Danie: I started vocal training/piano lessons at age five. I sang choir for nine years under the direction of Professor Max Hiendlmayr. Brilliant Bavarian gentleman who was very strict and demanding, he didn't allow any slacking...but I learned a lot from him, he was very talented and I enjoyed working with him immensely, he inspired me to new heights.
Zine: Is it true you already sang in a choir aged nine years at funerals?
Danie: I was in like the 3rd grade, so I was like 8 or so years old. I had just left a smaller school that didn't have choir, or I would have gotten an earlier start really. The first time I was on stage singing was at age 5, Kindergarten. My music teachers in school just sort of swooped down on me and pushed me in the direction of the choir.
Zine: When did you start POWERS COURT
Danie: 1995 or 1996 I believe we changed the name to Powers Court from Equinox.
Zine: and did you play in any other bands before that? (MEANSTREAK?)
Danie: Yeah, MEANSTREAK, which was a power metal cover band, you know, SAXON, PRIEST, MAIDEN, QUEENSRYCHE, etc., those type of bands. Then CRUCIBLE, which was three piece all originals. Then came EQUINOX, also three piece all originals, then we changed the name EQUINOX to POWERS COURT.
Zine: You changed your original bandname EQUINOX into POWERS COURT. Why did you do that and why exactly did you pick the name POWERS COURT?
Danie: Too many bands out there of ALL genres with that name, too much confusion. Steve (Murray-Bassist) chose that name and we all agreed. It was the name of a castle and garden in County Wicklow, Ireland and as you'll notice my surname is Powers as well, so it was kind of cool he came up with that.
Zine: Who's in POWERS COURT right now?
Danie: Myself, Danie Powers, vocals, guitars, songwriting. Steve Murray, bassist, sound engineer, producer and our current studio drummer, Conner McInnis.
Zine: How would you describe your musical style? I think pure heavy metal is way too simple....
Danie: Well, we came up with that because most people want information FAST and don't want to have to process a paragraph or two haha...so, hmmmm... there are different elements it's true. First and foremost we're "considered" traditional power metal. There are elements of classical, hard rock, gothic, middle eastern, celtic folk, spanish, and other ethnic styles incorporated into my guitar playing. We're melodic at times and brutal at others. I sing 98% of the time in the traditionally "operatic" style of power metal, other times I might incorporate more dramatic phrasing in my vocals that is far less traditional, more unique, just to add some variety.
Zine: Who are your main influences?
Danie: Well, singing-wise; Dickinson, King Diamond, Jon Oliva, Lorenna McKennitt, Halford, Dio.
Rhythm Guitar; Kerry King, Old Metallica, Rocky George (Suicidal Tendencies), Dave Mustaine. That kind of brutal, rapid fire, full rhythm chord style.
Lead Guitar; Randy Rhoads, whom I regard as a god, Dave Murray, Richie Blackmore, Yngwie Malmsteen, also a god. I "strive" to achieve some of that classical flavor to my leads. I'm no Randy, there's only ONE Randy, but there are smatterings of that kind of influence. Yngwie's skill level is obviously untouchable by most mortals, *laughs* but he's so inspiring.
Steve's Bass Playing: Steve Harris, John Aldrete (Racer X).
Zine: When writing a new song, what comes first: the lyrics or the music? And please explain how it all comes together eventually....
Danie: It depends, sometimes it's the lyrics, sometimes it's the music. Most of the time like the first verse or the chorus part will come to me all at the same time, lyrics and music together, then I just keep working on it until it's hammered out. Some of the songs were like "channeled" to me, the entire thing at once with a visual included. A lot of the times, I get this mini movie in my head of the action going on in the song and I just get absorbed in that and the lyrics sort of fall into place from there.
Zine: The artwork of your first CD was inspired by the Book of Kells - a decorated series of manuscripts produced between the 7th and 9th century. Did you get inspired by reading about this ancient masterpiece?
Danie: Yes, and the artwork just really struck a chord with us.
Zine: And did you ever see it yourself?? (note from the author: the impressive Book of Kells is to be found at the Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland).
Danie: Not in person no, we've yet to travel to Ireland yet.
Zine: Why did you choose the griffon on the cover of your debut CD? Was it a good combination with the ancient artwork you used or was there another reason behind this choice?
Danie: Well, yes...good combo of ancient artwork, that actual griffon is also from the book of Kells illustrations. On the website you'll see a different version of a griffon, and chances are likely we may update him again for the upcoming CD.
The "griffon" for those who don't know what we're talking about, is a mythological creature usually depicted as having the ears, body, legs and tail of a lion, and the head and wings of an eagle. Symbolically, the griffon combines the intelligence, knowledge, and wisdom of the eagle, with the strength, quickness, and honor of the lion. They were considered masters of both earth and sky, griffons possess the strength of heroes and the splendor of gods. We just thought that was very cool and adopted him as our mascot.
Zine: Did you already play any live shows with POWERS COURT
Danie: Yes, we've been playing out for some time now.
Zine: and what can we expect during one of your gigs? Any show elements, special stage decoration, etc., etc?
Danie: Well, the action is very non-stop, not a lot of talking. I myself prefer to hear music v.s. rambling when I see a band, and usually we have so much pent up energy and we're feeding off the vibes of the crowd that's it's pretty electric. We've never been into the props and that that much as yet. I was always far more concerned with the actual music and delivery of it than putting on some plastic production. A lot of times, in my opinion, that's to cover up a lack of talent. We get a larger budget, yeah, I'd love to have some kind of special stage decorations to invoke the time periods and medieval/celtic mood. But it has to be tasteful, I hate that comical look that some groups have going on. Bottom line, the music should be the main source of entertainment, decorations second.
Zine: Do you also play any cover songs? If yes, which and why?
Danie: No. We play all originals. When I'm warming up you're likely to hear Mercyful Fate, Slayer, Black Sabbath, Maiden, Suicidal, I mean my influences you know, but we broke away from that whole clone band thing a long time ago. To me the objective if you're a band is to do your own material. Anyone can play covers. Covers don't display who you are, what you're all about, what your feelings are.
Zine: Your new CD "Nine Kinds of Hell" is most likely going to be released on the Italian label DRAGONHEART RECORDS very soon. What's (in your opinion) the main difference between this CD and your debut release?
Danie: Well, first and foremost, the vocals are going to be much better in my opinion, far more impassioned due to some of the themes. I've been working on my octave trasitions to make them smoother, aside from my falsetto highs I used on the debut, I've worked on hitting those same notes without the falsetto to give the impression of a more "angelic" type of soprano voice v.s. the evil-edged falsetto, but that remains as well. So basically I'm just adding a couple of more dimensions and really another 1/2 octave to the voice. Beefy-er guitars and better production all around. I think this one will be a bit "darker" also.
Zine: On this album, you will include a few songs from the period, that you were still called EQUINOX. Didn't you have enough new material to go on about or did these songs just fit in very well (I am referring to the song "Tragedy of Faust")?
Danie: No, lack of material wasn't the issue *laughs* I have enough material backlogged for three more albums. No, our fans kept requesting that we release those three songs again on disc, so hey...give the people what they want you know? They're three very powerful songs and they also blend in with the whole "hell" theme of the CD. Tragedy of Faust is one of our most requested songs live as well, that one and Dying Embers off the first CD.
Zine: Please explain the concept of your new album and the album title "Nine Kinds of Hell".
Danie: Well, *laughs* it didn't originate as massively prolific as some would like to think. It's not about Dante, it's not about Milton (although that saying does have it's origins from the "nine rungs of hell")... it's just an expression that we use in daily conversations. I picked it up from an old friend...it's used like, "If you drink the last beer in the fridge, you're in for NINE KINDS OF HELL my friend..." *laughs* I mean it originates there and then expands to what I think are nine (songs on the CD) hellish experiences, loss of a love, thoughts of suicide, involvement in the occult that goes awry, religious fanatics making your life hell because you have a mind of your own, etc.
Zine: I guess your singing lessons paid off, because it's almost impossible to reach a four and one half octave like on CD opener "Lords of Winds and Breezes".
Danie: Well, the low voice on LOW&B was done with a vocal effect. We tried several things to make the voice more, "other-worldly" you know, as this song is about the Greek god, Bellerophon. I mean I doubt his voice would sound totally human. I wanted it to sound very ominous. For NINE KINDS OF HELL I've developed a very low growling voice that is "natural" that will be used on one of the songs. No effects of that nature on this upcoming CD.
And well lessons, yeah, but that was practice that got me the octave range. That and not smoking and trying to take "decent" care of myself. Practice eventually got me an extra octave and the "1/2" is now pretty much another full octave on this next one, making it close to a five octave voice. As I stated earlier too, along with the falsetto high, I've smoothed out my high soprano, which on the first one (CD) I wasn't as concerned with. The voice is like a muscle, when you exercise it properly, it responds well to your demands. I mean some things are physically impossible, but a lot of the time if you set your mind to something and see just how far you can push something, gently of course, where the voice is involved, you will at least take your voice as far as it can go.
Zine: Any specific goals you'd like to achieve with POWERS COURT?
Danie: Tour Europe, move to Italy *shrugs* I dunno, as far as we can possibly take it. I just enjoy doing the music for the sheer release of energy and communing with the crowd, where that eventually takes us is where I want to go...it's the "doing it" that is what really matters to me.
Zine: Is there still a market in the USA for a heavy metal band like POWERS COURT?
Danie: Not a lot in our area, but we're completely out of touch with the USA. I mean the majority of the USA are just trend mongers who change their interests based on whatever eMpTV dictates. We're only concerned with "people with depth," and for the most part that is the European crowd and a "select" group of Americans with discerning taste. There is a good underground movement in the USA, but sometimes it's just difficult to maintain contact with so many zines changing horses in midstream and going to the RAP-METAL format, etc. What they are labeling as METAL in the USA is Metallica, Korn, Fear Factory, and music that to us should be appearing on Yo MTV Raps and the Alternative 100 count down. Just because it has a metal sounding "crunch" guitar, doesn't make it a METAL band as your readers well know...
Zine: How many CDs did you sell from your self-titled debut album?
Danie: Originally we sold about 1,000, then we had to re-order. Not too bad for a first time independant release with not a lot of advertising we're told.
Zine: And how were the reactions from the media?
Danie: Very, very positive. We were very pleased to see we were welcomed with such open arms.
Zine: I saw very favourable reviews in "Sentinel Steel" (#3 '96/'97) and you became "Best quarterly CD" in Metal Maidens (Dec'98)*see reviews section.
Danie: Yes, and thank you so much for that, we really appreciated it, it gave me especially quite a boost to see your kind comments. We were very honored with the favourable review in Sentinel Steel as well.
Zine: What are your future plans? (any touring plans for 1999?) Will we get to see POWERS COURT 'live' in Europe sometime?
Danie: Hopefully after we nail these record and publishing deals, finish up the album, etc., we will be able to better discern that. We sincerely hope so, it would be great to commune with metalheads in areas that aren't dictated by trends and that are open to and thirsting for traditional metal groups. I'd love to do Europe.
Zine: What are your hobbies next to music? I heard you're very much into comics and have a huge collection of 'rare' comic books at home.
Danie: Well, it's true I do... but I've slowed down on that a lot, Chaos! Comics kinda changed on me, and the availability of the titles I am interested in was becoming this all encompassing thing trying to keep up with the issues, so I said, screw it. I still have my vintage issues and that, but I've not been as religious about collecting new titles.
Other hobbies include, you know weight lifting and aerobics to keep in shape, nothing fanatical. Occult pursuits like tarot card reading, I'm teaching a couple of friends. I read Runes, I'm into Stone Magick, Norse Magick and am exploring some other things of that nature that I'd kind of put aside for awhile. I do web graphics occasionally, created our websites. I love movies, whenever I have the chance I like to check out the new horror relases. Steve and I like collecting antiques, things of that sort.
Zine: What's your all-time ultimate heavy metal song?
Danie: Oh man, tough question...well the first one that comes to mind has to be MERCYFUL FATE's DANGEROUS MEETING, I wore out two casettes of Don't Break The Oath before I finally got the CD. Then maybe something like BLACK SABBATH'S WARPIGS, Jeez, that's hard to nail it to ONE song! I mean I was a HUGE Maiden fan at one time also, Slayer too for that matter.
Zine: Is POWERS COURT Danie Powers plus several band members or do you see yourself as one tight (complete) band?
Danie: POWERS COURT is Danie Powers and Steve Murray with a studio drummer. Steve and I are "extremely" tight. I mean I do write the songs and then we both hammer out details, so in that respect, my mark is indelibly etched in blood, but Steve adds a lot to it. I'm the lightning, he's the thunder. And in the production arena, well....let's just say the true "sound" and "concept" of what I was trying to get across to the masses was pretty much lost on other sound engineers and producers. They just didn't GET it like Steve has. Other producers/sound engineers in my past would have a tendency to try to "pretty it up" too much. I had one clown go so far as to speed the vox up so that it would sound "higher" than my natural mid range alto! Production is one of those elements that a lot of people have no idea the importance of when you're trying to convey who you truly are and what the songs are about.
I'm a bit more raw-edged and Steve is a bit more refined, so it makes for a nice blend of power with some polish I think. We work very closely on the final mixes so it definitely requires teamwork.
Zine: Do you have anything to add to this interview or perhaps a last message for our readers?
Danie: Keep the faith babies. The meek shall inherit the shit I always say, so just remember that and be true defenders of metal so metal will remain strong. It takes all of us ya know...
Zine: Thanks very much Danie for making some time off and answering these questions. We appreciate it!!! METAL FOREVER!!!!
Danie: You're very welcome, thanks for asking me, it was my pleasure. METAL FOREVER!!!!
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