The Letter Red were barely one or two rehearsals into playing as a five-piece when they got their first original song together. The Fredericton, New Brunswick metalcore band deal in the crooked riffs, heavy grooves and restless rhythms of early-2000s metalcore, with Every Time I Die sitting particularly high on their list of favourites. Their September single, “Steam Powered Thought Removal“, began with bassist Steve Webster bringing in a GuitarPro demo that was already about 90 per cent finished. Vocalist Phill Paxton heard it and immediately started writing.
Until then, their rehearsals had mostly involved playing “We’rewolf” by Every Time I Die, followed by the inevitable question of what to do next. Phill had gone a couple of years without writing new vocals for a band, but Steve’s demo gave him plenty to work with.
“The writing came so natural. It had been a couple years since I wrote anything fresh for a band so one would think there was some rust but this wasn’t the case.”
He recorded a rough vocal take into a podcast microphone and sent it back over the GuitarPro arrangement. Max Brown added lead guitar parts, Lee Smith worked out the drums, and Josh Corriea spent time improving his guitar playing to get his parts right.
It was the first song written by the entire current lineup, and the band had arrived at it with surprisingly little time spent playing together.
The Letter Red had already been through a few changes before those sessions. Phill and Josh knew each other from Rich Uncle Skeleton, their previous band, and both had relocated from Southern Ontario to New Brunswick. They were also two relatively new fathers getting back into playing music together. The earliest writing was closer to pop-punk, before the band gradually settled into heavier territory and completed the current lineup with Max, Steve and Lee.
Every Time I Die were central to the whole idea, along with Norma Jean, The Chariot and The Bled. Phill jokingly calls their approach “deep fried southern metalcore”, which gives a decent indication of the part of hardcore history they’re particularly fond of.
“Steam Powered Thought Removal” has that jagged, unpredictable movement associated with chaotic metalcore, with heavier, swinging passages giving the riffs room to hit. Phill’s harsh vocals sit prominently over the guitars and drums. It’s easy to hear the attraction of the Southern metalcore bands that brought them together, particularly in the combination of off-kilter playing and thicker grooves.
There’s also more going on between the five members than their shared love of Every Time I Die.
Steve is particularly into Deftones and Glassjaw, and some of those influences have already started appearing in the unreleased songs. Max also comes from a heavier musical background and has introduced Phill to bands he probably wouldn’t have found otherwise. Phill and Josh are fairly indiscriminate listeners. They’ll try pretty much anything.
“Straight up Karol, I listen to everything I can get my hands on. I’ll spin everything at least once. So will Josh.”
Their drummer has a rather different weekly routine. Lee is straight edge and goes to karaoke with his sister and partner every Thursday. Phill is convinced he could be singing professionally.
“Lee is our sweet baby angel. Our straight edge saint.”
He isn’t exaggerating his admiration for Lee’s voice, either.
“And I’m not kidding you when I tell you this Karol, dude has a voice of an angel. Straight up belongs on American Idol or something I have no idea why he hangs with us he’s so much more talented than all of us hahaha.”
Max’s other band, Coldlung, also played a direct part in getting “Steam Powered Thought Removal” recorded. Max handles vocals in Coldlung, where Ty DeGiobbi takes care of the recordings. As soon as The Letter Red began talking about recording their own songs, Max recommended bringing Ty in.
Phill already knew what he wanted to do vocally, and the others had worked up their parts, so they could concentrate on recording a proper version of the demo. Ty handled recording, mixing and mastering, as well as producing the finished track. Having Max there made communication easy, since he and Ty were already used to working together.
“Because Ty is already a band guy and is friends with Max, the recording process was a breeze and was super easy. Ty really made that song come to life with his production.”
The finished song is an angry one, and Phill had quite a lot of personal experience to draw upon when writing it. He’s worked for large companies and knows how it can be to spend your working days helping people above you meet their targets, with very little sense that anybody cares about you as an individual.
The title and lyrics use machinery as a way of talking about that experience. There are parts being replaced, equipment being scrapped and people treated as disposable components. Phill’s criticism is aimed at what he calls late-stage capitalism, particularly the concentration of money and the amount of ordinary working life devoted to making wealthy people wealthier.
“I’ve worked for massive companies before that make you feel more of a cog in the machine than a person. I know that’s not super profound but because I felt that way the lyrics came so naturally.”
He has little faith that the current arrangement is doing much good for the people expected to keep working inside it.
“I don’t think these machines work the way they used to. I don’t see a need for humanity to have to live like this. But the real answer is billionaires need more yachts. And because of that I’m forced to focus on someone else’s dream. At least we can whistle while we work.”
The enormous mouth on the single artwork was also Phill’s work. He handles visual stuff for The Letter Red alongside singing and likes making flyers for local gigs. When it came to the cover, he tried plenty of ideas before deciding what looked right.
“We went through lots of motions of what we wanted our artwork to look like but if you work with someone like me it’s like throwing 100 darts at a dart board. One of them is bound to be a bullseye haha.”
There are worse places to be making flyers and trying to get a heavy band started than Fredericton. The small New Brunswick capital has quite a busy music community, with the annual Harvest Festival bringing established names into town and smaller promoters keeping gigs going throughout the year.
The Cap regularly books touring acts alongside local bands, while The Monarch also provides a place for shows. Community centres are especially useful for DIY promoters who need somewhere to put on gigs when the established venues are booked.
Phill, who moved to New Brunswick fairly recently, likes how much music happens in the city. He also thinks the different audiences could stand to know a little more about one another.
“These respected venues and events have their own demographics with little crossover and not really a hub for them to be connected as one. There needs to be somewhat of a platform where we can try connect these demographics because there’s lots happening and I don’t think everyone is necessarily aware of it.”
He is talking mainly about the people who attend particular venues. The Cap and The Monarch tend to attract an older, drinking-age crowd. Community centres are where younger fans can go to shows, see local bands and potentially get involved themselves.
Fredericton has heavy bands such as Rhabdomyolysis, Antiphetimine and Wayword Corpse playing around the city, and plenty of other music happening outside hardcore. The audiences have different habits, even when the musicians themselves are friends.
The Letter Red’s appearance at Chat Fest in September made that clear.
The band had made their live debut in July at Odell Lodge alongside The Great Chain and Systematic Corruption. Chat Fest 3.0, held at The Cap on 5 September, brought them onto a largely pop-punk and emo bill featuring Daysick, Life Left, Last Words, TeethOut, The Golf Pencils and other Maritime bands.
The Letter Red got that invitation through friendships dating back to Rich Uncle Skeleton, when Phill had joined a large Instagram group chat connecting pop-punk musicians across the Maritimes.
Even as his new band became considerably heavier, those friendships stayed in place. Dunc from Lifeleft and Logan from Daysick helped put Chat Fest together and wanted The Letter Red involved.
It was a nice thing for the band, and it gave Phill another chance to see how Fredericton’s different crowds behave.
“So in my experience I find it doesn’t really matter what kind of show is happening, it’s more of where is it happening and in turn who will be coming out.”
For a city with so much happening, there’s still the ordinary irritation of trying to tell people about gigs. Phill has had trouble with municipal bylaw officers removing posters and flyers taped to traffic lights and poles. He says they’ll even threaten to charge promoters for every poster they remove.
“Bunch of fuckin’ wieners if you ask me.”
It’s the all-ages side of Fredericton that he seems particularly keen to support. Bar shows give established bands somewhere to play, but he wants younger kids in those rooms too, discovering music, meeting people and eventually starting their own groups.
“Without the youth joining and starting bands a scene can’t thrive or survive on the old heads doing the damn thing over and over again.”
His advice to anyone thinking about getting involved is refreshingly simple.
“Please, start a band. It’ll be the best thing you ever get to do.”
A lot of The Letter Red’s opportunities outside Fredericton have come from people Phill met long before this band existed. He’s spent roughly a decade travelling around Eastern Canada with different groups, including his other band Hellbent. Those years left him with friends in different cities and some experience of putting together tours.
There’s a fairly active circuit between New Brunswick, Quebec and the other Maritime provinces. Bands including Coldlung, Last Words, Knull and Dulse are among the people The Letter Red know in that wider community, along with those involved in Harbour Hardcore.
The band have been working towards more regional dates, with Quebec City, Moncton, Charlottetown, Saint John and Bathurst among the places on their autumn schedule. For musicians playing this kind of music, getting around Eastern Canada depends heavily on staying in touch with other bands and local organisers.
Phill learned to do that during his earlier years of touring. If somebody can introduce you to a promoter, ask them. If there’s a venue you’d like to play, send an email. Plenty of things begin with a message to someone you haven’t met.
“I’ve been taught from playing in my other bands that you gotta get up and try to book venues yourself. Hit up random promoters or friends to help point you in the right directions. Ask for help when you can! The worst thing anyone can say is no.”
It’s also how a band like The Letter Red can end up sharing a mostly pop-punk bill one weekend and playing something much heavier the next. The personal connections between musicians have already been established, and their old bands are still introducing them to new people.
The Letter Red have enough songs ready to continue releasing new stuff for a while. Around seven are written, and six have been recorded. Some of the unreleased stuff moves further into the Deftones and Glassjaw territory Steve enjoys, so the forthcoming tracks should give a clearer picture of how far the five members are prepared to take the sound.
Phill would prefer to release them together. He likes albums and EPs and would happily put out a proper collection, but the band are currently following a singles schedule. Each release gives them another opportunity to talk about their music online and remind people they’re active.
“Unfortunately this is the pattern we have to follow these days to constantly be talking about our music online without it becoming stagnant. I prefer albums and EP’s myself, but understand most people aren’t listening to their music like this. Sucks but it is what it is.”
The plan is to gather those singles into an EP or similar release later. By then, the band will have had more gigs together, including dates throughout the Maritimes, and listeners will have heard a little more of what the current lineup can write.
“Steam Powered Thought Removal” came out on 21 September 2026. Ty DeGiobbi of Coldlung handled recording, production, mixing and mastering, while Phill created the cover art. The band are continuing to release their six recorded songs individually, with updates available through.
