The Boston Jolly Pirates began in the Summer of 2004, practicing in a beat up garage in Walpole,MA (Guitarist John Marden's parent's house) while founding member Tony Gemba lived in Jamaica Plain,MA. At the initial start, Tony was the drummer (fresh from drumming in bands Jerk Alert, Shit Outta Luck & A Fine Line) for the sake of getting the songs written while the band looked for a serious drummer. At the beginning, they were mostly Street Punk with Horns and some Ska while they found their true sound- Ska-Core. The year was 2004 and Ska music was pushed waaay underground while Emo dominated the music scene that was once so fond of Ska type bands. So the name The Boston Jolly Pirates was decided. They wanted a fun sounding Ska-Punk band name to combat the evil forces of Emo. Boston (where they were from and it was the city they loved so much), Jolly (fuck emo, we're happy-go-lucky drunk fuckin' Massholes), & Pirates (when and if we ever hit the road, the vehicle would be our ship and the open road our seas). Plus, Tony lived in JP which is in/near Boston, hence "BJP"(Boston Jamaica Plain). And so, as time went on, they had many practice spaces and many members on their mission to bring Psychotic Ska-Core music to the willing masses. Over time, they would take Ska-Core and combine elements of Punk Rock n Roll, Thrash, Metal, Reggae, Hip Hop and whatever else they felt the need to throw in. All the while, keeping their high-energy, piratey Ska-Core sound intact.
While in Millis,MA at their practice spot at that time, they wrote the album "Big Hate", which they recorded themselves. The line up then was Tony Gemba, John Marden, Dan Calden, Jon-Erik Tryggestad, Andy Mirsberger, Paul Hession, Jeff Moto and Jeff Angelo. That CD was pure Ska, Punk Rock and Hardcore. They played many shows promoting that disc with bands like The Brunt of It, Axis of Evil, Jonny vs. The Ninjas, The Slackers, Westbound Train, Big D & The Kids Table, Bad Larry and many other great bands who became lasting friends with BJP.
Then came the Norwood era. 3 strong years of playing awesome shows and maturing their sound. They also mixed up practices at Berklee College of Music in Boston and Smithfield,RI while finally settling in at the Norwood space. From this came 4 CD's. 2 eps ".We're Coming, The Free EP" which featured their infamous cover of Johnny Cash & June Carter's 'Ring of Fire' & ".Ruin Music" which was recorded at Berklee by Ernie Folcarelli (drumming at the time). Also, they had 2 full-lengths during this era. "OBEY! We Are Your Friends" recorded by Ernie in their Norwood practice space & "Global Warming" which was recorded in Newport,RI by Scotty Rancourt. Boofish (of the Brunt of It) built the studio back in the day and recorded the album "Certain Uncertainty" there. So, naturally, he leant his awesome vocal talents to a few tracks on the CD. "OBEY!" saw BJP maturing, with Tony adding Theremin to their sound, for a more Horror Movie/Sci-Fi Ska-Core feel. This was also a tip of the hat to Fishbone frontman Angelo Moore, who turned Tony on to the instrument in the first place. Years later, Tony would play the Theremin WITH Angelo Moore at 2 Warped Tour dates with friends 'Build A Machine'. Also joining Dr. Madd-Vibe was Jon-Erik from BJP on trumpet. "Global Warming" on the other hand, was a truly matured Ska-Core sound. They basically took all the best songs from Big Hate and all the better new songs, recorded them in Newport over a descent period of time, and threw them on one awesome CD (which came with a poster, a patch, and a sticker). Also, there's the ONLY BJP hip-hop recording EVER at the end. A trip-hop remix Ernie cooked up of the song "Rusty Crown".
With these CDs recorded and pressed, BJP hit the road playing as much as possible to promote these albums. Playing with bands like Darkbuster, The Toasters, The Flaming Tsunamis, HR (of Bad Brains), Whole Wheat Bread, The Have Nots, Sonic Boom Six, The Fad, Pilfers, Big Lick, Everybody Out!, The Allstonians, Beat Soup and many other great bands. They even got to open the 1st ever Foxboro Stadium ska show "Ska Is Dead- Skanksgiving" thanks to Dave from Mustard Plug. And were dubbed "Kings of the Basement Show" by all the Allston fan-base. Members for this 3 year gap of fun was still Tony, John, Jeff Angelo, and Andy (from the Big Hate days) as well as Ernie, Evan Berg, Cooper X, Jenna Ramos, and Joey Herbz.
Like all the better bands in this world, shit went sour. Members began dropping like flies as College ended and the real world settled in. Members like John Marden, Jeff Angelo, Ernie, Andy, (and the rest) left to pursue careers and work full time and move out of state and what-have-you. For nearly 2 years, Tony, Jon-Erik and Joey fought to keep things going by adding members like Joe Ferrara, Dave Jenks and Glen Marshall while rehearsing for free at 115 Franklin (a place BJP played many amazing Basement Shows for a long time) in Allston,MA (along with losing members at an alarming rate, they also lost their practice spot in Norwood). These times were filled with bitterness for what BJP has endured. So the name The Boston Jolly Pirates was dropped entirely. BJP would be the name for the time being while a new name was figured out. With so many members who founded the sound no longer in the band, and with all the old music being played so differently by the new members, CHANGE was imminent. We managed to record 2 more times as BJP. 2 eps- "CABIN!", which was recorded in Rumney, New Hampshire by Joe Ferrara. And "Puff,Puff, Pabst" which was recorded by Mike McMillen (from On Broken Wings and Everybody Out). They even played bad-ass shows with Bim Skala Bim, Bomb the Music Industry, The Rudeness, Razors in the Night and many more.
In the Summer of 2010, Jon-erik said farewell while BJP said farewell to yet another practice space leaving the future of the remaining 4 members (Tony, Joe F., Joey Herbz and Glen) to be decided in time.
"Expect BIG news, for we plan on coming back with a newer sound and newer members and a new name. May the memory of what The Boston Jolly Pirates were live on in every person who saw us live and loved us, or bought a CD and still plays it loud to this day, or wears our out-of-print t-shirts in public, or got drunk as shit with us at one of our shows or one of our parties in Norwood,MA or Allston. We love every single person who made this up-hill fight to play worth every struggle we had to endure. And believe me, as bad as times got, we had a fucking blast doing it. And I'd do it all over again with every single person who was involved."
-Tony G
If interested in buying any BJP music that's not on interpunk or anywhere else online, email Tony(captainoneeyedwilly@yahoo.com )
BUY OUR NEW CD "GLOBAL WARMING" NOW!!! AS WELL AS "OBEY! WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS"- BOTH AT INTERPUNK!
BjP Merch
Skull Logo Tee $10 (Black or White)
Front
Back
We've Been Shipwrecked Patches $1 (Black or Red)
VIDEOS BY: REEL CLASSY PRODUCTIONS
Blow Job Party/No Love @ Harper's Ferry w/ Epileptic Disco 2010!
Ring Of Fire(cover) Live @ Midway Cafe
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Charlie Frown Live @ 115 Franklin St. Allston,MA- April 18, 2010
BJP @ SKA IS DEAD- SKANKSGIVING-LINE FOR LINE/$.50 PABST (ON TAP)
