Stormbringer Webzine: Interview with Metal Band U.P. (Unleashed Power)

How would you classify your music ?

Guitar oriented heavy progressive thrash metal.

Do you all have day jobs and if so what do you do ?

John (our newest member) is a bartender, I do computer work and music production, Brian is a construction worker and Jrg is a professional drummer.

Why did you start playing your instruments ?

I started at the tender age of 8 or 9. My parents encouraged me to play an instrument when I was 5 or 6. I picked up the recorder and took lessons 3 days a week.

We moved when I was 9 and I couldn't take lessons for recorder, so I was at a christian youth center where some adults were playing guitar. I asked them if I could try and they ended up giving me lessons for a while, I got into it and I took real lessons for a while.

I started getting into playing in bands when I was 15. That's when I got my first electric guitar. But I didn't have a serious band until I was 18-19 (It was called Dark Mission and we made 2 demo's)

How did the band get together ?

Well, the band has been around since the late 80's early '90's in various formations. The upcoming E.P. will feature a couple of songs from that era. I had a band in Denmark called Avalon, which I dissolved when I moved to the States. I formed "Unleashed Power" in '89 in the wake of Avalon.

What is your musical background ?

I took lessons, as I mentioned before. I started out playing classical, folk tunes and corny songs from the 60's and 70's.

Then I learned about heavy metal and thought and felt, it's time to get real! So I wanted to learn more about blues, classical, scales and other stuff related to metal. Ones environment influences you and I was growing up in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The same place as Lars Ulrich and Merciful Fate, I'm bound to have certain musical influences as they did. We are almost the same age as well.

The new wave of british heavy metal was pretty influential to that scene in the early '80. I saw "Thin Lizzy' with Gary Moore in '80 and that was it, they blew me away.

What do you like to do in your spare time ?

Learning new shit, sports, computers and relaxing by reading or watching a movie. But most importantly practice, practice, practice.

What kind of music do you like to listen to when your not playing ?

I like the blues and classical music, but love metal! It has to have a feel to it, beyond the basics. I have a hard time listening to stuff that doesn't express itself. Spirit is the word I'm looking for.

The technical background is necessary in order to let the emotions flow, since it often determines the feel. But above all there has to be a good composition to begin with.

I know what you mean with regards to spirit having listened to a lot of music over the years. I often find when I am listening to a track that sounds good but there's a feeling that its missing something and I came to the conclusion that most of them lack atmosphere. The feeling is not there.

I also think that a lot of tracks that I listen haven't got the same drum sound that we used to get in the 70's I don't know what it is but we had some great drummers in the 70's and I don't know whether the drummer's today are not up to the same standard or whether it's the way they are recorded today, but to me it's not the same.

There was much more clarity and dynamics on the earlier vinyl albums. Maybe that's it, maybe now we have switched to digital, we have lost some of the dynamics. What do you think ?

Great question!

Lots of drummers now of days rely (unlike U.P.) on sampling the drums a lot. In the '70's there was only acoustic drums and that required skill from engineers to obtain a great sound. With acoustic drums you retain natural acoustics and dynamics, even when utilizing heavy compression and gating.

I thought that the point of music was to express yourself and by abusing technology (read-eradicating the human feel) you only take away the expression of the performer. Good thing that a guitar can't be emulated as easily.

Only machines will reproduce things in exactly the same way twice, there will always be some float from a human. But I've seen productions where they don't use any real drums at all (I'm not going to name names). But the technology is also encouraging me and others to defy the odds and try to retain the original drums and get the most out of them.

It requires a good drummer, though. With the advent of digital recording, sampling, triggering, quantizing, digital editing etc. the temptation to fix things or get away with things is very great. I think that you can use new technology in creative and productive ways without interfering with the expression and tampering with the emotions of the music.

My opinion is that you should let the musicians do the music and let the electronics take care of each other. For instance: Let MIDI drums trigger the gates for a bass drum or fire off effects, computers to run the mixing board and so forth. I've been working with digital and analog equipment for years.

On the "Mindfailure" disk, it was all analog and converted to digital by a high-end converter. But I think that digital recording has merit. Drums and guitars sound better analog though, in my opinion. But digital is racing forward and getting better all the time maybe it'll be as good in the near future?

Who thought of the name U.P and how did you choose it ?

It was taken from an album that I recorded in '87 (the bands name was Avalon)(produced by Flemming Rasmussen). There was a song on it called "Unleashed Power" and we still play that song. It was re-recorded in '92 and is on the album "Quintet of Spheres" as well. U.P. is merely an abbreviation of "Unleashed Power".

Which is your personal favorite song and why ?

Gateway, because it represents a quantum leap in song writing for me. Intensity is the key word here. I also feel I accomplished to make a 8 min. long song sound like a much shorter song, it has a very high difficulty level (it's fast) and it was a great challenge to get the lyrics to flow properly.

It was something I had planned out in my head as far as the arrangement is concerned, so all in all it represents the pinnacle of riffing, melody etc. for me at the time. The title itself represents a riff. The Gateway riff, which the song starts out with, appears on every transition to a new part.

Do you play many gigs and if so where ?

No, we don't get many opportunities to play live, much to my dismay. Hopefully that'll change in the new year.

What is your view of the music scene in Denmark/New York.

Firstly, I want to point out that I live in the States (NY) but I spent a year in Denmark last year. But my view is that Denmark has a great studio scene but not a very strong live scene. There are some good bands in Denmark, but not much of a live scene, a few good underground mags and fanzines. But gets bypassed too often on the tour circuit.

New York City itself is hopeless (there are no clubs, no affordable studios and no good bands), but in New Jersey and upstate New York there is a decent metal scene. I thinks that the metal scene is somewhat disjointed and needs to be better organized in the underground in general, I think that the Internet has the potential to do that.

The scene in Denmark was very good in the early '80 and there was much interest in bands. In New York the scene was happening in the latter part of the eighties, but NY has deteriorated into a smolder at best. Many people are yearning for the eighties metal scene, but I think that a new scene will come. I just hope it will have skill and musicality as a determining factor.

There are too many bands that are tone-deaf or lack rhythmic sense. Bands are putting demo's out on CD and labels are flooding the market, with a "throw it on the wall and see if it sticks" mentality. Therefore, it's time for the underground to determine what's good and what's crap once again!

Why did you move to the states and particularly NEW YORK ?

I simply had the opportunity and my wife is from New York. I also met some musicians here. That's how U.P. was formed. I have dual citizenship (Denmark/USA) and I wanted to return to the States after spending a number of years in Denmark.

When you were younger, what did you want to be ?

A musician. I also had a great interest in sound and recording. But there was some pressure from my family to go the academic route. Off course that never happened and I stuck to music.

what bands would you say have had most influence on you ?

Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, Rush, Black Sabbath, Ozzy.......

Who would you say are the best bands around at the moment ?

Right now in the U.P. vain? Strapping Young Lads, Fear Factory, Judas Priest, Pantara, Overkill, Flotsam & Jetsam, Obliveon & Meshuggah just to name a few.

What kind of response have you had to your first release 'Mindfailure' and how well is it selling ?

It's our second release, our first release was "Quintet of Spheres". The response has been good, but we get no support from the label.

Therefore all the response is generated by the band and the management. But clearly we don't fall into a standard categorization of music, which makes things harder.

Sometimes I feel like we are going against the grain. But there is definitely a market for this type of music and we get really good response from people. There seems to be a trend towards this type of music and I hope this band is one of the new wave of skilled thrash bands.

But back to your question...... I have no idea of how much the album has sold, but it's liked by almost everyone that has heard it. A little support from a Label would have gone a long way. I would like to ad that the album was recorded in '95 and it took us two years to get it released. I guess we weren't sensationalistic enough for the trend at the time. No makeup or church burning here (laughs)

What are your plans for the future ?

We are currently finishing up an E.P. and hope to have it released before summer, I want to start recording our next album by May (release by fall?) and we hope to start touring this summer in Europe.

You say you plan to tour Europe in the summer, can you tell me what countries you plan to visit and I hope England will be included. ?

I hope so too. But the plan is vague and I don't have any specifics yet.

Have you written any more songs since releasing 'Mindfailure' . ?

An E.P. (5 songs) and a whole new album (9-10 songs). I just need the opportunity to implement it, record it and release it.

Will the music of U.P. carry on in the same style or direction or can you see changes for the future. ?

I think that I have grown as a composer. It has been nearly 3 years since I completed "Mindfailure", and the material since then has been matured by the experience of doing the "Mindfailure" album.

I probably will incorporate more of a dynamic style of playing, with more melodic and progressive elements. Don't expect a wimping out though. With the E.P. coming up that is primarily old material, you are going to have to wait for the next album.

Albeit, there is one new song on the E.P., namely "Absorbed". I'm always trying new ideas in production and composing. So change will always happen. Who want's to be standing still?

If a major label were to contact you about a contract would you take/not take and why ?

I would have to take it if there was enough money in it. That's the only language Labels understand, so at least we would have the money to spend on the band (recording, touring etc.).

But I would rather have a hard working independent label on my side, willing to fight and work hard. Reality is that money talks, bullshit walks.

Especially when it comes to Labels. I have yet to have a contract that was honored. Rule number one: The more labels have at stake, the more they are willing to fight to get it back.

Who's responsible for the website, do you do it yourselves or do you get someone to do it for you.?

Yeah, I'm largely responsible for the Site (the webmaster, so to speak). There has been some input from fans when I get stuck on something. We are in the process of changing our site to a new provider by March.

Any last words or remarks ?

Listen with your ears, evaluate with your heart and think with your brain. Don't succumb to the hype and bullshit.

I would like to thank Ken for sparing the time to answer my questions and wish ken and U.P. the very best for the future.

Interview with Ken Jacobsen of U.P.