Treefort Music Fest Preview: Wine Lips Are Still Grinding — and Still Going Super Mega Ultra

Photo credit: Shannon Johnston (@me_onlylouder)

Ten years in, Wine Lips are still doing it the hard way — the only way they know how.

The Toronto-formed garage-punk band (now split between Ottawa and Hamilton) have spent the better part of the last decade grinding it out across North America and the UK, playing everything from packed festival rooms to 50-capacity clubs in towns they’ve never visited before. And now, they’re heading to Boise for their first-ever Treefort appearance — a festival they’ve circled for years but never quite landed.

“We’ve played Boise before,” vocalist and guitarist Cam Hilborn tells me, calling from just outside Ottawa after wrapping a 30-date run split between the UK and North America. “But it was a couple days after Treefort had ended. Same promoter, kind of like a wrap party vibe — but it had nothing to do with the festival.” This time, they’re officially on the lineup — and ready.

Hilborn’s voice is “a little shot right now” from the tail end of tour, but he sounds content. After a few weeks off, the band squeezed in two final shows before taking a short breather to finish writing their next record. They’re still touring behind 2023’s Super Mega Ultra — an album title that began as a joke and somehow became canon.

“We were kind of joking about album titles in the studio,” he laughs. “It was just ridiculous. Too over the top. But we were like — yeah, that could actually work.”

That sense of maximalism wasn’t limited to the name. With Super Mega Ultra, Wine Lips leaned harder into their punk instincts. “We were definitely thinking, let’s go a little more punk rock with it,” Hilborn says. Around that time, he’d found himself revisiting the bands of his teenage years — Dead Kennedys, Misfits, NOFX, Lagwagon — influences that seeped into the record, consciously or not. The result is faster, heavier, and built to detonate live.

And detonate it does.

Photo credit: Shannon Johnston (@me_onlylouder)

“We definitely notice there’s people singing along and moshing and kind of going crazy,” Hilborn says. While Wine Lips now bounce between small venues and bigger rooms, the mosh pit has become something of a barometer. When a crowd stands still, it can feel disorienting from the stage — but that doesn’t always mean indifference.

He recalls a recent Calgary show where the energy felt subdued. “We were like, oh, that was weird,” he admits. “But then afterwards everyone was like, ‘That was amazing. That was the best show I’ve ever seen.’” Sometimes it’s just the temperature. Sometimes it’s the city. (And yes — sometimes it’s witnessing an employee fistfight at a Taco Bell in Fargo on the drive between shows.)

Touring, Hilborn says, remains humbling. “We’re fortunate that we seem to have people that like us,” he says. “But we’ll definitely go places where the crowd’s not necessarily there, or we’re not too known.” A show in Fargo drew around 50 or 60 people — solid for a first-time market, but smaller than their average turnout. Meanwhile, Edmonton — a city they weren’t sure would show up — ended up selling out day-of after sluggish presales had everyone nervous.

“It’s kind of always like that,” he shrugs. “You can always get bigger. There’s always the next step.”

Wine Lips began as a side project in Toronto, born from a tight-knit scene where Hilborn, drummer Aurora Evans, and their bandmates were roommates, regulars at local gigs, and members of multiple projects. “We were always hanging out, listening to music, going to shows,” he says. As their other bands fizzled, Wine Lips gained traction — and here they are, a decade later, still loading the van.

His advice to younger bands is simple and refreshingly unromantic: “You really just gotta love playing and doing it for yourself. If you’re expecting money or anything like that, it’s never gonna happen. Don’t do it for any other reason other than you want to play shows and you love doing that.”

At Treefort, expect exactly that ethos in action: sweat-soaked punk songs delivered at breakneck speed, zero pretension, and a band that treats every stage — no matter the size — like it matters. Whether you’re in the pit or hanging back with a Guinness in hand (the band’s current drink of choice), Wine Lips are built for catharsis.

Super mega ultra, indeed. Catch them at Treefort Music Fest 2026 - tickets here.

Photo credit: Shannon Johnston (@me_onlylouder)