Edmonton’s No Skies on their debut EP

Before their first headliner in the Castledowns skatepark bowl at the Wildrose Castle Jam, No Skies found a patch in the grass to chat with The Gateway about their recent release and the hardcore group’s progression. 

“Metallic hardcore is probably about the best descriptor, some evil hardcore if you will,” one of the band’s guitarists and vocalists, Joel Mitchell said. 

And while that may currently be accurate, they didn’t start out as a metallic hardcore band. “We were playing covers of Bad Brains and Fugazi at first. And those were the kind of shows we started going to together,” Mitchell said. 

The band’s other guitarist, Elijah Davis-Marchand, said that the band previously had recorded some demos, but that they aren’t as reflective of the group. “They’re cool to have in retrospect but we’re happier with expanding on the [new] sound,” Mitchell added.

“Because we didn’t start as a hardcore band, I don’t feel obligated to write in any certain direction and I can really just throw in whatever influence,” Mitchell said.

“I think people can come out to a show and come away thinking it’s a positive experience,” Mitchell says

The band said the Edmonton music scene was beyond supportive, bringing them onto bills and praising their demos. “It’s such a rewarding feeling and we’re finding our lane,” Mitchell said.

On their debut EP, In Absence of Virtue, Mithcell said they wrote the whole instrumental first. “We wrote the lyrics as they were tracking. But even then, I think it was our best set of lyrics yet,” Mitchell said, the band agreeing. 

On the tone of the record, Mitchell said “it’s just a negative vibe, keeping it evil.” On lyrics, they pointed out one track of the record in particular. “‘Far From God’s Image‘ is about people who use religion and Christianity to virtue signal, presenting themselves as better than people when they don’t make those changes themselves, hypocrisy I guess,” Mitchell explained. 

Davis-Marchand said that, while this song in particular is political, that isn’t the band’s main focus. “It’s part of the vibe of the shows. The whole genre for the most part has this message. And a lot of the bands we play with in Edmonton have the same views on a lot of stuff, but it isn’t the main thing,” Davis-Marchand detailed. 

“All the songs are on the negative side of the spectrum, topically, but I think people can come out to a show and come away thinking it’s a positive experience,” Mitchell said.

Davis-Marchand added that “it’s nice to just get out some negative thoughts. It’s nice to have an outlet that’s openly cranky.” 

No Skies’ debut EP, released April 22, In Absence of Virtue is available digitally, but also on CD and tape.