If you love pop-punk, science fiction, and 3 awkward-looking dudes making complete asses of themselves, then look no further than your friends in The Galacticas! When singer/guitarist Anthony Janicki, drummer Will Cowan, and original bassist Dan Wallach got together in 2016, they started wondering what a world would look like if there was a band that tied together everything they loved from childh
ood (Star Wars, Transformers, crying) with everything they hated from adulthood (break-ups, losing friends, crappy remakes). This naturally led to the creation of The Galacticas, Calgary’s premier nerd/pop/punk/sad band! After spending a few months practicing, The Galacticas hit the Calgary scene in 2017 with their debut EP “Alberta Girls, Sci-Fi, & Rock n’ Roll.” Alongside their animated music video, the EP helped The Galacticas to find opening slots for bands like Hawthorne Heights and Okilly Dokilly while also propelling them on tour all over Western Canada. During this time, The Galacticas were hard at work formulating something really special. In November 2017, The Galacticas struck again with “Diagnostics,” their first-ever full-length release. By combining influences from Blink-182, Against Me!, Green Day, and other punk darlings, “Diagnostics” was released to universal acclaim from their parents, an achievement previously thought unobtainable. With another release in their arsenal, they embarked on the next chapter in their journey. Unfortunately, Dan ended up crashing his tie-fighter somewhere between Revelstoke and Golden and decided to move on to greener pastures, not unlike Old Luke in Last Jedi. This is where Anthony and Will recruited Mark “Mark” Ferguson to take on their crazy ride as their new bassist and back-up vocalist! Anthony and Will first met Mark in the hallowed halls of the now mythic Distortion, where both Galacticas watched as Mark botched a guitar solo, somehow ended up off-stage and had to figure out how to bring it back together to finish “I Believe in a Thing Called Love.” They just had to have him. The Galacticas continued to grow throughout 2018 and 2019; they expanded their set to include 4 million covers (some of which you can hear on their CD’s), and released a new EP title Emoticon. Emoticon was a natural shift in The Galacticas usual style of songwriting as they attempted to incorporate different and strange elements like “tuning,” and “a keyboard” to their songs. The result was admittedly a mixed-bag: “Mario Kart at Amy’s Apartment” showed that The Galacticas still had a lot up their sleeves for delivering catchy pop-punk, but “Cosplay” displayed that sometimes they really ought to think about their decisions some more. With the Emoticon release out of the way, The Galacticas continued their relentless tour schedule, constant songwriting, and McDonald’s eating. Since starting, the band diversified their line-up of songs to include multiple genres, including country, rock, pop, and rap (yes, seriously), but with their special Galacticas twist. Whether they’re playing the opening slot at a metal festival or playing 3 sets to ski-bums in Revelstoke, they will always have something that’ll make you turn your head and say, “Hey! I remember when I liked this song!”
In mid-2019, The Galacticas started work on their second full-length album. Over a couple short months, the boys brought together some of the finest work they’ve ever produced. While also taking cues from their regular influences like Blink-182 and Gaslight Anthem, they really wanted to make something that not just made them happy, but also spoke to them on a more personal level. Soon, the songs were written, the studio time was scheduled, and then something happened:
2020. As with every band in the universe this year, The Galacticas has had to shift gears to adapt to the New Normal. However, the band took this as an opportunity to grow the album a little more into what has become their seminal work, whether their parents agree with them or not. The Galacticas new album, “Pixels & Poetry,” is set to release December 5, 2020 in physical format and streaming all across the globe. Be sure to tell your friends to listen to it because if you don’t, well The Galacticas would just be very sad about it.
11/25/2025
Our next show is December 12th at Blox for the Upside Down Man EP release party! Along with Iron Tusk and Pollux. We're gonna play a new track of OUR upcoming EP or die trying.