Mike: The history of punk rock has many beginnings, depending on who you ask. One thing is clear, though. Punk is a reaction, punks of backlash against bureaucracy, a push back against pretension. Punk is a middle finger to the monarchy, especially Prince George. Canadians, a mostly well-mannered and canoe-bearing people are not known for punk rock. And it’s something they’ve often apologised for, until now. In a large share house in Parkdale, Toronto, three women have started a punk band. There’s Jess

Kate: OK, umm Jess has umm, no tact

Kristi: no tact whatsoever, which she is aware of.

Jess: I don’t know what people think of me.

Mike: Kristi

Kate: Kristi is the matriarch of Galley

Jess: She makes puppets for a living

Kate: very nurturing

Mike: and Kate

Jess: Kate is a tree planter. So, I think Kate has some punk vibes within her.

Kristi: Kate is very serious. She definitely takes the band very seriously and the drums very seriously, which is great.

Mike: Okay, and how long have you been playing drums for?

Kate: about three weeks.

Mike: Throughout the project, friendships would be tested.

Kristi: If there’s going to be a band in my house, I want to be part of it.

Mike: There’d be regret.

Jess: There’s definitely some just, like quote ‘jamming’, but it doesn’t even sound punk

Mike: betrayal

Kate: That’s such a painful place for us all to go, to even think about right now…

Mike: and behind it all forces within

Jess: Oh, we’re nothing without him

Mike: pulling strings

Jess: emotionally he’s not. He doesn’t really share himself all the time
Mike: ripping relationships apart from the inside out.

Mike: Did you ever resent them for that?

Kristi: No. Well, hmm….

Mike: This is the true story of Fucking Carnage

Archive of Canadian President talking about coronavirus

Kate: The band started when Jess, Kristi and I found ourselves in isolation during the quarantine in Toronto

Jess: Kate and I fled New York because of Coronavirus to Kristi’s house

Kate: There was a drum kit in the basement.

Kristi: Kate was kind of just bored in our house, and

Kate: and I decided that I wanted to learn a bit of drums

Jess: and Kate started just like banging on some shit

Kate: And then Kristi picked up a bass

Kristi: You could just like play one note and then it just reverberates forever and that sounds cool even if that’s all you do

Kate: Jess hopped on the guitar

Jess: I am the lead guitar, slash only guitar

Kate: and we just started jamming

Mike: How soon into it that night did you realise, ‘hey we could have something here’?

Kate: It was honestly… it was instant.

Jess: The band was just born

Kristi: I was like, ‘Okay, great!’

Mike: Nobody knew that night how punk would change the next two weeks of their lives. What started as a jam session to pass time in quarantine became the lifeline for three Canadian women.

Kristi: It didn’t feel like an intentional thing when it happened. And then it became a really important intentional thing every day, a structure in the day and like a thing we had to do because you know, none of us are working. I think also the fact that it we were like beholding ourselves to each other by it being something that we were all doing because it was everybody in the house. At that point, it was just the four of us.

Mike: It’s inconvenient that to make rent a fourth person lived in the house. By default, Jesse Corrigan became the fourth, unofficial band member.

Jess: Like I think we all love each other a lot.

Mike: And Jesse?

Jess: umm, look, I don’t know if he actually likes us that much.

Kate: Jessie, who’s our kind of band manager… ‘band dad’, he’s the kind of man behind some of the music

Mike: It was clear from the start this self styled musical Daddy figure was happy to throw his weight around.

Jess: Jesse came down and was like, ‘Oh yeah, Kristi, take this, here’s an amp…’

Kristi: I guess I was forced into being the band. Jesse put a bass guitar in my lap and said, “You have to play bass”

Jess: I think he showed me several power chords.

Kate: Jesse taught me my first drum lesson and how to do some stuff on the drums.

Mike: Jesse Corrigan’s well known on the local Toronto open mic scene, performing everywhere from the bovine sex club, to busking on the pristine banks of Lake Ontario.

Jesse: You know, this is a band that is living together in a very stressful time who are also engaged in something that they all care about and that’s a recipe for tension.

Mike: While it’s true that Jesse Corrigan owned all the instruments, and he gave everyone free lessons, and he played a significant part in writing the music. His manipulation of the band is something that would unravel much like the holes in a punk rockers jacket, requiring several safety pins to hold it together until such time that the hole becomes so big that no amount, nor size of safety pin can effectively maintain the garment’s structural integrity.

Mike: On that first historic Jam night, Kate, Kristi and Jess gave collective birth to their debut song

Kristi: The first song that we ever wrote was completely improvised. It was called ‘Quarantine’.

Jess: ‘Quarantine’ just happened organically.

Kristi: We kind of just made up the words as we were in the basement. I mean, there aren’t many words, so that one anyway

Jess: So that was pretty straightforward

Kristi: That’s what we were thinking about it. It was kind of funny and cathartic.

Kate: It was immediately so much fun, that we decided we had to keep it going

Mike: But to be a band, they’d need a band name

Jess: We were like, Oh, let’s sit down and brainstorm. Literally Kristi and Kate sat down with a piece of paper, and then Kate was like

Kate: how about ‘fucking carnage’?
Jess: we were like, ‘that’s it’

Kate: it was in my subconscious, yeah

Jess: a one suggestion brain storm

Kate: we will be Fucking Carnage and that was that

Jess: My mom really didn’t like the name ‘Fucking Carnage’, she thought it was very inappropriate. But I was like, ‘Mom, suck it’

Mike: The name was inspired by a song from Australian Metal band, Without Wings We Fall

Kristi: There was a line in the band where he goes, ‘fucking carrrrrrrnage!’

Mike: Kate discovered the song after planting trees with one of the band members.

Mike: What does fucking carnage mean to you?

Brent: Oh, at the moment, it is pure nostalgia

Mike: Brent Ottley from Warwick, Queensland, played guitar in the band

Brent: It was mainly Ryan, the singer – he did like all the lyrics himself

Mike: Okay. And what what language did he speak?

Brent: umm just English, primarily

Mike: Okay

Mike: Without Wings We Fall broke up a decade ago and only ever released two songs. But I was happy to let Brent know, like a seed planted in a Canadian forest, their legacy lives.

Mike: The band is called Fucking Carnage.

Brent: Wow. Tthat’s cool.

Mike: Cool right?

Brent: Yeah

Jess: The next day, like we woke up and Kate was like, ‘it’s time for practise’. And I was like, Whoa, we’re in a band now, because it’s time for practise

Mike: was practising something you were even anticipating before you went into it?

Jess: Even though I’m resentful of like the concept of practising, it does give me a sense of authenticity because I’m like the music business is hard, you know?

Kristi: We sat around the table and Jesse put a timer on and said, “You have 10 minutes to write a song Go”

Jess: It was just like we all put our heads together, did our own thing and then brought it together and everybody was just saying yes to each other.

Mike: For the sophomore release, the band delivered in a big way with ‘Boundaries’

Kristi: Boundaries happened as we were rehearsing

Kate: Well, Boundaries is about… the 2 metre minimum and about staying away. But it’s also about, you know, space for your mental health

Speaker 1: Oh but there was one thing we realised that made us a bit sad, which was that actually the tune of Boundaries – Quarantine, Boundaries – they are essentially the exact same, even though we tried so hard to make them different. ‘Quarantine!’, ‘Boundaries!’ it’s just like all our songs are actually the same.

Mike: Welcome to the music biz, Jess.

Mike: In the back of your mind or you just thinking, ‘look, this is just something to tide me over. I’m not actually serious about the band’?

Kristi: Oh, for sure. I’m not serious about the band at all. No. Yeah. It’s like really just a thing to do from a day to day

Mike: Do the other members know about that?

Kristi: (laughs nervously) I think so.

Mike: Okay…

Kristi: Umm yeah, yeah its…

Mike: I guess it’s just tough to hear, when you’re making a documentary about a band, and then the band member says they’re not even serious about the band

Kristi: Well, you know, it’s, ah, it’s hard to be serious about a punk band. You can’t take it too seriously

Mike: So I’m the problem?

Mike: Fucking Carnage chose to prioritise their image and public optics just as much as the music. They went to great length to dress and act like what they imagined to be punk. Their lack of basic research for the genre itself proved to be,0 incredibly punk. The result was a film clip for Boundaries that can only be described as uploaded. At the time of this recording it has over 310 views on YouTube. Fans were keen for more

Kate: ‘this slaps, I love Fucking Carnage’, you want me to keep going?

Mike: Is there more?

Kate: ‘This is smoking’, somebody said

Mike: What else have you learned about the music business is a whole since you’ve been in the band?

Jess: It’s not about how many fans you have. It’s just that you have some committed fans. You know, we were recommended in a podcast newsletter because I sent it to my other podcast friend.

Mike: Is this Nick Quah?

Jess: right, Nick Qu… No, it was The Transmitter

Mike: Did you send it to Nick Quah as well?

Jess: No. But should I?

Mike: I think so!

Jess: I’ll send it to everybody

Mike: Send it to Nick Quah

Jess: Yeah, no I will. Well, it’s not really a podcast though…?

Mike: What would you describe as your biggest musical influence?

Kate: probably Joni Mitchell

Mike: Oh, sorry. I meant musical influence. I’m talking Lion King Phantom of the Opera. Is there any of those musicals that you… West Side Story, Oklahoma?

Kate: Maybe, Mary Poppins?

Mike: Yeah, okay

Mike: Once you know the Mary Poppins link, it’s hard not to see its influence. Just like an upbeat chimney sweep, Fucking Carnage chose to turn a terrible situation into an opportunity. Because sometimes a pandemic feels like you’re stuck sweeping a chimney, surrounded in darkness alone, with not enough hand sanitizer. No idea how long it’ll take to finish. But while it’s hazy and distant, there’s always a light at the top of a chimney.

Mike: After the success of Boundaries, the band were forced to make a decision; continue with topical Coronavirus songs or branch out right about other things and risk alienating original fans. Kristi, the bass player, was happy to roll the dice.

Krsiti: I think it’s better that it’s not topical, because there’s a lot of topical content right now, and it’s a bit annoying.

Mike: I know hey. Jess wanted to explore personal themes.

Jess: I think the world needs a song about herpes

Mike: Why’s that?

Jess: I don’t know. It’s so taboo. It’s so dumb and like everyone has it

Mike: And while it’s true, herpes has been described as a hidden epidemic was up to one in five Canadians having the condition. Ultimately, the band avoided all virus related themes

Kristi: We had so much fun with Alpha Bleeder

Mike: Inspired by true events, the result was ‘Alpha Breeder’

Mike: Alpha Breeder. How would you describe that?

Kate: It’s actually Alpha BLEEDER

Jess: it needs to not just be about, like, getting your period. That’s kind of boring. But it needs to be a bit high concept, you know,

Kate: An Aplha Bleeder; the bleeder whose everyone’s menstrual cycles synch up to that alpha bleeder. Do you follow?

Mike: Yes.

Jess: Oh cause I think Krsiti was feeling resentful of me because she was getting her period. And I was like, ‘Oh, it’s probably cause I’m getting my period and we’re all like, trapped in this house’

Kristi: The line about, ‘she’s a punk ass bitch and a free bleeder’. That’s my favourite one.

Mike: She’s a punk ass….

Kristi: bitch and a free breeder

Mike: free breeder

Kristi: BLEEDER, bleeder

Mike: bleeder, sorry

Jess: After all the songs, I’d be like listening to like, I don’t know, whatever. Like Simon and Garfunkel. I’d be like, oh my God, they must have felt just like us after they wrote, you know, Scarborough Fair.

Mike: But with the momentum came tension. Maybe it was the stress of a global pandemic. Maybe it was a lack of vocal range. Either way, the first cracks began to show

Kate: ‘Jess on that note, you go up, but you’re supposed to go down’

Kate: Then we practice is again, Jess, you’re supposed to go down. Oh, my God. Guys, I’m so sorry. I’m so dumb. You’re not dumb. We just have to try it again. Okay, I’m going to get it this time. Okay, Let’s try it again. Okay.

Mike: What’s worse though, was a fracture in the group. Jess and Kate had moved back to Toronto to get away from New York. They’d grown close during their time there. Imagine sex in the city, but with two Canadians and not a lot of sex

Kate: But we became fast friends just this last fall…

Mike: Oh, cool. Okay, best friends?

Kate: Fast friends. Yeah, and best friends.

Mike: So wait. You’re best friends or not? No?

Kate: she is my be… I have lots of best friends, yes.

Mike: It was obvious Kate’s appetite for best friends wasn’t sustainable. And for the purposes of this story, I assumed it had to stop somewhere, specifically with someone, specifically with the third band member, Kristi

Mike: Is it awkward that Jess and Kate are best friends?

Kristi: Um, it is a bit awkward that Kate and Jess are best friends, yeah

Mike: I was warm.

Mike: How hard do you think it was for Kristi going into this with you and Kate’s relationship being so close?

Jess: Oh my God. Who told you about this?

Mike: Bingo

Jess: Ok. Whoa. I don’t know. I thought that it was fine because Christy and I have our own special relationship and Kate and I have a special relationship. Yes, granted is because…..

Mike: But what just didn’t know, that I did, was that Kristi’s overbearing need for connection wasn’t her fault. The real problem here was Jesse Corrigan.

Mike: Why isn’t Jesse in the band?

Jess: But the thing is, he is in the band. He’s just… not in the band.

Kate: I think it was pretty clear early on that we were going to be an all female punk band

Jess: Our band as a bunch of dudes, maybe would just not work the same way

Mike: Why’s that?

Jess: I don’t know. Male friendship just seems disappointing compared to female friendship

Mike: Jesse’s penis wasn’t his only problem

Kate: We also were not going to be exceptionally good at our instruments, and Jesse was going to blow all of those things.

Kristi: Okay, At one point, I said, this will be a great way for you to practise telling people what to do because Jesse is one of the most passive deferential people I’ve ever met

Mike So he’s improved his passive aggressiveness quite a bit?

Kristi: I think so

(phone rings)

Jesse Corrigan: Hey Mike!

Mike: Hey, how you doing? (in an energetic yet professional tone)

Jesse: Good man. How are you?

Mike: I’m good. I’m good. Thanks for chatting.

Jesse: My pleasure

Mike: Face to face with the bovine sex fiddling music Daddy

Jesse: My name is Jesse Corrigan and I am the manager for Fucking Carnage.

Mike: Maybe you can tell me where this whole thing started?

Jesse: (laughs) I like it. You’ll get this story and then you’ll get the real story

Mike: Let the mind games begin.

Jesse: In terms of music, yeah I play a lot of bluegrass and folk music. Very little experience with punk music or any rock.

Mike: Oh okay… alright…

Mike: Well, it didn’t take long, did it? Finally, an admission – Jesse Corrigan is a punk ass fraud

Jess: He was just so wonderful. Truly

Kate: sweet, gentle, talented man

Jess: He made himself vulnerable and present

Kate: Incredibly supportive

Mike: How controlling is he?

Kristi: Not at all controlling

Jesse: I’m so happy to be a part of it and I’m really excited to… what’s it called (trails off)

Mike: I was listening to some of the demos that you guys sent through and I can hear your influence. You actually… you’re in there quite a lot. Directing, guiding (awkward pause)

Jesse: Well there you go

Mike: Quite an active role in the band….

Jesse: I’m supporting them and I’m trying not to direct them too much. And you know, I can’t say that I’m perfect at it. Like I try to… what’s it called (trails off)

Mike: So I get he’s a good musician, but how is he as a manager?

Kate: He’s an exceptional manager actually….

Mike: Okay, how many gigs has he got you? Let me ask that

Kate: Well, you have to understand these are unusual times

Mike: Yes, but any zoom gigs or anything? There’s plenty of that going on?

Kate: Yes, that’s true. Okay, to be fair, he hasn’t gotten us any zoom gigs

Mike: Okay, any radio airplay?

Kate: thus far? No radio airplay.

Mike: Okay. Any talks with any record label or any type of distribution platform?

Kate: I’m not even convinced he has those connections

Mike: Has even got a Spotify account?

Kate: Maybe

(phone rings)

Dorothy: Hello, this is Dorothy

Mike: Hi Dot It’s Mike Williams here. How are you? (in an overly enthusiastic way)

Dot: (long pause) Hey, Mike, I’m good thank you, how are you?

Mike: I’m good thank you, is now a good time to talk?

Dot: (long awkard pause) What’s up?

Mike: So, I have discovered a band….

Mike: Dorothy Markek is the music director for Double J Radio, Australia’s authority on cool new music. She also happens to be a close personal friend of mine

Dot: Cool. Yep, you could just send it through

Mike: What if you had to listen to it now?

Dot: Yeah, can’t do it right now

Mike: It just so happens I have some spare time on my hands. Unsatisfied with Jesse’s ability, I’ve taken the initiative to do what he can’t

Mike: Maybe later today we could…

Dot: I probably won’t be able to give you an answer straightaway, considering… tomorrow I’ll do my best

Mike: That’s fine. That’s fine. Just have a listen.

Mike: A few spins on Double J would catapult the career of Fucking Carnage

Mike: Okay, I’ll send it through and call you back in a few hours

Mike: Their fourth and final release saw early fans rewarded. The band returned to their pandemic theme roots

Kate: So yeah, ‘Bang Trim’ was about getting your bangs trimmed

Jess: I feel like this band has been really liberating because the dumbest lyrics are better

Kristi: (sings lyrics) Sitting around with nothing to do, got my cigarettes and whiskey too, light up my smoke now my hair gets singed, guess it’s time to cut my fringe. Bang Trim!

Kate: Which is something that we see as kind of punk rock, but it’s also really fast, affordable way to change your look

Mike: But the song also saw them take on a whole new sound, and it caused relationships to reach boiling point.

Kristi: I didn’t want to do it at that point, but… but that we had to because it was like yeah, it was a goal was a commitment that we made

Jesse: There were times where – you know, the band just needed to take a break, that’s all (laughs nervously)

Mike: Okay, why is that funny?

Jess: We were in such a bad mood, like Kristi was so moody. I was so moody. I really want to go outside. Jesse was like having an anxiety breakdown about Coronavirus, and so we were all, like, kind of hating each other

Mike: Kristi also wasn’t happy with the new sound

Kristi: Yeah, the acoustic nature of it, like a weird attempt at an old time or bluegrass tune or something?

Speaker 2: Bluegrass…. Problems… sound familiar?

Mike: It started out very kind of traditionally punk, and then it turned very quickly, Jesse very quickly into a very kind of folk, bluegrass sound. I’m just wondering what your kind of role in that was?

Jesse: Umm. well, that was… umm… so (trails off)

Mike: Luckily, they managed to channel the energy into the character of the song. In the end Bang Trim was recorded in one take.

(phon rings)

Dot: Hello, this is Dorothy

Mike: Hi Dot! Mike Williams here, how are you?

Dot: (long pause) oh hey, yep, good Mike

Mike: Double J Music industry bigwig (and close personal friend) Dot Markek was beating down my door to discuss Fucking Carnage

Mike: Let’s start with Alpha Breeder

Dot: I think it’s Alpha ‘Bleeder’.. you said… Yeah. Anyway, our production wise, it’s kind of way too lo-fi

Mike: Really? I thought that would have been a good thing?

Dot: Yeah, look, it’s kind of endearing… but…

Mike: It was clear Boundaries was out of Double J’s league, but there was one more chance. As a long shot I’d pitched Bang Trim, knowing it would appeal to softer pallets. Jesse’s bluegrass influence, although selfish, might end up being the band’s ticket out of Toronto. This is Canadian punk rocks moment of truth

Dot: I got to say, I was definitely, you know, toe tapping under my desk. Probably from the third verse onwards I think the novelty started to wear off.

Mike: Really? Because the third verse is when it got a bit more interesting for me. ‘Went down to see my guy. When I got there, he wanted to say goodbye. Trim my bangs you son of a bitch, while you’re at it, suck my dick. That didn’t resonate with you?

Dot: Ah, no, I thought You know, I get it. I appreciate it. You know, as someone who’s tempted to cut my own hair in isolation, I think you know, Yeah. If I heard that too many times, I kind of want to start tearing their hair out.

Mike: (laughs sarcastically) Yeah, that’s funny Dot. Well, I mean, it’s funny you say that because this song alone has had over 200 hits on YouTube, so….

Dot: Okay. Cool.

Mike: Not long after the recording of Bang Trim, as fast as it began, the two-week quarantine was over. Jess and Kate left the house. Nobody’s sure when or if the band will reunite

Jess: I think Jesse said this smart thing, which is that anything is punk. It’s all about your attitude. And I was like, Yes, you’re right. I spent so much time caring about if I’m looking the part, but, you know, you look the part if you feel the part. I’m learning that from punk.

Kate: For me, it’s been a great lesson, that it’s never too late to pursue a dream like being in a drummer in an all female punk band

Kristi: Yes, I think it was a really cool thing to do by accident. It would not have worked if we had done it on purpose, it also wouldn’t have worked if we weren’t living together or if we had anything else to do
Kate: I will just look on with great fondness, like it was just this really special, weird, time that just came together in this organic way

Jess: It’s been really liberating to do something that has felt good, not because it’s good, but because it feels good

Mike: The history of punk rock has many beginnings, depending on who you ask. One thing’s clear, though. Punk is a reaction…

Jess: And that is just not really for anything like, I don’t care if the band doesn’t have a future like

Mike: A backlash against baking bread…

Jess: It’s been really surprisingly special

Mike: And push back against puzzles…

Jess: And also gave me somewhere to put my energy and my enthusiasm and my excitement during a time when you know a lot was changing and scary and confusing

Mike: Punk is a middle finger to a two-week quarantine.

Jess: I had my whole summer planned out and a lot of people around me are in a lot of pain right now, but I think it felt really good to just, like, go do something like really stupid and loud that was sort of designed to give ourselves a good time and make our friends laugh.