Though POW Magazine’s full history goes back several decades, its online presence began in 2011 after Editor In Chief/founder Dennis Gonzales’ “POW Magazine Anthology”, a radio documentary on KFJC 89.7FM about the original fanzine, sparked a renewed interest and excitement in POW and in the bay area music scene. Dennis was inspired to give POW new life, creating a website and social media presence for a new, modernized POW magazine on April 15th, 2011.
POW’s new manifestation aspired to become a collective and brand committed to bringing the local and global music and art scenes to the attention of those unaware. POW focused mainly on the music scene within the San Francisco bay area at first, with a particular emphasis on indie, psych, 60s garage, DIY, and other various sounds from the underground. POW quickly built a community within the SF music and art scene, and its online following began reaching all around the world. To keep up with the now-global audience, POW expanded, adding new staff members in various locations worldwide. While San Francisco is still POW’s homebase, POW staff members and contributors are located all over the world, allowing POW to cover music and art events in varying countries, as well as discover and share new music with a global audience.
POW has covered music, art, political and cultural events all over the world. In 2015, POW and The San Francisco Great Society presented Gathering of The Tribes, a psychedelic music and art festival featuring over a dozen bands from all of the bay area. The festival took place September 13th, 2015 at Public Works in the heart of San Francisco, and even spawned a documentary film, which was released in December of the same year. In the fall of 2017, Gathering of The Tribes: The Second Renaissance was held at Public Works, and more POW presented shows and festivals will take place in the future.
In April of 2018, on the day of POW’s 7th anniversary, Sheena Salazar took over for Dennis Gonzales as Managing Editor of POW Magazine. Sheena has since added new regular features to the POW site, and covered much of the music scene across the Pacific Northwest.
POW Magazine has established itself as a global source for music, art, film, and culture. Music remains at its core, with record reviews, live performance videos, artist interviews, and coverage of music festivals all regularly shared on POW’s site and social media pages. By meeting and celebrating up and coming acts, POW aspires to help artists grow and expand their horizons via social media outlets, interviews, video documentation, and live events.
POW staff currently includes writers and contributors from all over the world, who each bring their own unique perspectives and passion for music. In addition to the POW website, POW is also present on social media platforms including Ello, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and the POW following continues to grow every day.
Sheena Salazar
Managing editor
Pow Magazine
April 15, 2019
Pow Magazine’s 8th Anniversary music video.
Soundtrack courtesy of John-Paul Hughes Helicon of HELICON
“SERAPH”
Taken from the LP ‘HELICON’ on Fuzz Club, 2O17.
