Draft:Powerage (band)
Powerage | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Lyon, France |
| Genres | Hard rock, heavy metal |
| Years active | Since 2023 |
| Spinoff of | ADN (2022-2023) |
| Members | Goose (lead guitar - since formation) Michael Hammersmith (bass - since formation) |
| Website | https://arsenemarquat16.wixsite.com/goosey |
| Influences Guns N' Roses, Scorpions, Iron Maiden... | |
Powerage is a French hard rock band formed at the end of 2023 by guitarist Goose and bassist Michael Hammersmith in Lyon. Mainly influenced by bands like Guns N' Roses, Scorpions and Iron Maiden, the band is planning their first album, titled "War Guns" with these singles Plane To L.A., Coming To Heaven, Stand Up To Kill as well as other songs.
History
[edit]In 2022, Goose formed a heavy metal band named ADN with a friend (drummer). After an argument, Goose left the band accompanied by Michael Hammersmith, who had met him a few months earlier and with whom he wanted to continue the adventure.
Goose and Hammersmith formed Powerage at the end of 2023. The band comes from the commune of Saint-Georges-d'Espéranche, in the department of Isère, in France. The former formation of the band then called ADN, which was previously in a progressive heavy metal style, evolved towards hard rock in the style of Guns N' Roses.
During 2024, the band recorded a few demos, which would become songs from the future album, such as Plane To L.A., Coming To Heaven, Stand Up To Kill as well as the Lynyrd Skynyrd cover Simple Man.
The band already has around fifteen tracks, such as Plane To L.A., Coming To Heaven, Stand Up To Kill, Crazy Girl, Powerage, All For Rock'N'Roll, Bad To The Bone, You're Sexy, War Gun or even Queen For The Night, Afraid To Lose One More Life, Born To Dream, Born To Kill!, Friend With The Devil, which will appear in their first studio album, War Guns, or for future albums.
Musical style
[edit]Powerage's musical style is mainly influenced by Guns N' Roses, with the songs Plane To L.A., You're Sexy, Crazy Girl and Bad To The Bone, both in terms of music and in terms of look, but also contains songs with heavy metal influence, such as Stand Up To Kill or War Gun. The band also has some ballads very influenced by Scorpions like Coming To Heaven or Afraid To Lose One More Life. Lynyrd Skynyrd's song Simple Man will be constantly played during the band's concerts.
Goose's melodic solos are inspired by guitarists like Slash, Kirk Hammett, Matthias Jabs, Angus Young, Jimmy Page and Dave Murray.
Although the band's musical style leans more towards hard rock, Michael Hammersmith is more influenced by traditional heavy metal bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Manowar, Metallica, Saxon or Sortilège. Hammersmith said: "I love bands like Scorpions or Guns N' Roses, but I think there is more to discover in metal, Délire D'un Fou from the band Sortilège or Heart Of Steel from Manowar are incredible, it's something you don't find in hard rock, but don't get me wrong, I'm one of the Scorpions' biggest fans, and Stairway to Heaven is literally my favorite song, right up there with Run to the Hills.
Influence
[edit]Goose has stated that his main influences were Guns N' Roses and Metallica, but he was also influenced by Iron Maiden, Scorpions, Airbourne, Mötley Crüe, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Bon Jovi...
Michael Hammersmith has stated that he was mainly influenced by Scorpions and Iron Maiden, but he is also strongly influenced by Guns N' Roses, Judas Priest, Manowar, Airbourne, Metallica, Sortilège, Saxon, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Mötley Crüe or even Deep Purple, Europe, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Aerosmith.
Goose draws a lot of inspiration from Slash, lead guitarist of Guns N’ Roses, who is his idol: “This man is just brilliant. A game so melodic and powerful that I sometimes forget that it is human. »
Hammersmith said it was the incredible playing of Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris that made him want to play bass. “For me, Steve Harris is the best bassist of all time, not only because of his bass playing but also because he is the composer of all of Iron Maiden's hits, including Run to the Hills, Fear of the Dark, Afraid to Shoot Strangers or Phantom of the Opera. »
Band members
[edit]- Goose - guitars, backing vocals (since formation)
- Michael Hammersmith - bass, backing vocals (since formation)
Discography
[edit]Powerage have yet to release a studio album or live album but their debut studio album War Guns is planned and their stock of songs is not exhausted for a second LP, Born To Dream, Born To Kill!.
War Guns
[edit]War Guns will be Powerage's first studio album, planned for release in the next few years. The composition of the album began during the year 2024 with songs which will appear on the album, or on the next ones... It contains the titles Plane To L.A. and Coming To Heaven, future classics of the band but also of very good hard rock songs, like Stand Up To Kill, You're Sexy, Crazy Girl... and a cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Simple Man. Three singles are planned to promote the album: the opening track Plane To L.A., the ballad Coming To Heaven and the hard Stand Up To Kill. The title of the album, War Guns shows the power of the album and that today's bands like Powerage can still make good music and "all stoned", according to the band.
Two tours are planned to promote this album: the War Gun's Tour where the album will be played in its entirety, and the Plane To The Stage Tour, mixing the new songs and covers like Run to the Hills by Iron Maiden, Rock You Like a Hurricane by Scorpions or Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns N' Roses, without forgetting the live classic Simple Man (Lynyrd Skynyrd). The band will also constantly cover the theme music from the film Top Gun (composed by Harold Faltermeyer), which will once again show their influences on the '80s. The songs Plane To L.A., Coming To Heaven, Simple Man, Stand Up To Kill, All For Rock'N'Roll, You're Sexy and Crazy Girl will be played throughout the tour, while Powerage, Bad To The Bone or War Gun will not be played on the entire tour, or only occasionally.
Album tracklist
[edit]All tracks are written by Goose and Michael Hammersmith
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Plane To L.A." | |
| 2. | "Crazy Girl" | |
| 3. | "Powerage" | |
| 4. | "Coming To Heaven" | |
| 5. | "All For Rock'N'Roll" | |
| 6. | "Bad To The Bone" | |
| 7. | "You're Sexy" | |
| 8. | "Stand Up To Kill" | |
| 9. | "War Gun" | |
| 10. | "Simple Man" |
Singles
[edit]- Plane To L.A.
- Coming To Heaven
- Stand Up To Kill
As the album has not yet been released, the album tracklist may change. The band has other songs that may appear on the album, or on the upcoming album Born To Dream, Born To Kill!, such as Queen For The Night, Afraid To Lose One More Life, Born To Dream - Born To Kill! , Friend With The Devil, Love Bombs...
Editor's note
[edit]This article was written by the band's bassist, Michael Hammersmith, so no sources are added, although this is all true.
Kind regards Mickaël Hammersmith