This past summer, Dave Mann (of Mittenfields and Sweet Tea Pumpkin Pie) sent me a very enthusiastic email about a a young, but very talented band called Power Pirate. Lucky for me, they were playing a show at Fort Reno the next day, so I decided to check them out. While bumbling around the field between sets at the show, I met the band and spoke to them about doing an interview for BYT. Sadly, it took some time before we were able to set something up. But (JUST IN TIME FOR THEIR BIG NATIONAL ), after much email and phone tag, we were finally able to chat about music, the ups and downs of DIY promotion and why parents (sometimes) just don’t understand.
So, how did Power Pirate come together?
Emily Pakulski (15, vocals & guitar): Annika and I met in the 2nd grade as classmates and neighbors. I started guitar in the summer before the 7th grade, and Annika picked up bass shortly after. However, we were always short a reliable drummer. When a drummer friend of mine went to college, we were in luck. He needed a place to store his kit while he was away. Instead of putting the kit in our attic, we set it up and have used it ever since. Annika began playing drums more and more after that.
Soon after, a close friend suggested we jam with some other musicians and try to form a band. Our friend (a guitarist) brought two other guitarists with him and Mike. Annika and I were at first against the idea of having a keyboardist. We were under the impression that you couldn’t play authentic rock with keyboards. However, we were quickly proven wrong by his playing! From then on, we started meeting regularly in weekly intervals with just the 3 of us.
Who are some of your influences?
Michael Garate (17, keyboards): I listen to a massive amount of music. All of it influences me in some way. Depending on my mood, you could find me listening to Jazz (often Keith Jarrett), Post-Rock (Mono, Explosions in the Sky, Samuel Jackson Five), or Electronic music (Infected Mushroom, Ratatat, Shpongle). Muse, Infected Mushroom, and Ratatat influence our overall writing style as an “Electronic Rock” band- but the specific licks, patterns, and feels could come from anywhere.
Annika Monari (15, drums): Mostly, I listen to punk (old DC bands such as Minor Threat, Fugazi, The Bad Brains, and California punk such as Operation Ivy, Fear, etc), indie (The Operation, Arctic Monkeys) and generally harder or different sounding rock. I go to many local shows as well, punk especially, of bands such as Control, Ante Up, The Police and Thieves, etc. I listen to electronic music now and then, generally the stuff you find in clubs (DJ Tiesto, Infected Mushroom, Daft Punk, etc).
How did all three of you manage to become so technically proficient @ your respective instruments at such a young age? I know people in their late twenties who still struggle with barre chords.
EP: Well, I still have a ways to go, but I started learning basic chords at age 12 from my mom, who teaches classical guitar. I started with learning a lot of different chords, since I didn’t find soloing or playing single-note licks at all compelling. From there, I learned from YouTube, Ultimate-Guitar.com, friends, and wherever else I could pick up information. I also took lessons for some time, but I was somewhat negligent in learning exactly what I was taught. I preferred to just play on my own. I think I was a bit of a burden to my teacher because I just couldn’t pay attention! I wanted to teach myself, and for a while that’s what I’ve been doing. For the last two summers, though, I’ve taken summer guitar courses, which have been very helpful.
MG: I took piano lessons for several years, but they could never hold my attention. It was only after dropping them in 2003 that I started to really become interested in playing the keyboard. I then started to learn songs by ear from the radio and CDs. From there, I learned how to play different styles of music.
AM: I definitely have loads to work on, but I am just a self-taught drummer. I have always been fascinated by drums. I used to want to be a drummer, but brushed the idea off because as a child I thought it wasn’t right for a girl to be a drummer. When Emily got the drum set at her house, I would play around with the drums. I was in another band at the time which had an amazing drummer. That drummer really inspired me to teach myself. That band eventually fell apart, and the drummer-less jam sessions at Emily’s desperately needed a rhythm section. That’s what led me to watch drumming videos, listen to specific drummers and analyze their styles, and play along to music. Power Pirate was the first band I’d ever played drums in. Playing in this band gave me a lot of experience, and varied my style quite a bit.
I’ve got a bit of a guitar nerd question for you, Emily. Why a BC Rich guitar? Why not a Stratocaster or a Les Paul or Jazzmaster?
EP: It’s a little funny how I got my B.C. Rich Bich. I bought it when my first electric guitar, a Dean Avalanche MQ Stratocaster copy, starting having severe technical issues. I bought the B.C. Rich used off Craigslist because it was pretty and cheap. I also wanted an ebony fretboard and humbuckers. Since then, I’ve grown into my guitar so much – at this point I really dislike guitars with thick necks since my guitar has a very fast, thin, shred neck. “Pretty and cheap” is hardly why I like my guitar at this point – the feel is amazing. I use quite a bit of distortion with Power Pirate, too, enough to warrant having this hardcore a guitar, at least…
I’m not the biggest fan of BC Rich guitars, but the fact that you’ve taken the time to not only learn how to play the guitar, but also maintain it properly is fantastic. Again it’s quite common for guitarists to just buy whatever and let their instruments rot. Regardless Emily, you and Annika are excellent musicians. What do you think about being one of the few DC bands to feature strong female instrumentalists?
EP: Most people, myself included, would be unsure of how to react to a band with a female singer/guitarist, male keyboardist, and female drummer. It’s an interesting combination that gets people’s attention. The fact that we’re teenagers also helps stimulate the interest of our audience. People don’t know what to expect when we first step onto stage, and I am pleased that people are consistently taken off guard by our music.
Have y’alls parents all been pretty supportive of being in a group? I don’t think that my folks have really accepted the fact that I’m a musician, and I’m 27. They just think it’s a phase!
MG: My parents know that for me, music is no phase. I have been studying music and sound for years and plan to continue through my college years. My parents are supportive of what I do, but they are not the driving force. I have met teenagers whose parents push them into music; acting as band managers, in a way. Our parents do nothing of the sort. They are wonderful and supportive, but we are entirely self-motivated.
EP: Yes. My parents are very supportive of the band, which I’m really grateful for. They recognize how much I learn besides the musician side by being a part of Power Pirate. I’ve contributed designing, networking, and promotion skills, and more. I’ve also learned a lot about time management, which is helpful in school. About my parents, I don’t really know if they think it’s just a phase or not… If they think so, they’re not showing it. They enjoy sending our music, videos, pictures, etc. to relatives, too.
AM: My parents and I have definitely had our ups and downs with having the band take up most of my time. At first they really didn’t like it, but now they’ve become more tolerant. We still have our quarrels now and then though. They also both work, so they don’t have much time to come and see us play, but when they do they get excited about us, and are made aware of how much effort we’ve put into it.
By the way, I loved it when you played Darude’s “Sandstorm” at Fort Reno.
MG: We used this rock cover, or as we prefer “remix,” as an inspiration for our sound. It was the first song we played as a group. While it is a cover, we essentially rewrote the song placing the riffs from the original song into a completely new order. We liked having a really heavy feel (distorted guitar and rock drums) but have dancy sounding keyboards. This cover has stuck with our set because the rewrite makes it feel original enough to perform.
AM: I love playing Sandstorm especially for the younger crowds because most people in our age group know the song. When Mike starts playing the opening riff, the people who have never seen us before look at each other and go “I know that song!” and everyone dances. It’s just a good pump up tune and results in energetic reactions from the audience
Not to put you on the spot, Michael, but there were some technical difficulties during that performance. What happened?
Someone left a microphone stand on the sub woofer near my keyboard rig. Some deep note must have shaken it off (twice, actually- someone returned it to the sub woofer again), and unfortunately it landed on my laptop. Luckily, it only knocked out my battery. There was no long-term harm done to the laptop, but it certainly was a mood-killer.
Who designs your website? It’s incredibly professional and well done. Most bands have these non-user friendly sites that look straight up awful and are impossible to navigate.
EP: I’m glad you like it! Mike and I spent many hours designing the website together. I made the original images in Photoshop, and Mike did the coding. We worked together on the content.
MG: For our site we had a vision for doing three things: promoting our music, providing information about the band, and creating a portal through which fans could connect with the band members. We embedded our Twitters, and provided our personal email addresses (mike@, emily@, and annika@power-pirate.com). We encourage people to add us personally on Twitter, and e-mail us with any questions or comments.
I have fiddled with web design in the past, but nothing very serious until our site. This was a new sort of challenge that we took up at the end of last school year. (During my exam week!) We are very pleased with the result, and will continually update it as we grow as a band.
AM: I have to say, I’m quite useless when it comes to graphic design and coding, but Mike and Emily are fantastic at it. When I see a band, I always ask for their MySpace because often band websites are unprofessional or difficult to navigate. Mike and Emily really did a good job with it, and made it easy to use as well as classy.
Finally, could you tell me a bit about the Battle of the Bands that you’re currently competing in?
EP: A few weeks ago, I entered us into a nationwide online Battle of the Bands strictly for high schoolers called SchoolJam USA. There were over 200 entrants who were narrowed down to 50 semi-finalists. Power Pirate is one of the semi-finalists. These 50 bands are split up into 5 regions – each region having 10 bands, two of which per region will move onto the next round. Power Pirate is one of the very few, if not the only band from the DC area in the 2009 SchoolJam USA contest. One of our goals has been to motivate kids our age to pick up an instrument, join a band, and do things the D.I.Y. way. I think we do a fair job of proving that web design, photography, promotion, recording, and whatever else we need to do are things that can be self-taught, even at a young age.
Voting has been open since November 1st, and goes until December 5th. Anyone, including multiple people in one household, can vote daily for Power Pirate. This is key, because this way people can potentially vote about 30 times between now and the end of the contest. It’s a quick registration from here and even if we didn’t get 1st place, or even 2nd place, I am hoping we can inspire someone, as representatives of DC’s youth.
Our album, titled “Plane Ticket”, will be coming out in December/January. We are still hard at work on recording it, but we just finished a music video for the song Alone. You can check that out on YouTube.
Want more:
Friend them on myspace, follow them on twitter and don’t forget to vote for them in the NAMM Battle of the Bands
hey hohmann, savor this moment dude. you just caught a misspeak by a 15 yr old girl. that’s the kind of shit you could lord over someone fornever.
November 19, 2009 at 1:27 pmhey emily and crew, good luck in the battle of the bands contest and look forward to hearing your album!
November 19, 2009 at 2:22 pmVote for Power Pirate
November 25, 2009 at 6:09 pmhttp://power-pirate.com/vote.html
December 17, 2009 at 3:15 pm
THE Bad Brains!? Christ on a cracker.
November 19, 2009 at 11:33 am