March 19, 1996
Watchmen Try To Remain Upbeat
The Winnipeg Free Press
writer unkown
Joey Serlin reclines in what amounts to the lounge section of the Watchmen's Old Market Square rehearsal space.
He can recline and relax because the Winnipeg rock group has completed a brand new album, Brand New Day, which hits stores tomorrow. And because he has a month off before the group begins a lengthy tour. And because for the moment, he's away from schmoozing music industry types and hangers-on.
It was just such people who inspired Serlin to write the band's new singly, Incarnate.
"I was at a cocktail party with my girlfriend and having one-dimensional conversations with people," the 25-year-old guitarist recalls.
"There were a lot of plastic, material people. I felt pretty isolated; I got too deep for my own good."
He looked across the room, saw his girlfriend and immediately felt better.
"I realized in this world if you can hook onto one or tow real, true people, you are pretty lucky. And I just wrote a song about it."
Serlin, singer Danny Greaves, drummer Sammy Kohn and bassist Ken Tizzard comprise the Watchmen. All but Tizzard live in Winnipeg, although Serlin says he may move temporarily to the Toronto area next fall while his longtime girlfriend completes a master's degree there.
The Watchmen's last album, In The Trees, sold about 150,000 copies in Canada. It was released in Europe but not in the United States, where they hope to see Brand New Day launched.
Brand New Day, the group's third album, features 12 songs recorded primarily in Toronto and Madison. One song, Tumbleweed, was recorded at Private Ear Studio in Winnipeg, where the group also laid down demos for the album.
The album title is an attempt to remain upbeat, Serlin says. "It seems the popular thing right now is to be so down on yourself."
He point to Courtney Love's new album cover with its picture of slit wrists and Alice in Chains with their three-legged dog.
"Which is cool, I'm into a lot of bands that do that kind of thing," he says.
"But we just wanted to be positive. It also signifies some of the different directions we are taking musically."
Musically, Brand New Day certainly signals brand new directions. It features more varied
styles than the group has shown in the past.
Among the changes are abundant strings, piano and horns. One song in particular, Dance Some More, veers widely off the path the Watchmen have previously trod.
"Ken started that first riff and we kinda got that weird samba type beat going. We thought, This is weird,' and we just went with it," he says.
The Watchmen have just returned from Toronto, where they taped a live version of Zoom, the album's second single, for an upcoming video.
Incarnate was shot earlier. Serlin says the goal of the video was "to convey the isolation and loneliness of the character it was written about."
It's not a video band, and Serlin sees moving pictures as a necessary evil.
"I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say I would prefer to just record and play live shows. Videos, it's just not really our area. And it's the one area where we have the least control over the end result."
The group expects to perform at the Walker Theatre in June. They tour Canada after a stint through Europe in May, where Brand New Day is also being released.
"Some bands try to downplay their drive for success, but we are pretty driven that way," Serlin says.