The Face Behind the Music

	EZPowell: The band members are one. That's me, yes. So, that makes me a solo artist. I may or may not remain a solo artist. Working with an entire band as a unit can be a lot of fun and everyone gets to share in potential profits and has a vested interest in making things work! As far as my songs and recordings go, I write everything, play everything, record everything, mix everything, and promote everything. :) A full band may be the path to take in the future. I just don't think about it too much at present. After all, there is a bigger reason for being in music in addition to just trying to make a living out of it.
EZPowell: The truth should be told, Oh yes indeed - for all musicians there is so much more to music than just earning a crust as most of us never make anything out of it. Or if we do make money it is either not much and hard to come by, or large amounts of cash are a long time coming. Music is one of those professions where dues will be paid in abundance. It is a hard path to choose being a professional musician so taking that route has to be a labor of love, and an all consuming passion :)
EZPowell: My genre is mostly Adult Contemporary, with bits of Easy Listening, Rock, Pop-Rock, Soft Rock, and American Soft Rock thrown in there.
EZPowell: The Bedroom Eyes was recorded, engineered and mastered by me (EZPowell), over a period of two years. I now understand why people go to college to study audio engineering. It is a highly complex science. It took me two years to figure out how to get a good level of producrtion quality, and it's nothing to do with equipment. It's all about the room, the recording, and not going nuts with effects and processes. And also, that most processing should be EQ. And I produced the Bedroom Eyes CD myself. I have on occassion actively sought record label help but they want too much and music industry business people remind me of people in similar roles in the book publishing industry.
	EZPowell: Specific bands and artists who have influenced me might well number into the hundreds. But some people that come to mind, who have influenced me substantially, are people like John Martyn, JJ Cale, Mark Knopfler & Dire Straits, The Eagles, Rob Thomas & Matchbox Twenty, Tony Joe White, Carlos Santana, Wishbone Ash, even a little bitof Jaco Pastorius. And and maybe I'll think of more, and add them later :)
EZPowell: People have said I sound like all sorts of artists and people. These artists include the likes of Eric Clapton, JJ Cale, Dire Straits, Santana, Wishbone Ash, The Eagles, Elton John, Jack Johnson, America, The Grateful Dead? Really? Other acts have also been mentioned including Hot Tuna, Tom Waits, Bozz Scaggs, Bob Welch, The Shins, Blue October, Warren Zevon, Bruce Cockburn, Dave Mason, Bobby Gosh, Todd Rundgren, Blue Oyster Cult - I have not heard of many of these ones :) And there are probably a few more that I cannot remember, that fans have mentioned :)
	EZPowell: I write music, I record music, I write books and I have a life and a day-job (sometimes), as well :) I now live in North America, in the hospitable state of Georgia, about 40 miles of so to the north west of the ever busy and bustling city of Atlanta. I have in the past, lived in Western Europe and Africa. I would much prefer to be hanging out in Bora-Bora :) Who wouldn't? But Bora-Bora is a little far away :)
And the picture above is added because it amused me that someone had taken so much to to alter my graphic to such an extent. The dude must have traced the outline of my head and then changed the background to white so that he could add his lovely little comments. It struck me that this young man might have too much spare time on his hands :) This would be one of my very few negative responses on social networking and video-blogging sites in the last 2 years :)
An interview with Taxi (an A&R company): Q: Where did you grow up? A: Southern Africa and Northern Europe Q: What made you realize that music was your path? A: If you had a choice of being rock-star or being a politician which would you pick? Q: How would you describe the music that you typically create? A: Some of it's soft rock. Some of it is a bit jazzy, and even bluesy. Never spacey! And I always try to create well crafted, listenable, catchy melodies and lyrics. Q: Who are your biggest musical influences? A: People have said I sound like a lot of people. Musicians and acts who have influenced me the most are artists like John Martyn, Rob Thomas, Wishbone Ash, Jaco Pastorius, Santana, Elton John, Matchbox Twenty, Fleetwood Mac and many more ... Q: What makes your music unique? A: I don't want it to be unique. Some people say it has some uniqueness to it. Others say it sounds a little like this or that. Being unique in the music industry is much more difficult to market than something that sounds like someone or something. And let's face it - no modern musician is unique. We are all influenced by at least one or two other people - even if only stylistically. Q: Has there been one particular moment in your musical career that you're most proud of? A: When I get to sing and play in-front of thousands of people - regularly - I will answer that one :) Other than that, even a rock-star or two seems to like my stuff :) That just makes me lucky but also proud to be recognized that perhaps I am making very experienced musicians smile. Q: What's next for you? A: Freakin' rock-star baby! Currently I am still working on the rock-star part but I am slowly making headway. Truth is I would be happy to make enough money out of music - to be able to make and play music all of my life :) Anything else would be a bonus - including half naked, screaming women in the front row :)
An interview with James Lowe of KJAG Radio: Please return this interview form by the 20th of the month and if not returned by then, the interview will be published in the next Mic issue. When returning form: 1} Complete the interview form, 2} Banner or link to your site, 3}Picture or link to picture gallery so we may include one on the piece The Mic: What got this band together and started in this business? EZPowell: The band itself is currently made up of one person, who writes, plays, records and engineers everything. That's me. I have been doing this kind of thing for the last 30 years, with some gaps in between. I bought myself a fretless bass about 6 years ago, which started me writing again. The Mic: Who writes and produces all the material for the band? EZPowell: Me. One or two songs are co-written with one other person. None of my co-written songs are currently released on CD or digitally. They may be in the future. The Mic: The band played in front of or with any acts our readers would know from the Mainstream? EZPowell: I wish. The Mic: Where can people access your music on the web? EZPowell: Lots of places, including Myspace and Youtube. Also I have uploaded to many other music sites on the web, probably at least another 25 to 50 websites. The Mic: Any embarrassing moments on stage? EZPowell: My old guitar likes to go out of tune. I am planning to go back to contracting and consulting for a while, and buy new and better equipment over the next 6 months or so. The Mic: Any good stories you want to tell us? EZPowell: All sorts of good stories but this is the kind of thing that just crops up in conversation, as small-talk. The Mic: Who is the band's musical influence? EZPowell: That would be my musical influences, which are many. Specific bands and artists who have influenced EZPowell might be in the hundreds. But particular people who come to mind, who have influenced me substantially, are people like John Martyn, JJ Cale, Mark Knopfler, Rob Thomas, Tony Joe White, Carlos Santana, Wishbone Ash, and many more :) I tend to list my influences as any known act that online fans have said I sound like. From a personal perspective, I like to think that people such as Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits), or JJ Cale have had a profound influence on me. Then again, as a songwriter of many years, I will say that any song is influenced by two things: the drummer plus the bass - the rhythm section (especiakly the drummer), and whatever the first idea for a song was before it ever got written. The Mic: How did the band get together? EZPowell: All my legs and arms always were attached, and as far as I can see they still are, and hopefully this situation will remain that way. So the question is not applicable in my case. The Mic: What is your musical background like? EZPowell: I am not trained as a musician, which I think helps to make me more creative and able to think and play more out of the box. For example, when I audition as a bass player for a band, the band will either love or hate my bass playing. Partially, because I play the bass like a guitarist (I started playing acoustic guitar - who didn't), and also because I never play anything standard. I never play anything standard because I can't - but I also never tried too hard to learn standard blues bass lines because it is just too boring to play. The Mic: Any other members in your family that are musicians? EZPowell: Yes. A few here and there. One grandmother played the piano. The other the violin. My father plays the piano, and he played the clarinet in a jazz band for years when he was in his 20's. He was very good. My brother used to write songs. My brother's lyrics are more intellectually descriptive than mine. Myself, I do try to keep my lyrics unintellectual. Me writing lyrics intellectually (complicated) usually results in making me want to yawn. My father also plays the piano still. My wife plays the french horn and used to play in a New Yopk Orchestra. I will get her to do some recording for me because I just love the French Horn. And my kids love to sing. One of my kids makes stuff up, singing as she goes along. She was of course bouncing on my knee to Van Morrison from the age of a few weeks. Moondance seemed to calm her little woes with infant gas :) The Mic: What is the TOP reason why you want to play music? EZPowell: Because it makes me feel good! There are other benefits of course, but the primary reason is because music is probably one of the most satisfying ways to make a living in this world wonderful world. Music is one of those feel-good things in this life. The Mic: What has been your best show? EZPowell: There have been many. However, my favourite thing is playing the bass in a band. I have had a few good gigs, but nothing specific I can remember. Playing my own stuff on stage is great because I often get cheers. And some of my best shows have been singing covers as well. However, now I try to play my own original creations exclusively.