Morning Metal – Ninjaspy Interview with Joel Parent
Joel, thanks for taking the time to talk with me here on Ottawa Showbox. We’ll start with the beginning – tell us about the formation of Ninjaspy.
We are three brothers that have been playing music together since 1999. It just happened! We grew up in a musical home, so the formation of the band was very natural. We became Ninjaspy in 2006.
The three of you have been around since 2001, but releasing “Pi Nature” in 2007 and your newest EP, “No Kata” last year in 2013. For newer fans, why should they check you out?
For those who have not heard us before, I think those folks should check us out if they want to hear music from a band that has no stylistic agenda other than to make inspiring, heavy, and dance driven music with no bounds. I’m not much for self solicitation, so this question is a little awkward for me, but I must say we truly hold nothing back. We do what I feel we were meant to do on this earth, and I always hope that shines through for folks who listen to us.
My former co-host introduced me to you guys back in 2013 on our radio show – and I seriously cannot think of a band that sounds like you musically. What are your influences growing up that evolved into the chaotic animal that is Ninjaspy?
We have, each of the three of us, always had many influences in common, but also each of us has delved into very different styles of music. Early on, Adam may have listened to gangsta rap like Tupac and Westside Connection, while I foraged first in to the world of metal, Pantera and Slayer. Tim was the first to really get into jazz, and most notably Steely Dan. This was VERY early on mind you haha. Since then we have each wandered then shared influences, so the result in our writing is all over the place. It’s always been tough for me to place our major influences with so many small inflections of so many different bands that I love. My favorite band is Pearl Jam, but try to hear it in Ninjaspy haha!
Tell us about the new album.
The album we will be recording in June after our indiegogo campaign is complete on May 15th, will include songs that span the last seven years. We have been writing and re-writing music since we were in the studio for Pi Nature in 2006. So one can expect to hear the musical history of our growth over a long period of time. A lot of diversity.
You guys are currently doing a campaign to work on the new album – what’s the reaction been so far and how do we donate?
The reaction has been amazing! We have a small number of fans, but they are so dedicated it blows our minds and moves our hearts. We are running out of time on the campaign, but people can still donate until May 15th at:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ninjaspy-new-album
To anyone reading this, have a listen and help out if you like it!
How’s the tour going?
The tour was so good. It had its fair share of packed shows and quiet ones, but the folks who came to see us pumped us up so much, there were no bad shows. And strangely enough, no matter how positive we seem to be, there was only one show on tour with no blood shed, haha. Good fuckin’ times.
Most people don’t know this – but the three of you are brothers. Did you have any previous bands before saying “Screw it; we’ll make our own band”.
Hehe, yeah I had a few bands in high school before we got together as brothers. The other two guys were really young and I was a lame teenager who thought it wasn’t cool to be in a family band. Boy was I mistaken, haha! I’ll never look back, my brothers are the most amazing musicians and people, and playing music with them has made our entire family so much tighter and united over the years, even through trying times. I am so thankful.
I’ve got two older brothers, so this is a question I can relate to. Do you guys ever fight with each other on tour? If so, what’s the stupidest reason?
Yeah, we fight, haha! The great thing is we can never stay mad. Nothing will break our bond. And we do fight about the silliest things sometimes, like the position of a sign on the merch table or some other mundane bullshit, haha. I can’t give you any other examples though because I have already forgotten all those useless little tiffs.
What’s the craziest show you’ve had?
That is a tough one to nail. Like I said, we have bleeders quite often, the pits are always insane. The people are always stoking us with their energy. I will make a shout out though to our sold out crowd in Red Deer on this last tour, I think that was our first sell out crowd! Much honor to them.
How can fans and promoters get a hold of you?
Anyone can hit up http://ninjaspyhq.blogspot.ca/ or email us at mailto:hq@ninjaspy.net and of course, we are on Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Plans for the rest of 2014?
Record an album and figure out where to tour next! We are open to suggestions…hint hint.
By the way, “Out of Tampons” is one of the best songs I’ve ever heard.
Thanks bro! You know what the premise of the song is? An analogy for how we treat the earth!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56yPVk9s4Is
James Rockso – Host of CKCU 93.1 FM’s “Morning Metal’ & Producer/Engineer at “Pebble Studios”
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