POWERMAD

JOEL DUBAY

Powermad was a band that fastly gained success in the late eighties. They signed with the major label Warner Bros and they released their only full-length album "Absolute Power" through Warner Bros. They got the opportunity to be featured in the David Lynch movie Wild at heart starring Nicholas Cage. Powermad was also featured on the soundtrack to the movie Dad featuring Ted Danson. Powermad toured with Overkill and Fates Warning but all the sudden the guys disbanded and Powermad's name faded into obscurity.

I personally think that Powermad's Absolute Power was one of the best speed / thrash albums of all time and I always wondered what happened to them and today we can hopefully get some answers because I've talked to Joel DuBay, Vocalist, guitarist and the main songwriter of Powermad.

Why did you disband after releasing Absolute Power?

We didn't disband immediately. We toured with Overkill, Fates Warning and many others during a 3 year period before, during and after "Absolute Power". However, there came a time when I began to believe Powermad was not heading in the direction I originally plotted. I looked very hard at where Powermad had come from and where it was heading and I was not happy. In every bands career, there comes a time when it must look at its past to determine what its future should and will be.

With Powermad, some of the guys were looking more toward changing significant aspects of its unique sound in order to find something new. The thing is, Powermad had already been changing (every good band grows) to some degree, but there was this "push" to make it completely different. I was not about to let that happen and decided to dissolve it then. In retrospect, that was a very healthy decision for me as I knew our fans would never forgive us if we became something we were not.

What are all the band members up to today?

You wouldn't believe it. Ask me that again in a month.

Have any of the members in Powermad been in any other metal bands before and since the Powermad's days?

The easy answer is "yes". I was in a few bands with other guys prior to Powermad and was made many offers to join other bands following Powermad. One offer I should have considered more seriously was one to join a band with Overkill Guitarist Bobby Gustafson called "I4NI". That was a cool project, but my head was not in the right place for that then. Todd Haug went on to work with a former Powermad drummer in a local Minneapolis band called "Dodd". Jeff plays in country music cover band. Can you believe that?

Any plans of a reunion?

YES...why do you want us to come to the UK and Sweden to tour?

Why wasn't "The Madness begins" released on CD?

That is a secret

How did you end up on the soundtrack in the movie Dad?

We had been approached by a few movie companies to use our songs for film. (Don't ask me why) This was one of the projects we agreed to.

How many copies of Absolute power did you sell?

Zillions.

How was it to perform in the film Wild at heart by David Lynch?

It was great. David literally asked us to play ourselves and to do what we normally do. He is the easiest going guy and one of the World's greatest film directors. I am still humbled by the experience and cannot wait to work on another project with him.

What's the highlight of your career?

Meeting my wife. Then, meeting Kevin Laffey of Warner Bros. There are many highlights that I can explain some other time, but these are the peak.

How did you end up on Warner Bros?

It was magic. I said a prayer to the record Gods, and got what I prayed for. The story is very long actually. I met Tim Bomba (our Producer) in Minneapolis and we hit it off pretty damn good. I knew instantly this was a guy I could fully trust. We developed a relationship and then decided to have him shop some of our stuff. I had already sent our demos to a few labels including Warner Bros, so they were already familiar with Powermad. When they called, I sent Tim over to speak with them. The rest is history...sort of.

Absolute Power

Why didn't Powermad sign up to Combat records when you released a few songs on the boot camp series?

It wasn't a match. Ask other bands how they liked being on that label. I think you find some answers to be less...

Why this odd front cover on Absolute power?

Odd? Are you talking to me?

You know, that cover was retouched before it was released. The helmets of every soldier in that conceptual piece were retouched. Someone, somewhere got it into the bands head that if we showed German soldiers with SS helmets on their heads, we'd alienate Germany. Can you believe we bought that line of shit? I did not want to retouch anything about that piece from the start. It was brilliant and exactly as I had hoped it would come out. And then... out come the airbrushes and whooooossh, it was destroyed. That piece had such great energy before it was retouched and in the blink of eye, it was dead. I am still pissed about that.

Have you any regrets?

Yes. I have many, many regrets and I am ready to take them all out on our next record. The next thing people hear from Powermad will have a very quite, yet very, very serious anger to it.

Any last words to our readers?

Yes. I believe that you the fans and readers of this and other metal genre magazines are the most underrated and understood people in the World. Head bangers and metal freaks are among the most intelligent and thought conscious people I have ever met and I am proud to be one of you. Our fans are the very best people alive and you humble me as your continue to inquire about the enigma that is Powermad. Somehow, I understand what it is you love about Powermad, even from a fans perspective.

Music is the one thing that can define a moment better than words or any other type of interpretive mechanism. I hope that Powermad's music has moved you in the way we set out and that you never let anyone try to get you to disbelieve your own life's experiences. You are what makes music worth writing, recording and especially, performing.

Strength and Honor.

Joel DuBay

By/Ruthless

(23-04-2003)