Music

It is impossible to listen to Cancer Bats’ Liam Cormier without smiling. Through a phone on the opposite side of the continent, the Canadian hardcore vocalist is full of infectious passion and positivity. About to embark on a guided dirt bike trip in Mexico, he’s taking time to travel before returning to Canada for a month-long tour to support the release of Cancer Bats’ seventh studio album, Psychic Jailbreak. This JUNO-nominated band has been integral to the Canadian punk scene for almost two decades, but this is their first release under the current lineup of Cormier, Jaye Schwarzer (bass and guitar) and Mike Peters (drums). Psychic Jailbreak is electric in both energy and instrumentation and is bound to be a party on stage.

From the warm west coast, Cormier tells me about his scenic writing spots, growing with fans and his clothing brand.

Composing Apart

It was back in 2014/2015 when we started slowly figuring out a new model for the band instead of all of us being in Toronto. Our drummer, Mike, was the first to go — he moved to Winnipeg. It changed the dynamic and meant that different people could put forward different ideas. At times, I would play drums and Jaye would play guitar, which was different and it made writing fun.

With the pandemic, we figured we could just send each other ideas over the internet. So we started off strong in 2020, thinking it would be easy and we would just get together eventually to finish the songs. It wasn’t until August of 2021 that we finally got into a room together! In the end, it made us more confident as songwriters.

Writing in Nature

I usually write a lot of lyrics just sitting in coffee shops, but those were all closed; so I wrote a lot of this record while driving in my pickup truck around the beautiful Atlantic wilderness. I’d be next to a lake or just sit at Peggy’s Cove and work on demos, and it was the most freeing experience.

Being a Scene Dad

I think one of the most amazing parts of being a band for this long is seeing all of these rad kids grow up into really cool adults. The other day, I was listening to this new band from the U.K. called Witch Fever, and I shared them online and their singer messaged me with a picture of her and I when she was 14 at a Billy Talent show in 2012. It was a full-circle moment and feels so amazing to have had maybe even the slightest influence on their journey. I feel like a proud scene parent in a way.

Treadwell Clothing

I have a clothing brand that’s related to motorcycling, which I started to have an outlet that wasn’t music. The first shirt that really translated was a cat wearing a motorcycle helmet — people seemed to love it! The company has grown substantially in the last five years and, in the pandemic, it was my main job. It also got me back into art to the point where I did all the artwork for the new album. That was really fulfilling.