Power Quest are arguably one of the finest Power
Metal exports from the UK in the history of this genre. This
multi-national quintet have wowed their fans on these shores for a
number of years, now the future is bigger and brighter as the band begin to
break down the watery divides and march steadily on to conquer Europe.
Freshly back from their European tour with Angra we catch up with founding member Steve Williams to discuss their successes overseas.
MM -
Hey
guys, first of all thanks a lot for doing this interview, in what must
be a very exciting time for Power Quest, following a hugely successful
European tour with Angra/Firewind and the re-release of the first two
albums in special edition format, and of course the endorsements with
both Elixir and Dean Guitars, you must be delighted with how things have
gone in the last 12 months?
Steve Williams -
Hi! It’s a pleasure do
another interview with you guys, thanks for the opportunity! Yes, it’s
been a good 12 months since the dates with Helloween and Pagan’s Mind in
2006. The remainder of the year was relatively quiet for us I guess, but
in that time the songs for the next album were written so it certainly
wasn’t wasted time. I also had a change of day jobs around this time
last year and that slowed things a little I suppose. The endorsement
deals have been fantastic and I can’t thank Dean and Elixir enough for
their support. The tour with Angra was the icing on the cake you could
say. Awesome!
MM -
Power
Quest have been around since 2001, but it was nearly 6 years before your
first trip to Europe. Did you at any time feel like things were never
going to take off?
Steve Williams -
Well, 6 years is a long time in some respects but I think it was worth
the wait. Of course, we were due to play the Ragnarock festival in
Norway last year but that was unfortunately cancelled and we have been
offered shows here and there in the past but we really wanted to wait
for the right opportunity as far as Europe goes.
I suppose it depends
what you mean by “take off”! Lol! I am extremely happy playing music
with the best bunch of guys you could be in a band with so anything that
comes along is an added bonus. I certainly do not feel that we are owed
success at all and we are not afraid of paying our dues! Hehe!
MM -
The
Angra European tour was a hugely deserved opportunity for Power Quest,
how did the band get chosen to do the tour?
Steve Williams -
Negotiations for this tour began about 9 months ago so it has been a
long process. We were very lucky to get the opportunity and I can’t
thank Jorg and the guys at Dragon Productions enough for that. Normally
bands with no tour support from their label are not able to take up such
a chance but we were determined to make it happen.
MM -
What
were the band's main aims and ambitions for the European tour? What
would you cite as the high points and the low points (if any!) of the
tour?
Steve Williams -
We
just wanted to get out and play for the fans to be honest.
We
knew that there were guys who had been waiting since our demo days to
see the band live so it was really cool to be able to meet people who we
have long exchanged emails with.
Winning
over people who had never heard of us (and there were a fair few of
them!) was the real big thing though and it seemed to be very successful
from that point of view too. Unfortunately
not many people in Europe had been able to find “Magic Never Dies” in
the stores which was really disappointing to hear.
I don’t
think you could really say there were any low points on the tour.
Francesco
and Steve Scott both got ill on a couple of days so that wasn’t too good
but they soldiered on and performed nonetheless!
For
me, the highlight shows were the Italian and French dates,
but to be honest I totally enjoyed each and every show we played.
MM -
In the
aftermath of the tour the name Power Quest seems to be on the mind of a
lot of Europeans who are longing to catch you live again, are there any
plans to head back out on the road any time soon?
Steve Williams -
We are
already looking into various options for later this year and even 2008
already. However, in the immediate future the focus is going to be on
the recording of the next record as it is almost two years since “Magic
Never Dies” hit the racks. Of course, we were due to play the Bloodstock
indoor festival this year, but that has been cancelled now. I’m told
that the indoor festival will return in 2008 apparently.
MM -
You've
recently re-released both "Wings of Forever" and "Neverworld" as special
edition packages with bonus material. Was this a follow up move to the
Angra tour, for the Europeans, or was it more a general UK/Europe
release?
Steve Williams -
The
idea behind this was to act as a stop gap before the release of the next
album. I
just hope that the distribution problems that plagued “Magic Never Dies”
do not affect these releases as well.
They
should be available in both Europe and the UK.
We
raided the archives for all the footage that we had lying around from
the past few years, including the original Power Quest demo tracks
featuring Sam and ZP from Dragonforce as well as original guitarist Adam
Bickers.
MM - How
are things going with Alessio on guitar as well as vocals? Are there any
plans to incorporate more twin guitar parts on to the next album?
Steve Williams -
Most definitely! I thought
Alessio did an amazing job on the tour and having the extra guitar
really filled out the sound. We
didn’t actually have any rehearsals before the tour so my first
experience of this was on stage in Nancy! Lol!
As far
as the album goes, I think you can safely say there will be more guitar
action than on the last album.
MM - Can you tell
us a bit about the new Power Quest album? Is the name of the new album
decided yet and what can you tell us about the songs that will feature
on it.
Steve Williams -
The new album will be
called “Master of Illusion” and the title track is going to be an epic
in the best PQ tradition. I
believe there are 10 songs (although this may change) with lyrical
themes ranging from fantasy to real life with perhaps more emphasis on
reality than before. A
couple of titles are “Kings of Eternity” and “Lonely Angel”.
MM - Any
news on when it will be released and will this be on the Majestic Rock
label again?
Steve Williams -
Nothing is cast in stone
as far as a release date is concerned although I anticipate towards the
end of 2007.
I can tell you for
certain that it will not be via the Majestic Rock label however.
We
are currently beginning the process of negotiating with other labels and
we won’t be rushing a decision as we need to make the right decision for
the next album and for the future.
MM -
"Magic Never Dies" had more of a hard rock feel compared to "Wings of
Forever" and "Neverworld", will the new album be adopting a similar
sound?
Steve Williams -
Maybe the new album is a
mixture of the past two records, but with some definite new developments
as well. I don’t want to give too much away but I think if you enjoyed
those albums then I think this one will be right up your street.
MM - It
was unfortunate that Bloodstock indoor was cancelled, it would have been
a triumphant homecoming for PQ after the conquering of Europe. Are
there any plans for a UK tour or even a one off show any time soon?
Steve Williams -
Nothing arranged as yet
for the UK as yet I’m afraid. Obviously
one off shows are a little trickier for us than for the average band but
we’ll see what comes along for later in the year.
I
agree, Bloodstock would have been perfect but what can you do eh? Some
things are just not meant to be I guess.
MM -
I read
somewhere that you've started writing about topics such as Politics and
War (if I remember correctly), was there anything in particular that has
influenced this progression?
Steve Williams -
Only
the state of the world these days.
I’ve
always been interested in current affairs but some of the events of
recent times have really got my goat to be honest with you.
It’s
not really a case of saying “OK, I’ll write about war today”, it just
sort of happened that way this time round.
MM - How are
you guys finding the endorsement with Dean? Has there been any
temptation to smash some guitars onstage yet? :P
Steve
Williams -
I
think the guys love their guitars too much to smash them up! Haha! It’s
been really great working with the Dean guys though and their guitars
really are the real fucking deal you know?
MM -
Were
you apprehensive at all before the Angra tour, considering the huge
difference in style between you guys and the headliners? What was the
general reaction of the fans to PQ?
Steve Williams -
Not at all! I think everyone in the band was very confident and there
was a lot of nervous energy flying around at times.
With Firewind also
on the bill it made for a nice mix of melodic metal I thought.
The crowd
seemed to be enjoying it as well.
In fact Edu said on stage in Milan
that it was the best tour he had been on with no egos amongst the bands
at all.
That was really cool.
Overall I think we made a lot of new
friends in Europe and I can’t wait to get back out there and play again!
MM -
With
the impressive back catalogue that the band has, there must be some
conflict of opinion as far as choosing what songs to play live is
concerned, are there any songs
that
you
would personally like to include in the setlist but haven’t had the
opportunity to date and why those songs?
Steve Williams
-
Of
course, we all have our favourites and it can be tricky to finalise a
setlist sometimes. We usually reach a compromise in the end.
For
the next round of live shows there will certainly be some changes in the
set that’s for sure.
From
a personal point of view I would love to do “Another World”, “lost
without you” and “For Evermore” to choose 3 songs that we have not
played live before.
MM -
All
three albums have had quite epic/majestic/fantasy artwork, with the new
songs being based on less mythical themes, will there be a change in
this pattern? Maybe something darker?
Steve Williams
-
Well, if real life is
darker then I guess so in some ways, if just lyrically.
As
I mentioned earlier, there are a number of songs with real life topics
so I suppose continuing on from the last album in that respect.
MM -
What
Power Metal band would you say is making the best music at the moment,
spearheading the scene even? Is there anyone in particular with whom
you'd like to tour with in the future?
Steve Williams -
That’s a tricky question
as there are a number of bands out there doing great things. For me
perhaps Silent Force and Masterplan are pushing all the right buttons.
They are not really spearheading the scene, although they should be in
my book.
I would
love to tour with both the aforementioned bands and maybe Kamelot,
Sonata Arctica and Threshold as well. I still think a Dragonforce/Power
Quest tour would be fun as well.
MM -
In the
last 6 years Power Quest have released 3 albums, played with the likes
of Angra, Firewind, Helloween, Pagans Mind, Dream Evil, done a full
European tour, played world famous venues like The Marquee and Elysee
Montmartre. What has been the proudest moment to date for you?
Steve Williams -
For me,
the proudest moments have been the recent Angra tour, the Helloween tour
and recording the albums. I guess Bloodstock 2003 was a big one for us
as it was our first big show.
MM -
What
ambitions do you have for the band in the future and what’s next on the
cards for Power Quest?
Steve Williams -
Hopefully the band will continue to grow over the next few years,
release a couple more albums, find a good home with a new label and tour
Europe and further affield
if we get the chance! I’m really excited about the next steps on the
journey.
MM -
Thanks
again for doing the interview, for making such cool music and for
keeping the scene fresh. Best of luck with the new album and touring.
Is there anything you'd like to say to your fans?
Steve Williams -
Thanks again for the
chance to do the interview with you and thanks to all your readers who
have supported us over the past 6 years. We really appreciate the
support and it means a lot to us all. Cheers guys, and see you on tour!
MM - We'd like to thank Steve for taking the time out to
talk to us today and look forward to hearing the new album when it's
released later this year.
* Interview by Shadow Warrior. |
