PIANO PUNK: Hardcore, Metal, Grunge & Punk for Classical Piano
Classically trained pianist and singer Erica Mac turns songs on their heads as she interprets hardcore, metal, grunge, and punk songs for piano and voice. Showcasing the melodies beneath the distortion, in each performance songs are investigated, torn apart, and pieced back together on stage for the audience’s listening pleasure.
Erica Mac brings passion and intensity to the piano, exposing her deep love of all heavy genres (particularly North American metallic hardcore and 1970s British punk) by interspersing songs with bits of music history trivia and songs facts that will have audiences doing some intellectual (not physical) moshing. Vivaciously weaving together classical and punk practices in a way that avoids both pandering and pretension, Piano Punk is a show that will please metal heads, classical aficionados, and those who know nothing about either.
“This show started with learning a really difficult song whose guitar solo I was obsessed with. On the piano, it sounded like music for a film. I played it for kicks to fill time between songs at an open mic set, thinking that it was a bit too obscure for the audience. My assumption was wrong: it was the best received song of the set! I tried a few more hard rock songs at a bunch of gigs and had a consistently strong response and deep connection with the music from a certain section of the audience. These genres are powerful because they speak to outsiders: they create a cathartic space for the angry, disenfranchised, apathetic, and rebellious.” – Erica Mac, Pianist / Performer
Nominated for the Best Music award at Melbourne Fringe in 2017.
