BAND

Power Quest

Power Quest was conceived in March 2001 by keyboardist Steve Williams after he left London power metal heroes "DragonHeart" (which is now DragonForce) with fellow band mate Steve Scott (ex-Shadowkeep and ex-DragonHeart) taking care of bass duties.

2001 - THE DEMO CD

The first, self titled 2 track demo was recorded and uploaded onto MP3.com in early 2001. Recording was supported by ZP and Sam Totman (currently with Dragonforce), along with Adam Bickers on guitars.

2002 - WINGS OF FOREVER CD

In April 2002 vocalist Alessio Garavello was recruited to the Power Quest ranks. In July 2002 Italian guitarist Andrea Martongelli accompanied Alessio to England while he recorded his vocals for "Wings of Forever" and put down a couple of guest solos. The band was impressed with his ability and creativity and offered him the chance to join the line up shortly afterwards. "Wings of Forever" received a brilliant response from fans of melodic and power metal.

2003 - NEVERWORLD CD

In January 2003 drummer Andre Bargmann joined the Quest and at the same time Sam Totman was cutting back his involvement with the band due to his other commitments. "NeverWorld", the follow up to "Wings of Forever", was recorded at Thin Ice in the summer of 2003, with production handled by Karl Groom. The mix was by Pete Coleman. Read the full biography

Steve Williams (Keyboards)

Steve began his musical education at the age of seven, beginning with classical piano and music theory lessons which continued until he was eighteen. During this time he also studied violin for six years.

Steve moved to Southampton in 1990 to go to University. However, he left after a year and worked at putting a band together for most of the Nineties. In 1999 he got a call from Herman Li to join the original incarnation of DragonHeart, the band that went on to become Dragonforce. In 2000 Steve left to realise his vision of a band with more keyboard melodies and variety of pace, forming Power Quest with another former DragonHeart colleague, bassist Steve Scott.

Alongside Power Quest, Steve has been involved in a number of projects, including taking part in Caamora’s rock opera "She" in 2007 and early in 2008 he was approached by legendary ex-Manowar guitarist David "Shred Demon" Shankle to join the new incarnation of DSG, the David Shankle Group.

Steve is also available for studio and live session work.

Steve uses: Korg Triton Extreme, Nord Lead 3 and Roland AX-7 keyboards.

Colin Callanan (Vocals)

Colin took classical piano lessons from a young age and moved up through the grades until he was seventeen. Not content with playing the piano, he took up the guitar and started learning how to play rock music at the age of fifteen. Jamming with friends and doing some small gigs allowed Colin to develop his vocals and guitar skills.

Inspired by bands such as Iron Maiden, Helloween and Rhapsody, Colin started the Dark Crystal project and released a symphonic metal CD entitled "In the Arms of the Mountain" in 2002 to a very warm reception on mp3.com. A few years later, Colin further developed his vocal skills and joined the band Crystal Snowstorm in Galway as singer, playing gigs in various venues in Ireland, including a support slot with thrash metal band Arnocorps in Roisin Dubh in Galway. The band also went on to record a self-titled demo CD in 2008.

Colin formed the band Karuna in 2009, and released a mini-CD entitled "Neitherworld" to much critical acclaim. The band is still busy working on a full length follow up and preparing for gigs.

Colin's singing influences include Michael Kiske, David Readman, Michele Luppi, Tony Kakko, Roy Khan, Bruce Dickinson, Rob Halford and Ralf Scheepers.

Andy Midgley (Guitars)

Andy started his musical journey at the early age of eight, primarily listening to his parents vinyl collection.

A self taught guitarist, Andy picked up the guitar at fourteen after listening to bands such as Deep Purple, Genesis and Rush. After joining his first band at fifteen he continued to perform in local bands and projects performing a spectrum of Hard Rock and Metal. Andy studied Music Performance and Theory at the Sheffield College before graduating with full distinctions and moving to Manchester to pursue his studies of music at university.

In 2007 Andy joined established female fronted melodic Metal band Liquid Sky with whom he wrote and toured throughout the UK including notable festival appearances such as Bloodstock Open Air.

In October 2009 Andy was recruited by Steve Williams to join Power Quest. Already a longtime fan of the band it was an honour for him to receive the offer and an opportunity he couldn't pass up. Since then Andy has done two UK tours with Power Quest and recorded the latest album "Blood Alliance".

Andy uses ESP Guitars, ENGL Amplification, Seymour Duncan Pickups and Elixir Strings.

Gav Owen (Guitars)

Gav is a self taught guitarist who started playing guitar at the age of 12 after hearing Brian May of Queen.

A friend then gave him a CD of Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai and he never looked back! His favourite bands include Iron Maiden, Stratovarius, Axel Rudi Pell, Van Halen, Journey and Def Leppard.

He has played in countless Rock cover bands in the South Wales area and also formed his own original metal band. One of the highlights was playing BOA 2009.

Over the last couple of years he has had guitar lessons from You Tube phenomenon, Daniel Owen, to improve his technique.

Gav uses Ibanez guitars

Rich Smith (Drums)

Rich Smith started playing drums at the age of 13. A self taught drummer, he started playing with local band Fallen Idol at the age of 17. Soon after in 1997 he formed his own band Cruel Humanity with whom he recorded 4 promos and in 2004 he recorded one official album Creatures of Fear which was released independently through London based label Shadowflame Productions. Rich toured the UK fairly extensively where he also performed at high profile events, notably Bloodstock 03 and support slots with Vader, Dark Funeral, Old Man's Child, Green Carnation and The Blood Divine. He parted ways with Cruel Humanity in 2008.

Not content with limiting his drum work to one particular genre, Rich was on the look out for a project that would take him back to his musical roots. In 2006 he was recruited to play drums for up and coming local Power Metal band Metalloid. He has been one of the principle driving and promoting forces behind the band for three years which resulted in the band having a large and growing fan base. Most note worthy shows were BOA 2008, Ruskin Arms - Clive Aid and supporting Power Quest on their UK tour in 2008. Rich being very focused on music, played for many local bands in the Derby area playing many nationwide gigs.

Finally, in October 2009 Rich landed the job as the drummer for Power Quest. Rich was already a fan of the band before joining. To get the drum spot was just the best thing that could have happened in his musical career. Since joining Power Quest Rich has been on two UK tours and recorded the latest album Blood Alliance.

Rich is very pleased and honoured to be part of Power Quest and looks forward to the years to come playing shows and recording more albums.

Paul Finnie (Bass)

With influences ranging from Megadeth and Dream Theater through to Journey, Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden, the quest to play catchy, melodic Metal was always something at the forefront of Paul's mind.

Having spent a lot of time during the 1990's crewing for local bands and venues in the South of England, Paul started to develop an interest in sound engineering and began working in that area as well. This eventually led to Paul working for Power Quest and ultimately led to him becoming the band's stage manager, taking in live shows across the UK and Europe. This experience gave him a great understanding of how the Power Quest machine operates.

In mid 2009 Paul received a call from Steve which could not be passed up. Steve was already aware of Paul's bass playing prowess and had decided that this was the time for Paul to step out of the shadows and into the spotlight.

With the new album "Blood Alliance" now ready to be unleashed, Paul is looking forward to hit the road once more with Power Quest and showing fans, both old and new, what Power Quest is all about in 2011 and beyond!

Paul currently plays Warwick Streamer LX Jazzman Custom Bass, Ampeg SVT Amps, and Korg DTR-2000 Digital Tuner.