Introducing: The Fixer

Canadian purveyors of “Dark.Sexy.Loud.” The Fixer offer up a dark, melodramatic and deeply engaging fusion of hard rock and metal with a playful edge.

The quartet of frontwoman Melladonna, who comes from a background in theatre, Vic Sin, who’s in charge of guitars, electronics and occasionally emits noises from his mouth, Ryan Osbourne, who plays bass, scrams and tells Dad jokes, and drummer Dr. Wiggins hail from northwestern Ontario, which they refer to as “Parts Unknown.”

The band has honed an alluring style that has a consistent theme of darkness, loud guitars and strong rhythms. As Vic Sin explains: “There hasn’t really been a feel of any musical flavours being off limits within that context. I have always thought that The Fixer predominately straddles the line between hard rock and metal. If you listen to the extreme end of metal, you’d probably think of us as a rock band. If you listen to rock, you’d likely consider us a metal band.”

And Melladonna adds: “I feel like it depends on the song. When I started writing back in 2016,  it was a dark party, but then the sadness of life breathed into some of our newer stuff, especially during lockdown and the aftermath of isolation.”

Our latest taste of this is their single Depart, which was released in November. It opens up with a stabbing riff and twinkling synths under Melladonna’s engaging vocals that pick up pace as a fun little synthy riff kicks in. A twisting riff takes over alongside stabs of synth, before launching into another engaging verse and chorus, which gives way to a funky little guitar solo supported by doomy drums and synth support. And big high-pitched vocals bring a lively track to a close.

On the track, Vic Sin told us: “The reception has been great. The general response has been very positive and got us voted as the best music video of 2022 by the readers of our local arts publication. We were pretty excited about that. Hearing from people that they have connected so strongly to the song and its meaning is so exciting.”

While Ryan adds: “As for what to expect, I guess our slogan of “Dark. Sexy. Loud” does a good job describing it. Dark-tinged hard rock, with strong vocals.” Check it out in the video here:

There’s more of the same on the band’s debut EP The Prowl. That includes the moody Take You Home and the slightly sinister Murder Cat, which features the fantastic lines “I’ll rip out all your insides, But first I’ll keep you alive, I’ll hunt you, I’ll find you, ‘Cause I’m looking to play with my prey, Make your death delicious display, Of murder cat and mouse interplay.” Check it out here:

Ryan describes The Fixer’s musical influences as “Somewhere between Astro Creep 2000 by White Zombie, White Pony by Deftones, Disintegration by the Cure and Mutter by Rammstein…does that help?” And tells us “I just rip off Lemmy, Simon Gallup, Steve Harris and Geezer Butler bass lines.”

Vic Sin throws the likes of Korn, Deftones, Rammstein and Rob Zombie into the mix as bands that shaped his guitar playing. That’s followed by bands like Paradise Lost, Lacuna Coil, In This Moment, Katatonia, The Haxans and Stolen Babies, along with more industrial and electronic bands like Nine Inch Nails, Rabbit Junk, The Birthday Massacre and club, rave and EDM music.

While Melladonna offers a more dramatic and theatric take on musical influences, telling us: “Evanescence has always been a staple, but theatre is what has let me pull in emotion and playfulness. Phantom of the Opera, Sweeney Todd, some darkness and humour and dissonance.”

And on what inspires them to write music, Vic Sin says: “I find it hard to think of life without writing music. It has always provided a level of catharsis for me that nothing else seems to be able to achieve. When I’m working on my own, writing tends to be a way to purge negativity. I tend to be a tragedy writer and at least a tinge of melancholy seems to always pop up naturally.

“The other musicians I have had the fortune to work with tend to inspire me as a writer. Melladonna and I really seem to click collaborating on playful, fun topics that have a dark edge and I admire her ability to marry big power vocals with unhinged theatrical approaches. I think our work on The Prowl EP really showcased this well. Lyrically, it could soundtrack the pickup game that happens in the dive bar scene.

“Ryan has this raw punk and metal spirit that is always exciting to collaborate with. He embodies that rebellious rock and roll attitude whether it is something catchy, groovy or downright nasty. Another thing that Ryan has been a huge influence on me with is his unorthodox way of making his instrument sound. The willingness to try something that makes no sense, in theory, and just see what you can get out of it is critical to the mindset of The Fixer.

“Wiggins has this larger-than-life feel when he plays the drums and always has this inherent sense of patterns that lend to head banging or dancing. Every previous member of The Fixer has influenced my writing in one way or another.”

And Melladonna adds: “Many times Vic gives me an audio file and I listen to it in my car until something happens and I’m suddenly singing over it. It needs to just happen, melody is never planned.”

There’s plenty more to come from The Fixer, with the band planning to release a first full-length album, from which Depart is a B-side, this year. Melladonna adds: “I’m excited to share what we’ve made and what we’re going to make. It’s really hard to wait for things to get polished and finished, I just want to show off our new album and upcoming videos the moment we record/shoot them, even though it doesn’t really work that way.”

Vic Sin adds: “Anyone that has checked out our music and gotten any enjoyment out of what we have done, know that you have made this existence a little less miserable and warmed our frosty black hearts.” While Ryan simply tells us: “I’m hoping to piss a lot more people off!”

You can follow The Fixer on Facebook and Instagram, and check out their music on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music and YouTube.