Fire Ants

Vocals: Brian Wood
Guitars: Kevin Wood
Bass: Dan McDonald
Drums: Chad Channing
Fire Ants were a “super group” that formed during the big major label-signing era of Seattle bands. Pearl Jam wasn’t even a band when the 1st elements of Fire Ants were coming together. In fact, Andy Wood had died a few months before and Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament were putting the 1st elements of their new band (first they were called “Mookie Blaylock”, then they dubbed themselves Pearl Jam). Kevin Wood (brother of the late Andy Wood, and former hot shit guitarist for Malfunkshun) and Dan McDonald (former bassist for Native Messiah and Strait Face) began jamming together at the end of the summer of ’91.Within a couple of months, they had put together a few song ideas and began the quest for a drummer. This quest probably lasted about a day…Kevin immediately suggested trying out his friend Chad Channing (Chad had just left Nirvana after their European tour, and he was more than happy to join a band that welcomed his song writing talents!).Then came the insanity of trying to find a vocalist…after trying out four or five victims, it was decided to try Kevin’s brother Brian. Brian was eccentric, had intense stage energy, and could write lyrics with ease…plus he could sing with a maniacal passion…Brian Wood passed his audition, and the Fire Ants began putting together an amazing repertoire of moody-bluesy-metallish tunes.All members of the band had song ideas floating around and the band had an uncanny ability to improvise. Once they hit the stage, they began blowing away the crowds! At first they opened for bands such as Sweet Water, Blind Horse, Willard, and Love Brother Nine…but being an “opening band” did not last! The Fire Ants were just excessively and insanely powerful and twitchy, which made them a difficult act to follow. Their biggest break came when they were asked to open for Soundgarden at the RKCNDY for an unannounced show.After a few months of heavy gigging, the band made a deal with Dekema Records and recorded an EP of six songs (engineered and produced by Jack Endino). Fire Ants also tapped an amazing video of five songs at Eastern Washington University’s Audio Video lab. The only known copy of this video tape exists in the hands of Jack Endino! The band also appeared in a radio interview at KXRX with Scott Vanderpol. When The END (107.7) first started out, they played a lot of local bands…one of the bands that was showcased was the Fire Ants and their song “100 Wives” was played frequently. Fire Ants were courted by major labels, and showcased for BMI…to stay away from the ensuing nasty politics of the this once great band, let’s just say they split up and “lived happily ever after”.Kevin and Brian Wood went on to form “Devilhead” (Dan McDonald plays on their 1st CD), which signed on Stone Gossard’s Sony backed label “Loose Groove Records”…releasing 4 CD’s. Dan and Chad went on to form a power pop band “The Methodists”, which released a CD titled “Cookie”, on their own label “Mock Records”.Kevin is currently playing again with Regan Hagar (old Malfunkshun mates). And Shawn Smith with Corey Cane…pretty hot shit!! http://www.myspace.com/vonnordChad Channing is involved with a band called “Before Cars” where he is playing the guitar and singing…also he is showing off his amazing songwriting talents! http://www.myspace.com/beforecarsDan McDonald is playing and writing songs at home with his 32 track studio…he is also currently showcasing his songs as “Dan Ho” at: http://www.myspace.com/dboy13