Fear Factory – Interview [1999]

Over the years, Fear Factory has progressed to build a large fan base by producing the most intense, industrial metal known to mankind. Fear Factory’s first release, Soul of the New Machine, is a classic death metal album that is beyond brutal. The band wanted to grow more by taking their already established sound and adding in some electronic elements to make their music more complete. With the help of Rhys Fulber (Front Line Assembly), the band created a vicious metal record with well-orchestrated electronics. The result was Demanufacture. Fear Factory had made a solid bond with Fulber; they asked him to come in and work with them on their latest release, Obsolete. Fear Factory continued there to develop their unique electronic-metal sound around the concept of man’s struggle to overcome technology. Obsolete has received some worthy reviews by many and some criticism from their heart and soul: the fans. Love ’em or hate ’em, Fear Factory is becoming a heavy metal giant. Over the last few years, the band has landed spots on metal’s biggest tours, such as European metal fest Dynamo and the American Ozzfest. This year, Fear Factory will strut their stuff on the main stage of both tours.

Recently, the band made a trip into Buffalo for an appearance as co-headliners with Slayer to support Obsolete. If you’re out on the open road and see a tour bus with a huge Fear Factory logo, FF, that’s them! I wasn’t able to talk to the whole band that day because Christian (bassist) had been sick with the flu, and Dino and Burton were very busy entertaining others. I was scheduled to meet with the maximum effective pulse generator of the band, Raymond Herrera, on their customized bus early on in the evening, just as the festivities began. The musical tech guided me to the back of the bus where I discovered a relaxed Herrera finishing his game of video hockey. He apologized for holding me up, explaining that he had been too involved with the game, but he was ready to rock. He had the sound off on the television and had some weird trans-tencho stuff playing in the background while he played. I asked him, “Is this Spiritualized?” Raymond quickly replied, “Yeah, man. You dig them?” This began a long conversation of our musical influences and the different types of techno bands out there. After the discussion, Raymond did not seem like a stranger to me at all. Did you know that one of his favorite bands is the legendary U2?! I didn’t expect that from one of the most barbaric drummers in all of metal.

Raymond’s tiny living space in the back of the bus was covered in CD’s, Play Station, video games, and clothes. He gets many of his Play Station games for free because of his connections in the market; he has done some game soundtracks. He had stacks of every type of game you can imagine, from sports to blood and gore. He told me that the band was a bit tired because they had arrived in Buffalo early in the morning after a ten-hour haul from Montreal, yet all seemed to be in good spirits and ready to go out and crush the audience of raging fans. He challenged me to a friendly game of NHL Face-Off ’99 while we talked over his views on where the band stands on a number of issues concerning their music.

Is the band enjoying the success of Obsolete?

Yeah, definitely. We’re happy with the record sales. It’s been out, been out since June 29th, I think. It’s been going good, but obviously things could be better. We’re happy building bridges.

Let’s talk a bit about the new album’s production. It’s a really thick album. The bass sound is so huge on this record compared to the other albums.

Yeah, the big bass is a lot bigger this time. We spent more time on it. This is the first time we actually had a bass player on the record, ’cause on Soul of the New Machine and Demanufacture, Dino had to play bass. But this is the first time we had a bass player, so now we actually had somebody there who is trying to get a good tone. You know what I mean, coming from a bass player point of view.

So live shows got to be even better?

Yeah. Christian (bassist), well, he had a really, really good bass tone before we got all our stuff stolen, and now at times he’s got a really good tone but sometimes it’s so-so. But for the most part it’s been a lot better than what we’ve ever had.

For yourself, was it man vs. machine in learning to adjust to the techno-drumming style or equipment?

No, not really. I mean, it’s been a slow change. I’ve been using triggers since ’93 or ’92, or maybe even before that.

Even on Soul?

Hmm, yeah. I used triggers mainly on the kicks on Soul of the New Machine, but even then it was like 50/50, with kick and trigger. Nah, it’s never been to that extent where like

Getting more equipment

Yeah, it’s over the years I guess accumulated a few things, but it was not from one day to the next, you know. It was like, “Okay, I got this and then I want to try to do this,” you know. So it’s been like a slow type of change over the years.

The production that Rhys (Fulber) did was amazing. You guys seemed to make a really musical bond with him.

Definitely. We had Greg (Reely, producer) and Rhys mix Demanufacture, which actually saved the record, you know. It sounded, I don’t want to say it sounded like anybody else, but it sounded very, it could have been just like any metal album without that digital touch to it. So anyway, when we got with Rhys and Grey it was like we really got together with them and to do this album with them. This album came out really good, but you know there are different opinions about it though. Some people have said it does not sound as digital as it has before, and, ah, I guess in some ways it hasn’t, you know. We’ve chased down a more full sound and I think the next album we are going to go back to Demanufacture and make it a really dry and really electronic sound.

Were the EP’s in between albums supposed to give the fans a taste of what was to come, or test the waters?

No, it was more like a taste of something else we could have done with the songs, you know what I mean. It just gives you a different view of the songs we have done. No, it was not like a test to see what we could do next. I mean, what comes out next is what comes out, you know. We don’t plan to write in any special way; we just get together and write what just comes out. So it was like a different aspect of the songs. We just wanted to portray something different with the songs.

Does each album have a concept like Obsolete?

Definitely. Well, I mean, like Soul of the New Machine was like actually what it is, the beginning of something new, the soul of something different. And Demanufacture was like half man, half machine, and the album is like man against machine. But on the new album we were able to actually to put a story that was a little more in our budget now, and able to come with the whole story line and everything.

Yeah, I love the shit with the songs. It’s fucking cool.

Yeah. Yeah, man, we would have loved to do that from the beginning, but sometimes these things cannot happen that way.

It’s interesting too because when you first put the CD in and you’re listening and reading the story, it goes together so well.

Hell, yeah! It is kinda like you’re listening to a movie. It’s weird. That’s how we wanted to come across; to give the people a little bit more than just the songs, we wanted to add the story. It’s a little bit tougher to come up with something like that. It’s so much cooler!

The story would be a kick ass video game, dude!

Yeah, it would be a good video game, movie, anything, you know. It could be really good if we ever adventure out like that.

The band has encountered many bizarre, exciting, and memorable events. How was MTV in Cancun, the wrestling? How was that?

That was really cool! We had a lot of fun doing that.

Did you party with the college kids?

We had a lot of fun, man. It was a fucking blast! It was really fucking hot!

Really?

Yeah, man. Everybody came back with fucking sunburn or slash suntans. It was a lot of fun though. It was cool to see the like crew of MTV who knew exactly who we were and knew the songs and they knew everything. It’s good to know that least somebody at MTV world knows who we are.

You know, what’s weird is that sometimes in MTV’s promos they have heavy bands for background music, like Soulfly. I don’t know how much MTV you watch, but

None really. I don’t know. Maybe they just pick out the tracks for, like to fit whatever, maybe they’re doing a preview for like a snowboarding thing and they play the song. But they never play the videos, man! (laughs) It starts somewhere, you know. It’s funny, we have gotten a lot of criticism from our fans, you know. It’s funny because on our website we’d been getting stuff saying we’ve sold out because we are on MTV, but it’s like, wait a minute, we put a banner on our site. It was like, yeah, you know, send emails to MTV telling them to finally start playing metal and nobody complained because that thing was up there, but now that we are on [MTV], people are complaining! It’s like “Make up your mind!” The fans are probably the reason we are on it, you know. I just find it kinda of funny! (laughs) The way I look at it is that it’s gotta start somewhere, you know. The only reason I don’t watch MTV is because all they play is rap, hip-hop. It’s cool that they play that, but I want see what’s going on. You don’t get to see what’s going on, that’s the only problem I have with MTV. Like I’m sure there is some good jazz going on out there or fucking metal, the only thing they’re not fucking playing, you know. There’s other things; classical or jazz or any like that, you know. It’s all hip-hop.

Well, hip-hop is like the style or fashion.

Yeah! I know, man. They don’t play punk or hardcore or nothing. It’s not just metal, you know.

Bring back Headbangers Ball!

The funny thing about Headbangers Ball is that a lot of people started complaining that [MTV] never played any heavy videos and they only played, like they only played Sepultra and Slayer at like three in the morning, the last two videos. But at least they played it, you know. If you wanted to see it, at least they played it. Granted, the rest of what they played was like Rat or Poison or whatever, which was like messed up, right? (laughing)

Yeah. (laughing)

I guess that it does not really go with the name Headbangers Ball, but like whatever. At least they got to see it. They don’t have like a Jamaican or like a reggae show or Latin show, they don’t got anything on it. It’s all fucking hip-hop, you know. (laughing) It’s kinda fucked up. I would like to see Gypsy Kings once in awhile or fucking The Police, you know what I mean.

How did the “Cars” video come out with Gary Numan?

Well, we’re going to do it. He’s going to be in the “Cars” video. But we did the song “Cars” and he showed up to the studio to do the song. That was really cool.

Is he a fan?

Yeah, yeah. He likes our record. Actually, he likes Gravity Kills a lot. He’s a big fan. He likes the fact we are covering the song and, ah, it’s awesome.

Did you guys like videos?

Hmm, yeah. Well, we’d like it if they’d get played more. (laughs) But overseas they play the shit out of them, man. So, here in the U.S. it takes a little more time, I guess, but we’re not going to stop making them just because MTV will not play ’em. Maybe one day they will, you know. We’ll never know. We got to keep making them, you know. Who knows, maybe MTV will play them.

On the bizarre side, has anything come out of the ‘great theft incident’?

Nah, I don’t think we are going to get anything back. We didn’t think we were even gonna get anything back from the beginning, anyway. But we figured, “What the hell, you know. At least we’ll try.” No, nothing came up out of it and I think nothing will. Deftones got their stuff stolen, you know, and a few other bands are starting to get their stuff stolen as well. So we think it’s the same people who did it. I don’t know if there’s some kinda of ring or whatever, but that stuff is messed up, man.

How did the band get involved with the video games?

Hmm. That’s basically my doing, I take care of all that stuff. I basically started making phone calls but that didn’t work too well, and they had this thing called E-3, it’s like Electronic Entertainment Export, whatever, it’s all video games. I went there and made a bunch of contacts, called the people and they actually called me back, and sent band tracks, which is like CD’s without vocals on them. They wanted some of the songs, we went through it, and it’s happened. We have been really busy with that. We have just written songs for a game called “Demolition Racer: Destruction Derby 3”. It’s like a series that Sony Playstation got going. We did that, and we’ve just been busy with that, and we are going to keep doing other ones. So, we are hoping to get on five or six more this year.

What was it like touring during the Soul days?

It was cool. I mean, it was a like tougher [being] in a band, but it was still killer. It was a new experience, so it was something different for us, new. We were happy to be out there with Obituary and did some stuff with Brutal Truth. We were out there for awhile with Sick of it All, Biohazard, touring with a lot bands. We toured for about a year and a half for that album. We had a lot of fun on that Obituary tour. I think it was Obituary ’cause we went like fucking everywhere, man. It was like a two and a half month tour, or something like that. It was really long.

Where do you see the future of metal going into the year 2000?

The future of metal? I don’t know. I mean, there are some bands that are signed right now that are doing really, really well. So, I think it’s going good. As for ourselves, the band, Fear Factory has only gotten bigger, has not gotten smaller. So, I mean, for us, we were just hoping to keep that same stride, or keeping the same push that we had. So, I mean we are going to just continue with we do and I, hopefully, the metal music will still be around. I believe that it’s always been around, it’s just at times it comes around, in its ins and outs spurts. It’s got its highlights, but I think that I think it’s pretty healthy right now. I think its doing really well right now.

What new bands are you into right now?

New bands? Let me think. I like that new [Rob] Zombie record a lot.

I’ve heard some really good things about it, but I have not sat down and listened to it yet.

I like that. I like Spineshank, [they’re] pretty good. I like Static-X a lot, yeah. Static-X is really cool.

They’re going to playing OzzFest.

They’re a good band, man, really good. The best new band I’d probably say is Static-X.

You’re working on a new album called Brujeria.

Yeah, me and Dino do that. Hmm, we just wrote about ten songs for that just about two months ago and the record comes out June 6th. So, yeah, it comes out on the 6th. Actually we are going back on [April] 16th to continue recording, we’re going to finish that up and do a couple more recordings or something. So, we are going to do that. That will be released in the summer.

What’s the sound of the album like?

Well, if you heard any of the previous stuff, it’s going to be heavy! It’s going to be the same stuff we have done, a lot of groovy tracks, some really fast stuff, really heavy. It’s all in Spanish, so that’s why it’s called Brujeria.

What’s it like playing the festivals in Europe? Dynamo has got to be awesome.

Dynamo is awesome! It will be like our third time playing it. It’s killer. It’s going to be awesome. We’re going out there just to do like five or six festivals. It’s going to be really, really cool. I cannot wait to do it.

How is the line-up arranged?

I guess like how big you are and stuff. It’s like a three day festival and we’re like playing, we’re the second to last band on the whole festival. We are playing the third day, I think at nighttime. I think, I’m not sure. The past few times we have played like literally at one in the afternoon and four in the afternoon. But it’s like people camp out there and everything. It’s like cool. It’s fucking cool; it’s like a whole different vibe, you know, from anything you get in the US.

That is cool. Any final words?

We are going to be on tour for a very long time. (laughs) Ah, we are going to finish up this tour, we will be done on I believe on [April] 15th. Then we are going out to Europe, then back to the US in maybe like June 1st or 2nd. We are like going to start another US tour again for like another couple of months. With who, I’m not sure yet, but maybe by ourselves or opening for somebody, but who, I’m not sure.

Will it be like a complete US tour?

Yeah, it will be a full on US tour again. We are really trying to hit the US a lot more this time. So, anyway, like we are going to do that, maybe do some tours in other countries. Then we won’t be writing our record ’til maybe, I would say March or April of next year or something. So, it will be a long time. We still easily got a year to tour on this album.

Have you guys ever played in your home country (Mexico)?

Nah, not really. Our home is LA, but we’re going to do some LA shows though. Maybe Mexico, we have been thinking about doing South America, but we’ll see what happens.

That would be phat!

Yeah, man that would be killer. It would be really cool. We have never done South America before, man. So we are waiting to do it! So, I think we are going to have to do this on this album now. We have a web site, www.fearfactory.com , and all the information is on there, man. New information of the video will, you know, as soon as we get it, we’ll post it up there. The four songs for the games, we will be putting those up on the site as well, and those you can only get from there or the game, or until maybe one day we’ll release it or something.

Are you guys going to release a live album in Australia? Will that be available to others?

Actually, we’re not even sure. We’re not exactly sure. We have not even mixed it down or anything like that. It came out really well; we just had like a straight out board tape from that show that day and we liked it a lot it. It came out really well. We have not gone into the studio to mix down or anything. We are planning, and people have asked us to release one, people want to see one. I could see us releasing like a live home video before releasing like a live disc in the US.

Thanks man!

It was cool, man.

PS. I lost the game.

+ larry sarzyniak