Cory and Luke became best friends in elementary school in Red Deer, Alberta, in 1983. Cory introduced Luke to The Dead Milkmen, and Luke introduced Cory to the Sex Pistols. About a decade later they left for different cities, Luke for Vancouver and Cory for Calgary. Both spent years playing in bands, but they never collaborated. In autumn 2025, Cory sent Luke some songs he had recorded under the name Bat Leather.
Luke’s earlier bands include Value Village People and Storc. Cory played in Breathe Knives and Drug Sauna. Luke moved to Vancouver in 1994, and his history there stretches through CiTR, the Brickyard and Storc. One thing from those years has never gone away.
“I never outgrew my obsession with AmRep style noise rock,” Luke said. “When I moved to Vancouver in 94 it seemed like there was a touring band every night within that genre and I tried to go to every show that came to town. I figured if I saw enough good bands, it osmotically would leak into my own writing (it hasnโt yet.)”
Bat Leather came together with Cory in Calgary and Luke in Vancouver. Cory starts with an idea in his head, records the instruments, then sends the track west. Luke records his vocals and sends it back.
“We trust each other, so thereโs not a ton of art direction either way. Pretty simple,” Cory said.
That trust has already rescued songs Cory was close to throwing away. There have been tracks he was unsure about before sending them to Luke, only for the returned vocal version to become his favourite of the batch.
Luke usually has words waiting before the next instrumental arrives. He writes constantly, then checks whether something he already has will fit the new song syllabically. His first concern is even simpler: keep an eye on the playback volume when Cory’s files arrive.
“Dance Craze” tested how flexible that system really was. Luke had already written the lyric and found himself with an extra line.
“I asked Cory to add 4 more bars to which he responded ‘Thatโs not how the song goes.’ What an asshole.”
The finished “Dark Arts” is five songs long, and none reaches three minutes.
Cory has a simple rule for knowing when a song is done.
“I come from the school of ‘only the good parts’. I’ve never known what a guitar solo or pre chorus is, so the formula is pretty simple. It’s just a coincidence that only takes a minute or so to get the idea across.”
The record keeps to that economy. The guitars are heavily distorted, the vocals are overdriven and feedback is part of the arrangements. “Dance Craze” has a slower drag with pounding drums underneath it, while “Technical Aggression” pushes the feedback directly into the song. Punk, garage noise and a sludgier weight all turn up across those short runs.
Cory handled guitar, bass, drums and noise. Luke handled vocals and noise. The instruments were recorded in January 2026 at Red Volume Audio in the Badlands, Alberta, by Cory, with Luke recording his vocals in Vancouver. Cory mixed the album himself.
He also shot the cover and did the layout. He owns a print shop, so he printed the 7-inch covers too. There is very little romance in his reason for keeping so much of it in-house.
“Basically because I can. I also own a print shop, so I printed the 7โ covers as well. In this wild financial climate, itโs almost impossible to put out a record without completely losing your shirt when youโre doing small runs, so I do what I can to minimize costs. DIY till I actually die. Haha.”
Cory also has a studio on his property, which means he can record an idea as soon as he has one and keep messing with it. The album credits finish with “No master, no god.”
“Without giving away any studio secrets, I basically just load everyone onto the bus, then drive the bus into a wall. Haha. This method lets me forego the mastering process.”
Before committing to it, Cory checked with audio engineer Josh Gwilliam.
“I did run it by my audio engineer guru friend Josh Gwilliam to see if we could get away with it and he said ‘yea go for it’. Hot Take: Mastering is for suckers! Hahaha.”
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“Dark Arts” came out on September 4 through No List Records. The vinyl run is small, with 150 copies on white vinyl and another 50 on black. It is available through the label’s Bandcamp, with the album also on Spotify. Bat Leather released a new video for “Technical Aggression” at the same time, and “Dance Craze” is also up on YouTube.
There is one other record connected to Cory’s habit of doing things himself. Bat Leather contributed “Nothing Now” to a Jay Reatard tribute that Cory conceived and put together.
“I’ve been a big fan of Jay Reatard for years,” Cory said. “I was blown away at the response I got when I put the callout to bands for submissions. At the rate he was going, can you imagine how many JR records we’d have now if he didn’t leave so soon?”
Luke puts his own connection to Jay in similar terms.
“Jay remains to me an incredible songwriter and performer, and I donโt think we got to see what greatness he was capable of. Donโt do drugs, Kids.”
Bat Leather started as two people sending files between Calgary and Vancouver. Their current live lineup adds Rob Smelter of Solid Brown on bass and Ethan Muzychka of Sub//Cell and Cheer on drums. Rehearsing as a full band has already changed some of the songs again.
They take that version of Bat Leather around Alberta this month. September 21 is Heller Good in Drumheller with The Polite Stripes. September 22 is Palomino Smokehouse in Calgary with Unsane. September 23 is an all-ages show at Theoretically Brewing in Lethbridge. September 24 is Blox Arts Centre in Calgary, R4$, all ages.
For Cory, getting Rob and Ethan into the room changed what these songs were again.
“Theyโve evolved into a real thing that you can touch now.”
BAT LEATHER hitting the road next week. Go catch โem if youโre anywhere close.
Sept 21, Drumheller, Heller Good w/ The Polite Stripes
Sept 22, Calgary, Palomino Smokehouse w/ UNSANE
Sept 23, Lethbridge, The Slice
Sept 24, Calgary, BloxArts Centre, R4S AA
Artist-funded editorial. The artist covered the time needed to produce and schedule this feature. The article was written and edited by the author.
