March 9, 2026 • 30 mins
Jordan the Ninja has become an Omaha sensation with his musical exploits and his humorous take on Omaha's favorite pastime, inner city construction. In this episode, Emery talks with Jordan about how it all got going and they chat about Jordan's love of music and dapper vintage suits.
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
It is the Every Songer podcast, and it is on
the free iHeartRadio app. And welcome to yet another week.
And yes, thank god daylight Saving time is back. I
know there's plenty of discourse out there, but this is
my favorite time of the year. Is the days get longer.
I get that extra hour of afternoons, I can go
walking around and if I get lucky, I won't accidentally
(00:28):
run into inner city construction. Right and as you can hear,
I am being joined by a very special guest, an
expert on inner city construction and Omaha's obsession with it,
Jordan the Ninja.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Jordan, thank you so much for coming in.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Yes, thank you. You know today's hottest jams, of today's
hottest traffic jams.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Oh, the traffic jams. They are plentiful. You are on
social media, Jordan the Ninja. Yeah, on basically everything you
can find on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram. Am I missing anything, honestly.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
Anything that is social media.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
I'm not on a blue sky yet I gotta met
but everything else I'm on it.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
I am in the media world for a living, but
I am a reluctant social media person. I don't like
posting stuff except my dogs and my bird feeder, or
talking about stuff in the community and places that I am.
I like showing people that, you know, there's a lot
of fun things to do if you just go out
and look for them.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
Yeah, of course.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
And there's absolutely no getting around this, especially when you're
traveling in downtown Omaha. Absolutely if you if you are
just going anywhere, you are seeing barriers, you're seeing streets
torn up, or doing this streetcar project, and you have
really gone viral in a multitude of ways on multiple
(01:52):
platforms for your very, very pointed and funny commentary on
Omaha's favorite pastime.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
How did this start for you?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Honestly, I'm not evenna Lie. I wasn't even trying to
be funny when I started it. I was actually just pissed.
I was going from one meeting to another meeting and
I had like a two hour gap, and I took
the same road. I was on Tenth Street going home
because I live in North Omaha, and I was like, man,
I didn't want to I had to go around because
I didn't want to be go the same way everybody else.
(02:24):
Everybody gets stuck on Tenth Street and yeah, locked off
at the time, So there's like a d tour and
that you get stuck in traffic anyways, but I was like, man,
this would be really funny if someone if I just
made a video about it. I wasn't gonna do it.
And I was like, you know what, why not, I'll
go grab my stuff at the house.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
So I went back there.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
So were you making videos just in general?
Speaker 4 (02:41):
Yeah, yeah, I've been.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
I've been making videos for all my life. Actually, I
had a following. I just my following has never been
so local until that video came out.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Okay, so you get your stuff, you make the video.
For those who haven't seen Jordan's videos, you are dressed.
How do you describe your wardrobe?
Speaker 4 (03:02):
I would normally just call a vintage or classy.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Very classy. Yeah, I mean head to tell you got
the hat?
Speaker 4 (03:10):
You got?
Speaker 2 (03:11):
How many suits do you have?
Speaker 4 (03:12):
Boy, that's a good question. The answer is I have
no clue.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
That's usually a good sign that you have a lot
of suits upwards of upwards of thirty Maybe it's definitely
definitely more than fifty, but I don't want to know.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
I don't know how how far past fifty though.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Well, this is the good thing because you look different
in every video so people know that you're not just
recycling the same oh, same outfit. And we'll talk about
the wardrobe in a second, because I find that to
be a big part of the deal you got going
on here, but you did the commentary and then oh
it's taken off. And I don't know if anybody on
social media in the Omaha area has been able to
(03:51):
avoid or I hate to use this term, haven't been
able to dodge what you have going on.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
No.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Seriously, though, for every single video, I find it to
still be as funny because you are in different places
in Omaha, and I like, as soon as the sinkhole
opened up on Pacific, I'm like, oh, I can't wait
for him to get there, because he's.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Gonna get there. It was the day of I had
to get over.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
There on racing, Like, I mean, is this fun? Is
this funny to you?
Speaker 1 (04:21):
You have become known as the guy who has this
commentary in Omaha in inner city construction.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
You know, it's fun.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
I think in a lot of ways, especially just as
artists or creators, it's always a gold mine to hit
on something that's just you. And since I wasn't really
doing anything but complaining the same way I complain every day.
It's fun. It's fun because of that. All I gotta
do is just talk and people just start laughing.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
You know, it's been your it's been your favorite like
response so far. Like it's been there's somebody that came
up to you or talked to you or commented on
something and you were just kind of like, I cannot
believe this is hitting this way with these people.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Boy, I don't know if there's anything surprising about it
or or crazy funny, but it happens a lot.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Though.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
It happens just about every day, maybe four or five
times a day, just least.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
And I mean, you can't miss you.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
I mean yeah, yeah, I mean now, I guess.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
But the way that you're you're I mean you you
dress up. I mean you are a dapper looking man. Yes,
Trey to clean up.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
You know. I try to stick clean. I try to
keep my nose clean.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
I I I'm gonna shift around a little bit here. Yeah,
I saw you before you were Jordan Ninja. To me,
you were a guy who opened up for Yachte Crewe.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Oh wow, it's been around for a while.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
I yeah, I moved to Omaha a couple of years
ago and I was going to the Yachtley Cruise Show
with my wife and she has a couple of friends
that were up from Tennessee and we had tickets to
the Yoti Cruise Show. I had no idea if there
was an opener. They didn't and now and open there,
and so we go into the Steelhouse and sure enough,
here's this group. I had no idea. They were local
(06:08):
at the time, and I was entranced. To say the least,
you have this very jazzy vocalist, you were behind a
drum kit, you had a tuba. Yeah, that was just
standing up there, bopping around. And I was like, I'm
loving this. This is great stuff. And then the next
day I was walking around my neighborhood in the Zabent
(06:29):
Village and happened to see and we were the same
guys like out there playing at the I was like,
I love these guys, And you know, I was like,
they have to be omaha guys, Like oh yeah, we're
omaha guys. So to talk to me about the music,
because it is it you sound musically, and that music
(06:50):
is how I would describe how you look. I mean,
it's just kind of a very classy, jazzy and enriching
kind of sound that you just don't get these days.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Yeah, I mean I grew up well, boy, I grew
up listening to music that was before that music, Like
I grew up on like a lot of musicals.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
I go up on a lot of classical films.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
That's that's probably what explains the way I dress and
explains the music, explains why.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
I love jazz so much.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
But I also grew up in a in a pretty
sheltered home though, so I had to discover a lot
of these things, like coming out of my own so
you know, I was I went to public school.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
But also when I discovered.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Like seventies music, I was like, whoa, this is the
coolest stuff ever. And then you know, discovery bebop and
all that stuff is just kind of I kind of
got stuck in there, and that's just what I love
to listen to the most. You're from Omaha, yep, born
and raised. Okay, you you're not an old man.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
So for people to see, like, wow, you're discovering some
of this, like like raised on classical films, he knows jazz,
he discovered seventies music. You know, the people are like, wow,
this is quite an individual. What about instruments, Because that's
one thing about music when I talk to people, is like,
if you don't start learning how to play an instrument
when you're young, sometimes it's hard to really find the
(08:17):
passion for playing the instrument. That way, and you having
seen your music, there's obviously a bigger understanding of not
just a single instrument that you're good at, it's about
the entire ensemblance of sound that you care about. What
was your participation in music, Like.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Wow, well, I grew up in music already. It was
just the influence was just had a lot to do
with either like spiritual churchy stuff or it was just
like classical music. But it was kind of expected in
my family to pick up an instrument. Everybody in my
family played an instrument already, right, and everybody had a
(08:57):
little bit of vocal cool singing or something like that
that we had to do basically or not had to do,
but it was kind of expected in the family.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
So you know, we picked out our instruments as kids.
That's like a memory that's ingrained in my head.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
That's amazing.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Yeah, But.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
I think the reason why I do pick up the
instruments because some of the some of the instruments I
actually picked up later. When I first started music in school,
I was playing clarinet nice and I think what led
you to the clarinet.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
Artie shaw.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
I also wanted to play something that was like unique
I started. I actually started on flute. It was my
first one though, that was my first win instrument.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
I can go on forever about it.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
I love this because I also I have my own
story of how me musically, so I'm I'm truly fascinated,
like at the at the evolution here, So flute and
then clarinet, well yeah, I.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Mean well because that's a different person.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
It all up well for people like flute and clarinet
are not like there woodwinds, but they're not similar, like
you don't play them the same way. It's not Yeah,
it's not like it's not like going from like a
trumpet to a cornet or something like oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
But the I mean, but they also they're also those
are shape the same too. I mean it's like going
from clarinet to saxophone. They are both read instruments, but
they're still different. Yeah, And it depends on which clarinet
you're playing and which saxophone you're playing. Sometimes it has
the similarities. But my very technically before school, my very
first instrument was like piano, just like learning by ears
(10:32):
on the piano in the home in my parents' place.
But I think, well, no, my first instrument that I
ever chose to play.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Was viola a string, yes, and a viola not a violin.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Yeah, you know, I had this identity thing going on
growing up in a big family. It was really hard
for me to find that thing. I felt like it
was me that was not like everybody else did. So
I wanted to pick those instruments that felt like they
were odd out, you know, because I always kind of
felt like I was kind of odd out as well.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
So I picked viola.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
I played that all the way up until a high
school and then after high school I.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
Just never touched it again. And it's kind of been.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
So what would be what would be your relationship with
the process of learning right, Because beola and violin are
similar instruments, I'm sure novices wouldn't be able to tell
the difference between the two of them. But the interesting
thing between understanding kind of like a string instrument. Also
it's a lot more technical with finger placement, whereas you're
(11:37):
talking about clarinet, I mean your wind control. I mean
these are not really related things. They're musical, but but
you really have to have a love of in a
passion of music to be drawn to those two things,
as different as they are.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I would definitely say that that's that's like the number
one thing I think when it comes to anything I
want to do, it's the passion that comes first. You know,
I'll never actually, well, I will if I need to.
If I need to do something that I don't like doing, I.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Will do it.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
But I will really really do something that I love.
Since I love music, you know, I get really curious
about instruments. Sometimes I'll pick it up. I've actually picked
up a few instruments over the years.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
So all right, let's talk about them. You get to clarinet.
How old was clarinet like?
Speaker 4 (12:26):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Boy, so theola was fourth grade when we could pick
a win instrument.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
Then it was I.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
Picked flute because my brother played flute. I tried that
out for a week. It didn't work, so I picked clarinet.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Oh you gave it a week. It wasn't like a year.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
It was a weak man, I was getting light headed.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
And like, oh, it'll go away, and like for a
week straight Planet, I was like, no, that's it can happen.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
But then clarinet was right there for you. Yeah, yeah,
clarinet was right there.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
I love clarinet especially, you know, just growing and watching a.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
Classic movie was called Second Chort with Artie Shaw and
who is that? I don't think Katherine happens. No, Artie Shaw,
Fred Astaire and a couple.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Of other cats that I am failing to remember, but
they were in the They were in that movie. Artie
Shaw played, Artie Shaw played himself, and you know, it
was just like a lasting impression in my head.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
So it was just like fifth sixth grade.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
That was in fifth grade.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Yeah, amazing. So I saw you on a drum kit before.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
So that's another completely different discipline of music. I've known
many clarinet players because I'm a percussion guy. Yeah, and
I like to think that I'm good at playing the drums,
and I played for years and years at different disciplines.
Jazz bands, rock bands, concert bands, marchin rock bands. Oh yeah, yeah,
(13:49):
big pop punk guy okay, with like seventies covers is
kind of like kind of my mid section there. But
when I see a person who is drumming, I can
get a good vibe of like, Okay, this is a
person who's great at drums, or a person who wants
to be good at drums and doesn't really have it.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Like that, you know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (14:09):
You know you can, I know very I know a
lot of great clarinet players, yeah, growing up in school,
and I give them a pair of drumsticks and they
think it's just so easy and it is so unnatural
for them to do. It doesn't look easier than but
you you make it happen.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
So what's your story with the drums, man?
Speaker 3 (14:28):
I mean, that's it's the same story that you'll have
on any instrument.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
You just got to practice.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
I think, why don't you find that thing that resonates
with you the most. It'll it'll really just draw you in.
You know, Saxophone fits in the story somewhere in between.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
High school and college.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
But I also picked up drums when I was in
high school as well. My brother just randomly they were
short on the drum line in high school and it
was like, hey, you got to come to drum camp,
and I was like, I don't, and He's like, come on, man,
just come here, and I did.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
So I joined the drum line.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
I was based drum and then the next year I
was based on captain, and then I was drum captain
after that, and I played that all the way up
through high school. In my senior year, they threw me
on the uh, they threw me on the drum set.
And at the time, I was playing a little bit
of drums in church, not gospel drums, though I wish
I had those chops.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Unfortunately, those guys are crazy.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
I know, dude.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
I know my cousin actually, uh, we went to high
school together, and he's.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Just the you know, like I go through reels on
Facebook or on Instagram and everything, and I'm just scrolling
and I click on one of those things and I'll
just sit up there for hours just watching these guys
go to like they're going to church while they're in
church on these drums.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
I mean, I send those reels to myself so I
can like take some of their stuff, you know. Oh yeah,
I do that all the time. Like there's different things
that I see people doing. And you know the algorithm
you know now that's following me everywhere.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
You're in a lot of people's algorithms. But but okay,
so how did that go at first? Did you feel
like a natural fit when you sat down? Was just
like jazz band kind of?
Speaker 4 (16:10):
Actually it was. It was just, uh, it was like
marching band.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Okay, So you actually had like a drum set there
as part of the marching band.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Well, I did the senior year, but before that it
was just like all natural drums. But we were the
drum line was like suffering throughout. I mean, the first
year I was there was cool, The second year was
also cool. Third and fourth year.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
Started getting really scarce.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
You know, there were there wasn't so many people that
wanted to be in marching band anymore, and Pet band
for any Yeah, there was. There was a few Pet
band shows. I was playing all four bass drums, oh my,
at the same time because nobody would want to be
in the thing and we didn't have anybody to play,
(16:56):
so we would I would take the big drum and
take the medium drum. I'm I take the small drum,
and I take the tiny drum, and I just light
them all on the bleachers and I would.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Just play them like the tenor drums.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, So I did that, and besides that,
I knew the parts in my head already, right, I
played them for.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Years and I went to college marching band. Yeah, I
did based drum in college. And it's crazy when you
start like getting those cadences that if you sat the
drums in front of me, I probably could play the
whole thing. And then you just like playing your part
as part of that becomes natural with practice, but you
just know what it's supposed to sound like and what
your part is. And I just love that element of
(17:34):
the team because most other things in percussion, it's not
about the team. It's about well, one person is playing.
Like in concert band, there's somebody on the marina, but
there's somebody on the tempany there's somebody playing like three
different parts with triangle tambourine and all that, and then
a person playing like bass drum and snare drum, and
you know, like if you watch Nick Cannon and drumline,
(17:55):
I mean, the star is the snare drum guy, and
there's like ten of them and they all sound the
same unless the one guy gets a solo. But they're
not making like a sound as a team, like one
guy could do that. The bass drums what made me
attracted to them after, you know, like because I wanted
to be the snare drum guy. But then but I
(18:15):
but I and I was for a while, but then
as I got to college, I realized that the real
fulfillment I got was like, there are four or five
of us making this incredible sound together as like the
backbone of this drum line. And because of the drum
line being the backbone of the band, you really are
like an engine back there. And it's hard to describe
(18:36):
to people who just are like, dude, you're carrying around
a bass drum, like they they can't get past that stigma.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
We got, we got the floor.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
You know, we're like the bottom, you know, the foundation
of every foundation of man.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
But then you're you're doing this jazz stuff. Some of
this is your own stuff, right.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
I mean, well you're talking about like some of the
music that we play.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we play we play original music too,
But I mean I think it was it was still
like a progression over the years though, Like I mean
that was just I mean when I went to college,
I didn't play drums at all. Uh really, yeah, I
played saxophone in college because when I got to high school,
I couldn't play.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
I couldn't play in the jazz band just playing clarinet.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
They wouldn't let me right, So I had to learn saxophone.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
So I learned saxophone.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Is that easy means.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
A bad word? But is that is translatable in a way.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
I feel like it's more translatable than than other instruments,
I think, especially depending on which which saxophone you're playing.
But it was easy for me because I played clarinet,
and clarinet to me, is more difficult than than tenor
sax and I feel like going from one to the
other one, it's way better to go from clarinet to
(19:53):
saxophone than it is to go from saxophone to clarinet,
because their octaves are different.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
You know, you'll be playing a C down the octave
you hit the optive octave key and you're hitting a G.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
So but that that would mess with me with you
with your fingers.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Yeah, there, the the octaves are are perform eachin I
don't remember by how.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Much, but that, but that's a It's an interesting point
that you make there, because you're you're hitting keys that
are not dissimilar or covering holes that you know, your
hands are in the same place on the instrument, but
your muscle memory can't.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
You have to really think like muscle memory.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
That was the one thing about the drums is with
enough practice, you can just feel it right. Yeah, yeah,
I don't have to worry about the whole octave thing,
you know. But I see some of these people, especially
like my band director when I was in middle school,
he would grab, like for anybody's like lessons or whatever.
He had like this closet and he had one of
(20:49):
every instrument and he would just grab one and just
start playing it. And I just found that to be
so insane. My Lord shout out that too. It's crazy
to me.
Speaker 4 (20:59):
Yeah, it was, it was. It was pretty crazy to
me as well.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
I think being on the other side of like education
and now, like people in my community are teachers. Now
people my age are like teaching high school and college,
I think that it's it's funny to see it now,
you know, because I think we look at him like
we're high school is like, well, this guy is so
(21:22):
great at everything, but you know, sometimes yeah, but he
is for that.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
For for like when you're sixteen years old, you know,
you're just kind of like and I as an adult
now I have a great appreciation for people who are
that passionate about something to be like to master things
like that for you now, you know, So, what's the
music scene look like? Because I know that on your
social media talk about jazz nights and like venues that
you're kind of regularly playing at. What what kind of
(21:52):
what like? What's a typical schedule look like for you?
Speaker 2 (21:54):
And the like?
Speaker 1 (21:55):
How much are you doing yourself versus you know, doing
it with are you with just kind of the same
group of guys?
Speaker 4 (22:01):
Like actually I both manage own slash run a few groups.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Actually I love this, well, how can we find out more?
Because the great people of Omaha listening to this podcast
are like, wow, I did not know this about Jordan
the Ninja, the inner City construction guy.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Is this music officionado?
Speaker 3 (22:20):
I wouldn't be surprised with that. I think a lot
of this construction hokey pokey has overshadowed what was going
on before. Before I was making construction videos, I was
making fashion videos.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
And a very fashionable man to say the link I.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
Do what I can? You know? This is nineteen sixty
four right here?
Speaker 1 (22:39):
It is okay, so this is Indian madrasady Okay, And
for people who are listening, you will go to the
Emery Songer social media and you'll be able to find
a photo of how terrible I'm dressed versus how Jordan
looks here today. But anytime you follow Jordan Ninja every video,
he's got these amazing things. So where do you find
something like this?
Speaker 4 (22:59):
Boy? Antique shops? Occasionally.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
I got a really good grab at a at an
estate sale once, but it was a it was one
of my friends.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Okay, so you knew the estate.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Yeah, you didn't show up to a random estate sale
like I wonder if they got suits in here.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
Nope, the sure denied. You know, it was a target
and attack this time.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
But I used to I used to go to the
You remember the Imaginarium Superstore. Oh yeah, yeah, off of
sixteenth and Elevenworth. They're not there anymore, you know, back
in when they back in my.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
I've heard many stories about the Imaginarium Superstore.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
Yeah, and they have the Imaginary and regular one is
like downtown, right, but the imaginaryum Superstore was like ten
times bigger and they had a lot of like men's
vintage clothes there and that's where I.
Speaker 4 (23:44):
Was getting like eighty five percent of all my clothes.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
And then one of my friends he was actually moving
from his house in Council Bluffs and we wear the
exact same size everything.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Oh my, how nice is that.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
I'm not gonna lie I shouldn't have that. I should
have and I'm alive today. That tell the story. I
tried to buy just about everything, every outfit that he had,
you know, because he was just he was very detailed,
sharp dresser.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
He actually he's a radio man.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Actually amazing.
Speaker 4 (24:18):
Yeah, he works.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
You don't need a good outfits for radio. Well, dude,
look at me. I wouldn't be surprised if this guy
invented radio. But he works for he does the Atomic Hour.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Nice. I love that. Let me.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Yeah, So I keep going in circles here because I'm
so fascinated by everything you got going on here. How
can people find the music? Just follow my page, I guess.
And then you talk about the venues that you guys.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Are Yeah, I mean everything.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
Actually, TikTok is where most of my my video stuff goes,
just because it's a great audience to have, you know,
especially a lot of younger people like engaging with the
stuff then everything. It's a great tool, but if you
really want to find out everything that goes on in
my life, you're probably gonna be better off following my
Instagram my Facebook account.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
Because that's where I post all my shows, you know, right.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
You can find all my links to my like actual
photographs can be posted and stuff like that. I have
a my most popular band, Parfait. That's that's the one
on Steelhouse. That's the one that you saw at Steelhouse.
We have our five year anniversary this Friday.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Well, congratulations, thank you. It's amazing.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
Man.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Yeah, where's that at.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
That's gonna be at Harney Street Tavern.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Amazing but once a month and you're the Tube is
going to be there?
Speaker 3 (25:43):
I know not actually okay, yeah, he's not in the
band anymore.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Oh okay, we lost the Tube a guy. Well okay,
so so what do we have instead with this part?
We're actually a four piece now, which we were.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
We were toying with the idea of a four piece
like two years ago, but it never actually happened and
now we finally have it. And man, I'll tell you,
the sound is just it's a you could say it's radioactive.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Are you behind the kit still.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Yeah, yeah, I'm behind the kit and vocalizing doing the vocalization, yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:15):
Yeah, when we are.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
When we first started the band, actually we had a
bass player who played guitar. We had a tube of
player who played trumpet as well and also saying and
then I played guitar and drums, not at the same time,
but I would play guitar and then I would play
drums and then I would you know, sing just whatever
you needed for yeah, whatever we needed. We were actually
(26:37):
kind of selling ourselves off of the multi instrumental thing.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Which is cool.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
I mean, nobody looks that way right like, and as
a drummer myself, like I always look at people like
Don Henley or you know, there's not a lot of
great ones. Phil Collins eventually got out of drumming full
time when you know, obviously people realize how great of
a singer he was. But there's just something about trying
(27:02):
to stay coordinated. For my brain back there on the
kid already and you're moving around and you're trying to
be as fluid in as active, and I like to
be very athletic when I'm back there, because first of all,
I feel like I'm having more fun. But also I
just really think that you can do more back there
when you're fluid and you're flexible and athletic, and then
(27:24):
all of a sudden, Oh, I have this microphone right
in front of me that I need to project into
and then sing on pitch and make that work. I
don't know how people like you do it. I just
have no idea.
Speaker 4 (27:34):
Honestly, I think it's a lot more simple than everybody.
Plus it on. You can really do anything.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
That you say that, but I have not. It is
like tapping your head and rubbing your belly the same time.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
You can do that in like a week, you know
what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
In actuality, if you're just working it for like two days,
you could get it by Wednesday.
Speaker 4 (27:55):
You know.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Maybe that singing, I think I need a little bit
more help, you know. My wife Backstreet Boys comes on,
you know, like I'm trying to sing all the parts
for the Backstreet Boys and my wife has to change
the song because he's like, I can't do ontreet.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
Yeah, I start singing anymore.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Why don't you leave the singing to them? Okay, Like,
but no, it's great man, what you're doing. Jordan and
Ninja on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, any of the social media's.
You'll see him around town. If a singhole pops open,
it's a matter of time. It's like a bat signal
for him. He'll be there. Yeah. And but if there's
an amazing suit sale going on, he'll be there.
Speaker 3 (28:36):
Which what's the Oldest's been so much? What's the oldest?
What's the oldest suit that I have?
Speaker 4 (28:40):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (28:41):
I think I have a nineteen to three, like a
legit nineteen thirty seven? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean you
gotta go for the authentic vintage man.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
Yeah, I think my oldest one is nineteen thirty. I
haven't dated it might be I think it's in between
thirty five and thirty eight.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
How do you watch something like that?
Speaker 4 (28:58):
Drag cleaning and that can be very expensive.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
So especially if you have fifty suits.
Speaker 4 (29:04):
Yeah, you just gotta shower often where carefully.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Not eat chocolate cake while you got one of your
suits on.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
Yeah, don't eat chocolate cake in a white suit.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Good idea, Jordan, the ninja I have. I've had you
for too long. We'll have to do this again. And
instead of me just like peppering you with questions about
yourself maybe we can do some commentary on the world
around us and ye why not and music and nerd
out but follow Jordan and the Ninja everywhere on social media.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
Thinks so much for coming in. Man, this is great.
Speaker 4 (29:34):
Yeah, absolutely, man, I appreciate it all right.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
And this is the Emory Songer Podcast. You know that
because you've been listening. But this feed will be active
again tomorrow. We got a lot to get to this spring.
I'm so happy that you're with us and we will
chat again very soon.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
You appreciate you for listener.
It is the Every Songer podcast, and it is on
the free iHeartRadio app. And welcome to yet another week.
And yes, thank god daylight Saving time is back. I
know there's plenty of discourse out there, but this is
my favorite time of the year. Is the days get longer.
I get that extra hour of afternoons, I can go
walking around and if I get lucky, I won't accidentally
(00:28):
run into inner city construction. Right and as you can hear,
I am being joined by a very special guest, an
expert on inner city construction and Omaha's obsession with it,
Jordan the Ninja.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Jordan, thank you so much for coming in.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Yes, thank you. You know today's hottest jams, of today's
hottest traffic jams.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Oh, the traffic jams. They are plentiful. You are on
social media, Jordan the Ninja. Yeah, on basically everything you
can find on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram. Am I missing anything, honestly.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
Anything that is social media.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
I'm not on a blue sky yet I gotta met
but everything else I'm on it.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
I am in the media world for a living, but
I am a reluctant social media person. I don't like
posting stuff except my dogs and my bird feeder, or
talking about stuff in the community and places that I am.
I like showing people that, you know, there's a lot
of fun things to do if you just go out
and look for them.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
Yeah, of course.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
And there's absolutely no getting around this, especially when you're
traveling in downtown Omaha. Absolutely if you if you are
just going anywhere, you are seeing barriers, you're seeing streets
torn up, or doing this streetcar project, and you have
really gone viral in a multitude of ways on multiple
(01:52):
platforms for your very, very pointed and funny commentary on
Omaha's favorite pastime.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
How did this start for you?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Honestly, I'm not evenna Lie. I wasn't even trying to
be funny when I started it. I was actually just pissed.
I was going from one meeting to another meeting and
I had like a two hour gap, and I took
the same road. I was on Tenth Street going home
because I live in North Omaha, and I was like, man,
I didn't want to I had to go around because
I didn't want to be go the same way everybody else.
(02:24):
Everybody gets stuck on Tenth Street and yeah, locked off
at the time, So there's like a d tour and
that you get stuck in traffic anyways, but I was like, man,
this would be really funny if someone if I just
made a video about it. I wasn't gonna do it.
And I was like, you know what, why not, I'll
go grab my stuff at the house.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
So I went back there.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
So were you making videos just in general?
Speaker 4 (02:41):
Yeah, yeah, I've been.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
I've been making videos for all my life. Actually, I
had a following. I just my following has never been
so local until that video came out.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Okay, so you get your stuff, you make the video.
For those who haven't seen Jordan's videos, you are dressed.
How do you describe your wardrobe?
Speaker 4 (03:02):
I would normally just call a vintage or classy.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Very classy. Yeah, I mean head to tell you got
the hat?
Speaker 4 (03:10):
You got?
Speaker 2 (03:11):
How many suits do you have?
Speaker 4 (03:12):
Boy, that's a good question. The answer is I have
no clue.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
That's usually a good sign that you have a lot
of suits upwards of upwards of thirty Maybe it's definitely
definitely more than fifty, but I don't want to know.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
I don't know how how far past fifty though.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Well, this is the good thing because you look different
in every video so people know that you're not just
recycling the same oh, same outfit. And we'll talk about
the wardrobe in a second, because I find that to
be a big part of the deal you got going
on here, but you did the commentary and then oh
it's taken off. And I don't know if anybody on
social media in the Omaha area has been able to
(03:51):
avoid or I hate to use this term, haven't been
able to dodge what you have going on.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
No.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Seriously, though, for every single video, I find it to
still be as funny because you are in different places
in Omaha, and I like, as soon as the sinkhole
opened up on Pacific, I'm like, oh, I can't wait
for him to get there, because he's.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Gonna get there. It was the day of I had
to get over.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
There on racing, Like, I mean, is this fun? Is
this funny to you?
Speaker 1 (04:21):
You have become known as the guy who has this
commentary in Omaha in inner city construction.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
You know, it's fun.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
I think in a lot of ways, especially just as
artists or creators, it's always a gold mine to hit
on something that's just you. And since I wasn't really
doing anything but complaining the same way I complain every day.
It's fun. It's fun because of that. All I gotta
do is just talk and people just start laughing.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
You know, it's been your it's been your favorite like
response so far. Like it's been there's somebody that came
up to you or talked to you or commented on
something and you were just kind of like, I cannot
believe this is hitting this way with these people.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Boy, I don't know if there's anything surprising about it
or or crazy funny, but it happens a lot.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Though.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
It happens just about every day, maybe four or five
times a day, just least.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
And I mean, you can't miss you.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
I mean yeah, yeah, I mean now, I guess.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
But the way that you're you're I mean you you
dress up. I mean you are a dapper looking man. Yes,
Trey to clean up.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
You know. I try to stick clean. I try to
keep my nose clean.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
I I I'm gonna shift around a little bit here. Yeah,
I saw you before you were Jordan Ninja. To me,
you were a guy who opened up for Yachte Crewe.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Oh wow, it's been around for a while.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
I yeah, I moved to Omaha a couple of years
ago and I was going to the Yachtley Cruise Show
with my wife and she has a couple of friends
that were up from Tennessee and we had tickets to
the Yoti Cruise Show. I had no idea if there
was an opener. They didn't and now and open there,
and so we go into the Steelhouse and sure enough,
here's this group. I had no idea. They were local
(06:08):
at the time, and I was entranced. To say the least,
you have this very jazzy vocalist, you were behind a
drum kit, you had a tuba. Yeah, that was just
standing up there, bopping around. And I was like, I'm
loving this. This is great stuff. And then the next
day I was walking around my neighborhood in the Zabent
(06:29):
Village and happened to see and we were the same
guys like out there playing at the I was like,
I love these guys, And you know, I was like,
they have to be omaha guys, Like oh yeah, we're
omaha guys. So to talk to me about the music,
because it is it you sound musically, and that music
(06:50):
is how I would describe how you look. I mean,
it's just kind of a very classy, jazzy and enriching
kind of sound that you just don't get these days.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Yeah, I mean I grew up well, boy, I grew
up listening to music that was before that music, Like
I grew up on like a lot of musicals.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
I go up on a lot of classical films.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
That's that's probably what explains the way I dress and
explains the music, explains why.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
I love jazz so much.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
But I also grew up in a in a pretty
sheltered home though, so I had to discover a lot
of these things, like coming out of my own so
you know, I was I went to public school.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
But also when I discovered.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Like seventies music, I was like, whoa, this is the
coolest stuff ever. And then you know, discovery bebop and
all that stuff is just kind of I kind of
got stuck in there, and that's just what I love
to listen to the most. You're from Omaha, yep, born
and raised. Okay, you you're not an old man.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
So for people to see, like, wow, you're discovering some
of this, like like raised on classical films, he knows jazz,
he discovered seventies music. You know, the people are like, wow,
this is quite an individual. What about instruments, Because that's
one thing about music when I talk to people, is like,
if you don't start learning how to play an instrument
when you're young, sometimes it's hard to really find the
(08:17):
passion for playing the instrument. That way, and you having
seen your music, there's obviously a bigger understanding of not
just a single instrument that you're good at, it's about
the entire ensemblance of sound that you care about. What
was your participation in music, Like.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Wow, well, I grew up in music already. It was
just the influence was just had a lot to do
with either like spiritual churchy stuff or it was just
like classical music. But it was kind of expected in
my family to pick up an instrument. Everybody in my
family played an instrument already, right, and everybody had a
(08:57):
little bit of vocal cool singing or something like that
that we had to do basically or not had to do,
but it was kind of expected in the family.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
So you know, we picked out our instruments as kids.
That's like a memory that's ingrained in my head.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
That's amazing.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Yeah, But.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
I think the reason why I do pick up the
instruments because some of the some of the instruments I
actually picked up later. When I first started music in school,
I was playing clarinet nice and I think what led
you to the clarinet.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
Artie shaw.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
I also wanted to play something that was like unique
I started. I actually started on flute. It was my
first one though, that was my first win instrument.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
I can go on forever about it.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
I love this because I also I have my own
story of how me musically, so I'm I'm truly fascinated,
like at the at the evolution here, So flute and
then clarinet, well yeah, I.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Mean well because that's a different person.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
It all up well for people like flute and clarinet
are not like there woodwinds, but they're not similar, like
you don't play them the same way. It's not Yeah,
it's not like it's not like going from like a
trumpet to a cornet or something like oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
But the I mean, but they also they're also those
are shape the same too. I mean it's like going
from clarinet to saxophone. They are both read instruments, but
they're still different. Yeah, And it depends on which clarinet
you're playing and which saxophone you're playing. Sometimes it has
the similarities. But my very technically before school, my very
first instrument was like piano, just like learning by ears
(10:32):
on the piano in the home in my parents' place.
But I think, well, no, my first instrument that I
ever chose to play.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Was viola a string, yes, and a viola not a violin.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Yeah, you know, I had this identity thing going on
growing up in a big family. It was really hard
for me to find that thing. I felt like it
was me that was not like everybody else did. So
I wanted to pick those instruments that felt like they
were odd out, you know, because I always kind of
felt like I was kind of odd out as well.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
So I picked viola.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
I played that all the way up until a high
school and then after high school I.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
Just never touched it again. And it's kind of been.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
So what would be what would be your relationship with
the process of learning right, Because beola and violin are
similar instruments, I'm sure novices wouldn't be able to tell
the difference between the two of them. But the interesting
thing between understanding kind of like a string instrument. Also
it's a lot more technical with finger placement, whereas you're
(11:37):
talking about clarinet, I mean your wind control. I mean
these are not really related things. They're musical, but but
you really have to have a love of in a
passion of music to be drawn to those two things,
as different as they are.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I would definitely say that that's that's like the number
one thing I think when it comes to anything I
want to do, it's the passion that comes first. You know,
I'll never actually, well, I will if I need to.
If I need to do something that I don't like doing, I.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Will do it.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
But I will really really do something that I love.
Since I love music, you know, I get really curious
about instruments. Sometimes I'll pick it up. I've actually picked
up a few instruments over the years.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
So all right, let's talk about them. You get to clarinet.
How old was clarinet like?
Speaker 4 (12:26):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Boy, so theola was fourth grade when we could pick
a win instrument.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
Then it was I.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
Picked flute because my brother played flute. I tried that
out for a week. It didn't work, so I picked clarinet.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Oh you gave it a week. It wasn't like a year.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
It was a weak man, I was getting light headed.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
And like, oh, it'll go away, and like for a
week straight Planet, I was like, no, that's it can happen.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
But then clarinet was right there for you. Yeah, yeah,
clarinet was right there.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
I love clarinet especially, you know, just growing and watching a.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
Classic movie was called Second Chort with Artie Shaw and
who is that? I don't think Katherine happens. No, Artie Shaw,
Fred Astaire and a couple.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Of other cats that I am failing to remember, but
they were in the They were in that movie. Artie
Shaw played, Artie Shaw played himself, and you know, it
was just like a lasting impression in my head.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
So it was just like fifth sixth grade.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
That was in fifth grade.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Yeah, amazing. So I saw you on a drum kit before.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
So that's another completely different discipline of music. I've known
many clarinet players because I'm a percussion guy. Yeah, and
I like to think that I'm good at playing the drums,
and I played for years and years at different disciplines.
Jazz bands, rock bands, concert bands, marchin rock bands. Oh yeah, yeah,
(13:49):
big pop punk guy okay, with like seventies covers is
kind of like kind of my mid section there. But
when I see a person who is drumming, I can
get a good vibe of like, Okay, this is a
person who's great at drums, or a person who wants
to be good at drums and doesn't really have it.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Like that, you know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (14:09):
You know you can, I know very I know a
lot of great clarinet players, yeah, growing up in school,
and I give them a pair of drumsticks and they
think it's just so easy and it is so unnatural
for them to do. It doesn't look easier than but
you you make it happen.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
So what's your story with the drums, man?
Speaker 3 (14:28):
I mean, that's it's the same story that you'll have
on any instrument.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
You just got to practice.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
I think, why don't you find that thing that resonates
with you the most. It'll it'll really just draw you in.
You know, Saxophone fits in the story somewhere in between.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
High school and college.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
But I also picked up drums when I was in
high school as well. My brother just randomly they were
short on the drum line in high school and it
was like, hey, you got to come to drum camp,
and I was like, I don't, and He's like, come on, man,
just come here, and I did.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
So I joined the drum line.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
I was based drum and then the next year I
was based on captain, and then I was drum captain
after that, and I played that all the way up
through high school. In my senior year, they threw me
on the uh, they threw me on the drum set.
And at the time, I was playing a little bit
of drums in church, not gospel drums, though I wish
I had those chops.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Unfortunately, those guys are crazy.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
I know, dude.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
I know my cousin actually, uh, we went to high
school together, and he's.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Just the you know, like I go through reels on
Facebook or on Instagram and everything, and I'm just scrolling
and I click on one of those things and I'll
just sit up there for hours just watching these guys
go to like they're going to church while they're in
church on these drums.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
I mean, I send those reels to myself so I
can like take some of their stuff, you know. Oh yeah,
I do that all the time. Like there's different things
that I see people doing. And you know the algorithm
you know now that's following me everywhere.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
You're in a lot of people's algorithms. But but okay,
so how did that go at first? Did you feel
like a natural fit when you sat down? Was just
like jazz band kind of?
Speaker 4 (16:10):
Actually it was. It was just, uh, it was like
marching band.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Okay, So you actually had like a drum set there
as part of the marching band.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Well, I did the senior year, but before that it
was just like all natural drums. But we were the
drum line was like suffering throughout. I mean, the first
year I was there was cool, The second year was
also cool. Third and fourth year.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
Started getting really scarce.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
You know, there were there wasn't so many people that
wanted to be in marching band anymore, and Pet band
for any Yeah, there was. There was a few Pet
band shows. I was playing all four bass drums, oh my,
at the same time because nobody would want to be
in the thing and we didn't have anybody to play,
(16:56):
so we would I would take the big drum and
take the medium drum. I'm I take the small drum,
and I take the tiny drum, and I just light
them all on the bleachers and I would.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Just play them like the tenor drums.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, So I did that, and besides that,
I knew the parts in my head already, right, I
played them for.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Years and I went to college marching band. Yeah, I
did based drum in college. And it's crazy when you
start like getting those cadences that if you sat the
drums in front of me, I probably could play the
whole thing. And then you just like playing your part
as part of that becomes natural with practice, but you
just know what it's supposed to sound like and what
your part is. And I just love that element of
(17:34):
the team because most other things in percussion, it's not
about the team. It's about well, one person is playing.
Like in concert band, there's somebody on the marina, but
there's somebody on the tempany there's somebody playing like three
different parts with triangle tambourine and all that, and then
a person playing like bass drum and snare drum, and
you know, like if you watch Nick Cannon and drumline,
(17:55):
I mean, the star is the snare drum guy, and
there's like ten of them and they all sound the
same unless the one guy gets a solo. But they're
not making like a sound as a team, like one
guy could do that. The bass drums what made me
attracted to them after, you know, like because I wanted
to be the snare drum guy. But then but I
(18:15):
but I and I was for a while, but then
as I got to college, I realized that the real
fulfillment I got was like, there are four or five
of us making this incredible sound together as like the
backbone of this drum line. And because of the drum
line being the backbone of the band, you really are
like an engine back there. And it's hard to describe
(18:36):
to people who just are like, dude, you're carrying around
a bass drum, like they they can't get past that stigma.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
We got, we got the floor.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
You know, we're like the bottom, you know, the foundation
of every foundation of man.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
But then you're you're doing this jazz stuff. Some of
this is your own stuff, right.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
I mean, well you're talking about like some of the
music that we play.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we play we play original music too,
But I mean I think it was it was still
like a progression over the years though, Like I mean
that was just I mean when I went to college,
I didn't play drums at all. Uh really, yeah, I
played saxophone in college because when I got to high school,
I couldn't play.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
I couldn't play in the jazz band just playing clarinet.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
They wouldn't let me right, So I had to learn saxophone.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
So I learned saxophone.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Is that easy means.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
A bad word? But is that is translatable in a way.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
I feel like it's more translatable than than other instruments,
I think, especially depending on which which saxophone you're playing.
But it was easy for me because I played clarinet,
and clarinet to me, is more difficult than than tenor
sax and I feel like going from one to the
other one, it's way better to go from clarinet to
(19:53):
saxophone than it is to go from saxophone to clarinet,
because their octaves are different.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
You know, you'll be playing a C down the octave
you hit the optive octave key and you're hitting a G.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
So but that that would mess with me with you
with your fingers.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Yeah, there, the the octaves are are perform eachin I
don't remember by how.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Much, but that, but that's a It's an interesting point
that you make there, because you're you're hitting keys that
are not dissimilar or covering holes that you know, your
hands are in the same place on the instrument, but
your muscle memory can't.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
You have to really think like muscle memory.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
That was the one thing about the drums is with
enough practice, you can just feel it right. Yeah, yeah,
I don't have to worry about the whole octave thing,
you know. But I see some of these people, especially
like my band director when I was in middle school,
he would grab, like for anybody's like lessons or whatever.
He had like this closet and he had one of
(20:49):
every instrument and he would just grab one and just
start playing it. And I just found that to be
so insane. My Lord shout out that too. It's crazy
to me.
Speaker 4 (20:59):
Yeah, it was, it was. It was pretty crazy to
me as well.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
I think being on the other side of like education
and now, like people in my community are teachers. Now
people my age are like teaching high school and college,
I think that it's it's funny to see it now,
you know, because I think we look at him like
we're high school is like, well, this guy is so
(21:22):
great at everything, but you know, sometimes yeah, but he
is for that.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
For for like when you're sixteen years old, you know,
you're just kind of like and I as an adult
now I have a great appreciation for people who are
that passionate about something to be like to master things
like that for you now, you know, So, what's the
music scene look like? Because I know that on your
social media talk about jazz nights and like venues that
you're kind of regularly playing at. What what kind of
(21:52):
what like? What's a typical schedule look like for you?
Speaker 2 (21:54):
And the like?
Speaker 1 (21:55):
How much are you doing yourself versus you know, doing
it with are you with just kind of the same
group of guys?
Speaker 4 (22:01):
Like actually I both manage own slash run a few groups.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Actually I love this, well, how can we find out more?
Because the great people of Omaha listening to this podcast
are like, wow, I did not know this about Jordan
the Ninja, the inner City construction guy.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Is this music officionado?
Speaker 3 (22:20):
I wouldn't be surprised with that. I think a lot
of this construction hokey pokey has overshadowed what was going
on before. Before I was making construction videos, I was
making fashion videos.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
And a very fashionable man to say the link I.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
Do what I can? You know? This is nineteen sixty
four right here?
Speaker 1 (22:39):
It is okay, so this is Indian madrasady Okay, And
for people who are listening, you will go to the
Emery Songer social media and you'll be able to find
a photo of how terrible I'm dressed versus how Jordan
looks here today. But anytime you follow Jordan Ninja every video,
he's got these amazing things. So where do you find
something like this?
Speaker 4 (22:59):
Boy? Antique shops? Occasionally.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
I got a really good grab at a at an
estate sale once, but it was a it was one
of my friends.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Okay, so you knew the estate.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Yeah, you didn't show up to a random estate sale
like I wonder if they got suits in here.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
Nope, the sure denied. You know, it was a target
and attack this time.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
But I used to I used to go to the
You remember the Imaginarium Superstore. Oh yeah, yeah, off of
sixteenth and Elevenworth. They're not there anymore, you know, back
in when they back in my.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
I've heard many stories about the Imaginarium Superstore.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
Yeah, and they have the Imaginary and regular one is
like downtown, right, but the imaginaryum Superstore was like ten
times bigger and they had a lot of like men's
vintage clothes there and that's where I.
Speaker 4 (23:44):
Was getting like eighty five percent of all my clothes.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
And then one of my friends he was actually moving
from his house in Council Bluffs and we wear the
exact same size everything.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Oh my, how nice is that.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
I'm not gonna lie I shouldn't have that. I should
have and I'm alive today. That tell the story. I
tried to buy just about everything, every outfit that he had,
you know, because he was just he was very detailed,
sharp dresser.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
He actually he's a radio man.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Actually amazing.
Speaker 4 (24:18):
Yeah, he works.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
You don't need a good outfits for radio. Well, dude,
look at me. I wouldn't be surprised if this guy
invented radio. But he works for he does the Atomic Hour.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Nice. I love that. Let me.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Yeah, So I keep going in circles here because I'm
so fascinated by everything you got going on here. How
can people find the music? Just follow my page, I guess.
And then you talk about the venues that you guys.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Are Yeah, I mean everything.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
Actually, TikTok is where most of my my video stuff goes,
just because it's a great audience to have, you know,
especially a lot of younger people like engaging with the
stuff then everything. It's a great tool, but if you
really want to find out everything that goes on in
my life, you're probably gonna be better off following my
Instagram my Facebook account.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
Because that's where I post all my shows, you know, right.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
You can find all my links to my like actual
photographs can be posted and stuff like that. I have
a my most popular band, Parfait. That's that's the one
on Steelhouse. That's the one that you saw at Steelhouse.
We have our five year anniversary this Friday.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Well, congratulations, thank you. It's amazing.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
Man.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Yeah, where's that at.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
That's gonna be at Harney Street Tavern.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Amazing but once a month and you're the Tube is
going to be there?
Speaker 3 (25:43):
I know not actually okay, yeah, he's not in the
band anymore.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Oh okay, we lost the Tube a guy. Well okay,
so so what do we have instead with this part?
We're actually a four piece now, which we were.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
We were toying with the idea of a four piece
like two years ago, but it never actually happened and
now we finally have it. And man, I'll tell you,
the sound is just it's a you could say it's radioactive.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Are you behind the kit still.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Yeah, yeah, I'm behind the kit and vocalizing doing the vocalization, yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:15):
Yeah, when we are.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
When we first started the band, actually we had a
bass player who played guitar. We had a tube of
player who played trumpet as well and also saying and
then I played guitar and drums, not at the same time,
but I would play guitar and then I would play
drums and then I would you know, sing just whatever
you needed for yeah, whatever we needed. We were actually
(26:37):
kind of selling ourselves off of the multi instrumental thing.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Which is cool.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
I mean, nobody looks that way right like, and as
a drummer myself, like I always look at people like
Don Henley or you know, there's not a lot of
great ones. Phil Collins eventually got out of drumming full
time when you know, obviously people realize how great of
a singer he was. But there's just something about trying
(27:02):
to stay coordinated. For my brain back there on the
kid already and you're moving around and you're trying to
be as fluid in as active, and I like to
be very athletic when I'm back there, because first of all,
I feel like I'm having more fun. But also I
just really think that you can do more back there
when you're fluid and you're flexible and athletic, and then
(27:24):
all of a sudden, Oh, I have this microphone right
in front of me that I need to project into
and then sing on pitch and make that work. I
don't know how people like you do it. I just
have no idea.
Speaker 4 (27:34):
Honestly, I think it's a lot more simple than everybody.
Plus it on. You can really do anything.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
That you say that, but I have not. It is
like tapping your head and rubbing your belly the same time.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
You can do that in like a week, you know
what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
In actuality, if you're just working it for like two days,
you could get it by Wednesday.
Speaker 4 (27:55):
You know.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Maybe that singing, I think I need a little bit
more help, you know. My wife Backstreet Boys comes on,
you know, like I'm trying to sing all the parts
for the Backstreet Boys and my wife has to change
the song because he's like, I can't do ontreet.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
Yeah, I start singing anymore.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Why don't you leave the singing to them? Okay, Like,
but no, it's great man, what you're doing. Jordan and
Ninja on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, any of the social media's.
You'll see him around town. If a singhole pops open,
it's a matter of time. It's like a bat signal
for him. He'll be there. Yeah. And but if there's
an amazing suit sale going on, he'll be there.
Speaker 3 (28:36):
Which what's the Oldest's been so much? What's the oldest?
What's the oldest suit that I have?
Speaker 4 (28:40):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (28:41):
I think I have a nineteen to three, like a
legit nineteen thirty seven? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean you
gotta go for the authentic vintage man.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
Yeah, I think my oldest one is nineteen thirty. I
haven't dated it might be I think it's in between
thirty five and thirty eight.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
How do you watch something like that?
Speaker 4 (28:58):
Drag cleaning and that can be very expensive.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
So especially if you have fifty suits.
Speaker 4 (29:04):
Yeah, you just gotta shower often where carefully.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Not eat chocolate cake while you got one of your
suits on.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
Yeah, don't eat chocolate cake in a white suit.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Good idea, Jordan, the ninja I have. I've had you
for too long. We'll have to do this again. And
instead of me just like peppering you with questions about
yourself maybe we can do some commentary on the world
around us and ye why not and music and nerd
out but follow Jordan and the Ninja everywhere on social media.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
Thinks so much for coming in. Man, this is great.
Speaker 4 (29:34):
Yeah, absolutely, man, I appreciate it all right.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
And this is the Emory Songer Podcast. You know that
because you've been listening. But this feed will be active
again tomorrow. We got a lot to get to this spring.
I'm so happy that you're with us and we will
chat again very soon.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
You appreciate you for listener.
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