Mike Miranda
"Master Guitarist" Mike Miranda Interview
Snappahead.com
Interview by Roger Zee (10/01/18)
Roger Zee: What inspired you to pick up the guitar and how did you go about learning it?
Mike Miranda: Early on, my sister Arlene would sit me down next to a radio playing early Beatles. That got my interest going and I became a fan. A bit later, my brother Joe brought home an album, yes an album, called
“Play Guitar with the Ventures!” He also bought an acoustic guitar. I ended up slowly stealing both and working on tunes like “Pipeline”, “Walk, Don’t Run,” etc. The record contained tablature booklets, drawings of a guitar neck with
strings and circles where you put your fingers. Awesome for the time!
Later on, I learned directly from records that I liked by picking up the needle and dropping it over the same part over and over until I had learned each section. For the solos, I played the record at 33 RPM which made it very SLOWWWW... It sounds prehistoric by today’s standards, but it trained my ears well learning things that way. The next big moment came when my brother brought home the Woodstock album and I heard Jimi Hendrix blasting “Purple Haze” and the “Star Spangled Banner”. That totally sold me!
Roger Zee: How did the hard-rock cover band, Snappahead, come together? Any plans to write original material?
Mike Miranda: Drummer Steve “Budgie” Werner, bassist Anthony Fragnito, and singer Doug Palmer had played as Snappahead for about two years with a great guitarist named Damon La Scott who ended up parting ways with the band. Then Mario Rodriguez took over on guitar with Snappa for a while. At that point, Budgie asked me to come down and jam with the guys.
During the Eighties, I played in original bands wearing black spandex pants and the famed Seinfeld puffy shirt! Ha, hanging my head low… In the Nineties, I began working the cover circuit, primarily classic and hard rock stuff in various groups including Flashback Hero and Jingo, a Santana tribute band before most people did tributes. A great group, we did really well. I even performed in a swing band for a bit!
Snappahead came in with the Nu Metal stuff really popular on the radio and MTV at the time. I wasn't that familiar with the tunes but my wife Renee would always play them. She knew them all, LOL! Speaking of Renee, she totally kicks ass on promoting the bands that I work with. She relentlessly gets the word out to people, trying to get our numbers up, and supporting everything and everyone she can. I couldn’t do this stuff without her.
Anyway, back to Snappahead. So, I started learning these songs in drop D tuning, drop C tuning, yadda, yadda, yadda. I had about two weeks to learn their entire, extensive repertoire. I remember the first show we did together I didn’t know what bridge went with what chorus went with what verse!
I guess I did OK because here we're going on sixteen years together! We've done some originals over the years, but I think we primarily focus on being the best cover band we can be. I think that we hit on a combination of guys where each brings something to the table, especially live. I see a lot of bands where one, maybe two guys really bring it. But in Snappahead, each player has his own thing and we make a real ensemble -- just like the best TV shows where each cast member's memorable, they all sync together well, and you can’t picture the show without each one of those people.
Roger Zee: You also play in Nightshift/Lizard King. What's their story?
Mike Miranda: I actually played in Nightshift before joining Snappahead but they had a slightly different lineup then. The current version features Dave Grenthal on vocals, Rob Servedio on drums, and Marc Austin on bass. We went from performing all Classic Rock to mixing in Eighties and Nineties. It's worked great! I've got some new projects in the planning stages with a few of the Nightshift guys which hopefully will get going soon.
Lizard King's a tribute to The Doors and contains the same members as Nightshift except that Mark plays keyboards and keyboard bass! Dave sounds so much like Jim Morrison that it’s scary! We haven’t brought that out recently, but we're getting requests to bring it back!
Roger Zee: This summer, I saw you perform a lot with the "Tiki Bar band," House Arrest. How did you hook up with them?
Mike Miranda: Tiki Bar Band -- LOL! All the House Arrest guys and girl are awesome! Joe the drummer and I hang out a lot. He’s a great dude, one of my closest friends. The band consists of Matthew Smutko and Jill Fontana McGuire on vocals, Charlie Caldarola on bass, Joe Berino on keyboards, and guest sax player, vocalist, drummer, Chuck St. Troy.
It began for me when they needed a guitar sub for a New Year’s Eve gig. So once again, I learned a whole lot of songs that I didn't know -- current Pop, Dance, and even Disco! I love doing different types of music. I get bored easily playing the same stuff all the time.
The same goes with my listening habits. I’m all over the place with that! It keeps things interesting and when you return to another band, it feels fresher. Plus, you play to new audiences and meet new people. I get to break out my Strat and do some clean chords for a change! It also works for me because even though I do most of the dates, when I can’t make it, Artie Dillon or Paul Malta take over the guitar spot. Great band, great people and I’m having a ball with it!
Roger Zee: Describe your most enjoyable and/or most unusual gig.
Mike Miranda: I remember a gig in the Eighties at a club in mid-town Manhattan named "Zone DK" -- basically a bondage club that hired Metal bands on the weekends! It featured a sort of “early-dungeon décor” and we performed with manacles hanging over our heads while bondage videos played on the screen behind us!
More recently, I played many great Snappahead gigs. Some of the Reading MC dates in Pennsylvania stand out. We get to go on a big stage with a few thousand people in front of us. We do our thing and feel the massive energy all the people send us. Plus, after the headlining set, a lot of beautiful ladies get up on stage for the competition and its skin to win! These days that’s sort of looked down upon, but for a band like us, it’s a great way to end the night!
Roger Zee: What advice do you give up and coming musicians?
Mike Miranda: Look at the music scene not for what it used to be but for what it is now. That's easy for young players who don’t know it any other way. But for musicians who've been out there slogging for a while, it gets frustrating
because there's not enough places to play and it’s hard to get the band paid what they deserve.
Adapt to today's reality and don’t get discouraged. Go out there because you love to sing, play, and do well -- not just for the money, although getting compensated feels awesome! Don’t act like a Rock star when you’re working the same circuit everyone else does. Even most real Rock stars aren’t Rock stars anymore!
Figure out your goals. That will make your path clearer. Don’t be afraid to be who YOU are. Also, get out there and support other bands and players! Very important. Don’t frequent the venues only when you’re gigging. Everyone talks about how there’s no Rock community in our area but it’s up to us all to make that happen.
Roger Zee: How do you see the future of the music business?
Mike Miranda: The music business exists in a constant state of flux. It’s all about the live gig now. But you still need new material because otherwise there'd be nothing to play at the shows! Access to home recording gives new players and songwriters the ability to get stuff out there without having to spend their life savings on it.
But now with the floodgates open, there's such a huge amount of music put out that I think people get desensitized to it. Before, we all complained about the industry gatekeepers, but now, without them in place, anybody with recording software can do it. A lot of it sounds awesome but a lot not so much, which adds to the desensitization. You have to sift through a huge amount of stuff to find the pearls.
Whatever you do, be as real as you can be. As cliché as that sounds, put your heart into it. People can definitely tell the difference.
©2018 Roger Zee