Jezibelle

Chick-rocker first-timers Jezibelle opened to a full house -- and the segue from their estrogen-on-a-
detonator lyrics to Meatplow's all-you-can-eat aborted fetus buffet left the audience a little stunned. The faces on the crowd at this first Edmonton performance unanimously read, "These guys shred! Just don't tell my girlfriend I think so...."

- Carb Consious Canibals

Speaking to the members of local band Jezibelle over speakerphone, two things become glaringly apparent. The first is that this is an intense group that is extremely passionate about the driving punky-metal hybrid it has created and the themes the band’s music embodies—especially the in-your-face style of female empowerment that they are championing. The second is that a speakerphone makes it nearly impossible to discern who is talking.

The band’s genesis was at a golf course—perhaps not a very punk rock location, but it was the location of a summer occupation at which guitarist/vocalist Pattee Sparks and bassist/vocalist Amanda Martin met. Their shared love of heavy music led them to write songs together and begin a search for a drummer. When a number of drummers either proved unreliable or balked at the band’s name (“A lot of guys don’t want to be in a band called Jezibelle”), the two decided to recruit their friend Erin Lee and teach her the drums along the way.

“When you learn to play an instrument from lessons you learn a certain way to do it, but when you teach yourself to do it you develop your own bad habits, I guess, but you also learn your own way of doing it,” explains Sparks, noting that the band felt a lack of musical knowledge to be somewhat of a benefit for the punky style they play.

“I’m sure I don’t always have a lot of the technical things right,” adds Lee, “but it’s fun to have your own style.”

The band’s upcoming show will be an intense night because Jezibelle creates a punishingly huge racket for a trio, but it may not quite match the intensity of the band’s most recent show at the Artworks festival in Churchill Square. Shut down by a thunderstorm, the band had to return later to finish what it had started.
“The Works Festival was fantastic and they were really great to us because we got shut down by a thunderstorm and they invited us to come back on the Friday night at 8:45 at night which was a great time slot and we had a blast,” explains Lee, while someone adds that the thunderstorm could serve as a metaphor for the band’s shows in that you never know what’s going to happen. “The thunder and lightning really added to it—it was like having your own sound effects. It was great though, because through it all people kept on dancing.
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Kermit the Frog once sang, “It’s not easy being green.” More than 40 years have passed since he first sang that song of the same name and the Muppet is probably the most famous frog in North American history. It wasn’t easy being an all-girl group in those days either, and while the hairstyles, clothes and roles women take on in music have changed – at least in the hard rock and metal realm – the realities of stereotypes still creep into the mix.

“When people hear the phrase ‘girl band,’ they automatically think that we are girly delicate flowers that write about our ‘feelings.’ We are stereotyped before we walk through the door,” says Jezibelle drummer Erin Lee. “But we enjoy shattering those stereotypes.”

According to Lee, the most common thing the quartet hears is “When I heard there was going to be an all-girl band I was pretty leery, but then you girls started playing, and I was totally impressed.”

And so they should be. These four know music, and they know how to play their instruments.

“We love music and we love being in a band. We like indulging our inner rock star,” smiles Amanda Martin, the group’s vocalist and bassist.

When the band first started up in 2005, was the intention to be an all-female band, or was that just a coincidence?

Patee Sparks: Both. At first we jammed with male drummers but nobody really fit. Once we got Erin and became an all-girl band it felt right, so when we were looking for a second guitarist, being female was the number one criteria.

Kat joined last year – why the change from a three-piece?

Sparks: Being a three-piece has its limitations. We like to play heavy guitar riffs and adding a second guitarist fills out our sound, makes it meatier and gives me some room to play lead.

Kat Armand: They pretty much shoved a guitar in my hand and said, “Join the band; you’ve got a month to learn the songs.” I haven’t looked back.

The name Jezibelle – in its various spellings – is a popular band name, especially amongst all-female bands. What inspired you to choose it?

Erin Lee: It started as a joke. Patee and Amanda were making fun of me one day, and Patee called me a “Jezebel.” We thought it would make a great band name so we changed the spelling and added the “belle” to make it more feminine. Hence, Jezibelle, which we trademarked last year, so it’s officially ours!

What do you think sets you apart from the rest?

Armand: Aside from being all girls? We have an aggressive style. That intimidates some people, but we’re okay with that. We are different from a lot of bands you’ll listen to, and have a combination of a lot of styles, which sometimes makes it difficult to fit in when playing with other bands. We usually end up being too heavy when playing with Indie bands, or not heavy enough when playing with death metal bands.

And you have your own way of defining your music…

Armand: We like to coin it PMR – Punk, Metal, Rock. It’s an amalgamation of those genres.

How would you define the band’s playing style?

Amanda Martin: Aggressive, dark and ballsy.

What can you tell us about your new release Love and Other Gore?

Armand: Well, it’s the first album I’m on, which makes it extra special and awesome.

Martin: It’s pretty literal to the title. Its about love and it’s tragic and painful variations.

Lee: It’s about both extremes of relationships.

Sparks: And we threw in a song about how much we love the TV show Dexter, “Vigilante Lullaby.”

Where did you record and who did you have behind the board?

Lee: We recorded at Powersound Studios in Edmonton, and were recorded, mixed and produced by the talented – and kick ass – Holden Daniels.

This is your second EP – any plans for a full-length in the future?

Armand: As soon as someone wants to give us the money to. Aka: “get signed.”

What is the appeal for EPs over longer format albums?

Sparks: EPs are cheaper to record and you can release once a year. That means we always have fresh material to shop around with and to keep our name in people’s minds.

You were a part of Vans Warped Tour this summer, weren’t you?

Martin: We sure were; that was pretty surreal.

The Kevin Says Stage has a few ways of getting there, so how did that gig come about for you?

Sparks: We signed up for Sonicbids and we applied. When they emailed us the confirmation we were so excited!

And what kind of irreplaceable experiences did that bring the band?

Armand: We met a ton of people, gained new fans and met other bands. It was really well-organized. It was fantastic to be part of something that big. Unfortunately, I was sick as a dog with a fever of 101F, but I powered through it with the help of triple the amount of daily recommended Advil and gave it all I had.

Once Love and Other Gore is released, what does the future hold for Jezibelle?

Sparks: Touring, hopefully, in the new year if we can figure it all out and get the time off work. And then world domination, of course. - Pamela Porosky