PinPoint Mercy

http://pioneer.csueastbay.edu/PioneerWeb/PioneerNews7-19-07/PioneerNews7-19-07-Page3.pdf

Emegenza Music Festival Shows No Mercy
Ryan Hoster
Staff Writer


As I walk the foggy streets of San Francisco with four of my buddies, I look at them and see their nervousness. They might not all show it, but it canbe felt. When we arrive at the Great American Music Hall, even I start to feel nervous: they’ve spent months vying for the chance to be here.

I help them unload their equipment and call to find out where our friends are. We have about an hour to kill. After meeting up with the rest of our caravan and grabbing a bite to eat, I approach the front of the stage and watch as Eli Dale, Steve Pellow, Gregg Dean and Geoff Piper, better known as the band PinPoint Mercy, take the stage.

The four have been playing music for years, but didn’t become a rock-based quartet until late last year. After only a couple performances, the group entered the Emergenza Music Festival in January. Over the next few months they flew through the competition, finally winning a slot in the finals for the San Francisco region.

Winners of the fourth and final tier for the area will be flown to Los Angeles to compete, and from there, Germany.

The San Francisco finals took place over two evenings, with six bands getting the nod each night, and one winner overall; PinPoint Mercy was among the top six on Friday evening. They returned the next night but failed to make the cut as the region’s first place band.

While many would see this as a loss and a reason to doubt their talent, the group has a rather optimistic view.

“In a competition that hosts such a wide variety of musical genres, it’s very subjective, making it difficult to crown an overall winner,” said Gregg Dean, the band’s drummer. “For us, it was all about fan recognition and we received plenty of support in every round of the competition and we are very pleased with the outcome.”

The consensus among the band’s members seems to be that even though they did not place first, it was by no measure a loss.

“We met a lot of cool people, played with a lot of really great bands, and got to perform in some fantastic venues,” said Steve Pellow, the group’s guitarist. The band also takes pride in placing among in the top twelve acts in the entire Bay Area.

PinPoint Mercy already has another show coming up July 25 at the Red Devil Lounge in San Francisco. With pride in their work and optimism for their future, the four musical artists who make up the band are determined to continue playing until they become famous.
- The Pioneer (CSU Eastbay)

http://pioneer.csueastbay.edu/PioneerWeb/PioneerNews4-19-07/PioneerNews4-19-07-Page6.pdf


Upstart Local Band Shows No "Mercy" in Tournament
By Ryan Hoster
Staff Writer

Everywhere you look you can find people forming a band in the hopes of making it big. The problem is that finding a good local band is like finding a diamond in the rough, but that’s exactly what local band PinPoint Mercy is.

For years Steve Pellow, Eli Murrie and Gregg Dean have been working to find their niche in the music world.
They have written and performed songs from almost every genre, and have always felt something missing. In their search to find their musical voice, they would constantly change band names and temporarily add new members to their group.

No matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t break out of the realm of me¬diocre local talent. All of that seemed to change when the group found Geoff Piper.

In the fall of 2006, the three set out looking for a dedicated lead singer. Piper was the only respondent who came to meet with the band.

After meeting him, the band didn’t feel the need to continue searching; everyone loved him. “Me, Steve and Gregg have been playing together for God knows how long…it’s almost like we’re all like brothers,” said Eli Murrie, the band’s bassist. “But when Geoff came in it was like a missing link that we had been looking for.”

They brought Piper on, and in late 2006 the group was ready to perform with a fresh new sound, and a new name: PinPoint Mercy.

As a quartet, the group now feels like they’re playing the music they should be playing, and it shows. In January, just a couple months after forming, the group finished a four-song demo CD.

They also landed their first gig, playing in a round-by-round tourna¬ment held by Emergenza Music Fes¬tival, and have advanced to the next round.

The band is currently preparing for the quarter-finals of the competition, which will be held Friday. They feel that many independent bands don’t focus enough on the whole experience of a live show, which is something they pride themselves on.

“We’re involving a lot of cool audio tools and effects to enhance our show, and we’re really excited to do that,”
said Murrie. “It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

For the band’s second round in the tournament, they will be performing
at the RockIt Room in San Francisco tomorrow at 10 p.m. Anyone interested in hearing the band can check out their show or visit www.pinpointmercy.com.
- The Pioneer (CSU eastbay)