“Never,” he says. “Every time I make a record I figure it’s the last. But something about being in a band is addictive. I always think of that scene in The Godfather III when Al Pacino is talking about the family. He says, ‘Every time I try to get out, they pull me back in.’ That is what it’s like being in a band; it’s hard to get out.”
Hard to get out, hard to stay in, hard all around, but it’s all worth it. With this new disc, Spider and crew have made an album that, finally, they are proud of. “I love this record,” he says. “For the first time I feel like we’ve made a record that is exactly what we wanted to do and exactly what the fans wanted. Usually when we finish an album, I don’t even listen to it but I'm always jamming on this record.”
Something this scribe is digging about this album is the juxtaposition of its fun, electro-metal stomp (uh, are we still making the WHITE ZOMBIE comparison?) with the lyrical theme in the songs, which Spider described in a press release as, “our inability to find a place in our own world.” Which, combined with the cool album title, makes for a pretty interesting slice o’ something to think about while grooving to wildly cool tunes like ‘Do Your Thing’, ‘Super Villain’ and ‘Get Your Bones’ (particularly the ultra-cool look-at-me riff found in the latter; listen to it and you’ll know the one).
“It kind of just popped into my head,” Spider says of the album title. “I liked it because it feels big and kind of mysterious. Kind of like a trippy ‘70s sci-fi novel.” And as for the lyrical theme, he says that, “a big influence in my life has been science fiction and great science fiction works on two levels. It should be big and fun and strange but also at the same time present some social commentary. That is what Powerman 5000 does. On the surface we are a fun band, you’re right; but dig a little deeper and you will find more.”
But on some levels finding “more” is not what this band is all about, and it’s taken Spider this long to realize that. When I ask him if it ever gets hard to write songs within this framework and not repeat himself, he reveals his recent revelation.
“I think trying not to repeat myself has been my problem,” he admits. “I’ve recently come to the realization that repeating yourself is not such a bad thing. Think of the RAMONES or AC/DC; they are brilliant and essentially do the same thing over and over. That said, I always struggle with lyrics. It takes me forever to deliver the lyrics.”
So with all the struggle and the years of existing on the edge of genres, what is it that keeps Spider making music with his gang of merry metal musical minstrels?
“I just like creating something out of nothing,” he says. “It’s exciting to start with a germ of an idea and see it grow into a song or album. The process is where I get most of my satisfaction and to be able to bring in the sci-fi and horror stuff is great because it becomes more than a rock band; it becomes a lifestyle. I get to let the fans in on all the stuff that I love and they feel more connected to the music.”
For more information, visit myspace.com/powerman5000.
