Kat Harlton
Heart Attack Kids are a high voltage rock-and-roll duo out of London, Ontario, Canada, consisting of Jared Ellul on Guitar/Vox and Nathan Stock playing drums.
The band has been continuously touring since 2015 throughout Canada and USA playing notable festivals like Halifax POP, Montreal POP, Pouzza Fest and Rock the Park. Heart Attack Kids have shared the stage with notable acts such as Billy Talent, Rise Against, The Gaslight Anthem, The Dirty Nil, Danko Jones, Single Mothers, The Flatliners, Cancer Bats and Indian Handcrafts.
The duo released their first full length album, “No Future”, in 2016 with Toronto Label Underground Operations which reached number one on !earshot Nation Loud Chart in June 2016. The band released a 7” with Grooves Records Record’s in march of 2018 consisting of two new songs “Glass Bones” and “Satellites”. They recently released their sophomore LP “Bad Luck Like Gold” and we had the opportunity to speak with Jared about their new EP, career highlights and what’s next.
Kat: Can you talk about the inspiration behind your sophmore LP “bad Luck Like Gold”?
Jared: Inspiration for Bad Luck Like Gold mostly came from touring experiences. After our first record No Future was released, we tried to be on the road as much as we possibly could. When we sat down to write a new record, we definitely drew from those memories. The single “Bad Luck Like Gold” is based off always having vehicle trouble, as I feel many bands do, but for a while it felt like our van was out to kill us; breaking down in construction sites, in the middle of nowhere at 3 am, all that fun stuff. There are other songs on the record such as “Sirens All Summer” that took inspiration from a time in my hometown of London, Ontario where it felt like every hour of the day there were sirens going past the house and crime was on a high.
Kat: The album was produced by Cancer Bats frontman Liam Cormier, can you tell us about that process, and how that relationship formed?
Jared: I met Liam back in 2015 At Call The Office in London, Ontario. That was the first time Heart Attack Kids played with Cancer Bats and we stayed in contact after that show. We’d sent Liam songs from time to time over the years and he has become great friend and mentor to us. We booked studio time at the Watershed in London and he came down to give us his thoughts on the songs. After that point we all decided that Liam would produce the record. We ended up going to Vespa World Music Group Inc where Eric Ratz engineered and Liam Produced Bad Luck Like Gold. I’ll never forget that experience of all of us in the room working on the record, the energy was surreal. If you haven’t met Liam before, he’s probably one of the nicest people you’ll every meet. I always look forward to working on things where he is involved.
Kat: You’ve played alongside acts Billy Talent, Rise Against, and the Gaslight Anthem, is there a moment that stands out as a career highlight for so far?
Jared: That show was amazing! It’s in my top three for sure. Going on tour with Cancer Bats and The Flatliners across Ontario/Quebec was a highlight. I learned so much from both of those bands about performing and operating as a band. Watching both bands play amazing sets every night just make you want to play better and harder. Opening for PUP this year at The Danforth Music Hall was a band bucket list moment as well. The energy in that room was something else. Those guys are super great guys as well. It’s always great to play with great bands who are also great people!
Kat: Is there an artist you’d like to perform with, that you haven’t had the chance to yet. Or a song you’d love to do a cover of?
Jared: I’d love to play with The Hives at some point. They were a big inspirations to me growing up. Their energy that gets captured in their music is something I strive for. I think I’d do a cover of one of their songs soon – “Hate to Say I Told You So” would fit well for us.
Kat: What’s next?
Jared: We have an east coast tour starting September 13th in Halifax, Nova Scotia with our good friends Diner Drugs from Moncton, New Brunswick. There are a few Ontario dates I will be announcing soon as well. We’ve had a bit of a line-up change so the wonderful Lor Sangster who plays with the band Worst Part from Halifax will be filling in on drums for this tour. I will be announcing the official new line up later this year. I’ve already started planning next year and writing new music, so watch our social media pages to get all updates.
For more on Heart Attack Kids visit: https://www.facebook.com/heartattackkids