Interview: Erin Powers (Powersiren) -By: Rob Smittix

Interview: Erin Powers (Powersiren)
By: Rob Smittix

RRX: So you said when I first called you that you spilled coffee on your phone?

EP: Yeah.

RRX: But your phone’s still working. Thank God, nobody needs to have to replace a phone, if they don’t have to. They’re expensive these days.

EP: I know I was like, oh sh**!

RRX: Are you an Android or an iPhone person?

EP: I’m Android but I’ve used iPhone before. So I’m either.

RRX: I’m team Android all the way, people make fun of us but I’m making fun of people for paying more and getting pretty much the same.

EP: Yeah, right?

RRX: Art Fredette, the boss man, has been telling me to reach out to you for a while but we’re very busy, so I apologize for finally getting you on the line. I sent you that picture of my calendar note that read “reach out to Erin Powers.” So here we are today to talk about your newest project Powersiren?

EP: Yep.

RRX: Explain what Powersiren is all about.

EP: Well, Powersiren is basically an anagram of my name. We tried finding a whole bunch of band names and whatnot… we couldn’t come up with any because most of them were taken. Justin (Harrington) decided to use my name and took the letters of my name and basically came up with that.

RRX: I like the name. I like it a lot. I mean, it’s literally got your full last name in it.

EP: Pretty much, it’s just kind of backwards. But, yeah.

RRX: You’re the front person of the group, right? So you do the singing and guitar playing. What is Justin’s role in the duo?

EP: He does the backtracks. He plays accordion, electric guitar and bass and I also play keyboards.

RRX: Ok. So you play the keyboards as well, I was curious.

EP: Yeah.

RRX: That’s cool. Accordion, I love that. I was gifted an old accordion once with all of those millions of buttons on that one side.

EP: Yeah, he’s got an updated one. So…

RRX: Yeah, those are much better. I, I have to look at the phone when I’m dialing numbers and I still look at the keyboard when I’m typing. So yeah, the accordion just was not for me. I can get some of the keys down but forget about it.

EP: Yeah, it’s definitely an acquired skill. I definitely appreciate him for learning it because I look at it and I’m like what? I’m not even going to touch it. That’s not my cup of tea. But you know? If you can master it, great and he seemed to master it!

RRX: Well, that’s cool. So you got this new EP… Is this is out already?

EP: Yeah, it’s already out. It came out in June. It’s a self-titled “Powersiren” EP with 4 tracks.

RRX: Cool, we’re going to have to get all of those songs in our library on RadioRadioX. Is there any certain direction or message you’re putting out there or is every song it’s own thing?

EP: I think that songs are kind of doing their own thing. “On Fire,” “Broken Record” and “Keep Up With The Changes.” So those are the songs and we did a dance-remix to “Broken Record” as well.

RRX: A remix, that sounds interesting.

EP: Yeah, I wanted a remix of one of my songs for the longest time and Justin was able to do it!

RRX: I’ll have to check that one out. I’ve seen it’s on Spotify. Where else can people find it?

EP: It’s everywhere because we put it out from Distrokid. It’s all over, I don’t even know half of the places because there’s too many.

RRX: That’s cool. So, it’s pretty much like you said.. everywhere.

EP: Yeah. Except Bandcamp. I think that’s the only place it’s not on. I’m not sure.

RRX: I don’t think anyone goes to Bandcamp anymore unless you’re a band on Bandcamp.

EP: I mean, I have sh** out that’s on there but I never really got anything off of it but I mean, people go to it. I’m not really updated or up to date on how that all works with the Bandcamp.

RRX: I hate the internet. It’s a necessary evil that us that promote things have to use. But you’ve been a musician for a long time. I guess, for people that are not yet familiar with you that are now going to be introduced to you… tell them a little bit about yourself. I mean, who is Erin Powers? What are you all about?

EP: I’m a singer songwriter from Upstate New York. I’ve been playing in lot of bands since I was 21. I also DJ and do karaoke sometimes. I also DJ weddings and private events. I’ve played in Mass, Vermont, Connecticut and I played in Tennessee a couple of times. I’ve done some festivals out there and I’ve done a lot of benefits over the years.

RRX: I love that. I’ve been saying this to a lot of the bands around here because I’ve been in a band for about 20 years now but one thing that we realized was that we had to leave the area. I think a lot of the bands around here just play too much sometimes in the area and I mean… of course, you’ve gotta do the home stuff. But. let’s not forget, even if you have a full time job, you could do a little weekend kind of thing and drive up to five hours away and get stuff done. I think that’s the approach a lot of bands are missing the boat on.

EP: This year not so much for us. We did a lot all over already. From Tupper Lake all the way up to Lake Placid. That’s the farthest I think I’ve done this year. A couple of years ago I played in Buffalo. I don’t mind playing King’s Inn. I used to play in Kingston, Saugerties and and all that too.

RRX: Anything else that you would wanna say to people that would inspire them to go check out your music?

EP: I think what we’re doing is pretty cool. Like you said, we’re still pretty new in the area. I’ve been in and out of bands for like 15-20 years, you know? Always starting new stuff and then seeing where it goes. I’d like to get in some bigger shows, like theaters and stuff and I think that’s gonna be what we’re gearing towards. Maybe in the winter some ski resorts and some bigger venues. I’d like to get into or even open up for some other bands.. That would probably be my goal.

RRX: Well, I see you’ve got yourself a good game plan. I like it!

Powersiren will be playing these shows in September
9/1: Angry Egg 2, 467 Main St, Bennington, VT -11am
9/5: Rensselaer Farmers Market, Riverfront Park, Rensselaer, NY -4pm
9/6: Bandstand Brew Works, 3922 Main St, Warrensburg, NY -5pm
9/7: Block Party, 144 Main St, South Glens Falls, NY -11am
9/7: Ledge Rock Hill Winery , 1776 Route 9, Lake George, NY -5pm