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In the basement of a large share house, three women are using their downtime during the pandemic to fulfil a dream.
Fucking Carnage is a Canadian punk band that reflects the times in which it was born: an absolute shit show.
Throughout the tumultuous two-week project, friendships have been tested, a menacing fourth housemate has gotten in the way, and Canadian punk rock has faced its moment of truth.
Kate Sutherland and Jess Shane became fast friends when they moved to study in New York City.
But as coronavirus began to grip the city, they decided to retreat home to Toronto.
Reluctant to move back in immediately with older family members, they found refuge in a share house known as ‘The Galley’ and still occupied by a mutual friend: Kristi White.
Their two-week quarantine together began with a kick, a thud and a crash.
Kate found a drum kit in the basement.
“Kate just started banging on some shit,” says Jess.
Kate had always wanted to be in a punk band.
Also, she was really bored.
With little or no experience, Kristi picked up a bass and Jess hopped on the guitar.
‘Organic’ is an understatement.
The band chemistry was potent from the start; for Kate, “It was honestly instant”.
That night they gave collective birth to their debut song: Quarantine.
It was low-hanging thematic fruit, yes. But you can’t blame them.
“That’s what we were thinking about. It was kind of funny and cathartic,” says Kristi.
After breakfast the next day, Kate called everyone into the basement to practice.
Jess was caught by surprise. Then it dawned on her: she was in a band now.
“Even though I’m resentful of the concept of practicing, it does give me a sense of authenticity because I’m like, ‘the music business is hard’, you know?” she says.
What started as a jam session to pass time in quarantine quickly became their lifeline.
“It became a really important, intentional thing every day,” says bass player, Kristi.
“A structure in the day and a thing we had to do because none of us are working.”
They needed one more thing to make it official: a name.
But before they could finish laying out paper and pens to brainstorm, Kate blurted out, “How about Fucking Carnage?”
It was instinctual. It was punk. It was their new band name.
“A one-suggestion brain storm,” Jess says, adding, “My Mum really didn’t like the name, she thought it was very inapparopriate. But I was like, ‘Mum, suck it!’.
Their sophomore song, Boundaries was also the product of an improvised jam session.
“Boundaries is about the two-metre minimum and staying away [from each other]. But it’s also about, space for your mental health,” explains Kate, who cites Mary Poppins as a critical musical influence.
Instead of researching punk, the band spent a lot of time imagining what the punk aesthetic might be.
Their hard work can be seen in the film clip for Boundaries, which shows Kristi sitting in front of a spray-painted sign wearing an ushanka hat.
‘Viral’ is a problematic word at the moment, and with only 330 views, it wouldn’t accurately describe the clip anyway.
Saying that, some fans (read: friends and family) did respond with comments like, “This song SLAPS!” and, “This is verrrrrrrrrrrrrrry good”.
“It’s not about how many fans you have,” says Jess.
“It’s just that you have some committed fans”.
After the success of Boundaries, the band were forced to make a decision: Play it safe and stick with pandemic-themed songs, or branch out, explore new ideas, and risk alienating original fans.
They rolled the dice.
The result was a brand new look and a song that didn’t sound exactly the same as the previous two.
They wanted to make a high-concept menstruation song.
Alpha Bleeder was based on lived experience.
“The bleeder who everyone’s menstrual cycles synch up to is the ‘Alpha bleeder’,” Kate says.
For every ‘The Beatles’ there is a ‘Yoko Ono’.
Fucking Carnage had Jesse Corrigan.
Jesse Corrigan is a local area music player, well-known in Toronto’s open-mic scene. Inconveniently, he’s also the fourth housemate at The Galley.
When he wasn’t the fly in the ointment, he was lending the band instruments, teaching the band how to play those instruments, managing the band, photographing the band, and helping write and produce all of the music.
“He was just so wonderful,” says Jess, “Truly, he made himself vulnerable and present.”
Kate describes him as a ‘Band Dad’.
“Sweet, gentle, talented man… incredibly supportive,” she says.
The only problem was that he was wildly unqualified.
“In terms of music, yeah, I play a lot of bluegrass and folk music. Very little experience with punk music or any rock,” says Jesse Corrigan.
“I’m supporting them and I’m trying not to direct them too much. And you know, I can’t say that I’m perfect at it. I try.”
Despite his clear intentions to take control, Kate maintains Jesse Corrigan could never be in the band.
“I think it was pretty clear early on that we were going to be an all-female punk band.”
But it wasn’t just that.
Kate says their vision embodied authenticity and Jesse didn’t have ‘it’.
“We were not going to be exceptionally good at our instruments, and Jesse was going to blow all of those things,” she says.
But Jesse still found a way to stuff things up.
For their fourth and final release, Bang Trim, Fucking Carnage pushed the creative rope back even further.
Through a song “literally about trimming your bangs”, the band began to realise that punk is an attitude.
They traded their rock instruments for ones they’d long held; Jess on banjo, Kate on violin and Kristi on double bass.
It was a reinvention in style as well. Out of their white ensembles emerged a more casual, Canadian look.
But irritation loomed large.
Maybe it was the stress of a global pandemic; maybe it was a lack of vocal range.
Either way, tension was building and certain members weren’t impressed with the new direction.
“I didn’t want to do it at that point, but… but we had to because it was a goal, it was a commitment that we made,” says Kristi, adding that she wasn’t interested in the new acoustic sound either.
“It was like a weird attempt at an old time or bluegrass tune or something?”
“We were in such a bad mood,” says Jess.
“I was so moody. I really want to go outside. Jesse was having an anxiety breakdown about coronavirus, and so we were all kind of hating each other.”
Jesse was speechless when cornered about the folk and bluegrass influence, which had suddenly appeared.
Even though emotions reached boiling point, the band continued, recording Bang Trim in one take in their kitchen.
With over 200 views, the film clip is one of their most-watched.
Not long after recording Bang Trim — as fast as it began — the two-week quarantine was over.
Jess and Kate left the house.
Nobody’s sure when, or if, the band will reunite.
Although the band would like the chance to get together again, they’re content with what they achieved.
“For me, it’s been a great lesson, that it’s never too late to pursue a dream like being in a drummer in an all-female punk band,” says Kate.
“I think it was a really cool thing to do by accident. It would not have worked if we had done it on purpose, it also wouldn’t have worked if we weren’t living together, or if we had anything else to do,” Kristi reflects.
For Jess, the band served as a middle finger to coronavirus.
“A lot of people around me are in a lot of pain right now, but I think it felt really good to just, go do something really stupid and loud that was designed to give ourselves a good time and make our friends laugh.”
Produced and mixed by Mike Williams [Mike’s a documentary and podcast producer. Subscribe to his podcast for more stories]
Illustrations and band logo by Ashley Ronning. [Ashley is a Melbourne-based illustrator and artist. Visit her website or see her art on instagram]
Thanks to:
Farz Edraki for subbing the article
I recommend the podcast Radio National Fictions
Team Carnage: Kate, Kristi, Jess and especially, Jesse Corrigan
Mike: The history of punk rock has many beginnings, depending on who you ask. One thing is clear, though. Punk is a reaction, punks of backlash against bureaucracy, a push back against pretension. Punk is a middle finger to the monarchy, especially Prince George. Canadians, a mostly well-mannered and canoe-bearing people are not known for punk rock. And it’s something they’ve often apologised for, until now. In a large share house in Parkdale, Toronto, three women have started a punk band. There’s Jess
Kate: OK, umm Jess has umm, no tact
Kristi: no tact whatsoever, which she is aware of.
Jess: I don’t know what people think of me.
Mike: Kristi
Kate: Kristi is the matriarch of Galley
Jess: She makes puppets for a living
Kate: very nurturing
Mike: and Kate
Jess: Kate is a tree planter. So, I think Kate has some punk vibes within her.
Kristi: Kate is very serious. She definitely takes the band very seriously and the drums very seriously, which is great.
Mike: Okay, and how long have you been playing drums for?
Kate: about three weeks.
Mike: Throughout the project, friendships would be tested.
Kristi: If there’s going to be a band in my house, I want to be part of it.
Mike: There’d be regret.
Jess: There’s definitely some just, like quote ‘jamming’, but it doesn’t even sound punk
Mike: betrayal
Kate: That’s such a painful place for us all to go, to even think about right now…
Mike: and behind it all forces within
Jess: Oh, we’re nothing without him
Mike: pulling strings
Jess: emotionally he’s not. He doesn’t really share himself all the time
Mike: ripping relationships apart from the inside out.
Mike: Did you ever resent them for that?
Kristi: No. Well, hmm….
Mike: This is the true story of Fucking Carnage
Archive of Canadian President talking about coronavirus
Kate: The band started when Jess, Kristi and I found ourselves in isolation during the quarantine in Toronto
Jess: Kate and I fled New York because of Coronavirus to Kristi’s house
Kate: There was a drum kit in the basement.
Kristi: Kate was kind of just bored in our house, and
Kate: and I decided that I wanted to learn a bit of drums
Jess: and Kate started just like banging on some shit
Kate: And then Kristi picked up a bass
Kristi: You could just like play one note and then it just reverberates forever and that sounds cool even if that’s all you do
Kate: Jess hopped on the guitar
Jess: I am the lead guitar, slash only guitar
Kate: and we just started jamming
Mike: How soon into it that night did you realise, ‘hey we could have something here’?
Kate: It was honestly… it was instant.
Jess: The band was just born
Kristi: I was like, ‘Okay, great!’
Mike: Nobody knew that night how punk would change the next two weeks of their lives. What started as a jam session to pass time in quarantine became the lifeline for three Canadian women.
Kristi: It didn’t feel like an intentional thing when it happened. And then it became a really important intentional thing every day, a structure in the day and like a thing we had to do because you know, none of us are working. I think also the fact that it we were like beholding ourselves to each other by it being something that we were all doing because it was everybody in the house. At that point, it was just the four of us.
Mike: It’s inconvenient that to make rent a fourth person lived in the house. By default, Jesse Corrigan became the fourth, unofficial band member.
Jess: Like I think we all love each other a lot.
Mike: And Jesse?
Jess: umm, look, I don’t know if he actually likes us that much.
Kate: Jessie, who’s our kind of band manager… ‘band dad’, he’s the kind of man behind some of the music
Mike: It was clear from the start this self styled musical Daddy figure was happy to throw his weight around.
Jess: Jesse came down and was like, ‘Oh yeah, Kristi, take this, here’s an amp…’
Kristi: I guess I was forced into being the band. Jesse put a bass guitar in my lap and said, “You have to play bass”
Jess: I think he showed me several power chords.
Kate: Jesse taught me my first drum lesson and how to do some stuff on the drums.
Mike: Jesse Corrigan’s well known on the local Toronto open mic scene, performing everywhere from the bovine sex club, to busking on the pristine banks of Lake Ontario.
Jesse: You know, this is a band that is living together in a very stressful time who are also engaged in something that they all care about and that’s a recipe for tension.
Mike: While it’s true that Jesse Corrigan owned all the instruments, and he gave everyone free lessons, and he played a significant part in writing the music. His manipulation of the band is something that would unravel much like the holes in a punk rockers jacket, requiring several safety pins to hold it together until such time that the hole becomes so big that no amount, nor size of safety pin can effectively maintain the garment’s structural integrity.
Mike: On that first historic Jam night, Kate, Kristi and Jess gave collective birth to their debut song
Kristi: The first song that we ever wrote was completely improvised. It was called ‘Quarantine’.
Jess: ‘Quarantine’ just happened organically.
Kristi: We kind of just made up the words as we were in the basement. I mean, there aren’t many words, so that one anyway
Jess: So that was pretty straightforward
Kristi: That’s what we were thinking about it. It was kind of funny and cathartic.
Kate: It was immediately so much fun, that we decided we had to keep it going
Mike: But to be a band, they’d need a band name
Jess: We were like, Oh, let’s sit down and brainstorm. Literally Kristi and Kate sat down with a piece of paper, and then Kate was like
Kate: how about ‘fucking carnage’?
Jess: we were like, ‘that’s it’
Kate: it was in my subconscious, yeah
Jess: a one suggestion brain storm
Kate: we will be Fucking Carnage and that was that
Jess: My mom really didn’t like the name ‘Fucking Carnage’, she thought it was very inappropriate. But I was like, ‘Mom, suck it’
Mike: The name was inspired by a song from Australian Metal band, Without Wings We Fall
Kristi: There was a line in the band where he goes, ‘fucking carrrrrrrnage!’
Mike: Kate discovered the song after planting trees with one of the band members.
Mike: What does fucking carnage mean to you?
Brent: Oh, at the moment, it is pure nostalgia
Mike: Brent Ottley from Warwick, Queensland, played guitar in the band
Brent: It was mainly Ryan, the singer – he did like all the lyrics himself
Mike: Okay. And what what language did he speak?
Brent: umm just English, primarily
Mike: Okay
Mike: Without Wings We Fall broke up a decade ago and only ever released two songs. But I was happy to let Brent know, like a seed planted in a Canadian forest, their legacy lives.
Mike: The band is called Fucking Carnage.
Brent: Wow. Tthat’s cool.
Mike: Cool right?
Brent: Yeah
Jess: The next day, like we woke up and Kate was like, ‘it’s time for practise’. And I was like, Whoa, we’re in a band now, because it’s time for practise
Mike: was practising something you were even anticipating before you went into it?
Jess: Even though I’m resentful of like the concept of practising, it does give me a sense of authenticity because I’m like the music business is hard, you know?
Kristi: We sat around the table and Jesse put a timer on and said, “You have 10 minutes to write a song Go”
Jess: It was just like we all put our heads together, did our own thing and then brought it together and everybody was just saying yes to each other.
Mike: For the sophomore release, the band delivered in a big way with ‘Boundaries’
Kristi: Boundaries happened as we were rehearsing
Kate: Well, Boundaries is about… the 2 metre minimum and about staying away. But it’s also about, you know, space for your mental health
Speaker 1: Oh but there was one thing we realised that made us a bit sad, which was that actually the tune of Boundaries – Quarantine, Boundaries – they are essentially the exact same, even though we tried so hard to make them different. ‘Quarantine!’, ‘Boundaries!’ it’s just like all our songs are actually the same.
Mike: Welcome to the music biz, Jess.
Mike: In the back of your mind or you just thinking, ‘look, this is just something to tide me over. I’m not actually serious about the band’?
Kristi: Oh, for sure. I’m not serious about the band at all. No. Yeah. It’s like really just a thing to do from a day to day
Mike: Do the other members know about that?
Kristi: (laughs nervously) I think so.
Mike: Okay…
Kristi: Umm yeah, yeah its…
Mike: I guess it’s just tough to hear, when you’re making a documentary about a band, and then the band member says they’re not even serious about the band
Kristi: Well, you know, it’s, ah, it’s hard to be serious about a punk band. You can’t take it too seriously
Mike: So I’m the problem?
Mike: Fucking Carnage chose to prioritise their image and public optics just as much as the music. They went to great length to dress and act like what they imagined to be punk. Their lack of basic research for the genre itself proved to be,0 incredibly punk. The result was a film clip for Boundaries that can only be described as uploaded. At the time of this recording it has over 310 views on YouTube. Fans were keen for more
Kate: ‘this slaps, I love Fucking Carnage’, you want me to keep going?
Mike: Is there more?
Kate: ‘This is smoking’, somebody said
Mike: What else have you learned about the music business is a whole since you’ve been in the band?
Jess: It’s not about how many fans you have. It’s just that you have some committed fans. You know, we were recommended in a podcast newsletter because I sent it to my other podcast friend.
Mike: Is this Nick Quah?
Jess: right, Nick Qu… No, it was The Transmitter
Mike: Did you send it to Nick Quah as well?
Jess: No. But should I?
Mike: I think so!
Jess: I’ll send it to everybody
Mike: Send it to Nick Quah
Jess: Yeah, no I will. Well, it’s not really a podcast though…?
Mike: What would you describe as your biggest musical influence?
Kate: probably Joni Mitchell
Mike: Oh, sorry. I meant musical influence. I’m talking Lion King Phantom of the Opera. Is there any of those musicals that you… West Side Story, Oklahoma?
Kate: Maybe, Mary Poppins?
Mike: Yeah, okay
Mike: Once you know the Mary Poppins link, it’s hard not to see its influence. Just like an upbeat chimney sweep, Fucking Carnage chose to turn a terrible situation into an opportunity. Because sometimes a pandemic feels like you’re stuck sweeping a chimney, surrounded in darkness alone, with not enough hand sanitizer. No idea how long it’ll take to finish. But while it’s hazy and distant, there’s always a light at the top of a chimney.
Mike: After the success of Boundaries, the band were forced to make a decision; continue with topical Coronavirus songs or branch out right about other things and risk alienating original fans. Kristi, the bass player, was happy to roll the dice.
Krsiti: I think it’s better that it’s not topical, because there’s a lot of topical content right now, and it’s a bit annoying.
Mike: I know hey. Jess wanted to explore personal themes.
Jess: I think the world needs a song about herpes
Mike: Why’s that?
Jess: I don’t know. It’s so taboo. It’s so dumb and like everyone has it
Mike: And while it’s true, herpes has been described as a hidden epidemic was up to one in five Canadians having the condition. Ultimately, the band avoided all virus related themes
Kristi: We had so much fun with Alpha Bleeder
Mike: Inspired by true events, the result was ‘Alpha Breeder’
Mike: Alpha Breeder. How would you describe that?
Kate: It’s actually Alpha BLEEDER
Jess: it needs to not just be about, like, getting your period. That’s kind of boring. But it needs to be a bit high concept, you know,
Kate: An Aplha Bleeder; the bleeder whose everyone’s menstrual cycles synch up to that alpha bleeder. Do you follow?
Mike: Yes.
Jess: Oh cause I think Krsiti was feeling resentful of me because she was getting her period. And I was like, ‘Oh, it’s probably cause I’m getting my period and we’re all like, trapped in this house’
Kristi: The line about, ‘she’s a punk ass bitch and a free bleeder’. That’s my favourite one.
Mike: She’s a punk ass….
Kristi: bitch and a free breeder
Mike: free breeder
Kristi: BLEEDER, bleeder
Mike: bleeder, sorry
Jess: After all the songs, I’d be like listening to like, I don’t know, whatever. Like Simon and Garfunkel. I’d be like, oh my God, they must have felt just like us after they wrote, you know, Scarborough Fair.
Mike: But with the momentum came tension. Maybe it was the stress of a global pandemic. Maybe it was a lack of vocal range. Either way, the first cracks began to show
Kate: ‘Jess on that note, you go up, but you’re supposed to go down’
Kate: Then we practice is again, Jess, you’re supposed to go down. Oh, my God. Guys, I’m so sorry. I’m so dumb. You’re not dumb. We just have to try it again. Okay, I’m going to get it this time. Okay, Let’s try it again. Okay.
Mike: What’s worse though, was a fracture in the group. Jess and Kate had moved back to Toronto to get away from New York. They’d grown close during their time there. Imagine sex in the city, but with two Canadians and not a lot of sex
Kate: But we became fast friends just this last fall…
Mike: Oh, cool. Okay, best friends?
Kate: Fast friends. Yeah, and best friends.
Mike: So wait. You’re best friends or not? No?
Kate: she is my be… I have lots of best friends, yes.
Mike: It was obvious Kate’s appetite for best friends wasn’t sustainable. And for the purposes of this story, I assumed it had to stop somewhere, specifically with someone, specifically with the third band member, Kristi
Mike: Is it awkward that Jess and Kate are best friends?
Kristi: Um, it is a bit awkward that Kate and Jess are best friends, yeah
Mike: I was warm.
Mike: How hard do you think it was for Kristi going into this with you and Kate’s relationship being so close?
Jess: Oh my God. Who told you about this?
Mike: Bingo
Jess: Ok. Whoa. I don’t know. I thought that it was fine because Christy and I have our own special relationship and Kate and I have a special relationship. Yes, granted is because…..
Mike: But what just didn’t know, that I did, was that Kristi’s overbearing need for connection wasn’t her fault. The real problem here was Jesse Corrigan.
Mike: Why isn’t Jesse in the band?
Jess: But the thing is, he is in the band. He’s just… not in the band.
Kate: I think it was pretty clear early on that we were going to be an all female punk band
Jess: Our band as a bunch of dudes, maybe would just not work the same way
Mike: Why’s that?
Jess: I don’t know. Male friendship just seems disappointing compared to female friendship
Mike: Jesse’s penis wasn’t his only problem
Kate: We also were not going to be exceptionally good at our instruments, and Jesse was going to blow all of those things.
Kristi: Okay, At one point, I said, this will be a great way for you to practise telling people what to do because Jesse is one of the most passive deferential people I’ve ever met
Mike So he’s improved his passive aggressiveness quite a bit?
Kristi: I think so
(phone rings)
Jesse Corrigan: Hey Mike!
Mike: Hey, how you doing? (in an energetic yet professional tone)
Jesse: Good man. How are you?
Mike: I’m good. I’m good. Thanks for chatting.
Jesse: My pleasure
Mike: Face to face with the bovine sex fiddling music Daddy
Jesse: My name is Jesse Corrigan and I am the manager for Fucking Carnage.
Mike: Maybe you can tell me where this whole thing started?
Jesse: (laughs) I like it. You’ll get this story and then you’ll get the real story
Mike: Let the mind games begin.
Jesse: In terms of music, yeah I play a lot of bluegrass and folk music. Very little experience with punk music or any rock.
Mike: Oh okay… alright…
Mike: Well, it didn’t take long, did it? Finally, an admission – Jesse Corrigan is a punk ass fraud
Jess: He was just so wonderful. Truly
Kate: sweet, gentle, talented man
Jess: He made himself vulnerable and present
Kate: Incredibly supportive
Mike: How controlling is he?
Kristi: Not at all controlling
Jesse: I’m so happy to be a part of it and I’m really excited to… what’s it called (trails off)
Mike: I was listening to some of the demos that you guys sent through and I can hear your influence. You actually… you’re in there quite a lot. Directing, guiding (awkward pause)
Jesse: Well there you go
Mike: Quite an active role in the band….
Jesse: I’m supporting them and I’m trying not to direct them too much. And you know, I can’t say that I’m perfect at it. Like I try to… what’s it called (trails off)
Mike: So I get he’s a good musician, but how is he as a manager?
Kate: He’s an exceptional manager actually….
Mike: Okay, how many gigs has he got you? Let me ask that
Kate: Well, you have to understand these are unusual times
Mike: Yes, but any zoom gigs or anything? There’s plenty of that going on?
Kate: Yes, that’s true. Okay, to be fair, he hasn’t gotten us any zoom gigs
Mike: Okay, any radio airplay?
Kate: thus far? No radio airplay.
Mike: Okay. Any talks with any record label or any type of distribution platform?
Kate: I’m not even convinced he has those connections
Mike: Has even got a Spotify account?
Kate: Maybe
(phone rings)
Dorothy: Hello, this is Dorothy
Mike: Hi Dot It’s Mike Williams here. How are you? (in an overly enthusiastic way)
Dot: (long pause) Hey, Mike, I’m good thank you, how are you?
Mike: I’m good thank you, is now a good time to talk?
Dot: (long awkard pause) What’s up?
Mike: So, I have discovered a band….
Mike: Dorothy Markek is the music director for Double J Radio, Australia’s authority on cool new music. She also happens to be a close personal friend of mine
Dot: Cool. Yep, you could just send it through
Mike: What if you had to listen to it now?
Dot: Yeah, can’t do it right now
Mike: It just so happens I have some spare time on my hands. Unsatisfied with Jesse’s ability, I’ve taken the initiative to do what he can’t
Mike: Maybe later today we could…
Dot: I probably won’t be able to give you an answer straightaway, considering… tomorrow I’ll do my best
Mike: That’s fine. That’s fine. Just have a listen.
Mike: A few spins on Double J would catapult the career of Fucking Carnage
Mike: Okay, I’ll send it through and call you back in a few hours
Mike: Their fourth and final release saw early fans rewarded. The band returned to their pandemic theme roots
Kate: So yeah, ‘Bang Trim’ was about getting your bangs trimmed
Jess: I feel like this band has been really liberating because the dumbest lyrics are better
Kristi: (sings lyrics) Sitting around with nothing to do, got my cigarettes and whiskey too, light up my smoke now my hair gets singed, guess it’s time to cut my fringe. Bang Trim!
Kate: Which is something that we see as kind of punk rock, but it’s also really fast, affordable way to change your look
Mike: But the song also saw them take on a whole new sound, and it caused relationships to reach boiling point.
Kristi: I didn’t want to do it at that point, but… but that we had to because it was like yeah, it was a goal was a commitment that we made
Jesse: There were times where – you know, the band just needed to take a break, that’s all (laughs nervously)
Mike: Okay, why is that funny?
Jess: We were in such a bad mood, like Kristi was so moody. I was so moody. I really want to go outside. Jesse was like having an anxiety breakdown about Coronavirus, and so we were all, like, kind of hating each other
Mike: Kristi also wasn’t happy with the new sound
Kristi: Yeah, the acoustic nature of it, like a weird attempt at an old time or bluegrass tune or something?
Speaker 2: Bluegrass…. Problems… sound familiar?
Mike: It started out very kind of traditionally punk, and then it turned very quickly, Jesse very quickly into a very kind of folk, bluegrass sound. I’m just wondering what your kind of role in that was?
Jesse: Umm. well, that was… umm… so (trails off)
Mike: Luckily, they managed to channel the energy into the character of the song. In the end Bang Trim was recorded in one take.
(phon rings)
Dot: Hello, this is Dorothy
Mike: Hi Dot! Mike Williams here, how are you?
Dot: (long pause) oh hey, yep, good Mike
Mike: Double J Music industry bigwig (and close personal friend) Dot Markek was beating down my door to discuss Fucking Carnage
Mike: Let’s start with Alpha Breeder
Dot: I think it’s Alpha ‘Bleeder’.. you said… Yeah. Anyway, our production wise, it’s kind of way too lo-fi
Mike: Really? I thought that would have been a good thing?
Dot: Yeah, look, it’s kind of endearing… but…
Mike: It was clear Boundaries was out of Double J’s league, but there was one more chance. As a long shot I’d pitched Bang Trim, knowing it would appeal to softer pallets. Jesse’s bluegrass influence, although selfish, might end up being the band’s ticket out of Toronto. This is Canadian punk rocks moment of truth
Dot: I got to say, I was definitely, you know, toe tapping under my desk. Probably from the third verse onwards I think the novelty started to wear off.
Mike: Really? Because the third verse is when it got a bit more interesting for me. ‘Went down to see my guy. When I got there, he wanted to say goodbye. Trim my bangs you son of a bitch, while you’re at it, suck my dick. That didn’t resonate with you?
Dot: Ah, no, I thought You know, I get it. I appreciate it. You know, as someone who’s tempted to cut my own hair in isolation, I think you know, Yeah. If I heard that too many times, I kind of want to start tearing their hair out.
Mike: (laughs sarcastically) Yeah, that’s funny Dot. Well, I mean, it’s funny you say that because this song alone has had over 200 hits on YouTube, so….
Dot: Okay. Cool.
Mike: Not long after the recording of Bang Trim, as fast as it began, the two-week quarantine was over. Jess and Kate left the house. Nobody’s sure when or if the band will reunite
Jess: I think Jesse said this smart thing, which is that anything is punk. It’s all about your attitude. And I was like, Yes, you’re right. I spent so much time caring about if I’m looking the part, but, you know, you look the part if you feel the part. I’m learning that from punk.
Kate: For me, it’s been a great lesson, that it’s never too late to pursue a dream like being in a drummer in an all female punk band
Kristi: Yes, I think it was a really cool thing to do by accident. It would not have worked if we had done it on purpose, it also wouldn’t have worked if we weren’t living together or if we had anything else to do
Kate: I will just look on with great fondness, like it was just this really special, weird, time that just came together in this organic way
Jess: It’s been really liberating to do something that has felt good, not because it’s good, but because it feels good
Mike: The history of punk rock has many beginnings, depending on who you ask. One thing’s clear, though. Punk is a reaction…
Jess: And that is just not really for anything like, I don’t care if the band doesn’t have a future like
Mike: A backlash against baking bread…
Jess: It’s been really surprisingly special
Mike: And push back against puzzles…
Jess: And also gave me somewhere to put my energy and my enthusiasm and my excitement during a time when you know a lot was changing and scary and confusing
Mike: Punk is a middle finger to a two-week quarantine.
Jess: I had my whole summer planned out and a lot of people around me are in a lot of pain right now, but I think it felt really good to just, like, go do something like really stupid and loud that was sort of designed to give ourselves a good time and make our friends laugh.
