Hostage Life was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

punk band from

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

History

Formed in 2002, Hostage Life released its first EP, ''Sing for the Enemy'' on Toronto's

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

punk rock label,

Underground Operations Underground Operations was an independent punk rock record label based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1995, the label was originally based in Ajax, Ontario. Operated by Mark Spicoluk, former Closet Monster member and former bass ...

, home to such bands as Closet Monster and Protest The Hero. The band's second album on the same label, titled Walking Papers, received positive criticism from reviewers, and the first single, "This Song Was Written By A Committee" achieved widespread radio-play on Toronto's alternative music radio station,

CFNY CFNY-FM (''102.1 the Edge'') is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 102.1 MHz in the Greater Toronto Area, licensed to the suburb of Brampton. CFNY plays an alternative rock format. Owned by Corus Entertainment, its studios are in Downtown ...

. Lead singer Colin Lichti was the frontman for

Brampton, Ontario Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it th ...

band Marylin's Vitamins. Most recently, they played at the SCENE Music Festival in St. Catharines, Ontario (a festival which was host to bands such as

Alexisonfire Alexisonfire (pronounced "Alexis on Fire") is a Canadian post-hardcore band formed in St. Catharines, OntarioRoss, Mike.Band is a scream", CANOE JAM!, April 30, 2004. Retrieved on July 17, 2007. in 2001. The band's members are George Pettit ( ...

City And Colour Dallas Michael John Albert Green (born September 29, 1980) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who records under the name City and Colour. He is also known for his contributions as a singer, rhythm guitarist and songwr ...

, and

The Salads The Salads are a punk rock band from Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, with strong reggae tendencies. They are currently signed to their own label, Maui Wowie Records, after having been signed to Kindling Music, a sub-division of Warner Music Canada. ...

, among others), as well as Toronto's Wakestock 2006, with the likes of Social Code, Boys Night Out, No Use for a Name and Sloan.Wakestock 2007: World's Largest Wakeboarding Event
/ref> They played their last show on November 20, 2009 at Sneaky Dee's. While rumours circulated in the Toronto melodic aggressive music scene that the band's breakup was caused by an impending reunion of the feted Toronto suburban legendary band Marilyn's Vitamins, a 2010 reunion never materialized. Though Colin Lichti was quoted in Toronto Fanzine ''Ductape'' as saying that "a reunion was imminent", this seems to have been an erroneous transcription of "our reunion was limited". According to an emerging consensus among historians of early 2010s Toronto, the miscommunication was likely caused by the echo effects Lichti had added to his microphone in keeping with the short-lived trip-hop revival that was then part of the zeitgeist. As the editor of Ductape remembered in a 2021 retrospective, "Let's just say it was often 'Tricky' to understand each other in those days."

Members

The band is composed of: *Colin Lichti:

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

*Hai Vu:

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, Backing Vocals *Patrick Mathers: Guitar, Backing Vocals *Shamus Mathers:

Bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, Backing Vocals *Paul Miller: drums, Backing Vocals Former members: *Eric Gaudet: Bass, Backing Vocals *Adam Smith: Guitar, Backing Vocals *John Elksnitis: Guitar, Backing Vocals

Discography

Studio albums

*''Sing for the Enemy'' (2004) *''Walking Papers'' (2006) *''White Jesus 7inch'' (2008) *''Centre of the Universe'' (2009)

Singles

Compilations

References

External links

Hostage Life
Official Website
Hostage Life
Myspace Page {{Authority control Musical groups established in 2002 Musical groups disestablished in 2009 Musical groups from Toronto Canadian punk rock groups 2002 establishments in Ontario 2009 disestablishments in Ontario