Documenting the hardcore and punk scene in Atlantic Canada. Bands from Nova Scotia, PEI, Newfoundland and New Brunswick - from the 80's to present day. Focus will no doubt be on Halifax, NS as that's where i'm from!!
Morgan Carpenter once again tells the story of one of his many bands! Today we hear all about Shrine Of American Martyr, who were around from 1999 to 2001. You can download their demo at the end of this or even check it out on youtube first! Now...take it away Morgan!!
Shrine Of American Martyr, or The Shrine as we came to be called was in some ways a super group at the time, starting in ‘99. Making up the band was me and Mac Ogilvie on guitar and sharing vocals, Lance Purcell (from Snot Party and Falling Out) on drums, and Scott Leighton on bass. At the time Mac and Lance had a lot of notoriety for being in The Plan, Mac had just come off of singing for influential Halifax hardcore band Equation Of State, and I was doing Useless Solution and Envision. Scott was a hermit from Truro.
The Shrine live @ The Arts Guild, Charlottetown, PEI
The band was kind of Me and Mac’s brain child. We wanted to form a really chaotic, intense hardcore band that appealed to several factions of the hardcore/punk scene. We combined influences from the emerging "screamo" scene - bands like Orchid, Page 99, and The Locust, and combined them with moodier stuff of the 80's like Joy Division and The Cure...though the result was all power. Mac and I traded off lyrics creating a co-frontman dynamic, and our shows were always super chaotic, sometimes superseding the music. The hardcore trend of wearing shirts and ties while playing hadn't really exploded yet, so in the beginning this was something we did at every show.
We had set up a short Canada and east coast US tour sometime in the winter of 2000, and in turn every show got cancelled in the weeks before we left but one show in Boston, MA with Orchid. At the time, we were still all obsessing over that band, so decided to drive down to play it anyway. We rented a van and loaded all of our gear and made a 3 day trip out of it, only to arrive to the house the show was at in Boston and find out that Orchid wasn't playing. In fact, they were never even asked to play - a friend of a friend of the promoter said he'd ask them and forgot. We still got to play with Eulcid, who ended up buying all of our demos to sell on their tour.
We made the rounds around Halifax and PEI, building a reputation for our intense live shows. We got arty and incorporated projected video into some shows, did unexpected covers (like Suck My Left One by Bikini Kill), and in our later songs played into long winded, jammier interludes, though very little of that stuff was ever documented.
With Mac and Lance doing The Plan simultaneously, Lance felt like he didn’t have the time needed to dedicate to our later, more involved stuff and decided to quit. Not really sure where to go from there, I started playing drums in practice to keep the band active, but I couldn’t match the talent Lance brought. We were unable to find a suitable replacement, and additionally I believe there was tension between Mac and I for creative control of the new material. Such is the problem with having two frontmen. We decided to call it a day, and Lance came back in to play a last show in 2001 at the TKO space. I somehow set Gerry’s guitar amp on fire during our set. Oops.
We recorded a four song cassette and self released it at (I believe) our first show. It was recorded by Mike Catano (of The Plan, North Of America, The Holy Shroud, Thrush Hermit, etc.) in his parents basement. Mac and I went in with no lyrical structure, and the result was amazing. The fact that it was recorded in 8 track analog made it really powerful as well. I’m not sure how many were made. The Shrine was a band I was really proud of what we achieved, and the demo we produced. I’d like to see it be released on vinyl someday as I think it holds up against the test of time.
There’s never been a reunion show since our last official show on Good Friday of 2001. I’d like to think it will happen eventually.
Falling Out might be considered Halifax's first Straight Edge hardcore band....or you could argue that was the previous band featured on here, Spent. In any case, FO were short lived, only played a few shows, but still may be able to lay claim to that title. Morgan Carpenter reflects back on those simpler times, before everyone hated each other. Read on
Falling Out began on the heels on Snot Party’s existence and just prior to Envision’s birth, which would have been around 1998. Steve and Lance from SP had decided to form a straight edge band with Nathan Doucet (from By Any Means, later Useless Solution) and Keith Porter (later Useless Solution, Led By Regret). Steve wanted to be the frontman, Lance stuck to drums, Keith played guitar and Nathan on bass. I (Morgan) came on as a second guitar player most likely out of convenience because the practices were happening in the same basement as the SP practices.
Falling Out live @ The Box, Cole Harbour?
Halifax was never a hotbed for the straight edge scene, but in the late 90’s, it was probably about the hottest it has ever been. The Falling Out songs fit right into the trends in hardcore of the time, but by today’s standards are very bland and by the numbers. The band couldn’t have existed any other time and be taken with any degree of seriousness. Even then it was marginal.
We had about a set’s worth of songs and recorded a demo with Phil Clark (from Equation Of State, AV) at the newly opened Pavilion in it’s first incarnation. There wasn’t a huge amount of shows played, and those that were were solely in the HRM. The most memorable for me was playing the basement show at Food-Not-Bombs-hat-girl’s house (a girl who wore a hat with a FNB patch on it, but that no one had ever seen at Food Not Bombs) in Dartmouth, which was probably the summer of ’98.
Flyer for one of the band's rare shows
Falling Out didn’t last long, and was barely a blip on Halifax’s radar. Like most straight edge bands, inner quarrels and edge weakening eventually brought it all to an end. Ironically, Steve and I had a falling out, and I quit the band. The same reasons brought Snot Party to an end at the same time. Once I was gone, Falling Out didn’t last much longer (I don’t believe there were any shows afterwards). This was probably partially because I poached Nathan and Keith to start Useless Solution (with Gerry from Snot Party).
Shortly after Lance started Led By Regret with Keith, and eventually started The Plan. Nathan kept doing By Any Means and started Useless Solution with Keith and I. In addition to Useless Solution, I started Envision around the same time with Ian Hart, and quicky started other bands like Shrine Of American Martyr, Coleridge, joined Existench, etc. Steve was playing bass with By Any Means for a short time before leaving, which I believe ended his musical tenure.
The Falling Out demo had 5 songs (I believe) and sounds okay at best. You can hear a miss-mash of influences in there, from chugging Victory Rec stuff, to a-tonal Ebullition style minor chords - all very typical of the time. The demo cover is terrible, even by straight edge band standards. We covered ‘Impact’ by Chain Of Strength, which was probably the biggest crowd pleaser.
Exactly zero members of Falling Out are still straight edge today.
Spent were a Halifax band most notable for featuring Chris Murphy of Sloan. I first heard Spent on the local college station CKDU in the late 80's. The song was called Scapegoat and it was great...real Dag Nasty feel to it. I taped it off the radio and listened to it a lot but the band was a bit of a mystery to me at the time. I eventually figured out the Sloan connection but it wasn't until much more recently I was able to track down their full demo (which was never actually released). They were originally called Aware (whose one and only live set is now included thanks to Stephen Cooke!) and although they played very few shows and didn't really have a huge impact on the scene, it is an interesting piece of the puzzle that lead to one of Halifax's most famous exports: Sloan. In late 2014 I got in touch with Chris Murphy, who took the time to help tell the story of Spent.
Was Spent your first band?
My first band was called Wite Out - Marc/Mark (not sure which) Ducharme (vocals), Steve McCulloch (sp?) (guitar), myself (bass) and Mike Crosby (drums). Wite Out was more goofy/ironic than a lot of the angst-ridden local hardcore bands. We played a few shows in 1986 at The Bible Society and the YWCA. We played some covers (Question Authority - Circle Jerks, Gas Chamber - Angry Samoans, Trust - 7 Seconds) but we had a bunch of originals. We made very rough live recordings of our half dozen songs at our rehearsal space but we never had a release.
What influenced you to form Spent? Is there anything you can tell us about Spent’s brief existence?
After Wite Out, Steve McCulloch (guitar) and I (now guitar) formed Aware with another guy named Chris Murphy aka Zombie (vocals), Colleen Britton (drums) and Gordon Krieger (bass). Aware played only one show at The Club Flamingo on Gottingen St. in 1987.
We renamed ourselves Spent when Colleen left and I moved to drums. We recorded several originals at the Centre For Art Tapes but they were never released. Spent only played a couple of shows. We played at a place I rented on Robie near North Street that some called The Harmony House and I believe we played at the Dal SUB. This was 1988.
The music was more serious than Wite Out. The other Chris Murphy wrote the lyrics, which were personal/proto emo/Dischord obsessed. I would have been too self conscious to write that way. In my opinion, we were better than all the other strictly hardcore bands in town but we didn’t last long.
Was Spent a straight edge band?
I always thought of myself as straight edge. I don’t know if the bands would have considered themselves straight edge but it seemed no one drank except Colleen Britton. Chris Murphy and I and our friend Scott Kennedy went on what was essentially a pilgrimage to Washington D.C. in 1987 and again in 1988 with all of Spent, to soak up the city that had produced Dischord Records, Minor Threat and Straight Edge. We were pretty into it. In 1988, we saw what I believe was Fugazi’s 3rd show.
Was there any animosity from others about being straight edge?
My junior high friends called me Father Murphy, which was a TV show at the time. I remember being nervous that I didn’t drink at a party with people I didn’t know who were legit punks.
How did you meet up with the folks in Spent? I know the other Chris Murphy did a radio show on CKDU
I don’t know. I feel like I was introduced to that Chris Murphy at the Dal SUB but I can’t remember what was happening there. I’m sure we were introduced because we had the same name.
So after Spent did you start Kearny Lake Road right away? How did you hook up with Jay for that?
I had Spent and KLR happening at the same time in 1987/1988. KLR felt pretty un-punk. I felt goofy singing and my early efforts were extremely self-conscious. I put a sarcastic tone on my voice in case anyone thought I was trying too hard etc. KLR was pretty pop compared to Spent but I was forcing NoMeansNo type drumming over REM and 60’s riffs.
I worked at the VG Hospital with Matt Murphy (later of the Super Friendz) who had known Jay since grade 1. Matt introduced me to Jay and Henri Sangalang. We were all at Kings or Dal.
Interesting facts about the unreleased demo:
Track 1 To Each His Own
Track 2 Remains The Same
Track 3 I’ve Seen What Can Happen (??? not sure)
Track 4 Scapegoat
Track 5 Don’t Deal In Lies (??? not sure. Lyrics are from “If” by Rudyard Kipling)
Track 6 Simple Years
Track 7 “Dag Shag” unfinished instrumental
I feel like I wrote all of the music for tracks 1-4 and Steve wrote tracks 5-7. We were getting good but split up for whatever reason. I forget.
I want to be clear that all the guys in Spent played one show as a 5-piece called Aware at the Flamingo on Gottingen with Collen on drums and myself on 2nd guitar. Colleen was out and we changed our name to Spent. The demo did not include Colleen.
AWARE
Chris (Robert) Murphy aka Zombie
Steve McCullough (sp?) - guitar
Gordon Krieger (sp?) - bass
Chris (Michael) Murphy - guitar
Colleen Britton - drums
SPENT
Chris (Robert) Murphy aka Zombie
Steve McCullough (sp?) - guitar
Gordon Krieger (sp?) - bass
Chris (Michael) Murphy - drums
DOWNLOAD : The Demo, Live Set as Aware & Alternate Version of Scapegoat.
Next Of Kin - late 80's hardcore punk from Fredericton, NB featuring members of Neighbourhood Watch. I missed my one chance to see this band open for Sudden Impact in 1989 in Halifax, a decision I have always regretted. They put out one demo tape which is one of my favourite Atlantic Canadian punk releases. I got the details from their bass player Nick Oliver, so let's find out what he had to say!! And JUST ADDED....singer Peter Mccarty's recollections!!! MP3 download at the end!! When/where did the band form and what were your influences? Were Guilt Parade and Neighborhood Watch already formed by that point? Nick: Not exactly sure.. sometime in '87 I think. We were all high school buddies. At the time I was listening to a lot of straight edge HC, & thrash metal like DRI & SOD. Pete was really into The Exploited at the time as I recall. And yes, Guilt Parade and Neighbourhood Watch had already been going since all us guys were in our early teens. They were the bands ahead of us. Peter: Next of Kin started in the garage of my skateboard friend Rob (can’t remember last name, sorry Rob). It was Steve Dugan (from Absolute Choke), Colin, Rob and myself. We were just goofing around and wrote what became “where is my head?”. Colin had a guitar, Rob had a bass, Steve did rhythm just on a plastic pail or something and I did vocals. I met Roman one morning skateboarding to school. He was a drummer and went on to take over for Steve. Rob had some hand issues and would cramp really fast. Nick would take over his duties. Tristan Pym joined as lead guitarist for a very short stint but didn’t stick it out. So the core band line up for quite some time was Colin, Roman, Nick and myself. Nick went to Montreal for University. John Vine had moved to Fredericton to go to University so we invited him to join. But he was a guitar player. Colin know how to play bass too so he moved to bass to allow John to take the guitar roll. I listened to DRI, the Accused, Dayglo Abortions, Scum, Corrosion of Conformity...
Who was in the band? Nick: Me, Nick Oliver - bass, Peter Mccarty - vocals, Colin Maicher - guitar, Roman Van Liempt - drums
Nick playing bass with Next Of Kin
When did you first play out live? What were the shows like then? Nick: Hard for me to remember our very first show, but most shows were small, around 100 people, sometimes more if the band had a really wide appeal (a band like the Nils or DOA for example). by the time NOK were around, I was putting on a lot of the punk shows myself with a lot of help from others, especially the intrepid Steve Staples from CHSR-FM, who used to do sound tech for me at a lot of my shows for a pittance. Peter: First show was Dressed to Kill ’88 at the Exhibition Center in Fredericton. Great weekend!! Bands from all over headlined by No Means No (I believe). We did mostly shows in Fredericton over the years.
Did you get to tour much? I know you played Halifax with Sudden Impact. Nick: Halifax, Moncton, & Saint John once I think, but that was all we did outside of Fredericton. I went away for a year or so in 1989 and the band continued on without me. John Vine (of System Overload, Safe, etc) took over guitar and Colin switched to bass. They may have done more out-of-town gigs of which I'm not aware. Peter: We got to open for Sudden Impact in Fredericton. That was a cool show. They invited us (or we begged) to do the show with them in Halifax. That was our largest crowd we ever performed for. Halifax had a great scene. We did a show in Moncton once in a friend of ours basement, you know who you are Pierre! Last show: April 1991 at UNBSJ in St John. Great show! We did a 4 song reunion set one time when Nick’s band from Montreal came to town.
Halifax show poster
Talk about the recording the demo tape. How was it received? Nick: As I recall, we did most of the recording in Roman's basement. But lots of it we did at CHSR-FM in their studio there. A lot of local bands did. It was the easiest way to get quiet rooms with some decent isolation, and if you were a working member at the station, you could use them for free. I think they intentionally built it in such a way that setting up a full drum kit whilst still being able to use the door was a problem, so not many bands did their drums there. But lots and lots of local demos have bits of work done there, both large and small. I don't remember the local scene really making a big deal of our release. We were a bit of an orphan musically. Four angsty, teenaged guys tend to make music for the entertainment of other teenaged guys by their nature, I suppose. Maybe it can't be helped. We had a lot of fun but only took it seriously when it was necessary. Colin and I were both in other bands at the same time. Peter: The demo was made in the basement of a friend of ours, Andrew, over a weekend. He lived just off Montgomery St and Regent St with gear ick had borrowed from the radio station. If you wonder what the cheering is at the end of Older Generation, it took us so many takes to get that song right. It was new at the time and long and was hard for everyone to get it done. When we finally did, we were all pretty happy. Andrew thought we should leave it in so we did! Crowd favorite song was Cops Suck Shit. We wrote that after I got a ticket for skateboarding. We walked out of a Chinese Restaurant on Queen St one day. I put my board down and put my foot on top of it, just standing there. Cop walked around the corner, saw me and gave me a ticket. Cops Suck Shit was born soon thereafter. Nick and I did most of the lyric writing. Roman was involved there as well. I think he wrote all of Rapist. Then we would just figure out the music together. Songs that I am proud of: Cops Suck Shit, Stage Dive, Blood on the Square. Favorite lyric (from Older Generation): “Lawrence Welk is not our God, and for that you think we’re odd” & “Look at me this what I am”. Wow, as I listen to this song, I remember how powerful the lyrics of that song are, the whole song.
Tell me about the (what I assume is) fake rivalry with System Overload. Nick: The song "System Overload Sucks" is indeed just a joke song. SOL were among my favorite Atlantic Canadian bands. I travelled with them for about 10 shows through Ontario and Quebec in 1988, and I think as far as punk bands go, the rest of the guys felt the same as I did. Peter Rowan's Dressed To Kill Music Fest in 1988 saw f'ton play host to Moral Support and System Overload opening for Montreal's S.C.U.M. (now with Frederictonian Pat Oancia doing vocal duties). Bootleg tapes of both MS and SOL performances circulated our scene for a long time after that. So we had lots of love for them. I wrote the song out of frustration of so many of my own riffs were unintentionally turning out to sound like so many SOL songs - so I wrote a song where I could make a medley of them.
When and why did the band break up? What did the members go on to do after? (Musically or otherwise) Nick: After I moved away the band went on with John Vine as mentioned previously. Peter and his girl moved in together. We never really spent as much time together again. Colin and I would play together again in another band that could never seem to decide on a name (but Rail and Ricky Lizard were among two that we did use). Roman kept playing the drums for a long time I think. I'm really not sure. it's been years since we've really spoken. Peter: The band just kind of dissolved. I was going to College in Moncton and we just kind of didn’t have time for the band. Looking back, our first songs are kind of simple. But as we grew up and were together for a bit, we began to come into our own. Cops is definitely a good one. I think the last song I wrote “He’s coming for you” was very good also. We only performed it once, our last show in St John. I remember John having a copy of it on cassette…which I had a copy of that!
