Features

Canadian skatepunks The Corps recently released their new LP 'Fractured Protocol,' out now on Thousand Islands Records. I’d say it was highly anticipated, but seeing as there were only two weeks between the announcement and the actual release, there wasn’t a whole lot of time for anticipating. It's every bit as good as anything they have put out in the past though and if you have heard any of their past releases, you know that is saying a lot.

We caught up with lead vocalist/guitarist Danny Garrison to talk about the new album, the addition of two new members, musical influences and writing lyrics through the lens of the DC comic book universe.

PRT: I remember getting a mail about the new ‘Dog Of War’ single, which mentioned a new album coming later in the year. And then suddenly two weeks later, the new album was already out. What happened there?.

Danny: The band had been chatting about different groups that would do "Big announcement coming next week!", then countdowns for singles, then a countdown for the new record etc, and that whole process taking 8 months. For me, instead of the intended purpose of having something to look forward to, I find it annoying as hell,  cause I like the band, and I want it now. So we decided not to put anyone through that way of doing it. Single, two weeks later, record.

PRT: The general theme on the new album is the frustration you feel when you’ve done everything the right way while working towards your goals and dreams and then have life step in and say ‘no’. Was there a moment when you realized that a lot of the songs centered around that feeling?

Danny: The theme of the album really only stood out after it was complete. While writing it, the only discussions about theme, were song to song.

PRT: I was kinda late to the party and only found out about you through the ‘From Oblivion’ EP from two years ago. Can you quickly walk me through how The Corps got started?

Danny: Stenning and I played in a band called Dead Voices for a couple of years , and when they called it quits, a friend asked what I was going to do now, I replied with, " I guess it's back to punkrock for me." Being a life-long comic book nerd, I decided to put the two together. Asked Stenning if he'd like to smash some drums and (thank god) he said yes. This was 2014, our first Ep In Brightest Day was released early 2015.

PRT: I honestly didn’t notice the link with DC Comics right away when I listened to a song like ‘Dear Detective’… am I thickheaded or do you consciously write your lyrics in a way that they will make sense to someone who isn’t familiar with comics as well?

Danny: The comic stories or references act as a mask to the songs. For example,  Dear Detective , is a letter Ra's al Ghul sends to Bruce Wayne, a story we created,  but the song itself is about the dangerous rise of fascism.

PRT: For that someone who isn’t familiar with comics and is looking for a starting point, what is your personal all-time favorite story arc in a comic?

Danny: I can't speak for the others in this way, and it's a very loaded question to begin with. But some of my go tos are Identity Crisis, Kingdom Come and Justice.

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PRT: I feel like for a band such as yours, there should at some point be a comic tied in with the band. Is that a dream of yours?

Danny: I'm happy taking in the stories as a reader. That being said, if DC wanted me to write some theme songs for them, I couldn't say no. That would be the closest to the content I'd like to be.

PRT: You have two new members in the band in the form of guitarist Morgan Farrell and bassist Dave Derksen. Was that an easy transition for the band as a whole?

Danny: Morgan and Dave were the first people we asked , and they both thankfully agreed. As with any project,  bringing in new people changes everything even though the material is the same. It's very interesting dissecting your own songs again for the purpose of delegating. They're doing great.

PRT: You don’t exactly hide your influences… Lagwagon, No Use, Propagandhi. How challenging is it to play that style and still manage to keep it sounding fresh?

Danny: You're correct. We've never tried to hide our influences. Hahhaha. We love what we love, and try not to get too hung up on stylistic properties. I find writing something you want to hear in the moment turns out the best.

PRT: ‘Fractured Protocol’ is out now on Thousand Islands Records, you have another European tour coming up after the Summer. What’s up next after that?

Danny: Yep, Euro tour starts September 26th, then we do an Ontario , Quebec tour late Nov early Dec to finish off the year.