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Interview – Keagan Ross, Caleb Lavictoire and Gray Laine (027)

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Let’s have a blast with Keagan, Caleb and Gray as they talk about their fun and noisy music, their passion for live gigs, and their current tour across Southern Ontario.

Keagan Ross, Caleb Lavictoire and Gray Laine (027)

The Headbanging Moose: Thank you for the interview, guys! Could you please introduce yourselves to our readers? Who are 027, and how would you label your music?

Keagan: Hi all! We are 027, a three-piece punk rock outfit from Southern Ontario. We consist of Gray Laine – Drums, Caleb Lavictoire – Bass, and myself, Keagan Ross – Guitar/Vocals. I find it hard to label our band anything other than a strange style of punk rock.

THM: What are the origins of the band? It’s known that in November 2022, you scored a gig opening for a popular local band. Was that the official beginning of 027? Which band was that you guys opened for, and how was the overall experience?

Caleb: Before having scored the gig, we had never practiced as a three-piece. When we got to the venue, we jammed in the parking lot with unplugged instruments and lap drumming. The set was pretty cover-heavy since we hadn’t gotten together to write anything, but the people were liking it, so the show was a success. The band we opened for was an indie band, Absolutely You. We ended up playing another show with them at The Golden Apple in Kitchener earlier this year. The experience for our first show was a blast and helped kick-start and inspire us to stick with our band.

THM: Is it true that bassist Caleb Lavictoire and drummer Gray Laine had never met until that point, and you played that first show having never practiced or rehearsed as a three-piece? That must have been absolutely scary and fun at the same time.

Keagan: I scored our first gig just a few days before it took place. Gray and I had been jamming on some Primus for a few weeks prior, and I’ve known Caleb my whole life. Gray and Caleb had briefly met once or twice, but never played music together. When I told the promoter we were down for the gig, I didn’t quite know what to expect, but I knew who to call. We made a game plan that was to split the set into two. The first half, Caleb and I would play an instrumental set, myself on drums and Caleb on bass. We played YYZ and a Meshuggah song, even some old originals. The second half of the set included Gray on drums, and I hopped on vocal/guitar duties; this is where 027 began. We played a few Nirvana tunes and called it a night. I still remember hearing Gray’s pounding drum intro to Nirvana’s Mr. Moustache, and knowing that this was the beginning of something special.

THM: What can you tell us about your new single Umbilical Cord, and what do you think are the main differences from your first EPs Light Of The Black Sun and You’re Not Supposed to Know?

Caleb: With ‘Umbilical Cord’, we set out for a ‘Converge’ inspired sound. Faster, heavier, and more intense than the previous releases. We tried to stay true to the rawness of our previous EPs with this single. Also, the production for our single is a bit different than our previous releases, much more developed and professional, which we credit to Gray as he recorded and produced this new track. This is our first release where we recorded all instruments one at a time rather than all live off the floor, other than a couple of the tunes on our physical EP You’re Not Supposed to Know.

027 Spring 2025 Tour

THM: I believe the new single Umbilical Cord is also being released as an EP containing a few songs from your previous EPs, plus two live songs, Umbilical Cord and Cabbagehead, recorded live in Orangeville on August 18, 2024. Why did you decide to release those live songs now with the new single, and what can you tell us about that whole show in your hometown last year?

Caleb: We decided to release those songs as we’ve been hearing a lot of good things with Cabbagehead, a lot of people have been wanting us to release that one, so we figured we’ll satisfy them while working on recording it. The live track of Umbilical Cord was included since we wanted to give people a chance to hear the song live from one of our shows. The Orangeville show, where those songs were recorded, was a special one. The crowd was having a blast, and we were playing alongside bands we’re very close with. That show just felt like the perfect one to include on the compilation.

THM: You guys play a nice (and noisy) fusion of Punk, Heavy Metal, Stoner Rock, and Fuzzcore, so I guess you might have a wide variety of idols and influences, right? Could you please list your main ones and explain how much they impacted or still impact your sound?

Keagan: Our influences definitely vary per release / era of the band. For example, during our ‘Light Of The Black Sun’ days, we were super into Kyuss, Melvins, and Nirvana. Whilst during our ‘You’re Not Supposed To Know’ EP, we were obsessed with Converge, EyeHateGod, and Gout. When we made ‘Umbilical Cord’, we were definitely deep into our Converge phase.

THM: Let’s talk about your current tour in Ontario, with multiple dates now in May and June across Orangeville, Hamilton, Toronto, Kitchener, Aurora, and St Catherine’s. What can we expect from you guys as soon as you hit the stage? Also, as you guys are definitive supporters of the youth, committed to only playing venues that allow all ages and doing your best to book younger bands on their bills to allow them the same exposure you strive for yourselves, how hard was it to put together those dates, and which bands are going to be supporting 027?

Keagan: Our spring tour is in full swing right now, so far we’ve played Orangeville, Hamilton, and Toronto, with our next gigs being in Waterloo and another Toronto date. All these dates are all ages, which is important to us. We do our very best to play all ages gigs. We won’t turn down any show because it’s 19+, yet we won’t take our time to book a 19+ venue. We were really young when we started, so we figured it wasn’t fair to play age-restricted venues. This has never changed and never will. We’re bringing along young locals Mazel from Orangeville to our Waterloo date, they also played with us on our Orangeville date. We’re big fans of them and really respect what they do. These tour dates weren’t too difficult to put together. A handful of these shows were brought to us by other bands, while I (Keagan) booked the rest.

THM: I believe we can expect your first full-length album in a not-so-distant future, right? What else does the future hold for 027, including of course your live performances?

Keagan It’s hard to tell what the future holds for us as far as releasing music. We’ve always had a pretty busy gigging schedule and don’t plan on slowing down any time soon, and since our sound is constantly evolving, it’s hard to tell when we will finally settle in and make our first full-length.

Keagan Ross, Caleb Lavictoire and Gray Laine (027)

THM: How’s social media in general, as well as streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music, helping you guys spread your music and reach fans of heavy music from far distant lands? Are you receiving any feedback or support from people from places like Finland, Japan, or Australia, for example?

Keagan: We haven’t had too much feedback from fans outside of Canada. We’ve been featured in a few playlists in Australia/Europe, but that’s it. We utilize social media to promote our relentless gigging schedule, as well as networking with other bands/venues. People can take the social media game pretty seriously, but latching onto trends or marketing games really isn’t our thing. We like to have fun with it, posting satirical content while also plugging our shows.

THM: Thanks again for the interview! Please feel free to send a final message to our readers, and of course to invite everyone to your upcoming shows this month.

Gray: As always we like to encourage people to support all ages shows, and everyone is always welcome to come see us live for an evening of energy and community and dancin. This month we’re hitting up Toronto, Kitchener, Aurora, St Catherine’s and more, so come have fun.

Links
027 Official Website | Instagram | YouTube | Spotify | BandCamp

Concert Review – Boonsdale Fest 2018 & Wacken Metal Battle Canada Final (The Opera House, Toronto, ON, 06/09/2018)

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After a year of silence, Wacken Metal Battle Canada returned in full force in a unique partnership with Boonsdale Fest to decide which underground band would raise the flag of Canadian metal high on “The Holy Land” of heavy music.

INTRODUCTION: BOONSDALE FEST AND WACKEN METAL BATTLE CANADA UNITED

There’s nothing better than a night of ass-kicking heavy music in the always fun month of June in the city of Toronto, and to make things even better how about uniting at The Opera House the 2nd annual Boonsdale Fest, organized by Boonsdale Records and featuring the bands Mokomokai, Operus and Borealis, with the 2018 edition of Wacken Metal Battle Canada, where the Best from the West Hammerdrone battled the Best from the East Centuries of Decay for a place alongside the greatest names in the history heavy music at Wacken Open Air later this year. As there was no Wacken Metal Battle Canada in 2017 (each year Wacken allocates 28 slots at W.O.A. for the Metal Battle winners from 28 different countries, and due to the increasing number of countries some are asked to pause for a year to give the chance to others to participate, which was what happened to Canada last year), this year several Canadian independent and underground bands were more than eager to participate in the competition again, with qualifying rounds happening all over the country starting January 12,  until Calgary’s Hammerdrone and Toronto’s Centuries of Decay reached the desired final round in Toronto this Saturday.

In 2016, Wacken Metal Battle Canada crowned Death/Thrash Metal band Profaner as champions, who then by the way advanced to be 2nd place at the international Metal Battle at W.O.A. that same year, so who would be granted the chance to represent Canada at the biggest metal festival in the world in 2018? Well, it’s time to rumble to the heavy music by Centuries of Decay, Hammerdrone, Mokomokai, Operus and Borealis, and wait for guest judges Gustavo Valderrama (Navaja Music, Electric Flow), Tim Henderson (Bravewords.com), Andrew Epstein (Zombitrol Productions, Alan Cross’ A Journal of Musical Things), Chris Gonda (PureGrainAudio.com), Charlie Felix (Sound & Noise, Live Talent), Oscar Rangel (Operus, Ex-Annihilator), Wojtek Sokolowski (Operus) and Luc Lainé (CFLX 95,5 FM) to decide which band would rule them all!

CENTURIES OF DECAY

Centuries of Decay @ The Opera House, Toronto, ON, 06/09/2018

Precisely at 9pm Toronto’s own Progressive/Atmospheric Death Metal act Centuries of Decay hit the stage at The Opera House showing why they were chosen Eastern Canadian Metal Battle champions, led by the deep and very melodic growls by vocalist and guitarist Devin Doucette. Formed in 2014, the quartet released in 2017 their debut self-titled album, available for a listen (and obviously for purchase) at their own BandCamp page, and that album was basically what the metalheads at the venue had the pleasure to witness them playing live. With songs getting close to or even breaking the 10-minute mark, something unimaginable for any artist or band from most non-metal styles that are in pursuit of stardom, Centuries of Decay inspired everyone in the crowd to bang their heads nonstop and feel embraced by their atmospheric music, generating a very nice and interesting feeling in all of us. That’s how exciting progressive and atmospheric heavy music can be, and if these are just the initial steps in the promising career of Centuries of Decay, I can’t wait to see what those four metallers will bring next.

Band members
Devin Doucette – vocals, rhythm guitar
Rob McAllister – lead guitar, backing vocals
Matt Hems – bass
Derrick Doucette – drums

HAMMERDRONE

Hammerdrone @ The Opera House, Toronto, ON, 06/09/2018

After a quick bathroom/beer break, it was time for the winners of the West Hammerdrone to make a lot of noise and crush us with their unrelenting Melodic Death Metal, opening their performance with the violent Dark Harvest, the title-track from their 2017 opus Dark Harvest, which you can buy directly from their BandCamp page, a concept album inspired by the real life but obscure tale of the Scottish terrorist organization the Dark Harvest Commando. Frontman Grahma Harris was on fire during the entire concert, growling and roaring (and also making faces) like a beast, while his bandmates Rick Cardellini (lead guitars), Curtis Beardy (rhythm guitars), Teran Wyer (bass) and Vince Cardellini (drums) delivered a well-balanced fusion of the more harmonious lines from Melodic Death Metal with the sheer heaviness and aggressiveness of old school Death Metal. As a matter of fact, you can download for free a live EP by Hammerdrone titled Rituals of Battle from their BandCamp page, just to give you an idea of how awesome their music sounds live. And after Hammerdrone’s concert was over, I knew the judges were going to have a very difficult time deciding who should be crowned the 2018 champions. Well, at least they had a few more excellent concerts to go until then.

Band members
Graham Harris – vocals
Rick Cardellini – lead guitars
Curtis Beardy – rhythm guitars, backing vocals
Teran Wyer – bass, vocals
Vince Cardellini – drums

MOKOMOKAI

Mokomokai @ The Opera House, Toronto, ON, 06/09/2018

When Peterborough-based four-piece band Mokomokai began blasting their electrifying blend of old school Heavy Metal and Hard Rock, I guess we could say it was the “official” start of Boonsdale Fest, and let me tell you it looked like their Rock N’ Roll party had no time to end. Formed in 2011, and having a distinct name inspired by the preserved heads of Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, the quartet formed by John Ellis on vocals and guitar, Bobby Deuce on the guitar, Jeremy Pastic on bass and J J Tartaglia on drums put everyone at the venue to dance with their flammable music, playing songs from their 2017 album The Poison Whiptail, like the excellent Heavy Metal Sky, as well as a cover version for the classic The Wizard, by Black Sabbath (check out the original version HERE), taken from their 1970 masterpiece Black Sabbath, with John even playing the song’s traditional harmonica. After such high level of adrenaline, I have only one thing to say about Mokomokai: if they visit your hometown, don’t miss the chance to see them kicking some serious ass live.

Band members
John Ellis – vocals, guitar
Bobby Deuce – lead & rhythm guitar
Jeremy Pastic – bass
J.J. Tartaglia – drums 

OPERUS

Operus @ The Opera House, Toronto, ON, 06/09/2018

Perhaps the performance by the following band of the night, Toronto-based Epic Symphonic Metal squad Operus, was the most peculiar of the entire event due to all the unique elements found during their concert (and one of them was definitely not on purpose). Formed in 2005, this six-piece act put on an extremely entertaining and atmospheric show still promoting their 2017 album Cenotaph, featuring Oscar Rangel (ex-Annihilator) on the guitar, cellist Robin Howe adding an extra touch of epicness to the band’s music, masked-frontman David Michael Moote with his passionate and theatrical performance, J.J. Tartaglia back on drums to play a completely different style from Mokomokai, and an injured bassist Wojtek Sokolowski who twisted his ankle right at the beginning of the show, but who refused to stop and managed to play their full set before going to ER (and that’s what I call a true metalhead!). That’s another band I highly recommend you go watch live if they’re scheduled to play at a venue near you, and you can find their latest album available on different platforms such as iTunes if epic and symphonic music is your cup of tea.

Band members
David Michael Moote – lead vocals
Rob Holden – guitar
Oscar Rangel – guitar, backing vocals, growls
Robin Howe – cello, backing vocals
Wojtek Sokolowski – bass, backing vocals
J.J. Tartaglia – drums 

BOREALIS

Borealis @ The Opera House, Toronto, ON, 06/09/2018

Last but not least, the festival ended with another very progressive and melodic band named Borealis, formed in 2005 in the Ontarian city of Orangeville, who also delivered a solid and delightful performance playing songs from all of their five full-length albums, such as Revelation, from their 2015 album Purgatory, and The Awakening, from their brand new opus The Offering, released earlier this year. Comprised of lead singer and guitarist Matt Marinelli (who had his bottle of water wisely placed on his mic stand looking like he was going to deliver some “wah wah’s” with his guitar when he was actually just thirsty as hell), guitarist Ken Fobert, bassist Trevor McBride, keyboardist Sean Werlick and drummer Sean Dowell, Borealis did not disappoint their fans, filling all empty spaces in the air with their classy Melodic and Power Metal and keeping everyone pumped up even with the clock getting close to 2am. That’s another band I highly recommend you go check them live as well as go after their discography, because it’s not only top-tier metal music, but the overall production of their albums is also outstanding.

Band members
Matt Marinelli – vocals, guitars
Ken Fobert – guitars
Trevor McBride – bass
Sean Werlick – keyboards
Sean Dowell – drums

AND THE WINNER IS…

Centuries of Decay – 2018 Wacken Metal Battle Canada Winner

…Toronto’s own Progressive/Atmospheric Death Metal squad CENTURIES OF DECAY! It was indeed an amazing concert, and I’m sure they will proudly carry the flag of Canadian metal high during their journey through the holy land of Wacken. Actually, I really wish Wacken Metal Battle Canada could send two bands to the festival, because Hammerdrone were just as demolishing and professional as the Metal Battle winners. At least now more people will get to know Hammerdrone and all other bands of the night, which in the end is the ultimate goal of the Metal Battle and of festivals like Boonsdale Fest, keeping the fire of metal alive by always presenting to us fans new incredible bands from the underground scene. For instance, there was this old school, diehard metalhead (drinking beer at an insane speed of “two tall boys every five minutes”, but who was still able to walk, talk and headbang as if he was having just water) who asked me right after Operus if there was still more to come, and when I said there was still one more band he showed a huge and honest smile and said “this is great, eh?”, and if independent bands can still extract that type of reaction from a veteran like that guy, well, that’s another proof that metal music will never die. Now let’s wait until next year to see which new name will represent Canada at W.O.A. 2019, and if you already have your tickets for the festival this year, don’t forget to go say “hi” and raise your horns to the guys from Centuries of Decay.