Three-time Grammy-nominated Southern California rock band The Feisty Piranhas have done it again! The Feisty Piranhas plan to include the DVD “The End” with the band’s new CD release of the same name, in stores August 14, 2007.
The Feisty Piranhas have taken the music industry by surprise with their music. They are by far NOT your ordinary rock band. Their music is driven by melodic yet slight punkish influences, which is a fresh and different attack on the music industry.
Their unique sound is reflected in the distinctive punk-style packaging their new CD/DVD comes delivered in. Not often do I take the time to remark on a band's material’s packaging. Some are better than others, that's true. But the images found throughout the “The End" are remarkable! It’s a MUST-SEE, with what the website calls "The Art Behind The Band," including posters, booklet and visual design created by the band's clarinetist, Jens Schnabel. Each song has its own painting to go with it.
“The End" is full of diverse influences and exceeded my expectations, which were based on the band's sophomore CD, “Shocked.” I was totally impressed by the new direction the band has taken. This just might be the "New Sound" the music industry needs and music lovers want!
The lineup is and has been headed by the talented Peter Alex Lust III/guitarist and vocalist, an amazing young man whose disabilities have never hindered him from following his dreams. His extreme vocal range is a PLUS, and his guitar playing could hold its own with many a veteran guitar player. Peter's songwriting skills hit home: They’re based on contemporary reality and all the goings-on in the world. It’s obvious his passion is music and he only continues to grow as a composer.
Jens Schnabel shines on clarinet and is unbelievable throughout the CD. YES, a clarinet in a rock band. Again, more evidence that The Feisty Piranhas could be that new sound…
The power coming from behind is Peter Lust Jr., father of guitarist/vocalist Peter Alex Lust III, an amazing artist himself. Leaving his "father" label at the door of their studio, father and son keep it all about the music once that door closes.
The newest band member, on board for less than a year, is Will MacGregor on bass. He is known for his work with The Pretenders, Fear, John Fogarty, Terrence Trent D'Arby, and Tori Amos, and is currently playing with the legendary Chuck Berry when he's not performing with The Feisty Piranhas.
AAM recently caught up with The Feisty Piranhas.
AAM: So what’s in the future for The Feisty Piranhas? Surely this can't be “The End”...?
Peter III: After working on “The End” for the past year and a half, we want to get out there playing some major shows later this fall and winter. While we can’t release any details yet, we’re tentatively going to have a surprise tour in November or December that we’ll announce as soon as it is finalized.
AAM: Will there be an official CD release party?
Peter III: We haven’t really planned an official CD release party, but we are talking to several people about making one happen sometime in September or early October.
Peter Jr.: Over the next 12-18 months we will be promoting "The End," touring and performing live shows. We are also working Piranha® Music Group quite intensely doing major radio promotion, advertising and promoting the band, music and artwork.
AAM: Are you seeking management/labels, or choosing to do all of it yourselves, like many artists/groups have chosen?
Peter III: We really want to keep everything “in-house” so to say. We’re hiring a few people to do special things such as radio promo, and someone to book our live shows. We really pride ourselves in what we can do on our own. Jens is a one-man Art Production studio, and he’s really amazing at what he can do. Peter Jr. definitely is putting his all into getting marketing and promo out; you wouldn’t believe how much time he’s put into promoting this record to radio stations across the country. We have our own full-production recording studio, so there really aren’t too many things we can’t do ourselves. But if we find someone cool who wants to try to help us out, I definitely won’t turn anyone away.
Peter Jr.: Up until now we have done a lot on our own. Many music equipment manufacturers like Minarik Guitars, Hear Technology, Ford Drums, Promark, West LA Music, plus many more over the years have given extensive support for the band, our music concepts and ideas the band is creating. We built our own recording studio, write all our own lyrics and music by Peter Alex, created an indie label, Piranha® Music, and started a radio promotion group. We have actively subcontracted for the areas that we consider niches and require specific expertise. Engineering for this record was contracted to one of the best engineers in the business, John Perez. CDman manufactured the final music products, independent publicists like Mindsweep have done some of our publicity, Denise Ames has done a television interview, and we work with media and booking organizations. That being said, we are actively and always looking for good quality and high integrity companies and people to work with us. If a management company or major label were to approach us for talks, we would consider it if there was a fair and balanced business solution for all.
AAM: The artwork for EACH song is incredible! Will you be selling that as well, maybe even just a few limited editions?
Peter III: It’s crossed my mind for sure. I really want to get a few large prints of a few of the pieces and throw ‘em all around my room. As far as what happens, it’s really up to Jens and Peter Jr.
Peter Jr.: Thank you for the compliments. The band considers Jens to be one of the top oil painting artists. We believe the artwork speaks for itself. The concept of painting an individual oil painting for each song to show what the song is about – not only in lyrics but in pictorial form – was an idea that the band worked on for some time.
Jens: The artwork is available in printed form on posters per request. Artwork on t-shirts and other merchandise and can be ordered through our website store. Special limited editions could be available should the requests come for them. Depending on requests, we could offer some in limited form to be printed on canvas.
AAM: Although the official release date for the CD hasn't hit yet, a few promotional copies have hit the streets. A couple songs speak of war and touch on a lot of political topics. Have you had any feedback on the content yet?
Peter Jr.: Piranha Music has started a radio promotion effort and has had very positive feedback so far. The promo albums we have given to industry prior to release have also generated very positive feedback. Overall the response has been very positive for many of the songs and the artwork. Everyone who has seen and held the package says they “feel like kids in a candy store” because there are so many things in the CD package to look at and play with.
Peter III: I’ve had some awesome feedback from several people. Recording “The End” was a time for me to prove to the world that we are a force to be reckoned with. The current war truly makes me sad every time I think about it; it’s truly unnecessary. Politically, the country is really in a bad place and I think people NEED to hear that. How can you fix something without pointing out the problems first? “The End” does not hold back any feelings at all. It is a concept record about The End of the World, so people should expect to hear some pretty dark things. But the thing about this record is, is if you listen to the whole album you should be left with a feeling of hope for a better world.
AAM: Considering there are just 4 members in The Feisty Piranhas, how do you plan to produce all the elements of your multilayered compositions when you perform live?
Peter III: Honestly, this has been a major discussion point for everyone involved. In the past we built a live Pro Tools rig to produce sound effects and percussion loops. While I love having the full multilayered sound live, it does take away the ability to change arrangements on the fly in a live show, which sometimes is necessary to truly create a show worth listening to. I’ve worked on rearranging guitar parts so that when performing live I can produce more sound from my single guitar. In the end, we’ll probably do about half our live set with Pro Tools and the other half without.
AAM: Your music is so unique, is it hard to find groups compatible to perform with?
Peter III: I personally don’t think it’s too difficult to find groups to perform with. Even though we’re not a certain genre all the time, I definitely take pride in our punk edge. I grew up listening to punk rock and our music is has a punk element – if anything, mostly in the lyrics. I would open for anyone if it meant getting our name and music out to the world.
Peter Jr.: It is an interesting problem. Most bands that we would consider playing with all are controlled by management companies and labels… most of which create the typical blocking that they are good at: To not to let us, or most bands, perform with them unless we are under their label or management. So we see the whole issue here as a catch-22 not only for us but for many bands that are trying to make it in today’s environment. We are actively working to find those few special bands and music organizations to get on tours with and perform with. We would ask any band that is reading this article to consider talking to us about performing with them. We are very open and will communicate to all those who contact us.
AAM: If you had a choice, who would you most like to share the stage with and where?
Peter III: While I don’t want to say too much, I would love to share the stage with some of my idols growing up: Bad Religion, AC/DC, NOFX, Rise Against, Rush, KISS, Social Distortion, or Pennywise. I still haven’t played the House of Blues, so that would definitely be a cool show no matter whom we played with.
AAM: Would you say The Feisty Piranhas lineup is complete now, or can we expect any further additions?
Peter Jr.: We are complete as of today. The band is constantly evolving, finding ways to improve and stay with the times. We expect the future to hold more growth and improvement. For now the band is content and we will see how the fans react to “The End” album.
Peter III: Nothing is ever set in stone, especially in this band. We change many things all the time; we have been talking about possibly adding a rhythm guitar player who could play keyboards to try to edge out using Pro Tools live. But for the time being, The Feisty Piranhas are and will remain as Jens Schnabel, Peter Lust Jr., Peter Alexander Lust III, and Will MacGregor.
AAM: Speaking of additions, Will MacGregor looks to be a fine new member in the band and he certainly has many accomplishments, including some ties to Chuck Berry still. How will this affect the band should you tour?
Peter III: Will is one of the best things to happen to this band. He is a monster bass player with tons of experience and has helped us create this record to the best of our ability. Whether or not he can help us with opening for larger acts is beside the point; his bass playing allows us to play tighter live and allows me to act as more of a frontman rather than the single rhythm melody instrument.
Peter Jr.: From the first minute Will came into our studio and jammed with us for the first time, all of us were convinced that this was chemistry that is unique. In that regard Will’s primary band and music effort will be with The Feisty Piranhas for touring. So Will’s schedule would adjust as we book tours and live shows.
AAM: Is there anything you wish to add to this interview or share with our readers and your fans?
Peter Jr.: Everyone who is interested in the CD and other merchandise, please feel free to visit our webstore; as mentioned, the artwork is offered there too. The band would like to thank all of our fans and their years of support. We would like to give special thanks to All Access Magazine, Claudia duPreez, Dreamcatcher Marketing, Minarik Guitars, West LA Music, Hear Technolgy, Denise Ames, Ford Drums, Ryan Paco our dedicated drum tech, the band road crew, and my loving wife Ruth, who has allowed the whole father-son band to come together, and all of the other people who have worked with us and helped us. There are too many names to list, but you know who you are. We will always remember those who supported us and helped us along.
Peter III: This is a record about the end of the world in a political sense and in the sense that people are losing respect for each other. Humanity and hope are slowly being drained out of every person of the world; it is up to each of us individually to truly make a difference. If we all rise up together, then there is hope for the world as we know it. If we wait too long then it might be too late to stop the inevitable. Look forward to some cool shows to be announced later this year and early next year. If you want to become part of the TFP street team, “The Feisty Piranhas Army,” simply go to our website and fill out the feedback form.
All Access Magazine congratulates The Feisty Piranhas on their incredible release, “The End.” We at AAM hope this is far from the end for The Feisty Piranhas, and we'll be keeping a close line on you. Music lovers, this is one CD worthy of being hauled home as it is one sweet catch! Check out the band’s websites at www.feistypiranhas.com and www.myspace.com/piranhastudio for tour dates and more info!
