Powerman 5000
True Force (Curve of the Earth)
An interview with vocalist Spider One
by Joey Ammo
When we last checked in with local rhythm-rockers Powerman 5000 they were playing their last Boston show for a while at the Rat, and were expecting to begin recording their first album for Capitol records. There’s been a change in plans…
Jordan is absent tonight as Adam, Dorian, Alan and vocalist “Spider One” sprawl about the dictaphone at the grungy Russo rehearsal complex in the Fenway. Spider One, a “truly forceful” man with no shortage of vernacular (including some opinions about this very publication), breaks the silence of his brood as he begins to unfold the winding tale…
What happened with Capitol Records?
We went through the whole “dog and pony” show. We had interest from several labels. We tried to be smart and take our time, and finally we decided to go with Capitol. It turned out not to be the best choice for us, because our A&R person just flaked out at the last minute. She pulled out of the deal, which happens, but not like this. I mean, they courted us along for a while: the L.A. trips, the dinners, all that. We were cautious about saying anything, so we kept it quiet. Finally, by October we decided “O.K., this is actually going to happen,” and we had our last big bash at the Rat. About two weeks later the A&R person suddenly decided she had a problem with the deal.
How have you guys been handling the news?
The most important thing to us is that we got out of it without really getting burned at all. The last thing we want is for this to sound like some sob story, because actually things have turned out for the better.
How’s that?
Well, it could have been a lot worse if we were halfway into the deal and this happened. We might have been surrounded by people who didn’t give a shit about us. This way, we can go back and explore the other options with record labels we were looking at before.
So what are you up to now?
The first thing we did after getting the news was book studio time, and record our new material [at New Alliance with Frank Butkus, who recorded their label-interest demo – Ed.]. It’ll be a CD for Curve of the Earth called True Force.
When’s the release party?
Our first show back out will be at Bill’s Bar, December 6th, and hopefully the CD will be ready by then, so we can make that the release party.
And so, the saga of Powerman 5000 continues. These are proud guys who believe in their band, and they believe in their future. They’re sure there will be another record deal soon, and they don’t want to dwell on it. They’re looking forward to playing out in the clubs again. Next month, we’ll take a listen to the album.
