Broken Nose Mall Santa from Brandon/Winnipeg, is the product of many PBR's, some Lagwagon and Seaway records and 4 guys who can crank out some mean-sounding 3-chord rippers.The melodic hardcore 4-piece formed in 2014 with members in both the heavy metal and hardcore scenes. Until 2015 they were Jonathan "Jono" Lesyk on drums, Matt Friesen on bass, Carson Penner and Jordan "Gord" Heaman, both on guitar and vocals. They played their first show at a venue called The Pink House, in Virden, Manitoba. This show was headlined by 1971, a doom-punk band from Kenora, and Albatros, an experimental screamo band from Quebec. Jono moved in 2015 and they played a Halloween show as a three piece with Elder Abuse, dressed as Trailer Park Boys. They would soon hire Josh Schneider on guitar and vocals and Carson Penner moved to drums. This would cement their permanent lineup. Their main influences included classic 90s melodic hardcore bands such as the aforementioned Lagwagon and Face to Face, plus many notable modern acts across different subgenres including The Menzingers, Gaslight Anthem, Modern Baseball, Seaway, Trophy Eyes, Walter Mitty and His Makeshift Orchestra and Four Year StrongOther notable shows that BNxMS would play include multiple shows with their good friends in Elder Abuse, Prinport (including Better Days Fest 2019 which was the one and only time I ever saw Broken Nose Mall Santa), a local access TV show called Rocker's Corner (to my knowledge, the footage doesn't exist anywhere), Ennsy Fest and an opening slot for Edmonton hardcore act Mortality Rate in Brandon.
The band recorded their first EP, "Ditch Picnic" in 2016 with Jordan Voth (now of Ricochet Recordings). According to members of the band, all the vocals including any gang vocals and harmonies were done in one day, causing them to be very hoarse near the end. They filmed and released a music video for the song "Worst", produced/directed by TWO OH FOUR/Nic Herzog in Elkhorn. Below is the link to that video, on BlankTV's YouTube channel.
Broken Nose Mall Santa released a second EP, a split with Rough Surf from the east coast. They also released one more single "Manthem", and were supposedly working on some more material which never came to be before they hung it up in 2020. They played their last show in late 2019 at Bulldog Event Centre with Elder Abuse.
Members have also played in Ramskull, Torn From Flames, and Mal Aggression, and Matt currently is a large concert photographer, regularly attending events at The Handsome Daughter, The Goodwill and The Park Theatre to photograph, notably shooting performing acts such as Ken Mode, Simple Plan, Citizen and more, You can see his photography on his Instagram account @used.turkey, and watch for a website from him this year!
There's two for-sure things for any emo-music influenced hardcore punk: beer and relatability. Broken Nose Mall Santa executed these two ideas so well, in my opinion. From the catchy gang vocals at the back-end of 'Worst', to the Free Throw-esque song titles they throw on 2016's Ditch Picnic; with titles like 'Frig Off Barb'. Thanks to Matt Friesen from BNxMS for helping me clean up on some facts about his band!
Below are some ways in which you may support the band.
Also, Carson's current band Ramskull: Ramskull Spotify
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