Independent music has an endless variety of styles and tones. There also are acts that meld musical dimensions to create something truly unique. That can be said for No Joy, a duo of Jasamine White-Gluz and Laura Lloyd from Montreal that exude a shoegaze sound with hints of electronic notes. It makes for a captivating listening experience. On February 22, people will get to check out No Joy up close and personal at the Columbus Theatre in Providence’s West End with local post-punks Way Out and Boston garage rock act Midriffs opening things up.
Ahead of the show I had a chat with White-Gluz about the feelings that can come with being on stage, the Creep EP that’ll be out on February 24, what people can expect from the show at the Columbus and working on her tan this summer.
Rob Duguay: It’s been noted that No Joy is rather shy on stage. Do you deal with stage fright often and are there any routines that you undertake to deal with the stress that comes with that?
Jasamine White-Gluz: I try not to overthink it and basically exist in a little bubble onstage. I never notice anything that’s going on other than what we’re playing. There have been mosh pits and I’m just like, “I missed that,” because I never look up.
RD: You made the Creep recording with producer Jorge Elbrecht, who worked with Ariel Pink. What was the experience like, and what were your the primary goals?
JWG: This is the fourth album we’ve worked on with Jorge in four years. He’s like a member of the band at this point. The EP came from some demos I had that I wanted to try and flesh out and experiment with. “Califone” was written with Jorge, who came up with the melody. Other than that we didn’t have any goals; maybe the goal was to have no goals.
RD: The EP also has this fusion of both electronic and distorted dimensions. There’s a lot of grit along with some panache and a lot of noise. Were there any distinct influences in play while you were writing the songs?
JWG: I was influenced by a lot of Industrial and Nu-Metal aesthetics. I guess we basically tried to fuck things up more by playing differently; we used slap bass, added some crazy layers of bongos, at one point I’m even screaming this insane high-pitched dolphin sound that we mixed to sound just like ambient noise. It’s really easy to write the same song over and over, but if you create these obstacles or new methods in which to write, then the result can be different.
RD: Accompanying the release will be a new live experience. Can we expect that at the Columbus Theatre on the 22nd? If so, what will it consist of?
JWG: I switched up a lot of the live set, but it’s still as noisy as ever. There will be somewhat of a rotating cast of characters each show depending on the day. For the show at the Columbus, I’m very happy that Jorge Elbrecht will be playing guitar. We are also playing a lot of older material we have never played live before like “Blue Neck Riviera” and “Lunar Phobia,” which are now possible because we added some new technical elements to the live show. Also because there are new technical elements, there is also the possibility of more fuck-ups onstage, so please be kind to us.
RD: After this current tour in support of the Creep EP, what does No Joy have planned for the summer?
JWG: To work on my tan, go swimming every day and maybe start thinking about the next full length album.
Purchase tickets to see No Joy, Way Out & Midriffs at the Columbus Theatre on February 22 here: ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1398965?utm_source=fbTfly&utm_medium=ampOfficialEvent; No Joy’s Website: nojoy.bandcamp.com