Dawn Canon taps into its various influences

By John Benson

Sort of like Pink Floyd-meets-The Smashing Pumpkins … but not really.

That’s the sentiment of Dawn Canon guitarist Joe Serkoch about his Pittsburgh-based rock band that makes its Youngstown debut Friday at Barley’s.

“We’ve been together for about a year and a half, and we’re just as straightforward as a rock band can get,” Serkoch said. “Our sound doesn’t really subscribe to any of the trends that are on radio today. It’s more classic rock in nature, more than anything modern. Our influences are ’70s rock, mainly, and some of the early ’90s stuff.”

The band recently released its debut EP, which boasts five songs that were largely written and recorded last year. This includes the garage-y “Scrod,” the poppy “In the Shade” and the grungy “Doda Ere.”

“You’ll notice that all five tracks have a completely different sound, from poppy to dreamy,” Serkoch said. “The thing is, everybody in the band writes, so everyone has slightly different influences. Therefore, all the songs contrast off each other. We don’t have really one distinct sound.”

Something unique about the EP is the band’s decision to release it not as a conventional CD or even as an online digital purchase, but on USB keychain. You have to admit, it’s different, not to mention more expensive.

“It was a little bit more than $5 a drive,” Serkoch said. “So it’s more expensive, but we’re really banking on the convenience of it because you buy the drive, put it in your pocket and pop it in your computer. And since everyone is doing everything on iTunes with MP3s now, we just figured we’d distribute them as digital files. Plus, you can erase them after you put them on your computer.”

Serkoch said the goal is to sell enough of the EPs to cover the recording cost of the band’s full-length debut, which the group hopes to have out next year. This invariably will be followed by more touring throughout the region and beyond. In fact, the band’s live show is its calling card. As far as Serkoch is concerned, the onus is on Northeast Ohio to come out and experience Dawn Canon in action.

“While we’ve played in Cleveland before, we’ve never played in Youngstown,” Serkoch said. “Because Youngstown is on the way to Cleveland, we thought it would be a pretty cool place, and there are a few cool venues to play there. So we wanted to try to make that a regular stop.

“Our show is for anybody that just likes good rock music. It’s pretty much all we’re looking for. I don’t think they’ll be disappointed.”