Punk rockers Brutal Youth return home for the first time in years for a pair of electric shows in St. John’s this summer. Da by’s catch up with The Herald for our latest Q&A

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Six long years have passed since Newfoundland born punk rockers Brutal Youth have performed on home soil. 

This summer, with the help of the fine folks at No Sleep Promotions, the now seasoned four piece return to St. John’s for a pair of highly anticipated shows at Valhalla Tavern on July 13-14.

Comprised of Newfoundlanders Patty Lantern, Molotov Kyle and Greg Hounsell (the only band member without a rad stage name) and Ontario based drummer D.c., The Herald caught up with Brutal Youth to talk their anticipated homecoming and much more

It has been six years since you guys have performed here. Why the massive delay?

Molotov Kyle: We’ve never been back visiting at the same time every year. We’ve always kind of had different schedules with our lives. This time we thought ok, lets really make this work because we really miss it.

Patty Lantern: We’ve been talking about it a lot. We’ve got to get down. Kyle lives in town, I live in town, Greg lives pretty nearby. We’re usually back, but we’re never down at the same time, so it has been really frustrating getting the schedules together. Kyle really put in the work and we made the effort to do it and get down. It’s home and we want to play. The band started there. It is prohibitively expensive getting down, but it has more to do with schedules not lining up and life getting in the way. 

So three of you guys are originally from Newfoundland. Has your drummer ever visited The Rock? A screech-in might be in order!

Patty Lantern: Originally the band started in Newfoundland and we all moved to Ontario together. Our drummer moved to the United States and we got a new guy who is from Ontario. There’s only one CFA. 

Molotov Kyle: He’s never been to the island before, so we’re all really excited to show him where we come from and what our culture is. We’re definitely going to take him to the Duke of Duckworth or Leo’s for a bite of fish and chips and maybe on a boat tour. 

We’ve got to try to have a fire at Middle Cove beach, maybe go swimming in the frigid waters. Maybe throw him in the ocean. He’s probably not going to be used to the late nights and the music life of downtown St. John’s. I remember shows going really late there and I bet he’ll want to go to sleep early.

Any movement on a new record or some new material?

Patty Lantern: We’re slowly writing a new record. The same reason that has kept us from Newfoundland has kept us from getting together here. Everyone kind of lives in different spots, and like we said life kind of gets away. Even scheduling a band practice, let alone a friggin’ trip to Newfoundland, is tough at this point in our lives. 

Molotov Kyle: We don’t practice as a band. We’ve never really been guys to practice too much. Some guys get together and practice every week. Literally, some times can go like six months without seeing each other. We’ll play a festival or really great show and have zero interaction with each other months before hand and just get up on stage and do it. I feel like we’ve been blessed with that good Newfie blood for playing rock ‘n’ roll really good. We’ve been blessed there. 

So for old friends, longtime fans and likely newcomers, what can we expect from a Brutal Youth show?

Molotov Kyle: One thing I can guarantee from the show that we play is no matter who is in the room we try to play to the fullest potential every time we play. I don’t think I really care too much for expectations, but I know first and foremost when we play we really do it for ourselves. We have fun doing music and we kind of feed off our energy and really go off. When the people are digging it and showing us love we will always reciprocate and give as much energy back as we are given.

Patty Lantern: When we get up on stage, regardless of how many people are in the room, everyone pays the same cover and it’s important to me that everyone experiences the same show and same energy. It’s important to me whether there’s a single person or the show was packed, everyone walks away saying that was a crazy experience. To sum it up in a single word, it’s energy. What people are going to see is four people who love what they’re doing going off and having a really good time and inviting everyone else to share in that.

Brutal Youth perform on July 13-14 at Valahalla Tavern in St. John’s with special guests. Tickets are available at Fred’s Records and Fogtown Barber for $15 Cash.