When singer Joel Parent started ninjutsu training in 2008 he began to make deep connections between the art of ninjutsu and his own band.
“After we named the band Ninjaspy I really wanted to validate that name. You know there are a lot of bands that are silly and call themselves ‘ninja’ this or ‘ninja’ that and they really don’t know anything about it, which is fine because ninjas are silly,” Parent said. “The modern image of the ninja is ridiculous and totally overblown in comic books but there is this other side that most people don’t know about.”
After a year of training with his dojo in Vancouver, Parent decided to take his art form to the next level by travelling to Japan where he studied under the sensei of the nine surviving schools of Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu.
“I wanted to bring some authentic ninja-ness into the band,” Parent said. “So going to Japan took my training to a new level. I trained with a 77-year-old grandmaster and it was a huge philosophical leap. There is so much more to it than killing people. It totally feeds Ninjaspy ideologically.”
Ninjaspy, which includes Parent’s younger brothers Adam and Tim, originally started out under the name Triad in Blood in 1999 and switched to their current name in 2007.
The Vancouver-based metal band will be performing in Nanaimo at Cavallotti Lodge on Friday (April 11) as part of a Western Canadian tour. Although Ninjaspy is listed as a metal band they draw from a wide range of genres, including reggae.
“The main idea for Ninjaspy stylistically was to draw the rhythmic parallels between metal, reggae, and hardcore, surf style, and drum and bass dance music because the way I felt about all those genres is rhythmically they are all very similar and they all cater to the high energy and just going crazy so to me it made perfect sense.”
Parent said the band’s new yet-to-be-titled album, which will include songs written years ago, will blend a lot of their influences together.
For tickets, please visit www.ninjaspy.net/.