BRUISERWEIGHT

Answers by Grayson Carpenter

Q1. For readers who might not be familiar with you, would you please provide some background on yourself—where you’re from, when you formed, etc.?

For sure! Bruiserweight is a hardcore band from Montreal, Canada formed in December 2022. I got a message from John(guitar) one day saying he had a demo of songs for a band and was asking me to play bass, but I’d been wanting to be a frontman for a while, so I asked if I could try vocals. At the same time, he’d asked Ryan who was in another band at the time, and I actually found our drummer Nick while he was working at our local music shop.

Q2. How would you describe your sound? Who are some of your primary influences?

We like to say we’re influenced by New York hardcore from the 90’s, bands like Biohazard and Madball, but we also pull from influences like Integrity - John’s favorite band - and some of the early 2000’s Baltimore stuff.

Q3. What is it that made you fall in love with hardcore in the first place, and what compelled you to pursue the band and making this music?

It’s always been the element of danger and the energy of the band and crowd working together. It’s not a spectator sport, and even though I would say everyone is welcome, hardcore definitely isn’t for everybody. As far as the band goes, it’s been about having fun and chilling with friends. As long as it keeps being fun, we’ll keep playing.

Q4. You have a new EP coming up—what can you tell us about it?

The EP is called Still Standing and has four original tracks. It’s basically addressing people that talk shit online or behind your back, the 6-month faces, but it also is an evolution in sound from our Demo, which saw a lot more punk and youth crew influence. We’re a very different band from that first release, and I think you’ll hear that in this new EP.

Q5. Who is it being released by and how did that relationship come about?

We’ll be putting the EP on a one-sided 12”, coming out on Unbeaten Records from Troy New York, releasing on April 4th. The relationship actually came about in a twofold manner. The first is John’s long-time friend Mike Rule that wrote for HardTimes.ca, Shed My Skin, and Lambgoat (Check out his interview with Peter Steele, it’s awesome). Mike has been long acquainted with Buddy from his days travelling around New York going to shows and shooting interviews whenever bands would roll through. The second is our friend Brandon in Pure Bliss. They just put out a record on Unbeaten called Torture Realm, so go check that out, it fuckin rips. Brandon was also making some introductions for us and vouching for us cause we played shows with them early on in Bruiserweight’s beginnings. Shout out again to Pure Bliss, we love those guys.

Q6. What are some touring highlights/some of your fondest touring memories?

One time we were checking into a hotel room at like 3am, and Alec, our old second guitarist, opened the door to find a family sleeping in their beds. There was also a time that we rented a van with bad wipers and had to drive through a snow storm with almost zero visibility. We also have a habit of buying used gear on the road that we can’t afford. Also, Chili’s is the best food chain on the road.

Q7. Who are some bands on the scene we should be paying attention to?

Nuff Said, Bad Bet, Reality Denied, Spite House, FAZE

Q8. Top five Canadian hardcore bands of all time—go!

Damn that’s tough. I’ll give a disclaimer, I’m actually from Georgia, so I’ll give my top Canadians personally, and throw in a GA bonus band.

1.     A Death For Every Sin

2.     Cursed

3.     No Warning

4.     Figure Four

5.     Beton Armé

Bonus: Foundation - best Georgia hardcore band of all time

Q9. Any parting words for our readers?

Go to shows. Find your people. Be a part of your scene. Just showing up is more than enough. Fuck the fashion and the egos.