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Mike: Lineup has always been the same since we formed in 2020. We got Joey on
guitar, Todd on vocals, Curt on drums, and myself (Mike) on bass.
Shock Treatment: What is the IMPLODERS origin story? How do you guys all know each other and how did you decide to come together and start the band?
Mike: Joey and I had played in two bands together prior. Pink Wine and Teen Archer. He was one of the first homies I made when I started training into the city from Ajax to play in bands in Toronto. So we were well acquainted many years prior to starting IMPLODERS. Todd I had met through his previous band - Average Times. A garage punk band based out of Ottawa. I used to co-run a record label called Hosehead Records with my best friend Patrick (drummer of Chain Whip, another band I’m currently playing bass with) and we released Average Times first LP. So I slowly developed a friendship with Todd that way. Again - this is years prior to the formation of the band. Around COVID Todd had mentioned he wanted to leave Ottawa so I convinced him to set up Toronto as his home base and that we’d start a band when he got here. After that all came to fruition we added Curt on drums. He was playing with Plasticheads, who were my favourite local band at the time, and didn’t really want to commit to the band long term but agreed to play with us to keep up his chops.Eventually COVID unfortunately dissolved Plasticheads and 6 years later and he’s still with us - har har.
Shock Treatment: Tell me about your newest LP Targeted For Termination. How do you think this record compares to 2023’s Self Titled LP?
Mike: For me, this record is where we kinda found our footing. I think Targeted for
Termination is a killer record straight thru with no filler. The first one, although it has a special place in my heart, has a lot of tracks that we wrote pretty early on that we
stopped playing before the first LP even came out if i’m being honest. I don't think they’re necessarily bad songs, but in hindsight I probably would have ditched a couple tracks from that first LP to bring the runtime down and make it a bit more cohesive.
Shock Treatment: And speaking of Targeted For Termination, it landed on a lot of music blogs and music site’s best of 2025 lists, including yours truly here! That must make you guys feel pretty good and tingly, yeah?
Mike: I mean, yeah. It’s always a good feeling when something you work hard on has some kind of pay off. We have been very blessed to be associated with two killer labels -those being Neon Taste Records and Static Shock Records which I think we owe a lot of the “success” of the band to. Those guys are tastemakers - people listen to new bands because they’re on those labels. We’re obviously flattered that the kind of music we’re making is up to snuff to be released on those labels, but those guys do the real heavy lifting of getting the band name out there - at least initially. It takes special kind of people to run a record label, having got fed up with one myself eventually. So shout out to Josh and Tom for being real ones.
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Shock Treatment: IMPLODERS are currently based in Toronto. How does the home town crowd treat you guys?
Mike: The pessimist in me would love to sit here and shit talk Toronto but the reality of the situation is people have really embraced our band in the punk scene here. I’ve played in a lot of bands that couldn’t draw a crowd over the years, that never stopped me from doing what I love to do, but with IMPLODERS we’ve been super fortunate to develop a pretty wicked “fan-base” here in Toronto. It still feels weird to me even saying the word “fanbase” to talk about IMPLODERs but our gigs are always consistently well attended by homies and people we don’t know alike. But I think that speaks more to the sick hardcore/punk scene happening in Toronto thanks to collectives like Not Dead Yet and DIY spaces throwing gigs like Lowbar, than it does our band as a single entity.
Shock Treatment: And speaking of shows, you guys toured Europe last year! How was that experience, give me some stories and highlights!
Mike: Europe was great. This was our second time over there. It’s a bit less exciting going the second time around because you know what to expect. But there’s a reason bands love to tour Europe. Because they treat you like gold comparatively. This time around was also a little bit riskier as our former tour booker (shoutout Flo - what’s up pal) had retired from booking so we put all our faith in our tour driver Tomi (also shoutout Tomi!) who had never booked a tour before. Thankfully Tomi drove us on the first European tour and we knew he’d been driving for 10 or 15 years so we had faith he’d be able to put something together for us. And Tomi knocked it out of the park. We played some of the sickest gigs we’ve ever played over there. Highlights were probably playing some farm in the middle of the Italian countryside, thinking no one would show up, and then having tons of wild kids show up out of nowhere and mosh hard - followed by a bonfire and roasted chestnuts. Milan was sick - maybe the craziest gig we’ve ever played. People were moshing so hard that people were getting physically knocked out of the room. All the French shows were amazing. A couple people broke some bones at a few shows I heard, and whilst I don’t want anyone getting hurt at our gigs, it just shows you how hard those crowds went off. Europe fuckin’ rules and we can’t wait to get back there one day hopefully.
Shock Treatment: You guys also just played some shows with Spiritual Cramp on the AP Presents tour! How did all that run of shows come about?
Mike: We played with Spiritual Cramp in Toronto a few years ago when they cold called uson Instagram asking if we’d open the Toronto gig for them when they rolled thru on tour. We played the gig and hit it off with those guys really well. The gig was kind of underpromoted and at a weird venue so it kind of sucked attendance wise but they rocked and we had fun none the less. About a year later they hit us up again asking if we’d do 4 shows with them - Montreal, Toronto, Cleveland, and Chicago - and of course we obliged. And man, what a year of work those guys put in, because thisatch of shows were complete night and day from the previous time they rolled thru town. Massive crowds. The Toronto gig was so packed you literally couldn’t move anywhere in the venue. They’ve worked really hard and it’s cool to see it paying off for them. All the gigs we did them with were totally killer and we couldn’t be more stoked for the success they’re having. Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving batch of guys. Really hope we hook with them down the line again.
Shock Treatment: IMPLODERS songs remind me of a Tales From The Crypt episode! Not just lyrically, but the whole package. They're short, violent, disturbing and straight to the point! So tell me what’s your favorite Tales From The Crypt moment or if I’m wrong and you’re not a fan, another horror or sci-fi movie that has heavily influenced your songs.
Mike: We played with Spiritual Cramp in Toronto a few years ago when they cold called uson Instagram asking if we’d open the Toronto gig for them when they rolled thru on tour. We played the gig and hit it off with those guys really well. The gig was kind of underpromoted and at a weird venue so it kind of sucked attendance wise but they rocked and we had fun none the less. About a year later they hit us up again asking if we’d do 4 shows with them - Montreal, Toronto, Cleveland, and Chicago - and of course we obliged. And man, what a year of work those guys put in, because thisatch of shows were complete night and day from the previous time they rolled thru town. Massive crowds. The Toronto gig was so packed you literally couldn’t move anywhere in the venue. They’ve worked really hard and it’s cool to see it paying off for them. All the gigs we did them with were totally killer and we couldn’t be more stoked for the success they’re having. Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving batch of guys. Really hope we hook with them down the line again.
Shock Treatment: IMPLODERS songs remind me of a Tales From The Crypt episode! Not just lyrically, but the whole package. They're short, violent, disturbing and straight to the point! So tell me what’s your favorite Tales From The Crypt moment or if I’m wrong and you’re not a fan, another horror or sci-fi movie that has heavily influenced your songs.
We also used some soundbites from the movie Aliens (Bill Paxton's character) on the intro to “Brute Force” and a clip from Faces of Death on “Possessed to Hate.”
“Bloodstains on the Big Screen” is a love letter to horror movies partially inspired by
the Hells “Bloodstains in the Boardroom” at least in title. In that song we make
reference to Evil Dead, Heavy Metal, Basketcase, Blood Rage, I Drink Your Blood, the Bees, Toxic Avenger among others.
There’s probably all sorts of other movie tie-ins because a lot of how i’ll write songs
lyrically involve me hearing a word that sounds cool in a movie or whatever, and then I'll work the lyrics around that word/concept/idea. Hopefully that’ll suffice instead of picking my favourite Tales from the Crypt episodes.
P.S. I was more into the cartoon version of Crypt, being a 90s kid, but both rock.
Shock Treatment: What’s coming up in 2026 for IMPLODERS?
Mike: Looksmaxxing and bonesmashing on de beach mon. Honestly though, not really too sure at this point. We’re working on some new songs but nothing definitive set for release at the moment. We’ve got another live session for Equalizing Distort coming out. This time it’s all video recorded but I think we’re gonna do a second EXD cassette with those recordings. Some upcoming gigs - most notable May 16th with Home Front, Bootlicker, and Corrosives at the East End United Church on the Danforth in East Toronto. That show is gonna rule so if you’re around for that roll up.
Shock Treatment: Where are the best places for people to go and listen to your music and buy your records, merch etc.?
Mike: Best place to listen to our music is thru Static Shock or Neon Tastes bandcamp page. You can also buy the records directly thru them. Support your local record label! You can also check us out on your typical bloodsucking streaming services but I won’t be showing them any love here. Locals in Toronto can always find our records at Emissions Records. Shout out Dave.
Thanks for the questions. Hardcore punk rules. - Mike from IMPLODERS.
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