Brendan Borrell—Power Soak: Invention, Obsession, and the Pursuit of the Perfect Sound

Advance copy: Backstories on books by NASW members

Cover of the book Power Soak: Invention, Obsession, and the Pursuit of the Perfect Sound by Brendan Borrell showing a silhouette of the book’s subject, guitarist and engineer Tom Scholz, along with that of a guitar, both made of green circuit boards, The title is in black print on an ivory background and the author’s name is in white print on the body of the Scholz silhouette.
Power Soak
POWER SOAK:
INVENTION, OBSESSION,
AND THE PURSUIT OF THE PERFECT SOUND
Brendan Borrell
Self-published, December 9, 2025
Paperback, $9.99, eBook, $3.99, Audio Book, $7.99
Paperback ISBN-13: 979-8276216607
eBook ASIN: B0G2YH8QMX
Audio Book ASIN: B0GGNNCDGX

Borrell reports:

In the 1970s, an MIT-trained engineer named Tom Scholz built the sound of the rock band Boston in his basement, creating the clean, explosive style that made “More Than a Feeling” a hit. Power Soak tells the story of the decade-long battle that unfolded between Scholz and his record label when he refused to hand over his third album until it met his exacting standards.

Portrait photo of Brendan Borrell
Brendan Borrell
Photo by Ashley Barker
My interest in Boston didn’t come from any special passion I had for classic rock. A friend told me the broad strokes of this story last year. I was surprised to find how little had been written about it. I became fascinated by Scholz’s genius, his prickly personality, and his creative block. My central challenge was that some of the players were dead, and those who weren’t didn’t want to talk. I eventually managed to obtain thousands of pages of court documents, including some providing days of Scholz’s own testimony, which proved to be narrative gold.

The book’s title comes from the Power Soak, an electric muffler Scholz created that allowed him to crank his Marshall amp to full distortion without damaging his ears. He later turned it into a commercial product. Next came the Rockman, a Walkman-sized headphone amplifier with more sophisticated circuitry embraced by professionals and amateurs alike. As the flagship product of Scholz Research & Development, it helped fund Scholz’s long legal fight.

While I didn’t want to write a full-length book about Boston, I knew few outlets would publish a historic piece like this at the length that it deserved. In the end, I self-published, knowing that the story would have a built-in audience of classic rock fans.

To promote it, I wrote an op-ed for the Boston Globe, published several excerpts at music and tech outlets, and created a couple of videos, one of which currently has over 120,000 views. The biggest pulse of book buyers has come from a heartfelt endorsement from Bob Lefsetz, an influential voice in the music industry.

While I plan to publish my next project with a traditional publisher, publishing Power Soak has been a rewarding experience.

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Banner image adapted from original photo by Brendan Borrell.

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Advance Copy

The path from idea to book may take myriad routes. The Advance Copy column, started in 2000 by NASW volunteer book editor Lynne Lamberg, features NASW authors telling the stories behind their books. Authors are asked to report how they got their idea, honed it into a proposal, found an agent and a publisher, funded and conducted their research, and organized their writing process. They also are asked to share what they wish they’d known when they started or would do differently next time, and what advice they can offer aspiring authors. Lamberg edits the authors’ answers to produce the Advance Copy reports.

NASW members: Will your book be published soon? Visit www.nasw.org/advance-copy-submission-guidelines for information on submitting your report.

Publication of NASW author reports in Advance Copy does not constitute NASW's endorsement of any publication or the ideas, values, or material contained within or espoused by authors or their books. We hope this column stimulates productive discussions on important topics now and in the future as both science and societies progress. We welcome your discussion in the comments section below.

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