The Jingles is Calgary’s best, if not only, Christmas band that plays original, traditional and re-interpreted holiday favourites in a variety of styles including folk, blues, rock, funk, pop and contemporary. Combining impressive musicianship and hammed up humor, The Jingles are pure entertainment that leaves you feeling warm fuzzy and festive. This is their 4th year putting on annual holiday sea folk, blues, rock, funk, pop and contemporary.
Shows coming up December 10th – at The House Coffee Sanctuary, and December 23rd, at The Blind Beggar Pub!
Vicki of MyLifeCalgary had the pleasure of chatting to Mike Valenzuela of The Jingles on what drives him to play music and what started the Christmas band magic.
V: So, Mike. Tell me a bit about how you got into music?
M: I’ve always been a fan of music. I first played the Recorder in Grade 4 and then the clarinet in grade 7. I realized then that woodwinds weren’t for me. I used to sing for a band called CUFOS (pronounced soofoh’s or see you eff oh’s) .. we disbanded shortly and they became a hardcore band called Reckitt. I then started dabbling with drums and percussion and kept with it. I then started drumming for a band called The Tracks (formerly known as wonderstruck) fresh out of high school and we rocked. A highlight from that band was opening for and meeting The Subways at Mac Ballroom.
Since then, I’ve been in various bands and projects over the past 10 years and here we are now.
V: I remember when you played for the Tracks. So awesome.
So, you’ve been doing this for a long time. What are your future goals going forward with music and your new band (Septembyro)?
M: I met Michael Hill in High School before I joined the tracks. Since 2002 we both were in various bands trying to make it in the Calgary music scene and beyond. I always supported Mr. Hill and could see his potential as a song writer so I finally approached him in the spring of 2011 and we decided to reboot his band Septembryo. This time with a new line up and a new direction.
The Goals of Septembryo is to release a full-length self-titled album in the spring of 2012. We put out The Dreambuilder EP and have been doing shows to help propell us towards that goal. So far so good.
We also are hoping to arrange some high calibur shows and events. One main one being a big all ages show in the Spring with King Dylan. We are putting together a contest for High School bands to compete and the winner will get to open for us at that event.
V: Sounds like you’re on the right track Mike.
Now, I’m going to sideline onto your holiday project which gets me all pumped up. The Jingles – your Christmas band. What started this?
M: Ahh yes, Christmas is in the air and The Jingles are wafting it in with gitty anticipation. Dean Morrison, Lindsay Rae and I used to all attend the open-mic Thursdays at The House Coffee Sanctuary and often would venture over to Kensington Pub afterwards to hang out. About 3 or 4 years ago we flirted with the idea of putting together a Christmas set for open-mic. The More we thought about it, we decided it should be a show. Then we decided we should be a Christmas Band! The Jingles was born! We created Calgary’s best, if not only, Christmas band.
It all happened swiftly after that, we arranged a Show at The House Coffee Sanctuary and it has since been an annual tradition!
Our first show was called When Tinsel Met Fruitcake. Our second show was Home for the Holidays in which we partnered with the Calgary Homeless Foundation to raise funds and awareness for the homeless. Last year was The Jingles Go ALL The Way! This year is THE JINGLES VS THE END OF THE WORLD!
V: VS The End of The World? Sounds intense!
M: With all the scare mongering, Myan Calendar warnings, rapture predictions, post-apocalyptic movies and telivision shows we decided we had to fight back. This very well may be our last Christmas, so we are not going to give up without a fight.
V: A fight worth fighting. And do you have an army involved? How have you found your fan base with the Jingles – Seeing as it’s an annual event rather than all year?
M: That’s the tricky thing. It’s hard to keep people in the loop and involved since we only come out once a year (like that groundhog).
Thankfully, Christmas and the Holiday Season are fairly popular events. People are always looking for things to do and ways to get in the spirit of Christmas. That has always helps. Also, Dean Morrison plays in Dean Morrison Band, Redhead Mack and a few other projects year round. As you know, I also am in a few projects. Seeing as he and I are both involved we can kind of borrow our fans of our other bands. December is also usually pretty dormant in the music scene. Things are closed, people are out of town, bands are busy recording or writing.
However, I always have people asking WHEN IS THE NEXT JINGLES SHOW!? I CAN’T MISS THIS ONE! Each year we have a bigger crowd, to the point where The House Coffee Sanctuary becomes The Crowded Elevator to the North Pole. This year we added an additional show at Blind Beggar Pub later in the month to help spread out the draw as well as give people who can’t make it to the first show to still catch us. Taylor Cochrane shall be opening for us for the Blind Beggar show so we are pretty stoked on that.
Fun Christmas Facts about Michael
Favourite holiday food: I’m a fiend for chocolate, however I love a nice warm Christmas Turkey dinner with the family. Mashed Potatos. Gravy. Sweet Potatos. The Works.
Favourite holiday beverage: I like hot chocolate/coco. Egg Nog Latte’s are good too but I try not to support Starbucks too much.
Favourite holiday song: Oh dear this is a toughy. Hmmm. I’ll go with The Last Christmas by Emery to give the kids something NEW to listen to.
Meet the Jingles:
Dean Morrisson (Dean Morrison Band/Redhead Mack)
Mike Valenzuela (Septembryo/Her Motives Are Silent)
Lindsey Rae
