Go Jimmy Go keeps its momentum

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Ska Summit-bound, the members of Go Jimmy Go are, clockwise from left, Ian Ashley (guitar/vocals); Shon Gregory (drums); Fernando Pacheco (trombone); Jason "Bison" Friedmann (vocals); Eric White (sax); and Cameron Wright (bass guitar). Missing is second guitarist Andrew McLellan.

"Looking back on the six years since we started out, last year just tallied up every ambition I ever had," admitted founding GJG tenor sax man Eric White over some Friday pau-hana suds at Brew Moon. "To play Blaisdell, to play Kualoa Ranch ... What more could you ask for?"

Maybe playing the Vans Warped Tour, which the band also did last year. The summer of 2002 also saw GJG release a well-received second CD, "Soul Arrival," and take off on its fourth tour in as many years of clubs up and down the California coast.

And so for 2003, the band has indeed decided to take it just a bit easier.

In addition to its annual self-financed tour of its favorite Cali coast haunts, GJG is plotting multiweek tours of the Midwest, East Coast and Canada this summer, and Europe in the fall.

If the Vans Warped folks come calling again, well, GJG will probably do that, too. Oh, and the guys would like nothing more than to find some time to head to the studio for their next CD.

Go Jimmy Go taking it just a bit easier? Uh-huh, folks. We were just kidding.

"It's getting really good for us up there, so we want to keep going back," said White. "We hit the same places, start all over again at other places, and try to build up an audience there."

Taking its always wickedly danceable, always positive amalgam of musical vibes to new places and audiences was one of the main reasons Go Jimmy Go accepted an invitation to play Vans Warped last year. The band knew ahead of time that it wouldn't be paid for any of its shows on the three-week tour, and would have to shell out its own travel and lodging expenses.

"The cool thing about Vans was they fed us every day," remembered White, laughing. "We landed in L.A. and drove 18 hours to our first show in Boise, Idaho. We had a 15-passenger van and a 10-by-6 trailer. We also had a (Jeep) where we could put down the back seats, chill or sleep and rotate on the driving."

As the tour went on, the band slept in its vehicles, at the homes of friends, and, when its members felt like splurging, in hotels.

"We'd rent one hotel room and be like sardines on the floor," said White. "Heads and arms everywhere ... stinky feet."

If Go Jimmy Go's Warped performances were day shows, White would always try to schedule an evening gig somewhere in town to make some extra cash. Handed little by Vans except the times the band was scheduled to set up and perform, "It was up to us to find the venue ... and make our way around," said White. "We got lost countless times. But that's kind of the funniest part of any trip."

White insisted that all of the effort was well worth it.

"Oh, yeah, totally. You gotta sacrifice for the bigger payoff, you know? Plus, we got to meet the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. We met NOFX. We met a bunch of cool bands out there in the same situation as us, just trying to make it. That was an eye-opener — seeing where they're at, where they're going, seeing the music business on a big level day-to-day, and seeing where we could go. We also saw what not to do."

Go Jimmy Go returned home in August to its largest gig ever, opening for No Doubt in front of a sold-out Blaisdell Arena crowd that was just as pumped up to see them as they were to see Gwen, Tony, Adrian and Tom. The band's fun, upbeat 40-minute set showed the tight cohesiveness of a seasoned group of musicians in its prime. Forget the fact that the band never actually met No Doubt; White was just stoked to be playing Blaisdell.

"Being on that stage was, like ... man, I saw Ozzy Osbourne on that stage, you know what I mean?" said White, still in awe. "His guitar player would be running across it. It was like a football field. It was the greatest feeling. There was some nervousness, but we felt at ease up there. After the first song, at least."

Six months of steady Honolulu gigs, Neighbor Island tours, and a slot on November's Vans Triple Crown Surf Fest bill at Kualoa Ranch have kept the band primed for 2003's expanded touring schedule.

"The summer is brand new territory for us," said White. "We'll be up north — Pennsylvania, New York, Chicago. We're thinking about going through Canada."

After returning home for a bit, Go Jimmy Go plans to hit Europe in the fall.

"We have some friends there who are willing to help us through booking agents," said White. "We'll probably go to Germany, Italy, France and Spain ... Amsterdam and Switzerland. Germany has always been good to ska and reggae musicians."

Go Jimmy Go's members all hold day jobs outside performing (White is an eighth-grade teacher at Wai'anae Intermediate School), but the seven-member band's goal is to financially support itself with its music.

"We always try to be optimists (and) try to emphasize the good things in life ... the positives," said White. "We like to sing about what makes life worth living, as opposed to what you hear a lot on the radio these days, which can be very depressing or self-pitying. We want to celebrate life, you know? Make people dance."