Band On The Go
After 13 years and five albums, the ska band Go Jimmy Go is definitely on the go, touring farther and farther from home while maintaining a solid fan base in the Islands (from left) Jay ‘Jayder’ Kalk, Ian Ashley, Eric White, Shon Gregory, Jason ‘Bison’ Friedmann and Ryan Kunimura
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tour to date. The Phenomenauts’ booking agent handled all the specifics - and they even had their own tour bus.
“This tour was different because they had an actual tour bus, so we had bunks and bathrooms,” says White. “These are all luxuries that a typical tour van doesn’t have, which is what we’ve had for the past years.”
All part of forward progression.
The music of Go Jimmy Go today is described by Kalk as “a beautiful example of combining ‘60s Jamaican ska and early American soul with ever-inviting warmth of Hawaiian harmonies.”
Gregory summarizes it, saying, “It’s a good vibe with no BS rock star image.”
Every member is an individual, bringing more than just their musical abilities to the mix.
For White, he says he helps manage the group and is also the go-to guy for group therapy.
Friedmann can shake a tailfeather, and Kunimura steps in for comic relief. Gregory, a Kaiser grad, says it’s his “mana” that he offers to the group. Ashley lays the smack down with his money management skills. And points for Kalk for his at-home studio he uses to record the band’s demos.
Last week the guys celebrated the release of album No. 5 with a concert at their usual stomping grounds, Anna Bannana’s. The event was bittersweet, as it also doubled as a farewell party to Anna’s, as it prepares to close its doors in the next couple months.
“Anna Bannana’s is our band’s home, and they are great supporters of live music - it’s a true music venue,” says White. “It’s really sad that they’ll be closing. We’ve logged in countless shows there.”
Throughout the years, Go Jimmy Go has filtrated the music scene with a string of shows at local venues including Anna Bannana’s, Hawaiian Hut, Pipeline Cafe, The Shack and pretty much every live music venue on the island, including a sold-out show at Blaisdell Arena for No Doubt’s Rocksteady Tour.
Add to that five albums that have taken them on countless tours throughout the world, and the past 13 years have been one killer geography lesson.
So what’s next for this forward-moving, adventurous group? What’s the next area to conquer?
“Although it feels like we’ve pretty much exhausted all our goals, there’s still more,” says White. “With our next album, we want to go back to our roots and do a strictly ska album. We just want to have fun with it. This new album has a lot of serious songs and emotion, and so next we want to have a straight-up fun album.”
For Go Jimmy Go, the sky’s the limit ... well, the moon, actually.
“We want to be the first band to play on the moon,” announces Friedmann.
Well, they were just on the Space 5-0 tour.
Check out their Web site, www.gojimmygo.com, for the latest on their moon-playing mission or to purchase their anti-gravity T-shirts and merchandise.
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