16 Volt

Eric Powell of 16 Volt joins Brian Prime for a chat about longevity, creativity, and navigating an evolving musical landscape. Powell reflects on returning to form after a hiatus, balancing family life with decades in music, and the quiet confidence that comes with experience.
Featured Songs:
16 Volt - More of Less

https://www.16volt.com/ for more 16 Volt.

https://darkforcefest.com for more information about Dark Force Fest.

Void Signal intro courtesy of Processor. Visit https://processor2.bandcamp.com for more Processor.

Transcript

Brian Prime: [00:00:00] Hello there. 

Eric Powell: Hey, how's it going? 

Brian Prime: It's going good, man. how are you? 

Eric Powell: I'm doing well. 

Brian Prime: Nice. do you need a second or are you good to go or? 

Eric Powell: I'm good to go, 

Brian Prime: All right, cool. so just welcome to Void Signal. I'm your host, Brian Prime.

I am joined for this episode by, the Eric Powell from, 16 Volt. You have been making music in the industrial, industrial mely sort of a space, for quite some time now. I got to see you live. Tampa like a long ass time ago, like early two thousands with like kidney thieves and K-M-F-D-M and Pig.

you melted my brain at the time and then I gotta to see you at, mechanisms last year and you also blew me away yet again. still delivering. I saw you at Cold Waves LA back in 2017. that was a fucking great show. that was fun. But, yeah, it's good to see you, man. I'm so glad that you're still making music and, that I'm [00:01:00] gonna get to see you in at Dark Force Fest here in a couple of, couple of weeks.

how are things? 

Eric Powell: Yeah. Is it already a couple of weeks, huh? 

Brian Prime: Yeah. Coming up pretty quick's 

Eric Powell: yeah, it's going great, man. Just, been, you know, kind of getting ready for this show. And then, we're gonna be doing a batch of shows. A little farther, close to like closer to fall, around the us so 

Brian Prime: Oh, like a little mini tour?

Eric Powell: Gotcha. Like flying, flying around and gotcha. You know, tr try to keep it alive for as long as possible. 

Brian Prime: I know you did release, an album off, metropolis this past year. have been listening to it a lot. great record. thank you. Can you tell me a little bit about what was on your mind going back into it?

'cause there was a little bit of a gap between releases and, this was like, sort of a fresh ish coat of paint for you. 

Eric Powell: Yeah, I mean, really it was just sort of like. Did it for a long time. I, you know, like the records we had before that, we kind of did like two eps after beating dead [00:02:00] horses. we did a, called the Negative Space, and then we did one right after that, which was dead on arrivals.

I think the names are all confusing to me at this point 'cause we also released it, we com combined those and released it. I think that was, yeah, negative on Arri. Negative on arrivals on on Metropolis after that. 'cause those were like self-released. But yeah. Yeah, I mean after beating dead horses, I mean really just kind of had a lot of stuff going on in my life personally and you know, just kind of took a break really and just kind of focused on like my kids and you know, growing older and figured out like, what is going on?

And. you know, we did those two eps and I think like, you know, brought somebody else in to kind of like, really, you know, steer, steer the boat and, you know, I kind of historically, like every time that we've done that, like it doesn't quite go the way we, I think the hopes are.

And, you know, sort of like, felt like, more of, less definitely was like, the [00:03:00] attempt of returning to form and like. You know, really doing what we, or what I do, you know, like 

Brian Prime: right 

Eric Powell: Whether that outside influence is positive or negative. And you know, I can't say, you know, like, I mean, those are, there's some great songs on those records and, and stuff like that, but I think it just was like, okay, like once again, like I just need to like, just do, do it, you know, for myself.

And, I had some great partners that I've worked with in the past too, and. kind of got back to like, you know, bringing some of the original team guys back in for that kind of stuff that who had helped with like beating dead horses and American porn songs and, you know, stuff like that. Fullback habit.

And so, yeah, really that was kind of, that's the short story. What it is that, I can do. 

Brian Prime: And, I assume you felt some degree of pressure of like, this is my first studio release in a while. Like, did you feel like you had sort of a reputation or a namesake to live up to?

Eric Powell: I mean, no, not really. I feel like more [00:04:00] disappointed that I felt like I disappointed our fans, you know, and like, it wasn't really like, you know, what, what they would've expected maybe.

There was that in the back of my mind, you know, not that I wrote it for, like, I'm, I don't ever like write anything with that in mind. Like, just do, do what I do.

it's okay to like, sure. Just be, just use some of the formula and things like that that I've used. It's okay to do that. You know, I don't have to always be creating tension between what I know and like exploring things, you know? 

Brian Prime: Yeah. You don't have to innovate all the time and reinvent a dozen times.

the record is really tight, really enjoyable to listen to. has some. feels like a fresh sort of 16 volt, like it sounds, it's got a kind of a modern sound to it, that I enjoyed quite a bit. will you continue to make records, presumably or gonna call it quits or, 

Eric Powell: I think there's more to come. You know, like I, I don't, I think trying to predict, like in the past I've always been sort of like [00:05:00] self-destructive that way, you know, like this is the last one, you know, and it's like, I'm not doing this anymore. But I mean, I think as I've gotten older and stuff, it's like, it's just part of what I do, you know?

It's like, you know, it's obviously more than a hobby, but like it's just part of what I do. And, you know, I have this great space now and I can make help at home and, You know, of course. I'm just gonna keep going. Yeah. You know, you mentioned I still feel like, there's things that inspire me still.

new equipment, new gear, like new sounds. Things like that. So I don't, you know, I have a lot of ideas, so I wanna keep, keep going as you know, till I can't, I guess. 

Brian Prime: Yeah. 

Eric Powell: For now, 

Brian Prime: for now, you did mention getting older, a thing that I am, keenly aware of myself. has that, has there been any aspect of like, getting older that has maybe affected or changed your approach to songwriting and music production?

Eric Powell: I think I've always been kind of curious about like perceptions and like the way you [00:06:00] perceive yourself versus how other people perceive you. And you know, that sort of like I. You know, like I've had people say like, oh, you're really intimidating, or like, you know, you come off as like arrogant sometimes or something like that.

I'm like, really? Like, I just, I'm like social anxiety. I just feel, you know, totally uncomfortable and like, that's so weird to think about that. And I think like with, as you get older, you sort of like realize, like you can let go of some of that and like, you know, not be so tied to that, like in your process or whatever.

but I think it's like, my point in that was that like, it's not coming from like a place of ego or arrogance, but I think it's like as you get older and you've done something for a long time, there becomes like this sort of like subconscious wisdom or something that, you know, you sort of know kind of like.

When you're treading into like territory, you know, that's not great. Or, you know, when you are treading into territory that you're like, dude, this is really cool. I'm like feeling this. You know, and, and that that may not even be real. [00:07:00] It might still be like in your subconscious or in your, in your own brain or whatever.

I guess for me, I'm just sort of trying to embrace the fact that, yeah, I mean I have had this band for like a long time and, I should feel okay about that, you know? 

Brian Prime: Yeah, definitely. And I, I think kind of speaking to your point, like I, there's a degree of confidence that just sort of comes naturally with like getting older and like doing thing for X amount of time.

I haven't been doing my thing for nearly as long as you, but I definitely feel that sort of like, oh, I am less anxious in social situations because I am supposed to be here. and you know. There's a lot to be gained from that sort of acceptance and confidence of just, and there's also the degree of like, the old man syndrome of just like, I don't give a fuck anymore.

Mm-hmm. so I just don't, you know, oh, I'm not gonna worry or stress about this thing because who gives a shit. 

Eric Powell: I think I, I'm more started with that, but I think that that was more defensive, you know, like, just being [00:08:00] sort of like, I don't give a fuck. You know? But like everybody gets, I mean, I don't know.

There's this, there's a lot of like. Existential conversations you can have about that. You know, if you put out music, there's something about you that needs some sort of recognition for it, you know? 

Brian Prime: Yeah. 

Eric Powell: I think it's, you know, it's, you don't, if you don't care really, like, and you don't wanna do some, if you don't want to, people please in some way, or like have some sort of recognition or like whatever it is, like, then why even put it out?

Just finish it and play it. Play it whenever you want to hear it again, 

Brian Prime: Yeah. 

Eric Powell: Right. 

Brian Prime: Okay. Well, and I, you know, to be fair, I've encountered bands that I, they just are pumping out music.

And it's just like, ah, yeah, your 12 album's deep. I'd rather not listen to any of them, but good job for being so prolific, I guess. you know, hopefully you've listened to them and enjoy them. but you know, you don't have to worry about that in your case. Yeah. Your music's, you know, been banging so far.

Eric Powell: Yeah, I can't help, but I don't like to re I mean, it sort of sounds, [00:09:00] contradictory to earlier what I was saying about like, you know, sort of embracing your formula. But like, I think there's an ex, you know, there's, there's a boundary there. You know, I'm not gonna pull up motor skill and like try to redo that.

You know? 

Brian Prime: Yeah, that's fair. motor Skill Live is just such an experience. That song just crushes, it's so good. it was wonderful to see you at Mechanisms, and I'm excited for the people of Dark Force Fest to see you and to get to experience what you've got. On offer, I don't know if you know this yet or not, but, set list for that gonna be kind of a mix of classics and some new stuff.

Eric Powell: it takes months to kind of prepare for these things. we're kind of running a bunch of new stuff too for live that kind of makes our lives easier. so I've been like, you know, doing like a bunch of like backing. Syncing stuff like midi, having mini like, change guitar sounds and things like, so yeah, I've had to sort of like dig into the whole show and like figure out when changes are happening, what's, you know, what [00:10:00] happens.

it's gonna be a mixture of everything and we're kind of leaning a bit more like, I would say electronic, I guess. it's fun to play like the really heavy stuff 'cause it's, the energy level's diff, you know, it's higher and, I can see it in the crowd.

Like, I mean, I feed off of the crowd, so if the crowd's just standing there, I, I, it's hard for me to like, want to like, you know, I just don't feel it as much, you know, and so playing the heavier and faster stuff is helps with that. But, yeah, we're kind of leaning more, kind of like a little bit more old school, I guess.

like we're only playing one song off the new album, and it's one of the slower ones. it's in the thaw, so if you were, you were at me, mechanics, measure, or mechanisms, we played that there too. I thought that went over really, really well. And it was, it was really fun to play. so we kind of felt we'd do that one again out there 

Brian Prime: Yeah, that's a damn good track. your performance at Mechanisms was fantastic on a evening and a during a festival filled with fantastic performances. similarly, dark Forest has a pretty impressive lineup this year. are you gonna be there for the whole [00:11:00] thing or just your day? 

Eric Powell: I think I'm flying in on Friday and then we're rehearsing on Saturday during the day. and then we'll probably go out, I mean, it's in the hotel we're staying in, so how can we not? we gotta go check it out. So, yeah, we'll be there. And then I think I'm flying back Monday. So. Yeah, we'll be there for, you know, a good chunk of it. 

Brian Prime: Nice. anybody from the lineup that you, you know, I, I know the nature of festivals. It's always, oh, I want to catch whatever, and you won't because festival time happens and you step outside and 20 minutes passes and, ah, there SAT's over.

but is there anybody that you saw performing that you know, you would like to see or that you, are a fan of? 

Eric Powell: I'm looking forward to seeing the UA and like seeing Andy's stuff. what else? I, you know, London after midnight, I haven't seen since pro, like the nineties.

I feel like it was like in LA way long time ago. So it'd be kind of fun to check out. I mean, there's a lot of stuff, off the top of my head, I'm just like, I can't think of anything on the spot, but yeah. 

Brian Prime: That's okay. 

Eric Powell: I'm [00:12:00] excited to check out as much as I can. I mean, obviously like, you know, frontline and things like that, but it's always great to.

Great to see them. 

Brian Prime: Yeah, I, I caught frontline assembly at, cold waves LA where I saw you, back in 2017. a fantastic night and fantastic lineup. I gotta see, man Ate was, awesome. Incredible. mark Gil has got some fantastic energy behind him. do you feel like there is in the sort of modern.

industrial music, sort of a landscape. where do you see 16 volt kind of fitting into that? 

Eric Powell: It's like, I, I mean a lot of people still don't even know like what, who six Volt is. Right. And I'm highly aware of that, you know? But then there's other, you know, I get like people who tell me, like, they started listening to us in like, you know, early nineties and like, you know, it's been like a huge impact to their whole life.

I think bands of our size, it's like really tough to go out and like do a tour right now, like, you know, get in a bus and [00:13:00] go, hit a city every day.

I just don't know if that, I mean, I don't think we could do it. I think we just can't make enough to make it happen right now. So in that way it's like you. We're not obviously like, you know, frontline to use them. as an example, you know, they travel all over the place. They can tour, they can do all that stuff.

so, you know, it's a tough question. I think for some people. You know, maybe 16 volt is, you know, as big as ministry. they don't know the difference between nine inch nails and 16 volt as far as like how we live and what we can afford to do and things like that.

Brian Prime: Yeah. would you like to see 16 volt sort of, get up to that point of being able to just like tour and do it all the time? Or do you think that, 'cause you mentioned, you know, kids aging, family, other, you know, whole other Eric Powell life is going on behind the scenes.

Or do you just feel sort of okay with like, I'll play this festival or I'll play this thing, but, you know, I'm mostly okay with just gonna staying [00:14:00] home. 

Eric Powell: I think it's like sometimes you could try to convince yourself, of those answers, you know, like, I wish 16 volt was bigger and could go do like, whatever.

I mean, I can be like, no, no, I think I'm fine where I'm at. You know? Of course. Yeah. I think of course we would, but I, I think like to the level of where. You know, I have to go do things I don't want to do. Or like, you know, like if, if the band was at a point where, like we had, we had to employ people and you know, their livelihoods were depending on us, I don't, I don't wanna be at that level, you know?

Because, you know, I think that's when it becomes not fun. right now we kind of treat these festival shows as like, it's like a vacation for us. You know, we get to go, go see our friends that we haven't seen in a while and get to get away from reality and, you know, play Rockstar for the weekend. I mean, it's awesome.

Yeah. but I think if it was like. You know, more of a full-time thing. It does kind of get, get grindy. 

Brian Prime: So, what [00:15:00] do you fill your time with, aside from 16 volt, other musical projects or just what else do you ever got going on in your, in your life? 

Eric Powell: I started off, in recording engineering. I have a degree in recording engineering. That was my original career goal. Well, music was always my career goal, but my mom actually was like, I'm, I'll support you with your band, but you have to have a backup plan. So I, I was like, all right, you know, learn how to make records, you know, thinking like that's gonna, I'm just doing that to do that 'cause it's part of being in a band.

kind of in the late nineties, like.com boom and all that stuff, kind of realized that I could make like, you know, 10 times as much making a website for somebody that I could make it, try to make a record for somebody. And like in between, like trying to tour, we did a lot of more touring back then, you know, get in the van and go kind of stuff.

And, not really having like, stability in, in jobs and things that just kind of learn to freelancing, doing digital stuff, you know, makes. Pays the bills lets me, you know, continue my habits of traveling and, you know, [00:16:00] making music and disappearing for a week in the studio and things like that. So yeah, I do that.

I do the day job, you know, so I'm, I do a lot of, ux UI design. I've been doing that for like, what, like 25 years now. So, nice. and then, yeah, just spend a lot of time with my kids, not really kids anymore. They're both, adults now. My daughter actually turned 20 yesterday. Oh my gosh. Wow. 

Brian Prime: That's crazy. How does it feel to have a, a 20-year-old, that is blood related to you out there in the world nowadays? 

Eric Powell: Well, there's a 22 and a, well, he's gonna be 22 in May, but Yeah, 20 for, you know, 22 and a 20-year-old. I mean, it's, it's wild. I think it like. Being a parent's, it's a trip, you know? and I was in a co-parenting situation, 50 50.

Brian Prime: Yeah. 

Eric Powell: You can kind of see like, okay, I, I, I did a good job on it. Like they're really good kids and they're polite and you know, they're both creative and, you know, I think it, they both have great ambition and, [00:17:00] you know, stay out of trouble.

So That's good. Blessed, I feel blessed in that way, you know? 

Brian Prime: Yeah. what was, was that your story growing up was staying outta trouble and polite and good kid? 

Eric Powell: I was raised by my mom, my dad, the story of my dad is basically told in the, in the, the video for that song burn that we did for, beating dead horses.

so I grew up with, you know, an alcoholic dad and he left when I was like eight. So, I mean, it was basically like my mom raised me. And, yeah, I think when you're in a situation like that, you know, you just kind of tend to like. Go one way or the other. for me, like I, I think we rubbed up against trouble quite a bit, you know?

but my mom would always kind of re-skill us and myself and my brother and stuff, so, I mean, I had a great childhood. It was, it was, it was good. 

Brian Prime: Gotcha. 

Eric Powell: in a lot of ways as a, you know, as a dad, like, I kind of learned one not to do, with my kids, you know, I think it's kind of simple, man. You just gotta like, show 'em.

You're there and you know. [00:18:00] There to support him and help him and show 'em you care about 'em and the other stuff just happens. 

Brian Prime: Yeah. Wild concept of yeah. You know, treat him like you care about him. yeah, it is sort of a, I mean, that's a good answer. I'm relieved to hear that, honestly, that, you know, 'cause not everybody has a wonderful childhood and, especially, you know, sort of in.

Maybe in our scene a little bit more just because like, you know, there's a lot of tortured souls, like putting their music out there. so I, yeah, I think that's maybe sort of a common ground that a lot of us maybe have. yeah. Lyrically 16 volt does well, yeah. I mean, and 

Eric Powell: there's, 

Brian Prime: sorry, 

Eric Powell: I was gonna say, I mean, I think anytime you have, you know, a creative endeavor that's. Meaningful. Like, you know, I mean, I'm, I'm painting a glowy picture of it, of course. Like, you know, we all have traumas and things. lots of, I am a tortured soul, so, you know, sure. Don't, don't count. Don't count me out on that, but, 

Brian Prime: okay.

Eric Powell: Yeah. 

Brian Prime: Alright. I'll also continue, consider you a tortured [00:19:00] soul. 

Eric Powell: I thank you. 

Brian Prime: I was gonna say that, you know, lyrically 16 volt, content has always, you know, dived into and dealt, you know, dealt with some pretty heavy stuff. you know, I remember 20 years ago or whatever, like listening to something like Happy Pill or Everyday Everything and dead weight and tracks like that, that just, I was like, man, this is like saying some important things.

can you just tell me a little bit about kind of what that looks like for you as far as like, how a song comes together and what it ends up being? 

Eric Powell: I think you kind of cracked the code there there's always dark stuff to figure out. I mean, I think even just from an observational point of view, you know, you can look at things around you and make observations on that and, sort of soak in the dark side of those things. A lot of the music is more for me, when it starts it, it starts off more as like something sonically, it's like a round of sound or some drums that sound cool or a guitar riff. It [00:20:00] doesn't really have any like meaning, until you start to like, until it's like kind of glued together a bit.

And then, you know, you start to think about, like for me, the. The lyrics and vocals kind of come after. It's like you get all the, you get all the cool sounds and like get the, the song down and the riff and like, and then it's like, it's time to like turn the lights off and then like go, go dark and. Not be around anyone and Sure.

Sit with the song for a while. And like for me there like the, it sounds really cliche, but like the songs say some, like there's something in the song that like says something about something to me and it's like, it just kind of comes out. It's like that has this kind of vibe or whatever. And I don't know, it'll just kind of happen.

It's, It sounds all cliche, like I said, but like there's just this door that opens when you get to that point where you're like writing for me, you know? Sure. And you just have to kind of like let yourself go there, like no matter what the, 

Brian Prime: yeah. I mean, 

[00:21:00] con 

Eric Powell: know how painful can be 

Brian Prime: Content-wise, 16 volt is a very, like, personal, sort of a, a subject matter, kind of a endeavor. not, I would not say political, at all, but, do you find it, as you're writing new songs and doing new music, do you find it difficult to sort of keep it. In the same tone of the personal or do you find the outside world and political themes maybe sort of weighing on you?

Eric Powell: I mean, I think I accidentally end up with it being more personal. that's to me like where like it resonates with me more. Like, you know, 16 volt is typically not really like dug into like politics in the past. The writing, and the output. I think those things definitely influence the personal feelings though. you know, I mean, if you look at some of the, you know, some of the songs, I mean, they're clearly about like. You know, political issues and 

Brian Prime: Sure. 

Eric Powell: The way people are treated [00:22:00] and, things that are wrong with society and, you know, politics and religion and things like that.

Brian Prime: yeah, 

Eric Powell: I think through definitely influence, but I always try to like filter it through like a story about a person or about. My experience with that as a person. 

Brian Prime: shifting gears a little bit, what's going on in your life that you're excited about? Like, is there something recent that has, just landed in your lap that you've just been like enamored with?

Eric Powell: well, I got a quad cortex mini for those who know. so, pretend I'm an ignorant person. You maybe 

Brian Prime: don't have to pretend, 

Eric Powell: Yeah, it's a mini, it's a small version of what used to be a larger guitar processor, that you can also use for vocals and bass and things like that.

But we've been trying to solve this problem live for. Since we started, which was like, how do we do like vocal delays when we're playing live and we're not using our own sound guy. It's just a, it's a pain in the ass. So [00:23:00] finally kind of like struck gold and now we're like running a quad cortex, like this small.

I can fly with it and run my vocals through it, run my guitar through it, you know, it's all virtual and. Via our, like, backing tracks player. Like we can send MIDI to it and change the presets and change parameters. I mean, it's nerdy shit, but yeah. 

Brian Prime: Nice. I mean, it's good to have a thing that like, you know, makes it easier and you. Excited about, you do sort of strike me as very like, all in, like, this is a thing that you definitely love. would you say that after doing it for, you know, the many years that you have, do you love it as much still, or, 

Eric Powell: I mean, there's things I love about it more.

and there's things that I love about it less too, you know? 

Brian Prime: Yeah. 

Eric Powell: I think like the, you know, I'm not naive anymore to like the business and yeah. I think like super cool. Nothing was sort of the pinnacle that when that record, we did that record in 98, that was sort of the pinnacle of like, [00:24:00] you know, epiphany about what we were trying to do and like how kind of useless that was.

And so that part about doing music, I don't. I'm not particularly fond of. but yeah, I mean there's things that, like I said, there's things I love about it more. I mean, the more I learned about like sound and, you know, like history of musicians and like synthesis and like all that stuff, it's just so freaking awesome.

Brian Prime: Alright. Good answer. I don't want to keep you too long. I will go ahead and hit you with the last question of the show, which is just, what is something that you have been enjoying recently?

And your answer can be anything. A book, a movie, a TV show, some new music. Just what's something that has you excited? 

Eric Powell: I think there's been some cool, shows like a while back that were really cool. Severance was one that I love It's fucking great. 

Brian Prime: been meaning 

Eric Powell: to watch that.

Brian Prime: I had it recommended to me after I told someone that I watched Mr. Robot and enjoyed that. 

Eric Powell: you know, I kind of latch onto shows once in a while like that. I'm trying to think. [00:25:00] Recently, I mean, I'm a Game of Thrones fan too, so that's kind of nerdy. But the 

Brian Prime: I was, that night of the Seven Kingdoms was a blast to watch and I found myself, I 

Eric Powell: really, I love, 

Brian Prime: yeah. I found myself thinking like, oh, right, this is why I like this thing. 

Eric Powell: Yeah. Can't wait for season two. 

Brian Prime: Abysmally short. Like I, sorry, I don't mean to interrupt you. Just like I agree. I was suddenly so disappointed with like, that's it.

Like this episode six episodes or whatever it is. Like 

Eric Powell: what are you doing? Like why did you do that? 

Brian Prime: Yeah. 

Eric Powell: Yeah, I mean, technology for me too is something that like, you know, I'm pretty like passionate about and I think without a computer, I don't know what I would be doing.

Like I've said that for a long time, you know, like, yeah, without technology, like I don't know what I would do. probably be in jail or something. But, you know, technology's really interesting right now with like ai, it's kind of a weird time to see how that all pans out. And you know how the. AI sort of infiltrates music and design and [00:26:00]

Brian Prime: Yeah.

Eric Powell: Everything. 

Brian Prime: And that's, that's a thing that you must be sort of rubbing up against, in both facets of your, of your life. Not only graphic design, but also with music production. what are your thoughts on AI and NNC use? 

Eric Powell: I am partly optimistic and partly terrified. I think we have to come to a place where it's an augmentation rather than a, you know, sentient kind of thing.

I'm seeing it. Right now too, through a different lens, which is my daughter, is, she's like very talented illustrator, painter. She's an artist. And, she really wants to go into like 2D animation, character, creation and stuff like that.

And storyboarding, she loves doing that too. And like, she's like in college right now and like, this is all kind of happening. And, you know, seeing that like you can use AI to create like a 2D animation in like 15 seconds. You know, like what happens? I mean, I don't think the art will [00:27:00] be lost, but I think the situation that sucks is that the people who are putting out the art, the distributors, you know, the, the labels, the studios they want, the more product they put out, the more they make.

So they're gonna just, they, efficiency is gonna be.

I mean, just if you run it through ai, it's gonna take 15 minutes. So like just we can put out 30 films and the time it's gonna take you to do that by hand. I think that's, that's terrifying. And I mean, even for audio, like there's plugins that are coming out right now. soft Tube I think is one that, that's doing some, some pretty cool stuff, but it's also really terrifying where there's a craft involved in audio producing and like EQing and things like that.

And it's just like, analyze my audio. Okay. I want it to sound like, you know, a, a metal record. Oh, here's your eq. And you're like, that's pretty damn close, you know? 

Brian Prime: Yeah. that must be a little scary just to sort of see the things that you not only went to school for, but are obviously very passionate about.

[00:28:00] sort of be, co-opted in a way. I feel that way myself when it comes to ai just because, you know, I, I went to school for creative writing and, it pains me to see Yeah, you know, that's primarily what it is, is a lot of limited language models that are just good at. Imitating and, you know, regurgitating things.

Eric Powell: complimenting 

Brian Prime: but it does make me kind of sad just to see the way it has sort of, it is influencing language. Like I can, I can sort of spot and tell when, you know, someone's Facebook status is like maybe a little too clean and neat and you know, just right.

Yeah. 

Eric Powell: Too many, too many m dashes. 

Brian Prime: which makes me so mad because I love using the M dash and like, it's pisses me off to no end of like, get outta here. Like, I was using this punctuation before you were cool. 

Eric Powell: Right? Yeah. It's scary. 

Brian Prime: mm-hmm.

Eric Powell: I mean, I feel, I'm scared for my [00:29:00] daughter. because it's like, you know, just to be at the beginning of something and like, you're kind of hedging all bets, like going to school for this thing, and then all of a sudden it just like the rug gets pulled out and you're like, what do I do?

You know? Yeah. I think that that's just crazy. I mean, we've been talking about it, you know, like what are some things that actually. AI can't really, like, you need a person to still do, you know? Mm-hmm. Like photography I think is one thing. You still need somebody to frame, you know, to like click the button or whatever, you know?

Brian Prime: Yeah. 

Eric Powell: it's kind of getting more attention now, but like, you know, the creation of AI music and like, putting that out and using like, algorithms to like get plays. I can't remember the person's name, but like. You probably heard about it.

He created like a song, he's been like, just mass outputting songs through ai, putting them up on Spotify. And then he created a bot that would like just continually play him over and over again, all of them. And he made like millions of dollars on Spotify recently. And they, they realized that it was all like AI generated and he's like, [00:30:00] got arrested or whatever's happening right now.

But you know, they're saying they, they're banning AI music, through streaming. That, that would be nice, you know? Yeah, 

Brian Prime: yeah. Agree. That's a ban I can get behind. 

Eric Powell: yeah. 

Brian Prime: I'm not usually one for bans on things, but, I would be in this case. 

Eric Powell: Yeah, I mean, that's a good point too, right?

Like. It's a, I mean, I don't have the answers. I think If I had the answers, it'd probably be on my yacht in Belize or something. 

Brian Prime: It does always fill me with such disappointment though, to see like. A, a single cover or an album cover or a flyer for a show that is just very clearly ai, and I'm just, especially a flyer for a show like you, flyers are notoriously historically shitty.

Like, yeah, it can look like anything. Bust open your MS paint, get your fucking comic sands font and just put it together. Anything is better than this thing that, like as soon as you use an [00:31:00] AI flyer, I'm not gonna go. 

Eric Powell: Yeah, I agree. 

Brian Prime: Not to sound like a judgy asshole, but I guess I am 

Eric Powell: respect. 

Brian Prime: yeah, 

Eric Powell: It's like, you know, if you look at industry and trades and crafts and things like, you know, a lot of things get, you know, eaten up by new things, you know? 

It's always, there's always a push to like optimize the creation of it. And, you know, look at cars. I mean, it's all robot. It's all robots now it's all robotic, you know? Yeah. The creation. And they're just pounding autos off the, the line, you know, it's like, you know, 10 cars an hour or whatever it is, and 

Brian Prime: shifting gears really quick, what is a thing that you, what is a product or, or a thing you own that you pay extra for to, for quality and to know, like not only like made by a person, but like, this is a thing worth investing in. Is there anything that springs to mind, like outside 

Eric Powell: of all this? All shit.

Brian Prime: Yeah, just like is there anything in your life that you're just like, Ooh, I [00:32:00] have to have this thing. Name brand, you know, particular thing. 

Eric Powell: Yeah, I think for me it's like smart lighting. and it has to be Phillips like no Govi. 

Brian Prime: I have heard that. Like I, I've ha subscribed to like a couple of subreddits, like trip caves or whatever.

'cause I, I love neon lighting bullshit. And yeah, I just am like, I, I have only cheap ones and I have read extensively about people who are like, oh, it's gotta be the Phillips you. 

Eric Powell: yeah, I mean I think that's probably the main thing. I mean, you gotta have like, I don't know, this quality of like shoes, I guess.

I work in Nike right now, so that's, I'm a little spoiled, but, I'm, you know, I've always been a fan of like, nice shoes, you know? 

Brian Prime: Having nice shoes is important, especially like if you're gonna be on your fucking feet, like, and going to shows and festivals and stuff. Like, it's about the comfy shoes, like right behind me are the days of the uncomfortable, you know, combat boots and, and stuff like that.

You can look cool, but [00:33:00] comfort wins o over over cool factor. 

Eric Powell: Yeah. 

Brian Prime: Okay. Yeah, I don't 

Eric Powell: know. There's a lot of things I'm a little bougie about, you know? 

Brian Prime: Yeah. can you gimme an example of something else you're kind of bougie about? 

Eric Powell: lately it's just been all about electronics.

Like everything, you know, I'm like trying to buy like high quality stuff. yeah. That's probably be, you know, TVs. 

Brian Prime: Yeah. 

Eric Powell: Had to get a new tv and I'm like, I'm not gonna like buy things. You know, it's gotta be like main brand. I, it has to like last, you know, it has to last, 

Brian Prime: I'm gonna do my research before I purchase any piece of electronics and, try and make sure I'm getting like a good brand 

Eric Powell: Yeah. I mean, I guess, you know, travel stuff, you know, Pelican, I gotta have pelican stuff for traveling. You know, it's gonna be pelican. Okay.

Brian Prime: Alright. Noted. 

Eric Powell: Pelican cases, they make like flight cases and 

Brian Prime: Oh, okay. 

Eric Powell: And, yeah, microphones. 

Brian Prime: Okay, cool. well, and Apple 

Eric Powell: of course. 

Brian Prime: Oh, 

Eric Powell: no Windows. No. You know, none of that. It's gotta be [00:34:00] Apple. 

Brian Prime: You're Mac only kind of a guy. 

Eric Powell: Yes. 

Brian Prime: Okay. 

Eric Powell: Always have been, 

Brian Prime: I've always been a PC guy myself. so, you know, I mean, I can use it, you know, apple products, but just not, not my flavor, not my cup of tea. Not that it matters, like, you know, really like it's, you know, people use whatever they want, but Right. well, I always answer the question myself.

thing I have been enjoying recently, aside from that latest 16 volt record, which is pretty tight, Getting. hmm. What have I been enjoying? getting ready for Dark Force Fest and planning for doing a panel, getting the trivia together. I'm gonna have some headliners come out and join random teams with some attendees. I'm gonna have people in groups play trivia and, my trivia questions are, sort of random and stupid and, maybe amusing, maybe funny.

But I like doing that. I've done Void Signal live, like three times twice at mechanisms, once at Dark Force and it's just such a blast to force [00:35:00] people onto a team. Like you don't know each other, but figure out the answer to this question. 

Eric Powell: Yeah. 

Brian Prime: Ah, you know, then reading out the answers and like, ah, I said it was, I told you. I love doing that. Like, I love like making a little, pocket of community a little tiny thing of like, we're all here, we're gonna play, you know, have an activity together and maybe you'll make some friends that you hang out with the rest of the festival or, you know, two weeks later or whatever.

Eric Powell: yeah, just like. You break the ice. you know, dark Force Fest. I mean, we've really, we've never been a part of it. it's wild. Yeah. I mean, like, just to see all this stuff. I mean, it's like a whole weekend of like, I mean when we were first heard, oh, there's like vendors and stuff, you know, we're thinking okay, like, you know, we've played festivals and Yeah.

It's like, you know, it's like 10 people selling stuff or whatever, and it's so it's cool to look at and whatever. I mean, this seems like there's like. Hun, like a hundred and something vendors like 

Brian Prime: Yeah, it's a lot. 

Eric Powell: it's a lot. 

Brian Prime: Yeah. Because, and that's what makes it [00:36:00] fun, I think, is that like, it started out as a convention, so you still have the people in, you know, costumes.

you know, I a fond memory of like walking into a, a club and like, ah, there's. You know, Robocop isn't here or what, whatever the case may be. Right. just like, oh, Cyrex from Mortal Kombat isn't here. Breaking it down on the dance floor. I love that. And, you know, plus you get to browse people's homemade, handcrafted things.

I mean, of course you're gonna run into like, ah, this is my 3D printed dragons or whatever. the people who like. You know, Vera Worthington Springs to mind. She's a great painter, and makes, makes artwork and, it's exciting to just like see all the, everything in addition to all the bands.

And then you have bands that are hanging out and just walking the halls and like, oh fuck, that's so and so, and oh, there's clouds from a leather strip. And, you know, I love that. it feels, Very sort of communal and very, like, it's a good space. I think you're gonna have a great time and [00:37:00] I'm glad you're gonna be there.

Eric Powell: Yeah, I mean even like, like the events, like the panel. What night are you doing that? 

Brian Prime: jet actually emailed me and asked, he was like, what bands do you want to see in the lineup? So I'm not scheduling you at that time. And I was like, Ooh, don't, don't schedule me during like, pig 16.

Matt Black, ESA, like none of those or rabbit chunk, like I'll do it outside that. So I, I don't know. but if it is at a time when you are there and free, if you would like to stop by and play some trivia, I would be happy to have you. I will definitely be front and center for your set. 

Other, attendees that I know that are going like, don't miss 16 volt. Like this is gonna be one of the best performances of the festival. No pressure or anything, but, you know. Yeah. 

Eric Powell: We heard there was a pool party as well. That was, that was one that was like, I mean, that's. It's just wild.

We were like, there's like a goth pool party happening. Like this thing is gonna be insane. Yeah. 

Brian Prime: I've not been to the pool party myself, but it is, it seems fun. and [00:38:00] like some of the other panels that are going on, like sound so rad, like, you know, I'm gonna do trivia, but like there's a jumping spider.

Presentation and I think about, and the thing about bats and, you know, all kinds of different things to go. And that's an an aspect I really like about it too, is that like, you know, I need a break from the music or the overstimulation or whatever. So I'm gonna go sit in a quieter space and just hear some people talk, have a conversation for a time.

I went and saw the last year, the drag show was Justin. Phenomenal. Just like incredibly good. And I was like, this is, it's criminal that this is just, there's not more people here to see this incredible thing. but yeah, it's a fun, it's a fun thing. I'm excited to get to see you there. 

Eric Powell: It seems like, like, yeah, it is like kind of more like a convention with bands. It's, because I hadn't really thought of it. Even though that's what it was, of course. But 

Brian Prime: yeah. 

Brian Prime: I think it, it's, it's a good fit for those things. like this particular flavor of those two things being combined, like I think it works out well.

I'm happy to [00:39:00] see, sort of the old guard of industrial music, or whatever you want to call 16 volt. I'm glad to see you, there representing and, I'm excited for. younger fans to be exposed to, something that I had, when I was their age that, meant a lot to me. 

I'm one of those people and it definitely sound tracked some important moments in my life. So thank you so much for that. it has been, an honor to interact with you and to see you live as many times as I have. 

Eric Powell: That's awesome. Thank you. 

Brian Prime: Alright, well that is it. thank you so much for your time.

we'll go ahead and wrap this up. I will let you know when this comes out and I look forward to seeing you at Dark Force Fest in a few weeks here. And, yeah, that's it. Thank you so much. 

Eric Powell: there's been a couple questions about like, we did, you know, how we re-released, wisdom, our first album on vinyl and like a limited Yeah.

Metropolis, that trend is gonna continue. So more to come. we're hoping that the, that skin will actually have for, dark [00:40:00] Force Fest. That'll be like the release of it there. And then this year is actually, the 30th anniversary of this record right here. Ah, let that crush, yeah, it's 30 year anniversary for that.

So we're gonna be doing some fun stuff later in the year around that, like with shows and things like that. So, 

Brian Prime: nice. 

Eric Powell: Keep, keep, keep, keep, keep your ear to the ground, I guess. 

Brian Prime: Yeah. And be sure and follow 16 volt on all the socials. 

Eric Powell: Yes. Instagram is the, yeah, good one.

Brian Prime: Facebook's sort of terrible, but you know, people of a certain age are on there. and I mean, by that I mean people like myself, right. Yeah. quick question though. You just have like 16 volt CDs just hanging out on your desk, just like ready to like grab 'em up and. 

Eric Powell: I actually have this sitting right here because I've been working on the cover.

Brian Prime: Okay. 

Eric Powell: I have like some store items here. I have like a whole rack of, unopened old CDs that you can't get anymore. Like I actually have one of the original super cool [00:41:00] nothing sitting here. Oh, wow. And then this one was kind of, this is a rare one. This is the Primal game. yeah. 

Brian Prime: I didn't know there was a CD soundtrack for it. 

Eric Powell: There's a CD and there's something even crazier.

So this was the Europe, European, is this still sealed? Hold on, sorry.

Well, I dunno if I have an unsealed one, but I don't care if it's unsealed. So in that, we did a video game in like, when was that 2000? for Sony where they use like 12 songs off of super cool, nothing. 

Brian Prime: Mm-hmm. 

Eric Powell: we're actually in the game. Like we got skinned into the game and like a bunch of the like bonus unlocks or like, you know, like an interview with us and things like that.

But this is the Europe version of the game and it's got like a nice, like wow. And then, if you open it. It's, it's got two discs. This is the game for PlayStation? Yeah. And then this is our album. 

Brian Prime: Oh wow. That's pretty sick.

Eric Powell: So that's, that's a, i [00:42:00] I don't even know if you can find that, It's, 

Brian Prime: yeah. That's crazy. What a great piece of like 16 volt merch memorabilia. 

Eric Powell: Yeah, it's kind of wild. Pretty wild. 

Brian Prime: That is wild. congratulations. That's the copy 

Eric Powell: I have. It is not for sale. 

Brian Prime: Okay. Noted. collector.

Stand back. yeah, on that note really quick though, congratulations on all of your success. I, you know, I'm, I'm happy for you. I'm glad that you are still able to make your music and, as long as you continue to do so, I'll be in the audience to appreciate it. So, yeah. Right on. Thank 

Eric Powell: as long as we can make it, you know, we'll come and, and try to do good for you guys.

Brian Prime: Well, on behalf of all the fans out there, thank you so much. And, yeah, thanks for your time. have a great weekend. 

Eric Powell: You too. Thanks for your time. 

Brian Prime: Yeah, 

Eric Powell: We'll see you soon. 

Brian Prime: All right.