by Matt Dixon, April '06

1. Please introduce the band and give a brief history.
Right now we're in flux: it's usually me, Greg, Whitney, Steve and Catherine. Sometimes Anna and Star still play. Basically, I was upset with all of music so i decided to do it all at once. Steve liked it, and Anna liked it, so we started playing as a group. Greg liked it too. Whitney came on tour with us, and was awesome. Catherine hangs out with us all the time so she joined at a house party on Halloween.

2. How would you describe your music?
John spencer blues explosion as played by snap for positive hardcore audiences?

3. What is your musical background? when did punk/indie/whatever come into play?
I was always into punk. actually, I thought most of the punk bands I liked were metal, because I was little. Then I didn't know there was a difference between punk and indie because I lived in a small town and was the only person who liked ANY of it. I live in Toronto now, and I'm still right.

4. What do you think sets your band apart from others?
Our complete lack of similarity to most other bands, and our complete lack of similarity to bands we are supposedly "like".

5. What bands or musicians, past and present, would you say influence your music?
That's too long a list- we use their music or combine the parts of their ideas we like. Some records I feel strongly about are: anything by Herb Alpert, "Group Sex" by The Circle Jerks, "Paradise Don't Come Cheap" by New Kingdom, "The White Room" by the KLF, "Welcome to the Big Bigot" by Severed Heads, the self titled Crown Heights Affair album, "1999" by Prince, "Feral Hymns" by Lungfish, and "Low Kick and Hard Bop" by Solex.

6. Is there anything specific you try to communicate through your music?
Autonomy and responsibility; not measuring your life by fictional standards set by narratives; finding fictional narratives in portrayals of the truth; questioning the blind rejection of irony and arbitrary measurement of sincerity; advocating non-pacifist tactics; self-analysis through personal and public iconography.

7. Do you think it's necessary for independent musicians and bands to have a form of ethics?
Yes, and problematically absent. the DIY ethic has been stuck in this late seventies-early eighties model of DIY that has nothing to do with the DIY ethic. Bands need to look at the economic advantages and disadvantages of how and what they are doing, as well as the impact their band has on the physical and psychological environment. I don't think enough people think about what their band makeup means, or their songwriting, or whether or not the band suggests any kind of sustainability. This is changing, but I'm impatient.

8. How have ppl generally reacted to your posi-hardcore/hip hop/punk rock style?
Strongly. Very strongly.

9. What has been your most memorable live show to date?
I don't remember any of our shows anymore. I'm lying. They are starting to blur together, though. If there was one memorable show, it would be like this: the time all the glass got broken at an outdoor amphitheatre we were playing illegally and everyone lied down in the glass before bursting out into the street with confetti everywhere, and Tim Ford tried to kill me but broke his ankle, Steve had an asthma attack, Greg Rabbit punched me in the kidneys, I fell in the lake and Whitney had never played live before. Anna and Star were wearing animal masks, I had a batman cowl and goalie mask, I threw snowballs at everybody and did a somersault on top of the crowd. It was the middle of the day, and the audience divided like the red sea for Catherine to dance down the middle of. Then Dylan yelled at a dude who punched his fist through our car window and I was only breathing in styrofoam crumbs. All of that really happened to us.

10. What's your favourite dance party song?
"Give It Back" by The Dickies, preferably played several times in a row. or "Footloose" followed by "Generation of Love".

11. What can we expect from ninja high school in the future?
A new record in a little while, and a tour slightly before that, where we go to all of Canada.

12. How can kids contact you?
Email us. We will play your house, lawn or entire town. (nhs@ ninjahighschool.info)

13. Any final words?
I wish I thought of my songs as being as good as the songs many of my friends write.