UNLEAShED POWER

1.First tell us little about the band history, discography, and when were  you were formed and why and who formed the band :
The band was formed in the late 80's and early 90's by me. I was hoping to
put a band together that would challenge the boundaries of metal music. I
relocated to New York and the band was based there, with heavy ties to my
home city of Copenhagen. The ties would eventually spread to Germany and
other parts of the world, making this a truly international band. Now the
band is based out of San Francisco Bay.

Here's our brief bio:
U.P. Unleashed Power was unknowingly birthed in the late eighties when the
Danish band, Avalon, recorded an LP called "Unleashed Power." Guitarist, Ken
Jacobsen and vocalist, John Mathias were the corner stones of Avalon, which
dissolved in 1989 when Jacobsen and Ed Owen (Drums) joined together as
Unleashed Power and relocated to New York. In 1991, the band recorded its
first demo, "Blindfolded," followed by the critically acclaimed demo "Quintet
of Spheres" in 1992. Members changed when singer, Joe Karavis, decided to
part ways due to musical differences after the demo recordings in 1992.
However, the decision to proceed with the full-length album "Quintet of
Spheres" had already been made so Mathias received the call to fill the
vocalist position once more. The now transatlantic lineup had a massively
impressive response to their 1993/94 debut album "Quintet of Spheres".

After a string of shows in the northeast of the United States, tragedy struck
in the summer of 1994 with the untimely death of bassist, John Lievano. Ed
Owen's disillusionment with the destitute prospect of finding a replacement
and recording another album sans label, culminated with his departure. Enter
J?Michael, the renowned German drummer. Bassist, Tony Spagone filled in
for the recording session. John Mathias left in 1995 feeling unable to do
justice to the new direction of the band, so Brian T. Chaffee received the
call to become U.P.'s vocalist for "Mindfailure." He, too, would leave the
band in 1998 when confronted with tour plans. U.P. released the
mind-boggling album "Mindfailure" in Europe in 1997 and in the States in
1998. Bassist John Balistreri joined the band after the Mindfailure session.
Vocalist Len Jarrell, from Surgeon, stepped in to front the shows and finish
the last tracks for the newly released E.P. "Absorbed." "Absorbed" contains a
few tracks from the "Mindfailure" sessions and two tracks recorded recently.

2.Tell us the band line up:
Ken Jacobsen: Guitar
John Balistreri: Bass
Len Jarrel: Vocals
We are currently experiencing some line-up changes.

3.How did you got the name,what does it mean and does it fits the music style you are playing?
U.P. stands for Unleashed Power. It is an early song (featured on the debut
album "Quintet of Spheres") we had about pollution. It's just as relevant
as it was 10 years ago when it was written. The song is a lot of fun to
play live as well.


4.What is the music style that you are playing and compare it to some  similar bands?
That is for you and all the other journalists to classify. I can't do that.
Suffice it to say that is Heavy and it is Metal. Not many bands play as
progressive style as we do either. I haven't heard of anyone being able to
really to classify what style we are yet.

5.Some of your favorite bands:
Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy, Rush and many more.

6.Tell us your opinion, which metal is better the metal of the 80's or   metal of the 90's and why?
The 80's metal bands were much more focused on being great musicians, 90's
got more image conscious and metal wasn't bringing in the money like it
used to (maybe because the good band got ignored?). So the good metal of
the 90's is hard to find, way too many bands that were good in the 90's
broke up. Besides half of what they call metal now of days is not metal to
me. I think the best is yet to come.

7.Tell us little about your lyrics,what are they about and also tell us little about your music,is it aggressive, atmosferic, melodic, brutal.......................?
If I had to say something it would be "thought provoking skilled aggressive
metal".

8.Your opinion about today's underground and commercial music scene?
It's been quite a lot better. The internet is making people scramble to
keep up. Soon there will come a time where music is again the focus of our
attention. There is a need to recognize skill

9.What do you think about your local metal/core scene?
It has seen much better days. I think that it is a global scene and the
global scene is coming together.

10.What do you think about underground press such as this one?
It is the best thing that has happened to Metal in 10 years.

11.How many concerts did you play and by your opinion what was the best?
The best is yet to come.

12.What was the biggest success of your band?
The opportunity to do it my way.

13.What are your ambitions: to become the big band in the underground, or you play only for fun, or you want to become big rock stars to become famous and rich.....or maybe something else ?
The main thing to me is to be able to be creative and productive. However,
with the amount of time I have to put into practicing, promoting,
maintaining a website, marketing, producing and much more. I have to make a
living on it. The "rock star" thing is secondary to me.

14.Do you have any plans for the future?
Many. We are going to start recording a new album this summer. Plus, rip it
up on stage.

15.Say something for the end:
That's cool. Let me know when you put the interview up.
Check out the U.P. site
http://www.UnleashedPower.com
Tatiana Barros