Image of Shiv and the Carvers and CJSW Interviewer Brooklyn Billinghurst (left).
Shiv and the Carvers performed during Sled Island on Thursday, 9:30pm at Ship & Anchor.
TRANSCRIPT:
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Go ahead.
Shiv Scott
Hello, I’m Shiv from Shiv and the Carvers.
Nicole Maxwell
I’m Nikki from Shiv and the Carvers.
Mike Wiznuk
And I’m Mike from Shiv and the Carvers.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Thank you so much. Thank you guys for making the time for us today. You’ve probably had a pretty busy week at Sled, busy few days.
Shiv Scott
Busy like 24 hours, but we’re embracing the journey. Honestly, it was super fun to play last night at Ship & Anchor, which is a really cool bar.
Nicole Maxwell
Shout out.
Shiv Scott
Shout out, Ship & Anchor.
Nicole Maxwell
Shout out to the food.
Shiv Scott
We are Ship and the Anchors. We made that joke on stage.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
They have amazing food.
Nicole Maxwell
It was so good. Yeah, I was very, very delighted.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
You maybe, like, wouldn’t expect it.
Nicole Maxwell
Well we didn’t even really realize that they had food until we were like, on the way there, being like, where are we going to eat?
Shiv Scott
Yeah, I actually ate somewhere else because I didn’t know they had food. Yeah, they did have a pint of Guinness there. And they pour a very nice pint of Guinness.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Indeed, they do. Yes, they make really good dumplings too. Oh, I’m like, pub dumplings. That’s actually my drag name Pub Dumplings.
Shiv Scott
Pumplin if you’re nasty.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Miss Pumplin if you’re nasty. So I was, I obviously did research for this and listened to all your music.
Nicole Maxwell
You’re so academic.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
MLA format haha, reading about your origins, I found out that you guys are from the roller derby scene in Toronto. I don’t know anything about that, and that is a very unique origin, like, I don’t know any band that originates from that. Could you please tell me more about that? That’s how you all met, like, shed some—shed some light.
Shiv Scott
Yeah. So, I mean, the music part kind of started more like I played roller derby right before the pandemic, okay? And when the pandemic hit, I had, like, so much time to myself, so I just started writing songs again, like I had done, you know, five years, six years prior, and it kind of started as a solo project. And Mike, I knew from a job previously. And you know, he when I came time to putting together a band, I asked him to be our drummer. And Android, we met in roller derby.
Nicole Maxwell
I get called Android because my derby name was Android W.K. After Andrew W.K. yeah, and it has now just stuck and gets adopted by like, Mike, who didn’t even know me when we were playing derby. But yeah, I started playing, I think, in 2012 and I played for about four years before I was like, Oh, the old noodle got rattled, real harsh. The egg has been scrambled, and then I was just a coach. So yeah, Shiv had joined when I was coaching for a rival team. Yeah,
Shiv Scott
And we also met at the skate park. We met officially at the skate park, because-
Brooklyn (CJSW)
You guys just get cooler and cooler.
Shiv Scott
That’s how we met. Annie to our bases, who, yeah, shout out Annie, our bassist. She was sleepy-eepy this morning. Little angel, yeah, skating is, like, really big part of like, I guess, like, how we express ourselves and like, where we put our energy towards. And I think there’s a lot of overlap to between, at least for me, I think I played in a band very briefly before I played roller derby, like, played like, maybe like six shows in Toronto. But I think being playing roller derby taught me a lot about, like, being on a team and being in a really fast paced moment, yes, where you have to react really fast to the like, people that you’re doing this thing with, and you have to be able to, like, pivot and, you know, kind of react off each other and listen to each other, but listen to each other’s like, body language and stuff. And I think that made me better as a like musician. I guess, weirdly enough, I don’t know.
Nicole Maxwell
Yeah, I always just think of like, the two things as being like in roller derby and being on skates in general. It’s like, you don’t ever want to be like, barreled. To be like, barreled down. You want to be like, light on your feet and everything. And you want to be able to be agile and move. And I even just like physically playing guitar. I have to think about that, because otherwise I’m like, death gripping the guitar and my hand hurts, and I don’t play as fast. And it’s like, right? You got to get those balances of body. And even I think of drumming. You know, you play drums and guitar, and every incident saying with your whole body, you don’t just, like, yeah, stiffen up and do it.
Shiv Scott
Yeah, it’s a whole body thing. And, like, obviously. Love it when people clap for me. Love that in rolly derby. Love it now.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Love the praise, the showers of attention.
Shiv Scott
Yes, who does? You do something cool, and everyone goes ‘Woah!’
Nicole Maxwell
Yes, you stood up on a table.
Shiv Scott
I know it’s a real lower bar for band stuff. It’s a lower bar. It’s not like jumping the apex or smashing somebody out of the-
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Getting absolutely wrecked.
Mike Wiznuk
I’m the one non-skater in the band, which is why I sit down for the whole show.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Can you skate? Do you know how?
Mike Wiznuk
Well I have—I can ice skate right as well as the average person from southwestern Ontario, but, yeah, no, I cannot roller skate or skateboard or nothing like that.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Are there other roller-punk bands, or is it just you guys?
Nicole Maxwell
I don’t know. I don’t think we are the arborator.
Shiv Scott
I don’t think we’re I don’t think-we can’t be the only ones I know. LEMONBOY, one of the bands that we played with last night, one of them’s a skateboarder, and the another one’s a roller skater. I don’t know if the other the roller skater comes from roller derby, but I also know, like, people in roller derby wasn’t Bambi in a band.
Nicole Maxwell
Oh yeah, Spitfist would have probably been the very first one. Yeah two of, like the founding members of Toward were in this band called Spitfist, and it was just like, this female punk band that were just, like, really ripping. And I saw them one time. They did a fundraiser for The Gores, yeah, their old team, and, yeah, I think that was probably one of the first but I’m sure, like across, like, the states and stuff, and across Canada, there have been so many bands formed around or from or then went into roller skating.
Shiv Scott
I do you think you end up listening to so many, like, obviously, there’s like, a soundtrack to the bouts where it’s like, a lot of high energy kind of songs like, a lot of like rock or punk songs are, like, played peaches. Yeah, at every single the boys want to be her, the girls want to be huh, like from whip it with Elliot Page, yeah. But I think too, when I joined roller derby, I was 21 and I saw, like, just a bunch of women who were, like, a lot of women join in their 30s or even 40s sometimes. And seeing like all of these women who make time for themselves to do this, like, really bad ass thing. And they, you know, don’t really care about, like, what people think of them or like they they’ve created, like, their own space that they like volunteer for. And they like they are really like the, you know, the league drives itself forward. I think like that overlaps as well with, like, music stuff. And, you know, it’s like the the DIY organizing spirit and, yeah, you know, the aggressiveness and, like, having that outlet of expression, I think, like, there’s a lot of, like, correlating factors there, for sure.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Very conducive to just organizing yourself and being yourself.
Nicole Maxwell
Yeah, and removing a lot of, like, limiting self, limiting things. Yeah, totally. You’re like, oh, I can’t go on these skates and skate around in a circle and hit other people, or, ‘Oh, I can’t go on a stage and play these notes and not, you know, cry later.’ Yeah, you end up just being like, ‘Oh, actually, I can do this, and it’s fun and I’m good at it.’
Brooklyn (CJSW)
I love to hear that. That makes my heart warm. It’s very exciting, if I may say, to see bands like you guys around because it feels like a bit of a renaissance for like, female driven punk music right now. What has the fan reaction been like to you guys since you’ve started? Has it changed at all over the last couple of years? And could you share maybe a little bit about like Toronto community as well?
Shiv Scott
Yeah, I think I’ll leave the Toronto Community up to to you, Android, after but I will speak on the well, just because you’re a big you’re a big part of it and the community that we’re part of, I like, was introduced to from through you.
Nicole Maxwell
Do you want me to shit? Just kidding. Then, I think, Toronto can be a really hard city to impress, and it goes just like, hand in hand with, like, being a good odd, like a fun audience member and a fun band, right? Like, if you’re gonna have more fun on a show, if you’re engaging, and I know that from over like, engaging incredibly, and also disengaging and being like, which time was more fun. But there’s been, like, a really great crowd of people in Toronto who I’ve kind of relearned that from that you when you’re up at the front and you’re giving the band energy, you’re gonna get better energy. You’re supporting each other. You’re supporting each other.
Shiv Scott
Like you were saying, Leah and Kayla, yeah, and Kayla from Rich Rot.
Nicole Maxwell
Rich Rot and Secret Signs, shout out, shout out two very, very amazing singers from Toronto. And yeah, they’re just like, always up front, supporting their friends, bands like, bands that they love. And that’s like the kind of energy that I’m like, I aspire to bring that, and then also just having like, good hubs of like venues. I mean, I think it almost comes up in every interview now, is hounds is like my local it’s like, where I started playing guitar in the basement there, like, by myself in 2020 when they opened in 2019 and then immediately had to shut down, like, four months later. But yeah, they like, do pay what you can shows they do practice spaces. They’re open from like 10 for people who like work, like bring their laptops to work, to like two in the morning for people who are getting off, getting off work and wanting to, want a nightcap. So there, it’s a pretty cool space. And I think it’s really lucky to have something like that. And so. Many less, like so many DIY spaces have closed throughout the city, and it’s hard to have those things in a place where rent is incredibly high and things are so expensive. And, you know, there’s a lot of great bands, but it’s hard to be like, I’m gonna pay $15 to $35 to go see my friend’s band again and again and again. Pay What You Can is kind of like, yeah, all your friends are going to come out. And I’d rather have more people out than make more money in that sense.
Shiv Scott
Yeah, and like, in terms of, like, fans, and like growing, like, you know, reaching more people. Like, I do feel like this is a great like, time for, like, rock music. Like, you know, aim on the sniffers is like, a big influence on us. And like, shout out, shout out. And we, like, we love that band. And like, I’m like, a huge Fontaines DC fan, they’re amazing. It’s like, so good. And, you know, Turnstile just put in an amazing album. And Bad Waitress just finishing their US tour. And like, there’s so many amazing and even in Toronto, in specific, like, there’s Burner, there’s Dermabrasion, there’s Roach, like, there’s so many good rock bands out there. And it’s like, I feel like people are really leaning into like, the aggression of like, rock and like, especially, we live in, like, a really crappy time right now. I mean, the world is always crappy, but right now, like, politically, it really feels like we’re, you know, we’re fighting fascism, and we’re, you know, there’s, we’re in a, kind of, in a surveillance, like technological surveillance culture, and we’re watching, like, people being like, bombed out of the sky with nowhere to go, like, live streaming on our phones. And I feel like, at least like, the music that I’m drawn to, like, lets me kind of, like, get that hopeless feeling out into something like, a little bit more productive. But we’ve, we’ve had, like, a lot of really great people, like, react to our music. What was the most amazing thing was like, like, we still get those like, we had a guy, even last night, come up to us and he’s like, ‘Oh yeah, I really like your sexy stage moves. He’s like, I love it when you opened your legs.’ And I was like, ‘Alright, goodbye.’ And I just like, walked away, yeah. But like, that wasn’t amazing. But the amazing thing is, like, we had two girls who came to one of our shows in Guelph, like, a little while ago. They came to our Toronto show, like, a couple months later, and they told us that they had started a band because they saw us play. And I was like, that’s crazy. Like to think that, like when you write music, all you want to do is, like, connect with other people. And to think that, like, what you made connected with someone so much that they wanted to do the same thing that you wanted to do because you heard somebody else is, like, absolutely insane and like, so grateful for any show we play, any opportunity we have, any person we talk to.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah, that’s wonderful. And yeah, be sappy, though, because, like, that would blow my mind if, like, two little girls came up to me. Maybe not little girls.
Shiv Scott
They were adults, but they were younger than us.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
They were fresh-fresh young ladies.
Nicole Maxwell
They were still measured in weeks.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
15 week old babies are starting bands? This is the woke agenda? Grindcore babies. Sorry, side note on grindcore, there’s a huge grindcore scene in Calgary.
Nicole Maxwell
I feel like that makes sense. Yeah, it’s just one of those things, of like, there’s probably a lot of aggression that gotta get out of this city, let alone this province. Yeah, I love you Alberta. Love you.
Shiv Scott
So I heard you guys don’t have rats, by the way. Sorry, I’m going down this route. Yeah, the rat hole. I’ve been talking about this, yeah, like weeks, because I saw Strange Eons video on it, because it’s this YouTuber just moved to Alberta and heard about how, like, the campaign to like, make people recognize what a rat is, because a lot of people didn’t know. And then I learned about the rat control zone, and like, the rat czar, who, I don’t remember his name, but he, like, was a specialist in, like, murdering all these rats.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
When I was a kid, we had the Ratatouille DVD, and it had a bonus features, and part of it was about the plague, and they mentioned Alberta in it. And as a kid, I thought nowhere had rats. Like, I thought they were just gone. I was like, that’s a thing of the past. And then they brought this up in the documentary. They’re like, yeah, Alberta is the only place in the world that doesn’t have rats because of the rats czar. And they had this little animation of a goaltender, like, hitting rats out of a goal. And I was like, oh, so, because my brother my dad, are goaltenders, yeah. And I was like, this is, this is-
Nicole Maxwell
This is probably exactly what they’re doing, actually, what the rat control zone looks.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
I was like, in my childhood brain, I was like, but yeah, no, rats here. I’m not a fan of critters and rodents. They deserve the right to live. I don’t want to see them, yeah? So I’m perfectly okay to live here.
Shiv Scott
I understand that disease carrying, you know, issues, but I think it’s kind of cute when the rats ride the subway with you. You know what I mean?
Nicole Maxwell
When you see one like, scurry into a bush and you’re like, ‘Hello friends.’
Brooklyn (CJSW)
We have lots of gophers.
Nicole Maxwell
I saw some Gopher holes. I saw some holes.
Mike Wiznuk
We got magpies. We got magpies in Toronto.
Nicole Maxwell
I don’t think even in like Saskatoon, there are magpies. I think it’s like-
Brooklyn (CJSW)
I know BC has a ton of them, and here, there’s a lot of magpies.
Nicole Maxwell
And up in Yukon too.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
They’re loud. They’re loud as shit.
Mike Wiznuk
Yeah, that’s that’s been our alarm clock.
Nicole Maxwell
They kept me up at three in the morning today.
Shiv Scott
I actually haven’t noticed at all.
Mike Wiznuk
Well, lucky you.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
I will be contacting my Magpies czar.
Nicole Maxwell
We’re gonna need a Shiv czar to keep this bitch out of the province.
Shiv Scott
You got through the rat control zone Droid, what are you talking about?
Nicole Maxwell
I’m allowed to be here. I’m a big fat rat.
Shiv Scott
She’s a little rat.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
I was waiting for someone to make that joke about one of you
Shiv Scott
Actually rat girl got through right here.
Nicole Maxwell
I do eat garbage. Food does not go bad. That is not a sentiment endorsed by CJSW.
Shiv Scott
We’re speaking our own personal opinion that does not reflect on CJSW right now. But I think some like, due dates, or best before dates are, like, actually not say, actually valid. So you have to, like, check, always, check your food. Give it a smell.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
My grandma, 88, she does not believing best before dates. She’s like, they put that on there to get me to buy more, and I’m like, lowkey-
Nicole Maxwell
Best before dates just make you paranoid.
Shiv Scott
Shout out. What’s your grandma’s name?
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Audrey.
Shiv Scott
Shout out Audrey.
Nicole Maxwell
Shout out to all your grandmas out there.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
All the grandmas out there. I had something to add about rats. I can’t remember—actually, I do remember there’s a comedy show in Calgary called RatBoy and there’s no rats here.
Mike Wiznuk
It’s aspirational.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Well, I think it’s more like, we will turn a boy into a rat, somehow. We’re in the lab. Don’t worry.
Nicole Maxwell
I’m on the market for rat boys. Please apply.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Rat boys, please hit my line. So you’re playing—you’re playing the Ship tonight, or you played the Ship yesterday?
Shiv Scott
We played the Ship & Anchor yesterday. We’re playing PinBar, PinBar today, at 4pm.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
At 4pm What are you hoping people walk away thinking from your PinBar show today? Or what did they walk away feeling yesterday? Do you want to be different? Like, what do you what do you envision for this?
Shiv Scott
We’re playing a different length of sets. Yesterday was 40. Today is 30 minutes. Okay? Our 30 is, like, real tight punk bangers, like, we we pop it right, right out. Keep the energy up. We speed up as we notoriously speed up the songs as we go through the set. Just getting more and more amped.
Speaker 4
We have a hand gesture worked out with Shiv and I where if the song is feeling too slow, Shiv will just turn around and like, point up. And I’ll be like, okay, cool.
Shiv Scott
Yeah, yeah, speed up. And yesterday we did two, we have two longer songs that are kind of like a little bit more mid tempo, reflective. They still go really hard, but we gave we had more of like a journey, I think, across the like the 40 minute set, whereas the 30 minute set, it’s just like, Let’s rip. Let’s rip. So I think we just want our shows are just like, let’s play some music. Let’s have a fun time. Like, I love, like, I used to play guitar in this band. I don’t anymore. So now I can just, like, run back and forth. I can look people in the eyes. I can, like, jump on things. I can, like, jump into the audience. Like, awesome. It’s just fun to, like, be in the moment. And you never know. Like, I think the messiness, we’re a little messy, and it’s like part of our charm, yeah, like, we just played a festival in Toronto, Due West Fest, and I thought it’d be really cool if I put one foot on the barrier and had one foot on stage, and then I tapped the barrier and it was not stable, and all my roller derby training went abort, and I just like, fell backwards, and I only missed two words of the song, but it was a little embarrassing. But it’s okay, because apparently someone in the crowd shoved a bunch of people at the same time, and not a lot of people saw so okay, but I’m outing myself anyway.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
The people will know now.
Nicole Maxwell
Don’t rat yourself out.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Android, hot tip, don’t rat yourself out.
Shiv Scott
Okay, the messiness is part of it, yeah? So you never, you never know what you’re gonna get. And it’s always like, we like having fun.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
That’s why you see live music, yes, you never know what you’re gonna get.
Mike Wiznuk
I know there are a lot of bands that like put a lot of value on trying to replicate the record as closely as possible. I don’t want that. If I’m going to a live show, I want. To see a special moment captured only at that time. So that’s more our ethos, yeah, do something weird.
Shiv Scott
I have another comment on this too. I’m going, well, I was watching, like a YouTube video essay on concert culture and how it’s kind of like gone downhill, yeah, recently, like the major tours and stuff like that, just like artists like, you know, complaining. I’m thinking of like, the example they used in it is like Halsey was like complaining that, like at a show, like people weren’t like dancing, or people were just like frozen stuff like that, and someone else, like stitched a TikTok response or something, saying, like, you’ve priced out your fans because your tickets are so expensive now the people who actually like are going to engage. Like, the kids that want to come see you are not, like, able to go to your shows kind of thing. And like, you know, I don’t whether that’s an intentional choice in the artist part. Like, you know, hard to say. But even like bands, like, I bought a My Chemical Romance ticket for Toronto for $200 for, like, nosebleed, and then I just ended up, like, selling it because I was like, I don’t was like, I don’t want to pay $200 to go to the show, like, to see this band that, like, is good, but like, I don’t know-
Nicole Maxwell
You’re gonna be a nosebleed, see, yeah, like, and, I mean, even in like, a big arena show, like, I’m sure the show is, like, amazing and stuff, but there’s still, like, be like, I said It’s being close to the people that are enjoying the music and you’re feeding off that energy of it’s like, it’s like watching a comedy special on TV versus going to a comedy club, like people around you laughing, engaging is so much more fun. Yeah, it’s like sitting on your couch.
Shiv Scott
The local shows is like, so much where it’s at, and like, 100% like shows, like festivals like this, are so much, where it’s at, like, going to be able to hop from venue to venue and, like, maybe see a band that you’ve, like, heard one thing about, and you’re just like, I’m gonna go check this out. And like, you’re in like, a little intimate room, and you can, like, get to see a moment and see something like, different, I think, is like, something that we just like. I feel, I feel grateful for that totally. I feel like it’s important to, like, fight for that and focus on that.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
There’s something about being in a sweaty room with strangers that just like, unlocks this level of, like, dopamine, that I’ve, like, rarely ever experienced. Like, Deftones is coming to Calgary. And like, don’t get me wrong, love Deftones, but they’re playing the Scotiabank Saddledome. And I’m like, I want to see Deftones in the Palomino basement, 200 other greasy kids.
Nicole Maxwell
Wasn’t it the like, Turnstile show that was just in a park, like, hundreds of kids that showed up. But it’s a free show. And like, that’s where you get like-
Shiv Scott
They’re like, packed, and it looks it looks so sick. It looks so and it was a benefit, I think, for like, homeless folks or unhoused folks in their city too. So it was like, like, that’s like, you know, that’s the kind of show that, like bands like that. I’m just like, you’re doing, you’re doing, you’re doing amazing, sweetie, yeah. But like, on our side, it’s like, we try and keep our tickets, like, relatively affordable. Like, if we’re setting a price for a show. It’s gonna be like, you know, under 20 bucks advance, and then like, Max 20 at the door kind of thing for like, multiple bands, like, you know, more like, at least three bands kind of thing. It’s like, you know, trying to control what you can to like, contribute to, course, making that space, like, more accessible for people. And if people, like, a lot of the times at our shows, if people, like, really can’t afford it. Like, we’ll just let them like, yeah, no one turned away for lack of funds.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
I love that. I love that. I’m a big concert head, so this is, like, really striking a nerve. Like, I love to travel for concerts and like, yes, that does get pricey, does strain the wallet, but I’m there for the experience of the thing. And I’m only going if I know I’m getting, you know what I mean, like getting that.
Shiv Scott
Yeah, it’s more just like paying the money to see the songs. It’s way more than that.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
We can talk more. We can talk more. We could talk all day about this. All day about this. I want to talk about your lyrics a little bit here. I think you guys balance being edgy but also being fun really well, because I think maybe sometimes people can get lost in trying to say a message, and then maybe a bit of the fun gets drawn back, right, and you’re like, a little distracted. I think you guys tow that line like, almost perfectly. Like, I really like it, and how do you strike that balance? Like, do you strike it sonically and then words? Or, like, could you talk a bit about that?
Shiv Scott
It kind of comes in, like, we’re kind of changing as that happens. Like, I kind of started off writing all the music and lyrics, like, our first EP, I think I wrote like 95% of that EP, or at least, like, the chords and the lyrics all came in together. The the second EP, tell me you love me again, that just came out. That was more like, you know, Mike wrote the bridge chords for, I want it all, and then I wrote the lyrics on top of that, because I was really stuck, and I had the rest of the song, but I didn’t know, like. Where to go from there, and meltdown, like Annie came out, came up with the riff for the meltdown part, and then, you know, Android built her lead on top of that. And it’s cool to, like, collaborate more. And even we have a song that we were played yesterday, we’ll play today. It’s called, I hope you choke. And like, Android wrote it. Like Android wrote the the chords, and then her and I sat down and we did the lyrics together. And, like, it’s cool to be more collaborative with that. Like screens Mike wrote another song. Like Mike wrote the chords, and then I wrote the lyrics on top of it. And I do tend to write more of the lyrics. Or, like, if we write collaboratively, it’s it ends up coming out, has to come out of my mouth in a way that, like, makes sense and sound, yeah, sounds like a deliverable on my end, but I do like, a lot of writing on my own, like externally, and I just think it’s more fun to slip like political ideas into like songs in a way that people, like, don’t expect, or even just like personal struggles, like I don’t know I want it all. It’s about, like, my own compulsive behavior and like, wanting to just eat until my stomach hurts, and wanting to, like, smoke or like, consume substances until, like, it’s like hurting me or whatever. And you know, wanting love so much because, like, I want the attention kind of thing. And like, the chorus is, like, I want to stick it down my throat and swallow until I choke. I want it all. And it sounds like, vaguely, like an innuendo. But it’s like, not vague.
Nicole Maxwell
She’s very subtle, ratting yourself out again,
Shiv Scott
Ratting myself out again. But like, I don’t know, I think it’s like, especially if you have a hook that’s like, sounds a little horny, or sounds like sexy, people are gonna be, like, drawn in a little bit. And then, like, yeah, perk up. And then, like, if the rest of the lyrics can, like, make you think we have another song daddy’s always watching that’s like, Daddy’s always watching you. And it’s like, about surveillance culture and like, technology. But it’s like, wrapped up. I love it when, like, I love pop music, but I love it when, like, a pop song can, like, grab you and, like, make you think about something for like once.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Totally, totally, yeah. And I think you guys kind of nail that.
Shiv Scott
Thank you. We’re doing it, yay!
Brooklyn (CJSW)
So we talked a little bit about some Toronto bands. If you could make, like, a dream lineup for Shiv and the carvers, like a bill. Who would be on that?
Nicole Maxwell
Of anyone? Or do we have to stay in our city?
Brooklyn (CJSW)
You know, I’m gonna say anyone.
Shiv Scott
From the hit hit motion picture, Josie and the Pussycats.
Nicole Maxwell
I would just say, Amyl and the Sniffers, because I love Amyl and the Sniffers. But we would open for them. They wouldn’t open for us. I don’t think we could ever top that.
Shiv Scott
There’s a there’s a concert coming up. I think it’s in Dublin. That’s like-
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Amyl and the Sniffers and Queens of the Stone Age?
Shiv Scott
Amyl and the Sniffers, Fontaines DC, Kneecap. I would love to jump on that, but my dream that’s crazy. If anyone on a team happens to hear this, please invite us on that bill. That is my dream Bill.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
They’re playing-so I’m going to Edinburgh for two weeks, and then I’m going to England, and then we’re going to Dublin. Cool. It’s Fontaines DC, English Teacher, and Kneecap in Manchester. I’m doing a semester. So I’m doing like, two weeks of a course, and it finishes on the day of the course. So I can’t but I am seeing Amyl and the Sniffers open for Queens of the Stone Age in Dublin. And I’m gonna scream, cry, and throw up. It’s I’m so it hasn’t sunk in yet.
Nicole Maxwell
Amyl on the Sniffers canceled their Toronto show, and I saw, I would have been, like, four years in a row that I’ve seen them, and they canceled it.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
So you’re a longtime fan?
Nicole Maxwell
I first saw them in 2019, Velvet Underground with this band Hex, which was like, came out of, like, Girls Rock Camp in Toronto, and they’re so good. And it was like, what was that-sometime in the summer of 2019, and like, I was like, closer than I am to you right now, from Amy Taylor, and I was like, this band rips! Like, yeah, so good.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
My brother showing me—I was going through a breakup, and he showed me Some Mutts can’t be Muzzled. And he was like, You need to be like this. He was like, no more whimpering. You need to be a mutt that can’t be muzzled. And then him and I love cartoon darkness.
Nicole Maxwell
There’s so many, like, ear worms and like, I just like, I also just love not sounding like pretty all the time, either. And I think Amy Taylor does this so-inner voice that I-
Shiv Scott
Especially right now with the rise of fascism and the rise of this, like, conservative idea, clean girl kind of thing. Like, it’s like women like Amy Taylor are just like, so important to, like, see somebody and be like, oh, you know, do what you want. Don’t limit yourself. And don’t limit yourself and like, just like, don’t think about your esthetic. Like, do it for you. Tiny bikini, yeah, we love to see it. Authenticity is an esthetic-last year in a tiny bikini. Yeah, that I bought for my sister’s bachelor party in Las Vegas in 2023 and I had another reason to wear my bedazzled flame thong bikini.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Love that for you. Yeah, okay, one last question, because we are at 30 minutes. This happened-every interview I’ve done has gone over
Nicole Maxwell
Who cares!
Brooklyn (CJSW)
The people want to know. The people want to hear your opinions on Albertan rats, or lack thereof, I guess. What can we expect from Shiv and the Carvers in the future?
Nicole Maxwell
We will be in Edmonton for Purple city. Shout out to my best friend who lives there. We’re also gonna be… can we talk about the music video?
Shiv Scott
Yeah.
Nicole Maxwell
Oh, and we’re also gonna be releasing a music video. And I’m really excited, because I think it’s, it’s such a killer music video is so funny film. I love taking over art direction, yeah? Because we just do it all ourselves with the help of friends. And then I’m like, let me make you all staged very pretty.
Shiv Scott
Yeah, droid is very good at like, visual like art and visual like style, like she went to fashion school, and so I had to step it up being in a band with her honestly, like,
Nicole Maxwell
I give her my clothes that I don’t wear.
Shiv Scott
Honestly, like, I would not be as stylish if it weren’t for being friends with Android. But Android, shout out, Android in the-
Nicole Maxwell
Putting my degree to no use—for dressing my band.
Shiv Scott
Yeah, we’re releasing a music video for I want it all. We’re gonna be playing Purple city. We’re gonna be playing punk rock flea market back in London, Ontario, just got a bunch of shows, like, book for the fall, gorgeous. We’re going to be finishing writing an album this summer, so hopefully we’ll have be recording by the end of the year. We’ve already got, like, most of it written, which is really exciting. And like I said, it’s been more of a collaborative process of, like, you know, these songs coming to be, and that’s, like, really exciting and excited and grateful. And just like I get to play music with, like my girlfriend who’s at home or at the Airbnb right now, and my best friends, like I’m living the dream, like I really am, so just enjoying like every single second of it.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
I love that for you. Thank you so much. Shiv and the Carvers, this was a great interview!