World Minus One

* ACCOLADES:
– Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI) Winner 'Hard Rock Artist of the Year' - 2011.
– Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI) Nominated 'Hard Rock Artist of the Year' - 2009, 2010.
– National retailer Music-Go-Round’s ‘Band of the Month’ contest winner – June 2009.


* Opened for national acts: Collective Soul, Safetysuit

* World Minus One in TV/Film/Videogame
– Vocalist Sara Brauer featured on Season 10 of American Idol (ep. 3, got gold ticket to Hollywood)
– ‘Still Alive’ available as downloadable content for Rock Band 2 video game (Xbox 360, PS3)

* Radio Appearances/Performances
- WLUM, 102.1 FM, Milwaukee
- WMSE, 91.7 FM, Milwaukee

* Stations played on:
- WLUM 102.1 (Milwaukee), WHQG 102.9 (Milwaukee), WMSE 91.7 (Milwaukee), WXSS 103.7 (Milwaukee), WHBZ 106.5 (Sheboygan), WSUW 91.7 (Whitewater), www.GirlsRockRadio.com (web), www.Jango.com (web), www.wazee.org (web)

* TV Appearances -
- Sara Brauer on Season 10 of American Idol – January 2011
- WISC-3 / UPN 14 Madison, Urban Theater – November 2010
- Fox 6 Milwaukee, Morning Show – August 2009
- WISC-3 / UPN 14 Madison, Urban Theater – October 2009

- World Minus One

Milwaukee-based band is one of the first unsigned acts
to have their music released in new video game distribution network

MILWAUKEE, WI, March 10, 2009 — The next time World Minus One's song "Still Alive" is
performed, it could be by you--in your living room. The Milwaukee-based band is one of the first
to appear on Rock Band Network (RBN), a new distribution channel by videogame pioneer
Harmonix (Guitar Hero, Rock Band), and Microsoft. RBN – whose debut is being showcased this
weekend at the world-renowned SXSW music festival in Austin,TX - is a platform for unsigned
and label artists alike to make their music available for download worldwide via the Xbox Live
Marketplace as a playable track in Harmonix's 'Rock Band 2'.

For independent artists like World Minus One, RBN offers a new way to get their music heard
around the world. "The RBN is a complete value to bands and music fans," said Jaek Pachniak,
guitarist for World Minus One. "Not only do you get to hear new music, but you get to experience
interactions with those songs as well, and all for the same price you'd spend to buy a track
online." Bands approved for RBN can charge end-users $1 to $3 per track, of which they receive
a 30% payback on download sales. All songs can be sampled for free prior to purchase. “World
Minus One has decided to offer its track for the lowest price point”, said Pachniak. "For an indie
band like us, we really looked at this opportunity as a way to find new fans first and foremost, so
making money isn’t the end goal here". Some of the signed acts in the launch on RBN include
Steve Vai, Lacuna Coil, and Flight of the Conchords.

Pachniak predicts the network will only pick up steam as other
talent joins the fray. "The allure of RBN is that the potential is there for any given song. There's
an expansive online community associated with this game, so word-of mouth gets around if you
have a good tune. I think RBN will give great exposure to a lot of talented musicians that would otherwise be ignored by traditional recording industry methods. We’re glad to be a part of it.” - various

With hundreds of tracks available, including such legendary artists as Steve Vai, in the Rock Band Network store, how is it possible for some of the lesser known artists hoping to get their music out there to avoid getting lost in the noise?

Sure, some bands might get lucky by having their tracks chosen by Harmonix and put in the special "Harmonix Picks" section, but chances are slim at getting in there. Aside from being put in the "Top Rated" sections, the only other way to get noticed really is to have a strong following of fans that happen to like Rock Band.

A couple of bands, however, may have found a way to tilt the odds in their favor. By holding contests surrounding their songs that are available for purchase on Rock Band Network, bands are driving sales upwards.

World Minus One, a female-fronted band that possesses a straightforward rock sound with great core instrumentalism, recently announced that anyone that could beat the score posted by their very own guitarist on YouTube. Any winners will be given a link that allows them to download a few free songs from the band's EP. - The Examiner (examiner.com)

The six members of World Minus One have diverse musical backgrounds, ranging from Suzuki violin at age 3 (bassist Adam Granatella) to directing a capella at Milwaukee's Marquette University (keyboardist Paul Pachniak). They have diverse interests, too, ranging from a love of Gears of War and Fight Club (drummer Kirk Pogorzelski) to a love of dark chocolate and P.F. Chang's (lyricist, singer, and frontwoman Sara Brauer). But when they come together, they fuse their many backgrounds and interests into one intense rock sound, and guitarist Jaek Pachniak was determined to bring their music into Rock Band. He succeeded with "Still Alive", which he personally authored, and which is available for only 80 MSRP through the Rock Band Network.

Carolyn VanEseltine (sometimes better known as HMXLachesis) interviewed Jaek, Sara, and Adam of World Minus One about their music, their track in Rock Band, their experience with the Rock Band Network, and how Adam got bitten by an alligator in his living room. Enjoy!

Carolyn VanEseltine: How would you describe your music to someone who hasn't heard it yet?

Jaek Pachniak: Female-fronted modern rock with a full and intense sound, and songs that tell stories.

Sara Brauer: When we're live versus in the studio, I think the listener would get a better idea of who we are in that setting. Comparisons are difficult to make because we tend to jump all over the board.

Adam Granatella: Start with a Mozart opera, add in a touch of Marvin Gaye, about 40% Slayer, and an octave above Mariah Carey's range. Can you imagine that? Yeah, that's nothing like what we sound like.

CV: Who are some of your musical influences?

JP: Some of my faves are Radiohead, Mars Volta, and Pink Floyd. Those don't come out in every song the band writes by any means, but they're my point of reference when I need some perspective on songwriting or lyrics. Other influences in the band include Megadeth, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Zep, and Porcupine Tree. Somehow, and it's still amazing to me, the six of us find a common ground.

SB: Robert Plant, Trent Reznor [Nine Inch Nails], Jared Leto [30 Seconds to Mars], Brandon Boyd [Incubus], Maynard James Keenan.

AG: For me, I take influences ranging from classical to hard rock, with a lot of jazz and funk overtones.

CV: It seems like you all contribute to writing your music. With six people in the band, that must be an interesting challenge! Do you have a process for writing a new song?

JP: Just about everyone in the band has the ability to record and share new song ideas, so we rely on the web a lot to introduce new ideas. If a riff gets posted and clicks with everyone, we'll run it in rehearsal a few times, post it on the web again to listen back and make tweaks again, and just keep on refining it until we're happy with it. Sometimes we can get there in one rehearsal, sometimes it takes a few months to figure out, and sometimes we just shelve it rather than settle. We don't rush the process, because once we get to the point where everyone's happy with it, the time we put in definitely pays off.

CV: Tell us a bit about "Still Alive". How did this song get written? What inspired the lyrics?

JP: Sara wrote the lyrics when she was 14. Dan and I first met Sara through a Craigslist ad she posted, and she turned the lyrics over to me at the end of our first meeting. Her original lyrics were more like a poem, and there was a lot more content in there…a few of the verses and themes jumped out at me, so next time we got together I had written the music and melody for it and the song was born.

SB: The poem was spiritually dark for me at the time. It was a battle for what my parents had in mind for me and the things I desired for myself, being so naïve at that age. It was like personal scrutiny and the idea that I had no control.

CV: Why did you choose "Still Alive" for your first song in Rock Band?

JP: The first factor to choosing "Still Alive" was having a good recording of it. Just as a point of interest, the whole song was done in Dan's basement... so, a word of advice to other bands: You don't need to spend thousands of dollars to have a "good enough" recording. If you have some knowledge of recording in your band, or friends willing to help you out, there's some great affordable software and hardware that allows you do just about whatever you're thinking of. That being said, I knew the song would port to Rock Band well, better than some of our other recorded material at the time... it's probably our "heaviest" song, and just has a good groove to it. The parts lend themselves well to the format…the cascading guitar riffs, cool vocal melodies, driving drum and bass parts... I just thought, "If this were out there, I'd want it."

CV: It looks like you authored "Still Alive" yourselves. How did that go for you? Any tips or tricks to share?

JP: Since we recorded everything ourselves, Dan was able to produce the st - http://www.rockband.com/zine/world-minus-one-interview

- "Their brand of rock is the kind of stuff that should be on the radio" - David Bash, founder International Pop Overthrow Festival - Various