Classic Rock is to launch the Powerage label, dedicated to championing high-voltage rock music from around the world.

Powerage is a joint venture with leading music distributor and [...]]]> The first releases will be the second album from hot young Welsh rockers Lethargy

An excerpt from Classic Rock news

Classic Rock is to launch the Powerage label, dedicated to championing high-voltage rock music from around the world.

Powerage is a joint venture with leading music distributor and online retailer, Plastic Head Distribution.

The remit of the new label is to promote upcoming acts that Classic Rock magazine champions to its readers.

In its search for acts, Powerage will be headed by UK A&R veteran Derek Oliver who will work with UK acts on new material, while teaming up with Classic Rock to track down foreign acts.

Chris Ingham, publisher of Classic Rock, said: “Over the years we’ve discovered an amazing raft of new hard rock talent at Classic Rock.

“It’s always been a huge frustration that nobody at UK labels seems to notice all of these great bands and give them the support and backing they need.

“If traditional record companies wouldn’t release these albums, we knew our readers still wanted to hear them, so decided to team up with Plastic Head to make sure we got these out to our audience.”

Plastic Head’s managing director, Steve Beatty, added: “Traditional classic rock is increasingly popular, but we’ve noticed that whilst there are plenty of talented young artists, very few labels are supporting the genre.

“It’s very exciting for us to be partnering with Classic Rock to bring this music to the masses.”

The first releases will be the second album from hot young Welsh rockers Lethargy, the first UK releases from CR favourites Pride Tiger and Endeverafter, and the new album from Viking Skull.

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MUEN: TELL US ABOUT THE NEW ALBUM, “PURIFICATION”… WHERE WAS IT RECORDED, AND HOW DID YOU GET DAVID PRATER (DREAM THEATER, FIREHOUSE) TO PRODUCE IT?

PHIL: David Prater was our first choice as producer but we never thought we’d get him from the US to make our first official album. We knew Derek Oliver and David Prater had worked together on two Dream Theater albums (Images & Words, A Change of Seasons), so at least the connection was there. We got in contact with several producers, some we couldn’t get for this or that reason and some we didn’t agree on with the label. Derek called us one day and said David Prater loved ‘Road Out Of Nowhere’ and wanted to come over to the UK to do our next album. So we were in regular contact with David from that point and he came to Wales in October 2006 and spent a month with us recording the CD in Mwnci Studios, West Wales. He later went back to mix it with Javier Bassino in in a studio in Chile that he was fond of. They finished in December 2006 and sent it back over.

ANDY: It was great to work with a producer such as David. It was our first experience of ever working with a producer and it was a real eye-opener. Much was learned in the month we spent with Prater and will put us in good stead when constructing future songs.

MARC: David Prater made several phone calls to us in Wales and seemed as excited as us to work on this project. David was a great help and a real inspiration in the studio and took the overall sound of the record far past our expectations of how it could sound, crafting all the aspects and dynamics we desired and then some!

GAZ: This album is the first one I have ever recorded whereas the other boys have had quite a few experiences in a recording studio. To have such a big producer as David for this album was great as I learnt a tremendous amount about actually recording an album and also how to approach drumming in many different ways as David is a drummer himself.