Biography
The G.P. story (all fact, minus the cowbell) begins in Guelph, Ontario where the boys- to-become-ponies met attending John F. Ross. Peter was scholastic slacker, and ended up taking grade 11 math in grade 12 which afforded him the chance to meet David. On that first day of class (September 1999), as the kids stood silently outside the door waiting for their teacher, David broke the ice by walking up to Peter and complementing him on his shirt (they were both wearing bright red dress-shirts). He then invited him to the freak- den which was a secluded, dingy hall with a few tech-classes and plenty of space. There they met J.J. who sat with the new-arrivals accross the glass doors. Those kids would pump hardcore rave beats out of their lockers and do funny little dances. The two groups soon integrated and the contest began: Who doesn't fit in the most? Peter wore glamour make-up and a bowa, J.J. was the depressed raver, and David had a bizarre fascination with cow-bells. After getting bored with all that, David and Peter would occasionally jam playing guitars. They got this bright idea that instead of having a drummer they could get J.J. to fill the percussion part of the band with his decks. David plugged-in the bass, Peter rocked his little brother's Casio while J.J. beat-matched rave records to their riffs. Boom! Ghetto Pony was born. They graduated at the same time (June 2001) and set a date for G.P.'s first show at the end of the summer. It happened in David's parents living-room with an audience of twenty of their friends. After receiving lot's of compliments from the girls in attendance the G.P.'s decided to start playing real shows. But Guelph, Ontario, only has so many venues, so they took off galloping for Montreal (September 2002). Upon arrival, they played one show and then fell into a long slump, shrouded in a cloud of smoke and self-doubt. The only result after a year and a half was 'Shouting Squirrels, Leaping Lizards' a self-released four song EP (October 2003) which the band used as a demo for the many Montreal shows that followed. But soon they grew tired of being Montreal's stoned secret. In determination to spread their music, the ponies saved up all their pay from dishwashing jobs and bought their first G.P. mobile. Armed with a new full- length 'Post Apocalyptic Bubblegum Music' the G.P.'s toured their giant nation (August 2005), captivating audiences with their twisted brand of pop. Since then, the G.P.'s have been touring Ontario every few months and playing shows in their adopted home-town, while perfecting their song-composition for the next release which will be out in April 2007 and followed by a 3 month U.S. tour.
PERSONAL BIO'S:
Originally Piotr Andrzej Jarecki (pronounced Peeotr Andjay Yareski), Peter was born in Szczecin, Poland (March 21st, 1982) to a scientist couple with artistic tendencies. As a child, Peter had a bit of a wild streak, playing in World War II bunkers and convincing his friends to go skinny-dipping with him in the sandbox. But by the time he was eleven, Peter's life would change drastically due to his family moving to the land of promise: America. Expecting 'movie-scene' New York, he was quite baffled landing in nowhere- town, Missouri. Peter's religious upbringing under the declining Communist regime couldn't prepare him for the peer-pressures of American schools. He couldn't quite understand why the other kids found his short-shorts and fanny-pack so hilarious. After three years their visas ran out so the Jarecki's moved to Guelph, Ontario because that's where their Polish family friends moved. There, Peter was reunited with his childhood friend, who also has the same first name. Their friendship always had a strong sense of competition so when Peter L. started taking guitar lessons, Peter J. grabbed his dad's acoustic. As soon as he wrapped his fingers around that 6-string twanger, he found his set-purpose. The mission became clear: To be better than The Beatles. Peter and Peter formed a band called, 'Empty Grey' which never made it past the basement because their drummer chased them out with his mama's butcher knife. This left a distaste for drummers with Peter and he soon began thinking of other band-formats. Keeping on with his music, he would compile albums on tape-decks and four tracks, playing his guitar and his brother's Casio. Always on the lookout for people to start a band with, Peter found his players in high school upon turning his back on the church and falling into the bad crowd. The move to Montreal was an easy choice for him because of the city's European sensibility. There he has gained the title 'Le meilleur plongeur du monde!'. When he's not scraping burnt pots, Peter is usually practicing, composing, producing, booking tours, and doing whatever needs to be done to get G.P. on the map.
David Robert Hoult was born in downtown Toronto (March 4th, 1983) where he repeatedly blew his allowance on comic books and candy. He moved to Guelph at the tender age of ten, and spent as much time as he could playing down by the river. While in Guelph, David learned of his love for music when given a cassette deck and a Meatloaf tape. From there he got into the guitar and bass, but never really learned much in the way of music theory, until he went to Concordia for electroacoustic studies. Now he works as a survey guy, cause restaurant work was too hard on his soft little hands. David likes Funk, Jazz, Elvis, and zombies.
James Joseph Pierce Rogers IV was born and bred amongst the outskirts of the Toronto City area (January 27th, 1984) to a middle class family with a taste for the justice system and horse racing. Upon his arrival to Guelph, Ontario, where JJ would spend his early formative years, he quickly dropped his dreams of catching pop-flys in the majors and immersed himself into hardcore techno and uppers. With no traditional music background whatsoever, JJ’s introduction into Ghetto Pony was inevitable. With a solid knowledge of how to steal really expensive music software and a natural thirst for chunky beats, JJ hopped on the Pony Train to Montreal where he has been mashing sound for the past four years, studying electroacoustics, designing instruments, developing an ever growing financial debt and surviving by scrubbing bowls for a living – some big, some fit for giants.
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