Merging Hardcore Oi! Punk with New Wave Synth-Pop, Canada’s Home Front have built one of the most distinctive sounds in modern punk.

At the centre of the band are two longtime Edmonton scene veterans Graeme MacKinnon and Clint Frazier. Home Front was originally conceived as a studio project but quickly grew into a powerful five-piece live band whose shows have become central to their identity with the band’s sound coming directly from the backgrounds of its two founders. Before Home Front, Graeme MacKinnon fronted the street-punk band Wednesday Night Heroes, later forming the hardcore band No Problem. Clint Frazier comes from a very different world, playing in Shout Out Out Out Out who relied heavily on drum machines and synthesizers.

Home Front began in 2021 when Frazier proposed a synth-driven punk project, releasing their first EP Think Of The Lie with analog synth bass, drum machines, aggressive punk guitar and chanting vocals, sounding not quite Oi!, not quite synth-pop. The band quickly expanded into a full touring lineup featuring Brandi Strauss (bass), Ian Rowley (guitar), and Warren Oostlander (drums) transforming the project from a studio hybrid experiment into a high-energy live band built to match the intensity of the hardcore scene, and Home Front have now become a critically-acclaimed live band first and foremost.

Their audience is unusually diverse, with punks, skinheads, goths, and post-punk fans all together in the room stage-diving en masse. With vintage analog synths as the rhythmic backbone and shout-along punk rock choruses, the band emphasise community and solidarity with lyrics that describe punk as a support network and social structure instead of just a genre and a look. Their sound is unique, their live shows are intensely joyful and chaotic, and they feel refreshingly old school in their community focus. Taking the communal spirit of Oi and hardcore but expressing it through the nostalgic melancholy of new wave synth pop, Home Front are sharply blending genres whilst staying true to the punk tradition.

We caught up with Graeme and Clint to find out more:

Can you tell us more about the early stages of Home Front, and how and why the band came about?

At what point did you develop into a full punk five piece, and can you talk about what the other members bring to the show?

Are you surprised that you’ve appealed to the goths just as much as the punks?

A lot of bands that use synthesizers can be quite rigid live, but Home Front are sweaty as hell. Does it get complicated throwing yourselves about the stage whilst playing intricate music?

Can you talk about why you put so much emphasis on community, both in your lyrics and your performances?

What do you hope the audience feels at a Home Front show?

Watch It Die was one of our top punk records of 2025, can you tell us what you were hoping to achieve on the album?

Tell us some more about the Canadian punk scene, what are some names we should know about?

Who are some of your favourite promoters, venues, and bands to work with from the UK?

What is the ultimate goal of Home Front?