Albumok, vélemények, kérdések
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#99
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On Dino's statement that FEAR FACTORY could continue without Christian:
If Christian were to have left the band, I wouldn't have continued. Christian is one of the best bass players there are—he really contributed A LOT to this band. The sound of FEAR FACTORY after Demanufacture—on Obsolete and Digimortal—had a lot to do with Christian. Some fans may have liked that, some fans may not have liked that, but for the better or worse, Christian made a big impact on this band, whether Dino wants to admit it or not.
On the five songs written and demoed in instrumental form for what would have been FEAR FACTORY's fifth proper full-length CD:
In January, Dino and I were putting songs together for the new record. Dino said in the interview that he was writing the songs. We both wrote the five songs [together]. That's typical Dino—trying to take the credit for everything.
On Dino's assertion that the aftermath of September 11th was largely to blame for Digimortal's disappointing sales:
One, amongst many, things that pissed me off [in Dino's interview] was that Dino had to throw in the whole September 11th thing. Maybe it didn't help that all that happened, but the record was already out for about six months prior to September 11, so that was irrelevant. Despite record sales, we felt that we had written a great record.
On the band's collaboration with CYPRESS HILL's B-Real in the track "Back The Fuck Up":
I think that's one of the greatest songs we ever wrote.(Aha...:( ) I'm going back again to this whole thing that one of the reasons why FEAR FACTORY was so different was because everybody in the band was different. If some people didn't like "Back The Fuck Up", that's fine. We're never going to write something that everybody enjoys. But to go as far as to blame Christian because it's on the record?! That's unfair. We all said, "Let's put it on the record."
On reasons for doing this interview:
I did this interview because I thought if the fans were going to hear about the story of our break-up, they should hear it from someone who will tell them the truth. Dino's interview is obviously a pathetic attempt to make himself look like the victim when he very well was the cause of the band's break-up! I'm also very disappointed in the fact that Dino felt compelled to slander the rest of us. I thought a response was necessary. Though FEAR FACTORY wasn't the biggest band in the world, by any means, we did have a certain amount of respect from each other, our fans, other bands and other musicians. We owe a response to them as well.
Part II — Raymond Answers A Few Questions
You mentioned earlier that you and Christian are currently helping Burt put together his solo record. How did this collaboration come about?
Christian and I have been writing music since around September/October of last year on the tour bus. Burt had already kind of hinted to us that he wanted to continue working with us. So we were like, "Hey, you know what, after we break you can take whatever songs you want—they are for you.” We were willing to help Burt in whatever way we could. We got together a few times after the end of the FEAR FACTORY tour and he told us what he wanted to do and what direction he wanted to go in.
Will Burt's record come out under his name, or will it actually be a band?
We have a lot of fans, so I told him he should probably just call it BURTON C. BELL or the BURTON C. BELL PROJECT, or something. I think he should use his name. (Persze most már tudjuk, hogy 'Ascension of the Watchers' a neve - thewatchers.org)
The stuff that you've recorded for Burt so far—are those album-quality recordings, or are you just doing demos at this point?
Just demos, at this point.
You indicated earlier that you knew Burt was going to be coming in that day in early March to announce the he was quitting the band.
Burt called me on the day before the "meeting" where he would announce his departure, and said, "I'm ready to do this." At this point, Christian and Burt were not talking to Dino at all any more. I was basically the link between Burt and Dino and Christian and Dino—I was the guy in the middle.
The only real thing that Dino and I have in common is music. Other than that, we have nothing in common. When we are on tour, the guy is a womanizer—all he does is try to pick up on women, trying to be a rock star. On the other hand, I'm not like that. I was married the entire time we were doing FEAR FACTORY and I was on the back of the bus playing video games. When we weren't touring, I didn't see Dino at all unless we were at practice. I basically went from being kind of distant to him to being his only friend.
Dino made it sound in the interview like there was at least some talk about the two of you guys carrying on in a new band.
There were never any plans for me to work with him. To tell you the truth, I don't even want to do the next BRUJERIA record with him. We did this ASESINO band because everybody in BRUJERIA was doing their own record. We finished [Dino's ASESINO] record in December, with Tony [Campos, of STATIC-X, on vocals]. There were talks about doing a new BRUJERIA record, but I can assure you, I won't be writing with [Dino again].
The way you are talking right now almost makes it appear as if you feel as strongly about not wanting to play with Dino ever again as perhaps Burt did when he quit FEAR FACTORY.
Dino and I had a falling out and I really don't want to get into the specifics about it because it gets ugly.
So you're saying that if Burt and Dino had gotten along famously, Burt never would have left?
He never would have left. If he would have had an itch to do something different, he would have done a side project. He wouldn't have to leave the band to do that.
You touched upon this earlier as well… Why do you think that Digimortal didn't do as well as everybody expected it to do, especially in light of Obsolete's huge success?
I'm really not sure. I heard a lot of good things from fans but I also heard some negativity. It was a combination of many things, I'm sure.
When you first contacted BLABBERMOUTH.NET about doing an interview, you mentioned that you would be speaking for Christian and Burt as well. Does that mean that they are aware that you are doing this?
Christian is aware that I am doing this. Burt is not. The only reason I am speaking for both of them is because Christian is not going to do an interview, and I really don't see Burt doing one.
I do want to add one final thing:
I do not want to continue a war of words with Dino or his disciples—it's too late for that, I've moved on. No one is angry about the break-up—except Dino, obviously. With the less-than-successful record sales of Digimortal, and the ongoing rift between Burt and Dino, it was just no use resisting the inevitable. Hey, most bands DO break up eventually. We had to come to terms with that. We worked long and hard for FEAR FACTORY, touring for years with less-than-lucrative rewards.
We are very proud of the success FEAR FACTORY has had over the years—it has made us all who we are today. I wouldn't change a thing. But if someday, we all wanted to have a real life, own a home, etc., and carry on our lives as adults—I am not 17 years old anymore, I am 29 years old now—we all needed to work smarter. Being on the road for nine months out of the year had us pinned down to doing ONLY FEAR FACTORY. We put all our "side projects" and other aspirations aside from FEAR FACTORY on hold — all the while not having the success we all hoped for. It was very frustrating and stifling to say the least! We looked at this [the break-up] as an opportunity for change and success.
I did telephone Dino after I had read his "exclusive" interview. Of course, he didn't answer, nor did he return my phone call. I'm actually glad he didn't, because he wouldn't have liked what I had to say. After cooling down a bit, I realized one thing: he is just a bitter, bitter, fat man. Despite all the things he said to paint a distorted picture of how it all went down, I can only feel sorry for the guy.
I do wish Dino continued success in his career. He is an excellent guitarist and songwriter, with the potential to be a huge success, I just hope that he can someday thank us that it came to an end and that the break-up of this band actually made his own career a better one.
Na. Most már láthatod, hogy több volt ez, mint egyszerűen Burt kilépése a csapatból. Az a Fear Factory, amire mindig is azért voltam büszke, mert soha nem voltak náluk ilyen adok-kapok viták, tagcserék, most mégis erre a sorsra jutott. Nem volt semmi látványos, de a felszín alatt már sok éve forrhattak az indulatok.
Mindenki levonhatja a maga következtetéseit a nyilatokzatokból, bár én személy szerint úgy gondolom, hogy egyikük sem a teljes igazságot mondta és a valóság valahol a két interjú között van. Mindeketten megpróbálták ártatlannak beállítani magukat és hibásnak a másikat. Persze a nagyobbrészt tényleg Dino hibája lehetett a dolog -ezt bizonyítja az alább beszúrt nyilatkozat Christian-től-, de a többieknek is hibásak voltak szerintem. Ez a rap dolog nekem is kezdettől szúrta a szemem, mert a FF-ban tényleg semmi keresnivalója ilyesminek. Egyértelmű, hogy ez mind Wolbers-nek köszönhető. Az is igaz, hogy a dolgok akkor működnek jól, ha egy kézben összpontosul a produkció, és valakinek tényleg össze kell fognia az elkalandozó ötleteket, mert különben az egész inkoherens lesz. Dino -mint alapítótag- mindig megtette ezt, ami persze, hogy nem tetszett a többieknek, de hát az összkép a fontos. Ami miatt ebből gondok származtak, hogy hiába fogta össze Dino a bandát, a dolgok nem úgy sültek el, mint ahogy az elvárható lett volna. Elviselhető a basáskodás mindaddig, míg jó albumokat csinálnak és a siker garantált, ámde ők soha sem kapták meg azt a figyelmet és elismerést amit -szerintem is- megérdemeltek volna. Innentől kezdve pedig csak idegesítő, ha valaki a nyakadon ül és megmondja, hogy mi a jó és mi nem az, és a végkimenetel nem őt igazolja.
Dino megpróbálta sikeressé tenni a Fear Factory-t, de sajnos nem a megfelelő eszközökkel. Ugyanakkor egyetértek vele abban, hogy lelőtte a rap-kísérletek nagyrészét. Kár, hogy a Back the Fuck Up-ot nem sikerült...
Minden hazugsága ellenére sem fordultam el tőle, mert tényleg kiváló zenész és három csodás album szülőatyja, ami azért eléggé megváltoztatta a kilencvenes évek metal zenéjét, sok ember életével együtt. El se hinnéd, hány olyan történet van a neten, ami arról az ominózus Mortal Kombat albumról szól, vagyis pontosabban a Zero Signal-ról, ami rengeteg egyáltalán nem metálos/mindenevő Pop ízlésű embert (köztük engem is) vont bele a metálzenébe. Gondold csak el, hogy milyen egyedinek és tényleg értékesnek kell lennie egy együttesnek ahhoz, hogy az ilyen mindenevő Poposokat az extrém alternatív metál mélységeibe húzzák -és többnyire fanatikus rajongókká tegyék, mert az "átcsábítottak" általában azok lettek-, holott azt még a metálosok nagy többsége is túl vadnak vagy túl furcsának találja! A történet pedig mindig ugyanaz...első meghallgatásra elkönyvelte az ember, hogy milyen érdekes, de hát ez túl vad, meg különben is utálom a metált, aztán némi pihentetés következett, újbóli meghallgatásra viszont valami elkapta az embert és újból meg újból meg kellett hallgatnia, míg végül rádöbbent: Úristen, de hát ez kib*szott jó! :) Sokakat Burt elképesztő énekstílusa és mondanivalója (mert ugye ő az "agy", akitől a szöveg/koncepció/életfelfogás származik) fogott meg.
Ha csak néhány ilyen eset lenne, nem írtam volna, de számtalan ilyet lehet olvasni (akik láthatóan szentül hiszik -én már nem :)- hogy egyedül vannak ezzel), és ami igazán bizarrá teszi a dolgot, hogy majdnem minden történet egyforma, mintha valami kollektív dolog lett volna. Érdekes ez emberi viselkedés... :)
Remélem, tudtam segíteni. Egy biztos: A Fear Factory egy olyan jelenség, mely nem vonz/vonzott soha óriási tömegeket (szeretem azt hinni, hogy mert túl különleges ahhoz, hisz a zene csak 50%, a tartalom pedig a másik 50), de az a viszonylag kisebb rajongótábor tökéletesen eltántoríthatatlannak bizonyult és tényleg a végletekig lojálisnak, ezért is nem értem, hogy szapulhatják magukat rajongónak mondó emberek ordenáré hangnemben Dino-t, mikor többek közt ő volt az, aki ezt az egészet létrehozta.