Peawees

Biography

The Peawees were born in La Spezia, Italy,1995. The Original line up featured Hervé Peroncini (Guitar, Vocals), Riccardo La Lomia (Bass) and Livio Montarese (Drums).Within that first year they recorded and released their debut album: 'Where People Smile' on 'Panic Records/Helter Skelter'. Not a real album, but just a press of the very first demo tape plus a bunch of new tracks. Being one of the first italian punk rock albums of the 90s it quickly sold out, only to be deleted, then to become a mu...

The Peawees were born in La Spezia, Italy,1995. The Original line up featured Hervé Peroncini (Guitar, Vocals), Riccardo La Lomia (Bass) and Livio Montarese (Drums).Within that first year they recorded and released their debut album: 'Where People Smile' on 'Panic Records/Helter Skelter'. Not a real album, but just a press of the very first demo tape plus a bunch of new tracks. Being one of the first italian punk rock albums of the 90s it quickly sold out, only to be deleted, then to become a much sought after release.
They then recruited a second guitarist to fill out their sound, in the shape of Stefano Zappelli. Constant gigging soon built up a following, resulting in much fanzine and magazine coverage.
In 1997 two labels, Motherbox Records from New York, USA, and Fridge Records from Milan, Italy got together to release their second album: This is Rock 'n' Roll which picked up rave reviews across the board. This album, more in the spirit of Rock 'n' Roll, was highlighted by their cover of the Elvis classic 'Burning Love'. Rumore magazine put ‘This is Rock n Roll’ in the 1998 punk Top Ten. During 1998 they played all around Italy then departed for their US Tour.
In 1999 the line up underwent a couple of changes with Stefano and Livio being replaced by Jacopo Giannetti (Guitar) and Andrea 'Pulcio' Ricci (Drums). They quickly recorded new songs for 7" releases in England on Jellybrain, Irritation and Potatoe Print Records. These they backed up with a highly successful UK Tour.
Their third album released in 2001 on Stardumb Records from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, titled: Dead End City coincided with their European Tour which brought them to Germany, Holland, Belgium, Austria and Switzerland. ‘Dead End City’ is the key album, which sent the peawees to the top as one of the best european r’n’r acts. The guys are the favouriteS OF magazines and fanzine attractions, interviewed by people such as Maximum Rock n Roll and Rocksound UK.
In 2003 the Italian label Ammonia Records released a new version of 'Dead End City' which included unreleased songs. After another line up change consisting of Carlo Landini replacing Jacopo Giannetti, the band once again hit the road in Europe playing gigs and festivals, sharing the stage with the Damned, the Dwarves, Radio Birdman, the Cramps, Marky Ramone, Bad Religion, amongst the others, joining the Ammonia Tour promoting the Italian version of 'Dead End City'.
At the same time two tracks from DEC (‘Road to Rock n Roll’ and ‘By My Side) were included as part of NHL Rivals Soundtrack ( X-Box. Game). For the next 2 years the band mainly focused on touring to further promote their latest release and in 2005 they started working on new material. By the end of 2005 however Pulcio decided to leave the band, so any and all touring had to be postponed until 2006 when Livio Montarese joined the band once more on drums. The much awaited 4th album came to light in April 2007, and is called Walking the Walk (Wynona Records). In June and July of the same year the record charted at n° 19 of the italian independent chart, as one of the best selling records. The band hit the road with a total of 33 shows: all Italian dates sold out and in October the guys flew to Rotterdam to share the stage with Radio Birdman and the Rip Offs at the Rotterdam Rumble.

2008: The Peawees still believe in rock n roll. So should you.

ITALIAN
La storia dei Peawees inizia a La Spezia nell'ormai lontano 1995, quando Hervé Peroncini, Riccardo La Lomia e Livio Montarese - dopo le precedenti esperienze in altri due gruppi: Manges e Nukes - uniscono le proprie forze e pubblicano nel corso dello stesso anno Where People Smile (Panic Records/Helter Skelter), album d'esordio di sicura matrice punk rock, ma con forti influenze pop.

Nel 1998, la formazione dei Peawees cresce: a Hervé (voce e chitarra), Riccardo (basso) e Livio (batteria), si aggiunge un secondo chitarrista, Stefano Zappelli. La band registra così This Is Rock n Roll; il secondo disco - pubblicato in Italia da Fridge Records e negli Stati Uniti da Motherbox Records - segna il primo punto di rottura con il passato: ci sono echi di punk californiano, Clash e Ramones, ma la cover di Burning Love di Elvis segna il percorso futuro della band.

A questo punto, i Peawees vanno in tour negli U.S.A (dodici date tra New York e Washington) e, secondo la rivista italiana Rumore, This Is Rock n' Roll è uno dei dieci migliori dischi punk del 1998.

Nel 1999, il primo vero cambio di line up: Andrea Ricci sostituisce Livio alla batteria e Jacopo Giannetti entra al posto di Stefano Zappelli alla chitarra. I Peawees pubblicano un paio di singoli in vinile per altrettante etichette inglesi e, con la rinnovata formazione, volano nel Regno Unito per un tour di 13 date che permette al gruppo di conquistare nuovi fan al di fuori dei confini nazionali.

Nel XXI secolo, i Peawees sono universalmente riconosciuti come uno dei più validi gruppi rock and roll in circolazione. Dead End City, terzo disco uscito nel 2001 (pubblicato dall'olandese Stardumb Records), riceve ottime recensioni in tutto il mondo e la band viene intervistata da Maximum Rock n' Roll, storico magazine punk di base a San Francisco.

Intanto, Hervé, Riccardo, Andrea e Jacopo suonano in tutta Europa e gli americani Groovie Ghoulies registrano una propria versione di Cause You Don't Know Me, forse la canzone più famosa dei Peawees, contenuta proprio in Dead End City (nel frattempo stampato e distribuito anche in Italia, da Ammonia Records).

Nel 2003, Carlo Landini sostituisce Jacopo Giannetti alla chitarra. Con la nuova formazione, i Peawees partono per un lungo tour che li vede condividere il palco con nomi leggendari del punk come Radio Birdman, Damned, Dwarves, Bad Religion, Marky Ramone... L'anno dopo, due canzoni del gruppo - Road to Rock n' Roll e By My Side - vengono incluse nella colonna sonora del gioco per X-Box NHL Rivals.

Alla fine del 2005, Livio Montarese rientra nei Peawees al posto di Andrea alla batteria. La band suona dal vivo e lavora al nuovo disco, Walking the Walk, che esce nel 2007 per Wynona Records. L'album, poi ristampato in vinile dall'etichetta italiana Radiation e dalla californiana It's Alive, entra nella classifica dei venti dischi indipendenti più venduti in Italia.

Dopo una tournée europea di 36 date (compreso il festival olandese Rotterdam Rumble, in compagnia di Rip Offs e, ancora, Radio Birdman), l'ultimo cambio di line up: il batterista Michele Napoli sostituisce Livio.

Nel 2011, Hervé, Riccardo, Carlo e Michele registrano Leave It Behind (Wild Honey Records), quinto disco della carriera dei Peawees. Un album che viaggia indietro nel tempo, va oltre il punk rock e spalanca le porte del futuro: oggi i Peawees suonano - trasudano - soul, r n' b, rock and roll delle origini... In poche parole, musica per nutrire l'anima.
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