Colin Munroe's Not Trying To Be Justin Timberlake

10/03/07 5:00pm

by Cheryl Thompson (CHARTattack)

Colin Munroe is a bit of an anomaly. The Ottawa native has been a producer in Canada's urban music scene for a few years, working with such artists as Brassmunk, Saukrates and Divine Brown. But on his debut album, he's essentially the complete opposite of all that: a one-man rock/pop band.

"People on the rock side and people on the urban side of things seem to be respecting it, and that's cool," says Munroe. "I couldn't be happier with that."I mean, I'm not going to be Justin Timberlake. That's not me, you know, but I love being part of that music and I seem to have found a knack for at least helping people write and produce in a way that helps them to be that."

Don't Think Less Of Me, written and produced by Munroe, is an introspective look into the life of a guy who literally marches to his own drum.

"I think it's really a commentary on the years of my life up until now, which has been a lot of feeling like the underdog and the kid that wants to try something different in the face of people around you who are like 'don't do that,'" he explains. "I almost think of it as the 'white boy get rich or die trying project.' At the end of the day, I'm just going to try something and whatever happens, happens."

In the video for first single "World Of Pain," the director shot 10,000 photographs of Munroe over two days. It was an idea that just sort of happened, according to the artist.

"I was sitting around with a friend of mine who is an OCAD graduate and he's one of those video guys who's like out there, so I was like, 'That would be really cool if we did a stop motion interpretation of how I made the album,' which was basically in that room using all of those instruments."

If you've seen Munroe perform live, you know that he really is a jack of all trades, which is what he hopes will set him apart from other male solo artists.

"It would always rub me the wrong way if someone were to say, 'Oh, he's just another John Mayer.' I know that Canada hasn't been the friendliest to their pop artists until they go somewhere else. I hope that because of the sort of musically and artistically credible process by which this came together that people will take it seriously and give it a chance."

Ultimately, while Don't Think Less Of Me is the album's title, it's also something Munroe hopes people won't do.

"I think that once you get past the fact that it's a pop project, and just listen to it, I mean I've won people over who are hardcore indie-ites who only listen to music if it's recorded in a garage. And you know, if people just give it a chance, I think they'll see that there's something there."

Munroe will play Ottawa's Rainbow Bistro on Oct. 14 and Toronto's Cadillac Lounge on Oct. 17.