After driving 91 miles in the sweltering heat – through bumper to bumper traffic and blinding downpours, we had finally made it to the venue. It was four hours prior to the show – plus another 3 before powerman would even step foot on stage. Knowing what I was getting myself into, my nerves remained surprisingly calm as I walked through the deserted concert hall’s doorways and into the lobby. I approached the first person (of only two) standing in the lobby. It was too late before I realized it was Powerman 5000 vocalist, ‘Spider One’ himself. He immediately greeted me, and we discussed the reason I was there. He then graciously refused my obsessive request to take photos while he worked on merchandise, and I humbly slithered off into the dark concert hall, where staff was setting up for the upcoming show. I sat there nervous and jittery as moments passed slowly, feeling like hours. My nerves were just beginning to calm once more when it was time for the interview. We sat down in a small but comfy dressing room, pulled the fan out of the closet (don’t ask why it was there, we had no idea) and discussed taking some pictures after the interview. Regardless of Spider’s easy-going and surprisingly humble demeanor, my nerves kept me aware of the fact that this was definitely not a dream – at least until after I choked out the first few questions and came to realize that he’s just a regular guy in a super-hero disguise. So this is my discussion with Mike Cummings (a.k.a. Spider One), about his occupation.
Racket: First I’d like to talk about the new album. I understand there’s still no release date set for it, do you guys plan on finishing your summer tour before making any final announcements pertaining to the album?
Spider: Well the plan is…we have half the record finished, basically, and we have the other half written but not recorded. So my goal is we have a lot of shows through the summer so we’re gonna be pretty busy on the road but my goal is to have it recorded/finished by september or into september. And then Yeah I still probably won’t have an official release date but we’re gonna get it out as soon as we can, even if it means getting early copies out to like fans on the internet or at live shows…
Racket: Yeah your internet fans are pretty hardcore…
Spider: Yeah, so even if I don’t have a solid retail figured out, I still want to get the record out to like kids who come to the shows and stuff so….
Racket: Obviously PM5K has been going through some changes. I understand that (guitarist) Mike Tempesta has ventured off to do his own things, is he permanently out of the band?
Spider: Yeah, definitely.
Racket: So is he contributing to this upcoming album?
Spider: No, I mean…we finished up the last tour for the ‘Transform’ record and there was a minute where the future of the band was sort of uncertain , you know I’ve been doing it since 1990 and I’ve been through every single level of success and failure all along the way; you know…we had done a bunch of indie records, got a record deal, got a major deal, sold a bunch of records, were on MTV…you know all that crap; but and then Dreamworks fell apart – suddenly there was no Dreamworks deal anymore and it was just really a moment of just kinda figuring out what was next and so I took some time off and you know….rethought the lineup of the band and then really got inspired again to just say ‘fuck it, this is what I do, this is what I love to do, why should I stop because things are different now?’ …so, and it’s funny it’s been nothing but good things since I’ve made the decision, you know things are going great, we’re out playing and people are coming to the shows, and the new lineup is getting along better than any other lineup of the band I’ve ever had so things are good.
Racket: Is anyone taking his [Mike’s] place during recording?
Spider: Yeah, Terry & Johnny who are out on tour now are gonna….well Johnny played on the first batch of songs and Terry’s probably gonna contribute to some stuff too so I wanna get those guys in the studio. They’re great guitar players.
Racket: Are you currently eyeing up any artists that you hope to sign to your label in the near future?
Spider: I haven’t seen anybody lately…I mean I’m always looking out for bands that I can help out, and maybe not necessarily release a record, but just to help out. And I always get a lot of demos & stuff so I’m always checking out other bands.
Racket: Where did you draw your inspiration for recently released songs like ‘Heroes & Villains’, ‘Last Night On Earth’, ‘The Way It Is’ & ‘Riot Time’?
Spider: Well, a lot of those songs were funny because they were written for video games. We got calls from some different video games to write songs, so…not that we tailored them to the video games but I knew that if the songs were gonna end up in a wrestling video game, or a racing game, they had to be like…up-tempo, really kickass songs so, I was sort of keeping that in mind when we wrote those songs.
Racket: Do you feel that these changes will affect the overall outcome of the album?
Spider: I’m sure, you know…it’ll be different just like every other record we put out is different. We never repeat ourselves, that’s one thing for better or worse…
Racket: Your other guitarist – Adam, opted to sit out the short west coast tour. Will he be back on stage for any of the upcoming regional tours after that?
Spider: You know….I think he’s done playing live. I gave him every chance in the world to stick with it, you know…he was the last original member other than myself and yeah…we just had a long talk and he’s just like ‘I don’t want to live that life on the road anymore’, and you have to respect that. And it’s unfortunate because a lot of kids really liked Adam but I don’t want him out here if he’s not into it, you know, I need people who are gonna give 100% so…it’s cool, I mean, we’re still really good friends….
Racket: You stated in a messege to fans that rehearsals with guitar stand-ins Terry Corso (Alien Ant Farm) and Johnny Rock (Halfcocked) were "blazing". Has your opinion changed in any way since you’ve had a chance to tour with them?
Spider: It’s gotten better…I mean, there’s always an uncertainty when you bring new people in about how they’re gonna be on stage or how we’re all gonna get along but the rehearsals were really fun and it felt right and they’re just like…straight-up rock n roll guys, you know what I mean…so I really like that about them, and the shows have been great so my opinion is just getting better all the time.
Racket: With Mike Tempesta likely not to return, would either Terry or Johnny be a possible long-term replacement?
Spider: I hope so….I mean, again, with the revolving door in this band who knows, but I certainly think of them as members of the band, I don’t really think of them as replacement members, they’re the new guys so I’d love them to be part of it for a while.
Racket: I have to say, with all these changes in the band , some fans anticipate the upcoming album as Powerman 5000’s last. Is there any um….I guess…comfort, you can offer to…
Spider: Is that possible?
Racket: Yeah. [laughs]
Spider: [laughs] I always think that whatever record we’re doing is the last record [laughs] but somehow we always make another one so who knows….I just know I’m really energized about the whole thing right now and I can’t wait to put a record out. You just go at it with each project, you put a record out, you go out there, you see how people like it and that usually determines what your next move is…so who knows. I’m not really looking at it as the last one, I’m gonna keep going as long as I wanna do it and as long as a few people show up to see the show I’m happy.
Racket: I assume the record is going to be released on your own record label – ‘Megatronic Records’?
Spider: Um…not necessarily; that’s one option but I’m not really thinking that’s the best option, because Megatronic is such a small project label that I don’t know if we could handle putting out a proper release. Like it’s fine for ‘The Good the Bad & the Ugly’ – the rarities record cuz that’s a small thing, we just put it out there for the fans….so I’m sort of interested in seeing what options are out there for record labels. I wanna go the indie route though, I’m not really interested in trying to track down the major labels, I think that a really….agressive indie labels….with this records, that’s the way to go. So I’m gonna finish the record first and sort of look at the record, see what it sounds like, and see where it makes sense.
Racket: How hard is it for you to balance between managing your own record label, recording, and touring?
Spider: [without pause] It’s a pain in the ass. I’m tired constantly, I’m just like never well-rested, there’s just too much stuff to think about all the time. Especially with the way we tour now, with a lot of these regional tours – we’ll fly out…..so we don’t have a bus, we’ll fly, get a couple of vans…so it’s a different way of touring, you don’t get quite as much rest as we used to, and we all stay up way too late and get up way too early….and then dealing with the label, and merchandise, and this and that. It’s a full-time thing, but I wouldn’t want to do anything else.
Racket: Does it affect your playing at all?
Spider: The shows have been good, I always seem to think that no matter how tired I am, I just need one good hour up there….and you know it’s funny….you could be feeling sick, or tired but once the music kicks in you sort of like…snap out of it and you’re back to your old self.
Racket: Are you currently eyeing up any artists that you hope to sign to your label in the near future?
Spider: I haven’t seen anybody lately…I mean I’m always looking out for bands that I can help out, and maybe not necessarily release a record, but just to help out. And I always get a lot of demos & stuff so I’m always checking out other bands.
Racket: Where did you draw your inspiration for recently released songs like ‘Heroes & Villains’, ‘Last Night On Earth’, ‘The Way It Is’ & ‘Riot Time’?
Spider: Well, a lot of those songs were funny because they were written for video games. We got calls from some different video games to write songs, so…not that we tailored them to the video games but I knew that if the songs were gonna end up in a wrestling video game, or a racing game, they had to be like…up-tempo, really kickass songs so, I was sort of keeping that in mind when we wrote those songs.
Racket: I must ask about the notorious Anyone For Doomsday record. Due for release in August of 2001, AFD was almost never released….then (fans revolted incessantly until) it was finally released through the band’s website. What was it that ultimately influenced the decision to release the album after all?
Spider: Really just, you know…you have to listen to your fans, and everyone was like ‘we want the record, we want the record’ so….and my thing was…I never thought it was a bad record, and I was never like…embarrassed by the record, I just didn’t think it was the right record, after playing it a few times. Even though a lot of kids love that record, I just felt like we didn’t go someplace new with it, I felt like we kinda did the same thing that we did on ‘Tonight the Stars Revolt’. So again, I never thought it was bad, I just didn’t think it was where I wanted to be. So we released it on a very limited basis, and I’m desperately trying to get the rights to it from Dreamworks so I can put it out for real so it’s more widely available, but we’re still working on that…
Racket: Yeah actually, I’ve seen copies of that go for like $300-$400 on eBay…
Spider: You know, it’s funny that you say that, because that’s another reason I did it because I got so tired of seeing like people getting 200 bucks for a record so I was like ‘you know what, I’ll put it out for ten bucks’ to squash all that…and I added the video on it too so it was even more valuable. So yeah just seeing people get ripped off, having to spend so much money on a record seemed a little weird.
Racket: About your compilation album titled ‘the Good the Bad & the Ugly (Vol.1)’ – fans are definitely looking forward to Volume 2. Do you have a general idea of when they can expect to see it, or what they can expect to find on it when it is released?
Spider: If we do another one, it will definitely be after the record comes out but, there is enough stuff for Vol. 2. It would be all the outtakes from ‘Tonight the Stars Revolt’ and ‘….Doomsday’ and stuff like that. It would be a much more of a current sound from the other one which is like really different from where we’re at now. So yeah, who knows when that will come out, if ever. I’d like to put another one out, but priority is on the new record.
By Kim Worpek