The Witzard

"I will try to keep this breakdown brief. It seems fitting, as our songs themselves are short and fast. We're a Hardcore Punk band from Toronto, Canada. We have been a band for over two years and have a few tapes that we have self-released, but this is our first proper EP. Our sound takes influence from everything we like to listen to, but is most often, and obviously, compared to 80's US Hardcore. We love US bands like Void, YDI, Jerry's Kids, and Cro-Mags, etc. but also, listen to Punk from all over the world. [We] especially enjoy Japanese Hardcore bands from the 80's and Burning Spirits bands. We also, like Metal. The entire EP was recorded in Boxcar Studio in Hamilton, Ontario by Sean Pearson in one day, before we headed out to play a show in Kitchener, Ontario that night. A key to "good" Hardcore is playing fast and to the point; this is also, reflected in our recording process. The production on the record is pretty much the same song-to-song....

Not only will 2018 be my 30th year atop this, as Tears for Fears put it, "very, very mad world," it's poised to me my most successful and plentiful year yet, both personally and professionally: it will be my lovely fiance, Caroline and I's first full year in our new home and we're planning our wedding for this upcoming Fall . This year, I'm planning to re-launch The Witzard with my own site at TheWitzard.com with an original logo designed by graphic artist John Wong . I'm also, planning to launch a number of recurring columns and initiatives here, in addition to 3 Feet High & Rising , Beat-maker Bedrock , Run It Back , Wax Watchers , and The Witzard's Top 5 . One of which including a tentatively-titled track-by-track breakdown column, wherein I plan to have a select group of artists literally, breakdown their latest of upcoming releases; this including, but not limited to, UK emcee Charles Edison , DJ Chong Wizard, Reggae revivalists Super H...

"'Made for Me" was actually one of the last tracks I added to the EP I hope to release later this year. I remember walking into the studio and hearing Mikhail (my producer) messing around with two different cuts of the same sample. One was very down-tempo and in the pocket, while the other felt lively with a real bounce to it. We went back-and-forth, debating which of the two we rocked with the most, but couldn't justify separating the sounds," Canadian rapper, producer, and song-writer David Versis wrote within a recent email. Upon first hearing his latest single, "Made for Me," I wrote a quick, semi-tongue-in-cheek "review" on Twitter which read: "'Made for Me" sounds like John Mayer meets Drake and it's actually pretty awesome!" Versis is a GRAMMY -nominated producer, who contributed to Wiz Khalifia 's 2014 album, Blacc Hollywood and produced Yo Gotti & T.I. 's collaborative single, "King ...

"It feels really great to be putting out music for the same reason I got into music, in the first place. "I Won't Live Until I Die" is a dark tune, but so am I half the time I pick up a guitar," nephew to beloved 1980-90's PBS The Joy of Painting host Bob Ross and singer-songwriter Morgan Cameron Ross wrote within a statement recently sent directly to The Witzard . "I Won't Live Until I Die" was written along with Platinum -selling artist Bobby Bazini and additionally features Kevin Bacon 's nephew, Justin Nozuka on background vocals. Ross filmed himself playing "I Won't Live Until I Die," sub-titled JOYFUL ART Tutorial , accompanied by a slightly tongue-in-cheek Bob Ross -esque hand-painted depiction of a snow-capped mountainous landscape "keeping with family tradition;" Moran Cameron Ross continues, "Before we get started, we're going to do a list of all the colour names below" as a list s...

"This song was pretty therapeutic in helping me come to term with a failing relationship. It failed not because we didn't work at it, but maybe because we worked too hard at it and it became this thing that we both started resenting on some level. By the end, we were kind of like two mismatching puzzle pieces that had been shoved together... It's hard a hard spot to be in and I've had lots of friends that have been in this same place in relationships. It wasn't a horrible relationship either and I think that's what makes it harder, when its good like 50-60% of the time, but is that a way to live? ["I Need You Closer"] kind of helped me just face it in a very literal sense. This was also the fastest song on the album to write, I think I started recording it at like 11am one day and by 9pm, it was done. I remember texting my friend being like, "you have to come sing some group vocals on this song with me RIGHT NOW, before the urgency expire...

It all starts out innocently enough, at a Road House -stye "dive bar" that's seemingly located out in the middle of the desert; Dave 1 seductively croons, "if you think romance is dead and gone, found an old jukebox full of 45's, pop a nickle in it, and it all comes back to me" at "Old 45's" gorgeous dark-haired protagonist. Chromeo multi-instrumentalist P-Thugg can be seen seated by himself up at the bar, where our leading lady eventually settles, and in certain frames, sisters Danielle, Este & Alana Haim are seated alongside Dave 1 in a booth. "You know what? I tried out these new pants. I didn't think I'd like 'em... thought they'd be a little bit too tight. But hey, I'll tell ya... I kinda like the way they grip me," laments our cocktail-pouring bartender, right before a sensual bar-top dance routine suddenly breaks out. And before too long, yet another dance routine erupts, as the lights dim down an...

"This album is about growing up, and that second coming of age you have when you're already an adult. It's about being a grown-up and having a job and responsibilities and still feeling fragile and uncertain," Fucked Up guitarist and songwriter Mike Haliechuk recently told Consequence of Sound about their upcoming new album, Glass Boys . "It's also about us being in a band for 12-13 years, and what started as this weird hobby has become almost like a job," he continued. Matador Records will unleash the slightly "more chill and less OCD" record in comparison against their concept album, David Comes to Life (2011) on June 3rd; the skull-bashing Canadian Hardcore band secretly recorded Glass Boys between April 2013 and Feb. 2014 with veteran producer Bill Skibbe at his privately-owned Key Club Recording Company . Fucked Up 's righteously poppy pseudo-lead single, "Paper The House" was actually filmed by Scott Cudmore and J...

I guess since most Hardcore/Post-Punk bands play righteous live shows nearly 1/2-all year 'round, might be the reason why they usually make weird, abstract music videos. Toronto 's very own METZ recently teamed up with director Scott Cudmore to create the slightly disturbing, alternate reality that is "Wasted." It's a pretty fucked up ride through a creepy 90's mall-style photo-portrait studio, like where teenie boppers get glamour shots done. We're talkin' about some downright deranged and uncomfortably "seedy"-looking characters: a wonky-eyed/balloon-covered couple, milk-chugging goths , a family with babyface killah son, in-expert swordsmen, strangely unfazed bloody people, etc. Sonically, "Wasted" sounds kinda like a sludge-filled mash-up between Nirvana and The Jesus Lizard , being brutally beaten with rhythmic sledgehammers, and recorded in an abandoned barn by co-producers Graham Walsh and Alexandre Bonenfan t ha. Ale...