IMPRINT ONLINE - September 28, 2001 Big Wreck Not Wrecked Yet by Nathan Eldred Poking through the ashes of the Seattle scene of the mid-'90s, Big Wreck is struggling to find their audience. As Gen-Xers trade in their angst for middle management and middle class respectability, hits are becoming more elusive for bands of their genre. Big Wreck formed in Boston, where they met in the reputable Berklee College of Music nine years ago. Although their songs might lack the Seattle angst, their music bears a resemblance to the departed scene. Their first album, In Loving Memory of . . . went double platinum in Canada (200,000 units sold) while selling a meagre 100,000 units in the U.S. Now, a full four years later, they're finding their latest offering a tougher sell at a time when slick, dancing, pretty boys are more the flavour. Now that their Canadian tour is winding down and their album is drifting off the shelves, the band is finding perspective and directing their gaze forward. I talked to drummer Forrest Williams late on Wednesday afternoon. He was in Quebec where he was loafing in preparation for that evening's show. "I've been loving it," the drummer said when asked about the tour. He said the tour has given the band the chance to branch out and explore different directions and to satisfy their eclectic tastes. "We've been playing together for 10 years . . . we love to explore . . . we have to." With this tour, the band has played shows with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the Japanese percussion group Uzume Taiko, guitar virtuoso Eric Johnson and Colin James. On October 6, Big Wreck is performing a sold-out show with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. "It was harder this time around," Williams remarked, referring to the slumping sales of their June 5 release. He said that people are too caught up in bands like Creed and Limp Bizkit to give their band any notice. "We don't fit into that." However, he said that Canada was still a safe haven for their music. "I don't know why, but I'm so thankful. Canada has been good to us" he said, "they don't get so caught up in trends." He said the American music industry is airtight compared to Canada's and seems to be controlled by only a few corporate interests. Also, he compared getting a hit in the US to dealing with the mafia, where a few interests at the top shape the industry.Their struggle with the fickle U.S. market is not dissimilar to the Tragically Hip's struggle in the south adding that they're all friends. "We hang out. When we're in Kingston they come to our shows," he said about the Hip. He commended Canadians again for our taste in the Hip, as Canadian icons continue to be obscure in America.The drummer said that it's hard to make it in the industry without trading your musical integrity. "We could sell out. It would be easy. We could write a whole album," and went on to talk about the several parody pop songs that they've written. "About a month later it was a Blink 182 hit," he joked about one of them. He then went on to talk about the band's beginnings. In Berklee, "you'd play all day. We learned harmony. It was good to meet other people." He met the rest of the band members there. But, after a while, jamming got in the way of classes and they dropped out after a year to pursue their musical vision. He said that their latest album (The Pleasure and the Greed), inspired by a lyric by the Watchmen, referred to the paradoxes of fame, and said that they'd happily choose musical freedom over popular success. He told me their next album will be a lot different and that since they can't succeed anymore with their own music they're going to "do whatever we want." As the listless music industry proves to be the snake that swallowed itself, Big Wreck will likely persist with unbroken integrity. click here for the original article