They have been around since 2004, and with three studio albums and six extended play records under their belt Ontario based Cancer Bats are going from strength to strength, with the release of Dead Set On Living just around the corner we caught up with Liam Cormier to discuss expectations of the release and their upcoming Pentagram Tour
R13: Dead Set On Living is due for release on April 16, with this being your fourth studio album do you feel you will get the same amount of support from fans?
LC: I'm hoping kids are stoked on this new record. We've been really lucky to have so many amazing people show support for the band so far, I can only hope they'll be into this new album. We're all really pumped on it and the feedback we've gotten so far for Old Blood and Road Sick is super positive, so I think they'll be down.
R13: Why the desire to make Dead Set On Living more upbeat than your previous albums and why only now did you decide this.
LC: It's not so much that I decided that right now it was more that Bears was a pretty dark record thematically and I didn't want to lose the positive side we were known for on Birthing and Hail.
R13: Tell us a bit more about the Pentagram Tour....you're set to play six shows over the course of one day in London, how have you prepared yourself mentally and physically for this?
LC: I don't think it'll be too rough. All of those shows are going to be total ragers so we'll just be caught up in having a good time. We'll just feel super sore the next day haha.
R13: When touring, do any of you ever get homesick?
LC: I'll miss home sometimes but when you're out with great friends on an awesome tour it makes it a lot easier. It helps that our loved ones are so supportive and our friends back home are all stoked for us.
R13: Nowadays it's hard to get a decent sized crowd, especially if the shows aren't in a major city, how would you go about getting fans to your shows? What would make them want to come and see the Cancer Bats?
LC: These days there are so many tours going on, you've got to go out with a good package that people will want to spend their money on. It helps too going back to places you've been over and over so everyone knows it's going to be a party
R13: What made you want to cover Sabotage by The Beastie Boys in 2010? Did you get any feedback back or response from them on it?
LC: We never heard from the band if they heard the cover. I'd like to think they were stoked on the video we made. I was really happy with how it turned out. Maybe one day we'll cross paths and I'll ask them.
R13: Like Indie music, is Hip-Hop another genre you listen to a lot?
LC: Yeah we all listen to tons of different stuff all the time. None of us really stick to one genre at all. Good jams are good jams.
R13: In 2009 you were nominated for a Juno Award-New Group of the Year; are there any other awards you, as a band would like to be nominated for and/or win?
LC: Being nominated for awards is flattering and it's nice to know that other areas of the music industry recognize you're working hard but none of those awards have any bearing on what we're doing as a band.
R13: What was it like working with George Pettit on 'Pneumonia Hawk' and are there any other vocalists you would like to collaborate with?
LC: George is the best! We always like getting our friends involved in our records whether it's a guest spot or just doing gangs, it's always fun having homies around.
R13: If you could work with any producer on a record, who would it be and what would be the reasons behind this?
LC: For us we love working with Eric Ratz and Kenny Luong. To me there just as important to make a Cancer Bats record as anyone in the band. Using different producers at this point would be like getting a different guitar player.
R13: If you were to change roles within the band, who would do what and why?
LC: I like how things are in the band, I wouldn't want to mess up a good thing.