Ampage (band)

Ampage is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles formed in 1978. Over the years its members included musicians such as Earl Slick, who also worked as a lead guitarist for David Bowie, and Mark Englert of Dramarama. The band played in Sunset Strip clubs such as Whisky in the 1980s Glam metal scene. The band's lead singer Mason formed Rockers against Pay-to-Play (RAPP) in 1989 to protest some Los Angeles clubs’ pay to play practices. As of 2018, the band had released seven albums and nine movie soundtracks. In 2023, a documentary called Falling Higher: The Story Of Ampage was released to tell the story of the history of the band. Alongside the documentary, a Sountrack album featuring twenty-five Ampage songs was also released early in 2023.

History
Ampage was founded in 1978 by Mark Mason and Michael Kroeger. Ampage became part of the 1980s glam metal scene in LA. The band played at Sunset Strip clubs such as Whisky and Troubadour. The band released a self-titled album Ampage on cassette tape in 1988, which included tracks such as a song about nuclear war "D-Day" and a song about life in American schools at the time called "School of Hard Knox". Also in 1988, they released an album titled Champagne and Caviar, which was produced by Ironworks records.

In 1989, Ampage's lead singer Mark Mason founded the organization Rockers Against Pay to Play (RAPP), a coalition of bands based in Los Angeles who protested against the "pay-to-play" practices of Sunset Strip clubs who charged bands fees in order to be able to perform at those venues.

In February 1997, the band put out an album titled Iron Horse, which was distributed by Navarre. The album combines rock and blues styles. Tom Mullaney of Dramarama played keyboard on the album. Guitarist Earl Slick played on a song that was a cover of John Lennon's "Gimme Some Truth", which was included as a bonus track on the album's final release and CD.

In 2013, Mark Pearce joined the band on lead guitar and vocals, and Bill Stokem joined on bass. Soon after, Chris Campbell joined on drums. The band toured the United States following the release of their 8th album in 2014.

As of 2018, Ampage had released seven albums, nine movie soundtracks, and had toured internationally and across the United States. The band had performed with Eric Clapton, Def Leppard, Michael Monarch of Steppenwolf, Tommy Shaw of Styx, John Easdale of Dramarama, and John Taylor of Duran Duran.

In 2021 the band released their album Season in Hell. The latest release features their drummer since 2016, Jason G. Fish.

Early in 2023, a documentary about Ampage was released, titled Falling Higher: The Story of Ampage. The film, distributed by Freestyle Digital Media, documents the band's career starting from 1978. Alongside the documentary, an album of the same name featuring twenty-five Ampage songs was also released early in 2023.

Critical Reception
In 1988, The Signal described Ampage's self-titled debut album as "loud" and said that "most of their words deal with sex, fast women and fast cars". In February 1997, Adrian Well of The Music Paper wrote that Ampage's album Iron Horse was an "interesting, solid outing" for the band. At the time of a May 1997 tour stop by the band in Nebraska, Ampage's live performances were described by journalist L. Kent Wolgamott of the Lincoln Journal Star as an attempt to "merge the long-haired '80s rock audience with the short-haired '90s variety." In 2021, Ken Morton of the music magazine Highwire Daze described the album Season in Hell as Ampage's "finest effort to date." In 2023, Chris O’Connor of Fireworks Rock & Metal wrote in his review of the album Falling Higher: The Story of Ampage that the twenty-five Ampage songs included in that album provided "plenty of styles and feels to enjoy".