Interview by Brady Deeprose
MR: Hey Liam, how’s the tour going so far?
Liam: It’s been awesome so far and tons of shows have been sold out. The ones that aren’t sold out have been super packed and everyone’s partying, everybody’s singing along: its rad, it’s been really fun.
MR: Is this the regular Cancer Bats touring experience, especially regarding the UK?
Liam: Its awesome because we haven’t headlined here for about two years since we toured with TrashTalk (US Hardcore Punk band), and lots of those shows were crazy so it’s nice to know that two years later, people still like our band and want to come out and get rowdy. It’s also great to see so many familiar faces, like some guys I spoke to earlier had seen us in 2008, then 2010 and now here. I’m definitely stoked that there are lots of people that are following the band that are still around.
MR: Do you think the level of media coverage you’ve received has impacted on this?
Liam: I feel like we have a lot of supporters via Kerrang, Metal Hammer, Rock Sound and Terroriser… NME have definitely started helping us out a bunch which is really cool. Everything with this band has always been slow and steady so for me it’s not a concern, we just keep doing what we’re doing.
MR: You’re just re-issued ‘Dead Set On Living’, your 2012 record: Why is that?
Liam: We added some extra songs that we had from the studio and then we did like a ‘Bat Sabbath’ cover EP which is on it too: just some extra jams to give people more reason to pick it up if they haven’t already. But yeah, something fun to do.
MR: Has the change effected what you’re playing on the tour?
Liam: We are playing a song off the re-issue and we’re playing a bunch of different stuff that we hope people will be psyched on, trying to play a longer set and fit as many songs in as we can.
MR: Have you got any festival slots this year?
Liam: We’re definitely doing download, we’re on the Sunday which is definitely going to be the best.
MR: Awesome! I can see this making a lot of fans happy as your set was cut last year.
Liam: Yeah, it got pushed to after Gallows (Stage and set time change) but no-one was really told. But we’re going to, hopefully, do some other UK festivals too.
MR: Speaking of the UK, how does it compare to playing elsewhere?
Liam: We really like it here and we’re proud that people always welcome us back with open arms. We’ve been really lucky here as it’s one of the biggest places we’ve been able to tour. We played KOKO (London) yesterday and it was the biggest show we’ve ever headlined anywhere. Even though we’re from Canada, in some ways it’s like we’re bigger here than we are back home! It’s crazy but I think it also goes to show that there are so many people into their live music here who really appreciate bands and come out to shows.
MR: Aside from Cancer Bats, how are things with AxeWound (Liam’s side project) and how does it compare to your ‘Bats shows?
Liam: It’s a big change but it’s fun playing with some totally different dudes and having a band, for Matt (Tuck, Bullet For My Valentine) and I, that’s more laid back and we just have fun. There’s no pressure and we just do it when we have the time: It makes the whole project really exciting. If Jase (Jason Bowld) isn’t touring with Killing Joke, Mike (Kingswood) isn’t touring with Glamour Of The Kill and Joe’s (Copcutt) new band isn’t touring… it’s kinda like ‘when the stars align’ if you know what I mean! None of us know when it’s going to happen which keeps it kinda fun and exciting.
MR: Stylistically, they’re a massive change from Cancer Bats, how are you finding that?
Liam: Yeah, definitely a lot more metal but it’s cool, it pushes me to try different things.
