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| Photo by Don Denton |
Ty: I am Ty Stranglehold. I do the yelling. We also have Rayce and Tyrone on guitar, Donnie on drums and Silent Mike on bass.
Shock Treatment: How did you all meet and decide to form the mighty Knife Manual?
Ty: We are all members of a skateboard crew called Teem Shitty. Rayce, Tyrone and original bass player Dan had already been jamming and I found myself looking for a new band to sing for. Tyrone started on drums but really wanted to play guitar, so he suggested we try his roommate Donnie get behind the kit. He ruled and it clicked instantly. This was in 2019. By the end of 2024 Dan bowed out and our old pal Mike had just moved back from the UK and was looking for a band, so we asked him. Now we're locked in and moving forward.
Shock Treatment: What bands do you feel primarily added to the Knife Manual sound?
Ty: For me, the focus was stripped down hardcore punk (no crossover or metal stuff). Really fast, short songs. Early Poison Idea, Negative Approach, SNFU or M.D.C. come to mind. Local (Victoria BC) hardcore legends AK-47 are a huge influence on us too.
Shock Treatment: The band is currently based in Victoria, British Columbia yeah? What other bands do you guys like playing with out there?
Shock Treatment: Tell me what a typical Knife Manual show is like? What do you hope people walk away thinking after experiencing your band live?
Ty: Short blasts of intensity. There are no songs longer than two minutes, and live sets rarely go longer than a half hour. It's a bit of a balancing act because my lyrics are almost always a depressed or pissed off reflection of what is going on in the world today, but we want people to have fun. I find myself reminding the audience that while I am spouting a lot of negative feelings, all of us together in this moment is something very positive and cathartic. I want people to have fun, but think about what I said. I want people to know they're not alone.
Shock Treatment: What’s something you once thought punk rock had the power to do, but that now maybe you’re not so sure of anymore?
TY: That is an interesting question. I never really believed that punk rock had the power to change anything on on a larger scale. The system is working exactly how it was designed to work - keeping rich people rich and marginalized people marginalized. It might be easier to frame it like this, “what does punk rock have the power to do, that I never really realized until later in life?” I realized somewhere along the line that I need to play punk rock as a means to keep my mental health in check. Call it ‘scream therapy’ or whatever. There is something almost magic about how much I feel a weight lifted off of my brain after playing. It is a very powerful personal experience that we share. If I can help one kid at an all-ages show feel like they're heard and understood, that is real.
Shock Treatment: What’s one thing you’ve experienced being in a punk band that you feel people don’t talk about or most just don’t know?
Ty: I'm sure people must talk about it from time to time, but one of the most amazing things is the bonding when you hit the road. Sure, there will be rough patches, but so much of it is dumb jokes, call-backs and utter ridiculousness. Some people hate the road, but I would love to be able to do it more. It might sound silly, but there is something kind of empowering in being five dudes in a van rolling into a strange town where you don’t know anyone on a mission.
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| Photo by Don Denton |
Ty: I love Steranko's art. As someone who grew up in the 70s and 80s, his work always stood out to me. That Blade Runner piece was just me messing around on my computer and swiping his art (with the utmost reverence of course) and slapping ‘Knife Manual’ on it. His art (and others of the era) has been a huge influence on me and how I design stuff.
Shock Treatment: What lies in store for Knife Manual in the near or not so near future?
Ty: We are getting close to having enough songs for our debut full-length album (although our first 7” had eight songs on it, which is almost a full-length in its own right). In reality, we will probably get around to recording it in early 2027 since Knife Manual goes on hiatus in November and December as a few of us also play in the Christmas punk band Angry Snowmans. We are hosting the first ever Teem Shitty reunion here in Victoria in August. Lots of local bands coming together to party and celebrate the #2 skate gang in town! A little more long-term, we are really hoping to do a Japanese tour with the help of Teem Shitty Osaka Division, or Europe with the help of No Front Teeth Records (who released the Euro version of our 7”). The reality is that since we're all more or less middle aged, getting away from work, families etc. to tour isn’t as easy as it was when we were younger but we want to do it as much as possible.
Shock Treatment: Where can people go to follow the band on social media and listen or buy your music?
Ty: Like I mentioned, we’re old so we do have a Facebook page facebook.com/knifemanual
We have Instagram that I am straight up terrible at updating instagram.com/knife_manual
If you’re looking for our music digitally, the best bet is the Bandcamp page for our local label Stiff Hombre Records. stiffhombre.bandcamp.com/music
I am sure there is an evil streaming service you can listen to us on as well.