Hailing from Montréal, Sudden Waves channels hardcore, pop punk, and metal into a fierce, unpolished sound. Since forming in 2018, the band has built on intensity—not trends. Their debut album, “Meet Me Halfway,” balances raw aggression with emotional depth. Driving riffs, urgent energy – no gloss. The band has played at festivals such as Festival d’Été de Québec, Montebello Rockfest, and Music4Cancer. Now playing in front of a huge crowd at Warped Tour, doing their hardcore-pop-punk magic – inviting people to join the orange wave.

Contributing Journalist/Photographer, Elise Zelazny, sat down with Vince and Dez of Sudden Waves, prior to their set at Day 2 of Warped Montréal to talk about all things music.

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–How did the band originally come together?
Dez : We started in 2018, we were originally in 5 different bands and we stopped playing music. And one day I saw a Facebook post saying “I am old but I want to play music in a basement with some friends” and we just started to jam. Somehow we released our first EP and the rest is History.
Vince : I joined the team a little bit later but I am one of those people that stopped playing music at some point.

–And why did you stop playing music to begin with ?
Vince : I think our back and knees started to hurt but we’re all in for Rock !
Dez : My band just didn’t work when I was around 25 and so I focused on my career. And around 25-30 years old, everything’s doing well but I was bored and when I saw the Facebook post I wanted to go in the basement and scream.
We’re just a melting pot of a lot of bands.

–How did you choose the name of the band ?
Dez : We wanted something that could be short, easy to pronounce in French and English, nothing with “th” or something like that, and the last thing was something that sounded active and energetic. That’s it, we thought Sudden Waves checked everything in the list. Simple but effective.

–Who are your biggest musical influences?
Dez : The color Orange, that’s the biggest thing ! But in the beginning, we wanted to be a mix of Punk rock with hardcore screams. So maybe bands like Four Years Strong or Millencolin and Less Than Jake, The Offspring. What’s the other heaviest bands we listen to ?
Vince : We have very different backgrounds, I was originally in a Death band with a lot of technics and fast riffs but I always loved bands like Thrice, bands going around melodic hardcore, so I think we’re also influenced by bands like Counterparts, Four years strong, etc

–What’s your creative process in the band ?
Vince : It’s always different, we tried composing together in a cottage, I also have a studio at home where I can start working on some songs and then we create the finish product together
Dez : It always starts with a riff session, we create some melody together in a room, creating bits of instrumental parts and after that we can structure the song. But the 6 last songs we made were created in a cottage together. We had ideas and we finished the tunes there.

–Where do you draw inspiration for your lyrics?
Dez : The color Orange ! We’re a party positive band and this color is full of pigmentation and positivity so we decided to stop wearing black and to radiate warmth and positivity in orange. Even if we scream and everything, the lyrics navigate around personal struggles but always have positive outcomes. It really is the orange light at the end of the tunnel.

–What’s been your most memorable live performance?
Vince : I’d say the “Festival d’été de Québec” (FEQ). Today will be fun too of course. We also love doing little shows in bars, it’s a completely different ambiance. So I’d say it’s really all-around.
Dez : At the FEQ, we opened for In Flames, a huge Swedish death metal I listened to in secondary school. It was a big influence for both of us. The European death melodic genre is definitely a big influence for the band. So we were playing right before them and it was the first time we played on the main stage.

–How has the band evolved since your debut in 2018 ?
Vince : I joined the group and the band has become way better since then.
Dez : We became orange ! We really brought a positive wave to the band. When we perform we’re not like angry bands, we like to use beach balls, we are colorful. At the beginning we followed metal rules and now we’re more like a “party hardcore band”.
Vince : Like, we want circle pits but happy circle pits with people hugging each other.

–What do you like the most about being in a band ?
Dez : Weekends where we just hit the road, perform somewhere and wear orange.
Vince : It’s mostly being able to be creative with people I like, with friends, and be able to live during a short period of time with them knowing we love each other. I love the group spirit and the unity that comes with it. I know it’s not true for every band and that’s the reason why some bands split.
Dez : Life is just the daily grind. You wake up, work, sleep and repeat. So I’m really glad when I know I’ll get a weekend of performing with the boys, going to restaurants, just being surrounded by great energy, etc. I really don’t know how people can just work, it takes a hobby to be good and I think this one is a great one.

–What’s one thing fans might not know about your dynamic as a band?
Dez : I’m really grumpy, mostly in the morning. But we have a great synergy, it’s been 8 years and this one really works well as a band and as friends.
Vince : We don’t have a drummer ! In two years, it’s always been friends of ours playing with us.

–How has the music industry changed since you started?
Dez : The end of CDs, that hurts a little.
Vince : I think it didn’t change a lot since our debut. It was already the end of CDs. The shows are really expensive nowadays.
Dez : The range between prices for big and small shows are crazy. Wealth differences divide a lot now and I think it’s a bit sad where it’s going.
Vince : On a more positive note, some festivals that disappeared are coming back, like the “Festival o Lac”, “La Cauze”, etc There are always positive things in everything but yeah, streaming platforms don’t help the cause in this industry.

–What advice would you give to up-and-coming rock bands?
Dez : Do it, just play music and don’t expect anything from it. I think the biggest mistake you can make is trying to copy other bands. If you have your own idea, even if it’s mixing jazz and death metal, just do it. A good example is Angine de Poitrine. There are a lot of bands nowadays, you can even write songs with AI, so just do your own thing and have fun ! I literally saw a difference for Sudden Waves when we stopped copying other bands and I’m pretty proud of what we are today.
Vince : The important thing in life, being in a band or not, is being creative and not putting boundaries to it. It’s hard when you debut but it’s so important and fun.

–Are there any upcoming projects or releases you can share?
Dez : I can just say that an orange album is coming in 2027. It will be orange, that’s for sure.

–Where do you see the band in five years?
Dez : We’d like more people joining the orange wave and keep on growing in the french canadian punk-rock-hardcore scene and having fun.
Vince : Maybe touring in the USA, it’s definitely the target for the 5 next years.

Check out the video for their newest single release “Moonshot” now!

Check out the video for “Until We Make It” from their EP “Courtside” now!

We would like to thank Sudden Waves – Vince and Dez, for taking the time to talk to us prior to their set at Warped Tour Montréal. We can’t wait to see you when you come to the U.S.!

Check out Sudden Waves at the links below –

Instagram

Facebook

Bandcamp

Check out the photos taken by Elise from their set at Warped Montréal now!