Scream it, Shred it, Love it: Shiv and the Carvers Release new EP ‘Tell Me You Love Me Again’
Photo credit: Julie Riemersma
Shiv and the Carvers, a Toronto-based riot girl band, promised Exclaim! that they’d spend 2024 “getting around like sluts” and they did not disappoint. The band’s punchy-lusty sound comes courtesy of lead vocalist Shiv Scott, guitarists Nicole Maxwell and Annie Jane Marie, and drummer Michael Wiznuk.
“I keep describing it as roller skate punk, but this morning, I was like, Ooh, what about Josie and the Pussycats meets Bikini Kill,’ says Scott. Maxwell adds, “I think that’s a very uniting pair of interests and set of tastes.”
Hot off the heels of their inclusion in Exclaim!’s Class of 2024, Shiv and the Carvers have been playing regularly in and around the GTA throughout the year. They also found opportunities to branch out in touring Ontario with the band Perfect Strangers and even playing their first show in Montreal alongside The Leftovers for a Halloween set.
“We are basically trying to play more outside of Toronto. We love Toronto and I feel so grateful to be part of such a great community, but we also want to try and get outside of Toronto and outside of the GTA as well,” says Scott
Their big release of 2024 was a cover of Shania Twain’s “That Don’t Impress Me Much” wherein they punk-ified the song’s instrumentals and Canadianized many of its references. This release was done as a fundraiser, as its Bandcamp revenue was put towards Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction.
“They do a lot of great outreach work, a lot of really humanizing our homeless neighbours. So many of them get ignored and overlooked,” says Maxwell. “I could go on and on about why I admire their approach in avoiding the nonprofit industrial complex.”
2024 also saw a shift in the band’s composition and dynamic. Marie, previously part of the band Dilly Dally, joined Shiv and the Carvers in late 2023. In addition to being bandmates, Marie and Scott are also romantic partners. This makes for fun show moments as certain songs in the band’s live repertoire were written by Scott about Marie. Marie’s contribution has enhanced the band’s overall performance and given them a new set of tools to work with.
Photo credit: Shannon Johnston (@me_onlylouder)
“I think she really made all of the rest of us step our game up. We were playing with someone with so much experience that we all got better,” says Scott. “We’re a lot more adaptable because she can move over to guitar for live shows. She also sings backing vocals, so she lifts a heavy load.”
“I’ve had other projects too. So I’ll be like, ‘we have a conflicting show,-’ and Annie’s super stoked to try new things, so she’s like, ‘I’ll take over guitar,’” says Maxwell.
“If one person wants to do different things and new things we haven’t thought of, it’s like, why wouldn’t I do that too? Or why wouldn’t we try something different or adjust things and adapt things?”
The members of Shiv and the Carvers have been spending the year sharing the stage with fellow great burgeoning acts. They look back fondly on playing with bands such as Dermabrasion, who Scott describes as “if Limp Bizkit was woke,” and Chinese Medicine, who they credit frontwoman Juno Hailey as being “so cool and so fierce.” They also enjoyed playing alongside Sun Junkies, Lambrini Girls, Leona Hell, and many others.
“We got really lucky this year, and we’ve been having so many nice little milestones it’s kind of gone by in a blur. So it’s definitely crazy to look back and makes me feel more grateful,” says Scott.
Turning the page, the biggest thing Shiv and the Carvers are looking forward to in 2025 is their next EP, Tell Me You Love Me Again, slated for March 14th. This will be the first EP of theirs to feature new member Marie and also marks Scott’s departure from her guitarist position in the band. They hope the new EP speaks to and builds on their 2023 release Physical Capital.
“We were kind of just leaning into trying new structures, or trying to elaborate on the things that we really liked about the first EP and the sound that we really liked,” says Scott. “I was trying to think about Nicole’s strengths, Annie’s strengths, Mike’s strengths, and my strengths and how we could best utilize those things to let everyone shine, and just push it a little bit further than we had gone before.”
As much as they love their corner of the world in Ontario, the band is also looking to expand and play in other parts of the country in 2025. They are planning a tour that will see them visiting Quebec, along with some summer festival appearances.
“We are aiming to get to Alberta and BC as well,” says Scott. “We really want to come to Calgary. I know I’ve heard amazing things about the Palomino.”
Watch their latest video for “Danger Girl” below. Shiv and the Carver’s new EP ‘Tell Me You Love Me Again’ is out everywhere now. This interview is taken from the Issue #3 print edition of REVERIE Magazine, available at local retailers on the West Coast or here.