interview with Coffin Dragger
Have any of you played in other bands? Yes! I've played in Dana Gray, Strength In Numbers, Death Sentence, Exit Life, Radio Caroline. I'm also in an emo band called Over Flowers
How is it that you started playing music? I started playing violin when I was about 6 or 7. My dad eventually showed me Slayer's War at the Warfield documentary and I started playing guitar soon after.
What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you? we've had several lineup changes but our current members are Charles Ondrovick (16, drums) Liam Bannon (20, guitar) Skylar Izzard (22, bass) Mat Craeivich (21, guitar) and I am 22
Did you make music even when you were young? I've been writing music since I was about 10
Where are you from? I hail from London Ontario but I was born in Hong Kong
What year did the band form? 2015
What's your style of genre? Hardcore
What inspires you? Happiness
How often and where do you reherse? We rehearse before shows mostly in my parents' basement
How have you developed since you started with the music? haha, jesus. My first band strength in numbers blew ass. Over the years my song writing has improved immensely.
Do you have other interests of work outside the band? I love skateboarding, art, tattoos etc.
Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? Not at all. DIY for life.
Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? It'd have to be the right label!
What made you decide to make this music? Slayer
Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? I write everything.
Do you start with the music or the lyrics? Music always.
Do you compose in a certain inviroment?Most of the time in my room
Have you done any covers live? Not with Coffin Dragger. We've thought about it but those dudes can never make up their minds haha
What language do you sing in? English!
What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? We've played to 10 people and we've played to like 100 people. It varies really.
What ages are most of your concert attendants? 16-17 to our age and older.
Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? We play everything we have.
Do you have a regular place you play live often? Everywhere possible. Playing too many home town shows is not on our agenda.
What was your first gig like? It sucked. The sound guy attempted to put some effects on the vocals and there was latency in my mic the whole time. It was so hard to keep up with the band haha.
What was your latest gig? The last show we played was at rum runner's in London with Aversions Crown and the last ten seconds of life
Have you had to cancel a gig? A few times but not too many. Mostly due to last minute stuff that's out of our hands
Where have you played live this year? Mostly southern ontario. We tried to book a tour but most of the dates fell through.
Where do you plan to gig the coming year? Hopefully BC. I'm moving to Kelowna in a couple months and will hopefully continue Coffin Dragger out there.
When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? As soon as we could afford it! We just sold out of the first run but we have a second run of T shirts for sale at the moment
Where can people buy your merchandise? Shows/ off the band members
What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? Music is for everyone. Unless we really needed the money I don't care if someone downloads our music for free.
Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? Older bands for sure.
What have been your biggest obstacles? transportation, money, gear problems.
What advice would you give other bands or artists? Be original. Play your music well live and be cool people.
How do you get psyched for a gig? Labatt Blue
Do you have any new material? Yes! we just released a two track demo called Fuck Your Brotherhood.
What are your web sites?
https://coffindragger519.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/FF519/
How can people reach you? Message us on Facebook!
What are your plans for the future? Moving to Kelowna and hopefully continuing Coffin Dragger! The future is bright!
