Powerman 5000
(sometimes abbreviated to PM5K
) is a Boston-based rock band formed in 1991. Through the span of over a decade, the group has released several albums and gained their highest commercial success with 1999's science fiction themed Tonight the Stars Revolt!
. Frontman Spider One is also the younger brother of Rob Zombie, and their styles have often been a source for comparison. He is also the only original member & founder.
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POWERMAN 5000 TICKETS
EVENT | DATE | AVAILABILITY |
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Powerman 5000 Tickets 7/2 | Jul 02, 2024 Tue, 6:30 PM | | Powerman 5000 Tickets 7/3 | Jul 03, 2024 Wed, 8:00 PM | | Powerman 5000 Tickets 7/7 | Jul 07, 2024 Sun, 7:00 PM | | Powerman 5000 Tickets 7/8 | Jul 08, 2024 Mon, 6:00 PM | | Powerman 5000 Tickets 7/9 | Jul 09, 2024 Tue, 6:00 PM | |
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Biography
Early years (1991-1996)
In
1991, Spider dropped out of
art school and bought a cheap 4-track home studio and drum machine. Working under the title "MC Spider," he recorded
Much Evil
with producer Lamar Lowder. Building on local success, he built a band under the name Powerman 5000. Their style was in the nature of rap/metal that had yet to gain popularity. In
1993, longtime guitarist Adam 12 joined the band. In
1994 and
1995, Powerman released two independent records,
True Force
and
The Blood Splat Rating System
.
[1] Both albums were local successes. In
1996, they performed on the second stage of
Ozzfest and appeared on an episode of
Beverly Hills 90210
where David and Donna filmed a music video for their song "Strike the Match."
Dreamworks and Tonight the Stars Revolt!
(1997-2002)
In
1997, the band signed to
Dreamworks Records and released a re-recording of
The Blood Splat Rating System
(with two new tracks) titled ''Mega
| Kung Fu Radio
. The band toured, performing on the main stage at Ozzfest 1997 but haven't appeared since. They released singles such as "Organizized" and "Tokyo Vigilante #1". In 1999, guitarist M.33 (Mike Tempesta) joined the band as they got their biggest break. Creating a strange fusion of science fiction (which had always interested Spider) and "Action Rock" (the term for their own high-energy powerful rock), they released
Tonight the Stars Revolt!'', which contained the hit singles "
When Worlds Collide," "Nobody's Real," and "Supernova Goes Pop." The album sold over a million copies.
[2]
A follow-up album to
Tonight the Stars Revolt!
was released titled
Anyone For Doomsday?
. The album was recorded and a single, "Bombshell," had been released to radio stations. But the album was canceled just before its scheduled release
.
Anyone For Doomsday?
was later released under Spider's own new label, Megatronic Records, but went out of print due to legal issues. Arguments exist as to whether the record was canceled due to the events of the
September 11 terrorist attacks and the negative title, but the album was finished and scheduled to be released in August 2001, one full month before the attacks. Spider has said in interviews that the album was dropped because it sounded too much like the previous album and that he wanted to release something fresh and different instead of repeating himself. Conflicts thereafter caused longtime members Dorian 27 (Dorian Heartsong) and Al3 (Allen Pahanish) to leave the band. Ad7 (Adrian Ost) and Siggy Sjursen were brought in to replace them.
One of the greatest mainstream exposures to the band came from their original remake of the classic 1980's club hit "
Relax," originally by
Frankie Goes to Hollywood. The recrafted version was featured prominently during the credit roll for the 2001 comedy film
Zoolander
, and helped spread the band's appeal.
Transform
(2003-2005)
In
2003, the band released
Transform
, a more punk-fueled album, completely dropping the costumes that had been featured throughout the band's
Tonight The Stars Revolt!
era. Containing the hit singles "Free" and "Action,"
Transform
relied less on
industrial metal effects.
After the album's release,
Dreamworks Records was bought out by
Interscope Records, and Powerman 5000 decided not to make the move. Undeterred, Spider continued with his own offshoot label, Megatronic Records. In
2005 new music was released, under Spider's new label, in the form of a rarities album titled
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Vol. 1
and in new music from an upcoming
[when?] album.
Destroy What You Enjoy
(2006-2007)
A new tour was also started, but M.33 had been kicked out of the band for starting fights and Adam 12, while present on the upcoming album, was not touring. Former
Alien Ant Farm guitarist Terry Corso and former
Halfcocked (the first band on Spider's label) guitarist Johnny Rock were brought in to round out the live show. The band then signed to
DRT Entertainment, who released the album entitled
Destroy What You Enjoy
on August 1,
2006. The song "Wild World" was the first single on the album.
Somewhere on the Other Side of Nowhere (2007-present)
On May 21, 2007, Powerman 5000 claimed via a MySpace blog post that they will be releasing a new studio album in 2007. The following is taken directly from said post: ''"Considering the bands track record of putting out cds once every three years it seems hard to believe that, yes we will put out a new disc in 2007
| It's all just beginning to develop and the wheres, whos and whats are to be determined but new rock is on the way
|"'' However no more details have been released regarding the album and the album failed to meet a 2007 release as well as a 2008 release.
On January 28, a preview of tracks from their upcoming 6th studio album were posted on the groups MySpace page. The tracks for preview are entitled: "Super Villain," "V is for Vampire," and "Horror Show." Powerman 5000 posted that "Super Villain" would become available for digital purchase on February 10 via iTunes and
Amazon.com. The release date was pushed back several times to a Spring release.
On April 7, 2009, Powerman 5000 released a blog on their MySpace page stating that
Anyone For Doomsday?
has officially been re-released. The legal battle ended and the album was released under the SKG Music License. The album is available on
iTunes as a digital download. On April 21st, the band released "V is for Vampire", the second single from their upcoming album, which is planned for a summer release.
On July 7th, 2009, Powerman 5000 released a blog on their Myspace page stating that the new album has been finished, and that a release date, track listing, artwork, and additional tour dates was coming soon.
On July 27, 2009, Powerman 5000 appeared on
Rockline, Announcing the title of the new album as
"Somewhere on the Other Side of Nowhere"
. A Tentative release date of Oct. 6 was also announced. Two days later, three new songs were leaked onto
YouTube, including "Timebomb", "Make Us Insane", and "Show Me What You Got". The songs have since been removed from the site due to copyright restrictions. On
Myspace Spider posted a blog talking about the three leaked songs filled with comments of
the fans liking the music.
Powerman 5000 in other media
Various Powerman 5000 songs have been used in media, including television
film soundtracks, and
video games. This includes such game titles as
FreQuency
,
Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder
,
SX Superstar
,
Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2
, the
Twisted Metal
series,
Shadow the Hedgehog, and
WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW
. Film soundtracks such as
Evolution
,
Freddy vs. Jason
,
Titan AE
,
Little Nicky
and
Zoolander
have all featured the work of Powerman 5000. The song "Bombshell" was also used extensively as the entrance music of the
WWE tag team the
Dudley Boyz. The game
WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW
featured three new songs from the band. Spider hoped the songs would gain popularity from the game alone, seeing the success of music through video games.
[3]
Soundtrack List
- Bride Of Chucky
- "Son Of X-51" (1998)
- Dead Man On Campus
- "Organazized" (1998)
- End of Days
- "Nobody's Real" (1999)
- Universal Soldier: The Return
- "Supernova Goes Pop" (1999)
- Dracula 2000
- "Ultra Mega" (2000)
- Little Nicky
- "When Worlds Collide" (2000)
- Scream 3
- "Get On, Get Off" (2000)
- Titan AE
- "The End Is Over" (2000)
- Evolution
- "Bombshell" (2001)
- Zoolander
- "Relax" (2001)
- Blade II
- "Tonight! The Stars Revolt" (2002)
- Freddy vs. Jason
- "Bombshell" (2003)
- Jailbait
- "Good Times Roll" (2004)
- Alone in the Dark
- "The End Of Everything" (2005)
- Return of the Living Dead 5: Rave to the Grave
- "Where We Belong Tonight" (2005)
Band members
;Current
- Spider One – lead vocals (1991–present)
- Velkro (Dave Pino) – lead guitars (2007–present)
- Evan 9 (Evan Rodaniche) – rhythm guitars (2007–present)
- X51 (Gustavo Aued) – bass (2008–present)
- GFlash (Gordon Heckaman) – drums, percussion (2008–present)
;Former
- DJ Brian – turntables/keyboard (1991–1994)
- Lamar Lawder – production (1991–1994)
- Jordan Cohen – percussion (1994–1998)
- Dorian 27 (Dorian Heartsong) – bass (1991–2001)
- Al 3 (Allen Pahanish) – drums, percussion (1991–2001)
- M33 (Mike Tempesta) – rhythm guitars (1999–2005)
- Adam 12 (Adam Williams) – lead guitars (1991–2005)
- Johnny Rock (Johnny Heatley) – lead guitars, backing vocals (2005–2007)
- Terry Corso – rhythm guitars (2005–2007)
- Siggy 00 (Siggy Sjursen) – bass (2002–2008)
- Ad7 (Adrian Ost) – drums, percussion, backing vocals (2002–2008)
Discography
Full-Length Albums
- 1995: The Blood Splat Rating System
- 1997: ''Mega
| Kung Fu Radio''
- 1999: Tonight the Stars Revolt!
- 2001: Anyone for Doomsday?
- 2003: Transform
- 2006: Destroy What You Enjoy
- 2009: Somewhere on the Other Side of Nowhere
Compilations
- 2004: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Vol. 1
References
- Biography of Powerman 5000
- Biography of Powerman 5000
- Spider One, Powerman 5000 & Megatronic Records