Name:

Next Week’s Washing

Genre:

Shoegaze / Britpop / Alternative / Indie

Founded:

2024

# of Albums:

None to date, but we’ve got one EP out, and another on the way…

Latest Album:

Our debut self-titled EP just released.

Latest Single:

The final single from our debut EP, All You Fear Is All You Feel, just came out.

Favourite musician growing up:

Miles (vocals): The Strokes. I’m told I was a big fan of distortion.
Julian (guitar): The Stone Roses. Their debut album was a big part of my young life. It used to be on in the car all the time.
Rhys (guitar): It’s gotta be the Beatles. Abbey Road was the first album I ever listened to, and it’s still my favourite to this day. That being said, AJR is a close second.
Ben (bass): Coldplay. Always loved Chris Martin’s voice and all their early music. Parachutes is still in my top 3 albums of all time.
Evan (drums): I was really into Dave Matthews Band growing up, still am. They were always being played in my house when I was a kid, so I keep a special place in my heart for their music.

Favourite musician now:

M: Julian and I recently saw Just Mustard live, and they blew our heads off. Really raw, unique sound; they’re awesome.
J: Right now it’s Jeff Buckley. His guitar playing is a big inspiration to me, and it goes without saying that his voice is one of the greatest in music history.
R: Cardinals. Their lyrics, style, and songwriting sum up how music and a band should be approached these days. Shout out to Cillian Murphy for the suggestion.
B: Probably Radiohead. They’ve definitely been the biggest influence on my music taste. Their songwriting has just always blown my mind.
E: Really into Oasis right now; I’ve always been a fan, but they’ve been on repeat recently. Definitely Maybe is a top 3 album for me.

Guilty pleasure song:

M: Mine’s got to be End of Beginning by Djo. It’s a bit of a TikTok song, but it’s a banger.
J: I think mine is Blinding Lights by The Weeknd. It’s a great song.
R: Wii Sports” theme song for me. The chorus truly has Miles Davis undertones.
B: Right now? The Cure by Olivia Rodrigo. Never thought I’d say I liked Olivia Rodrigo’s music, but this one’s been on repeat for awhile now, haha.
E: Probably Every Breath You Take by The Police or something, a little cheesy, but still a good song.

Live show ritual:

Ben really likes a popsicle before we go on.

Favourite local musician:

Tallies are genuinely incredible. We’ve been working with Dylan—who records, mixes, and produces our music, as well as playing guitar in Tallies—for quite a while now. We often talk about how lucky we are to have met him, because through that connection, we discovered Tallies. Their music is a perfect blend of everything we love, and they’re truly a fantastic band.

EP or LP?

I’d say a short LP is best. It’s easy to overstay your welcome with a full-length album, while an EP often leaves you wanting more. For us, the sweet spot is an LP with eight or nine songs.

Early bird or night owl?

M: I’m probably more of an early bird; I never tend to sleep very late.
J: Night owl.
R: Night owl. I’ve never been fond of the loud ones chirping in the morning.
B: Depends on the day or what I have to do the next one.
E: More recently night owl, I still sometimes wake up early though.

Road or studio?

We love recording, but Gord Downie said it best when he likened playing live to standing in front of a jet engine. There’s nothing else that compares, so we’d have to choose the road.

Any shows or albums coming up?

Our debut self-titled EP just came out, so make sure to give that a spin. We’ve also got another one in the works that we’re still putting the finishing touches on. Coming soon…

Where can we follow you?

Spotify | Instagram | Forgemaster Records

***

Rapid Fire Local Questions:

What is your favourite local restaurant?

Skyline Diner.

What is your favourite street in your city and why?

Queen St, the stores are great.

What is your favourite park in your city and why?

Christie Pits. It’s the best place to play baseball – best to watch it too.

What is your favourite music venue in your city?

Massey Hall.

What is your favourite music store in your city?

Long and McQuade, their equipment rental program is really great.

The post Five Minutes With: Indie Band Next Week’s Washing appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

Name:

Sara and Mitchell from Among Legends

Genre:

Punk rock

Founded:

2016

# of Albums:

One full-length, with another coming in July

Latest Album:

Our second LP, “Lose My Grip,” came out on July 10, 2026

Latest Single:

Floating Here For Years

Latest Video:

Favourite musician growing up:

Sara: I was really into a lot of the pop-punk that was popular in the 2000s, and Good Charlotte was probably my favourite of that crop of bands.
Mitchell: Less Than Jake by a massive margin. I was in class, someone showed me their music, and I was instantly hooked. I spent years building my LTJ discography after that!

Favourite musician now:

S: I love the band Bad Religion, I have a tattoo of my favourite album that they’ve released because they’re that good.
M: I don’t have any band tattoos because I’m not nearly as cool as Sara, and honestly, I might not be able to narrow this down to a single musician. Dillinger Four? Bob Mould? Feeder? The Interrupters? How on earth could I choose??

Guilty pleasure song:

S: Is Supertramp a guilty pleasure? I’m not really sure, but I think Crime of the Century is a very good album.

Live show ritual:

S: I don’t really have one – I used to be better about warming up before a show, but I tend to just jump into it now, and things usually work out!

Favourite local musician:

S: There are so many cool bands in Kitchener-Waterloo, so I’m just gonna shout out a few – Arcade Allstars, Lyfe Sk!llz and Frank Dux
M: Sara and I have a record label called Steady Riot Records, and it’s all local bands that we love, including Moore Ave, Nothing Serious, and Kingfisher!

EP or LP?

S: I think more music is more fun, so I’ll go with LP

Early bird or night owl?

S: I think all of us are definitely night owls – it’s bad for getting up and going to work, but comes in handy when we’re playing shows that don’t start until 10 pm

Road or studio?

S: Road – I love being on tour. Getting to spend weeks on end playing music, hanging out with cool people, and seeing new places is the best.
M: I also love touring, but there’s something super fun about the studio. I like building our songs, listening to the ideas and making them come to life, so as much as playing shows is always good, I like getting to make stuff in the studio.

Any shows or albums coming up?

We’re really excited about releasing our second LP – Lose My Grip. It’s been a long time since we’ve had new music to share, and it feels great to finally be able to show people what we’ve been working on. To support the new album, we’ll be playing a release show in Toronto at LOLA on Friday, July 24, with our friends in The Mendozaz and Nothing Serious! We’ve also got some Canadian tours to announce for the summer and into the fall – we’ll be seeing a lot of the country this year, which we’re extremely stoked about.

Where can we follow you?

Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

***

Rapid Fire Local Questions:

What is your favourite local restaurant?

S: Jane Bond in Waterloo for great vegetarian food and an awesome beer selection

M: I live in Toronto, and I will die on the hill that Bitondo’s makes the world’s best pizza (I have never been to Italy)

What is your favourite street in your city and why?

S: Belmont Ave because it’s got one of my favourite places to meet up with friends for drinks, there are a ton of cool businesses and restaurants, and it’s close to some older neighbourhoods that are fun to walk through.

M: Palmerston Ave because it’s got big cool old houses, and then north of Bloor, it turns into a weird square that feels very not-Toronto.

What is your favourite park in your city and why?

S: Waterloo Park because it’s close to my apartment OR Huron Natural Area because it’s got some great walking trails.

M: Kew Gardens – it’s got wide open areas, quiet lush areas, and quick access to the beach. We filmed the music video for Magnolia there!

What is your favourite music venue in your city?

S: It’s not technically a music venue, but Short Finger Brewing does outdoor shows in the summer that are so much fun. They’re in collaboration with a local record label – Pink Lemonade Records – and they’re always full of great bands and tons of friends.

M: The Bovine. Good music every day, and they’re willing to support local bands, which means a lot.

What is your favourite music store in your city?

S: RIP to Orange Monkey in Waterloo, a very cool record store where I bought my first records after investing in a turntable. Encore Records in Kitchener is still alive, and they’re great. They’ve got a huge used CD section and have good records in stock (including ours for a while!).

M: Mine is an RIP as well – Tiny Record Store had a great selection and really reasonable prices. I miss it!

The post Five Minutes With: Punk Rock Band Among Legends appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

Their newest offering, a five-song EP titled “Live In London,” was recorded live off the floor at the Sugar Shack studio in London, Ontario, and traces an atmospheric arc across the band’s sonic landscape, acting as a ceremonial initiation into their immersive sound. “Live In London” will be released May 13, 2026, on the band’s own Organik Rekords.

5th PROJEKT’s previous releases, “The Wolf” (2023) and “The Labyrinth” (2022), both received strong Canadian college radio support, with “The Wolf” debuting on the !earshot National Top 50 and climbing into the Top 25. “The Wolf” was featured in Obscure Sound, Spill Magazine, V13, Canadian Beats, From the Strait, and other local and international publications. The band has received award nominations from the Ontario IMAs, the Toronto IMAs and the Orange County Music Awards in California. Their captivating live performances have led them to showcase at music festivals such as NXNE, Canadian Music Week, Indie Week, Kaleidoscope and Spirits of the Earth Festival, along with two Canadian tours.

Name:

5th PROJEKT

Genre:

Art-Rock

Founded:

2007

# of Albums:

9

Latest Album:

Live In London

Latest Single:

Shapeshifter (Live)

Latest Video: 

Favourite musician growing up:

Bands that span the spectrum from Black Sabbath, Fleetwood Mac, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Pink Floyd, Tori Amos, INXS and so many more.

Favourite musician now:

There are many. A few would be: Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Radiohead, Portishead, Swans, Pink Floyd

Guilty pleasure song:

No guilt. All pleasure.

Live show ritual:

A little wine, a little weed, a little meditation.

Favourite local musician:

We enjoy Delia Bradbury, Dean Marino, SuperPsyched & Silks

EP or LP?

LP. The more conceptual, the better.

Early bird or night owl?

Both. But morning should be quiet, except for birds.

Road or studio?

No, you can’t make us choose!

Any shows or albums coming up?

We recently recorded a live-off-the-floor EP called “Live In London.” It’s available on 12″ vinyl via our Shop and includes a beautiful, full colour, photo booklet designed by our own Sködt McNalty. It’s also available digitally on all platforms.

Where can we follow you?

Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Spotify

***

Rapid Fire Local Questions:

What is your favourite local restaurant?

Dirty Food

What is your favourite street in your city and why?

We like Elm Grove Ave. It’s just off Queen West, perpendicular to the Milky Way. There’s an amazing mural of aliens at an ice cream shop there.

What is your favourite park in your city and why?

High Park. We’re neighbours and the trees there are very warm and friendly. Plus, there’s a Labyrinth!

What is your favourite music venue in your city?

We really enjoyed playing at The Phoenix. Lee’s Palace and The Horseshoe are great as well. We’re also fans of outdoor stages, or even lawns, hills and wooded areas.

What is your favourite music store in your city?

Paul’s Boutique for the awe factor. Long & McQuade for the practical factor.

The post Five Minutes With: Art-Rock Band 5th PROJEKT appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

Name:

STUDIO MAHILO

Genre:

Indie Rock

Founded:

2025

Latest Single:

Bleed

Latest Video:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVYnijsAkNw/?igsh=bDRyem1tdDkwZDk=

Favourite musician growing up:

Growing up, we listened to what our parents listened to! This includes a lot of 70s and 80s music like the Bee Gees, Stevie Wonder, Led Zeppelin, the Eagles, the Police, Chicago, etc. On the other hand, Paolo grew up listening to a lot of Pokémon music, and Sam also grew up listening to a lot of video game soundtrack music. More specifically, Derrick listened to a lot of Charlie Puth, and Gabriel listened to a lot of Ariana Grande and Tracy Chapman. However, one artist we all grew up listening to was Bruno Mars.

Favourite musician now:

It’s hard to decide our favourite musician right now because we listen to so much music. Sam doesn’t really have a favourite artist at the moment, but she is a huge fan of Lil Hero. Matthew is also into a lot of electronic pop right now, including TIFFANY DAY and underscores. Derrick is a big fan of Mac Ayers and Jeff Bernat. Miko’s favourite musician right now is Gia*, and Gabe still listens to Tracy Chapman and Ariana Grande.

Guilty pleasure song:

Paolo’s guilty pleasure song is the song “enormous penis” by DaVinci. Sam’s guilty pleasure song is “Hooligan” by BTS, only because it’s seriously catchy and she can’t get it out of her head. Gabe’s guilty pleasure song is “Break Free” by Ariana Grande, and Miko bumps “Gangnam Style” by PSY. Matthew’s guilty pleasure song is “Sticker” by NCT127. But deep down, we do not feel guilty for loving music, and no one should feel bad about whatever they listen to!

Live show ritual:

We don’t really have many live show rituals other than warming up and preparing our instruments, but recently, Sam has been making the crowd sing nursery rhymes while the band tunes and sets up on stage. We try to eat food beforehand, but sometimes we don’t get too… Sam also gets really nervous before live shows, so you could say one of our live show rituals is calming Sam down.

Favourite local musician:

We love a lot of local musicians! We often hang out by going to local shows. If we had to pick our top three local musicians, we would pick: Bianca Espino, Chad Avi, and Duck Society. They’re so awesome and cracked, and we bump these guys so hard. They deserve all the love they get!

EP or LP?

We prefer LP just because it usually has more content, artistry and intent compared to an EP.

Early bird or night owl?

Derrick, Sam and Gabe are definitely night owls and often persuade the other members to stay up late with them. Miko, Paolo and Matthew are early birds and Miko and Matthew often get persuaded to stay up late on Discord calls. Sam tries to be an early bird but fails every time.

Road or studio?

All of us prefer being on the road and gigging, except Miko, who prefers being in the studio. This makes sense because he is our producer! The rest of us like playing live because getting to perform and share our music with others is the reason we started playing together in the first place. We also get to meet a bunch of awesome people and musicians whenever we play live. But, being in the studio and making music is also fun because we often record in unconventional places, like in Sam’s house or on campus. This makes the process of recording really fun and chaotic, which is always entertaining.

Any shows or albums coming up?

We are playing on May 29th at Scarborough Bluffs United Church for Springboard to Music, which is a charity organization that provides music education to low-income families. It’s for a great cause, and we hope to see you there! We also released our new single “Bleed,” and it’s available on all platforms.

Where can we follow you?

Instagram | YouTube | TikTok

***

Rapid Fire Local Questions:

What is your favourite local restaurant?

Our favourite local restaurant is Popeyes and Cocos bubble tea, specifically at UTSC. After practices, we always go there to hang out and debrief after a long day. Studio Mahilo has had many band meetings at Popeyes, some of them ending in tears and some of them ending in laughter.

What is your favourite street in your city and why?

Our favourite street is probably Yonge Street, just because it has a lot of food places and so many things to do and check out!

What is your favourite park in your city and why?

Matthew actually rates parks in his free time, so this question is perfect for him. Paolo and Matthew’s favourite park is Don Valley Brick Works because it’s very pretty with a lot of places to walk. Sam and Derrick love the Port Union Waterfront because the view of the lake is beautiful and it’s nice to bike through in the summer!. Gabriel’s favourite park is Adams Park! Which is nice because Sam and Derrick introduced him to it. The band often goes there after practices in the summer to play on the swings or sit on the hills.

What is your favourite music venue in your city?

Our favourite music venue is probably Massey Hall because it’s really big and cool-looking. We also have seen some of our favourite artists there like Rex Orange County, Lamp, Mac De Marco and Charlie Puth. But a close second would be 1265Bistro at UTSC! We started playing shows there in 2025 thanks to Zach from RadioFWD, and we always have a great time there. We have seen some of our favourite local artists there, like Santo, Chad Avi and Duck Society.

What is your favourite music store in your city?

Our favourite music store is definitely Long & McQuade Musical Instruments because we are there literally all the time to rent and buy gear. Matthew likes the one in Ossington, and Sam likes to go to the one in Scarborough. Sam and Miko actually go there so much that the staff know our faces.

The post Five Minutes With: Indie Rock Band STUDIO MAHILO appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

Name:

Kim Manning & Mikey Vukovich, of Zuffalo

Genre:

Psychedelic rock and roll

Founded:

2016

# of Albums:

2 with a third on the way

Latest Album:

Our third album, “Flock of the Town”, is coming out May 29th, 2026

Latest Single:

Our upcoming single, “Digging a Hole”, came out April 21st, 2026

Latest Video: 

Favourite musician growing up:

Mikey: Radiohead, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Yes
Kim: Queen, Sheryl Crow, CCR

Favourite musician now:

M: Grateful Dead, Medeski Martin & Wood, The Meters, Lettuce
K: JJ Cale, 10cc, Neal Francis, New Mastersounds, Grateful Dead

Guilty pleasure song:

M: Never Gonna Give You Up (Rick Astley)
K: I Believe in a Thing Called Love (The Darkness)

Live show ritual:

After party!

Favourite local musician:

Zeus

EP or LP?

LP.

Early bird or night owl?

We are definitely night owls. Unless you count staying up until the early birds wake up again. Then we’re early birds.

Road or studio?

Both, please! We love travelling to play music to new places and dancing crowds, but we also love the special creative zone you get into when you hunker down in the studio.

Any shows or albums coming up?

Our third full-length album, “Flock of the Town,” is coming out May 29, 2026. We will be celebrating with a big hometown album release show on June 5th at the legendary Horseshoe Tavern. The band Animal will be opening up the show.

Where can we follow you?

Facebook | Instagram

***

Rapid Fire Local Questions:

What is your favourite local restaurant?

Banjara

What is your favourite street in your city and why?

Queen St is so hip.

What is your favourite park in your city and why?

High Park. We love how you can get lost in there.

What is your favourite music venue in your city?

Drom Taberna — best vibe, best bands.

What is your favourite music store in your city?

Sonic Boom and Rotate This.

The post Five Minutes With: Psychedelic Rock and Roll Band Zuffalo appeared first on Toronto Guardian.