by MARK SLUTSKY

They’re not brothers, they’re not Jewish, and they’ve never even been to a bar mitzvah, but don’t hold it against the Bar Mitzvah Brothers. Consisting of three plucky upstarts from Guelph - Jenny Mitchell, Geordie Gordon, and Little John Jemeson Merritt, aged 18, 16, and 15, respectively - the BMBs got their start at a school talent show and quickly became local favourites, playing shows non-stop in their hometown and surrounding burgs like Kitchener and London. Their first CD, the self-released The Night of the Party (due for re-release by Jon Asencio’s Robosapien label any day now), is a crazy, charming disc replete with lyrics about mail fraud, housebound moms and camping trips, accompanied by the sounds of the Omnichord synthesizer, banjos, mandolins, and washboards. The Mirror spoke with singer Jenny Mitchell.

Mirror: Do you have any bar mitzvah memories that inspired your music at all? Was it just the sound of the music, or was there a deeper connection?

Jenny Mitchell: It was just the sound, really. I really like klezmer stuff and that beat behind it. The Omnichord has this really crazy sound, but it kind of had that really nice beat I associate with bar mitzvah music. I haven’t really been been to a bar mitzvah, so it was just like the imagery in my head was of a happy kind of ceremony.

M: And yet you sing some songs in Hebrew. Do you speak Hebrew?

JM: No, I got it from a Hebrew phrasebook. I really like the sound of Hebrew, though I don’t sing it properly, or pronounce it very well, but the words are really neat, I think. I always felt kind of bad that I couldn’t really do it properly, but it was always meant to be used as an instrument, more than anything.

M: Are people in Guelph into what you do?

JM: Yeah, I think we’re sort of one of the Guelph house bands, especially for the local radio station. We end up playing a lot of their fundraisers and stuff. We were actually offered off as a prize for one of their fundraisers. Whoever won us would get to have us play a concert in their house. Nobody claimed it - so I don’t know what that means.

M: Is there something special about the town that you think affects the music you make?

JM: Definitely the other musicians. There’s a really crazy musical scene in Guelph, especially amongst the older people. There’s acceptance in Guelph for all sorts of musicians - people get together all the time and just have crazy jams. More in the summer than in the winter, but Guelph definitely likes music and art.

M: Have you guys been playing music all your life?

JM: Geordie has, I think. He took fiddle lessons since he was really young, and he stopped in Grade 8 or Grade 9, and started playing the way he wanted to. I think John sort of got taught the drums early on. Not really though - everything else we were pretty much self-taught in the last three years or so. We were really terrible when we started, and we’ve actually gotten to be so much better, just from being forced to play all the time. :

With Goa! and the Neutron Stars at Casa del Popolo on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 8–9, 9pm, $6

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