( Mace from left to right: Sofia Montagner, Esteban Riveros-Yepez and Olivia Montagner)
Photos and Writing by Sammy Bauer
One of the Toronto Hardcore scenes newest favorites, Mace, are releasing their first recordings to the public in only three days. I spoke to the band, who classify their sound and inspirations as “groovy beatdown music”. Out July 19 on all platforms, you can find Demo 2024. This demo will consist of four tracks, written and composed by Sofia Montagner (vocals & bass), Esteban Riveros-Yepez (vocals & guitar), and Olivia Montagner (drums). Mace played their first show back in January 2024, after forming in October 2023. They quickly became a well known name if you’re part of the hardcore scene in the Greater Toronto Area. They’re constantly amazing the local community, showcasing their talent from their young age as they’re teenagers all born in ’05.
I met with the band two weeks ago to chat about their beginnings, how its going, and how they feel about being able to play playing with their favorite bands and inspirations in Ontario after only a short time in the spotlight.
When did you guys meet?
Sofia: We went to high school together, knowing each other existed in grade nine. In grade 10, me and Esteban had some classes together. Then in grade 12 we had a lot of classes and become besties.
Olivia: Then we started a band.
When did you start playing together?
Sofia: Esteban and Olivia were in another band in grade 12. They broke up, then last October we were like we should all start a band and I wanted to learn the bass anyway.
Olivia: Me and Esteban played together for like a year before that.
Esteban: When we started that last band, we wanted it to be a hardcore band but it wasn’t. We had prior experience playing together, and we always practiced at Sofia’s house so she was in some way or another familiar with it.
Sophia: Yeah. I would have no choice but to hear it.
Esteban: We all knew each other and had a general idea of what to do with the band.
Tell me about the influences for your sound and writing the demo.
Esteban: We all have individual influences of what we want and it doesn’t always translate to how we sound, but its stuff we find inspiring and work towards. Like, I know between the three of us we all really like The Garden. So thats something cool we all like.
Sofia: We don’t even sound like them at all, but it’s general inspiration. Olivia’s into older music.
Esteban: Like 80’s hardcore.
Sofia: She’s an old man, Esteban likes any kind of hardcore, and I feel like I just nibble off of their music taste.
Esteban: Me personally, the bands that influence the stuff we are putting out now, and the newer stuff we are writing especially, would be Out Of Pocket, my all time favorite hardcore band from San Jose. All the bands from San Jose are fucking crazy. More local stuff: I know all of us really love Reality Denied, like they are crazy.
Sofia: My favorite band ever right now.
Esteban: Just like groovy beat down stuff like that, I really like the beat down stuff.
Sofia: …but make it groovy.
Esteban: Thats what I try to think every time I’m writing a guitar part. How do I make it groovy while still being brutal-ish?
What do you guys like about the scene/community in the GTA?
Sofia: At first going to shows, I was scared because there are big men. But then I realized, if you fall everyone picks you back up, everyone’s generally so nice and respectful. Sometimes after our shows, I’m just so happy because people are so nice. With our shows, it feels different because I’m a small girl and there happens to be a lot of big men in the scene. I’m kinda afraid of big men, but they are nice! After our Division 88 show with Blood Wraith and Shingen, these girls came up to us and said they were felling inspired and we inspired them. As a girl who is below average height, it makes me feel more confident to be a part of it.
Esteban: I really like the scene for what it is. I like the music, going to shows, buying merch, all of it is a lot of fun. There’s always hiccups and people who try to ruin it for everyone, but for the most part things usually go well and it’s fun seeing people moving. For our shows I know, at least for me personally, when we are writing stuff and when we are playing, I just want people to be energetic. To show the energy they have and move to the music in whatever way that might be. The more energy they have, the more energy we have. We very much feed off of it. When people are moving, we feel content. I just wanna make music that makes people feel stuff and want to move. If it happens, thats great! If it doesn’t…
Sofia: Fuck off!
Esteban: …then keep trying.
Do you have any favorite memories since you started playing shows?
Sofia: My favorite show we played was definitely the 10 for 10 show we just did. We played first so there wasn’t as many people, but we had people come up to us saying that was our best set and it made us so happy. It was amazing. Kiki from Dear Evangeline came up to me and said I really improved my stage presence, so that made me happy!
Esteban: My favorite memory is when we got asked to play a Brampton show. I absolutely lost my shit, because that show was like four of my favorite bands in Ontario all playing the same bill! It was Mile End, 100% Pure, Die Alone, and Reality Denied. Considering that was our fourth show, it was crazy.
Sofia: That was one of the first shows we were asked to play too.
Esteban: I think it was the first one.
Sofia: Sometimes I’ll be listening to Reality Denied and be like, holy shit… we played with them! I’ll be in shock, low-key emotional. How did we do that?
Esteban: I know Mile End as a whole was a really big inspiration for us. Love Jake, he’s so funny, a great guy and so nice. Playing with him is insane, crazy good songs. They were one of the first local bands I saw. Being able to play with them, being asked to play with them, was crazy.
Sofia: We always used to say “what if we play with Mile End” as like a joke and then it wasn’t a joke. It just kept happening with different bands too. I always wanted to play with Dear Evangeline and now we’re friends with them, which is crazy. Mile End and Reality Denied; the fact that was in the same show was a shock.
Esteban: I don’t know how I haven’t mentioned Jesse yet. If anyone in particular has been really supportive of Mace since we started it’s been Jesse and Klokwise as a whole. For the longest time, I think Jesse was at every single Mace show in some way or another. We recorded our demo with him so he was really helpful. None of us had any recording experience at all and went in to it really blind. He was really helpful. When I asked Klokwise to play our first show in Richmond Hill, I wasn’t expecting them to say yes because at that point Mace didn’t even have an instagram. There wasn’t anything more than just the name. The fact he was so on board before even knowing who we were, being able to give us that shot, was really nice and we are really appreciative of him and Klokwise as a whole. They’re really nice people and we love playing with them. They’re really dope!
Can you tell me about the two benefit shows you guys have put on already?
Sofia: We aren’t gonna take credit for this, it was all Esteban. We performed together, but it was his idea.
Esteban: At first, I was going to plan the show and we weren’t even going to play it. I just decided I wanted to put on a benefit show. I attend Sheridan College and park at this church across the street. So, I was wondering if they had a space to play shows in the basement because I was looking for a space that was somehow connected to a community I’m a part of. I know there’s not much to do in Oakville, so I thought this would be cool. The first time we did it, we had about sixty or seventy people max. The second time, we had a little over a hundred and twenty, so it was good growth. We have a third one in the works that will be announced soon in the same spot (St Simon’s Church). All the bands we played with are super dope! The second time we did it we were able to get Ethereal Tomb to headline that so that was really cool! Jesse was kind enough to play not one but two bands that night, with Do Flame and Klokwise. The next one will be August 10th.
How much did you raise and where did the money go?
Esteban: First time, we raised $934. We were just shy of $1000! My goal in my head was to raise over $200, so we definitely met that. We donated to this organization that sends out tents to Gaza to people who are displaced. The second time, we sent the money to families in Gaza directly through GoFundMe’s. The second show we raised $1643. It was a good amount each time, we are really happy with how it panned out.
Could I get the title of your favorite song from the demo?
Esteban: You might be unimpressed, but my favorite is called Outro.
Sofia: My favorite is called Mace!
Olivia: Mine is a little more interesting, it’s called Take Notice.
Esteban: So that’s three out of the four.
Here’s something silly to wrap it up, if you could choose a song for each of your personalities what would it be?
Estaban: You [Sofia] would be Have a Good Day Sir by The Garden.
Sofia: Olivia is probably something by xtc, that song you like Grass, or like a rockabilly song.
Sofia: Esteban, who are you bro?
Olivia: He’s kinda miscellaneous.
Sofia: I would go with something by the 1975.
Esteban: The 1975? That’s crazy.
Sofia: He didn’t want anyone to know that, well give him beabadoobee.
Esteban: Out of everything I listen to…
Sofia: That’s your inner self. He’s Beabadoobee on the inside, but on the outside he’s Reality Denied.
Esteban: Yeah, okay.
Find Mace on Instagram (@mace.hc) and be sure to keep an eye out for their next show, July 20th at Toronto Style. Mace’s performances get better every time, be sure to make the trek to their Oakville benefit shows if you can. If not, they have plenty of shows in Toronto.
fuelthescene.com 