This Sunday, January 25th Haliwood’s legends of rocktronica, The Jimmy Swift Band will be playing Petit Campus here in Montreal. The JSB are touring and promoting their new DVD Live At The Marquee. I caught up with lead singer Craig Mercer over email:

Flex/Mercer

brockmasterflex: Thanks for doing this interview. I haven’t seen you guys since you played Petit Campus back in 2006, what have you and the band been up to?

Craig Mercer: We have been working on our new record, working on the live dvd, and working on bringing the party in the live show… we got a new drummer about two months ago, so getting him ready and preparing him to deal with the rest of us on the road has kept us pretty busy…

bmf: I was reading an old ad for The Jimmy Swift Band playing in St. Johns (link), you were described as a Jam Band, to which Mike MacDougdall comments “… we’re not a jam band… I don’t know what the fuck we are but it ain’t that…” How would you describe the JSB?

cm: daft punk on jaggermeister - iron maiden on extacy - spastic, elastic, enthusiastic - a bunch of other things that end in “ic” - but i certainly would not call us a jam band - you can’t hear that term without inevitably evoking images of like the grateful dead and phish - and anyone who knows us knows there is no comparison to what we do and what they do except for the fact that we also improvise on stage…

bmf: According to my research (Wikipedia) this year would be JSB’s 10th anniversary, over the past 10 years your sound has evolved into what is now described as “rocktronica” what influenced this change?

cm: hmmm… i guess a love of dancing and dance music, really… i grew up a metalhead skidbag and once i moved out of cape breton my eyes were opened to a lot of new music which inevitably changed our sound….

bmf: Jimmy Swift fans are some of the most loyal I’ve met. Have your fans changed as your sound changed?

cm: not really - we really only make music for ourselves… we love that some people love it, but when you start catering to anybody or to an industry you can’t help but compromise your integrity - and that is something i am happy to say we have never done…

bmf: I find when I talk to others about The Jimmy Swift Band its the live show that people really connect with. How do you guys make that connection?

cm: feeding off the crowds energy is a big thing for us and it helps the show be a bit more organic - like one big living entity that the crowd is a part of…

bmf: How do you compare the east coast shows and the west coast shows?

cm: they are all great - our fans are the best - we have had busses of people come follow us around on tour and have had people quit their jobs just to come on a few shows - and they seem to be all over the place so when we go on tour we pretty much feel at home everywhere…

bmf: You and Aaron have a new side project: The Scientists Of Sound, what started this? Do you have plans to tour separately or go to the studio?

cm: Aaron and i share a love of dance music and really enjoy playing together so i guess that is how we got into this project… we also love theatre and the live show is a theatrical freak show which is a blast to be a part of… we have an album that is about half completed and will be doing some tours to support it… www.myspace.com/loopingmadnessduo

bmf: The show this Sunday at Petit Campus is a release party for your new DVD JSB Live At The Marquee. What prompted you to make a DVD?

cm: We have been wanting to make a dvd forever and the timing just seemed right for this - we are totally happy with what came of it, and we are never happy with anything…

bmf: Word has it there is also a documentary on the new DVD, whats the premise of the documentary?

cm: i guess it is really about us and our fans and our relation to our fans… you can check it out on youtube…

bmf: Standard final question, whats next for The Jimmy Swift Band?

cm: jsb has a double album that is near completion - by far and away the best project we have ever done - it is a bit more electro than anything we have done in the past, and it is the first time Aaron Collier (keyboards) has produced one of our records… the guy is a fucking genius and hopefully that means we never have to work with another engineer that is not in the band for as long as i live…

bmf: Thanks again Craig, appreciate you taking the time for this interview. See you at the Petit Campus this Sunday.

cm: see you then - prepare yourself…

See you at the show, tickets are $10 at the door. Doors open @ 8:00PM

If you’d like to win a copy of the DVD go to the Facebook event (here) and mark yourself attend, if 100 people confirm 1 of them will have a change to get the DVD at the show.

“This is JSB” - Mini Documentary

JSB - When Worlds Collide

Tour Dates
20 Jan 2009 22:00 Vinly w/ SOS, Guelph, Ontario
21 Jan 2009 22:00 Pepper Jack’s w/ Gruve, SOS, Hamilton, Ontario
22 Jan 2009 22:00 The Montreal House w/ SOS, Peterbrough, Ontario
23 Jan 2009 22:00 El Mocambo w/ SOS, Toronto, Ontario
24 Jan 2009 22:00 Maverick’s w/ SOS, Ottawa, Ontario
25 Jan 2009 22:00 Petite Cafe Campus w/ SOS , Montreal, Quebec
29 Jan 2009 22:00 The Cellar, UNB Campus, Fredericton, New Brunswick
30 Jan 2009 22:00 Akhord w/ SOS, Saint John, New Brunswick
31 Jan 2009 22:00 The Marquee w/ That 1 Guy, Samson, Halifax, Nova Scotia
20 Feb 2009 22:00 The Rock House, St. John’s, Newfoundland
21 Feb 2009 22:00 The Rock House, St. John’s, Newfoundland

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