\u201cI love the Powerglove.\u00a0 It\u2019s so bad!\u201d\u00a0 This quote from the 1989 movie The Wizard pretty much sums up my feelings about the band of the same name.\u00a0 I fucking love Powerglove and I love it even more that after a lengthy hiatus, they are back in the game with a new album entitled Continue?<\/p>\n
I recently had the chance to have a great phone called with Powerglove lead man\/bassist Nick Avila where talked about the new album, why they were gone for so fucking long, carrying on without guitarist Chris Marchiel, and what Powerglove\u2019s absolute most challenging show was.\u00a0 This was an absolute fucking blast so please press A to continue, strap on your Powerglove and settle in.<\/p>\n
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Nick, thanks so much for taking the time out to talk to me today!<\/strong><\/p>\n Thanks, Don.\u00a0 It\u2019s good to talk to you again.\u00a0 It\u2019s been what?\u00a0 Five years or so?<\/p>\n ======================================<\/p>\n It sure has.\u00a0 The last time we talked was when you guys were in Atlanta back in 2012.\u00a0 What the hell have you been doing since then?<\/strong><\/p>\n Well, we\u2019ve been hibernating in our basements working on this album.\u00a0 Well, I guess I\u2019ll give you a real answer for this one.\u00a0 I was trying to decide on whether to give you a joke answer or a real answer [laughs].<\/p>\n ======================================<\/p>\n It\u2019s your call man.\u00a0 Whichever one you want to give is awesome.<\/strong><\/p>\n I guess I\u2019ll go with the real answer [laughs].\u00a0 When we finished our tour for Saturday Morning Apocalypse<\/strong><\/em>, we took about a year to just take some down time.\u00a0 A few of the guys worked on some solo projects so we just kind of did our own thing for a year.\u00a0 We regrouped around mid-2013 and started writing and arranging a new album.\u00a0 Since we were off the road for so long, we all started working full time jobs again so we were recording it like one instrument at a time and it took us all pretty much a year.\u00a0 We worked at it really slow.<\/p>\n ======================================<\/p>\n There was a pretty long stretch of radio silence from you guys as to what was going on.\u00a0 I even had some readers ask me if you guys had broken up.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n We didn\u2019t really update fans or press on like what we were doing because we didn\u2019t really have a lot to say so yeah, a lot of people thought we broke up.\u00a0 We just didn\u2019t want to play any shows until we were done with the record.\u00a0 We aren\u2019t one of those bands that can write music and record in a van or in a bus.\u00a0 Whenever we would play a show, we\u2019d get distracted we would stop working on music for like 3-6 months. \u00a0We decided to stop playing shows and to just work on the record.\u00a0 We just went off into the shadows for a long time but now we have new music so we\u2019re back out there.\u00a0 I do feel a little bad that some of the fans felt like maybe we abandoned them a bit [laughs].<\/p>\n ======================================<\/p>\n I actually loved that you guys kept a low profile.\u00a0 It added a bit of mystique to the mix.<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we did it.\u00a0 Mystique [laughs].\u00a0 It was intentional mystique.<\/p>\n ======================================<\/p>\n Did the departure of long time guitarist Chris Marchiel take some wind out of your sails at all?<\/strong><\/p>\n Chris left the band in 2014.\u00a0 It was on good terms.\u00a0 He left to program and work on his own video game and to start his own company.\u00a0 He hasn\u2019t released the game yet but he\u2019s been working on that.\u00a0 As far as him being gone, I\u2019ve noticed it a lot more live.\u00a0 From the recording standpoint, I think that Alex definitely having Chris around because he had to do all the guitars by himself [laughs].\u00a0 It\u2019s also nice to have two different guitar styles.\u00a0 Chris was a self-taught guitar player and he just naturally had a whackier style of playing.\u00a0 Alex is more classically trained and our new guitarist is also a trained guitarist who is more of a shredder.\u00a0 Some of Chris\u2019 wackiness is just gone and I miss that about him.\u00a0 Also, Chris was kind of my co-frontman so I\u2019ve had to pick up the slack and his dry sense of humor.<\/p>\n ======================================<\/p>\n I always loved the, at times, comedic dynamic of you two together on stage.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah, sometimes I would go into super metal frontman mode and Chris would bring me down a step.\u00a0 He would make fun of me, throw things at me, or if I made a mistake he\u2019d call me out [laughs].\u00a0 Now I just make sure not to take myself too seriously, to make fun of myself.\u00a0 Now I make fun of Ben because he\u2019s the new guy [laughs].<\/p>\n ======================================<\/p>\n The new guy always deserves it.<\/strong><\/p>\n Oh, he does.\u00a0 I made him hold my dirty sock at the last show [laughs].\u00a0 I tricked him into holding it and then made sure to tell the crowd how long I\u2019d been wearing that sock without changing it and he just threw it on the ground in disgust.\u00a0 It was so great [laughs].<\/p>\n ======================================<\/p>\n The new album, Continue?<\/em>, was so cleverly titled.\u00a0 Did this have anything to do with Powerglove\u2019s \u201ccomeback\u201d or am I reading too much into it?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s both actually.\u00a0 Continue?<\/strong><\/em> ties into video games and then it also has to do with.\u00a0 I have to give credit where credit\u2019s due.\u00a0 Chris (Marchiel) came up with the title back in 2014 and we all really liked it.\u00a0 One of the reasons we took so long making this album was because at some point we all just needed a break.\u00a0 We also questioned continuing with the band and we needed to make changes in our lives to make the band work.\u00a0 None of us questioned whether we wanted to continue with music or not because that\u2019s not really an option for us.\u00a0 None of us really saw it coming when Chris chose to quit the band so continuing did become a theme for the album.<\/p>\n ======================================<\/p>\n When coming up with arrangements for these songs, does one particular person get their way or is it usually a compromise?<\/strong><\/p>\n We usually find ourselves compromising.\u00a0 A good example of that is that on this album, one of us wanted to use a sex beat.\u00a0 You know that \u201cunts unts unts\u201d thing?\u00a0 Another one of us wanted to use a blast beat which you know what that is.\u00a0 So to compromise, we ended up turning it into a \u201csex blast\u201d [laughs].\u00a0 So that\u2019s how the sex blast was created.\u00a0 That\u2019s how our music gets created [laughs].<\/p>\n ======================================<\/p>\n Do you ever get tired of doing the video game themed material and if so, do you ever see Powerglove doing something a bit different like maybe 70\u2019s\/80\u2019s TV theme songs?<\/strong><\/p>\n Well, if we keep on taking ten years between albums we\u2019ll be fine.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be dead before we run out of material.\u00a0 No problem [laughs].\u00a0 If we do get better about putting out albums, I think we\u2019ll be ok.\u00a0 There\u2019s been talks about changing it up a bit but there\u2019s enough video game tracks that we want to do right now.\u00a0 If we do run out of songs to do, I think we\u2019ll explore other avenues but we\u2019ll be fine.\u00a0 I mean, we\u2019ve taken songs that have almost 15-20 seconds of music and turned them into 5 minute songs.<\/p>\n ======================================<\/p>\n I can only imagine how hard it can be for a band like Powerglove to not be confined to a box of sorts playing things like cons and what not.\u00a0 Do you prefer doing those kinds of shows or do you prefer touring with other kinds of bands?<\/strong><\/p>\n Our paychecks prefer the conventions and sometimes at the conventions, you get free massages [laughs].\u00a0 Every day you can get a free massage at some of these conventions.\u00a0 I\u2019ve yet to get a free massage on any of the metal tours we\u2019ve ever done [laughs].<\/p>\n ======================================<\/p>\n I\u2019m sure you could get free massages on those tours but I\u2019d be a little weary about those.<\/strong><\/p>\n [laughs] Yeah.\u00a0 Honestly, the conventions do treat us very well.\u00a0 I have fun at both and playing live shows is my favorite thing to do.\u00a0 There are just not enough conventions to quench my thirst for playing live music.<\/p>\n ======================================<\/p>\n I first saw you guys with Symphony X here in Atlanta a few years ago and you guys really got a great response.\u00a0 I\u2019ve heard of other tours where it was a bit rough on you guys.\u00a0 What tour was the most brutal for Powerglove to be a part of in the way of audience acceptance?<\/strong><\/p>\n As for a show in particular, I would say when we played the 2nd<\/sup> set of Gathering of the Juggalos back in 2008.\u00a0 People were booing at us and throwing things at us [laughs].\u00a0 The first set we played went alright but the 2nd<\/sup> set we played at 2:45 in the morning and I had just woken up.\u00a0 I thought it would be a good idea to get on top of the PA system and jump off of it on the first note of the song.\u00a0 Well, I tripped over my bootlace and I flew off the 15ft high stage.\u00a0 When I fell off the stage I bent the input jack on my bass and it made a sound like a thunderous fart.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t have a Plan B so Basil told me to just fake it so I fake played for 30 minutes [laughs].\u00a0 All the acts playing at ass o clock were all gangsta rappers so it was mostly a gangsta rap crowd and they were not having what we were doing [laughs].<\/p>\n ======================================<\/p>\n But at least you guys rolled with it.\u00a0 What a fucking challenge.<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah, we like challenges.\u00a0 I think it makes you a better band to play in front of crowds that you aren\u2019t used to in general.\u00a0 We\u2019ve always had good counters for the ones that weren\u2019t digging us.\u00a0 We dedicate songs to them and things like that.\u00a0 It usually shuts them up pretty fast [laughs].<\/p>\n ======================================<\/p>\n How much money do you guys spend a year on inflatable swords or do you have an endorsement for this?<\/strong><\/p>\n An endorsement would be a good idea.\u00a0 Our inflatable sword budget is probably far higher than any metal band in the industry today [laughs].\u00a0 It\u2019s really to inflate the image of the band and how big we are.\u00a0 You know how rappers rap about money and having lots of money?\u00a0 We just throw out swords like we\u2019re huge [laughs].<\/p>\n ======================================<\/p>\n If you could tour with any band, which would it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think we\u2019d all have different answers to that one. \u00a0Right now, I think I\u2019d really like to tour with Blind Guardian over in Europe.\u00a0 I think we\u2019d do really well with this band called Ninja Sex Party.\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen some videos of them playing live and they kill it.\u00a0 They\u2019re pretty funny.<\/p>\n ======================================<\/p>\n What are your tour plans for 2017?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019re looking to start touring in September\/October.\u00a0 We\u2019re still in the early stages and possibly doing our first headlining run.\u00a0 Our fans have seen us support so many times doing 30-45 minute sets.\u00a0 If we can find the right support tour we\u2019ll do one but I think we\u2019ve been around for so long now that I think it\u2019s time for our fans to see us play a full set.<\/p>\n ======================================<\/p>\n I\u2019ve heard people refer to you as a joke band.\u00a0 Do you guys find that kind of insulting?<\/strong><\/p>\n No, we don\u2019t get insulted.\u00a0 People can consider us whatever they want really.\u00a0 The way I\u2019ve always seen us is that we take the music very, very seriously but we don\u2019t take the image or the stage show that seriously because I don\u2019t take heavy metal that seriously in general.\u00a0 I think the more seriously that heavy metal bands take themselves, the funnier they are.\u00a0 I\u2019m also friends and I know a lot of very serious heavy metal bands but they\u2019re like really funny, goofy guys.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think our music is a joke because we\u2019re not a comedy band.\u00a0 It\u2019s not really our genre.\u00a0 I know comedy bands and the goal with their music is to make people laugh.\u00a0 That\u2019s not really what Powerglove does.\u00a0 You may laugh because we made a song so ridiculously heavy but we do take the music very seriously.<\/p>\n ======================================<\/p>\n Last but not least, any message for the Powerglove fans out there reading this?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah.\u00a0 Thanks for not forgetting about us.\u00a0 We played in New York recently and it was almost sold out and we thought nobody was going to be there [laughs].\u00a0 The response has been really great and I don\u2019t care if you hate the songs or like the songs, I just care that there\u2019s a reaction at all.\u00a0 When you\u2019re stuck in a cave working on material for so many years, you kind of forget that anyone gives a shit so thank you for just expressing the fact that you give a shit and we really appreciate it.<\/p>\n ======================================<\/p>\n Nick, thanks again for doing this.\u00a0 It was great to talk to you again for so long and welcome back.<\/strong><\/p>\n Thanks so much, Don.\u00a0 We really appreciate it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cI love the Powerglove.\u00a0 It\u2019s so bad!\u201d\u00a0 This quote from the 1989 movie The Wizard pretty much sums up my feelings about the band of the same name.\u00a0 I fucking love Powerglove and I love it even more that after a lengthy hiatus, they are back in the game with a new album entitled Continue? I recently had the chance to have a great phone called with Powerglove lead man\/bassist Nick Avila where talked about the new album, why they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[194],"tags":[1796,598],"class_list":["post-17034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","tag-nick-avila","tag-powerglove"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17034\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}