Piss Off Records and DarkerThan Productions are proud to present: Powersludge; a raw rock and roll extravaganza of grand aural proportions. Combining a variety of influences, Powersludge move like a freight train through your stereo speakers, melting into the very core of your being with their catchy licks and memorable melodies. At first listen you may hearken back to the glory days of Hard Rock, when Motorhead and AC/DC shook the world or Guns N Roses swore on the Grammies: sleazy, booze induced, hard edged, Rawk and Roll.

Powersludge formed in the winter of 2004, when a mutual friend introduced Mike Gunderman and Shaman Crowe. Crowe, who's previous project Necron 99 was banned cross Canada in 2003 due to its over the top stage show, was looking for something a little more mainstream. Gunderman, whos work with Avernus and Four Mile Road Band had given him an extensive knowledge in rock meter, was an easy fit. Enter Slow Daze Gerry Hixx and former Bippy guitarist Steve Fooks and Powersludge was born. As the fours chemistry began to flow material was soon to follow, first one song and then the next surfaced and before long the songs that you can hear on their now infamous "Gimme The Booze E.P." erupted into form.

The now sought after E.P. made waves into the heavy metal frontier with tracks like "Skull From Mexico" and "DarkerThan," while tracks like "Pretty Sucker" and "Gimme The Booze" embraced a more punk rock direction. Yet there was always this substance that held these songs together. Something that let you know that throughout this exploration of influences there was a constant sound involved. We've come to call it simply "the 'sludge" here at Piss Off Records because that's what it is: and mighty powerful sludge at that.

With the summer of 2006 came the "Hellbound For Texas Tour." Billed as a package deal with Stampede Queen and a "dual CD realease party," the tour counted Coyotes (Calgary, AB) as one of its many stops. When, amid fan disappointment, Stampede Queen was not able to fulfill their remaining obligations (due to a band member family emergency), Powersludge completed the rest of the stops as scheduled playing two complete sets per night.

All this road work was to pay off in the long run, however, as Powersludge began to hone their live presentation. At every turn Powersludge got louder, harder, leaner, meaner and better. From what was a joke came an actual requirement: Powersludge provides each of their fans with a pair of earplugs upon entrance to any Powersludge event.

Having completed their successful tour, Powersludge took some time over the winter to catch up on a little work. Powering the 'sludge is an expensive business and from time to time it is necessary to work a little in the name of rock and roll. Mike journeyed to Libya, Gerry to a goldmine, Steve to a kitchen located on the otherside, and Shaman to a film career.

Although busy with their work schedules, Powersludge was able to begin recording a new album, working on a home video and planning for another tour.

On July 14, 2007, Powersludge kicked off "The Huge In Japan Tour." The tour, so named because of Japanese internet interest over the winter, is a great example of things to come. While some bends tend to hide behind a wall of sound, Powersludge rides on top of it like great vultures waiting to pick the uncertain from their feet. Powersludge are a great force to be reckoned with in terms of shear aural power.

Another surprise came on July 28th, when Powersludge unveiled a new E.P. titled "Jagerleizer." Although there was no advance rumour of the record, it sold out of it's first pressing that very same night! The record, consisting of nine previously unreleased tracks, is not the studio offering which recording began on over the winter. Rather, nine more live tracks recorded during demo preparations for that recording last summer.

"Jagerleizer" is a testament to how Powersludge have grown as a band. Tongue and cheek tracks like "Breakfast On The Run" and "Peep Hole," stand equally strong against Hard Rock Anthems like "Hot As Hell" and "Rock Ain't Dead Yet." It is an offering of aural sleaze, dripping with remnants of last night's Jagermeister binge. It is Rock And Roll, Hard Rock, Punk Rock and Heavy Metal. It is what all rock and roll should be: sleazy booze induced mayhem. I guess that's why Powersludge reign as the "Illustrious Kings Of Booze Induced Sleaze."

VISIT www.pissoffrecords.com FOR MORE INFORMATION.

The Stettler Independent - October 10, 2008

Powersludge Gets Shot At TV Spot Christopher Walsh - Independent Reporter A local band billing themselves as the illustrious kings of booze-induced sleaze will be looking for more fan support this week as they head to Calgary to compete in a battle of the bands that could ultimately lead to a $1 million recording contract. Powersludge will be taking the stage at Morgan's Pub in Calgary tonight to compete in the Bodog Battle. The top 10 bands from across the country will be featured in a reality television show where they will continue to compete for the recording contract. Powersludge frontman Shaman Crowe is optimistic about the group's chances. How to win is simple, he says. "We go [to Calgary] on the 10th and we kick ass," he said. Things have been busy for the guys, who include Mike Gunderman on drums, Steve Fooks on rythm guitar, Gerry Hixx on bass and Crowe as lead vocals and lead guitar. Crowe says Hixx is presently away at a "gold mine" and will be replaced by Fooks' father Robin at the show tonight. "We like to say that we got him from a band called Steel Wheelchair," Crowe said with a laugh. The band has been together since 2004 and have been recently after releasing their second album entitled Jagerleizer. "Because of our love of Jagermeister, of course," Crowe explained. The band is also finishing a music video, expected to be released in the near future. "Things are going pretty good," Crowe said. "We're getting lots of opportunities. We just look for more challenges, we're getting a lot of interest over the internet." That interest has led to the band discovering they have a following in Japan. "We had to translate [the website] and I have no idea to this day what that website is all about because it's Asian, but for a week Powersludge was number three overall for the month and had five or six songs charting on the top 50 on that particular web page. We had no idea," Crowe said. "That led us to call our tour this year the 'Huge In Japan Tour'." That tour will be heading to The Beat in Stettler Oct. 26 and 27 where Powersludge will play with two other bands as part of the PumpkinHeadbanger's Ball. "It's a Halloween party that's so big we had to do it two nights in a row," said Crowe. He has a little problem describing exactly how the band sounds. "It is what it is," he said. "The name is the description. We're a lot like Motorhead and AC/DC. We like cheesy guitar lick bands from the '80s and stuff. We don't dress like them guys... we're not a glam rock band. We're, you know, motorcycles, booze, tattoos." The band will be needing support as they compete in the Bodog Battle. Fans can vote for Powersludge online at the Bodog website www.bodogbattle.com or at the show tonight in Calgary. "We hope to see you there to offer your support," Crowe said. "If you're unable to make the gig, please take the time to vote... we welcome any support." Bodog is an independent international record label. The battle of the bands contest comes on the heels of the show's success in the United States where Seattle's Fall From Grace was awarded the $1 million contract. Powersludge's new album is available in town at the Shell gas station, Pfeiffer's House Of Music and the Stop and Go. More information on the band can be found at www.pissoffrecords.com and www.myspace.com/powersludge.

The Red Deer Advocate - Central Alberta Life - December 12, 2007

Rock of ages Dec 12 2007 By CAMERON KENNEDY LIFE editor Powersludge packs the punch of a stiff paralyzer. The Stettler band?s heady mix of sleazy, late ?80s rock ? minus the spandex and big hair ? keeps its rabid fans coming back for more. ?I have never signed as many breasts as I have in Stettler,? says Shaman Crowe, elaborating on the group?s popularity at home. ?The illustrious kings of booze-induced sleaze,? Powersludge is Crowe, vocals and guitar; Steve Fooks, guitar; Mike Gunderman, drums; and Robin Fooks, who replaced original member Gerry Hixx on bass. The band writes, records and produces its own material. Earlier this year, it celebrated the release of the J?gerleizer E.P., the follow-up to its debut, Gimme the Booze E.P. It also embarked on its Huge in Japan Tour, a reference to the band?s apparent popularity in Japan on Last.fm, an Internet radio and music community website based in the United Kingdom. ?We?ll have to go (to Japan) I?m thinking,? muses Crowe. ?There are a lot of bands who spend quite a bit of time in Japan. (Members of) Skid Row had a fairly lucrative career there after they broke up.? ?Totalitarian discipline? and an unwavering commitment to making music has held Powersludge together since a mutual friend introduced Gunderman and Crowe in April 2004. Crowe, 31, had toured with a lot of death metal bands during his music career, but he also enjoyed the simplicity of straight-up rock ?n roll. Powersludge is an amalgamation of his previous work, he says. ?It?s a lot more fun to play three chords well than 1,200 chords terribly,? Crowe adds with a laugh. Gunderman, a diehard Roughriders fan from Oxbow, Sask., hadn?t pounded the skins publicly for close to eight years when he met Crowe. As the elder statesman of the original band, who will say only that he?s in his 40s, Gunderman been mistaken for the band?s manager or, worse, a father. He shrugs off the comments about his age with good humour. ?It?s not about age, it?s about what?s in your heart,? he says. ?If you love doing what you do, it just doesn?t matter.? Still, there are nights that Gunderman wishes that he had taken up the harmonica instead of the drums, because drummers are either setting up or tearing down equipment. ?By the time I?m done tearing down my drums, the girls are all gone and I end up socializing with the barmaids.? Fooks had worked with Crowe in the past, making him a natural addition to the jam sessions brewing in Gunderman?s basement. Guitarist Hixx was pressed into action to play bass. Most of Crowe?s favourite stories about the band involve Hixx. At one of Powersludge?s early shows in Stettler, Hixx bounced the bass he had borrowed off monitors and rubbed it on poles while its owner looked on, ?eyes as wide as saucers,? recalls Crowe. At other shows, Hixx would remove his bass mid-song, take off his shirt, down a beer that he had scooped from an unsuspecting fan sitting at the front of the stage and then continue playing, completely oblivious to the fact that he had a role in the band, he says. ?He wasn?t really a very good bass player, but he was a helluva good showman.? Hixx left the band about a year ago. Robin Fooks, Steve?s father, fills the vacancy. ?He is actually a bass player, so it worked out way better,? says Crowe. ?He?s a lot easier on equipment. It saves us money there, too.? Powersludge?s loud, booze- and bud-infused brand of hard rock will have many people reaching for their earplugs. The band happily provides them at its shows, which, in Stettler at least, have a tendency to dissolve into melees because everybody ?loses their heads? once the music starts. Fans in need of a little sleaze need look no further than the ?cleavage cam?, an idea popularized by Motley Crue on its latest tour. ?I ran into a police officer not so long and I told him we were going to be playing in town at the end of October,? says Crowe. ?He said, ?We?ll just stand out the side door and you just throw them out at us.? ?I don?t know what it is, but our hometown shows are history-making events to be cherished.? Beyond Stettler, the band has played infrequent gigs across Central Alberta and competed in several ?Band Warz? events in Calgary. In October, it took a shot at landing a spot in an upcoming reality series and a $1-million recording contract. While the band would love to move to a larger centre where gigs are more plentiful, Stettler has its appeal. The town?s low overhead allows the band to spend its money on better gear for the project rather than rent. ?It?s not about money, it?s not about girls, it?s not about drinking, it?s about making music,? insists Crowe. Powersludge has high hopes for 2008. It?s working on a bunch of new songs and is planning a tour. The challenge is getting everyone in the studio at the same time. ?A good friend of mine said, ?If you?re not having fun, you?re wasting my time,?? says Crowe. ?We enjoy doing what we do, so when we hit the stage, we try to make sure everybody standing in front of it is having as good a time as we are.? For more information, visit www.pissoffrecords.com Contact Cameron Kennedy at ckennedy@reddeeradvocate.com

The Stettler Independent - July 5, 2006

Rock and roll is here to stay. (Chloe Jones; The Stettler Independent) He hasn't signed the death certificate on his dreams of fronting a teknodeth band, but for the moment, musician Shaman Crowe is looking to produce something a little more radio friendly. Since making the leap into the rock n' roll market with the band Powersludge, Crowe hasn't looked back. Crowe, Mike Gunderman, Gerry Hixx and Steve Fooks came together from a variety of different musical projects to form Powersludge in 2005. In may of 2006 the foursome produced its first disc: GIMME THE BOOZE. Released as an independent, the self-recorded CD has sold over 200 copies already, and Powersludge is getting ready for its summer Hellbound For Texas Tour 2006, which they co-headline with Texas rock group Stampede Queen. Crowe, who pulls vocal and lead guitar duties for the band, says the move into the rock n' roll market has come naturally for him and the others. Crowe was after something more mainstream after his previous project, Necron 99, whose sound consisted of a mix of techno electronica and death metal he called teknodeth. By his own claim, the group was banned across Canada because of its over the top stage shows. "Any thought of pursuing death metal at this time is pretty much squashed," said Crowe. He says the band wanted something more radio friendly but still energetic. "It's a lot of fun, because you can make a lot simpler somgs and put more energy into stage presence," said Crowe. "It was kind of like getting back into what I was used to," said Fooks, who plays the rhythm guitar for Powersludge. The bands current disc features 12 songs, all originally recorded live "for fun. "We recorded mainly to have a copy for ourselves, but they turned out so well we decided to release them," said Crowe. Some of the songs are tongue-in-cheek such as the title track, "Gimme The Booze." Other, like "Someone Else," have a deeper meaning. This particular song was written as a way to help a friend in a time of need. Crowe is enjoying the new music the band is producing, but does not regret his teknodeth metal days with Necron 99. He says that Necron 99's sound was a bit ahead of itself but was worth the investment. "I wouldn't give up that project or idea for the world, but unfortunately some projects have expiry dates," says Crowe. Right now Crowe says the plan for the Hellbound For Texas Tour is to visit Alberta, British Columbia and possibly Saskatchewan. There are rumours that Powersludge will play in Texas in September, but Crowe isn't sure if this will happen. Crowe says the response to Powersludge has been positive, with his Necron 99 fans following the move. "I know some die-hard country fans who don't like rock n' roll at all but they like Powersludge," said Crowe. Powersludge's Hellbound For Texas Tour begins in Stettler on July 15 at the Stettler Hotel. Other upcoming events include FleshFest 2006 on July 22 at Hangar 56. This is the studio a few miles north of Stettler where the band records their songs. On this night there will be four opening bands then Powersludge will take the stage followed by Stampede Queen. For Crowe there is no question where he wants Powersludge to head. He envisions it to be one of the greatest rock n' roll bands ever. "You decide what you're going to do with your life," said Crowe.