Piranha Rama (Photo by Lauren Serpa)
Chrissie Lozano wants to back up. “I think I hit a time warp on the origin story,” she says with a laugh.
Lozano, singer and lyricist for Richmond’s Piranha Rama, is recounting how the self-described “psychedelic rock ’n’ roll” group came together six years ago. But the conversation is pleasantly derailed by thoughts on the greatness of P-Funk, or how cool it is to have a keyboardist (Brandon Simmons) who also plays flute, or how supportive Atlanta audiences are. In a way, the conversation is like the band — it won’t stay still.
The shapeshifting Piranha Rama will hit the stage at Friday Cheers on June 16 with Tank and the Bangas, and the singer says to expect a “mishmash” of songs spanning their history. The ensemble’s origin story boils down to this: Lozano and drummer Tim Falen (ex-The Diamond Center, Hot Dolphin) had been playing together in a power trio called Lady God when they decided to call up guitarist John Sizemore, who had been in the popular surf-punk group The Milkstains. Something clicked. “It was an instant hit,” Lozano says.
“We were kind of knocking around,” Lozano recalls of the early Rama. The group accumulated its star-power horn section not long after forming. “Our second or third show was this showcase that Shannon Cleary puts on called Commonwealth of Notions. I asked Reggie [Pace] and Bob [Miller] and Gordon [Jones] if they would sit in, and it was such a great, electric performance, we were hooked. We were all like, ‘Let’s do it like this all the time.’”
With expert trombone, trumpet and sax adding to the swirl, Rama started conjuring up an all-over-the-spectrum sound tinged with aspects of psych. Their recent third album, “Omniscient Cloud Cover,” is a melodic meld of trippy rock and post-punk roll that covers a lot of sonic territory, from lip-biting power pop (“Time Being”) to lysergic chill (“Water, You Thinking”) to country-fried stomp (“A Door”). The psychedelic influence is always there. Even the funky Blood, Sweat & Tears workout “Golden Blues” has Lozano crooning a Middle Eastern melody.
“Omniscient Cloud Cover” was released last year on the Brokers Tip label, which is run by Bob Nastanovich of Pavement. He had been a fan of Lady God, Lozano says. “We became friends after one of our shows at [the former] Balliceaux. He was at Bamboo one night a long while later, and I had a Piranha Rama tape with me, the second album [‘You’ve Earned It’], and I said, ‘Take this with you when you go.’ He came back and said he wanted to do a 45 with us. And then he put out the album.”
Nastanovich was also responsible for booking the band to open for Pavement last October for two shows in Atlanta and one at Austin City Limits in Texas. “Bob’s the man. It was great, a dream come true really,” Sizemore says. “We obviously sound a lot different than Pavement, but I saw people wearing our shirts and people from Richmond came down to Atlanta. It was crazy.”
The huge crowds they started attracting were intimidating, Lozano adds, but the experience was life-affirming, too. “I’ve been playing in bands since I was in high school, and it was refreshing,” she says. “In this skeptical music reality that we live in, where everyone has their arms crossed when the opening band comes on, they really wanted to like us.”
Fresh off their third album release, “Omniscient Cloud Cover,” Piranha Rama will join Tank and the Bangas at Friday Cheers on Brown’s Island, June 16. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door. For more information, visit venturerichmond.com.
