Terminal City Rats
Started sometime in early 2018 by founding members, bassist and songwriter Jeremy Starcok
and drummer Liam Ready, Terminal City Rats were just two new friends brought together by
their mutual love for punk rock. The duo spent a couple of months jamming and composing
ideas before guitarist Chris “Crash” Campbell (F’Neh / The Receptionists) joined. “I ran into
Crash at a show and casually mentioned that I had started a new project when he pretty much
informed me that he was going to be our guitar player”, recalls Jeremy. “He basically told me
right there on the spot that he was coming to our next practice without me even asking.”
Having played together in the short lived Vancouver punk band Struck A Nerve years earlier,
the two knew they shared some musical chemistry and common tastes. Eager to find a singer,
the trio made a social media post in search of someone. Bed ridden and recovering from a
nasty knee injury, Jameson Trenholm (Obscene Being) answered jokingly with “I’ll join your
band”, not expecting anything to actually come of it. “...I had turned my knee into mashed
potato. I somehow managed to hobble my broke self to a few jams where I was crowned the
singer”.
Now a four piece and the addition of a second songwriter in Jameson, the band spent the next
few months crafting a collection of songs, three of which would be recorded on their debut self
titled demo recorded at Rain City Recorders by Stu McKillop in the fall of 2018. For the next
year or so, Terminal City Rats played a handful of shows at venues around Vancouver including
the Have A Good Laugh festival and legendary local haunts such as the Alf house, Pub 340
and SBC. “Those were really fun shows and we played with some killer local and touring bands
but when we started this band, it was always the plan to have two guitar players. Two
differently styled players who complimented each other.” says Jeremy.
Enter Mandy Green (Frank Love) in August of 2019. “...having known Jameson through the
Vancouver music scene, he said they were looking for a second guitarist and after hearing their
fast, raw, high energy sound I said ‘I’m in.’”
With the long time plan of being a 5 piece finally coming to fruition, the band set out to
incorporate Mandy’s guitar playing into their set. More shows followed including a sold out
night at the Cambie in downtown Vancouver playing with some of Vancouver’s finest in Space
Chimp, Alien Boys, Chain Whip and The Vicious Cycles. Riding the high of that night, the band
again decided to enter the studio to record the follow up to their first release.
Whilst practicing and preparing to record, the Covid-19 pandemic hit, essentially halting the
band’s ability to get together and jam. Months passed, during which time founding member
Liam decided that he no longer wanted to be a part of Terminal City Rats and left to focus on
other areas of his life. The band, now without a drummer and quickly approaching studio time,
started to consider cancelling their scheduled recording session.
As some of the pandemic restrictions started to be lifted, the band was able to begin jamming
again but was still without a drummer. Through friendship and connections in the local
community, Jameson approached drummer Marco Bieri (Space Chimp, ATD, The
Dreadnoughts) about the possibility of helping the band in the studio. With his various projects
also on hold due to the pandemic and itching to play, Marco welcomed the opportunity.
Learning 5 songs in only a few practices, the band entered Rain City Recorders for two days in
June 2020 again with Stu McKillop at the helm. With the reinvigorated energy of a new
drummer in addition to the results of that session, Marco asked “Why not do a full length
album?” 8 more songs and two weeks later, Terminal City Rats returned to the studio to finish
their debut full length album, The Year of the Rat