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SAN DIEGO (Wireless Flash - FlashNews) – A dangerous ninja duo is on the loose in San Diego, and no sea creature is safe from their wrath. Ninja Love is a hard rock band that jams about sea creatures in songs like “Gentle Sea Beast.”
Their album, Light Yourself On Fire, drops today (Jan. 15), and chronicles the story of sea life being trained by a cyclops, which culminates in an intense battle of ninja versus animal.
Drummer “Ninja Won” says the band fights huge sea creatures like whales, sharks, and manatees to prove that “there’s nothing a ninja cannot stealthily dispose of.”
During their live performances, they wear full ninja costumes – including masks, swords, and nunchucks – and appear and vanish in front of crowds with the help of an old fog machine.
They recreate their album live by bringing plush, stuffed whales on stage and beheading them with a sword. “Ninja Won” says the duo’s ultimate goal is to one day play at a dojo in Japan or on the main stage at Sea World. - Flash News
"It’s outrageously hot on stage inside our ninja outfits,” says keyboardist Matt Liebowitz, one half of “karate-rock” duo Ninja Love. “Black pants, black shoes, black T-shirts, black hoodies with the hood up at all times, and black masks. It gets so hot, I keep extra ninja masks in my glove box.”
Neither Liebowitz nor singer/guitarist Mike Villemaire has been trained in martial arts. “All the technique is cribbed from kung fu films and how we believe ninjas act. I mean, who’s ever seen a real ninja, right?”
The band’s stage props do include authentic martial arts gear. “We actually use nunchucks in songs,” says Liebowitz, “and Mike is incredibly adept with them, though not trained. He has a tambourine mounted on the mike stand, and he hits it with the nunchucks.
“Our samurai sword is definitely real, and I assume it’s illegal. It’s certainly sharp. We keep that one in a guitar case until it’s on stage.” Liebowitz admits his hard-rock duo was worried about the sword when playing O’Connell’s so soon after the January 11 shooting near the club. “We figured tensions were high…if they saw us take a sword out on stage, someone might freak out. Especially if they didn’t like our music,” ’70s-style hard rock with a karate kick.
Liebowitz hopes actual martial artists aren’t offended by their act, especially since they hope to shoot a CD cover (“and maybe a video”) at a local dojo. “I guess they might be bothered by us but hopefully not enough to fight us. If real ninjas find out about us, though, we’re screwed. I’m sure we’ll be quickly and expertly disposed of.” - San Diego Reader
Discography
2009 : Light Yourself on Fire EP
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Bio
The origins of Ninja Love are hazy, but in San Diego, sometime in early 2008, it is understood that its two members, wielding guitars, drum machines, nunchucks, and keyboards, began playing heavy, intricately arranged songs combining an appreciation of Tool, Cake, Minus the Bear, and Queens of the Stone Age. Ninja Love's shows quickly became raucous, visual experiences, with its Ninja-mask clad musicians sharing frontman roles, singing and playing guitar, drums, bass, synthesizer, percussion, and electronics, often at the same time. Ninja Love recently released its first EP, "Light Yourself on Fire."
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