Add your pictures to “A Million Faces”

Two brand new tracks turn Watershed’s new offering into a gift for fans! Watershed has always had an enviable relationship with their extensive and devoted fanbase – and 2010 sees the band celebrate its 10-year-anniversary with a hit-packed compilation that also features two brand new tracks. Titled ‘A Million Faces: 20 Hits, 10 Years’, the album is an astonishing record of Watershed’s decade-long hit-making spree that has turned the band into one of South Africa’s most beloved, with a solid international career also in the mix.   “We really wanted to use the compilation to mark the end of a decade and, most importantly, say thank you to the fans who’ve enabled us to have a real music career that has allowed us to creatively flourish,” says Watershed founder, songwriter and frontman, Craig Hinds. In homage to Watershed’s fans, the band is including an upbeat and celebratory remixed version of ‘Thank You’ off its fourth studio album, ‘Staring At The Ceiling’ in ‘A Million Faces’. The 20-track release also features two brand new Watershed songs that point to the musical direction the band is headed in as it enters its second decade. ‘A Million Faces’ and ‘The World Needs You’ are the titles of the two new songs and both reflect the more pared down, less produced route Hinds and the band are headed into. “In a way, it’s back to our roots,” the songwriter says. “We started off with very simplistic production and somewhere along the way, we worked up to albums that are very highly produced. Obviously that worked at the time, but we’re back to focusing on the songs – their melodies and lyrics and bringing out their very essence through the production.” While ‘The World Needs You’ is more rock-orientated, ‘A Million Faces’ is an astrologically-themed ballad whose lyrics (“about the faces of a million stars looking down on us,” Hinds says) have inspired a unique online campaign that enables all Watershed’s fans to be part of this very special release. Through the specially created web and mobi platform, www.amillionfaces.co.za, fans can upload their photograph together with their most poignant ‘Watershed' moment – and these will be included in the artwork for ‘A Million Faces’. Already the campaign is capturing the imagination of fans throughout the world – including in places like Germany where Watershed are regulars on the live scene. “It’s also a way of saying thank you to the fans,” says Hinds. “And the idea of a million faces is something we would like to keep going, after the album comes out – particularly around social awareness campaigns like ‘Feed A Million Faces’, ‘Teach A Million Faces’ and more.” For Hinds, working on this project was an emotional experience. “I love reading about where fans first heard ‘Indigo Girl’ and seeing what they look like. It was also very emotional choosing the album tracks to go on the record. I realized how many of our songs have been radio hits and we’ve put them all on – from ‘Indigo Girl’ to ‘In The Meantime’, ‘Lovely Day’ and so much more.” Watershed’s 2010 plans include touring internationally – including 16 German shows in April and appearances at two of North America’s key music platforms: South By Southwest and Canadian Music Week. Fans who participate in the ‘A Million faces’ campaign will not only have their photograph feature on the album cover and sleeve, but will also stand a chance of winning some magnificent prizes with the first prize being: 2 x R5000 EMI CD hampers for the winner and a friend; a Watershed VIP card which grants access for two people to all their own shows in 2010; framed and signed Watershed presentation edition of A Million Faces: 20 Hits 10 Years; as well as the opportunity to meet the band over a lunch, dinner, or picnic. For more information log onto www.amillionfaces.co.za via your cellphone or internet browser.