Band: Losing Game
From: Fort Smith, Arkansas
Their formation story:
(Cory Jensen, vocals) : “We originally formed back in 2022 when Justin Carnes (guitar) reached out asking if I knew anybody interested in playing hardcore. I mentioned that I had been looking for some people myself was hoping to front a project. We briefly discussed influences and what kind of sound we’d like to go for and he advised he had a friend Derek Weems (guitar) who could probably play bass and asked if I had anyone in mind for drums. I reached out to Chris Flores (drums) who I had briefly jammed with in the past and he agreed to get together.
"Our early practices were conducted as a three-piece with myself driving three hours and Justin driving close to two and a half in order to practice at Chris’s spot in Little Rock. Soon after we decided we needed to add a second guitarist or move Derek over to guitar and add a new member to take over on bass which is how Kevan Record (Guitar) originally came into the picture.”
(Justin Carnes, guitar): “Kevan learned our intro and the two originals we had during his first practice with us and we all just kinda agreed he was the one. We ended up playing a few shows, but unfortunately disbanded for a while, kinda felt like we couldn’t get the timing right."
(Cory Jensen, vocals)- “I remember after that practice we grabbed a late dinner at Chilis and spent like 3 hours sitting out in the parking lot just shooting the shit, it just felt right you know? Earlier this year I was talking to Justin and we both just kinda mentioned wanting to play again. From there, I reached out to everyone else and we decided to give it another go."
(Justin): "We were a lot more serious this time around and quickly got to work on fine tuning the old songs we had in addition to writing a new one which would later become the title track to our first demo."
(Cory): "We played our first couple of shows this year as a five piece before bringing on Zach Daley (bass) which brings us to now."
Their sound in their own words:
(Cory): “We all have a pretty eclectic range of bands enjoy and take influence from when writing. As for me some of my favorites include The Rival Mob, Stop and Think, Weekend Nachos, and stuff of that nature. A lot of Youth Crew and power violence. As for sound, I’d say we’re still in the process of figuring that out but at the moment we kind of lead towards a heavier NYHC kinda vibe.”
(Justin): "For me I’d say I pull a lot of influence from Leeway, Subzero, and Madball.”
Latest release info:
(Cory): “In terms of lyrics, I’d say the subject matter is kinda all over the place and will continue to be that way for the foreseeable future [laughs]. I just kinda tend to write down whatever is on my mind and go from there. On our first release I addressed my struggles with depression, as well as denouncing my former Christian beliefs. I’ll let Justin talk more about the title track, 'Bloodstains.'”
(Justin): “'Bloodstains' is about an altercation I got into a couple years back. I witnessed this guy at a bar who was becoming increasingly aggressive towards the woman he was with and decided to step in. He pulled a knife and went to town on my right arm.”
Future plans:
(Cory): “As for the rest of this year, we intend to just focus on writing. We’d like to have some new material here before long.”
(Justin): “We’re kicking off 2026 with our friends in Obliviate and Death Penalty at George’s in Fayetteville and in addition to that we have a couple others we’re still waiting on the go ahead to announce.”
What other bands from their region should we check out?
(Cory): “Chris also plays drums in xTHREATx representing Arkansas Straight Edge. In addition, we have to shout our River Valley brothers in Heldtight, my personal favorite Arkansas hardcore band, Death Rattle, and our friends in Cherry Waves who just dropped their first single which reminds me a lot of Say It Like You Mean It-era The Starting Line."
Losing Game on social media: Instagram
Tagged: losing game
