Fear Factory Answers Remember emailing questions in a while ago for the boys in Fear Factory? Well, Burton was able to take the time to sit and answer some of those questions (which some were very good by the way...i.e. Peter Tax and the Burton brother question)...So here we go, Burton's answers to YOUR questions - 1 - Frank Adams – With the very large gap between techno and metal, it seems that your fan base consists of headbanging metal addicts and fans from the rave movement. Do you see yourselves as a crossover band or as something unique that fits no established classification? Burton Bell – I don't think we're a crossover band because we really haven't crossed over anywhere from where we started. I think it's just a new evolution of music and something that fans of many genres can appreciate. 2 - On Obsolete, I noticed the meaning behind it is a dystopian society, was there ever any influence from the story Fahrenheit 451 on Obsolete? Burton Bell – Actually no, I never read that book. 3 - Antonio Gonzales – I read in an interview with Burton a year ago that the new album wouldn't sound produced. What does this mean? Will the sound quality not be as good as it was before? Burton Bell – I don't know, that's a good question! I don't know what I meant by that. I think I meant to say it won't be overproduced...that's what I probably said. So it won't be overproduced, it will be just right. And make it sound just like Fear Factory! 4 - Jason Farris – My question is basically posed towards Burton C. Bell. My question is on the forthcoming Digimortal. Have you experimented more with your vocals such as the difference between, Soul of a New Machine to Demanufacture, and Obsolete, as well as the G//Z/R Plastic Planet? Between all those albums your vocals had improved dramatically. So is there a progression from them to Digimortal, or any other general new approaches you've taken in your performance on the upcoming album? Thanks for your time and cannot wait to get the new album!!!! You guys are the best! Burton Bell – Of course, as the years go by my vocals do evolve as I become a better singer. And, yeah my vocals have evolved on this record from Obsolete to now. It's more my voice...it's still aggressive but it's still very much me. 5 - Craig Lawrence – Hi All! My question to the lads from FF is: With the progression from SOANM to Obsolete, the dynamics of your music has changed dramatically. Will the new album more melodic yet hold the same aural assault we so much love to hear? Or is it back to SOANM days of just pure aggression? Either way it's an album that I'm sure all of us are awaiting. Burton Bell – Ahhh, nothing will go back to the SOANM days. This record is definitely as intense as DEMANUFACTURE but with the groove of OBSOLETE, and there's a lot more melody. Raymond Herrera - The new album is definitely more melodic, but not to worry it still has its edge. 6 - Adrian Walsh – Dear Fear Factory.... I just had one main question - when will you be touring Australia? What was the inspiration behind 'Digimortal'? Your ultimate fan Burton Bell – I have no idea when we'll be touring Australia, and the inspiration behind DIGIMORTAL is just the basic evolution of Fear Factory. 7 - Julie DeAdder – I was just personally wondering what initially inspired your whole man vs machine theme? (you know, man creating great advances in technology to better his own life but having it back fire) Do you feel technology will eventually dehumanize us (society) as a whole? Burton Bell – Well the man vs machine concept started back with my basic upbringing with music. To me my lyrics are very punk oriented because originally punk was definitely angry and definitely anti-establishment, and that's how I feel. And Fear Factory has evolved over the years, and so has humanity and technology. And with that evolution, man and technology evolve together. So it's man AND machine now working together. 8 - Hey Burton, Dino, Ray, and Chris. First let me say that I am an ultimate fan of all your work. I had the pleasure of meeting you in 98 in South Florida and it was one of the greatest days of my life. All of the albums have had this theme of government control and man vs machine. I would like to know if you get these ideas from the classic books that have been written such as 1984 by Orwell and Brave New World..( I forgot the author of that one ). What books would you suggest with or without this theme? Thanks, Darren Burton Bell – That book (1984) is definitely one of my favorite books of all time. It's definitely about man vs machine. But when it comes to science fiction, I get my ideas from all sorts of other places...the world around you because that's what science fiction writers write about...it is the present time they are writing about, but they just advance it even further. So, just read in general...read science books, read science magazines, learn about science in general...and then you'll see where our ideas come from. 9 - O'Mara Mr Ian M – I wanted to ask Fear Factory what type of new equipment they are using since their stuff got stolen in Philly? How has this changed their sound and the way they write? Thank you... Ian P.S. I can't wait until Digimortal comes out. Burton Bell – It hasn't changed our sound and it hasn't changed the way we write, but we have new equipment! (laughs). An artisan doesn't rely on his tools, an artisan relies on his talent. And therefore we use the instruments that we use because they have a good sound and we can emulate them and modify them and manipulate them...so, what equipment we use is inconclusive. 10 - Hey guys I just wanted to know what preparations do you take to get ready to go into the studio? Do you guys practice a lot or do you all come in with different parts and try to piece them together? ( You guys are extremely tight and this is something that has got me wondering about a lot of bands) Brad Babcock Burton Bell – Fear Factory in the studio is like no other band that I can think of...we go in to start writing a record and we write the record for about 9 months. The last 2 months of that 9 months is pre- production, which is basically you going over every song that you wrote over and over and over again, trying to arrange it better, trying to figure out a better form for it. And then when you're ready to go into the studio, you go in and you're prepared. Basically, we're in the studio everyday rehearsing songs for about 5-6 hours, six days a week. 11 - Robb – Burton, in the past you have done some amazing melodies...I read once that you didn't like the melody on Demanufacture because it was cold and unfeeling and such...but in my opinion I thought it was a great album (kinda like mixing your Soul of a New Machine vocals with Type O Negative melody). I was just wondering if you still feel that way or if Digimortal might mix some of that type of melody back in? Thanks. Burton Bell – Demanufacture was a very cold record, but I did like some of the melodies. It was early in my stage of singing and trying to come up with melodies in general. So it was very raw and a very young sound. DIGIMORTAL is definitely very melodic and over the years I've become better...and so I've definitely incorporated a lot of melody into DIGIMORTAL. 12 - Alex Kharlamov – Hi, I've been a fan of your music for quite some time, and you guys never cease to amaze me. However, one thing is bugging me. Do you guys feel you're a part of metal scene anymore? "Obsolete" was really good, but not that in-your-face compared to "SoaNM", and the bands you are touring with now - Kittie, Slaves on Dope... not really metal. Please solve my doubts and tell me you haven't forgotten the metalheads who love Fear Factory! I'm not asking for return of death-metal growls, I'm just asking for you not be in the same league with Deftones or Limp Bizkit. Thank you for attention, and best of luck! Burton Bell – Well, we'll never be in the same league as them (Limp Bizkit, Deftones)and if you think we are, you suck! (laughs) You know, metal is just a part of us, but there is so much more to us, that to call us just metal is cutting us short. Of course we don't forget our roots, SOANM is a very heavy record, but you can't do that twice. Same with DEMANUFACTURE and OBSOLETE. That's why we keep evolving our music...metal is just a part of us, but we're still a heavy band. If you can think of a better name for us, so be it! 13 – Peter Tax – Burton, first off, you're one of the best singers I've ever heard - unfuckin'believable!, now, what about the relationship with you and your brother? Is it true that you both are twins? I'd love to see some sort of "Double Burton" on stage or videos. Is he a singer too? Thanx in advance. You guys kick some serious ass! Burton Bell – Thanks for the compliment! I'm glad you think I sing well, I'm still trying to improve myself! But, yes it's true I have a twin brother...we are not identical, we are fraternal twins...he's 10 minutes older than me, and he holds that over me! But for musical tastes, we're definitely both artistic, both talented...but for music sense, he's on the other side of the spectrum, he's into folk, contemporary, country, pop kind of stuff...and he is a very good singer, he's also a very good songwriter. We jam occasionally! 14 - How did Christian get in the band? Was it though tryouts or is he an old friend or what? Burton Bell – Christian Olde Wolbers did try out for the band, but he was introduced to us by Biohazard. When Biohazard was in LA, they knew him from Belgium and Christian actually happened to be in LA to pursue his love of music...and it was just perfect timing for him. He run into Bobby at a grocery store and he was talking to him and Bobby mentioned to him that we (Fear Factory ) were looking for a bass player. And at the time Christian was a guitar player, but he tried out for bass anyway. And it worked out...you know we tried out a few people...we liked Christian and he stuck with us. 15 - Shane Yarrington – My question to Burton, Dino, and the boys is how do I get to meet the band. I have waited outside show's and have talked to other bands such as Dope, Static-X, etc... But, after show's you seem to rush off or hide out. You are my favorite band, I have been a huge fan since Soul Of A New Machine was released, and I think you guys are great. You have inspired me to write my own music and play the guitar. The first time I saw you perform it was like being in heaven. So please answer back. Dying in anticipation Burton Bell – Seems like you're at the wrong place at the wrong time. Seems like I'm always signing autographs after the show and I'm hanging out with the fans after the show. So, maybe you just don't recognize us? Hanging out at the wrong place? Christian rarely gets recognized, Raymond is always in stealth mode, catching an autograph of Raymond is like a photograph of Bigfoot. It's true! (laughs) Yeah, we're always around. We're not trying to be elusive. After the show we do our thing. If you see us, we'll talk to you. 16 - Trisha – I like your sound. I call it Melodic-metal because its got the heavy shit and then it goes to melodic sounds. My Question is songs on your new cd do they have the same melody like descent and resurrection? If so could u NAME SOME OF THE SONGS Burton Bell – I'm glad you like our melodic songs because we as a band are into melody in songs and to incorporate that is very important. Thank you for your input about Descent and Resurrection. If you're into melody, for the new record “Digimortal” has a good melody, “Linchpin” has a good melody, “Invisible Wounds” you'll probably really like, which is like a step up from “Resurrection”. And there's a song called “Memory Imprints Never End” which is the last song on the record and also has a very good melody, so you'll probably be into those songs. 17 - chris jenkins – What would you say to a person that said your songs, like Pisschrist, changed their lives? Because it did that to me, it made me rethink life and the origin of it. It helped me come to a decision I now think is right, and I am thankful for it. Burton Bell – Chris, I'm glad that you really liked that song because I feel that I write lyrics that are trying to make a statement to provoke thought, intellectual thought, to make you think about the world around you. And if it helps you make decisions in your life, I hope I had been a small part of that because that is my intention, to make you think. If it helps you to better yourself, awesome. I'm glad we're there to help. 18 - Jason Motwani – Do you think that Andrew Shives contributed anything that could be considered musically constructive to the band? In other words, did he prove to be a help to the band in any way shape or form? According to your website, the only recording that he performed was a single song that was done all in Spanish. Also, what does Christian think about Andrew Shives? Burton Bell – Jason, about your question about Andrew Shives, he did not contribute anything musically to Fear Factory. We hired Andrew Shives after we recorded the first record, and basically he was just there for touring. Of course we wanted to keep him on as a bass player, but we didn't know him before he joined the band, we met him through management, and we toured with him for about a year and discovered he was a dick, so we fired him. And that's when we got Christian to the band. Christian doesn't even know Andrew, so he doesn't think anything about him. 19 - ELLENIG – COULD YOU ASK THE MEMBERS OF FEAR FACTORY ABOUT WORKING ON ANY OUTSIDE PROJECTS, INCLUDING THE GROUP KUSH WITH MEMBERS OF CYPRESS HILL AND DEFTONES, WHEN CAN WE EXPECT THIS? Raymond Herrera - Not til 2002