In a musician’s life, there will always be factor or catalyst that would allure one to go on with one’s passion. For Christian Michael Francis Bewer, it was Pepe Smith. ”It was in Montano Hall in Cavite City where I played backup for Pepe Smith alongside the great multi instrumentalist Dondi Ledesma”, remembers Mike.
Once in a blue moon, we are enticed with candor to a very surprising band. Making a comeback to the Pinoy Rock scene this 2019 is Manila-based band Piranha.
After almost 2 decades of hiatus, they returned to the stage armed with an EP which was successfully launched last July 6 this year. Entitled “Piranha New Waters”, this EP consists of 5 freshly recorded Rock ditty.
Piranha’s original members includes Erwin Matias, Mike Bewer, Pao Toleran, Aries Villariez, John Villanueva and Jap Sanchez. They were discovered and eventually managed by renowned songwriter Mr. Vehnee Saturno. They consumed a couple of years in writing more materials, polishing their craft and playing in some popular underground rock bars around the Metro before they recorded their self-titled album under Neo Records, a division of Viva Records in 1995. Mr. Jett Pangan of The Dawn, then label manager of said recording company, released the album the following year.
From Piranha came Bagyo, Yanigin and Basagulero. Bagyo, their first single, quickly caught the attention of the Pinoy rock listeners that it rapidly garnered airplay over then LA105.9 and NU107.5. Following that was the anthemic “Yanigin” and the riff-based funk rock song “Basagulero. Apart from these songs, they shared stages with Razorback, Wolfgang, P.O.T. and the likes. These positioned Piranha as one of the most underrated rock bands in the country. With raw and sheer talent, they were able to instantly penetrate the thriving underground scene, leaving a trace of their furious musical bite to rock!
When all was going well for Piranha, personal priorities slowly took over. Piranha went through numerous member changes that ultimately led to the decision to let go. An inevitable and hard decision to make for the guys.
Piranha shoaled back together in 2010 for a one-time 90’s underground bands’ reunion. Organized by former LA105.9 DJ Ramon “The Doctor” Zialcita, all original members of the group except one gathered together and joined the bar gig. The show’s success certainly brought back good times and old habits. And for this particular breed of Piranha, it meant swimming up from the deepest of fresh waters to once again ferociously prey on the ever-intimidating Pinoy Rock listeners. Unfortunately, most of its members could not fully commit. Erwin and Mike, both original members, called upon long-time friend, Ajay Mabbayad, to join them. For years they indulged themselves with writing new materials, reviving the old ones and refreshing the unrecorded while they wallowed on their newly-found sound. At very selected gigs, Ajay would be second guitarist replacing keyboards. Aries, another original member, would join them once in awhile to play bass and drummer would be any seasoned sessionist.
Today, a new mix-breed of Piranhas exists. Generally gentle and docile creatures, this species of Piranha are out there and ready to bite again. Joining Erwin and Mike, are 3 accomplished musicians. Jimbo Aguas on drums, Alvin Arevalo on bass and Jeptha Wenceslao. From their EP comes Liwanag, the only Tagalog track, talks about depression. Save Me, a sequel to Liwanag is actually a prayer of realization. Hate Song is an opposite approach to a love song. Low Fire tackles life’s vices. And Rollercoaster deals with the ups and downs of our existence. Erwin Matias wrote all the lyrics and Mike Bewer wrote and arranged most if not all of the music.
Piranha New Waters was recorded and produced by Mike Bewer. It is on limited release so grab a copy before you regret not having one.
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