LOCAL MUSIC SPOTLIGHT: Backchannel
- jaybroderick
- Jun 26
- 4 min read
By: Jay Broderick - Three members of the GTA post-hardcore crew talk old-friends chemistry, sharp-left-turn dynamics, and why they’re playing the long game... one single at a time.
Backchannel... clean hooks that feel weightless, then a hard cut into something serrated. I caught up with vocalist Dave Lee, bassist/producer Michael “Mike” Chiacchia, and guitarist Sebastian Duke to talk about how this Toronto-by-way-of-the-GTA project came together, why “post-hardcore” is still a useful label, and what they’ve learned from releasing music in public, one step sharper each time.
Built on old friendships
Backchannel began as an idea between (guitarist/vocalist) Luc Ruggiero and drummer Julian Ierullo, coming off other projects and looking to “get the ball moving again musically,” Duke says. From there it locked in through long-running friendships, “teenage years” kind of history, with Lee stepping in on vocals and Chiacchia already in the orbit.
Before he was holding down the low end duties, Chiacchia was behind the scenes. “I would say maybe an unofficial member of the band,” he says, producing/engineering the early releases. When they needed a bassist, the shift was easy: “They reached out… and the rest is history.”
Geographically, they’re a true GTA band. Chiacchia calls Vaughan home; Lee’s in North Toronto. The group’s spread out, but rehearsals pull them together, and the Toronto scene is where the momentum lives. “We kind of view the Toronto scene as kind of a home base,” Lee says, so “for easiness sake… we just kind of say we’re like a Toronto band.”
As a post-hardcore band, they’ll wear the label without flinching, mostly because it gets the point across fast. “It’s like the easiest one for us to kind of tell people what we’re about,” Lee says, while admitting everyone hears the label differently. If you need a compass, he points to the early-2000s lane—“akin to, like, Underoath.” But where Backchannel really lands is dynamics... the snap between clean space and sudden impact. Duke likes the “jarring nature” of those left turns; Chiacchia calls it anti–ear fatigue: “We like the dynamics… we don’t want to ear fatigue our audience.”
When it comes to influences Lee doesn’t hesitate. “My number one favorite band is Alexisonfire,” with Duke backing the same high-school-era devotion. From there, their tastes fan out. The lead guitarist nods to Dance Gavin Dance (who I explained LoudTO will be covering for the band's May 24 gig at History), for “soaring leads” and “dreamy sounding stuff,” plus heavier cornerstones like Every Time I Die and Despised Icon. Chiacchia however, leans towards the producer-musician hybrid. “Producers who are also in bands”, namechecking Hunter Young, Will Putney, and Nolly Getgood as the kind of detail-obsessed influences that shape how Backchannel thinks about sound.
Under the surface: lyrics that leave room to bleed
With six singles out, the band can hear the growth in real time. The early days weren’t glamorous: “The first single ['Smoke Screen'] was produced in my parents’ basement, in probably the worst sounding mixing room you could possibly have,” Chiacchia says. Since then they’ve gotten “more intuitive” about direction, pulled in extra help on mastering, and tightened the whole chain. Translation: each release hits harder and cleaner than the last.
Backchannel's 5th single “Undercurrent”, released on February 20, 2026, is the kind of track that sneaks up on you. Instrumentally, the track is strong... powerful... with vocals that feel lived-in. Lee, the aggressive vocalist, says writing means going straight into it. “I tend to try and get into my feelings when I’m writing… it is kind of like… a hurtful experience.” But he also keeps a layer between the page and the crowd: “protecting myself… having a veil.” The goal is lyrics that stay “slightly vague,” so listeners can “put their own spin on it” and do some deciphering of their own.
Sebastian Duke says that vagueness is part of the magic, because Lee's vocal writing happens while he’s focused on the guitars, the final lyrics can still feel like a reveal. Even when Lee explains a song, Duke hears “echoes of other things within it”, a reminder there’s “a lot under the surface… in the undercurrent,” as he puts it.
For all the technical flash, Duke writes with the stage in mind. “I kind of actively try to not write anything that I can’t play easily live,” he says... because freezing up chasing notes kills the feel. He’ll take a lead idea and push it “to its logical conclusion,” but he’s not interested in spotlight-guitar for its own sake. “Vocals being top priority,” he says. The guitars are “a tapestry”… he’s “just adding color.”
Onstage momentum—and what’s next
They’re still early in the live run. Lee says they haven’t played “a whole load of shows” yet, but the schedule is building. Backchannel hit May 22 and 23 with their friends in Constrain, a Kensington Market date and a Brantford Air Force Club show, then rolls into more Southern Ontario dates toward late June/early July, including a July 1 stop in Oshawa at twotwotwo. And even when they’re on heavier bills, the reaction has been telling. People come up surprised, calling the set “a surprising relief.”
As far as the new music front, two new songs are already recorded with producer, and NAKEDBURN guitarist Luc Chiasson, and plans to pair the releases with music videos. An EP is something they’ve talked about, but for now the strategy is simple... keep it moving. As Chiacchia puts it, singles (or two-song drops) keep people engaged in a world where attention is short.
Backchannel isn’t chasing a myth, they’re building a catalogue, a live set, and a sound with teeth. If “Undercurrent” is your entry point, don’t be surprised if it pulls you deeper.
Backchannel Online
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