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Pariah Piranha


Band: Pariah Piranha

Members: Andrea Shearer, drums and vocals; Tara Gordon, guitar and vocals; Tony Garber, bass

Who we talked to: Shearer

How did you guys get together? Tara and Tony . . . were in a band called Bo Bim. They were all from the Harrisburg area. We formed in February 2006. We actually had a different bassist then and Tony joined us probably around January of this year, so he's kind of new. We met through their old band and a band I was playing in, Via Satellite.

Where did the name come from? To be honest, I think Tara thought of it in the shower. She thought of it . . . and called me and was like, "Dude, I got this awesome name. Check it out. It's hard to say." We had this bet where we put all these names in a hat and just starting pulling out words to see what would happen. It's tricky because I'm telling you, (the name) can be life or death. I mean if I see a bad name, I'm kind of like . . . I'm not going to that show. No one can ever spell (our name) though. It's a small price to pay.

Describe your sound and style. I usually kind of say it's like '90s alternative rock. I remember in high school . . . when that was a genre of music. It's changed because now alternative is not alternative anymore. I think (our music has) got a '90s rock vibe. We move from different kinds of music a lot. I'm always bad at . . . describing what bands sound like.

What are your influences? I think Tara really likes the Toadies. We definitely are Pixies listeners. I don't really know what influences my drum playing. Tony really likes funk. We were talking about doing a 38 Special cover. I enjoy '70s rock dog music. Something with a cowbell, I'd be pretty into that. (Laughs)

What places do you like to play? We played at Smalls in Harrisburg, version 1.0. As far as version 2.0, we have played at Smalls in York once. Smalls is really fun. Since Tony's joined, we haven't played in York very much. We're going to try to make the rounds. We used to play at Murph's Other Bar, which is now The Depot. We want to check out that place, too. It's definitely a weird period in the area as far as live, original music. There's limited venues and people are shifting around and don't really know where to go.

Have things changed on the scene since you guys started the group? I think they have, since I'm a townie from day one. When I was in high school, it seemed like there were shows every weekend and I was always going to things. Then it kind of tapered off and then it got back up again and people were going out to shows all the time. Now, it seems like it's maybe tapering back off again. I think it's a cycle, and we're probably just in one of those slumps. It will come back to being a vibrant music community.

How does Smalls York compare to the Harrisburg location? Smalls Harrisburg definitely had it's own vibe. It had this teeny stage. Smalls York has this humongous stage and all this sound stuff, so that's kind of an advantage as far as a band's perspective. As a Yorker, I'm going to say that anything in York is awesome. The (people from Harrisburg) probably miss it. I'm into the sparkle wall (at Smalls York). My eyes are immediately drawn to that wall whenever I walk in there.

Any local bands you dig? We're buddies with Chuggernaut, which is a York band, and they're awesome. Horsecop is a York band, too, and they're, like, awesomely awesome. Paper Tongue is from Harrisburg, and they're really, really good. I'm pretty obsessed with Brave the Day. Waitin' on a Train is another really good band.

- ERIN McCRACKEN, FLIPSIDE STAFF