Biography

(from the 'Jam! Music' site)

Formed in 1987, The Watchmen were named by Serlin who is a major comic book collector and suggested the name from one of his favourite books -- The Watchmen. They became road warriors from their home base of Winnipeg playing 150 dates across Canada every year for 4 years. One show in particular, at Toronto's legendary Horseshoe Tavern in 1991 attracted the attention of producer Chris Wardman's girlfriend.

She promised to put Wardman in touch with the band. Wardman eventually made it out to one of their shows and promised them a production commitment. He rushed them into Manta sound studio for some 2-track live off the floor demos and between other production chores, flew out to Winnipeg to properly produce a three song demo.

Jake Gold's The Management Trust (David GoGo, The Tragically Hip) also had their eye on the band and signed them to not only a management deal but to their music production outfit Sumo Productions. Using their clout with MCA Records, Sumo was able to release the band's debut McLaren Furnace Room' in 1992.

Immediately compared to their label mates, The Tragically Hip, the band spent two more albums trying to make a mark for themselves with strong showings and rigorous touring of the albums In The Trees' (1994) and Brand New Day' (1996).

After touring for Brand New Day' they took a very short break before writing the next record. With the band living in different cities they wrote the album in Toronto and Winnipeg and after a year on the road they became quite homesick..

In late 1997 the band went to Seattle to record their next album with producer Adam Kasper. The result was 1998's Silent Radar'. The CD of the album included a CD-activated key' to access multi-media material in a secret area of the band's Internet website. The CD activated website was the first use of this technology for a major-label band.

The band performed on April 2, 1998 as part of the Horseshoe Tavern's 50th Anniversary and the performance was broadcast live on CFNY-FM.