[avatar user=”Mosh” size=”50″ align=”left” /]This Burning City are a hardcore band from a town called Gananoque in Ontario. Fairly new to the scene, they have an EP due out soon (recording is done) and a couple of songs doing the YouTube rounds. Rather than the usual bumph from me, here’s an interview I did with the band to tell you a bit about them. Then sample “Ignorance” below and wait for that EP release…
You’re a young band, only two years old! How did you guys meet and start playing together?
Most of us met in school when we were younger. We didn’t really know what we were doing playing instruments back then, but it was fun and we just kept doing it. After going to a Dead and Divine show, we were all pretty adamant that we wanted to make a band. We picked up Nick, our bassist, at college. We might be a young band, but it’s truly been a good ride so far!
The town you’re from is quite small. What’s the metal and hardcore scene like there?
It’s less a question of what the metal scene is like there, but rather a question of whether a metal scene exists at all in Gananoque haha. Fortunately the metal scene over in Kingston, a city nearby, is good and we’ve come to call it our musical home. It’s nothing crazy, but there are a dedicated bunch of people that come to shows and it keeps good bands coming through.
What made you decide to make a go of things in the hardcore genre? Are there any local bands there who led the way?
Hardcore has always been our niche. It was pretty much a concensus that it would be our style. We all listened to enough hardcore and have all been on the same page for a good while so it came naturally. Even now as we write there is never a doubt whether or not a riff is up to par with what we want. The locals that kind of led the scene when we were just starting out were An Absolute Hero and Moira Darling, both of which have broken up unfortunately, but definitely set high bars for bands to reach.
You have a couple of singles out, including “Ignorance” from the new EP. Any ideas of a release date, title and so on for this?
The fortunate part about being at the point we’re at is that we can get away with flakey dates so we can put more time into what we record, but as of currently we have no date set in mind. We are currently in the process of getting our special guest to toss in vocals for a track off the EP, then its off to get mixed. Our artwork is almost done and the title is our little secret at the moment. All I can really say is that keep your ears ready for some really, really heavy good times.
Do you have any particular agenda that you try to get across in your songs? Or do you tackle various topics?
Our vocalist, Steve, writes about the situations, feelings, and events that happen around him. He’s inspired in the moment and expresses it through his lyrics. Those topics can vary from people to worldy events. So you can say he tackles various topics, but tends to keep to a general theme. The new EP is going to be a very good example of this.
What plans do you have with the forthcoming EP release?
How do you say “Cram it down peoples throats” in a non-invasive way? But nah we plan on pushing this EP out as far as it can get to try and get us some coverage. Then when it’s made some distance, we’ll start touring to get the name out! Maybe bring some friends along and have a good time! Plus there’s no rest for musicians; we got to get working towards the album.
You’ve shared the stage with quite a lot of other acts. How many shows do you think you’ve played? Any in particular that stick in the mind (for good or bad reasons!)?
Oh I can’t even count the number of shows we’ve played, but its safe to say quite a few. One that really stuck out for all of us was being able to open for Ritual, the rebirth of Dead and Divine with Matt Tobin. I know all of our shows in Belleville have been interesting due to the fact that every time we’ve been there there’s been some sketchy event including old men with holes in their legs or crack addicts in alley ways. But really, all our shows are special to us when people come out to really share an experience with us.
Who would you love to play with – your dream headliner to open for?
What’s extremely fortunate for us, which not a lot of people can say, is that we’ve had the chance to open for multiple of our dream headliners. Ritual was a big one for us, and we all were choked up and fangirling from the moment the show started to the moment it ended and was likely the biggest one for us. We had the chance to open for Of Temples which was another big one for us. There are very few bands left on that checklist for us, and i’m sure as time goes on, we’ll get our chances.
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