john boom & the jellyfish

His feet twist, his legs contort and a shiver runs up his spine as he slides out a lick from his guitar. There seems to be an uncontrollable force running through him, as if he’s forfeited control of his body to his music and the unseen but palpable energy of the atmosphere. When John Boom gets on stage and starts to play, magic happens, and the trick is obvious when he speaks about his music: he truly loves what he does.
John Boom and the Jellyfish are a local band who have been playing in the Oshawa area for over six months now at venues such as The Hub, The Moustache Club, The Atria, The Down Omer and The Cocoa and Joe Cafe. They combine a mix of blues and hip-hop, which at first may seem obscure. However, the emotions of both blues and hip-hop mix well together. They’re both a deep expression of pain and suffering, and while the styles differ drastically sometimes, the combination is seamless when it all comes together.
Boom, 22, plays lead guitar and vocals for the group and is backed up by the Jellyfish. Tony G-Rocks, 27, plays the drums and Andrew Cairns (A.C.), 21, is on bass. While they’ve only been playing together for a few months, their relationship is strong, and they work well together.
“That’s the essence of our band, that’s what I want to keep. Everything just flows nice. You let things flow and they just work out,” Boom said. “These guys definitely keep me going. I wouldn’t be in the position that I am if I didn’t meet Tony. And now A.C. just brings it to another level.”
Boom met G-Rocks about a month before the formation of the band. He was opening up for one of his shows, and when G-Rocks’ band split up, he liked Boom’s style and decided to give him a call.
After that, they were playing together acoustically without a bassist. While opening up for A.C.’s band at the time, they asked if they could borrow him to play bass in some of their songs.
They worked well together, and decided to bring A.C. along for the rest of their tour.
“At first I was real apprehensive, I didn’t think I was going to do it. I just met these guys, I didn’t know these people at all,” A.C. said. “But then I thought, yeah I’ll definitely stick with it, this is fun as hell.”
Boom is such an intense performer, it’s hard to believe he only started three years ago.
“The first time I did I was on a train trip to New York to see this girl,” Boom said, “and I’m like ‘you know what, I’ve got my guitar, am I never
going to play for anybody?’ So I just chilled, busted it out and started dancing. It lasted
longer than thought it would, then I got caught and thought, ‘Man, I’ve gotta do that again.’”
Boom feeds off the energy of the crowd. He says the feeling is something he can’t get anywhere else. On the same level, G-Rocks and A.C. feed off Boom’s energy on stage.
“It’s always different with John Boom, you don’t know what to expect. He keeps you on your toes.” G-Rocks said.
The band hopes to release their very first album by the end of the month, which will be aptly titled Smack, as a smack is a group of jellyfish.
“You need something to heal you spiritually,” Boom said. “There’s a lot of things in the world that aren’t very nice. - sam baker