MP3 Science Ninja Big Ten - Gaijin Smash

J-Pop, J-Punk, Anime influenced Canadian Punk

14 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Punk, POP: Quirky



Details:
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MUSIC NOTES

By Ric Taylor

Science Ninja Big Ten cause raised eyebrows, from their band
name to their elaborate graphic posters. The enigmatic four piece
have day jobs, families and even other artistic outings, but when
keyboardist Chris âCrackersâ Cracknell, guitarist Peter Lloyd,
bassist Monica Knott, and drummer Dave [Heaton] come together,
itâs all about the fantasy and fun of their music. With their debut
CD, [Gaijin Smash] released this weekend, SNBT are prepared
to educate locals on a wealth of underârepresented art forms in
the city.
âI designed the characters around archetypes common to
team anime,â explains Cracknell whose Ghastlyâs Ghastly web
comics offer an outlet for some of his drawings and the basis for
the SNBT posters. âIâve tweaked the character designs a little bit
for the album art. I made Monicaâs character, the hot catâgirl in
the skimpy schoolgirl uniform a little more chibiâlike, and Peteâs
character, the hot headed ninjaâkid, is now much more bishounen
or prettyâboy. Daveâs character, the strong, calm, silent monk,
and my character, the âbig guy,â have pretty much remained the
same as in previous designs. Every anime team has to have one
big guy, since Iâm the biggest guy in the band I made myself that
character.â
Cracknellâs internet art is developing him into popular cult
status. This past weekend saw him participate in a sciâfi horror
convention alongside the likes of George âSuluâ Takai and
Cassandra âElviraâ Peterson. Knott could easily focus on her
singing in the local opera chorus. Lloyd, an acclaimed prolific
author, is set to release the third in his Avatar series of booksâa
fantastic voyage of vampires and werewolves, sex and violence,
reading like a fast paced movie script with the city of Hamilton as
a backdrop. The selfâpublished (Tower Circle) works are easily
enveloping and could bring Lloydâs creativity to a national
audience.
All of the members of SNBT could keep busy without the
band but when they come together, itâs magic, in a quirky Square
Pegs way. Thereâs pop song structures, an indie rock approach
and operatic textures added to form a mix of all of their artistic
loves and from the heady stew, out comes a Canadianized
rendition of J pop, or Japanese Pop. But you donât have to be well
versed in their influences to appreciate the music of the band.
âMy outside endeavours definitely have an effect on the
bandâs Internet presence,â reasons Cracknell. âItâs been really
handy being able to use the popularity of Ghastlyâs Ghastly comic
to promote SNBT online. Weâve even had convention organizers
express an interest in having us perform at their conventions
[but] thereâs so many other elements fused into our style.
âThere is a positive crossâpollination for me between the
books and the band,â adds Lloyd. âI listen to music as I write and
itâs expanded what I like. A couple of the songs on the disc have
direct quotes in the lyrics from my books. When it comes to
getting our music, it helps if you can see the beauty in the
absurd.â
âI wonder if people have to get it in order to enjoy it,â
ruminates Knott. âPeople who donât know anime or J pop or even
classical music will hear what they hear and respond on a lot of
levels. [But] I hope part of what they are getting is that we really
like what we are doing, that we are having fun.â
With cross marketing opportunities on the Internet and at
conventions, SNBT has a much larger potential audience, perhaps
more so than many other locals. But while they might be able to
make the band busier, SNBT revels in the common bond that
brought them together in the first place. If they were nerds, they
are happy to maintain that authenticity.
âThe people who are regulars on the website seem to
respond quite well to our music,â notes Cracknell. âWeâre not
corporate marketed posers trying to cash in on geekâchic, weâre
actually pretty much a bunch of nerds who havenât realized weâre
not 17 anymore. I think thatâs what really appeals to our fans
online. They can smell a fake nerd a mile away and they donât like
it.â
âChrisâ comic empire is vast and reaches many strange
people with strange appetites,â interjects Lloyd.
âBut at the end of the day weâre still a punk band,â
summates Cracknell. âOur mutual common bond is we all like to
drink beer, play music, and have fun and thatâs about as good a
reason to get together as you can get. If the posters I draw of the
band were mirrors theyâd carry the disclaimer, Warning: Objects
may be dorkier than they appear. We havenât got ninjas, swords,
or even breasts flipping out during our shows. We have a lot of
highâenergy music and fun. I think the audience gets a real sense
that weâre having fun when weâre on stage and itâs contagious. I
think anyone who ever wished they were a Buckaroo Banzai, Blue
Blaze Irregular would enjoy our show a lot.â