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Kwong rifles through his book of poetry, I, Piranha, finds "Bears In Sleep," and reads aloud, "London city is on fire. The wolf is a liar/This is my City And Colour after alexisonfire."
He's referring to both the past summer's rioting in London and City And Colour's Dallas Green's decision to leave alexisonfire. Kwong wrote "Bears In Sleep" a year before these events happened.
"Isn't that bizarre?" he exclaims. "I'm no prophet, but I mean. . ."
Still, it looks like he can see into the future, and forecasting the future is partly what his new album, The Year Of The Two, is about. It appears under the band name A Fish Called Piranha, and Kwong will be playing most of it, including "Bears In Sleep," at Club 560, Saturday.
The new book signifies how seriously he takes his lyrics and it will be sold at the show or through his website, www.afishcalledpiranha. com. The album is a double disc united by a concept that tells a complicated story that begins with Bill Gates' dying and coming back to life as a computer that turns out to be the Antichrist. What happens next might be best appreciated by a science fiction buff, which Kwong doesn't claim to be.
"I'm a bit more of a laid back control freak," Kwong admits.
- The Province
"The Year of the Two is a truly fascinating mess, kind of like an autopsy... this thing is fucking nuts. Two crazy thumbs up... " - The Georgia Straight
Alert! Alert! A Fish Called Piranha‘s second CD is a double disc. Furthermore, it’s a concept album. Both are risky propositions, the former commercially; the latter artistically. To (over) simplify, this is a love story between two computers, who give birth, and, of course, we experience the social complications. Orwell meets Arthur C. Clarke meets H.G. Wells brought up to date. The band is the brainchild of Kwong, who wrote the songs, produced the record and plays most of the instruments. Disc one he gives over to hard rock with an occasional nod to hip hop. Disc two is more diverse and arguably better for the variety from the tuneful pop-rock of “Sunday Driver” to the powerful, guitar-driven ballad “Carrie.” The story is far-fetched but wouldn’t be science fiction if it wasn’t, but Kwong’s songs hit a high standard he maintains through out. - Postmedia News
"...as might be expected of a band named after a piranha, this is voracious, insatiable rock. In less than 15 minutes, A Fish Called Piranha plays with a biting edge, a little drama and hint of a sense of humour in the last song on the EP, "Swimming With Piranhas." It's sharp and , as an EP is supposed to do, leaves the listener wanting more.” (Tom Harrison) - THE PROVINCE
A new sound has dropped on the music scene in BC with A Fish Called Piranha and their upcoming album “The Year of the Fish,” to be released on October 12th. After wrestling with management and working with a roster of well known producers trying to find the right style, Michael Kwong, the man behind the fish, finally followed his instinct and moved away from pop to an edgier sound. Finding the right management and right producer has also been a part of his adventure. His decision to record a harder sound has proven to be a great decision as”Rome,” a track off of the new album, has already been added to rotation on Iceberg 85 – Sirius Satellite Radio, as well as being added to a playlist on MuchMusic.
Although he calls himself an introvert, Kwong has shown himself to be a networking maven, meeting the right people at the right time to take his career to the next level. - Songwriters Association Of Canada
SWIMMING WITH THE FISHES IN VANCOUVER
PoCo's Kwong Kok Heung and his band, A Fish Called Piranha, are on the cusp of bigger and better things.
The modern rock group recently got its video for "Rome" onto Muchmusic, as well as being added to playlists on local radio stations and on Sirius Satellite radio.
Read more: http://www.thenownews.com/entertainment/Coquitlam+Place+Arts+adds+executive+director/3631461/story.html#ixzz12qjbKU1E - The NOW News
“This six song album by this Vancouver band is getting attention on MuchMusic and Sirius radio and it's not hard to see why. The sound is all about big guitars and drums with the kind of breathy and melodic vocals that anyone who grew up in the grunge era will find welcoming. The opening instrumental "1988" total kicks butt and the guest spot by monster sushi chef Tojo is dang funny. Main man Kwong has his tongue firmly in his cheek here and his amp turned up to stun." (THE PROVINCE) - THE PROVINCE
Discography
Rain
Skyjuice (EP)
The Year Of The Dragon
The Year Of The Lamb
The Year Of The Fish (EP)
The Year Of The Two (double album)
RADIO PLAY:
Enter The Dragon
Skyjuice
Clouds
Rome
Carrie
Photos
Bio
With the double album The Year Of The Two, A Fish Called
Piranha has created a concept album that transcends both time and geography. Meticulously produced by Kwong and several producers including Daniel Elmes (Dan Mangan, Sweatshop Union), Sam Ryan & Dave Badiuk (Krome, Miss Mercury), Mike Plotnikoff (KISS, The Cranberries) and John Shepp (Matthew Good Band, GOB), The Year Of The Two emerges as an extremely potent concoction of Kurt Cobain-esque poetry, indie rock, folk rock, 90's grunge, hip-hop and ethereal cinematic pieces. The concept album is about a computer named Bill Gates who later finds out he is the Antichrist. He 'mates' with Charlotte's Website to spawn super-computers and two 'megabots' named Betty and Carrie. The theme of 'TWO' permeates throughout the entire album to symbolize their contrast.
The double album oscillates between aggressive density and heavenly spaciousness. The first CD, Act 1: Hard Into Hell (And Back) – War, introduces the characters of the album reminiscent of The Wall by Pink Floyd, The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie, or Tommy by The Who. AFCP mixes in music's more aggressive sounds of hard rock, grunge and hip-hop to accentuate the mood of war and hell. Bill Gates, the opening track, beckons the listener into this space continued by the punk grunge of 2 and Graveyard Sale. The first CD winds down to push and pull the listener through an array of emotions for the second part of the album.
In contrast, the second CD, Act 2: Softly Into Heaven (Eternity) – Peace, continues with major keys and sad ballads to uplift the listener in a heavenly direction. Indie-rock and folk elements are the essence of this second act. The atmospheric warmth and lushness of Sunday Driver and Carrie envelop us in heavenly comfort, while the poetic lines of Mercury (a tribute to the late Terry Fox) and Sunday Best paint the emotions of longing and yearning from the death of a loved one.
THE ARTIST
Kwong is the primary force behind A FISH CALLED PIRANHA (inspired by artists with band monikers - Bon Iver, Diamond Rings, City & Colour, Owl City, Frightened Rabbit and Dave Grohl's early origins of Foo Fighters). From his metaphorical masterpiece of Charlotte's Website and humour of Bill Gates and Payday to the sadness and powerful imagery of Graveyard Sale, Rome, Mercury, and Bad Goodbye, Kwong stands beside modern rock poets Kurt Cobain, Leonard Cohen, Alanis Morissette, and Bono for inspiration. His signature acronyms and anagrams weaved into his poems show a different dimension of what each poem is about. Sometimes, they give the answer. Most of the songs were written in coffee shops scattered throughout British Columbia, Canada, or on pieces of paper inspired during many rainy drives. The songs were recorded in a boiler room, basement suite, and several studios in Vancouver,
Vancouver-based A Fish Called Piranha began as a project to perform live in front of 200,000 people at a summer event in 2007. It then evolved into a martial arts modern rock opera concept designed by brainchild & Asian multi-talent, Kwong Kok Heung (U-Turn, A Forever Sunday), with Forrest Rosenthal, Emil Stefan, Shawn Brown & various friends joining to perform it live.
After years in the indie 'underground' & a few solo releases (including the Skyjuice EP hitting #1 on HMV's Alternative Indie Charts), Kwong teamed up with co-producer Sam Ryan (Krome, Destino) to record the long-awaited, “The Year Of The Fish”. And it was magical. As Kwong explains, “I've worked with a lot of producers in the past including Mike Plotnikoff (KISS, Cranberries), John Shepp (Matthew Good Band, GOB), and John MacLean (Limblifter) but there was a major vibe steaming from the sessions with Sam. The first day we met at a MusicBC Schmooze night, it was kismet. He called me up after & we were then in the studio together for almost 2 years! Also, I decided to record my personal favorite songs (not management's) that I had written over the years that were never recorded. So, it's sort of like a greatest hits package. I always wondered why I had never recorded Rome or Two if By Sky which the fans at our shows always went nuts over! I think I had pressure from management at the time to record pop, instead of the music which I love. After laying down the screams in Rome, I remembered Sam turning around immediately with inspiration & madness in his eyes! And he said that there was something special with this and that we should keep going in this direction. We also got my good friend, celebrity chef Tojo Hidekazu to do a funny cameo, Eric Davis (The Left) to do background vocals on Payday, and the incredible Shawn Meehan (Krome) to add some guitar textures. So, the whole recording process was insanely awesome!” The current single, “Rome”, broke the Top 100 in the active rock & alternative charts in the Fall of 2010.
Whether performing solo acoustically or as a band, A Fish Called Piranha has taken this EP to a new level;
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