Timmy Miano (b. 1980) has been recording and performing punk, folk and country songs under the name Angry Panda since 1998. His performances at clubs, festivals, college campuses, basement keggers, birthday parties, sports bars and coffee shops across the country grab crowds in unexpected places and leave them aching for more. He has played hundreds of shows from the Heartland to the West Coast; from Uncle Hungry’s in Corvallis, OR to Cal’s Bar in Chicago to opening for Joe Jack Talcum in St. Louis.
“I got my start as a musician as bassist in a Nirvana cover band in my hometown of St. Louis when I was 12. It was around then that I joined the school orchestra as bassist. Soon I began writing punk songs, but I found more lyrical inspiration from songwriters like John S. Hall of King Missile, The Dead Miilkmen, and They Might be Giants, and Ween. After years of playing guitar and bass in different bands that straddled the line between completely enraged punk rock and quirky alternative, I discovered I could use keyboard drums and a tape player to write and record songs without having all the distractions and people of a band. Taking a cue from a few of my favorite bands, including Beck and Ween, I started recording on my own.
This came in handy when I moved to Springfield, MO to get my music degree and suddenly found myself alone in a dorm room with nothing to do but play with my 4-track and whatever I felt like using as an instrument at the time. But I’d gotten hooked on performing live, so it wasn’t long before I found a stage to play. Since a lot of what I did was very lyric-oriented, I decided that for a live show I could just play guitar and sing the songs I’d recorded and still get the messages across.
After 2 months of college I cut my middle finger so deep the tendons split and I spent 3 months in a cast, learning to play without moving my middle finger just in case. I even did a couple shows while wrapped in hard plastic brace that forced my hand into a claw thanks to pain killers and the encouragement of a few fans. I owe a lot to them both and visit each semi-regularly.
Eventually I dropped the Tupperware percussion sections, multi-effects pedals, sandwich eating sounds, and melodic Coke bottles from my recordings as well my live show. In 1999 I hooked up with Wee Rock Records and released my first album. I also toured the west coast with WRR band Fugue as bassist and show-opening solo act whenever possible. Around this time I had my first documented gran mail seizure. I’d had dizzy spells since I was a kid, now it turns out it’s epilepsy. The doctors think it has something to do with being attacked with a hammer by a group of boys when I was younger, but whatever it was, it’s controllable and has only served to give me some unique perspective.
So when you see the shaky guy on stage with the scar on his forehead and the strangely crooked left middle finger singing happily about why he’s mad, you know you’re looking at Angry Panda. I think that’s all that’s important here.”
Angry Panda is represented by Mono Americano Records, along with fellow Springfield rockers The Dirty Blondes and The Disappointments.
Listen to Angry Panda’s, (You’ll Never Be) As Punk As Johnny Cash
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Visit the Official Angry Panda Website: www.myspace.com/angrypandaband
