Hostage Life

Hostage Life were a Canadian punk band from Toronto.

Hostage Life
Origin	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Punk rock
Years active	2002–2009
Labels	Underground Operations
Past members	Colin Lichti Hai Vu Patrick Mathers Shamus Mathers Paul Miller Eric Gaudet Adam Smith John Elksnitis

History

Formed in 2002, Hostage Life released its first EP, Sing for the Enemy on Toronto's independent punk rock label, Underground Operations, 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,^[1] and the first single, "This Song Was Written By A Committee" achieved widespread radio-play on Toronto's alternative music radio station, CFNY. Lead singer Colin Lichti was the frontman for Brampton, Ontario band Marylin's Vitamins. More recently, they played at the SCENE Music Festival in St. Catharines, Ontario (a festival which was host to bands such as Alexisonfire, City And Colour, and The Salads, 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.^[2] 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

Final known lineup

• Colin Lichti: vocals
• Hai Vu: guitar, backing vocals
• Patrick Mathers: guitar, backing vocals
• Shamus Mathers:bass guitar, 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

Year	Song	Album
2006	This Song Was Written By A Committee	Walking Papers
2007	Sons of Hostage Life	Walking Papers
2007	Securing My Seat	Walking Papers

Compilations

Year	Song	Album
2007	Securing My Seat	The Sounds of Struggle!(EF Records)