(Photo: Andy Nichols)

Who: Mares of Thrace

What: Normally I try to write these bios myself, but I absolutely cannot top the one the band provided:

After five years in the nationally acclaimed punk rock band Kilbourne, Stef and Trez (drummer and frontwoman/gitterist respectively) decided to satisfy a lifelong itch for the heavy and mathy. Mares of Thrace is the result of them setting off on their own with a wall of amps, a spastic laptop and a love for the Amphetamine Reptile back catalogue. Down-tuned, down-tempo crushing doom with chaotic electronics and chops galore.

When: Catch them at Sled Island on Saturday, July 3, 10pm at Dickens Pub, and then on a soon-to-be-confirmed Canadian tour this August.

What brought Mares of Thrace together?
Almost a decade of bestfriendbandship, compassionate and inclusive feminist secular-humanist politics, the ongoing quest for sheer nerdy instrumental proficiency, love of bugs, birds, pigs, squid, snakes, plants, science, history and a mountain of empty Bombay Sapphire bottles that would rival Kilimanjaro in its lofty heights.

How would you describe your sound?
Mid-career Unsane starts an early-career Neurosis cover band, all get sex changes, then have a mass Tourettes episode in the lipgloss aisle.

Why does Calgary need you?
Because every white, Christian, conservative town rich on ranch and oil money needs a heavily tattooed mixed-race leftist female sludge two-piece to call its own. Much like the black Ghostbuster, our mission is giving a voice to the voiceless and marginalized. We love this city, it's our home, and we are never leaving it. If every lefty hipster jumped ship for Vancouver, we would still be here, composting and eating at Diner Deluxe. (Hell, the lineup would be way shorter.)

Where will you be in five years?
If our wrists, eardrums, vocal cords, livers and lower backs still work, doing more or less the exact same thing, only with a more impressive merch table and way more Facebook fans. Oh and hopefully Stef will have her Ph. D by then.

What was the first CD you ever bought?
If I recall correctly, I bought Paula Abdul's "Forever Your Girl" and Weird Al's "Dare To Be Stupid" at the same time. I still stand behind both these selections.