Serial Joe:Deep Obsession
By Ashleah
This is a essay I wrote for my english class at school about Serial Joe called Serial Joe Kicks:
Serial Joe is without a doubt the best rock band of my generation, possibly of all time. This might be hard to believe since you've probably never heard of them. Don't feel bad, not that many people this side of the thirty-eighth parallel know who they are. Serial Joe consists of four guys from Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. Ryan Dennis on lead vocals and guitar, Ryan Stever plays guitar, Jon Davidson on bass and Dan Stadnicki holding it down on the drums. Ryan's mom, Debbie Dennis, manages the band. Even though the guys are all only around sixteen, they're taking rock to places never thought possible.
It all started in 1998 with the release of the independent CD titled Kicked. The CD contained six songs, including "Skidrow", the first single and video. The video gained Serial Joe a 1998 Much Music Video Award for Best Independent Video and caught the attention of the music industry. In 1999 they recorded their debut, Face Down with Aquarius/DKD records. Face Down soon reached platinum status and spawned three hit singles and music videos for the songs "Mistake", "Deep", and "Should Have Been Mine".
"Mistake" turned out to be no mistake for Serial Joe. As the first single off of Face Down, it made charts on radio stations all over Canada, and was nominated for Best Rock Video in the 1999 Much Music Video Awards. It also captured the #1 position on Musique Plus's countdown and in Chart Magazine's Fifth Annual Year End Reader's Oll it took #3 for best song and #2 for best video.
On the subject of awards, Serial Joe has recieved more awards and nominations in two years than most musicians twice their age get in a lifetime. They have recieved a 1999 YTV Achievement Award for Best Band, Best New Rock Group at the Canadian Radio Music Awards, a 2000 VideoFACT Award for Best Video for "Deep". and they were the Artiste de Mois for September 2000 on Quebec's Musique Plus. Their many nominations include; 2000 Much Music People's Choice Award for Best Canadian Band, a Juno nomination for Best New Band, and a Gemini Award nomination for Best Specialty Show for the YTV Achievement Awards, 10th Anniversary Show.
When it comes to performing thses guys are no rookies. They've toured Canada many times, played at the 1999 and 2000 Edefest tours, perfomed on the up and coming band's stage at the famous "Woodstock '99", opened for the legendary rock band KISS during their 3-city Canadian stop-over tour and still have yet to conquer the US. Serial Joe has shared the stage with bands like, Live, Creed, Vertical Horizon, The Matthew Good band, Edwin and many more.
The guys have even been exploring areas outside of music. Recently they filmed a made-for-TV movie called "Out of Sync" which aired on VH1. The movie included the hit single "Mistake" and showed off 16-year-old Ryan Dennis' acting skills. They've also appeared in a six-series show for YTV, periodically guest hosted YTV's Hit List, and not to mention numerous television appearances which include; The Mike Bullard Show, Jonovision, seven live interviews on Much Music and Musique Plus. But the music will always be their top priority.
Now Serial Joe has a new album out titled "Serial Joe..." which contains six new songs and five previouslt unavailable remixes, including a new version of "Mistake" that is set to be released as a single in the US. They have recently signed a deal with Epic Records, the same record company as Korn, and plan to take on the states. They are in the studio now working on their next full-length album and promise this one will be their best yet. Musically the have matured and are hammering out their truly unique style.
As a band they skillfully juggle power chords and melodies, variating between fierce bears and tortuous guitars, diverse time changes and chord structures compounded with intense meaningful lyrics. Much Music has called them "an all day all night convenience store of cool stuff." Ryan Dennis, Ryan Stever, Jon Davidson and Dan Stadnicki are unquestionably music history in the making.
