great balancing act

Long-running Moncton pop band The Great Balancing Act are set to be a part of what is being billed as a “multimedia extravaganza” at the Riverview Arts Centre tomorrow night.

Together with fellow New Brunswick acts Isaac & Blewett and Lovestorm, the performers are planning to indulge people’s sense of sight while also delighting their sense of sound, casting various images upon a big screen to accompany their musical performances.

Show time is set for 7:30 p.m.

Comprised of Jeep Morin, Nina Khosla and Sara Parks, The Great Balancing Act has been fixtures on the Moncton music scene since the 1990s. Their newest record Cherry Bomb, released earlier this year, marks the first new music from the band since 2007's 2 Birds.

“It has been a little tricky to find the time (to) write and record an album of songs,” vocalist-guitarist Jeep Morin admits. “Around the time of 2 Birds, Nina and I were pretty much writing and recording just for the love of doing so and not really pushing to be in a touring band.

“I began composing the songs for Cherry Bomb immediately after 2 Birds was completed. It started as a silly experiment back in 2008; I chose to record a specific drum loop that was 2 minutes and 41 seconds long and then proceeded to record all sorts of different guitar riffs over top of it.

“Some were songs that I had already written that were then tailored to fit the drum loop but the bulk of the songs were specifically written around the loop itself,” he continues.

Ironically, Morin says that he never intended Cherry Bomb to become a full-fledged record but ended up liking the end result of what he had created so much that he enlisted his band mate Khosla to add in bass tracks and backing vocals to complement what he had recorded. At this point, Morin says he felt the record was starting to take the shape of a proper Great Balancing Act and as such, had occasional GBA member Alex Madsen add additional guitar tracks to the record while drummer Sara Parks stepped in to replace the drum loop with an actual drum track.

“Every song on the record is pretty much the same length, has the very same beat and is played at the very same tempo but no one really seems to notice this until I point it out,” Morin says. “That was what I had hoped would be the result anyway so in this respect, Cherry Bomb is a great success and partially why it took so long to make as well.”

Bassist Khosla admits that playing alongside Morin all these years has become a comfortable place for her.

“I find that we have gotten into a comfortable groove playing together,” she says. “I’m always excited by the new material he brings to the band which in turn makes me eager to play and sing on the songs.

“Sara is a super-addition to the Great Balancing Act as well,” Khosla continues. “She definitely brings an enthusiasm and fresh perspective to what we’re about.”

Drummer Sara Parks had occasionally worked with both Jeep and Nina over the course of a number of years and knew first-hand that if the opportunity to make music with them presented itself, she would jump at the chance to do so.

“I had adored the Great Balancing Act from the moment I laid eyes on their wacky costumes and heard their magical lyrics,” Park confesses. “I never would have predicted becoming a member of the band though. They were first on the lookout for a female back-up vocalist after a previous member had left; I believe the idea was to have me play a little tambourine and sing back up vocals.”

Shortly after Parks joined the Great Balancing Act however, the group’s drummer unexpectedly exited the band. She was somewhat surprised that she “had drummer in me as well,” and has continued to hold down the position within the band to this day.

Even with high-profile performances such as the Evolve Festival under their belts, one major highlight of the Act’s past year was the opportunity to play as a part of the Devotional Festival held in Cleveland, Ohio. The festival serves to gather faithful Devo fans from all corners of the world and is actually the largest festival of its kind anywhere.

Morin says the festival is typically very tough to get into as a performer but as luck would have it, a previously scheduled band cancelled, opening the door for the Great Balancing Act to fill the vacated timeslot.

“We were hobnobbing with the Devo inner circle, and this was very exciting to us,” Morin says. “Jerry Casale (Devo’s lead vocalist and bassist) was standing 10 feet away from us grooving, or at least politely pretending to groove, to our performance. For me, it was surreal to have one of the most influential people in my musical life, standing there watching my band play. It was an impossible moment, really.”

Article published in November 19, 2010 edition of the Times & Transcript - Times and Transcript

Yes, Great Balancing Act, I'm talking to you. My inner, too-cool bully is giving your dorky, energy-domed inner children atomic wedgies, slapping 'kick me' signs on your backs and stealing your lunch money.

The Moncton-based indie pop band recently reached the height of geek glory: a written invitation to play for the godfathers of weirdo new wave - DEVO.

The threesome played for a mass congregation of DEVO fans (aka.: spuds) at DEVOtional 2010 in Cleveland, Ohio on Aug. 28. Among the crowd was one of the group's biggest heroes - the band's mastermind, Gerry Casale.

"It was really neat to rub elbows with somebody that's been such a part of my musical history, standing right there beside me," GBA front man Jeep Morin said.

While The Great Balancing Act aren't a cover band, they use a ton of DEVO-inspired iconography and fashion in their sets, including - yes! - the quintessential hard plastic, Lego-esque hats.

They were asked to perform at the mass gathering by organizers, who took notice of a few of the group's colourful, undeniably DEVO-inspired videos.

"It's true, we like their philosophies. They're more than just a band that sings about sex, drugs and rock and roll - they have artistic vision," Morin said. "You can be more than just a band that plays songs; that's what we try to do, too."

The gig was undoubtedly successful for the group, who ran out of copies of their recently-released album, Cherry Bomb, made available to fans at the merch tables.

Morin linked up with like-minded dudes at the two-day event; he'll be working with some of them to create a documentary on spuds - the nerdiest and perhaps most peculiar breed of music fan out there.

DEVO's core principle is one of social contradiction. They believe humanity's evolution is, in fact, a form of regression; a downward spiral leading to our eventual destruction.

"All these ideas and theories tend to interest intellectual people," Morin said, admitting that The Great Balancing Act definitely fall into the definition: they spend roughly six hours each day blabbing on DEVO-inspired message boards. "Fans, to a tee, are usually outcast nerds." - [Here]

The sweet sounds of Moncton's Great Balancing Act grace us once again. The band's simplistic indie-pop is sure to please fans of groups such as Papas Fritas, or whoever gravitates towards the groovy, hum-along pop melodies evident on tracks such as Asha, Plane Jane, and Red Roses. With shows throughout the Maritimes this coming summer, expect the GBA pop gospel to be spread far and wide.

- Ken Kelley - [Here]

JP "Jeep" Morin couldn't decide which he liked best: working in animation, or writing and recording songs. The lead vocalist in Moncton's quirky pop rock group Great Balancing Act eventually decided he didn't want to choose - hence a new album, new tour, and a series of adorable animated videos, all of which bear Morin's creative signature.

"There's an entire movie with a soundtrack and visuals going on in my brain. I'll try various animations on top of different songs, and when I see a marriage that works, I marry them. I'm like a priest," he said, "or a matchmaker."

When the band formed nine years ago, they were releasing cassettes instead of CDs. Five albums later, they're hoping to make waves with the upbeat pop offering, Cherry Bomb. The album boasts a couple unique concepts. Three of 10 tracks have been made into music videos with cutesy animations in the vein of the Ditty Bops.

"I basically find that it's an extremely easy process, because the music in my head matches the animation in my head. I have these images I'm already seeing in my mind - and oddly enough, if I stick them onto the music, they gel really well," said Morin.

But the songs themselves have their own little secret.

While working in Calgary in 2008, Morin started sampling different songs he'd written over the same drum loop. The first song went swimmingly. The second worked just as well.

"So I wrote another song over that same loop. It's a different song, and when I fit it to the tempo of the drum loop it sounded totally different. I wanted to see if I could fool anybody into not realizing it's the exact same length and tempo," he said.

His nefarious plot worked. Unless you're listening for it, each song on Cherry Bomb has its own distinct character.

When Morin returned to New Brunswick in 2009, he reunited with bassist Nina Khosla and drummer Sara Parks. Great Balancing Act's hiatus was over: they were ready to make some music.

To promote Cherry Bomb, the group will play a host of Maritime shows over the summer. A performance at Pepper's in Saint John fell through, but the Great Balancing Act will put in a three-day stretch at Evolve in July.

"The response to this album has been really phenomenal. I think we've hit upon something with this album. We've finally done it," said Morin. - [Here]

It's been over 15 years since The Great Balancing Act began injecting our local music scene with its own funky brand of music and its new album Cherry Bomb just keeps up the good work. With 11 new tracks that were all recorded around one drum loop, the album should make long-time fans of the band very happy. Its laid-back poppy sound accompanied by quirky lyrics will be a welcome addition to any summer playlists.

Former member and current Divorcees front man Alex Madsen shows up on a few tracks to play some lead guitar which is an added bonus.The band has always ignored musical trends and done its own thing and, time and time again, it's the fans who are rewarded with great music.

Pick up Cherry Bomb, you won't be disappointed.

Highlights include: The Ballad of Bobby Burt, Monkey and Projector. - Times and Transcript

4 stars out of 4: "On 1998's goofy, but charming EP Summer, the Great Balancing Act debuted their budding flair for uniting gentle caricature with a carefree, but catchy mix of sun-bathed rhythms and sensations. It was unmistakably a celebration of being alive, of not taking oneself too seriously, of communicating the pleasurable radiance of sunny summer days with music. Now, the young Moncton band has unveiled their first full-fledged album - Dream - and like Summer, the band celebrates the theme without compromise. In dreams, anything can happen - you can fly, you can swim with dolphins, go to outer space, swing through the jungle like Tarzan, dance naked without inhibition - and that element of delightful surprise permeates the album. The apropos door opener - New Born Day - is a doo-wopped and sun-sparkled blues romp with a Grateful Dead groove in which the individual members (James, Nina, Alex, Gilles) wander in and out introducing themselves through personal celebration of the new day. It's hippie Haight-Ashbury jam cool in perfect focus. Foto, with its playfully pining lyrics, Salsoul Hustle flute / whistle and funk throb makes a perfect follow with uptempo elastic symbolism wound loosely around a picture of an ex-girlfriend. Therein, Dream becomes a tapestry of divergence: soaring and sunny harmonies blend with Rubber Soul jangle on Bluebird and Sunnyhead, post-Summer of Love eastern rhythms, tablas and bouncing balloon psychedelia burble through Into the Morning, languid sleepytime alt-country balladeering (Half Step Circles) and the stellar Love Train - a southern twang-fried classic rock anthem with an electric funk / disco heart and doom-impugning optimism. It all floats gently into your head and stays there with agreeable effervescence, sort of like a musical buzz (pick your intoxicant). The band close their Dream with another slice of Grateful Deadese in which they mix an oddly inspiring blend of mandolins and enviro-purpose (We're all here to help the earth grow!) that hints at humankind's post-mortem fate with big bouncy optimism. At once it's poignant, honest and humorous enough to make the worms laugh. Which of course is the ultimate charm of this band - their sunny summer radiance and dreamy innocence is designed to brighten hearts, regardless of whose they are. That's the great balancing act. - Times and Transcript

"Long languished on the club scene blowing away audiences with their experimental brand of tropical jazz / rock interpretation, this five song EP debut sets the record firmly in stone. Young, goofy and as sharp as Mom's sewing pins in their satirical approach to every form, GBA plod their way through an incredible 21 minute, five song set of self-penned and cover tunes that ramble and ease in to each other like the smoothest of summer grooves. What really makes this release ripe for mass appeal is the band's ability to pull their audience-response standard play in to the studio with them, creating a cool vibe that never threatens in its playfulness and pleasure to be performing and satirizing disco, jazz, Floyd, Steely Dan, Kiss and a wealth of other '70s excess. Summer blisters with bouncy male / female exchanges and an exceptionally professional relaxed approach to the form of rock and roll." - Times and Transcript

“The Great Balancing Act – I had no idea what to expect from this four-person groove unit, and by the end of the night I still hadn’t figured them out. If they were a movie, it would be ‘The Warm Fuzzies Meet the Creatures From Planet Zork’; if they were a domestic activity, they would be a long, hot bath with talking tub toys; if they were a dance, they would be a combination between the Hokey Pokey and the Moonwalk. To say the least, the kinky tunes and infectious glee they exude while performing make for a charming and slightly mysterious way to spend an evening.

The GBA is a four-piece group from Moncton that have been around for two years or so. Jeep (guitar/vocals), Nina (vocals/ trombone/ bass/ flute), DanO (drums/ vocals) and Ftired (keyboards, assorted melodymakers) exude a breezy happy vibe onstage that makes them a treat to watch. No flannels and Doc Martens for these guys; their stage attire more closely resembles Devo than Pearl Jam. In fact, they are downright hypnotic at time. Watching them dig into a tune like ‘Elephant Ragtime’ is visually and sonically arresting. The sight of Nina tootling away on the trombone accompanied by the cagey rhythms of her bandmates is a refreshing change from the typical sound and set-up of a four piece band.

Remember the scene in Star Wars where Luke and Obi Wan go to a cantina where that crazy alien band was playing? The Great Balancing Act live conjures up the feeling of that fantastical lounge; about twenty minutes into their set, I felt the strangest urge to order a huge drink with lots of Blue Curacao and dry ice, and scamper about the bar mumbling gibberish to everyone I came across. That was the effect they had on me, however, most of those who saw them on Thursday found that dancing was a better way to show their love. And dance they did, until the show came to a stop after a too-short one hour set. Just as my system fully adjusted to the beautiful extraterrestrial atmosphere they pump out, they were finished. Dang!”
- The Argosy

Amidst rhythmic discharges and cosmic eruptions, Ladies and Gentlemen… please stand back… Blelvis Blives! Based in Moncton, the Great Balancing Act follow up their first CD Spring (released in the spring of 1996) with Blelvis: six amazingly interlaced songs on cassette format. With this E.P., Nina, Jeep, Fred and DanO are forging the beat of a new sound, and are fast becoming the band to watch in the Maritimes.

The band cohesively blends bits of Dr. Seuss, Sesame Street, Stanislaw Lem, Roswell’s UFO and the funk revolution. Before mesmerized audiences, their performances transport us aboard their thermodynamic vessel, defying space and time.

A stunning production, Blelvis opens with the title track, a hypnotic incantation of funktastic depth, layered with long organ notes that spiral ceremoniously around a velvet groove. In the Pond, Ladybug, Blue trilogy, fragility becomes sublime strength. I admit to being awed and even transformed by the beauty of these songs. During Ladybug, the guitar’s tic-toc lullaby crescendos, freeing the ethereal voices of angels from the synthesizer. The moment is a magical one. UFO’s Are Real begins another movement, more nebulous than the preceding trilogy. With resounding bells it confidently announces the existence of life elsewhere. Finally, the frenetic joy of The Great Getaway rises on the wings of a pan flute to land in a ragtime with a lilting melody.

Overall, these songs are a beautifully woven, luminous journey colored in shades of springtime. There is a strong sense of arrangement here. Throughout Blelvis, Jeep and Nina’s vocals intertwine to epitomize love’s fragile balance.

This rare gem ranks among my top musical moments of 1996. Blelvis still grooves after a hundred listens.

Life is a Great Balancing Act, and this case, a truly successful one. Judge for yourself. A complete and essential recording.
- revue Satellite

Sometimes we all need a breath of fresh air. You're stuck inside at your desk all day, sick of work, what you need is to step outside and take a deep breath. We know this works, and you can extend it as a metaphor into other aspects of your life. Take music for example. We tend to stick to what we know, what we like, the same few bands, or styles. Too often you can get stuck in a rut, listening to the same stuff. You need a musical breath of fresh air.

That's how I see Moncton's Great Balancing Act, and their new disc, Cherry Bomb. It's such a happy, poppy, pleasant, sweet and rich disc, it's like a breath of fresh air to enjoy. Sure, I like loud guitars and drums, I like a singer who shouts, I can dig the power of rock and roll. But every once and awhile, it's good to remind your brain that happy and light are just as important as cool and brooding.

Great Balancing Act are one of the province's longest-serving bands, having started way back in 1994. The group features originals Jeep Morin, singer and guitar player, and bass player and singer Nina Khosla. They started writing fresh pop songs back in the early 90's, and moving to Moncton from Montreal, they set up this long running art collective. Jeep, you see, is also a cartoonist, which fits perfectly, as the songs are filled with a cartoon fun, and funny characters like a little monkey. In fact, many of the songs on Cherry Bomb have already been turned into cartoon videos, including that very monkey, the star of Morin's full-length animinated film Monkeytown...Moncton...get it?

Anyway, I'm sure you're starting to get the feel of what's behind the songs...lightness and humour are perfectly matched in the sweet harmonies and 60's and 70's bubblegum pop sound. It's pretty basic guitar-bass-drums-keys, with an emphesis on the boy-girl vocals. Joining the original Great Balancing Act duo are newcomer Sarah Parks on drums and more vocals, and a special guest star handling the lead guitar, none other than Moncton axeman Alex Madson, the frontman for the much-loved ECMA winning country band The Divorcees.

If you're still having a little trouble imagining the sound of Cherry Bomb, perhaps it will help to imagine The B-52's, only not so frantic, crossed with the surrealism of DEVO. In fact, the lone cover on the disc is a Devo song, That's Good." The rest is from the furtive imagination of the group, which includes outerspace characters, quotes from Obi-Wan Kenobi, a world where Frank Sinatra has a love child with Cleopatra, and where bombs are good not bad. Or as they sing, "it's not the scary bomb, it's the cherry bomb."

The disc will be launched this Friday, May 14th, at Plan B Lounge, on St. George in Moncton. It's one of those great deals where you pay the cover charge of fifteen bucks, and that includes getting the CD as part of the admission. Tickets are $15 and include a CD. You can also buy it online through CDBaby and iTunes.
So now, it's time for your musical breath of fresh air. From Great Balancing Act, and the new disc Cherry Bomb, here's the tune...Breath Of Fresh Air. - CBC Radio - Shift - Bob Mersereau

MONCTON - Seize années après sa première prestation, le groupe funky pop de Moncton Great Balancing Act est de retour avec un nouvel album, Cherry Bomb. Une musique rafraîchissante, idéale pour la saison estivale.

Sylvie Mousseau sylvie.mousseau@acadienouvelle.com

Cherry Bomb est de la musique pop pour la nouvelle ère de l'«Apopalypse», soutient 'auteurcompositeur-interprète Jean-Pierre Morin, alias Jeep de Great Balancing Act.

«Pour nous, l'Apocalypse annoncée en 2012 représente plutôt quelque chose de nouveau, au lieu de la fin du monde», a déclaré Jean-Pierre Morin, qui a composé la majorité des chansons du disque Cherry Bomb. Au lieu de voir tout en noir, la formation anglophone de Moncton propose plutôt l'espoir pour essayer de changer l'esprit. Comment être subversif tout étant créatif, positif et optimiste? Voilà ce que tente de faire Jeep avec sa musique et ses films.

«Ce n'est pas que nous sommes nécessairement du monde positif, c'est juste que nous n'avons pas le choix. Pour moi, la situation est trop critique en ce moment sur la planète pour se permettre de se plaindre. Je crois que ça prend de l'espoir, car c'est l'espoir qui donne de la force», a soutenu Jeep (voix, guitare et clavier). Celui-ci et Nina Khosla (basse et voix) constituent le coeur de Great Balancing Act. En 16 ans, le groupe a subi plusieurs transformations. Des musiciens ont quitté la formation, tandis que d'autres s’y sont greffés. Il y a eu aussi des pauses, parce que les membres du groupe vivaient dans différentes villes canadiennes. Jean-Pierre Morin, qui partage son temps entre le cinéma et la musique, a vécu pendant de nombreuses années à Calgary, où il a enseigné le cinéma d'animation. En 16 ans, la formation a réalisé huit enregistrements, dont six disques. Le plus récent opus, Cherry Bomb, a été conçu un peu comme une expérience. Jeep s'est donné comme défi de composer toutes les chansons sur le même tempo.

«J'avais comme section rythmique un loop (échantillon) de batterie de deux minutes 43 secondes et j'ai composé des mélodies sur la guitare. Les chansons sont sur le même tempo et elles ont presque toutes la même longueur. Je me suis dit que j'allais faire un disque où on n'a pas le temps de se tanner des chansons», a expliqué Jean-Pierre Morin. Reprenant un peu le son de certains groupes des années 1960 et 1970, le disque a été réalisé de façon minimaliste, sans effets spéciaux. Jean-Pierre Morin raconte qu'il écrit un peu de la perspective d'un extraterrestre qui arriverait sur Terre pour observer l'humanité.

En bref... Le nouvel album de Great Balancing Act réunit aussi Sara Parks (batterie et voix), ainsi que le guitariste Alex Madsen, du groupe Divorcees. Le lancement aura lieu au club le Plan B, à Moncton, vendredi (14 mai), à compter de 21 h 30. Le groupe donnera plusieurs spectacles cet été dans les Provinces maritimes... - Acadie Nouvelle