Things have been moving at a frantic clip for Toronto punks Tashme. They recently released their second demo of 2016 and played the final day of the Not Dead Yet Fest. As they work on a debut 7" whispers about them being the best new hardcore band in the city have started to circulate.Named after a former Japanese Canadian internment camp in British Colombia, the four-piece play a style that takes elements of fast mosh and the Void side of the classic Faith/Void split. Blend in some tempo shifts and an unhinged energy and see how some of those whispered rumours could be true."In terms of us being very active, we have only really played a handful of shows in Toronto and are still very much a new band, " explains vocalist Lautaro. "We write songs pretty quickly though which is why we have back to back releases. We're only getting started though and we plan to continue releasing material and hopefully continue to improve and focus our sound."Taken a listen to the demo below and read a quick chat we had with Lautaro.Noisey: Jonah Falco described your sound as "a shift away from the most prevalent musical motifs in the Toronto scene, and toward a blend of what's happening in some of the bigger circles of the current hardcore realm". What do you think he means by this?
Lautaro: Toronto punk has had a stylistic shift in the past few years with a bit of a departure from more traditional hardcore sounds. A lot of new bands seem to be expanding their influences outside of just 80s punk and hardcore. While this is resulting in a lot of great bands and releases, we wanted to do something more inline with what initially attracted us to punk and hardcore. We've all been going to shows in Toronto for a number of years and just felt like ]the new output has left a bit of a gap stylistically that we want to fill with some good old fashion fast and mosh worthy riffs.How important is Not Dead Yet in the Toronto and Southern Ontario hardcore scene?
It always feels like a punk Christmas for us. NDY does a great job of putting Toronto on the map and getting people outside Toronto to pay attention to the bands in the city. It showcases hardcore globally while celebrating how great and active the hardcore scene in Toronto already is. It creates a really good opportunity for people in our scene to meet punks from out of town and reconnect with our friends that we've met through touring.You are named after a BC internment World War internment camp. Are Canadian students taught stuff like this in school?
None of us remember learning about it in high school but a few of us picked up on it in post-secondary Canadian history classes. One of our member's grandfather was held in Tashme and we feel that it's a part of Canadian history that is often overlooked or ignored. It's a shame that there isn't a bigger emphasis on some of the darker aspect of Canada's past in our schools. The idea that Canadian history is not as tainted as American or British history seems to resonate strongly in Canadian culture and identity, unfortunately, this idea doesn't always hold true upon a closer look into our past or present.What trends in hardcore 2016 would you like to see die out?
Honestly, I've been really happy and excited about the direction hardcore has been going in recently. Compared to when I started going to shows, I've seen an increasing amount of dialogue within hardcore about how to make it better, specifically in trying to dismantle the racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia that can still be present in our scene despite the ideals we try to uphold as punks.Representation of marginalized individuals in hardcore bands is something I've seen improving in Toronto and globally since I started going to shows. This is super important to me as I'm Latino and I wasn't seeing as many people of colour at shows in the past. If there's something I'd like to see die out it would be the assumption that participating in these dialogues exempts you from being capable of participating in parts of the problems. Many of us have privileges that we have to stay aware of as we try to better our community and we have to pay attention to issues that might be easier to ignore because of our privileges.Image: Alex Kress
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Lautaro: Toronto punk has had a stylistic shift in the past few years with a bit of a departure from more traditional hardcore sounds. A lot of new bands seem to be expanding their influences outside of just 80s punk and hardcore. While this is resulting in a lot of great bands and releases, we wanted to do something more inline with what initially attracted us to punk and hardcore. We've all been going to shows in Toronto for a number of years and just felt like ]the new output has left a bit of a gap stylistically that we want to fill with some good old fashion fast and mosh worthy riffs.How important is Not Dead Yet in the Toronto and Southern Ontario hardcore scene?
It always feels like a punk Christmas for us. NDY does a great job of putting Toronto on the map and getting people outside Toronto to pay attention to the bands in the city. It showcases hardcore globally while celebrating how great and active the hardcore scene in Toronto already is. It creates a really good opportunity for people in our scene to meet punks from out of town and reconnect with our friends that we've met through touring.
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None of us remember learning about it in high school but a few of us picked up on it in post-secondary Canadian history classes. One of our member's grandfather was held in Tashme and we feel that it's a part of Canadian history that is often overlooked or ignored. It's a shame that there isn't a bigger emphasis on some of the darker aspect of Canada's past in our schools. The idea that Canadian history is not as tainted as American or British history seems to resonate strongly in Canadian culture and identity, unfortunately, this idea doesn't always hold true upon a closer look into our past or present.What trends in hardcore 2016 would you like to see die out?
Honestly, I've been really happy and excited about the direction hardcore has been going in recently. Compared to when I started going to shows, I've seen an increasing amount of dialogue within hardcore about how to make it better, specifically in trying to dismantle the racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia that can still be present in our scene despite the ideals we try to uphold as punks.Representation of marginalized individuals in hardcore bands is something I've seen improving in Toronto and globally since I started going to shows. This is super important to me as I'm Latino and I wasn't seeing as many people of colour at shows in the past. If there's something I'd like to see die out it would be the assumption that participating in these dialogues exempts you from being capable of participating in parts of the problems. Many of us have privileges that we have to stay aware of as we try to better our community and we have to pay attention to issues that might be easier to ignore because of our privileges.Image: Alex Kress