Jettison Red’s straightforward approach to power pop is as ‘Clear as Day’
By K. Michelle Moran
Arts & Entertainment Editor
For a good chunk of its three-year history, the St. Clair Shores-based power pop outfit Jettison Red has been working on its debut album, “Clear as Day.”
So it comes as much of a relief to the band members as it does to their fans to finally be seeing a finished product.
On Nov. 16, the band will release “Clear as Day” during a concert and record release party with Red September, also issuing a new record that day.
“We’ve been working on this CD since we started three years ago, with finding the time and the money to actually get it recorded, then get it mixed and mastered, and then get it produced and distributed,” said singer/guitarist Chris Wujek. “It’s such a long process that we’re ready for our second album.”
Wujek and his bandmates — singer/guitarist John Krebs, drummer Nicky Wawrzyniak and bass player Carl Yute — say they’ll probably return to the studio next spring to work on said follow-up.
Jettison Red’s history only goes back three years, but the members have known each other longer than that. Wujek and Krebs can even trace their friendship to grade school at St. Joan of Arc Elementary in St. Clair Shores, where both grew up. While all live in St. Clair Shores now, Yute is a Warren native, and Wawrzyniak grew up in Sterling Heights.
Although the early ‘90s Seattle sound of bands such as Nirvana originally brought the members of Jettison Red together, their music today springs from acts who were playing and recording long before the twentysomethings were born.
Bands such as Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones and The Who are among the classic rockers Jettison Red site as influences.
“When you’re writing music, classic rock is the best written as far as rock music,” Krebs said. “It’s just composed well, and timeless.”
“We don’t play a lot of covers — we’ll learn a new one every now and then — but most of the time [when we do], it’s going to be something before our time,” Wawrzyniak said.
The band also likes more recent rock entries, such as Sloan, the Foo Fighters and Our Lady Peace. The one commonality among old and new bands is attention to songcraft, something Jettison Red strives for in its work.
“One of our major goals is to put out good, solid music that actually has some thought put into it,” Wujek said.
The fact that Wawrzyniak, the band’s sole female member, is also the drummer tends to surprise observers.
“It’s kind of like this ongoing joke, actually, with us now, because it usually seems like we’ll be setting up and the sound guy or someone who’s working at the bar will say something to me about that,” Wawrzyniak admitted.
But, for every person who says, “She’s really good for a girl,” Krebs is armed with a comeback: “No — she’s good period.”
Jettison Red has been a visible live force, playing a host of shows. And all of that gigging is apparently paying off.
“Us playing so much live has just really made us better musicians,” Wawrzyniak said.
Besides Detroit area shows, the band hopes to do more shows elsewhere across the state and throughout the Midwest, Yute said.
“There’s just nothing as fun as playing in front of [an audience],” Wawrzyniak said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s five people or 100 people, just as long as they’re into the show.”
And Jettison Red vows it won’t wait as long to release its sophomore CD.
“We’re all eager, eager, eager to get in the studio [to record the next album] and do it properly, now that we know what to look for,” Wujek said.
While many of Red September’s songs address current issues, from kids with guns to Internet addiction, the hook-heavy rock outfit doesn’t consider itself angry so much as annoyed, says band leader, singer and guitarist Peter Schorn.
“At the core, we are a high energy rock band,” said Schorn, who now lives in Royal Oak. “There’s a political angle to [the music] and there’s an intellectual angle to it, but we’re not doing lectures. We’re not Rage Against the Machine, yelling and screaming about [issues].”
Schorn and his bandmates — drummer Paul Brown, a Madison Heights native who now lives in Clinton Township, and bass player and backing vocalist Frank Greenhalgh, a Detroit native who lives in Farmington Hills — are releasing their long-awaited album “Wake Up Call” during a release party and concert with Jettison Red Nov. 16.
Schorn blames perfectionism for the delay — but the wait appears to have been worth it, as the record bristles with brains and rock brawn, with punk vigor thrown in for good measure and pop overtones to get listeners’ heads bobbing.
“I’d like to think it’s possible to comment on serious subjects in a manner which does not just collapse under the weight of its own importance,” Schorn said.
Schorn formed an earlier version of Red September more than a decade ago, but that unit disbanded, and it wasn’t until 1994 that he re-formed the band with new musicians. The addition of Greenhalgh in 1996 completed the current official lineup. Schorn said Brown’s skillful drumming lends drive to the band’s sound, and Greenhalgh is a “very diverse and very stylistic” bass player who brings good ideas and solid backing vocals to the table.
Fans who remember the former incarnation of Red September won’t be entirely surprised by the present version.
“I’ve been able to find musicians who were able to tune into what I was looking to do, and thus the sound has never really drastically changed,” Schorn said. “It’s improved, it’s modified, we’ve broadened it, but generally, if you were to listen to old tapes and the current stuff, you could tell it’s the same act.”
That manages to be both good and bad news for the band, which finds itself winning over new audiences — but only when it can get them to a show in the first place. Since Red September doesn’t fit neatly in any particular genre, the band has a hard time billing itself.
Brown likens the band’s sound to a cross between the Foo Fighters and old Van Halen without the screaming, while Schorn said the band plays “intelligent loud rock.”
“We’re harder than the pop bands, but we’re not hard enough to play with the metal bands,” Schorn explained. “We’re too commercial for the garage [bands], but we’re not totally slick … So we have this accessible sound that people enjoy — if — and when — they get to hear it.”
And while Red September prides itself on not preaching, it does practice social activism, taking part in benefit shows whenever possible, including recent concerts for the Red Cross and firefighters.
“Some of the best gigs that I’ve played have been benefit gigs,” Greenhalgh said. “I’m sure we’d all agree that [they] were just a really fulfilling experience for us. I wish more local bands would get involved.”
With the release of “Wake Up Call,” Schorn said the band intends to return to the clubs for local shows.
“What I really want to accomplish musically is to find a way to entertain and enlighten,” Schorn said. “I can’t write songs about nothing, but not every song has to be about something serious.”
During Static Records’ “Red Letter Day,” Jettison Red and Red September will hold a joint record release party Nov. 16 at 313.jac/Jacoby’s, 624 Brush in Greektown. The Bomb Pops will open. During the night of the show only, fans can purchase both CDs for $15; individually, they sell for $10. For more on the show, call Sue Summers at (313) 886-7860, or visit the bands’ Web sites at www.staticrecords.com or www.jettisonred.com.