Fear Factory
Heavy hitters Fear Factory have been added to Soundwave 2015 which is a major coup for the festival. The last time Fear Factory played a festival in Australia was back in 2010 with the likes of Metallica which went down as one of their finest festival moments. As an added bonus the band is working on new material for an album due early next year, hopefully in time for Soundwave. Burton C. Bell talks to Across The Ocean about how the new album is shaping up and playing Soundwave.
For Australian fans it is great news that Fear Factory has been added to the Soundwave 2015 line up.
Thank you for that, it’s about time we’re playing Soundwave in my perspective, I guess the time was never right and now the time is right I’m so psyched to be on this Soundwave tour because the line up looks pretty fucking great.
It is the first time that Soundwave runs over two days which is great for fans with less clashes and longer sets.
Sorry to interrupt you but that’s the second time I’ve heard that today, what does that mean, over two days? [Soundwave plays over two days in each city]. That’s fantastic, no shit, that’s awesome! Now I understand…
Do you guys approach a festival like Soundwave any differently to your own show?
Club shows and festival shows are much different obviously. We always approach festival shows as like a greatest hits kind of thing, playing a high energy set that keeps the fans going, playing songs that fans know and just bang it out. That’s the kind of set list we’ll be playing at Soundwave.
How’s work on the new album shaping up?
So far, it’s going pretty great and we have a lot of great new tracks and we’ve just started laying down vocals and I’m really excited. We’ve decided on the album title but we’re sitting on it for a couple more days until we realise that’s really good.
In other interviews you talk about stepping it up on each album setting a higher standard than the last album, do you think you’re on the way to achieving that this time?
We’re always trying to out do ourselves but all we can do is go in the studio and do the best that we can. I think if we can do that we will come out with something fantastic. When we do the best we can people will always criticise the elements and others will be happy but the pressure is to do better than the last record.
Can you say much about the direction Fear Factory will take this album?
No it won’t be a different direction it still will be Fear Factory you know. There will be elements that are recognisable and familiar with. It will have well crafted songs and this will be the best that we can. The surprise will be if people don’t like the new songs.
Have line up changes helped bring in new ideas to the creative process or does it make it more creatively challenging?
Not really, it doesn’t make it creatively challenging. Everyone understands what Fear Factory is about and then everyone steps up to the plate. It was Dino and I that started the band, and still in the band, and know what to do and we have the means to do it. Line up changes happen with everybody and that’s the way it goes. You can’t let that deter you or slow you down.
How does the creative process work for Fear Factory?
Put it this way, we don’t write heaps of songs, we just try and write an album’s worth of good music and focus on each song as an individual, working the elements and making it good. I don’t think you can write a bunch of shit and try and sell that, you go in and intentionally write Fear Factory songs.
Does the way people listen to or access music figure in your thinking when creating an album or coming up with ways to stop the album being leaked?
It’s going to happen anyway, it doesn’t matter how you put it out there some arsehole is going to steal it anyway. They don’t understand that bands put thousands of hours in to making an album and have worked hard for them to just take it. We make music to be heard properly and to be played on your stereo, in your car and hopefully there will be some vinyl which we’re all up for. If someone what’s to steal it badly enough they’ll figure out a way to do it. I doubt if there is a way to deter it.
Do you have any ideas to deter it?
Yep, release everything on cassette. No more digital downloads just everything on cassette. The record industry needs to figure out a way to stop the downloading because they’re getting hurt and the artist is getting hurt the most and it is killing the entire industry. They could decide to release everything on vinyl and you can do that until someone figures out how to record it to digital in real time, compress it and eventually it will be out for free anyway. I don’t know how to do it. Maybe write new music and don’t release it! I really don’t have any answers to that question.
It must be frustrating as an artist knowing that you have to tour longer to pay the bills?
Yeah well, what the downloaders don’t realise is that they are killing their favourite artists making it harder for them to survive.
What is the best thing about touring in Australia – is it the weather, the women, the beer?
You said it all! It is just a great place to be, it’s a great continent, lovely people and the fans are just awesome. They come out, they’re supportive and fiercely loyal and that is the best part. We always have great shows when we go down there. It has been a while since we’ve played a festival in Australia and the last time was Big Day Out with Metallica in 2010. That was a good tour…
Whether it is rummaging through vinyl at record stores such as Clarity and Title finding hidden gems to scouring the internet to find that album by the next big thing or chasing bands to get that elusive autograph and photo his passion is music all the way.
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