"British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. With an estimated population of 5.1 million as of 2021, it is Canada's third-most populous province".

Among those 5.1 millions we find 4 dudes, Lewis (Guitar, Vocals), Eric (Drums), Wyatt (Bass) and Trevor (Guitar), the members of Headcheese!

With a name cool as f@ck, they rock it as hard as they can... and we thank them for that.

Headcheese Official Bandcamp

Gentlemen, thank you very much for the opportunity. We will have to start at the beginning: who are the Headcheese, and what is this name? Ahahah

Glad you like the name, haha.  My name is LJ, I play guitar and sing.  My brother Eric plays drums, Wyatt plays Bass and Trevor plays guitar.  Trevor lives 3 hours away from the rest of us in Vancouver though, so we keep him up to date with rehearsal recordings and new song developments from afar.  

The name is actually a reference to "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre".  I wanted a really ugly stupid name for the band and I sat on it for a year before we actually got together and made it happen.  I think it suits our sound well. 

Releasing a Demo, and falling in the middle of such a pandemic, it must have been difficult in terms of promotion, right?

I actually wrote and recorded the demo with Eric in November-January of 2019/2020, so fortunately we got everything done, release the tape, and managed to play 2 local shows before shit hit the fan.

I suppose you had planned concerts, and managed to play some, but in general how did it affect you?

We were booked on some festivals in western Canada and had a small tour route mapped out for August but none of that happened obviously.  The lockdown actually afforded us the luxury of writing a whole MLP worth of material because me and my brother were living together at the time.  If I were participating in my other bands and touring as much as I had planned with every group there is no way we would have written a records worth of material and recorded it this year, so kind of a blessing in disguise.

How has this situation actually affected the USA? What comes to us through the media always leaves us in doubt, if you know what I mean …

Yeah Canada ain’t much better.  I cant speak on the USA, I don’t live there but I definitely see what y’all are seeing as well.  All hell breaking loose.

If there was one thing that caught my attention about your sound, it was actually the sound of the recording. And this in a very basic way, since I am an illiterate in Music. But I "heard" Black Flag to some extent, so I kept going! Was this the final sound you were looking for? And does it make sense to mention Black Flag?

Haha, very cool.  The recordings have some magic to them I suppose.  I like the product but I know if I started to take it apart I would dislike it a lot.  I try to leave things and not over think them if I can help it, so yeah I guess in some respect it was the mix and master we wanted at the time.  Would I do it differently now? Absolutely but you’ll hear that on the next record.  Black Flag is a solid comparison for sure, I know we all grew up loving that band among many others.

And at the level of influences? What names, albums, do you have as influential for the sound you practice? Are these your "Life Albums"?

I’m not sure I can fairly list anything deserving of the status “Life Album”, espcially for this project.  My inspriation and influences for this band are definitely groups like White Pigs, Crucifucks, Bum Kon, Killed By Death bands and stuff like that.  If we really got into it it could be an extensive list.  Basically really snotty 70’s and 80’s punk and hardcore is the flavour profile.

How is Hardcore Punk in the USA at the moment? Is Punk still a vehicle for strong and contested messages, or has that stiffer side of the genre been lost?

It’s abolsutely still there.  There are tons of great punk bands keeping the banner high.  Punk is a weird thing, there’s so many different subcultures rooted in and around it that it gets really tangled sometimes and can be super confusing to navigate as a young person, especially when there are whack politics floating around and sometimes bad representations of certain subcultures in peoples immediate scenes.  I think it’s safe to say that in general punk always trys to keep an open door to all walks of life  .

Kamloops, British Columbia. What can you tell me about your land? How is the music scene, how is the creative / artistic mentality of its inhabitants?

Well, it is in the literal sense and musical sense, a semi-desert in the middle of so-called British Columbia, the most western province in Canada.  I have been booking shows here for around 12 years and its had its ups and downs.  It’s a city of 100,000 and that can be challenging at times.  It’s located in a mountainous valley and is cut up by 3 rivers, so for that reason among others it feels segregated and getting a draw for shows can be difficult.  It’s been really nice taking a break from gigs this year but I’m definitely starting to miss it.  Because the scene is so small here, there are a lot of interesting people coming together from many different subversive cultural backgrounds, so there is a really eclectic mix of show goers here.  It makes for an interesting experience for touring bands.  There isnt much of a punk scene or devout hardcore scene here but considering the size its understandable.  Like any city, tons of boring indie rock and “hometown hero” type bands that I couldn’t care less about.

The USA is a huge country, there is no doubt about that. How does a band reach everyone - well, everyone not - those who are part of a specific scene? A van, a week on the road and let's go? It must be immensely difficult…

That’s really it.  You need to be on the road constantly if you wanna cover all your bases, but that is a very difficult and unrealistic thing for lots of hobby type musicians.  I have been fortunate with my lifestyle in that I can tour as much as needed and not jeoporadize my day jobs.  I play in handful of groups and try to evenly tour/travel each of them annually but not everyone can always do it.  The only other way really is just booking shows in your city or town like a nut and hoping you can build some bridges that way.  I know that helped me get started.

Is Europe at some point in the future on the list of objectives or do you not consider the adventure to be advantageous, or possible? Or you already played here and I was completely unaware (my bad) ...

I play in Mass Grave and we have done Europe. I loved it and I am very eager to go back.  I was supposed to be doing a tour out there this past September with my other band Bootlicker.  Headcheese may not have Europe on the horizon for a couple years yet but we will see how things go.  Who knows how long we will be together anyway.

How has this pandemic situation changed you, both personally and artistically, and how will things really change from now on? Has the Human Being realized, now, what has to change?

I think society will be changed in ways here and there. I think theres always going to be a looming fear of another pandemic and a lot of the habits developed throughout this lockdown will stick.  I have a lot more peace of mind to be honest, I’ve taken to other hobbies and practices that are personally beneficial to me.  I was previously living amidst absolute chaos for about 95% of my life and this time away has helped me slow down and pay mind to why that was.  Its great.  That in itself benefits the artistic side of life, minus the manic spontaneity that has served my writing process well up until now.  Who knows, I’m sure its not buried that deep.

And the future? What can we expect from you in the future? Thanks for your time, your words and your patience. Strong hug and more music!

We have a new aforementioned Mini LP coming out on Neon Taste Records early this spring.  It’s 12 songs of the cheese heads at their finest.  I hope you will enjoy it my friend.  Thanks for taking interest, peace and love and a strong hug back!