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By: Matt Parkinson Powder Click to hear a track from POWDER: What about me (4 MB ) . To view Powder video click below: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJkHXTHWyyk 
Where have all the real rock bands gone? With the recent rebirth of INXS and other older bands making mediocre (at best) returns to the stage, POWDER is a veritable challenger to this reemergence of the rock band. However there is one very important difference; POWDER isn't milking on past successes, they are creating new ones. POWDER is of pure rock soul, with edgy drums, intricate riffs and vocals that are well-written and belted out with incredible passion and energy. And while you could throw a rock in any direction in L.A. and hit 12 bands, POWDER has made themselves known, they have separated from the mundane pack and constantly elevate their potential with each show. We sat down with Phil X, lead guitarist for the band to get an idea of who POWDER is.
POWDER is just doing what they love…and being successful in the process. How did Powder Music start? Was it a seamless beginning or did you have to overcome challenges? Ninette and I moved to LA from Toronto, Canada because we felt that there really wasn't a forum for what we wanted to express musically. We actually got a bass player and drummer together in the first month and played a show at the Roxy on the Sunset Strip. I think it was then that we decided to just concentrate on writing the best songs that we could. After a few years and a huge catalogue of material, we finally found a bass player and drummer that complimented what we were trying to do. We started doing some shows and Ninette started to develop this character on stage that people responded to immensely. It started with super hero costumes and then anything outrageous that she could throw in. We then picked the name and POWDER was born. It started like any other of the tens of thousands of bands in Los Angeles... in front of 30 or 40 people in a small club but our audience numbers quadrupled every time we played with lines eventually going down the street and fans getting turned away at the door. The clubs got bigger, our show got bigger and our fan base was rapidly growing. So... here we are filling the largest of venues in the city with half the audience wearing our shirts and singing every word of every song and the entire record industry is thinking that we're too weird or too showy. We just snubbed them back. As soon as we said "Screw the industry. It's all about the fans", we started to have more fun and amazing things started happening. We signed a licensing deal for all of Europe and the UK. Our video was #1 requested video on Kerrang TV (UK MTV equivalent), we flew out there and played some festivals with Linkin Park and Metallica, we got some great press and assembled a POWDER army of die hard fans. Our record just came out in Japan and it looks like it's causing some waves. We own our masters and have complete creative freedom. No major label would have given us that. What sounds influence you? We all love AC/DC. Collectively it ranges from Tina Turner to KISS, Van Halen to James Brown, underground stuff like King's X and 80's pop like the Vapors and Squeeze. I personally grew up in a musical family. My dad got me into a Greek instrument called a bouzouki, which was a very important influence on my guitar playing. Ninette took jazz dance and voice in college so when we started working together; I was floored by her sense of melody and arrangement. 
Ninette plays to the crowd with intensity every night. Is your music an extension of your personalities, or do you try to play to a certain market? It's actually funny when I think of it. Our music is an extension of Ninette's stage persona. There's always a sense of humor in there mixed with sadness, aggression, love, hate... we can also be quite profound but sometimes you have to look for it (laughs). We also believe that designing a sound to cater to a certain market is just a recipe for disaster. There have been artists in the past that have accomplished a lot by doing that but they fall out of site very quickly. They don't last like U2 who are a perfect example of just doing what they do record after record with great success. If you could play with any band/individual, living or dead; who would it be? We would love to play with KISS. And hell... if we're time traveling, let's make it early KISS. What's next for you guys; where do you hope to take the band in the near future? Like I said, our CD just came out in Japan so we'd love to go over there and do some shows. We'd also love to find a residency in Las Vegas or Atlantic City; somewhere where we could design a show and have it built and installed into a theater instead of moving it around on a tour. We're also writing and collecting material for a new CD. To find out more about POWDER or to see some more pictures or check out more tracks, visit their website, http://www.powdermusic.com. Here is POWDER’s line-up: Ninette Terhard: vocals and programming
Phil X: guitar, backing vocals and programming
Allan Hearn: bass
Vee: drums
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