Picture credit: a.tay.lor
Power Failure seemed to spring out of nowhere with their excellent demo, ‘Hunger Stones’. The five songs mixed the gnarled power violence of bands like Despise You and Apartment 213 with thumping beatdown influences to terrific effect, and last year’s ripping ‘Master System’ 7″ upped the ante even further.
James (vocals) and Faz (vocals / guitar) were good enough to answer some questions via email, with a big chunk of time spent musing over Essex hardcore past and present.
Okay, can we start with the usual malarkey: how, when and why did Power Failure get started?
James: “Faz started the band as a very unserious post-lockdown project blending power violence with beatdown hardcore but it quickly became something a bit more substantial once the rest of us all piled in.
Faz: “It all started with Sam Bricket from Do One. Years ago, I did a novelty type band with him and because he loves beatdown hardcore we tried doing some beatdown stuff while we were recording just to make him laugh, but it was awful.
“It always annoyed me that we weren’t able to write anything half decent in that vein, so a few years later I thought about trying to blend it with power violence and suddenly it all clicked into place.”
I don’t usually ask this question because I find it a bit tedious, but you’re kind of an unknown quantity to me: have any of you played in bands previously? If so, which ones?
James: “Ha ha,I have to admit that’s deliberate. It’s rare that anything can be taken at face value these days, particularly with the prominence of social media, and so many things can influence some people’s perception of a band so we let the music do the talking as much as we can.”
Faz: :We’ve all had a fair bit of experience prior to this, nothing too noteworthy but I was in Cease to Exist, Foot Powder and The Lobotomites among others; I’m part of the Negate Everything Collective and previously the Yamabushi Collective so check out the bands on those two labels.”
James: “We’ve all mainly been in hardcore and punk bands. Our drummer Paul and Faz have actually played in 10 bands together now, my personal favourite of which, was called Baron Soil, who only did one demo (on Negate Everything), and as much as Faz will hate me saying so, it’s really evocative, powerful hardcore, which kind of serves as a thematic precursor to Power Failure.”
Did you have any sort of early plan for how the band would sound, and, if so, how do you think you’ve stuck to it?
Faz: “Like I say, the general idea was to try and play beatdown hardcore from the perspective of people who don’t listen to a lot of beatdown hardcore, which has resulted in taking more of a punk or PV approach to the sound (short songs etc.).”
James: “The sonic principles of the band are still the same, but I think we know what works for us now, and we enjoy taking ourselves out of our comfort zone somewhat.”
I loved the ‘Hunger Stones’ demo, but it really feels like you levelled up for the 7″ on Then And Now – the sound of the thing is just MASSIVE. How do you feel you’ve changed / grown / developed as a band between these two releases?
James: “Thank you very much for saying so. As tends to happen, our sound has become a little more refined since the demo, although still maintaining the core elements and influences from when the band started up in the first place.”
Faz: “The music for most of the songs on the demo was written before James came in, and I think subconsciously, you always take in things from your band mates when writing. James has a similar musical background to me, so it was easier bringing more power violence influences in, as well as subtle anarcho and punk influences as well.”
James: “We’d also have to credit our mates Lucian Furukawa and Maxi Sassi for getting a big sound out of a DIY recording and subsequently Will Killingsworth who mastered it.”
Is the record called ‘Master System’ in pure homage to 8-bit Sega, or is there something else behind the title?
Faz: “You have no idea how tempting it was to reference that in some way, to the point that I started coming up with an idea for an alternate cover with Alex Kidd knocking out the monopoly capitalist, but I’m quite glad we resisted, it would have ruined the tone a bit.”
James: “As anyone who has ever been in a band will tell you, not every idea is a good one. In all seriousness, the title simply references the way the world works, a concept that Nick Felaris brilliantly illustrated on the record’s front and back cover.”
To me, the band straddle a couple of different worlds: there’s obviously a hefty dose of power violence going on, but it’s mixed in with some 90s metalcore and knuckledraggy beatdown. These aren’t worlds I necessarily would have thought to smash together, so I was wondering how the mix came about and where on that spectrum you feel you fit in best?
James: “I have to admit, I don’t think we can take full credit for the idea, as initially I know the first couple of Zulu releases were an early reference point for combining the different styles, however I don’t feel anyone would feel we are in any way similar. I’m personally a fan of it all though, having got into hc through 90s metallic hardcore, and moving onto fast hardcore punk / thrash etc.”
Faz: “I’m not quite sure we fit into either completely, fans of more traditional power violence may be put off by the beatdown riffs and there may not be enough of that stuff to satisfy someone who just wants everything to slow down so they can spinkick their arse off. We like it that way though.”
If you were to pick a record from each of those subgenres to sum up what Power Failure was all about, what would they be?
James: “Without wishing to appear unoriginal you could almost comically take any ‘proper’ record from each subgenre and smash them together to get the base sound, take say, the Crossed Out 7” and combine with Bulldoze ‘The Final Beatdown’.
“I’d personally go for ‘Incubation’ by Ebola and Ironside ‘Fragments of the Last Judgement’, as they both are not only direct influences on us, but both bands don’t fit neatly within either of those classifications – just like us.”
Lyrically it feels like you’re definitely more in the Pessimiser / Slap A Ham camp than the aggy beatdown one. What sort of stuff is pissing you off and motivating you to write?
James: “Absolutely! The music from both of those labels were huge influences on me before I had even attempted to write any lyrics of my own. With Power Failure, we touch upon the usual punk subjects: politics, the media, policing, but try to offer our own take and to never to be too ‘on the nose’ with it all. All the songs on ‘Master System’ are thematically linked and discussions around these subjects always paint a picture of systemic failure but the way we see it, the system works exactly as it’s intended to, and we can’t see that changing any time soon.”
Faz: “I think we just take in whatever’s around us and our ongoing concerns; obviously everything is utterly awful now without much hope of anything better so there’s a lot of anger. I was on strike as a postal worker for a six-month period in the first year or so of the band; it all bleeds into the lyrics and blends the personal and the political.”
James: “The song ‘Probate’ offers a slightly more hopeful message; however, it’s only 20 seconds long which probably tells you all you need to know.”
I loved the fact that you covered Stand Off on the EP. Can you tell us a bit about your relationship with other Essex hc bands – how and when you discovered them, what sort of shows you started going to etc?
James: “I first became aware of hardcore through the bands Above All and Understand. They were both getting a lot of press coverage, around the time I started getting into music, and therefore have always associated hardcore with Essex (I know it’s not exactly New York or DC). Having not grown up here myself, I was always struck by the consistent presence of Essex bands when I started going to shows: Unite, Special Move, Raiden etc.”
Faz: “Unfortunately, I’ve lived in Essex all my life, so my first experiences of punk were Operation Nailbomb and The Filaments at The Army and Navy as a teenager.
“There was also a vibrant hardcore scene based around Southend in the mid-2000s, mainly made up of beatdown and metalcore bands but in my opinion the best band of that era was the Deathskulls, I don’t think a band has come out of Essex that has even come close to being as good as them.”
What would be your top 3-5 go-to Essex hardcore releases and why?
James: “The Stand Off 7”, Understand 7”, Above All 7” and the Deathskulls side of the Plague Years record. All Essex classics. I obviously could go on.”
Faz: “Deathskulls ‘The Real Deal’. I’m tempted to say ‘The Real Deal 2’ or some of the splits but that was the first one I heard so it’s got the most memories attached. I’d also have to mention Special Move ‘Level 4: Game of Death’ and the Nothing in Return demo.”
It seems like the Essex scene has been seeing something of a rebirth over the past few years, whether it’s new(ish) bands like yourselves, Splitknuckle, Mob Handed, Hounds of the South etc. or older heads reemerging/digging through the archives. What’s your take on this, and what’s the vibe like where you are in Chelmsford, or when you head down to somewhere like Southend?
James: “I genuinely would have to credit people like Andy Baz and Niki Nailbomb for the recent resurgence in the local scene. They’ve pretty much kept the lights on for a long time via the Then And Now podcast, the label and putting on shows.
“Splitknuckle, too. Hardcore itself is probably currently more popular than at any point since I’ve been into it, and it obviously helps that one of its leading lights are constantly representing Essex and taking it all over the world.
“Hounds of the South have just split but the core members have a new band called Out of Spite who are great.”
Faz: “I’m the only one who lives in Chelmsford, but it’s something of a cultural black hole generally. For whatever reason, when the Army and Navy shut in the early 2000s nothing really replaced it. We have played gigs in Chelmsford, but the bulk of the hardcore scene seems to be in Southend now. There’s a definite desire for it, which is largely down to some good promoters like Less Than Zero and Drop The Ego. We’ve now got regular gigs happening in Southend which hasn’t been the case since the Minerva shut down in about 2007ish.”
James: “People like Joe who does the Essex Hardcore zine too, it’s all part of it.
“I don’t think it’s out of turn to suggest that Essex occasionally lives off former glories and it suffers from its own geography / proximity to London, but it genuinely feels like something is happening again. We have the TAN all-dayer in May (plus pre- show) which features 11 (maybe more) Essex hardcore bands, so the proof is in the pudding.”
I have to admit: I have a funny relationship with Essex. I find there’s a lot to dislike about the people and the mentality, but at the same time it annoys me to hear non-Essex people rag on the place or take the piss out of it – kind of like how it’s okay for you to deck your younger brother, but if anyone else does it’s definitely not okay. What’s your take on the place, and do you feel like Essex bands have a particular outlook / mentality / chip on their shoulder?
Faz: “It’s a very misunderstood county. Despite how many Tory MPs it returns, there are decent people here in amongst the dickheads. This is where the Peasants Revolt of 1381 began, so there is a radical history buried here for those who wish to look.
“In Chelmsford alone I’ve been to very well attended pro-Palestinian demonstrations and Black Lives Matter protests, the EDL were chased out of here as well as the antifascist demonstrations in Southend last summer.”
James: “There’s an interesting book called, ‘The Invention of Essex’ which examines how Essex became this caricature to many, whilst exploring its rich history, which clearly goes beyond TOWIE.”
What have been the best, worst and weirdest things about being in Power Failure to date?
Faz: “It’s all been good fun to be honest. It’s been an adjustment playing gigs where we are well received as I’m used to playing in quite niche bands where you get met with bafflement and animosity, so it’s been interesting. I don’t know if we’ve had any genuinely bad experiences, the odd gig to no one notwithstanding.”
James: “I loved the two gigs we did with World Peace, being part of a resurgent Essex hardcore scene and just offering something slightly different. It’s always fun watching the dancefloor become a sea of spinkicks, and then everyone not knowing what to do with themselves 10 seconds later when the tempo shifts again.”
What’s next for the band? What are you working on at the moment, and what do you hope to achieve?
Faz: “We’ve got a load of gigs lined up for the year, and hopefully a new recording at some point. In terms of goals, we don’t really have any, just to keep writing and gigging until we get bored of it.”
James: “Yeah, absolutely more of the same.”
Picture credit: Adam Green (Lume Media)