Kingston, Ontario-based art-rock band, JIMBO is made up of Joe Narducci (guitar), Alex Van Der Heyden (bass/vocals), and Jacob Tessier (drums). The three have released their new single, “Big Kids” from their upcoming EP, A Sad Faces.
“Big Kids” was written by guitarist Joe Narducci. A staple of JIMBO’s music is the combination of hard rock riffs and psychedelic textures which is exemplified on this track. The lack of live performances in this past year gave the band time to hone this sound and focus on production. This project also demonstrates the band’s movement towards ‘keeping it in the family’. The entire EP was engineered by vocalist/bassist Alex Van Der Heyden and the artwork and music video was created and directed by Joe Narducci with the help of videographer and friend Frazier De Mesa. JIMBO thanks long-time producer Mike Cassells for his next-level mixing and mastering.
Check out “Big Kids” below, and find out more about JIMBO via our Five Questions With segment.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
We are an Art Rock group founded in Kingston, Ontario in 2017. The band consists of Joe Narducci on guitar, Alex Van Der Heyden on bass and vocals, and Jacob Tessier on drums. We all met while attending Queen’s University and bonded over our love of classic hard rock and grunge bands.
Tell us a bit about your music and writing style.
We make music that combines heavy riff rock with dreamy psychedelia. We aim to combine progressive rock ideals with garage rock delivery to create an immersive experience for the listener. Our songwriters are Joe and Alex who draw on a number of influences including classic bands such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, as well as more recent artists such as Soundgarden, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and The Smashing Pumpkins. Once the rough sketch of a song is complete, orchestration/arrangement is finalized by Jacob who has a knack for helping us through roadblocks in the writing process. As a three-piece, we spend a lot of time finding ways to fill the gaps that other bands with more members may not have. This contributes to us having a unique sound.
How have you been keeping creative during the Pandemic?
With studios closed, we moved our recording into our homes. This ended up being a blessing in disguise because, with the pressure to rehearse for gigs off our backs, we got the opportunity to spend an extended amount of time on our new EP, “A Sad Faces”. This led to a boost in creativity because we got to experiment with sounds and be extra nit-picky about our recordings instead of being in an expensive studio pressed for time and having to make quick decisions. We got the opportunity to spend time layering guitars, layering vocals, and even moved the drumkit into the foyer entrance of Joe’s house and placed microphones on the second floor to get a unique sound with natural reverb.
If you were asked to suggest only one of your songs for someone to hear, which would it be?
We would recommend “Big Kids”, the first single we just released off of our upcoming EP!
Canadian Beats is all about Canadian music, so who are your current favourite Canadian bands/ artists?
It’s difficult to pick our favourite Canadian artists because we each have so many. For Joe it’s local Toronto psych band Possum, for Alex it’s Cleopatrick, and for Jacob it’s Sloan.