Bio

Defined as "rattling melodic hardcore" by iconic Canadian music magazine Exclaim, Society's Ills stayed close to their roots when they penned the songs for their third full-length studio album ‘Stumble’, the new album which according to Mind Noise Network "is a real musical highlight in this day and age”.

This is all a long way from the humble origins of the band, which was started back in 2006 as more of a hobby for longtime friends The Naj (vocals), Skid Marc (bass, vocals), Danarky (guitar, vocals) and original drummer Dave. Meeting weekly for beers and Misfits covers, the band at first played with more passion than proficiency given that Skid Marc and Dave had never played their respective instruments before. It took some time, but the band slowly worked original material into the set and began playing local dives with bands in and around the Montreal area.

The next step in the band’s journey saw Society's Ills move past their hobby band status. Dave was replaced with new drummer J-Mighty, whose home recording skills allowed the band to record a 15 song demo that included a cover of the Box Tops' "The Letter". Despite the fact that the band was still refining their skills at this point, the demo was well received and the 200 copy run sold out in its entirety. The band recorded one last 6 song EP titled "The End is in Sight" with J-Mighty before he moved on.

The band truly came into its own when new drummer Brent Over, who happened to work at the same bar as Skid Marc, joined the lineup in 2010. Brent Over’s level of commitment matched that of the three remaining original members of Society’s Ills, who together decided they would no longer be content with building up anything other than a highly motivated and productive band. This new ethos saw the band hit the road for the first time in 2010, playing 15 cities in 17 days with friends Humanifesto. The band also later played the KOI festival, headlined by Anti-Flag.

2011 proved even more successful for Society’s Ills with the band embarking on another 15 city-17 day tour with friends the BCASA and opening for the Koffin Kats and The Turbo AC's. One of the band’s proudest achievement took place later that year with the release of their eponymous debut studio album, which Punknews described as “fast, loud, and raw”.

The band worked with long-time friend Jerry Bigwood to create music videos for the tracks 'State' and 'No Man' to promote the eponymous debut.  There was no downtime for the band as they proceeded to immediately get to work on the material for their next release, debuting excerpts on the road with friends the East End Radicals.  

The 13 track sophomore studio album 'Adversity', was released fall 2013, and saw the band push their song writing and the technicality of their musicianship to a new level. Produced by Ryan Battistuzzi (Malajube, We Are Wolves, Trigger Effect) and mastered at the legendary Blasting Room (Propagandhi, NoFX, Descendents) in Denver Colorado, with guest vocals by Colin Moore and members of the BCASA and the East End Radicals, this release has already begun receiving widespread praise. The band released a video for the first single and title track 'Adversity' to promote the album, again with producer Jerry Bigwood.

Recently having had the honour to open for hardcore legends DOA, SNFU and Subhumans (UK), the band is riding high following the release of their most recent release ‘Stumble’ which was on the National Loud Earshot charts from the week of May 16th until the week of July 4th 2017. The band also produced two official videos with long time collaborator Jerry Bigwood to accompany singles ‘The Floor’ and ‘Line of Sight’, the latter for which the band made puppets in their own likeness for a widely applauded visual spectacle.

Not ones to rest on their laurels, the Ills are busy playing shows and working on new material for their next release… stay tuned!