and strong female vocals. Then Mike quit the band to be replaced with Ian Hart who was also in a band called No Offense at the time.

After playing shows in Halifax with Submission Hold from Vancouver, they met Jason Flower (who was touring with Submission Hold) who did a record label. He liked what he heard and offered to do a split LP with The Chitz and a ska/punk band from Oregon called The Readymen. This split LP had re-recorded demo tracks on it, plus several new songs. Around the same time En Guarde records from Montreal agreed to put out a split 7″. Richard had worked with En Gaurde before in releasing a Shitheads/No Offense split 7″ (which is perhaps the first Nova Scotian punk 7″). This split would be with The Moaning Lisas – an all female band from Hampton, New Brunswick.

After having some vinyl releases under their belt the band expanded their touring to include other near by provinces such as New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. There was also the only “tour” they ever embarked on which was basically just Montreal and Toronto. There was also a show in Burlington, Ontario where the band played with suburban emo bands that were popular at the time. Needless to say, the band did not go over so well at that show. The other shows went much better. Also, around this time Ian moved out west and Louis Roberts filled in on bass. During this time, the band was featured as a cover story on local weekly mag The Coast.

They also put out an LP entitled Break The Cycle, this time on Richard’s own label Sub Profit. 11 songs that showcased their evolving sound with a little more hardcore influence to it. A better recording also helped this to be what many would say is their best work. After some memorable shows around Halifax, including the final show at Cafe Ole, the band decided to call it quits, but not before putting out a final 7″…this time a split with Halifax’s grind/crust band Existench. 3 songs, recorded on a 4 track were definitely the most intense and abrasive songs the band recorded. The Chitz “last” show was in May of 1998 and was quite an event for the local scene.

It took a few years but in 2001 the band played a reunion…basically at the request of their friend Meghan who was moving away. They actually wrote 2 new songs for this show but alas they were never recorded (except on the video of the show). Richard did not play this show as he pretty much quit playing guitar after the last show in 1998, so Ian switched over to guitar and Louie played bass. And then nothing for 10 years. But on May 21st, 2011…yet another reunion show in Halifax, this time with friend Greg Hatt on bass. So with that in mind check out their entire discography:

Demo – Feb. 94
Split 7″ with Moaning Lisas – Oct. 95
Split LP with The Readymen – Oct. 95
Break The Cycle LP – March 97
Split 7″ w/ Existench – sept. 98

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?zbvdst6k6lufhp6

http://www.myspace.com/thechitz
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Chitz/156379871087468

The Asexuals

The Asexuals were a Montreal punk band that started in 1983. They went on to release several records but due to personal bias were are just going to talk about their good stuff. The original line up was John Kaster, Sean Friesen, T.J. Collins and Paul Remington. They released an EP entitled Featuring: The Asexuals in 1984. The next year they put out what most would say is their best record – Be What You Want – on Pysche Industries (originally on First Strike Records who didn’t what to repress it). Later in 1985 they released another LP called Contemporary World. They toured extensively in support of this record inclusing many shows in the US. After that, John Kaster quit and formed The Doughboys. And that’s where we are gonna leave it because even though the band went on the release several more records, they were not very good.

So let’s go back and talk about the Be What You Want LP. Much of my early experience with punk was hearing this record on the local college station so it has been one of my favorites ever since. I did get to see the band in the early 90′s, far passed their prime and it was quite disappointing. The only time the crowd reacted was when they played the title track off Be What You Want. One other interesting note about this LP was that the title track extolled the virtues of “being what you want” yet in other songs there would be lyrics like “fuck all you longhairs”. Kinda of funny. And the band went on to have long hair of course.

Anyway, the main reason for this post was that the band will be playing a reunion show in Toronto, March 4th & 5th @ The Bovine Sex Club. All original members and just playing Be What You Want. Needless to say, I am excited! Check out some mp3′s and if you like what you hear…check out the show!

Asexuals EP, Be What You Want & Contemporary World mp3s

Asexuals Myspace Page

Guilt Parade

Guilt Parade were a punk hardcore band from Fredericton, New Brunswick from the mid 80′s. They self released 2 demo tapes and then moved to Toronto where they put out an LP on Fringe Records. An often overlooked band when it comes to Canadian punk history, but never the less an important one which still has influence today. The following is a recent (Nov 2010) interview I conducted with Jeff Beardall – the main songwriter and vocalist for the band. As he stated to me…this looking back 25 years so some of the details may be a bit fuzzy. Complete discography at the end! Enjoy!

Can you talk about how the band started and what the scene in Fredericton, NB was like then. What year would this have been?
What was the lineup for the band at the start and how did that evolve over time?

Jeff: The year would have been roughly 85-86. There was not much of a scene in Fredericton at the time, though there were quite a number of artists and musicians and the city had a pretty rich artistic community, but not much at all in the way of punk bands or live original music at all – it was all cover bands – top 40 crap and the like. The University did have a college FM radio station and that became a focal point for Rich and myself. We had a show on-air called the Journey Through a Body show (named after a Throbbing Gristle album). Oddly, I was not a fan of hardcore at first. We hung out with some punks who were listening to stuff like Suicidal Tendencies, Metallica and I really didn’t dig the somewhat brainless lyrics of those bands – ha! We were Dead Kennedys fans at the time, but I didn’t really consider them to be hardcore. I remember though, buying a BGK album around that time just on a whim (Jonestown Aloha) and totally loving it. Then Minor Threat and “Boom!”, I was hooked on the energy and the scene.

The line up at the start was myself on guitars and most vocals, Richard Bird on bass and some vocals and Todd Merril on drums. I had played with Rich in a punk rock cover band that played a few shows in Fredericton…stuff like The Damned, Sex Pistols, PIL, etc.. after that band broke up Rich and I decided to try playing original songs and that’s when we started The Beach Psychos. That band had Rich on vocals, myself on guitar, and a local rhythm section. Basically the drummer and bass player hated the music and Rich and I really felt limited working with them so we ditched that band and decided to try something new. Todd had been the guitarist in a St Stephen, New Brunswick band called The Lads…they did covers of post-punk stuff (Joy Division) along with some originals. Rich was great…he was a truly committed indie music lover and had hundreds of obscure records. Though we played punk rock covers and had started a hardcore punk band called The Beach Psychos, we listened to all sorts of stuff…obviously The Birthday Party was a huge influence (The Guilt Parade is one of their songs), we loved anything that was fucked up, challenging and loud.

I will say however that our world sort of changed when the Life Sentence 12″ single by The Dead Kennedys came out…the A side was cool but the B side was Hallowe’en…when we heard that we knew something really powerful was happening…when Plastic Surgery Disasters came out…that was it…that album reset a lot of my thinking…suddenly we had a loud, dark, sinister, political, highly intelligent album to listen to that also had a wicked sense of humour…it remains one of my favourite albums of all time. That really changed my musical direction and it wasn’t long after that that we decided to start a real hardcore punk band that did original music. We were hanging out with Todd at UNB so we asked him to drum for us…he wasn’t really a drummer, but by that time we had been through playing with non-committed musicians in The Beach Psychos and none of them had been able or willing to keep up with the speed and none of them were really committed to being in a real band with ambitions to record and tour. So the three of us got together and played some hardcore and punk covers to get the juices flowing and then rich and i started writing original songs…that came pretty quickly..I’d say in a few months we had enough songs to record the first tape – An Irrational Fear Of Clowns. The first songs were certainly influenced, if not in sound certainly in vibe, by bands like Minor Threat, 7 Seconds, BGK…

After we got to Toronto we lost Todd, went through another drummer, Mike and then hooked up with Chris Lee. Rich left for Montreal and we got Brad to play bass, Brad went to BC and we got Steve on bass, then we finally found Jim Field who stuck with us for some time on bass. Near the very end we had Dallas Good on second guitar and the Brent Ruddy on bass. Then the band ended.

How were your first 2 demos received? Was there any backlash from Americans about the the song Let’s Be Honest (the lyrics say America sucks a lot)? did you ever release anything else besides the 2 demos and LP? i know you were on a few compilations.

It was always a surprise to find out that other people actually enjoyed the music we were creating. I remember being very encouraged by Tim Yohannon’s review of the first tape, An Irrational Fear of Clowns. When the really positive review came from MRR for the second tape, I knew we had something going on that could probably get pretty popular. That review gave me a lot of confidence to head to Toronto and try our luck. As far as back lash goes, I don’t think most of the people in the states who would have bought our tape would really have been too angry about our comments. I do remember one young kid from California who I had corresponded with having some negative comments about the song but I also remember that he had mentioned in the same letter how happy he was that America had ‘kicked Libya’s ass’ when they bombed Tripoli and Benghazi, so I didn’t really worry about his opinion that much. Later when we toured with MDC and Forced Anger through the States there were a couple of ‘close calls’ mostly with national front style Americans, but we never got into a fight once.

We never released anything beyond those 3 recordings. We were on the It Came From Canada comps and a few others and probably a few I never knew about! We did record some other demos for a second album. Some of which were pretty good, but we basically ran out of energy and motivation and Fringe was not that interested – they were a strange bunch, but I’m thankful for the help they gave us for the Coprophobia LP.

Did you tour much around the Maritimes? Ever make it to Halifax and if so who did you play with there? What about elsewhere in Canada or even the States?

We did a little touring of the Maritimes when we we were based in Fredericton. This would have been the first version of the band – myself, Todd Merril on drums and Richard Bird on bass…the same line-up that did the first two tapes that were reviewed in MRR. I think we went to Halifax twice but the one time I can remember for sure was with The Nils. We had put on a show with the Nils in Fredericton and we played with them there. Then we were able to book a show in Halifax with The Nils, The Jellyfishbabies and us. I’ve talked to Chris Murphy from Sloan about this show and he says that this was the show that convinced him that he could start a band. The Nils were great…Eloit Bertholet from The Dub Rifles was still drumming for them..this was before they got Jean Lortie. Their Sell Out Young EP had just come out and we loved them so it was a great privilege to play with them. Touring was really tough at that point…we were totally green and we were just not prepared for it. I remember our van was just an abominable piece of shit…it was really acting funny on the way back and when a mechanic looked at it, he said we’d been running on 5 out of 8 cylinders. He may have been lying, but it’s entirely possible…it’s a miracle more bands don’t die while touring in beat up old vans. So that was the extent of touring for that line up. After we moved to Toronto and the band reconfigured as myself, Chris Lee and Brad…that was when the touring began. We put out the Coprophobia record and then toured across Canada…first out to Fredericton then back out to BC…there are some crazy stories from that tour…you only tour across Canada for the first time once and it really was a fantastic experience…it was totally diy…i remember welding the rust holes in the tour van before we left…building the equipment bunker/loft in the back of the van…learning how to clean the carburetor…all that fun stuff that indie bands do. we had great response across Canada…pretty well everywhere…the Sault, Winnipeg, Calgary, Kelowna…lots of great shows and great times.

Let’s talk about Ode To An Asshole…probably the first song i heard by you guys. Whats the story behind that song? hahah

Well we were in New Brunswick which is a bit of redneck enclave – there was always a bit of friction between the punks, freaks and the rednecks. We used to call them Grebs, after the tan work boots they all wore. I didn’t get hassled too much by them but I knew people who did. So we thought we’d write a humorous song about an absolute caricature of one of these rednecks. Around that time, we opened for Deja Voodoo at a gig at the University of New Brunswick and I can remember Gerard Van Herk running up to us after our set and saying ‘you guys are really, really good and you should come to Montreal to play and maybe send a song to be on one of our compilations’. That really took me by surprise because we had existed in this absolute vacuum of acceptance in Fredericton and really didn’t know if we were good enough to tour to the bigger cities like Montreal, but Gerard made it seem like it might work out. I don’t think we ever got to Montreal at that stage but we did get that song on It Came From Canada Vol 2, which really was a great step for the band. We also put a song on Vol. 3 but for some reason we gave them one of our weaker songs. I think we were told not to give away our best stuff by someone whose opinion we trusted. I can’t really remember. In any case, Ode was a song that was easy to like and helped open some doors for us so I’m grateful for Gerard’s early encouragement.

Why the move to Toronto? Did the whole band make the move? How did you get hooked up with Fringe with the release of the LP?

Rich had decided to go to York University and I was fairly fed up with the insular and conservative nature of Fredericton so I figured, what the hell, I should go to Toronto also. Our drummer Todd went up as well but things soured pretty quickly with him. He was more interested in being in a Joy Division style band and he was a bit challenging to deal with in general. We ended up hooking up with Mike, the drummer from Todd’s old band, and he played with us for a while. That eventually didn’t work out. He was an ok drummer but he didn’t have the chops to really play the sort of technical hardcore we wanted to pursue. He left the band and Rich and I even thought about using a drum machine. At the time I was sleeping on the floor of Rich’s York U apartment. I did that for quite a few months. I still remember how hard that floor was. Anyway we somehow found out about this drummer Chris Lee who had played with Groupoem and a couple of other Toronto punk bands so we met with him, gave him a tape and he was interested and away we went!
I’m a little fuzzy on the Fringe hook up…somehow we got out demo tape into the hands of Brian Taylor from Youth Youth Youth. He worked at the Record Peddler, which was owned by the same gang that ran Fringe. Brian was really enthusiastic about the demo and basically convinced Ben and Angus, the owner and manager of Fringe to sign us. I still remember going down to the old Fringe office on Brant Street to sign the contract. At the end of the day, Fringe didn’t really provide much for the band beyond pressing and distributing the record..no real tour support at all, but they were one of Canada’s biggest punk labels and distributors and being on Fringe really opened doors for us as far as touring.

When did the band break up and what lead to that?

All bands that have significant energy behind them eventually end up at a point where the tensions of being in a band can tear the band apart. It’s just human nature. Some bands survive and some bands don’t. Guilt Parade didn’t. We’d been through a lot – one of our bass players had died – we didn’t find out until well after it happened. He had played on one song on the album. We found being in Canada frustrating after touring through the States and seeing really awful bands with tons of tour support. I think a lot of the problem was finding another bass player who had some chops and was able to provide musical input. It never really happened. Also Fringe wasn’t interested in putting out any of the new material. I just ran out of steam. It takes a huge amount of energy to keep a band propelling forward and I just couldn’t muster it anymore. The scene was also changing a lot….bands like Soundgarden and Sonic Youth were starting to arrive and the whole idea of continuing to play what we played seemed a little stagnant. Chris Lee left town sometime in the very early 90s. I took some time off from playing and then started The Satanatras with Dallas Good who was in Guilt Parade briefly near the end which is another story completely!

The band Propagandhi lists you as one of their influences…how does it feel to have one of today’s major punk bands say this? do you still keep up with the punk/hardcore scene today? What is everyone else in the band up to now?

It’s a great honour to be recognized for our music by them. I have a lot of respect for Propagandhi. They are doing what I wish I could have with Guilt Parade. I don’t keep up so much with the hardcore/punk scene today but I never really did even when Guilt Parade was going on. We used to listen to the more ‘challenging’ music of the day whether it was punk or not. I did really enjoy a lot of the 80s punk though, Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys, The Crucifucks, The Freeze, Seven Seconds, BGK, The Descendents… anything that was well written and well played whether political or not. I have always liked when people are motivated to please themselves and not some big machine and that continues to this day.

The main folks in the band I have very rare Facebook correspondence with. Chris Lee, who I was pretty close to, moved to BC with his wonderful partner Laura and have a couple of kids. He works in the movie industry out there and is doing well. He is not playing anymore, which is a shame…he had the greatest kick foot of anyone I’ve ever heard. Rich is in Montreal and lives an apparently shadowy existence. I haven’t really spoken to him in years. Todd is in Florida and working as a nurse, I think. Brad (who toured the album with us on the first tour on bass) is most likely in BC. I saw him years ago when the Satanatras toured out that way. He was supposed to be in wheelchair from arthritis by the time he was 30 and he was touring with us when he was that age and looked great when I saw him. Steve, who played on one song on the album, died when the van he was living in, which was propane powered, blew up. Jim Field who played for a long time on bass and toured North America with us is still playing as far as I know and in Toronto. Me, I have two kids and a busy job in media production and I have not had time to play for some time though my wife, who is a singer songwriter, might cajole me out of my complacence. All in all we had a good time and got to leverage some fast little tunes into the great experience of touring across North America. Honestly, some days I think the best thing about the band was being able to tour. I know it gets tedious after a while. I have friends who had major international bands and the novelty wears off pretty fast. Nothing, I mean nothing, beats the experience of touring across Canada the first time in a shitty van with a few good friends and playing for new friends in new places. I’m glad we had a chance to do it and leave some kind of minimal legacy behind.

The Guilt Parade discography

The Fullblast

Oakville had so many good bands, and The Fullblast is one of the few punk rock bands that I really like even if I’m not fan of the genre. Maybe it’s for the simple fact that Gordie Ball was in it. Their first release was the pretty obscure “The Movie Kisses” demo ep they self-released in 2000. Their first album “Punk Technology” was also self-released and featured a really mind blowing beautiful artwork. You’d have to see it to believe it. Their last self-released material was the “Constructing Fidelity” ep in 2002. By this time the word was out about these guys and they were playing all over. Gordie Ball left sometime in 2002 and was replaced by Darran Malcolm. The vocalist, Ian Stager founded his own label, Blackbox Recordings, and they released their following effort “Contagious Movement Theory” as the label’s first output. These guys then toured with all the big bands, Boys Night Out, Alexisonfire, Rise Against, etc. Their last album “Short Controlled Bursts” would be released on Dine Alone Records, and would prove to be their most accessible material.

The Fullblast on Myspace
The Fullblast Discography Pt. 1
The Fullblast Discography Pt. 2