by Brittney Corridean
photos by Pat Tellier
Discovering new music is always such a great time. Especially when you hear something you really like and keep hitting the back button to start it from the beginning. That’s exactly what happened when I came across Jimkata. It’s hard to explain their music in a few words, but I can promise you it would be hard to not be in a good mood after listening to one or more of their tunes.
While getting ready to hit the road for their 2016 your, I had some time to chat with vocalist/guitarist Evan Friedell about their new album In Motion, which was released February 12th. I picked his brain about the direction of the band, what ther’re looking forward to while being on tour and why they love to make such groovy music.
The interesting thing about this album is that it was created completing by using Pledgemusic-essentially a website that allows bands to tap in their fan base and let them contribute to the creation and production of an album.
“It seems to be pretty organized and fan based,” says Friedell. “It’s actually the second time we did it. The first time being with Die Digital. In today’s industry, it’s kind of like the wild west of how you get to make an album with there being so many options. The first time was a little scary, it was kind of like a trust fall with your fans and hoping that they catch you. Since it was a success, we thought we would go that way again.”
This album has a lot of brand new songs that the band has never played live before. Being known for their vivacious performances and undeniable unique sound, you can imagine they’ve been rehearsing quite a bit. But these guys have been also playing together since they were kids.
“We go way back,” Friedell says. “We met in middle school, while we were learning and experimenting with our own instruments. I actually met Packy [Lunn] at a thearter screening of the movie Scream, so yeah, we’ve known each other a while.”
Once they got together, they just started jamming and went from there. Obviously, they turned to some teenage punk influences like Nirvana, Rage and other “aggressive shit”, but writing original songs didn’t come until later.
“Packy actually toured with a different band while we were in high school. We had went our separate ways for a bit,” says Friedell, but soon they would realize how much they missed music and would relocate to come back together and start writing originals. Thank goodness for that!
For those who are not familiar with Jimkata’s electro-rock, funk, jam… just nothing but awesome sound, we are very thankful they are still putting out new stuff and continuously make it a fun experience to listen and see live.
“Once you play and it goes well, there is an element of excitement,” says Friedell.
They’ve played shows such as bigger festivals to smaller venues and each has been its own great, refreshing experience. “The festivals are great for socializing and having a good time. It can be a little nerve wracking with just the short time set up. It has to be really quick so there are lots of variables for things that could go wrong,” Friedell states, “so sometimes you rush to get up and running; however, smaller venues there really isn’t any consistency, so it’s always and adventure.”
So, if you’re looking to kick back and listen to some great music, all while being excitedly engaged by good vibes and sounds, check out Jimkata on 2/25 at Milkboy.
