??1998
Radar Love
Access Magazine
- by Ted Mahovlich
Remember the days when big-bellied rock stars wore snug-fitting hockey
sweaters? That was a time long ago, when Winnipeg, Manitoba, became
musically significant thanks to a rock & roll hit machine called The
Guess Who. Emerging from that same scene in the '60's was a musician
and friend of the band who made his own contribution to the town's
history. This, of course, was Neil Young. Not a lot has happened in
Winnipeg that could rival the careers and musical impact of that bunch.
But after nearly ten years in the game, The Watchmen are in the midst of
writing their own chapter in the Winnipeg book of success. The tale
begins in a then-pitiful environment of top 40 bars offering little to
musicians with aspirations of originality.
Over time, The Watchmen's perservance and will-to-succeed put them in
the thick of a musical evolution that replaced Top 40-dom with an
infinitely superior alternative: original music venues. And so history
repeats itself, and Winnipeg once again has a sence worthy of rock &
roll mention. But is this city a place for a band on the move to call
home? The answer for The Watchmen is 50/50. Although known as a
Winnipeg band, truth be told, one half of the band lives in Toronto.
Frontman Daniel Greaves explains the reasons (and benifits) behind their
split domesticity:
"I think the nature of the business is such that it
doesn't matter where you live because you're usually not at home -
you're always travelling ot you're in the studio. I could live
anywhere, really, and I like to leave it like that. Everyone needs to
be in different places to relax and get inspired."
Shopping for a new label after a split with Universal (they eventually signed to EMI) gave
the band time to relax and prepare for its latest album, Silent Radar.
With songs penned by various combinations of the entire unit - Greaves,
guitarist Joey Serlin, bassist Ken Tizzard and drummer Sammy Kohn - they
set up to record in the Seattle studio of Pearl Jam's Stone Gossard.
The location was recommended by their producer Adam Kasper (R.E.M. and
Soundgarden), a resident of their producer "A" list. (Reason Number One
was Kasper's laid-back vibe; the band wanted to avoid the
over-scrutinized production of their previous records.) Describing the
finished prduct, Greaves sheds light on some of his key inspirations,
while admitting to a newfound freedom in the studio:
"As opposed to fighting it and saying we're absolutely original, I'd say that we're a
pop band and it's just sort of whatever comes out. Nick Drake's in
there, Crowded House is in there. There's Squeeze. Squeeze does this
thing where they sing the melody and one guy sings an octave below in
stereo. I've always liked the way Squeeze did it. It sounds really
powerful in unison. I did that all over the place 'cause I thought it
was cool and said, 'Let's do it. F**k, rip off this guy, rip of that
guy - whatever.' It's music and it's ongoing. I hope people rip us off
too! That's a sign we're getting somewhere."
Helping the band on it's way to somewhere (and perhaps representing its arrival by his presence
on Silent Radar) is B3 master and full-time Heartbreaker, Benmont Tench.
Sporting an I'm-the-lucky-one grin, Greaves recalls the message he
received from Kohn, the band's musicologist, when he heard who would be
attending the session with them:
"I was in Winnipeg a couple of days prior to that, just when I heard that they're getting me a ticket to L.A., and Sammy calls me, and leaves a message with "Refugee' just
cranked - the whole intro, just over the top. So he was really
excited."
So what lengths are The Watchmen wiling to go to bend your ear? Well if Benmont Tench isn't enough, how about ground-breaking CD technology?
"I've had training to answer this question," says Greaves
in describing the enhanced capabilities of their new disc. "It's not an
enhanced CD where you just have additional information that your
computer can access. Our CD is going to be coded with information that
opens up a website, and you can't get into this special website without
the CD. It's technology that's never been used before, and I like that
aspect of it,"