NAPOLEON

  On Saturday night, Zach, Greg, and I had the pleasure of interviewing Jon and Tom of the Toronto band, Napoleon. Jon, the lead singer and guitarist, started the band in high school with the only other remaining member from then being the band’s drummer. Tom is the guitarist who will occasionally provide backup vocals for the band and met Jon through a different band member, making him their band’s most recent addition.

The story behind the band's name is derived from a song that Jon holds dear to him, Napoleon Soul. The musical inspiration doesn't end there, Jon says “A lot of people say we sound like Billy Talent” and he sees no issue with that as it's a band that he's always enjoyed. Another band that inspired him is Alexis on Fire, which he considers his favourite band. Tom considered himself much more of a pop-punk guy, bands like blink-182, Green Day, Day to Remember and every other pop-punk icon you can name. When it comes to Toronto’s music scene, Tom’s favourite is Like Pacific, while Jon notes Rat Parade, Junko Daydream, and their opener Riverside Drive.

Their ideal venues to catch a show are classics, with Tom loving Hard-Luck and Sneaky Dees, while Jon picks the Danforth Music Hall; “It'd be a dream to play there “ he said to us. When it comes to playing venues in the GTA, Tom has only played at the Kill Room with the band, but he found it to be an amazing experience.  Jon loves the Velvet Underground, highlighting some great memories from then; he credits his 5th anniversary show, finding it to be such an amazing time that “truly puts your progress into perspective”. While out of Toronto they both note that the Claire de Lune venue in Quebec City was a marvelous venue to play at. While there's so much to love about the scene, the complicated sense of competition Jon has seen throughout his time in the underground scene has always upset him, he believes it should be people looking out for each other and not putting fellow artists down. 

Neither of the two are actually from Toronto though, Jon is from Vaughn and Tom is from Port Sereve but is currently living in Toronto. They credit their favourite subway stations to the ones they're closest to, Tom’s being Yonge and Eglinton, Jon’s being Sheppard West or possibly Eglinton West because it's where he gets service back. Tom does note that all the stations suck, proving he's already becoming a local. His favourite parts have easily become Dundas West, Parkdale, and Kensington. When it comes to food in the city Jon is a fan of the classic Subway, and Jon is a fan of Sugo and Himalayan Kitchen in Parkdale.  Jon is also a big fan of the classic red gala apples, Tom, talks about his favourite fruits a lot, such as pomegranates, watermelons, and mangos. Tom doesn't have the vegetable conversation as often, Jon hates Brussels sprouts and has no trust towards anyone who does; his favourite vegetable was deduced as  “potatoes, cut up, deep fried in oil, French fries” .

No members of Napoleon can backflip, Tom maybe can on a trampoline or into the water, but hopefully Tom will accomplish a full backflip soon. While not able to do so, an hour later I watched these men work a crowd of no more than 50 people into a live energy that moved everyone in the room.

We encourage you to listen to our favourite song of theirs, If I Go, and their newest song Help Me. We enjoyed this interview, Jon and Tom were splendid to talk to and seeing them immediately after putting on an insane performance was surreal.

Thank you, Napoleon!

By Vida Matus, 2023