Heads up, Moffatts. Step off, 'N Sync. Back away, Backstreet Boys.
The boy bands just got a lot louder. That is, if Serial Joe has anything to do with it.
"Ohmigod! You get to interview them?!"
It's a hot afternoon in June and the young autograph seekers are buzzing around the patio at the Barcode nightclub in downtown Toronto.
The object of their girlish attention: Newmarket's hard rock 'n' rap answer to the teen-scream set, Serial Joe, who've just played a Sunday matinee gig upstairs at Ted's Wrecking Yard.
The quartet -- average age 15 -- is on the eve of releasing Face Down, their debut full-length album for Aquarius Records.
"We're still not used to this," the group's 14-year-old drummer, Dan Stadnicki, says with a smile as he scopes the small mob of fans watching back from a nearby doorway.
Actually, he could have fooled me.
Serial Joe -- Stadnicki, singer-guitarist Ryan Dennis, 15, guitarist Ryan 'Stever,' 15, and bassist Jon Davidson, 14 -- are thoughtful, funny, and level-headed as they contemplate their summer holidays. That includes the release last week of Face Down; a spot on the Edgefest tour sidestage July 1-2, and concert dates opening for ex-I Mother Earth frontman Edwin.
The band's video for Mistake is in heavy rotation at MuchMusic.
Meanwhile, junior high graduation beckons.
"School is my top priority," Dennis says. "One day this could all fall apart, and what do you fall back on? If you don't have school, you have nothing."
Adds Stadnicki, "We don't have jobs at Wal-Mart or something. School is our job."
Serial Joe is made up of boys in the truest sense, playing rock music made by teenagers, presumably for teenagers. But the "boy band" thing pretty much begins and ends there.
As the turnout at their Ted's Sunday show suggests, the group has raided the Backstreet Boys' fan base -- though one enthusiastic teen wants to know if I've ever met 'N Sync.
You wouldn't make that connection with Face Down.
Their chugging guitars, punishing beats, and Dennis' anxious yelps are more Rage Against The Machine than Hanson. Consider them the anti-Moffatts.
Yet thanks to their fresh faces and Dennis' pin-up appeal, Serial Joe have attracted some new fans and introduced them to harder-edged rock.
"Up 'til now, there have been no teen bands that have played, like, rock music -- at least bands that have got any attention for it," Dennis says. "We're lucky to be the first. We can end that stereotype with all our effort -- that just because we're a young guy group we don't have to play teeny-bopper pop."
Serial Joe need no reminding that their tender age makes them perfect grist for the teen mill.
"We can't get around that," Dennis says. "As we get older, people will be able to respect us for the music. A lot of people can't see past the age thing. We play just as hard as a lot of older bands. It just takes people being a little more open-minded and giving us a chance."
Of course, there are other joys and frustrations that go with Serial Joe's precocious territory.
"When we think back to even a few months ago, we think we could have done better," Stadnicki says, laughing. "We're improving all the time. It's a little annoying."
"When you hear the new album, you don't even know it's the same group," Dennis adds. "For one thing, my voice has changed. It'll change more, too."
Still, the band were seasoned enough before signing to Aquarius this past winter. Their debut EP, Kicked, was recorded when the band members were all of 12. The independent disc made the rounds, winning the group a showcase in front of industry types at Canadian Music Week last year.
A video for the track Skidrow netted them a Best Independent trophy at the '98 MuchMusic Video Awards. A second video, for Obsession, showed a healthy cynicism toward the record industry as Dennis was kidnapped by a shady, cigar-chompin' agent, while the band squared off against a small army of Ninjas to save him.
Not that bad business is a major concern in real life.
Serial Joe are co-managed by Dennis' mother, Debbie, and MuchMusic producer Kim Clarke Champniss.
"I think we had to learn fast," Dennis says. "We didn't want to be walking around like naive idiots thinking everyone was a saint. We're learning a lot about the work involved."
Their efforts won over Vancouver producer Dave Ogilvie who has worked with Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction. He signed on to helm Face Down, which was recorded over the band's March break.
Then again, a group which claims to have been raised on equal parts metal, punk, blues, rap, and funk can have its work cut out for it. According to guitarist Stever, Ogilvie helped the band harness their tastes.
"If we only liked hard rock, we'd get stuck in a rut," he says.
With Serial Joe already reeling in fan e-mails from as far away as Singapore and Poland, one reckons that the band won't be stuck at home for long.
So just how does a gang of teenagers stay out of trouble when touring with the likes of Hole and Silverchair?
"There's normally an adult around," Dennis assures with a grin. "We don't do stupid things that could get us in a lot of trouble. We're not there to just to screw around."
Says Stadnicki: "We don't cause any problems. This is our job, and we know we have to do the best we can and not totally mess everything up.
"But no, we don't have any bodyguards or anything."
Not yet.
The SERIAL JOE File
Rock vs. pop
East vs. West
Serial Joe vs. The Moffatts
What's on a young band's mind?:
"And when your skies turn grey, my love will guide the way"
-- The Moffatts, Say'n I Love You
"Your forbidden heart is shallow/ Your emotions are hollow/ You haven't learned, it's time"
-- Serial Joe, Shallow
"Every minute of every day/ Girl I'm so down/ When your love's not around/ I miss you like crazy"
-- The Moffatts, Miss You Like Crazy
"You change while everything else is still the same/ Therapy is quite the road to take, 'specially when you're in such a state"
-- Serial Joe, Deep
"You are the girl of my dreams/ In my heart, I believe"
-- The Moffatts, Girl Of My Dreams
"Lost amidst this false reality/ Don't feel a thing anymore"
-- Serial Joe, Face Down
Game:Serial Joe
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