In this conversation, I caught up with Toronto-based indie band NERiMA to discuss their first headline show at Living Colour as part of their tour 'Home Run'. Since setting up this blog, I have had the pleasure of following NERiMA's music and the band are now ready to perform their first headline show and celebrate with their fans.
Hi Nerima, how are you?
Hi Keiko, we’re doing great! Busy planning and organizing a bunch of things lately, but super excited for everything to come!
Thank you for taking the time to do this interview, what have you guys been up to recently?
Thank you for taking the time to talk to us! Our number one priority at the moment has been preparing for the live shows we have coming up. We've got 2 confirmed so far, one on January 12 at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern, and one on January 14, at Living Colour! We’ve been grinding to practice and promote as much as we can, and we can’t wait to get back on the stage again. The second show is also going to be our very first headliner, so we’re really excited about it!
For people who are new to your music, could you introduce yourselves and briefly explain your role in the band?
Of course! We have Alexi, the singer and guitarist, and Alex, our drummer and backup vocalist. Then there’s Connor, our bassist, and AJ on lead guitar.
How would you describe your music?
This is always such a tough question for us! All four of us have such different personal tastes that trying to appropriately mix them together is a difficult but exciting challenge. We always try to incorporate the emotion and rawness from our favourite alternative music with the power and good times of our favourite punk rock tunes. Alt-indie soft rock is the label we usually end up giving ourselves!
If you had to recommend one of your songs to someone who may want to listen to your music and get to know your band, what song would you choose?
Because of our limited funds as broke teenagers and the pandemic being around for the majority of our time together, recording and releasing songs has been really hard for us. We have a bunch written but only two out at the moment, though our most recent soft-rock single ‘Home’ is one we’re really proud of. We were able to get in the studio with Ryan Fitz of Bearings to record ‘Home’. We all had an amazing time and really felt like we put our all into it, and with production, mixing, and mastering done by him, we’re really proud of what came out of it.
You have just announced your first headline show on the 14th January 2022 at Living Colour, what can you tell us about the upcoming show?
We can tell you it’s going to be an awesome time, and one we’ve been looking forward to for so long! Of course everything will be covid-safe and the capacity will be cut to 50%, so the indie Living Colour music venue is going to make for a really fun, intimate vibe. And I think we can safely say we’ve all missed live music so much, so you already know the energy is going to be amazing.
After some really cool performances from Matthew Bury, The Special Constables, and The Vice Gardens, we'll be up there to give you an emotion-driven but upbeat performance that includes a couple of cool surprises, one of which is a new original we’ve never shown anyone. We promise to do our best to make sure everyone has a safe and fun time, and finally bring back live music!
Can you tell us a bit about Living Colour and why you chose to headline at this particular venue?
Yes, of course! This venue is actually really special for us, or maybe we’re just really sentimental! The first full concert we ever played was at the Tail of the Junction bar, which is the same venue that Living Colour has now become, so when their booking agent approached us to play a show for them we were immediately on board! We're super thankful they asked us to headline as well, because it's a really touching throwback to the first time we were there, just starting out on our very first opening slot, and it's just a great space to have a fun time!
"We always try to incorporate the emotion and rawness from our favourite alternative music with the power and good times of our favourite punk rock tunes."
Your headline show is part of your tour called ‘The Home Run’, is there a meaning behind the tour’s name?
There is a meaning - or, a couple in fact! Even though the tour has really just become a set of two gigs due to restrictions and safety, it’s still the first little “run” of shows we’ve had growing up as a band during the pandemic, so we’re really excited about it!
We wanted to pick a name that represented that it would only be a few shows all in Toronto, and that we’d be promoting our latest single ‘Home.’ Given the coincidental connection between the name and the fact this city is our hometown, we decided to do a play on words that represents the fun we hope to bring everyone at the shows!
Where can people go buy tickets for the show?
There will be tickets for $15 sold at the door if restrictions allow, but you can get a guaranteed spot for only $12 if you pre-order on Eventbrite!
If you could describe your upcoming headline show in three words, what would they be?
High-spirited, passionate fun!
And finally, do you have a message for your fans?
COME OUT AND DANCE, WE MISS YOU! We promise you’ll have a blast - safely, with masks, and well-hydrated of course!
Thank you for taking the time to do this interview, and good luck with the show I will be cheering you guys on from the UK!
Thank you so much for the talk and for the support, we had such a good time! We can’t wait for the show, and we can’t wait for whenever we get to chat next!
Check out NERiMA's music in the links above or hear their singles in full on my Spotify Featured Artists Playlist (link in bio). If you like these singles then make sure to see NERiMA perform live on the 14th January 2022 at Living Colour.
Location:
Living Colour
3367 Dundas Street West
Toronto, ON M6S 2R9
Canada
Comments