Hard Talk

Omen Interview

by Jym Harris

Another Ballbuster Exclusive! Here's an interview with Kenny Powell; guitarist & mastermind behind the legendary Metal band OMEN!!!

Jym Harris: I've been listening to Omen since 'Battle Cry'. How did the band first get signed?

Kenny Powell: I actually had a deal offer before I had the full band together on the strength of the songs Battle Cry and Die by the Blade, that I had written for Savage Grace.

JH: Who did the spoken intro to 'The Axeman'?

KP: J.D. did the spoken part, the thing is that when I first heard the song on a demo, before J.D. joined the band, it sounded a lot better than it turned out on the record. we could never re-capture it in the studio. It is the only song on any Omen record that was written outside of the band. We just made some changes in the original idea, and of course made the guitar parts allot more aggressive!

JH: After a few albums, the late JD Kimball left the band. What happened?

KP: J.D. had many personal demons, that he couldn't seem to over come. The situation just became intolerable, and we parted company in the middle of the Curse/Nightmares tour. I always thought that we would work together again some day, so I was extremely disappointed and saddened when his brother contacted me and said that he had passed. I did not even know that he had been sick. We are dedicating our shows in Europe and the U.S. this summer to his memory.

JH: Why did you pick Coburn Pharr to sing on 'Escape To Nowhere'?

KP: Coburn was a room mate of Steve and I and he pretty much knew the songs already. he flew out in the middle of the tour and finished the shows that we had left.

JH: Do you think the change in styles hurt the popularity of the band?

KP: That is a fucking understatement! Everyone blamed Coburn for the change in style, but the truth is that we had written a follow up along the lines of the Curse, only a little more aggressive. We went to New York to work with a producer for the first time and he threw out all of our songs and totally changed the sound of the band. It was a miserable experience for me, and the band never recovered from it. Don't get me wrong, I think that Paul O'Neil is a fantastic producer and a borderline musical genius. He just was not the right guy at the right time for Omen. I love damn near everything that he produced for Savatge, I hate the escape record with a passion though!

JH: At what point did you decide to recruit your son Greg (now in Stomping Ground) into the Omen line-up?

KP: I was looking to do an Omen record again and my son seemed like the logical choice. he had grown up around that music. It is my fault that the record turned out sounding the way it did. Honestly, I thought we would be called dinosaurs if we didn't sound more up to date. Boy, was I a major dumb ass!

JH: You've been involved with other projects like 'Stepchild'. Tell us about that.

KP: I was very disappointed at the end of Omen and was considering not playing in a band any more. I moved to Dallas with Guitar Center and ended up staying. I got back into it for the fun of it, and we started getting very popular in Dallas. It was more of a little pressure have fun kind of band, and we ended up starting our own label and releasing a CD. It sold very well and I actually made some money in that band, which is something that has never happened in Omen. There were girls at our shows too, which is never a bad thing Eventually I got bored with the music though, I am Metal at Heart and you can't hold it back for very long.

JH: Now on the newest cd, Omen's style is very traditional. Where did you find your current singer, Kevin Gooch?

KP: Kevin had been in several bands that opened for Step Child around town and to be honest, I did not even know that he could sing Metal. He always had some crappy punk band going on. We were looking for a singer and someone talked me into giving him a try out. I was floored!

JH: How did you go about picking the songs to be included in the medley at the end of the new album?

KP: That all started on the Fates warning tour in 87. we did not have a very long set time, so we condensed some of the songs down so we could play more classic songs. Pretty soon we looked at each other and said , hey we ought to record this as a bonus track on the next record.

JH: Whose idea was it to release the 20th anniversary box set?

KP: It was metal blades idea, and I was against it at first. Mainly because we have never seen any sales royalties from those records and some bull shit that they had pulled in trying to keep us from getting a new deal on the E.B.D. record. But in the end I cooperated because I thought the fans would like it. I am glad I did , with the passing of J.D. and everything. Hey did you know after a $7000 dollar budget and being re-released several times that Battle Cry has finial made $74? That's awesome isn't it!

JH: What about future plans for recording & touring with Omen?

KP: We are doing some festivals and possibly a live DVD in Europe in June and then some dates with WASP in July. after that I am really not sure what is in the cards. Probably take a break for a while, and write a new record.

JH: Well, Kenny Thanks for the interview. Any closing comments?

KP: I would like to thank everyone that has followed the band through the good and bad times these last 20 years. I am always in awe at the people who know every word to every song and live and die my how good the record turns out. I am very blessed to have been a part of something that has lasted this long.