INTERVIEW<: Paul K. Uhlir, Sweet Water - Sean Eric McGill/TITLE></HEAD><BODY> <P> INTERVIEW: Paul K. Uhlir, Sweet Water - Sean Eric McGill Paul K. Uhlir from Sweet Water is in a good mood these days, and for good reason. After four years on the local bar circuit, two previous albums (one on the Restless label under the name SMG and another on Atlantic), and tours with Candlebox and Alice In Chains, Sweet Water's first album with EastWest Records, <CITE>Superfriends</CITE> is set for a late July release - setting the band on the brink of success. <P> But when you talk to Uhlir, you don't get the feeling that he's in the position he is these days, and that's refreshing. In a conversation that ranged from the band's songwriting and past experiences to the fact that, yes, that is the new Nelson album with the two blond dogs on the cover, Uhlir was talkative, humourous, and easy-going. In short, he's not any different from hundreds of other drummers playing in bars right now. Only he has a new album about to come out and a single rising up the AOR charts. <P> "We signed with Atlantic about the same time STP did, and when they took off, we kinda got left behind," Uhlir said, talking about the band's previous deal with Atlantic Records. "When you sign with a big company like that, they only have so many resources to extend. That's why we're happy to be on EastWest now, because they're really doing a lot for us." <P> The EastWest deal was brought about by "Superstar", the first single off the new album, which was an interesting process in itself, according to Uhlir. <P> "We got a good response with that song in clubs and some of the local radio stations started playing it," he says. "One of the radio stations got in touch with the label and said 'You've gotta hear this,' and we ended up getting signed." <P> When it came to finding a producer for the album, the band hooked up with Dave Jerden, who has worked with Jane's Addiction in the past and played a key role in the redefining of Anthrax's sound on their 1993 release <CITE>The Sound of White Noise</CITE>. Uhlir says working with Jerden was a great experience mainly because of how he came into the project. <P> "Dave ran the show, basically. He came into the production and basically said, 'Look, I've been down all the alleys before and made all the mistakes, so let's just do this my way,' which was cool, because we didn't have to waste any time with studio experiments and just made the album." <P> And what an album it is. <CITE>Superfriends</CITE> gets its strength from its songwriting, which Uhlir says has undergone some changes since their previous album. <P> "We always had this punk thing going on, but kept playing these rock songs. This time, we decided to play some of the punk stuff, too." <P> And while "Superstar", "Adeline", and "Big Rock Show" may not be considered "punk," songs like "Painless", which deals with divorce, and more specifically, remarriage, contains that tried and true element of punk rock: honest expressions of angst set behind a wall of sound. <P> "'Painless' was written by Paul [Czeisler], our singer, and I don't really know if he's speaking for himself or not," comments Uhlir. "Because like so many people our age, his parents went through a divorce." <P> "'Big Rock Show' is basically about getting psyched up for a show at a club, and the first time I heard the line 'I've got a Visa, who needs a drink' I laughed and said that sounded like me a while back," Uhlir chuckles. <P> The band is set to begin touring in early September, and are looking into the idea of a 'Residency Tour' with their friends and fellow Seattle residents Green Apple Quick Step. This would have the band playing the same cities every week for a month, building a larger fan base each week. And after having a taste of the arena tour life while on tour with Alice In Chains, Uhlir says he prefers this idea of touring for a couple of reasons. <P> "When you play the same city week after week, you watch the crowds grow and watch them get into your music. You may start off playing to twenty people, but by the time it's over, you're playing to three hundred," he says. "And you get a chance to know some of the people, which you really don't get to do when you go from town to town every night." <P> It's that kind of down-to-Earth attitude from a guy that says if he wasn't playing drums, he would "maybe be playing college basketball" that makes Sweet Water such a treat, and should translate into success. <HR> <A HREF="index.html#contents"> <IMG SRC="/consumable/consume-icon.gif" ALIGN="center" ALT="Issue Index"></A> <br> <A HREF="http://www.westnet.com/"> <IMG SRC="/icons/wn-home.gif" ALT="WestNet Home Page |"> </A> <A HREF="index.html"> <IMG SRC="/icons/prevpg.gif" ALT=" Previous Page |"> </A> <A HREF="revyoung.html"> <IMG SRC="/icons/nextpg.gif" ALT=" Next Page"> </A> </BODY>