Fat City Reprise
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Fat City Reprise

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"(cover story) Getting to Know Fat City Reprise"

Born and raised in “The Real” South Philly” the guys of Fat City Reprise have known each other for years. They grew up right near where Bruce Springsteen blew up the chicken man. Their young “geekness” has actually worked out to their advantage. They are in a band that is doing well in the Philadelphia area, one of their songs has received airplay on the WMMR, and they just released a CD, and are looking to get out on the road, the real road. The band members are: Frank Pedano – Lead Vocals, Keyboards; Nick Anastasi – Guitars; Mike Vivas – Bass, Vocals; Jay Miraglia – Drums. Jay is the only member of the band who actually has a job. He pays for the beer and diner food. This is a band who likes to have fun, they enjoy life and they like to jam their music. One of the many things that makes Fat City so much fun, is they like to laugh, goof off and have fun while at the same time taking their music very seriously, but not coming across as anal and uptight. Just a bunch of down to earth, laid back guys.

For quite a while they have been hosting an acoustic night on Tuesday’s at the Grape St. It is a great night to get out and get a feel for the talent in the Philly music scene. They have had members of bands from all genres of music play on that Tuesday night. Some of the many bands and musicians that have played their Tuesday Night show include, Soraia, Diet Kong, Stillicide, Naeemah, Head, Even The Resolution, John Faye, Mikey Potato, Nikki from Nouveau Riche, and more. Stillicide has just taken over the host spot on Tuesday’s so Fat City can hit the road and support their CD.

The current four member incarnation of Fat City Reprise has been together for about a year and a half. Frank and Nick started playing together in 8th grade. Frankie wasn’t even the original singer of Fat City Reprise. He was forced into it by Nick. The other person wasn’t doing what Nick and Frank needed him to do, and couldn’t sing Cowgirl the way they wanted the song to be sung. So, Frankie sang the song. Mike and Jay joined the band later on and until about a year and a half ago they had a second guitarist. They are very glad that they only have one guitar because it allowed Nick to really step out, find himself and define his guitar style. They also auditioned some guitar players and no could get what they were doing. There was no chemistry. I asked Nick if he wanted a second guitarist.

Nick: “My argument against a second guitarist is that there are lots of bands that are considered guitar rock bands that have only one guitarist, Led Zeppelin, Rush, The Who, Pink Floyd. You don’t get more guitar rock than that list, plus I have the benefit of having Frank as my 2nd guitarist, and he can tickle two keyboards at once.”

Q: How did you come up with your name?
Frankie: We’re big Hunter S. Thompson fans. When he was mayor of Aspen, he tried to get the name changed to Fat City, so people couldn’t commercially profit from it.

Q: What’s your favorite Hunter S. book?
Frankie: I’d say Better than Sex.
Nick: Hell’s Angels.

Q: When you first started playing together were you a covers or originals band?

Nick: We were always writing songs. When we first started our goal was to write songs that would get played on the radio. We thought that we could write music that would get played on the radio.

Q: How do you write your music?

Nick: One of us will bring in a piece, then everyone else comes in and if anyone has a piece that will fit with that piece we throw it in. It’s a collaboration, completely and utterly a collaboration. Everyone helps write everything. So, no one brings in a completed song.

Q: Did you grow up playing musical instruments? Were you band geeks? Did your parents play music?

Nick: We are definitely geeks.
Frank: I was in Jazz Band, high school [marching?] band; I played the chimes, baritone tuba, and glockenspiel. Vivas went to music school for a while too. He’s a guitar player.

Q: When did you switch to bass?
Vivas: When I joined Fat City.


Q: Was your sound, when you started jamming four years ago, similar to what we hear now, when we see Fat City live or listen to your CD?
Nick: No not at all. Our sound is nowhere near what you hear now? It was more Dave Matthewsy, Blues Travellersy…slower and folksier…it ended up that we wanted to get into the funky side…We watched Funky Monks documentary, the special about the Red Hot Chili Peppers making of Blood, Sugar, Sex Magik. After that we started working on Mexico…after we showed everyone that song, we realized people were dancing and we wanted to make people dance all the time.

Frank: We saw that people were wanting to jam out with us. So we picked it up and made the sound faster.
Q: Who are some of your influences?
Jay: Zeppelin, as cliché as it sounds, Bonham definitely is huge, Dave Grohl is big, I like Mitch Mitchell…Anything with fast hands. I was never - Compendium Magazine Vol 3 Issue 6


Discography

Fat City Reprise EP
1) Cowgirl
2) Waste
3) People Like You
4) Take Me Dancin'
This EP has had much success, with rotation on 93.3 FM WMMR (Philly's top rock station), 94.1 WYSP FM, 1340 AM Skin Radio, and 88.5 WXPN FM. Cowgirl was released by WMMR as the lead off track to their Local Shots Volume II CD. Cowgirl also reached #1 on the UK's Top Unsiged Artist Charts.

Fat City Reprise the LP is currently finished, mixed, and mastered. It is regularly played on 93.3 FM WMMR, 88.5 WXPN, and 104.5 FM.

1) Take Me Dancin'
2) Cowgirl
3) You're Fired
4) People Like You
5) Waste
6) Cool Cat
7) Sheep Skin
8) Long Gone
9) Taste of Mexico
10) The Same Old Song

The band currently has more than half of their next album recorded. Release is tentative.

Photos

Bio

"From your first listen it’s clear; their chemistry is unmistakable."
(Mike Kelly, Play Magazine)

In venues across the nation, people are going crazy for Fat City Reprise. They are nationally recognized as one of today's best unsigned acts, carrying a reputation for great song writing and unrivaled live performances. A fresh new blend of rock, pop, and funk, their music is infectious and alive. From New York City to Chicago to Los Angeles, every show gets every audience out of their seats, dancing, singing, and begging for more. This is a band that is ready for the shelves today. They have the right image, charisma, and the national market research to prove that with the right industry push, Fat City Reprise is the next "it" band.

In 2007, they performed well over 100 shows in thirteen states, all the while recording their debut full length LP: Fat City Reprise. Every time the response is the same, people can't get enough. Major FM radio stations in New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Indiana, Ohio, and California are already spinning Fat City Reprise. All year long Philadelphia's biggest rock station, 93.3 FM WMMR, has been heavily playing and promoting the band. Their song Cowgirl was featured by the station as the lead off track to their Local Shots II compilation and prominently featured in all of the station's advertisements over two quarters.

On January 24th, 2007, they began their MySpace account. In one year, it garnered over 144,000 profile hits, 157,000 song plays, and 25,200 friends. That's 13,080 song plays and 2,100 friends added each month. Daily video blogs, recorded and edited in between shows on tour, receive 400+ daily hits. Every fan wants to know what they are doing all of the time and the video blogs act like a mini-reality TV show. In fact, all of the internet statistics for the band are off the charts. Their website has well over a million hits, internet radio stations and streaming podcasts take Fat City Reprise into computers all over the world. They broadcast all of their shows on a live stream through Justin.tv so that fans can tune in no matter where they are. Every show gets a larger internet audience than the last.

Every city in the United States, as well as in their surrounding counties, already has an active Fat City Reprise Street Team. There are also active Street Teams in the United Kingdom, Australia, and all throughout Europe. These Street Teams hand out audio sampler CD's to friends and then recruit these people, creating an international promotion pyramid that is self sustaining, constantly growing, and operates 24/7.

Fat City Reprise is also one of the nation's top supporting acts. The quality and intensity of their live performances as well as their universally appealing sound has allowed them to perform with The Roots, Fall Out Boy, Seal, the Flaming Lips, Travis Barker, Corrine Bailey Rae, Gym Class Heroes, Alice Smith, De La Soul, the Spin Doctors, Sister Hazel, MC Lyte and Doug E. Fresh, Paolo Nutini, and Hanson. Every time the crowd is left stunned, even in legendary venues such as the Whisky A Go-Go, Viper Room, House of Blues on Sunset, Cat Club, Key Club, Electric Factory, Philadelphia Spectrum, Borgata Casino, Trocadero Theatre, Fillmore at the TLA, Mercury Lounge, and Knitting Factory NYC.

In the end it doesn't matter where or to whom Fat City Reprise performs, every time the audience reaction is the same. If you aren't dancing, you aren't listening. This is the total package, complete with the look, the sound, and the undeniable appeal, a no-brainer. With success like this on their own accord, the possibilities are infinite with the right industry push.

Tour Information: Attached you will find the tour information!

Show attendance numbers : Range from 600-800ppl for regular venues
Largest Venues : Brogata(Atlantic city) 1300 ppl, Electric Factory 5000 ppl

Additional Press :

Appearance on Fox News

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/myfox/pages/ContentDetail?contentId=3125737

Appearance on ABC's "Tuned In"

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=entertainment&id=5706117

Appearance on CBS's Chevy Sunday Kick Off "Band of the Week"

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/band-of-the-week-fat-city-reprise/914858836

"At a live show, these guys are energized and don't take breathers.
Their music speaks for itself, and because of that, they don't take
their sweet time tuning or talking to the audience. They do what they
went there for-to get down! Ladies and Gentleman, Boys and Girls,
Welcome to One of the Greatest Shows on Earth! " - Heather Sconza,
Traxx.com

"Right from the get go, your feet start tapping. Throughout their CD
the guitars, bass, drums, keys and vocals all compliment each other
very well. There is a groove about this CD that makes it easy to listen
to all the way through. You hear the elements of funk, jazz and rock.
Nick's guitar work and his solo in