Band: In the Breaks
From: Halifax, Nova Scotia
Their formation story:
(Braydon, drums): "Our formation was driven by a series of coincidences and connections. Personally speaking, PMA/Youth Crew hardcore really changed the way I interact with the world in a positive way, but I used to wonder if being “boots on the ground” with that message could make a similar impact.
"My reservations evaporated in a conversation where a young show-goer confided that consistent queerphobic bullying at school was deeply harming their well-being. Despite this, being part of the DIY music scene felt instrumental to their safety. Seeing how the scene served as this lifeline pushed my decision to create In The Breaks. My hope was that our music would create an empowering and inclusive space for positivity that might benefit someone else, even in the smallest of ways.
"Nova Scotia’s hardcore scene is pretty small, with almost everyone in multiple projects, so I thought finding bandmates would be a challenge. However, my best friend Leo is a killer bassist and was immediately on board with the ethos. Through playing side gigs in a folk band, I was able to find our guitar player Matt, and through Leo’s time at music school, our vocalist, Mike!
"To see if we all gelled, we went on a trip to Cape Breton Island, staying in a hostel ran by an ex-professional downhill longboarder, which had a jam space. After we hiked one of the provinces highest mountains as a group and visited a local Buddhist temple, we plugged in our instruments, and in the first jam, we knew this group of four was 'In the Breaks.'"
Their sound in their own words:
"We are definitely repping the early 2000s-era Boston-esque hardcore sound, with a couple melodic parts and gang vocals for good measure."
Latest release info:
"Our self-titled EP (which we just released on July 15th of this year) was written almost entirely the weekend we formed at the hostel in Cape Breton. To us, our music is a real testament to the values we find in positive mental attitudes, especially in spite of a world that often thrives on negativity and violence.
"After taking some time to rehearse the material in the Fall of 2024, we reached out to our recording/producing friend Tom Zareski, and he was down to record the EP for us. Drums and bass were tracked in a 150-year-old barn (which we got to use courtesy of a friend) with help from local producer AJ Boutilier. Guitar and vocals were done at Tom’s studio, and Mikey Bowers (from the local Halifax band Dulse) mastered the record.
"Once we were done recording, we reached out to Jesse Nyberg, who made the digital album cover for us! We then brought the masters to our homies at Stuff Works Out Records. They were super down to put the record out for us, and we will be doing a quick tape run of the EP with them soon!"
Future plans:
"Our main goal is to continue playing shows and write more material. We’re also hyped for our Aug 9th EP release show at Halifax’s Commons Skatepark, which is also in support of a food drive we are doing for charity. Doing a tour through Canada’s east coast up to Montreal and Toronto would be super sick too, along with expanding our opportunities for community outreach!
"The Halifax DIY scene has been in such a good place, and we wanna make sure it stays that way. Theres some dope local bookers like Harbour Hardcore, Morbid Entertainment, and Crossover Bookings that keep the heavy scene vibrant, even though we’re in a pretty isolated part of the country."
What other bands from their region should we check out?
"Be sure to peep Botfly, Dulse, BREAKNECK, and Declawed for hardcore, Customer Service and idialedyournumber for emo, and all the bands on the Stuff Works Out roster. Peace, y’all!"
In the Breaks on social media: Instagram
Tagged: in the breaks
