I’m sitting in a white van across from Liam Cormier. In a couple hours, he’ll go out and yell his face off to a bunch of screaming kids. Literally hours later, he’ll do it all again for an older crowd. This is a day in the life of Toronto hardcore band, the Cancer Bats.
As I arrived at the venue, the doors for the all ages show had just opened. A stream of kids wearing mostly black jeans and American Apparel hoodies ran in and headed straight for the merch table. Cormier was there, selling t-shirts and giving high-fives to anyone that asked. It’s easy to see that this band cares about their younger fans.

“We put our foot down in a lot of cases because we know there are young kids who want to come see our band and if they can’t, they’re bummed,” explains Cormier. “I mean we’re all older, but we know what it’s like. We grew up with punk rock and hardcore, and when there was a band you couldn’t go see, it fucking sucked.”

Playing two shows in a single day to cater to the younger crowd is not something too uncommon for the band. In a lot of major cities, playing an early show in the club is the only way they can often get around the liquor license problem. Cormier adds “on this last tour some of the all ages shows have been half the capacity as the bar shows but its still worth it because the kids are having a good time.”


The Cancer Bats have been to Victoria six times in two years—a lot for a Toronto-based band. Even a van robbery on their most recent trip couldn’t keep them away. “[The robbery] fucking sucked, but there was no way we were going to let that ruin our good time, especially with a city that is as good as this. Every show we’ve played here has been amazing. Even our very first show here, when we played Big Fernwood with Counting Heartbeats. Once we were on stage it was like “Oh yea, that’s why we’re here; to have this good of a time.”

The band’s new album, Hail Destroyer, is heavier than their 2006 debut, Birthing The Giant. “I think we made a conscious effort to be heavier. I realize there are some people that don’t like heavy music at all, which is fair, but at the same time I don’t think you need to cater to everyone. We realized we didn’t have to make a record that had melodic singing parts to be successful, or at least however successful we want to be.”

But being heavier doesn’t limit your influences. “We love indie rock, stoner rock and folky stuff as well as punk rock, hardcore and metal. Especially what’s going on in Canada; bands like Ladyhawk, Black Mountain and Broken Social Scene, so many of these amazing bands. And we’ll look at their song writing and dynamics and how we could apply that to a metal record. I don’t think there’s a lot of that going on. Not that we’re paving the way or anything, but I think a lot of kids just listen to other hardcore bands for inspiration so you’ll hear a lot of stuff that’s kind of stagnant. And it’s good, but it’s just not really outside of that box. I’m [currently] really psyched on Bon Iver, so I’m listening to how he arranges his songs, and his ideas, rather than listening to a contemporary hardcore band and taking cues from that. It keeps it fresh for us.”

Taking these influences from multiple places not only brings a more diverse sound, but it brings out a diverse crowd. “Scott Middleton [our guitar player] brings in a metal style, and I have a more punk rock background; I think we’re all bringing something different to the table. So the guy at the show in the Obituary shirt, he hears the Obituary riffs. Where as I’m not really familiar with those bands so I don’t really hear that, but I hear the Black Flag influence. Which is great, because I don’t feel our crowds are real exclusive, all those people are welcome. We’ve got metal heads coming with hardcore kids. Everyone just seems to get stoked and have a good time.”