Sometimes to best appreciate where you’re been, you have to step away from the situation altogether.
“In 2007, we had done a 16-week tour that had us tour from Western Canada to Eastern Canada, park our van for almost two months while we toured Europe and then toured across Canada back home to Vancouver,” Ninkovic relays from her home in Abbotsford, British Columbia.
“That tour really broke us in a way,” she admits.
The band wasn’t on the verge of disbanding or making any final permanent decisions but it quickly became obvious that a break was in order.
“As glorious as the life of a band might be to some, it is rather difficult being on tour. You’re all sleep deprived, eating crappy food, partying and you’re constantly surrounded by people and noise. Finding solitary time is almost impossible. It is a recipe for disaster.”
A trip to China in 2008 would turn the band’s fortune around for the better though and ultimately give them the inspiration to make XXXX.
“Being in China, their culture taught us to be better to each other. I had actually seen a Chinese practitioner while we were there and she didn’t know I was a musician or anything like that and the first thing she said was that she knew I was a victim of ‘too loud noise’ as she called it. It was so freaky that she tuned right into that!” Ninkovic excitedly shares.
In addition to finding personal healing while in China, the crowd’s reaction to the dance-pop group’s live show also blew the band members away given the country’s penchant for what Ninkovic refers to as cheesy soft rock songs.
“We noticed that a lot of the Chinese people seemed to repress their emotions but they were so into our live show; it was incredible.
“After one particular show there, we walked off stage before our encore but had been feeding off the crowd’s energy so much and had so much adrenaline running through us that I started throwing up on the side of the stage,” Ninkovic laughs.
“I have never puked from feeling good but that seemed to be the case that night. All in all, our time in China was an unforgettable experience.”
As the band’s popularity continues to grow by leaps and bounds, Ninkovic admits that everyone in the group is still somewhat stunned at the experiences they are living thanks to making music.
“As a group, we have experienced unbelievable amounts of personal and collective growth,” she starts. “We started off as a local band, playing church basements and then were thrust onto a major tour schedule. It was so mind boggling, we never could have fathomed that we would be given the experience to travel the world.
“While we have done our best to accommodate all the shows and events we have been offered in the past, we’ve learned that we need to look out for our own well-being and that saying ‘no’ to some things isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“We have come to know our limits and respect those limits a whole lot more.”
For your chance to see one of Canada’s most exciting live acts, check out You Say Party! We Say Die! when they play The Capital in Fredericton on Sunday October 25 and Studio 700 in Moncton on Friday October 30.
Side stage puking is not a guarantee.