Montreal based duo Jitensha’s sound, is a silvery union of honey sweet proto-punkiness and modern indie that is harmonically reminiscent of 1950s rock & roll.
Jitensha nestles catchy, poignant melodies into hard hitting rock grooves. Lyrically focused on social justice, environment, and psychology, they bring you on a winsome journey of modern human experience. Jitensha has released two full length studio albums, Buck Moon (2014) and Periscope (2019).
Check out “Cou Cou” on YouTube here:
Canadian musician David Martinez and US-born performer Erin Rose (Rosey for short) first got together in the summer of 2012, at an open mic at Benny’s Bagels on Broadway in Vancouver. They immediately hit it off and started playing music together a few weeks later. They played in the 5-piece indie rock band, The Cattails, for about a year before deciding to go out on their own and formed "Jitensha". The duo then traveled the US, playing at every open mic they could find.
Listen on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/album/19MJ9VWLHI4NW5EkKBLfl0
It was spring 2016 when Jitensha was discovered by a cruise ship booking agent. 2 months later, the pair made their way to Brisbane, Australia to begin their new life as a lounge duo, traveling much of the South Pacific and making countless friends and connections.
They made their way back to their home base of Montreal in early 2018 and began to work on their second album.
In 2019 the band began to pick up steam, releasing their second album, "Periscope" and celebrating with a 32-date cross Canada Tour.
In 2020 their first US tour was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the following year, Jitensha released two new singles "Sojourn" and "Diwa".
2022 has the duo once again picking up steam with their newest single "Psychotic (What Are Friends For") being released June 3rd and available on all platforms. Rosey and David completed their US tour to support the releases.
"Cou Cou" was created by Rosey as she drew from her surroundings that evoked happy memories. "I was in a casual songwriting group with some friends in 2018. One day the group was going to start in less than an hour and I hadn’t come up with anything. I just grabbed my banjo and started playing some of my favourite happy / sad chords - M7s and stuff. I heard a chickadee outside and thought about my childhood and how that sound used to brighten my day, lessening that sloppy hopeless feeling settling around my heart. Cou Cou kind of wrote itself based on what I had been feeling at the time. The recording was produced at Jitensha’s studio, Planète Mars, in summer 2021."
This song is a rare one for Jitensha, as they often write their songs together side by side, but for this one, Rosey wrote the lyrics and melody, and David did the production.
Stay tuned for Jitensha's next full-length album, "Closing Statements" dropping in 2023.
Oh, and here's the answer to the question you've had since you started reading this...."Jitensha" is the Japanese word for bicycle, which serves as a metaphor for the power of human energy.
The direction you choose, and the energy you put in, determines where you end up!
