2 Policemen Have a Beat They Hope to Parlay Into Stardom

For most police officers, jail is a small, foreboding space surrounded by locks and iron bars. Not so for two Simi Valley policemen.

For Chris Ward and Dave Watts, “jail” is the room in Watts’ home filled with electronic synthesizers, drum machines and recording apparatus. For these two, the room is where they spend 20 to 25 hours a week plotting a second career in the music business.

Although aware of the failure rate of thousands of aspiring musicians, Ward and Watts believe they have a chance.

For instance, one of their songs, “Little White Lies,” has been an audience favorite at KWNK-AM, Simi Valley’s local radio station, since the station began playing the tune three weeks ago, said program director Jim Conlee.

Second Tune

A second song, “The Night,” which the station began airing last weekend, is attracting even more requests than the pair’s first tune, Conlee said.

Of course being police officers helped get the officers noticed at KWNK, Conlee said. When the two officers first walked in the station’s door, he said, he was prepared to dismiss them as he does the dozens of other aspiring artists who ask him to listen to their work.

“Then I thought that them being Simi Police Department officers would make good conversation for the disc jockeys,” Conlee said.

Conlee insisted, however, that it was the large number of requests for the officers’ songs that have kept the tunes on the air.

The two officers have a long way to go before they can trade early-morning roll calls for late-night recording sessions. For example, Columbia Records Inc. recently declined to sign them, saying they sounded too much like popular recording artist Michael McDonald, Watts said.

Officers Undeterred

The singing officers are undeterred by the setback, though. “This is a miracle,” Ward said of the progress of the two.

The two officers, both 25, call themselves Nystagmus, which means rapid involuntary eye movement. Ward, who used to patrol for drunk drivers in a special unit, suggested the name (Ward’s unit looked for nystagmus in the eyes of suspected drunk drivers).

“It has a commercial look to it, if you write it down,” Ward said. “It sounds better then Oingo Boingo.”

The two met in 1983 and, realizing their mutual interest in music and common desire to become recording artists, began composing songs together.

Often they spend 10 to 12 hours in one sitting in Watts’ Simi Valley home, working with $15,000 in music equipment and a four-track recording system. Their makeshift studio can be “like a jail,” Ward said.

Singer, Keyboard Player

Ward, an officer for two years, is the singer, and Watts, an officer for 13 months, is the keyboard man, fluent with the electronic music machines that can produce everything from soft piano-like notes to drumbeats in every imaginable rhythm.

Their music is “upbeat” and “contemporary,” Conlee said. “I’ve been in radio for 17 years and I’ve never heard anything as good as them just walk in the door.”

After deciding that “Little White Lies” was good enough to air at least once or twice, Conlee had a disc jockey play it on Jan. 29 and ask the audience for a response.

The reaction was strong enough to propel the song into a spot among the leaders of the “Top Nine at 9 o’clock” feature for several nights, a ranking based on about 300 requests, Conlee said.

Song Ranked 34th

He said “Little White Lies” ranked 34th on a KWNK’s weekly list of the area’s Top 40 songs. The list is based on sales at 20 San Fernando, Simi and Conejo valley record stores, and on requests the station receives. The ranking for “Little White Lies” last week was based solely on about 1,000 requests, Conlee said, since Watts and Ward have not signed with a record company and have produced no records to sell.

“I must insist that the song is standing on its own,” said Conlee.

Joanna Dean, the manager of contemporary music at Columbia Records who decided not to sign Nystagmus, said the officers got a good break in their quest for recording fame when their songs became a hit at KWNK, which went on the air in September. “Maybe someone else will hear them and take notice,” she said.

Dean called the officers “good performers” but would not discuss why she declined to sign them.

Musical Tastes Differ

Both Ward and Watts have played music since childhood, although they grew to prefer different types of music. Ward enjoys country-rock music and Watts prefers jazz fusion and is a fan of the group Chicago.

The officers said they enjoy police work but their hearts are set on music. “We don’t hate our jobs as police officers,” Watts said. “We love music. And, given the opportunity, as would anybody, we would jump at the chance at writing and performing music full time.”

“If given the chance, with a 24-track studio, we will make some studio some money,” Ward said confidently. “We are good musicians. Somebody has got to make it, so why not us?”