"There was a time when metal was good, back before the pansy asses in lipstick and spandex ruined it for everyone. Piranah will remind you of those days." After 6 long years of grueling road trips and personnel changes, the Nashville based heavy rockers, Piranah, are finally gaining the recognition they deserve. "Everything started falling into place about 5 months ago when we changed management," according to vocalist Darren Andrews. "For the first time we have unification between management, the band and our label, Waxing Records. Our organization has accomplished more in the last 5 months than we did in the last 5 years," Andrews said smiling. And Piranah has good reason to smile these days. Their song, Mutation, from their second CD, Peeping Through the Keyhole of a Galactic Superdome, is slated to be on the sound track of the Zone5films' movie Feelers to be released later this summer. They just received distribution in The Netherlands and have been asked by attorney, Bruce Colfin, of The Firm in NY to sign with his company. "Yeah, The Firm is a real cool deal. They handle Henry Rollins, Cindy Blackman of Lenny Kravitz fame, Mick Taylor, former guitarist of The Rolling Stones, Grammy winners Brandy and PM Dawn, Toshiba, CBS, EMI, Jefferson Starship, They Eat Their Young and a ton of others. Jeff Hawkins, President of Waxing Records, hooked that up for us. The ink hasn't even dried and we are already being pitched around like a fastball," guitarist Matt Seckinger explained. But that is not all Piranah is sinking its teeth into these days.
In a city that is infamous for rejecting non-traditional music that does not promote the tourist industry, Piranah has reared its head and extended the finger on more than one occasion. However, Piranah does not harbor ill feelings against Nashville's music machine as a whole. "A lot of bands really slam on Nashville but I see it for what it is, just a place you have to "leave to achieve" if you're a heavy musician. There is a lot of really great talent here, it is just underscored but I think that will all change over the next few years," bassist Vance Wright noted. Piranah is a band that creates their reality on and off the stage. This non-egotistical, self-confident professionalism led them to front an alternative NEA Showcase this year at The End in Nashville. "There are really some very cool people in Nashville's music industry and I am friends with many of them. Unfortunately, for the most part, their hands are tied by the powers that be. But, as with what happened to us with the NEA, we had no other choice than to stand up for ourselves, all the other bands and for what is right. When a local act has air play in Chile, Italy, Canada, England and regionally in the US, 2 live cable shows in Chicago and St. Louis and 2 quality units under their belts, and can't get a gig, something is wrong with the picture. So, we thumbed our noses and did it our way! We drew just under 100 people at "noon" on a Saturday with just 2 bands and less than 1 weeks notice. I saw less people than that at some of the other venues that week," JT. Brown, manager for Piranah, elaborated. The "My way or the highway" attitude appears to be working for this four-man wrecking crew. Piranah's no non-sense approach to business has turned the heads of the out of town music industry professionals in their direction. A few of the notables are Steve Gomez at Noise Records, LA, Ben Goldman with 550 Sony Music, NY and another that is very interested is Erin at 57 Records Sony, Atlanta. Piranah has been relentlessly scrutinized over the last year and there are mummers in the shadows of intent. Another feather in Piranah's cap came when Steve Robertson, Atlantic Records, came up after a show and requested a CD and a promotional packet early this spring because he was so impressed with the level of energy, quality of the material and the professionalism of their live performance. According to drummer David Peridore: "No one can believe we are from Nashville. With all the great heavy bands in this town and from the surrounding area, it is hard to believe that the metal community is so well "unknown". We perform in front of less than a hundred here all the time and still we are asked to gig as one of the headliners at The Worcester Palladium that seats 4,500 in MA. Go figure?" Piranah passed another mile stone this past year when ASCAP awarded them their first royalty for performances. Now, with distribution in The Netherlands, they are signing with Buma Sterma for European licensing and they are currently negotiating with AKOI in Seoul Korea for distribution in Asia. However, with everything Piranah has on the burner, there is still one moment that out shines the rest in the minds of the band. "We pulled up the charts on MP3 Player one night and we were #6 next to Slayer. That is when I knew, I mean really knew, we had something going on here. It made all the years of bar rooms and rehearsals worth while. My heart felt like it was going to explode or something. The whole band was tripping," Seckinger said. The World Wide Web is proving to be a strategic entity in the method to the madness that is shaping the future of Piranah. Just Plain Folks, on of the most respected electronic music industry magazine, recently acknowledged Piranah's CD (Peeping) as one of the best they have received in any genre. Wright explains: "We are all over the web, MP3 Player, Air Music, JPFolks and several other Internet based publications and stores not counting all the links to us from other sites. I doubt if JT even knows how many people are featuring us now. The business of music growing faster than we can update. We have 2 web sites and next month there will be WWW.PIRANAH.COM. It's a brave new world in the recording industry and we are riding the crest of the new wave all the way. We touch millions around the world while we are sleeping and eat em alive on stage in their hometowns. I love my job!" The Internet is also where Piranah locked in the deal with internationally acclaimed adult model Kathi Somers. The Busty Magazine and Score Magazine centerfold will appear on the back insert of their forth coming release. They will also be featured and merchandised through advertisements in the various magazines MS. Somers appears in on the Internet and on the shelves. So, after they're done unsticking the pages, what is next for Piranah? "After Philly, Boston and NY we are doing a series of benefit shows for Nashville's homeless and The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The shows will be in Nashville and the surrounding satellite cities. You have to stop and think, If it can happen to them, it can happen to any one of us at anytime. So, lets make a difference in a world that is known for turning it's head faster than it's cheek. CF is the #1 genetic killer of young adults and they say the best guitar in Nashville is sleeping at the mission. Lets help them all out so they can rock our world," JT Brown requested. Piranah is composed of vocalist Darren Andrews, guitarist Matt Seckinger, drummer David Peridore and bassist Vance Wright. Contact Piranah:
JTB2010@AOL.COM
Waxing@VOL.COM All material provided by JT Brown, Management, Silver Ladder Music Publishing (ASCAP)
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"We are recording live tracks for our third CD in July. It will be an interactive CD ROM with fifteen songs including 3 covers we play live from time to time and some re-mixed tunes from our previous releases along with some of the new material. The interactive part will have video footage, bios and stills of the band along with pictures of our fans from the shows.
" We're also going to include pictures and contact information about other bands that have helped us out. One thing I can say about this band, we never forget who has supported us or where we come from. We're gonna burn the live tracks while shooting video footage in St. Louis for presentation to MTV-X and MTV-2," Andrews added.
