Powered By Energy Drinks (or powered by energy drinks. stylized, often shortened to Powby) is a multidisciplinary art project formed in Subotica, Serbia by Phil Elms circa 2016. The project came to life when Elms began posting his short form video content to social media, needing little more than a watermark to put over his content so people would know he made it. The name came from the creator's energy drink addiction at the time. He didn't care much what it was, he just needed something, and stuck around despite Elms' success at abandoning the addiction.
It began gaining traction around late 2018 as Elms made more and more connections with collaborators and fans alike, spreading to Instagram, Twitter (now called X), YouTube and SoundCloud. At the peak of the project's popularity in 2019, the first project, Underscore, was released on Mediafire as a debut mixtape, containing tracks produced in Bosca Ceoil and partially produced in FL Studio. As the music was still produced on a beginner level, Elms thought the name Underscore would fit the project perfectly. "It's technically an album, so it's a score. But it doesn't sound as good as an album would, so it's below a score. Underscore." The first album was received with mixed opinions.
Despite the wobbly reception of the initial album, Elms kept releasing short form parody video content and memes, and produced another EP in 2020, titled "Beat Box". The shorter five-track EP received better reception across all social media platforms, and Elms would go on to announce his first diagnosis of panic attack disorder with the single "Medicine Man". The EP would also receive a few promotional videos, currently archived but previously posted on the "poweredbyenergydrinks" Instagram page and the official YouTube channel.
During a major depressive episode and a turning point in Elms' life, he went on to release another EP titled "Louder Than Words" in July, punctuating his depressive states with songs like "Dolor", "Life Must Suck" and "Wish I Wasn't Me". Finally, in December, after posting many one-minute video previews for upcoming tracks, Elms released the Night Birdz EP with four more songs.
Throughout 2021, powered by energy drinks. maintained a steady output of video content alongside a sole EP, with the project's video work remaining the primary focus. The 2021 EP collected more songs initially shared through video posts on SoundCloud.
In 2022, the multimedia project expanded into writing when Elms began his first three-chapter drama titled "No Way Out". Consequently, he dove further into soundtrack-like work, reflected through two new full-length albums, "3 AM FM" and "Powered By Energy Drinks", with the former incorporating industrial techno and drone elements, and the latter exploring the Belgrade underground scene with more explosive sounds and elements of rock. Both albums received praise from fans across all platforms. Also released that year was the Beat Box LP, the project's first full-length album, containing chiptune, EDM, IDM and techno elements.
Most of powered by energy drinks.' music consists of melancholic piano or synth elements, with reflective titles across albums and songs touching on identity, grief, isolation and introspection, occasionally sprinkling in meme elements from his video editing days, or references to his written works. Elms doesn't consider himself a full-time musician, dropping albums seemingly at random, staying true to the anti-trend ethos the project has carried since its inception.
