Mike Powell of Conducting From The Grave

Matt Darcy: Recently Conducting From The Grave was in the running to play this years

installment of The Summer Slaughter Tour. What were your thoughts on that?

Mike Powell: I actually thought that it was a pretty sweet idea that we were in the running for

the spot, although I think that we have been around long enough for us to not have to battle

for it with votes, it was still a pretty cool thing to be a part of because it helped out a lot with

getting our name out there even more so with the amount of people who came through to

vote on Facebook, who had never heard of us before. Plus we only lost to Within The Ruins by

a couple thousand votes which is really good, considering they are getting really big really

fast. So all in all, it was a good thing because now we are going to co-headline Slaughter

Survivors Tour and share the stage with all the bands that people were working so hard to

get into Summer Slaughter so the promotional part of it is already pretty much handled.

MD: Are you looking forward to the Slaughter Survivors Tour?

MP: Absolutely. I've seen tons of comments from people saying they are actually more

stoked on the Survivors lineup than they are the actual Summer Slaughter, its also a more up

close and personal tour. Smaller venues in my opinion are BY FAR a lot more explosive for

tours like this, and I would much rather be playing in front of fans who will actually be able to

crowd surf and be in our faces versus playing shows where people are behind guard rails.

Not to say big tours aren't fun (and sharing the stage with TBDM is a personal dream of mine)

but being able to interface with people who come to shows while I'm on stage certainly helps

me and my performance. So yes I am very stoked.

MD: I'm one of those persons more stoked for Slaughter Survivors than the main event.

Speaking of tours, which has been your favorite so far?

MP: I think my favorite tour so far has been the Spread The Venom Tour we just recently did

with Kataklysm, All Shall perish, Decrepit Birth, and Abysmal Dawn. We are very close with

all the guys in ASP so it was just one massive love fest going on between our two bands, lots

of parting, lots of good times.

MD: It's been said that the guys in All Shall Perish are really fun dudes. Any memories stick

out?

MP: Many do, but most (if not all) are pretty gnarly, and are at risk of destroying some band

members reputations, so I will not go into detail. Lets just say Canada knows we like to

party...

MD: Those are the best kind of memories. Looks like I'll have to go talk to some other the

bands you toured with and ask them about it. HA! "Revenants" came out last October, are

you fellas working on a new release? If so, what can we expect, the same or will it have

some variance?

MP: Yes in fact we are, "Revenants" was actually tracked and ready to go back around

March 2010, they were just in between vocalists and by the time I had joined, recording

schedules had already been filled which delayed my recording of vocals, otherwise the

album would have been released sooner. So naturally by the time we released the album we

were already, for lack of a better word, bored with playing them. Not to say we don't enjoy

playing them anymore, but musically we always want to move forward and progress, so

John started coming up with ideas and Jeff, Greg, and Steven are hard at work putting

together some shredtastic stuff as we speak. I think I can safely say its going to be a

combination of our release "When Legends Become Dust" and our current album, but a bit

darker, and I know we are experimenting with the tuning so we may even drop down a step,

but nothing set in stone.

MD: How has working with Sumerian Records been?

MP: Sumerian is a good label, with that being said I also think at times that we are definitely

under promoted, even before I joined the band I was amazed at the fact that CFTG was a

signed band on Sumerian that stayed remarkably in the dark, but I also think that the early

split and departure from CFTG to With Passion had a lot to do with it as well. But still in the

back of my mind I get the feeling that we are not taken as seriously as a lot of the other

bands on the label, when the amount of hard work and dedication we put into this is insane.

MD: There's almost always a constant battle between label and band, just have to enjoy the

time and make the best of it. Could always be worse! What initially got you into performing?

Besides having some pipes, do you play any instruments?

MP: I think I was around 10 or 11 years of age when I got my first guitar, but I can remember

being as young as 3 or 4 watching my father jam on acoustic to his favorite rush and Jimmy

Hendrix albums so I have always been around music, and to tell you the truth I cant even tell

you when I first picked up a microphone exactly. I did always sing around the house, and in

grade school I took some chorus and choir classes so I have pretty much always been

singing one way or another. I always went to shows at a local venue near my house too and

seeing all the awesome artists and bands on stage did have an inspirational effect on me.

Just cant tell you that exact moment haha.

MD: When it comes to music, what do you find yourself listening to? Any guilty pleasures?

MP: I listen to all kinds of music, the only genre I don't listen to is country, not to big on

dubstep either, if its good Ill listen to it, no guilty pleasures needed.

MD: Country is a no fly zone with me as well. Instant headache. Besides music, what other

interests do you have?

MP: I am a huge graphic art enthusiast, and I love gaming, I'm actually more of a nerd than a

metal head and if you see me at shows chances are I'm by our merch table playing league of

legends on my laptop or playing super Nintendo or Playstation through an emulator. My

Nintendo pretty much raised me.

MD: I was a Sega kid myself. Okay, enough about you, back to the band! What's the next goal

Conducting From The Grave is looking to achieve?

MP: Band wise I really cant speak for everyone but I do know we always want to push on and

continue making the best music that we can for all of our friends and fans out there, for

myself its to continue to make people happy. Its a good feeling when people come up to you

and tell you your music helps them, and as long as it does, ill keep making it.

MD: Thank you Mike for taking the time to answer my questions. Any last words you would

like to add?

MP: I guess it would be that everyone should be checking the Slaughter Survivors dates and

get ready to come party with us and all the other bands on the tour, and to thank you for

wanting to interview me and giving me the opportunity to speak my mind.

http://www.nefariousrealm.com/interviews/conductingfromthegrave-mikepowell-20110509.html

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