The Global Battle of the Bands (GBOB) Challenge searched high and low throughout Australasia and found Powerrage, who were unearthed as the Australasian National Final WINNER. Emerging from Newcastle, these powerful young-guns electrify the stage with rocking sounds reminiscent of Led Zepplin and AC/DC.
Having met at primary school, the boys, with their shared passion for music, started jamming in Crawford’s house after a number of them recieved guitars for their birthdays. “The Let There Be Rock Show”, an ACDC cover band was one of the first bands for a number of members from Powerrage. When asked if their experience performing in this band has developed them as musicians, they stated that “The Let There Be Rock Show” has been an amazing help in developing our band through the fact we have been performing the show for over 4 years and have played hundreds of gigs over that time which has given us all so much experience in the music industry”
Although, Powerrage has been playing for a fair while and shed like lords, the boys seem to have barely hit puberty. Their secret to their success they say is not steroids or Monkey sperm, but surprisingly lots of practice. And this practice sure did pay off when they won the global battle of the bands. Describing the feeling as ‘literally amazing, I think a few of us are still trying to come to reality with the whole thing ha-ha, we are really stoked about our achievement.’ Powerrage is set to take over the world.
The fact that their ages range from 13-17, the fact that they are probably a lot younger than the other bands in the competition. and also the genre of music that they play, 70’s and 80’s rock, are some of the reasons why Powerrage thinks they would have stood our in the Global Battle of the Bands competition.
Powerrage is already proving to be rock stars with appearance on the Footy Show and Channel V. When talking about their experience on the Footy Show the boys state ‘Going on The Footy Show was an experience that we will never forget, it was pretty much our launching pad or break into the industry. It was really amazing performing on the show as we were in the presence of Chief and the boys as well as Pete Murray, Mark Holden, Alex Lloyd and Spiderbait, and to top it all off we won a massive motor home which we then sold not long after.’ The boys also appeared on Channel V, an experience which they described as informative and fun as they got to play their music to a huge audience.
Underage bands face big obstacles with getting gigs due to licensing. As a young band themselves, Powerrage suggests that laws should be reviewed, more government funding should be provided and more multi purpose venues should be built so that underaged groups have somewhere to play. Competitions, they state, are also vital as young bands can have something to aim for and get decent exposure.
When asked about their plans for the future, the boys of Powerrage state that they plan to aim for bigger and better things. They are nearly finished their E.P which will be out early next year and they will also be doing a few video clips in January next year. They hope to eventually bring out an album, tour the world and be as successful as they possibly can.
