No Joy

Interview by Deva Rao
Photos shot by Rebecca Storm in Montréal, Canada

Traumatising unsuspecting eardrums with careening, feedback-heavy noise or invoking rapturous transcendence through swirling, liberally reverbed riff tapestries, Montreal’s No Joy follow their instincts musically, toeing the line between sonic bliss and trauma. With that in mind, we spoke with guitarist and primary lyricist Jasamine White-Gluz about impulsivity and recurring assumptions and, most importantly, we emerged a few workout tips richer via an impromptu cameo from bassist Michael Farsky.

On a scale of one to ten, one being “I schedule my bathroom breaks ahead of time” and ten being “I have my bathroom breaks in public”, how impulsive would you say you are?

[Laughs] Not impulsive at all, everything is planned out. I have a calendar for every little thing I do.

How does that translate to bathroom breaks?

I don’t schedule the bathroom breaks, now that I think about it. I’m a big multitasker, so they probably just happen whenever I’m emailing also or something. It coordinates with everything else.

Right. So, there’s definitely pre-conceived notions of what people in bands are like, and the whole tour lifestyle attached to it. Does that ever impact you negatively?

Not negatively, cause we’re all down to party. The only negative is maybe people expect us to party even more, and then they see we don’t party that much and just want to watch a little Netflix and go to bed, they’re like “oh I guess they’re kinda lame” [laughs]. So that’s probably the worst part, not living up to that.

So in keeping with snap judgement, wanna play word association?

Okay!

Amsterdam.

Party!

Or Netflix…

Or Netflix… whatever partying is to you.

Young Thug.

Oh my god, I don’t know… I’m so out of touch, I don’t know. I should listen to more things, that’s what I think of. Our bass player Michael’s probably the best at [keeping up with new music]. I’m not that good at it.

Taxidermy.

No! Definitely no. Our friend’s dog, the owner kept saying that when he died, they’re gonna stuff him so they can always have him around… I, and my sister, we’re animal rights folk, vegetarian, vegan, and I can’t deal with taxidermy or any leather or fur. I’m not for it at all.

I see “girls in a band” questions coming up in every single interview you guys have done…. Does that ever frustrate?

You don’t ask a bunch of guys “what’s it like to be a dude in a band?” Being a girl in a band, in my experience, has been pretty much the same as being a dude in a band, with the exception of having to sometimes answer questions. Maybe it’s because I don’t have a good answer for it, and some people have had more experiences that lend to having more to say. But gender’s never been an issue, except when people ask. And I’m kind of like “should it be”?

It’s strange. If you were to overanalyse, it’s almost a convoluted form of sexism, where people assume as a woman in a band you must have really strong opinions on gender issues as a whole.

Yeah, I think that’s what it is. The other thing is that as far as I can see, there’s been women in shoegaze since the beginning. So I’m not really sure why this is something new to people… maybe they just need something to talk about. It’s great when there’s girls in bands that can talk about it and share their stories, for sure. I just don’t have any stories to share, really.

Yeah, or maybe you’re sexist.

Yeah, maybe I’m in denial. I’m a girl hater.

So, complete the sentence: this interview is…

Amazing!

Nice. To be honest, it could be better for me, because I was hoping for some more specific workout tips. You mentioned your bass player [Michael] earlier… I saw on a promo pic of yours that he’s pretty ripped, can you compliment him on his fantastic physique?

Aw, well, so you want me to call him right now?

Please do!

[Jasamine calls, Michael picks up, Jasamine explains]

J: What’s your workout routine to look buff in the photos?

M: It’s a little scattered, but mostly what keeps me fit is a positive attitude, and the music we play is what keeps my body in motion. It’s more deciding to be fit than it is training myself to be.

A sonic workout kinda thing.

M: That is the God-honest truth.

J: Mind first, body after.

Well, I was very impressed.

J: You have to love yourself.

M: And each other.