Lineup 2011

Great Balancing Act

Moncton, New Brunswick

Moncton Indie-pop darlings The Great Balancing Act launched what the Times & Transcript called their “pop masterpiece” this year: Cherry Bomb, as their 8th album is called, is available on CDBaby and iTunes. With its sunny harmonies and danceable beats, this record remains true to the band’s aesthetic of simplicity and groove.

The power-pop trio is currently made up of Jeep (lead vocals, guitar), Nina (harmonies, bass), and Sara (harmonies, drums), sometimes backed by the “cherry-on-top” guitar of Alex Madsen (Divorcees). The band has lived many incarnations, sometimes touring with as many as 7 members, playing across Canada in venues like the Ottawa Folk Festival, Evolve, and Black Sheep Inn. However, Jeep and Nina have remained the core of the group since its 1994 inception as a guitar and udu-drum duo.

There is always an element of surprise in GBA performances. Costumes, puppets, humourous tales, and even original cartoons are all in a day’s work for these modern-day troubadours. “The band we’re most like is (New-Wave group) DEVO, not only in terms of our simplicity and spectacle, but also because we both embody a philosophy that drives our music, our visual art, and our lives.”

The Great Balancing Act’s philosophy is about the power of an individual or group to change their reality from the inside out, using positive thinking, and it is woven throughout the imaginary universe in the albums. The characters and symbols in Jeep’s cartoons interact with those in the lyrics and music videos to poke loving fun at us “poor little monkeys” on planet earth and encourage us to “look for the planet of love.”