OTTAWA CITIZEN - 1998 Cryptic sound of Big Wreck comes as no accident by Norman Provencher School, as all of our guidance counselors used to hammer at us, is what you make of it. But just because you're at the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston doesn't mean you have to get bogged down with nuisance stuff like classes or studying. "Well, yeah, you can study your head off and all that. It can be a pretty serious school," says Big Wreck guitarist Brian Doherty. "But the biggest thing I got out of Berklee was just being exposed to an atmosphere that encourages you to play all the time, to jam and practice." That constant jamming, as well as three years of fairly steady roadwork (such as the tour that brings them to Barrymore's tomorrow night), contributed as much as the Berklee curriculum to the heavy sound of the aptly-named Big Wreck, a band that comes across as sort of a mix of Soundgarden with another "Big" band, Canada's Big Sugar. The band's debut album, In Loving Memory Of É, and it's ubiquitous leadoff single The Oaf, boasts crushing guitar lines and some intense vocal work from lead guitarist and singer Ian Thornley. "Ian and I are a good mix," Doherty says. "At Berklee, I was into heavier music, things like classic Zeppelin, say, or Pink Floyd, and he was more into folk and blues. But it comes together nicely in the end." Although the success of The Oaf seemed to come out of nowhere, Big Wreck's actually been touring on a fairly regular basis since 1992, making a name along the Eastern seaboard of the U.S. with occasional forays into Canada. "We knew going in that this was going to take a lot of work for not a lot of money. But we had confidence in our abilities and in the music." Doherty says that Thornley writes most of the band's songs and, although many are more than a little cryptic, the lyrics most often refer to events or relationships in Thornley's past, hence the album's title In Loving Memory Of ... "The music is a bit more of a collective effort," he said. "A lot of it came out of the (Berklee) jams or soundchecks on the road, just developing a riff or a groove into a larger composition." Although Doherty is credited with inventing the band's name he swears he can't remember where it came from. In a recent interview, singer Thornley said the name Big Wreck just came out of a sense of desperation: "We were just desperate for a name at one point: We were coming out with our first demo, and we were going with another name that was even worse." The confusion over the band's origins even extends to their nationality. The Canadian Association of Broadcasters recently nominated Big Wreck as one of the best new bands of the year for the association's inaugural Canadian Radio Music Awards. The trouble is, only singer Thornley, born and raised in Toronto, is a Canadian. "We'd heard a bit about the confusion and I've got no idea where it came from. (Bassist) Dave Henning and I are from Long Island and (drummer) Forrest Williams is from Boston. But I guess we won't turn (the award) down." And, while they might not be Canadian, Big Wreck is familiar with the country and its musicians, having toured in the past with the likes of The Watchmen and the Headstones. "(Crazed Headstones frontman) Hugh Dillon is a good friend, even though he's a pretty intense guy. We've got an idea about how Canadians can rock.