DANIE: I began this project in 1988. At that time, I went by "Equinox". Equinox was the same concept, three piece, tribal drumming, hit as many octaves as I could hit singing, vary the tempos song to song, heavy and haunting.

The lineup at that time consisted of BLZBob on drums, Monty York on bass, and I played guitar and sang, as I do now.

We were together about a year and things just started erroding, the usual pseudo-Spinal Tap adventures, lady friends from hell, gentlemen friends from hell, day jobs interfering with gig schedules, sometimes disagreements...we'd threaten to ritually sacrifice each other (grin), it just wasn't happening like it should. The three of us were heading in three different directions.

We were recording, and BLZBob and Monty just couldn't handle it anymore.They weren't getting along. Monty decided he was going to bail, he wanted his bass tracks removed! This put me in major turmoil, I was hoping to at least get the recording done before the ritual sacrifices began! No, really this meant I had to lay 2-3 guitar tracks, 1-4 vocal tracks, and now the basstracks. A lot of people think a bass player is just a frustrated guitar player...WRONG...this is a totally different skill if you want it to sound like anything at all...no picks PLEASE...I could have done it, but my endurance would have to be built up. Your hands really get a workout playing bass if you kick ass as you should!

So I wasn't thrilled with the prospect of being Cybil in the studio, as vocal tracks alone can tax you.

It's like, this is IT this is the final take, this is how this song is going to be remembered...it better sound REALLY good. It better have passion, the notes better be right on...someone told me once, if you write anything, make it epic, make it where you can pull it out and put it in the disc player 10 years from now, and it will still be fresh...

I agree...kinda like a "bard". That's the career that has chosen me.

Anyway, Monty bailed. I respect him as a friend and a really good bassplayer, and I took his tracks off. I still wish I had them to listen to... The Sound Engineer gave me Steve Murray's number, he told me,"He's into this kind a music.." I called Steve, he agreed to check it out. We hit it off immediately. BLZBob bailed, he wanted to go in a different direction. Then it was me and Steve.

We just hadn't found that special combination yet with a drummer, so we started working on our first disc without a permanent drummer because we just wanted to do this album and move on to the next. We easily have enough material for 2 more albums and more ideas in bits and pieces.

So...WA-LAH...you're up to 1066 now..ha-ha...Danie Powers-vocals and guitars, Steve Murray-bass and taurus pedals. POWERS COURT.

CW: Where did your name come from?

DANIE: We soon discovered that several bands were named "Equinox" both regionally and locally. We wanted something that we really didn't think someone else would have. It was Steve's idea, it's the name of a castle in county Wicklow, in Ireland. And yes, my last name is really "Powers".

CW: What's the musical philosophy of the band? What are you aiming for by your playing and recording?

DANIE: I want people to use our music as a hallucinogenic. MTV has taken that away from music. You don't sit and listen to "music paint pictures in your head" anymore, your head plays re-runs of what MTV dictated to you the night before...it's cold,it's sterile.

I'd like to make videos, but I have some very different ideas in mind from what MTV is doing. How about something with some depth that doesn't look like a fraggin' Levi's commercial??? I'd want them like mini-epics to go with the songs. This abstract stuff is really boring me to tears now...I have to paint a picture to go along with my music. I always thought I wrote the music so the listener could make their own painting...MTV has made music trendy crap...oh don't get me started on that...

CW: What influences, musical and otherwise, do each of the members bring to POWERS COURT?

DANIE: When I was first learning guitar, I would tend to copy Steve Harris instead of Dave Murray, only playing rhythm chords to it...it just stood out and made sense. I like to thunder with the rhythm section, I don't get off on pretty little guitar notes floating on top of everything all the time. I'd rather it be eerie and beautiful if you're gonna play a lead, otherwise grab an oar and help get this longship sailin'.

Steve's style is very different, he likes his sound thundering and intimidating. You know, blast you in the chest and rip your head off,but he still wants enough of the highs to soar at you so you can really hear the notes sing. His influences are Steve Harris, Geddy Lee, Timi Hansen and John Alderete.

Steve also produced the CD. We're getting closer and closer to our true essence. We're very clannish about someone else producing us now. Everyone wants to put their icing on your cake when you get to the studio and sometimes...well, ya know the "two many chefs" theory...they'll take off feedback on the ends, speed up the vocals...UGH...in the end, they want you to sound like what THEY want youto sound like, not necessarily what you sound like. Good example, METALLICA and BOB ROCK...need I say more???

We want to sound like us, not someone else's interpretation of us.

CW: What are the most powerful lyrical themes, in your opinion, presented by POWERS COURT?

DANIE: They are ALL powerful. The occult, horror, darkness, struggle with darkness and light are recurring themes in the lyrics, along with war like viking motifs. The songs of ferocity will speak to the ferocious, the songs of passion will speak to those who are the most passionate, the struggles of darkness and light will speak to those who have traveled the paths. I want them all to tear your soul apart!!!

CW: What's the status of a new release from POWERS COURT? Do you have a titleyet?

DANIE: If I did I wouldn't give it to you! . A bit of mystery does a bodygood.

CW: What are some of the lyrical subjects from your next work?

DANIE: Titles that tentatively will go on CD#2 are:

Tragedy of Faust
The Devil's Triangle
Echoes of Silence
Agnostica
House of Sorrow
Darkened Paradise
Conquistador
Emptiness

Other titles are undecided at this time, but this is today, next week could be different. We "may" do a three song demo before the disc just to wet your appetites. We just start with the song we're feeling the best about and go song after song. First there is the usual, getting the drum sounds down, working on a guitar sound. We don't just charge in and start slapping stuff down, we tend to take our time a bit, a thing worth hearing is worth waiting for, eh? I think the subjects for the most part are pretty self-explanatory, I don't want to give too much away .

CW: Any difference in style, musically, lyrically, or vocally from the previous self-titled CD?

DANIE: It's just us...now. I really can't give a good answer on that one yet, we've not gotten into the meat of it yet, drum sounds, guitar sounds...you know...we're still at phase I, we just started on it a couple of days ago. It should take a good 6 months I'd say. We want things to sound the best they can for our fans, the most ominous, powerful and haunting. The vocals, I really want to put a lot more effort in, maybe a bit more trilling and such as that. But the gut wrenching powerful stuff is what makes my soul dance, that's what takes a hold of me and shakes me around, so that's there permanently. That is who I am when I sing. I let the music do the talking. It leads me, I don't tell it anything except, "take me there".

CW: What emotions are you trying to invoke from your fans through the music?

A: Extreme uncontrolled happiness. I just want them to be really turned on by putting it in the disc player and just listening to it ya know? Like bands have donefor me, LED ZEPPELIN, KING DIAMOND, IRON MAIDEN. Mystical, surreal journeys...that's what I want to conjure.

Interviewer's Forward: And conjure it they do! I strongly urge you to purchase the first POWERS COURT disc, and get in line for the second one. Bold steps in original, pure heavy metal!

For a Free copy of Ascendant Strains, including a review of POWERS COURT,send S.A.S.E. to:Ascendant Strains
10651 E. Timeless Drive
Tucson, AZ 85748
U.S.A.
or e-mail cwisnom@flash.net

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