Gimme Five! Joe Norkus of Embarrassing Fruits

“The vanishing frontier is not going to save our modern fears,” or so goes a line from the Embarrassing Fruits (Joe Norkus, Lee Shaw and John Neville) new record, Frontier Justice.  Delivered in sedate deadpan over a trundling riff, the lyric is a peak at the album’s thematic bent—the realization that growing up is as much about accepting that nothing really changes as it is about trying to make them.

The slacker-maturity of that sentiment is as much a reflection of the band’s evolution as it is the player’s personal journeys.  From their debut split 7’ Sumr Stupid Drunk Fun to the First Time EP to last year’s Community/ Exploitation, the musical push has always been about stumbling toward enlightenment.  It’s an arc that’s garnered them cheers for their “easy going spirit” and pop-rock reverie and that now sees them amalgamating indie/classic/post-rock influences with confident, collaborative abandon.  And you can catch them in the act and help them celebrate the release of Frontier Justice at Duke Coffehouse this Friday when they’ll be joined by Midtown Dickens and Lonnie Walker.

And now just five flustering questions for Joe-fruit:

1. If your band were a fruit, which would it be?

A durian – especially when we’re on tour

2. What can listeners expect from the new album?

Aural orgasm…..No but seriously -  there’s more collaboration. Our bass player has been writing more and singing/playing guitar on some stuff. A lot of it has a more classic rock feel, mixed w/ the nineties sounds on some of our earlier records. We worked really hard on little lead guitar things. We recorded it to tape too, so there’s a bigger, warmer sound.

3. Describe your last or most embarrassing moment.

Richmond VA, @ Nara Sushi (had to be there)

4. Who/what might be a few inspirations or influences that might really surprise people?

Motorhead, Stone Temple Pilots, Babasonicos, Pappo’s Blues, Bonnie Prince Billie, Lil Wayne

5. What did you want to be when you were a kid? (How did that work out?)

I wanted to be a chef, and an artist, and later on a rock star. I cook for me and my girlfriend, I do web design and graphic design, and I play in a band called Embarrassing Fruits, so as far as the first 2 things go, my life worked out pretty well. 😉

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Head out to the Duke Coffehouse this Friday to help Embarrassing Fruits celebrate the release of their new record, Frontier Justice. And, by all means, give Joe a high five when you see him!