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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. |