Local punk band Toxic Authority makes music that hearkens back to the early days of punk, its chaos and brutality but also its necessity within a society in which many — young people especially — feel increasingly disillusioned. It’s a direct response to the times we find ourselves in, the unrest, the uncertainty, the frustration that threatens to boil over with each passing day. The young band is true, backing up prescient lyrics with fast, heavy-hitting, urgent musicality featuring screaming guitars, earth-shaking drums and powerful bass lines tying it all together. The band explores a wide variety of genres within the punk umbrella, dipping into classic punk, hardcore, ska, folk-punk, metal and more. It’s authentic and angry, the creation of young artists wise beyond their years. Plus, it absolutely fuckin’ rips.
Denver Dive recently spoke with Toxic Authority about their recently released debut album — God Save the Worst, growing up with punk music, what makes a great breakdown, drawing from a vast amount of genre influences and much more.
Denver Dive: Hey y’all! So I usually like to start these off by giving you the opportunity to tell me who you are and what you do in your own words?
Toxic Authority: We are Toxic Authority, a three-piece band based in Denver Colorado with heavy punk rock roots. Other styles we incorporate into our sound are folk, metal, hard-core, ska, etc. Members are founder Ike Sanchez on guitar and lead vocals, who is in charge of songwriting, Trentin Martinez on drums and Luca Aparicio on bass and backing vocals.
DD: Tell me about your early days getting into music. Was it always punk or did that come later? Do you have memories growing up of first becoming interested in music?
TA: Punk was always a strong influence on early Toxic Authority. The first year of songs actually leaned folk and folk-punk but that was more a product of technical limitations than intention. Once the recording setup caught up to the vision, the punk rock sound Ike had been chasing from the start finally came through the way it was supposed to but the folk beginnings never left. Music was in the household early. Ike’s older brothers are both active in the Denver scene — one in psychedelic rock band Shwarma and one in thrash metal band Havok — so there was never really a world where music wasn’t part of the picture. Punk specifically was a childhood constant and that early exposure shaped everything that followed.
DD: What did you grow up listening to and how does that inform how you consume and create music today?
TA: Each of our members plays a key role in our sound. While our shared influences guide our direction, we believe it’s our differences that contribute the most to what you hear. Ike’s spent most of his years listening to punk rock, folk, hardcore, thrash and death metal, ska, indie and a wide range of classic music, all of which play a heavy role in his songwriting.
Trentin brings a background in metal, hip-hop and alternative music, which fueled his interest in pulling from as many genres as possible rather than staying in one lane.
Luca has had an interest in music his whole life, going from many different genres starting out in hair metal and rock roots and branching out into what is now mostly ska, grunge and what we call “punkish.”
DD: Correct if I’m wrong but I believe the band started back in 2020. Tell me about the early days of Toxic Authority. How did the band get together?
TA: The band started under a different name in Elk Grove, CA in 2020, with founding members Ike Sanchez on guitar and vocals, Mac Re on drums and Zach Pollack on bass. The three met at Franklin High School and quickly bonded over a shared interest in music. Once Ike discovered that Mac and Zach were musicians, the idea of starting a band became something he had to pursue. Later that year, COVID-19 brought everything to a halt. Ike moved back to Tucson, AZ to wait out the lockdown where he picked up recording equipment and began developing his sound.
He relocated to Denver in late 2022, where he found Trentin Martinez on drums and Jerimiah Kachersky on bass, giving Toxic Authority the lineup that would carry the band into its next chapter. The most recent change came when Jerimiah stepped away due to career commitments, bringing in Luca Aparicio on bass to round out the current lineup.
DD: How have you grown as a band since then? Any lessons or stories you’d like to share?
TA: From a number of lineup changes to the first shows, first tour and everything in between, we’ve been through a lot already. We’ve had huge highs of great experiences. One that stands out is our show at Denver Skate Park last August. That was a milestone for us. We’ve also felt major lows in things like empty crowds, markets (cities) where we have never been and where something could go wrong. Sometimes we just said, “Wow, we’re really out here.” DIY touring is fun and can also be a shock. I think what we’ve learned is to always be ready for anything and never to be deterred from doing what we love. The day after our best show could be our worst. The worst show we play could have the best outcome.
DD: You recently released your debut full-length album, God Save the Worst, and I must say it fuckin’ rips. Tell me about it. How did the album come together? What do you want your listeners to take away from it?
TA: Most of the songs on the album have existed well over five years in Ike’s personal catalog. By now we’ve been playing them for a long time. When we had been gigging consistently with a solid lineup after about a year, the idea of rec ording everything and putting it out started to become attainable. That was in May of 2025, a year ago now. By June, we had begun home recording sessions at Trentin’s house. The first songs were complete in our singles, “One Of A Kind,” “Mammon” and “Stalker” which each came out in December, January and February, respectively. Each was given a music video entirely self produced by the band. Following these, mixing and mastering was completed for the album — also done at home — and it was released on March 13th. I’d say overall we’re impressed with the turnover.
We want listeners to enjoy themselves while listening to our record. Some tracks are vulnerable about how our generation feels towards life in America with subjects involving politics, people that are in control, relationships and even subjects of fear or anxiety within the institution that our country is seeming to become. When you know you’re not the only one feeling this way, it can be comforting and at times, empowering. This is a feeling we can credit towards our local scene in many ways. God Save The Worst is how we can give back for now.
DD: Your music is chaotic in the way the best punk is but it also feels very intentional. It reminds me of early NOFX, Minor Threat, some Circle Jerks, really brought me back to the days when I started listening to punk way back when. Tell me about the songwriting process. Do y’all usually build songs around lyrics or maybe the other way around. Does one person write most of them or is it more collaborative?
TA: Ike is the primary songwriter and the similarities you’ve noticed are because those bands are genuine influences. The process has shifted a lot over the years where early on it was a collaborative effort made in the moment. The original three huddled in a school cafeteria were piecing together songs like “No Solution.” Then came the lockdown era featuring Ike alone in a room in Arizona where songs like “Insomniac” and “Stalker” came together in a more isolated, focused way.
These days a song usually starts with Ike working out an instrumental idea, letting it grow until the structure reveals itself and lyrics find their place naturally. Occasionally it goes the other way and a concept is strong enough that the music gets built around it instead. The foundation gets handed to Trentin and Luca from there and what they bring back is always their own. That last part is important to how the band operates. The bass in particular is something Toxic Authority
takes seriously, not as a supporting role but as a defining piece of the sound. The way it locks in with everything else is a big part of what makes the band feel like a complete unit.
DD: Y’all play with so many different genres, from thrash to classic punk to hardcore to grindcore to ska and even some folk influences. Talk to me about the sound. How did you arrive at it?
TA: The short answer is that the sound is a reflection of what Ike grew up loving: punk, hardcore, thrash, ska, folk. Those influences never really left. They just started showing up in songs together. Most of the catalog was written while Ike was still in high school, so the range was baked in long before Toxic Authority had a full lineup.
It was never a calculated decision to blend genres so much as an inevitable one. When your reference points are so spread out, staying in one lane starts to feel dishonest. The folk roots trace back to the early recording days when the setup had limitations, but rather than leaving that chapter behind, those softer textures stuck around and became part of the identity alongside the aggression.
What Trentin and Luca bring is the execution. Trentin locks into whatever the song calls for, whether that is a ska skank, a metal groove or a straight punk beat, and makes it feel lived in. The bass has always been a centerpiece of the Toxic Authority sound and that attention to how it sits in the mix gives the band a fullness that a lot of punk acts do not bother with. The genre switching is written into the DNA of the songs themselves but the band makes it land.
DD: I must say, the breakdowns are so sick. What makes a great breakdown?
TA: First of all, thank you. A great breakdown needs the obvious things: an aggressive riff, a hard-hitting beat, everything in the room pointing in the same direction. But placement and feel matter just as much as the riff itself.
What we actually love is a breakdown that almost feels forced. This feeling is intentional. There is something that happens when a breakdown hits in the middle of something light or melodic, like the song just grabbed you by the collar mid-sentence. It does not ease you in. It does not warn you. It just lands and suddenly you have no choice but to react. That contrast is the whole point. The whiplash is the weapon.
The element of surprise plays into that too. A breakdown you can see coming from four bars away loses half its power before it even hits. The ones that get you are the ones you did not know were coming and by the time you realize what happened, you are already in it.
DD: This next one is a vague one that I like to end these on so feel free to answer however you want. Do you have a philosophy when it comes to creation?
TA: The philosophy is simple and we have never felt the need to complicate it. Make what you actually want to hear. Not what fits, not what is safe, not what sounds like the thing that already worked for someone else. There are no rules in creation worth following except that one. The ceiling is just how far your imagination is willing to go, and we have never been interested in stopping short of it.
DD: Finally, I’d like to say thanks for taking the time and ask if there’s anything you have on the horizon or anyone you want to shout out?
TA: We’d love to tell everyone about our upcoming tour in June and July through the Midwest with our good friends, Radiofry. Our kickoff show at home in Denver is set for June 18th at Reverb Lounge. An updated location will be announced on our instagram which is @toxic_authority. Our instagram is a great way to keep up with our latest news!
Stream God Save the Worst here!
Get tickets to Toxic Authority’s show on June 18th at Reverb Lounge here!
