ArtistInfo

Pirahnahead

syn, ep,
Arranger / Producer / Conductor of Dance, Electronic and R&B/Soul
A.k.a. Maurice Herd

Detroit musician, DJ, producer, orchestral arranger/conductor. His mother taught him how to play piano and shortly thereafter he began to learn guitar from copying Jimi Hendrix’s legendary riffs. Growing up, he listened to an eclectic range of music genres from rock and roll, blues, jazz, classical, and R & B-and each of these has continues to influence Pirahnahead’s musical style. Pirahna has written and produced songs for local artists such as Inohs Sivad, Mathias, Lathun, and the BLACKMAN (who gave him the name, ‘Pirahnahead’). During the 1970’s, as disco grew in popularity, Pirahna developed a love for the upbeat and soulful music. While still quite young, he met the legendary DJ Ken Collier who also became his mentor. Pirahnahead went on to play at several parties and clubs in and around Detroit and his weekends at Detroit’s club Heaven and trips to New York’s Paradise Garage and Club Shelter played a significant part in inspiring Pirahna to become the DJ he is today. His skilled musicianship enabled him to play guitar and tour with groups like Enemy Squad, Dub Culture, Charm Farm, Painted Pictures, and other bands in the Detroit and Lansing area. While touring with various incarnations of the P-Funk All-Stars, he had the opportunity to work with well-established artists such as Morris Day and The Time, Bernie Worrell and the Woo-Warriors, HR of Bad Brains, Fishbone, Buddy Miles, and Amp Fiddler. He also performed Woodstock in 1998. Pirahnahead toured Europe, and Japan (with Moodymann) during the summer of 2005. He sang, played keys and guitar during this tour at mega festivals such as the Montreux Jazz Festival, and the North Sea Jazz Festival. These were performances of his original material to promote the release of his CD “SOLID: A Moment in the Mind of Pirahnahead” (Mahogani Music) which was released as a Japanese exclusive in 2005, and in Europe and the US in 2006. Pirahnahead helped operate one of Lansing, Michigan’s first recording studios which used both digital and analog capabilities, Studio 707, where he produced local artists. He has studied at the Recording Institute of Detroit where he became a certified analog and digital audio engineer, and also Wayne State University as a music major. This has given him means to explore an exciting edge that he brings to his musical projects; classical orchestration. He has written and conduct string parts for projects for DJ Spinna, DJ Genesis, and recently on Shuya Okino’s ‘United Legends’ project where he fused orchestral arrangement and production on the song ‘If It Is Love’ featuring Clara Hill. These elements were also incorporated into his DJ set during a Detroit Institute of Arts 2003 Christmas Gala when, as a DJ, he was accompanied by a string section and live percussion for which he composed scores and conducted. He is currently working closely in a partnership with DJ Minx, CEO of Women on Wax Recordings. These two have come together to form the group Animal Trax, a moniker under which they released the EP “Deep Structures”. Pirahna is also collaborating with Reggie Dokes, CEO of Psychostasia Recordings. Under the name Napi Hedz, these two producers have released singles on Women On Wax Recordings, Prime Numbers and Sound Signature. In 2006, Pirahna launched his own imprint, Whasdat Music.

Instruments

• Synthesizer
• Electric piano
• Percussion
• Strings
• Bass

Genres

• Dance
• Electronic
• R&B/Soul
• Jazz
• Spoken Word

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