16Volt

Infobox musical artist
Name = 16volt

| 300px
Background = group_or_band
Origin = flagicon|United States
Instrument =
Genre = Industrial metal
Occupation =
Years_active = 1988–present
Label = Metropolis Records
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.16volt.com/ 16volt.com]
Current_members = Eric Powell
Past_members =
Notable_instruments = |

16volt is the one-man studio project of Eric Powell with other members added mostly for live shows. 16volt recorded several industrial metal albums for Re-Constriction Records. The son of a record executive, Powell became interested in music early on, and formed 16volt in 1988. While shopping his demos several years later, he met up with a college-radio music director who agreed to release the recordings on his newly formed Re-constriction label. After working with Skinny Puppy's Dave Ogilvie on production, 16volt released debut album, "Wisdom", in 1993. Skin followed in 1994, after which the project met Hate Dept. on the "Remix Wars" EP. 16volt's third album, "LetDownCrush", signaled the end of Powell's relationship with Re-Constriction; "SuperCoolNothing", issued in 1998, appeared on the Slipdisc imprint of Mercury/PolyGram. "Demography" appeared in fall 2000. They also provided the combat soundtrack for the game "Primal" which, despite positive reviews, failed to sell as expected. A sample CD was provided with the limited edition version of the game, along with a commercial soundtrack sold later which both boosted interest in the band (especially in countries outside the US where they were not well known).

16volt had a cameo appearance in the Cult PS2 game Primal, where they played in a club in the opening cut scene as well as supplying combat music from their 'Happy Pill' and 'Suffering You' tracks.

Discography

Albums

* "Wisdom" (1993)
* "Skin" (1994)
* "LetDownCrush" (1996)
* "SuperCoolNothing" (1998)
* "Demography" (2000) - This is a collection of early (pre-'Wisdom') demo work, including the entire 'Imitation' cassette (1991).
* "SuperCoolNothing V2.0" (2002)
* "Whisper Cure" (2002)
* "The Best of Sixteen Volt" (2005)
* "FullBlackHabit" (2007)

ingles/eps

* "The Dreams That Rot In Your Heart" (1996)
* "" (21st Circuitry - 1996)

Compilation appearances

* "Shut Up Kitty" (1993)
* "The Dreams That Rot In Your Heart" (1996)
* "The Remix Wars: Strike 3 - 16 Volt vs. Hate Dept." (1996)
*"A Gothic-Industrial Tribute to The Smashing Pumpkins" (2001)
*"Various Artists - Hordes of the Elite" (Glitch Mode Recordings - 2006)

ide projects

To date, 16volt have contributed to three major side-projects, of which only one (h3llb3nt) has seen a commercial release. [http://www.regenmag.com/Interviews-147-16-Volt.html]

H3llb3nt

16volts first, and most successful, sideproject, H3llb3nt, was a collaboration between Eric Powell, Jared Louche, Bryan Black and Charles Levi. They released three albums and a 'best of' together between 1996 and 2001.

Ringer

Ringer was 16volts second side project, a rock group featuring talent from several industrial artists. The main lineup consisted of Eric Powell and Kraig Tyler on Vocals, Carlton Bost (from Deadsy) on guitar, Paige Haley (from Orgy) on bass and Mikey Cox (from Coal Chamber) on drums. The finished roughly an albums worth of material, which could be downloaded from their website, and played several gigs before splitting up.

Graphic

The latest 16volt side-project, Graphic is a collaboration between Powell and Bildeaux, which has so far only released one song, 'The Things You Do' on the 2006 compilation album, Komposi003.

A full album is apparently in the works, utilizing female vocals. [ [http://vampirefreaks.com/content/comment.php?entry=196&t=16+Volt 16 Volt [ VampireFreaks.com ] ]

References

* [http://www.16volt.com/history 16volt History]

External links

* [http://www.16volt.com Official site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/16volt Official Myspace]
* [http://www.fabryka.darknation.eu/php-files_en/readarticle.php?article_id=30 Fabryka Industrial Rock webzine interview 2005] and [http://www.fabryka.darknation.eu/php-files_en/readarticle.php?article_id=215 2008]
* [http://www.aracnet.com/~jester/interview/16.volt-1.interview.html Sonic Boom Magazine Interview] (1995)
* [http://vampirefreaks.com/content/comment.php?entry=55&t=16+volt VampireFreaks Interview] (11/28/2006)
* [http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/16_volt/bio.jhtml VH1 Artist Biography]