Going Powermad with Keith Menser of Mystic Force

NRM: Keith, first I want to take a moment & say thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions.
Keith: Hey man, I appreciate you taking the time to do it! I appreciate it.
NRM: So, this is the fifth year of Powermad coming up. What should one expect to see at this Powermad that they haven't seen at the previous Powermad festivals?
Keith: People waking up to see what the festival is all about. Back in '97 the only festival around was the Milwaukee Metal Fest, and that was more of a thrash festival. It was anything but a progressive/power metal fest. For 10 years straight I went to the Foundations Forum. The forum was more of a mix of metal. Crimson Glory played once & it was on "Strange & Beautiful", Fates Warning were scheduled but didn't play. The biggest highlight for Foundations as far as progressive metal were Dream Theater. The event clearly wasn't geared toward that style of music. I went to Holland for the Dynamo festival & witnessed three days of a great event. I still realized that there wasn't any festival geared toward progressive metal in America. After the Dynamo, I realized that the scene was happening, but yet people in America felt that metal was dead. The people in America turned their backs on metal. It really wasn't something that I planned to do, but while flying home from the Dynamo, I was listening to Pink Floyd's "The Wall" & the Powermad festival hit me. By the time I got home, the name was already set. When I got home I sat at the computer & made a logo. After talking to labels, I found that sales were picking up for metal, but there were bands that people didn't know here, yet they were stars in Europe. Our biggest hope is to conquer the effort taking place to get people to support. People complain that there's not a metal scene in America. What they don't see is that this is more than a weekend of fun, we're here to try & open doors for bands, open up opportunities for other artists & personally, being a member of Mystic Force, while handling things for Mystic Force, this helps us to find the life to keep going. We're all true family. After years of playing, I've learned that one of the hardest things is to put labels in front of the stage for these bands. We used to play a club Hammerjacks which was one of the biggest clubs on the East Coast & yet, that didn't achieve the same kind of attention that this festival will for the metal scene. To one degree, this was brought up to help Mystic Force, but overall, it was created to help bands, artists & even the labels as an industry. Everything is pretty much falling into place, except the for amount of fans that are coming in. With that said, to prove more success we have more industry coming in than a fan base. We do have fans coming in from all over the world & the support of everyone who attends has been great & appreciated. So, I can say that it has been somewhat successful.
NRM: I've read some criticism toward you & the Powermad festival elsewhere on the net. How do you feel about this & why do you subject yourself to this type of punishment every year?
Keith:I've got mixed emotions about the response over the last four years. First of all, doing an event like this is a hard task. I'm a full time musician just like these musicians that I'm bringing in. I'm by no means a full time promoter. I'm doing this music out of the love of my heart. What I mean by mixed emotions is on one side of the fence we truly appreciate people coming in, it's also a great feeling to see many of the bands perform for the industry & each year knowing that some bands are recieving deals is great, & it's a really good feeling to me to see that. Also,it's great to know that fans are introduced to new bands & that includes myself. It's nice as well to be able to shop & deal first hand with the labels & mailorder companies. On the negative side, I feel like I've made some enemies along the way by trying to help the scene, which is a letdown. What I mean by making enemies is, there are many in the industry who think it's great. Along the way, we've made friends with many people on the web & including the number #1 board on the net, PerpetualMotion, I've made enemies because many people feel that I won't accept any help. However, I have asked people to help by spreading the word. That's the biggest help that anyone can offer. But, even down to website designing, as soon as fttp & account password gets involved, that's when we run into problems. I admit, there have been some problems, but ask yourself one question. Is the metal scene in America perfect? it's been a little disheartening that some of the people that I've met on the net are now against me for trying to help the scene, which is something that many musicians aren't trying to do at this time. In further explanation, Powermad is about the scene pulling together. Perpetual Motion has been a huge part of Powermad's success. I take my hat off to Deitrick, who's taken his time from his personal life to help the festival. Overall, though, the positives outweigh the negatives. I've met some great friends, outstanding contacts & then there are the bands who are achieving varied success, which in turn, has made Powermad a success in our eyes. That's what Powermad was meant to be all about.
NRM: What would you like to say to those who have complaints about the festival?
Keith: I'd first like to say that I'm sorry if I offended anyone. I apologize that Powermad has been a letdown for you. Alot of the fans spend more time pointing out negatives, rather than focus on the positives. This goes for the festival, bands & the industry as a whole.
NRM: The biggest complaint that I've seen is that people feel that you don't accept help or ask for help in putting the festival on. Any thoughts on the subject & what is being done this year to remedy that matter?
Keith:The internet is made of billions of people. Probably 95% of those people who've offered help have been over the net. We appreciate the offer to make it better, but we've never called anyone & asked them to not help. We can't afford to pay people though. One way for everyone to help is just email a friend about the festival. We get people helping us, which means that there are those who believe in us & the festival, then on the flip side, there are people who don't understand this. Anyone who wants to help, feel free to copy the banners, press releases, links, anything from the site. If you have a link or banner, contact us & we'll add your link. It's all about helping each other. We want to help you as much as you can help us. That's one source of promotion with the limited funds we have for promotion. I also work with alot of bands on my own label, Siegen. I don't make money from that. I do that for the love of the music. I also write for Ballbuster magazine & not recieve a dime for it. Our main goal is to put on a nice event for people once a year & help the scene out at the same time.
NRM:Now that there's ProgPower, how do you feel about people saying that Powermad should cease to exist? Keith:My answer to that is; Is it time to put metal to rest? Powermad started off when there was no one around to do anything here in the states for the metal scene. After a few years, we noticed that there were more festivals turning up. Now Glenn (who's doing an outstanding job & my hat's off to him), has started Progpower USA. I've had a chance to meet Glenn, who's been a supporter of Powermad from the start. I think Glenn deserves alot of credit for his outstanding job & organization. However, when this question arose, I think Glenn answered it best by saying that if there were no Powermad, there wouldn't be a Progpower. I can't understand with the size of our country in comparison to other countries, why more than one festival can not, or should not exist or be successful. I'd also like to point out that guys like Brett, who's doing a classic metal festival are doing a great job. This past weekend the classic metal festival took place & from what I hear, the turnout wasn't very high. It just shows the lack of support that the American metal scene offers itself. I think it's fair to say that in the 4 previous years of Powermad's existance, we've hosted over 120 bands, & 4 double comp cds, we've helped alot of bands, artists, & musicians. I also think that Powermad has opened some doors for this new wave of US festivals. I think that's a step in the right direction. We're not trying to take anything away from anyone elses' work. The irony of this though is that my band, Mystic Force has not been invited to any of these US festivals. All in all, I think it's great to see a resurgence of the metal scene & I think that we all have the ability to help out the metal industry. If we all come together, I think that the scene can continue to grow & that only benefits us all.
NRM: Can you give us a quick rundown of bands that are CONFIRMED to play at Powermad 2001?
Keith:In alpha order: 100% confirmed are: Aztec Jade, Brave, Breaker, Cauldran Born, Digital Ruin, Dysrhythmia, Ehteria, Gaurdian Of The Flame, Jacob's Dream, Mystic Force, Omen, Overlord, Pain Of Salvation, Persephone's Dream, Rain Fell Within, Vyndykator (formerly Attacker)
NRM: How many more bands to you hope to have booked & about how many bands do you see playing per day?
Keith:With the kickoff party, we'll have between 30 & 34 bands, which works out to about 8 to 10 bands a day. We're trying to keep the music fresh by having both progressive & power metal. We wait sometimes until June to book the rest of the bands due to promo packs coming in at various times. That's why we call this time of the year the "Season Of Madness". All year long we send out inquiries, but we usually don't have much feedback or confirmations until this time of year. Then there's a flurry of activity from labels & bands. If anyone thinks that myself or the staff make money from this festival, please think again!
NRM: Do you have any confirmed vendors, labels, or other business' that will be set up at Powermad 2001?
Keith:Basically the same as in the past, with a few new ones added in. Century Media, Crook'd Recoreds, Inside Out, Laser's Edge, Siegen, Molten Metal, Nuclear Blast, Noise, & others. We've had labels ironically see Powermad as something important to the US powermetal scene. That's quite an achievement in itself.
NRM: Let's turn our attention to Mystic Force for a moment, please.
Keith:okay
NRM: With all of the critical acclaim that "Man Vs. Machine" recieved, how do you see Mystic Force following that up?
Keith:Right now, we're at a crossroads in the bands career. We are out of our prior contracts & we are able to walk away from the label with all of the rights to our music. Now we've set out to record, mix, produce & distribute our own product on a certain level. Our goal right now is to shop "Man Vs Machine" with the majors. We haven't gotten 100% of positive feedback from labels, but that's to be expected. At the same time though, there have been several labels that have told us that this stands up with any major label product. As far as press goes, this disc far exceeded our expectations with the response that it's gotten. We've had some pretty big name & credible writers give it a positive review. We'll continue to shop the album with the majors & then maybe go to the independants who will welcome the band & support us. I'd like to point out though, that with the experience with our last label, we are being very cautious with any potential signing. We are going with a two tier in goals here, which along with obtaining a deal, we are knee-deep into writing the next album. It's by far the strongest material we've written yet. We plan to record following the Powermad 2001 festival, once the writing has been completed. Rich Davis, once again will be engineering the album. Along with his great guitar work, he's equally talented in the engineering field.
NRM:There was a common theme on "Man Vs. Machine" which is evident by the title. Will the follow up have a similar structure & follow suit with another common theme that runs throughout the album, will each song be a different subject from the next, or is it too early to tell?
Keith:It's a little early to tell. Right now, we're focusing on the music. The idea has come up about doing the same type of "semi-concept" album, so yes, the idea has been discussed. But, nothing has been confirmed yet.
NRM: Any ideas of how many songs will be on the album or what the total running time of the new disc will be?
Keith:In planning the new record, we want 60 plus minutes . Unlike alot of progressive bands though, most of our songs are under 5 minutes. We do have some longer songs, but we'll have to wait & see. The writing has been very enjoyable & we're having a great deal of fun writing this. Anyone who liked "Man Vs Machine", will definately love the next album.
NRM: Alot of people search long & hard to locate copies of the previous Mystic Force releases. Can you give them any suggestions on where they can purchase your previous CDs?
Keith:Currently they are out of print. However we do own the rights to the records. One of our goals is to reissue the albums ourselves. There are some vendors who have a few here & there of the imported versions. I have a few, so if interested, you can email me & we can try to get something done. Or, just stop by the Siegen booth.
NRM: You're also the main man behind Siegen Records. Is there anything new happening on that front? Any new signings or projects on the horizon?
Keith:Quite a few. We signed a new prog/power metal band named Karma. The band features three members of Paul DiAnno's latest lineup. The keyboardist has been Angra's touring keyman for the last three years. The bassist has recently joined Angra for their new lineup. Also, Andres Matos of Angra makes a special guest appearance. We have a live Mayadome record coming out. Half of the record was recorded at Powermad 1999 & the half was from the first year of ProgPower event. The record also features tracks from their debut with Bassel on vocals & also a 15 minute epic track from the "Near Life Experience" sessions. There's the Queensryche tribute vol.2, Dream Theater tribute & a Sabbath tribute. We're working with a few European labels to do the manufacturing & distributing of the tributes.
NRM: I know you have personally been involved in other projects. Can you tell the readers what else you've done outside of Mystic Force & do you personally have anything in the works for a side project now?
Keith:Offers always come up & if I wasn't so tied up in Power Mad, Mystic Force, Siegen & Ball Buster, I'd do more. I worked on the Twilight Kingdom record. The musicians were great, a nice friendship developed & I'm very proud of the record. I'm also working on a side project called Delusion. It's been long in the works, but it will eventually be wrapped up. That's more straight powermetal. I appreciate that these people invite me in to do this. I recorded a track with my brother in a band called Treason, which debuted on "Molten Metal Monsters".
NRM: Can you give us a list of the tribute discs that Mystic Force has been included on & any that are on the way?
Keith:Mercyful Fate, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Scorpions, & coming soon, Black Sabbath, Queensryche vol.2, Metal Church, an 80s metal tribute & a Combat metal tribute
NRM:Keith, once again, I want to say thanks for taking the time to answer these questions. I know you have an extremely busy schedule, so this is much appreciated.
Keith:I appreciate it.
NRM: Keith, any last thoughts or comments that you'd like to convey to the readers here?
Keith:Sure. It's something that I'm not proud of, but it's something that's a reality for me. I want to explain to everyone that back in 1993, I was jumped by 12 people who , kicked me in the head for forty minutes & tried to kill me. This caused me to have some head injuries & scar tissue on the left side of my brain. This brain damage has triggered many seizures over the years. I've had many visits to the hospitals, which have included a few times in a comatose state. Besides doctors playing with my medication over the years, I've had to endure a lack of sleep & stress, which the doctors have warned me about. I've continued to put my music career in front of my health & that's why I personally have a hard time with some of the negative comments & undue stress caused by my drive to continue to help the music scene & my passion for the music. Playing music is important to me. By saying this, I'm in no way, trying to offer excuses, what I'm trying to do now though is offer this statement to set straight why there have been delays over the years & a lapse in focus from time to time. Currently after several comas & having my heart stop for 2 minutes, I'm being told that there's a strong possibility that I will be facing Brain surgery soon. I told my doctor that it would have to take place after Powermad. With my involvement in the music industry, I've proved that I'm as helpful to the scene as anyone who does not have these restrictions placed upon them. I'd like to end this interview by thanking everyone who has ever taken the time to help & spread the word of Powermad. We appreciate the fans, bands & everyone who takes the time to be a part of this even. Without you, there would be no Powermad. We truly know that. We're in this together & if we'd like to see this survive, we must come together. I'd also like to take this time to thank Jarrett Lembach, for he & his brother, Chris have been great friends & I consider them along with Rich Davis, family. I'd like to say thanks to Rick, Joe T., my brother Scott, Ann, Michelle, Joe B., Steve S., Kang, John Wolff & Doug & wife as well as all of the other great people who have been there to make this festival positive.
NRM: Thank You Keith.
Keith:Thanks!
To Contact Keith, email him at: Keith Menser
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