Chat on USA Today with Burton C. Bell Fear Factory: Burton Bell Tuesday, May 15, 5 p.m. ET The industrial-metal band Fear Factory is one of the most popular metal bands of the 1990s. Burton C. Bell (vocals), Dino Cazares (guitar/bass) and Raymond Herrera (drums) have recorded four albums: Soul of a New Machine (1992); Fear Is the Mindkiller (1993), which incorporated techno/industrial elements into their speed metal sound; Demanufacture (1995); and Digimortal (2001). Talk to lead singer Burton Bell about the band and its music. (I wonder what happened to Remanufacture and Obsolete?) Edison, NJ: Why didn't Sarah Maclachlan want to contribute vocals to the "Obsolete" album? I heard she was asked to do it. Burton Bell: She was asked. She really didn't tell us why she didn't want to do it, just straight up "no". Atlanta,Ga: Hi Burton, If you had a choice, what bands would you like to have the opportunty to tour with? Burton Bell: I'll tour with anyone who wants to tour with us. Rage would be cool. Pantera, Metallica. People have been cancelling left and right on us, though. Medfield, MA: Do you plan on doing anymore collaborations with hip hop style artist such as B-real? Do you think that such collaborations will have an effect on the style of music you play? Burton Bell: I don't think it'll effect our style. There are some remixes we're doing soon, and we may ask a hip-hop artist to do it with us. Middleton, WI: I just want to say that the new album is amazing. With Digimortal and Tool's new album Lateralus in my possession, I am immeasurably happy. My question is: What bands, past and present, do you have the most respect for and why? Burton Bell: A lot! U2, Nick Cave, Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys, Faith No More. Present bands I admire are the ones that do what they want without alienating their audience. Baltimore, MD: Hey Burton. I love Fear Factory and have been into them since 1997, but I have never seen you guys live in concert. In your "Evolution of Revolution" tour, the dates and venues look pretty skimpy. Are you guys going to tour a lot more than the shows you have already announced, and are you guys ever going to play in Baltimore? Burton Bell: Yes, we'll definitely be playing Baltimore. We're planning higher volume touring soon. Melbourne Victoria AUS.: Even though your lyrics are based on futuristic concepts, is there a personal side to what you are trying to relate?? There's a lot of emotion in your performance, but to most your lyrics would seem to be concieved from imagination. I believe there is a very real and relavent meaning in Fear Factory songs. Am i nuts? Burton Bell: No, but you kind of have it backwards. All the lyrics are based in reality, from personal experiences. I put my feelings and experiences into a futuristic perspective. On stage, you're seeing real passion and frustration. Lockhart,Texas: Should we still expect a FF video game for the PS2 like Raymond has said before? If so, when is it due?---Salomon Burton Bell: It's something we've discussed, but nothing's set in stone. Designing a video game is difficult and takes a lot of time, and we want to do it right. Raymond is the video game person..he tests them for a hobby. He knows what we should do and how we should do it, and he's holding out for the right deal. Denver, Colorado: This is Cassie, just wanted to say hello and wondering when is there going to be a Digimortal digi pack available in the U.S. and what kind of bonus tracks will be on there? Take care and see you guys again soon!! Love, C. Burton Bell: Sorry you missed out, but the Digi pack was released the same day as the record, and there were only 150,000 made. If you don't have one of those, well....but there's four extra tracks on it. Monterrey, Mexico: Why aren't you on Ozzfest 2001? Burton Bell: We weren't invited. Melbourne Australia: Do you think we will ever hear a Fear Factory record with a completely different sound? You guys are very original and groundbreaking, but you seem to have stuck to yours guns in a way. I think it would be very original and strong to come out with a record that says "Ok, you've seen us take on this monster. Now where gonna go beat on someone else" You know, i've always seen Fear Factory to be a band that will never follow unwritten laws, and Digimortal is not an exception to that. But the drums and guitars do sound like Fear Factory, to me it's the songstructure that is playing the part of moving on. Along with your vocal's. So i guess what i'm asking is Does Fear Factory have it in them to break more sonic ground??Like Demanufacture did. But in a different direction. Burton Bell: Good question. We just put this record out and are concentrating on touring and the remix record. I wouldn't put it past us to try what you're suggesting. New York City, NY: The first time that I ever heard of Fear Factory was from the song Replica. That prompted me to purchase Demanufacture, and since then till today, its still my most treasured album EVER! Something about that album, its sound, its feel, the lyrics,and most importantly your vocals gave it a very distinct bright sound that I never found from any other band. The album influenced me in every way you can imagine, especially songs like Pisschirst. Fear Factory literally became my #1 favorite band ever, and you are still my biggest influence with lyric writing and vocals. My question is, do you feel the same way about Demanufacture, and do you feel that you, and the others tried to recapture that feel on Digimortal? Also, will we hopefully start seeing more media and publicity focusing on you guys? Thanks! Burton Bell: I know what you mean about Demanufacture. It was definitely descriptive of the time. We tried to capture the sound on Digimortal, which was very mechanical and cold. We moved away from that on Obsolete. Digimortal in some sense was trying to recapture the Demanufacture sound. As far as media attention goes, that's up to the media. It depends on how well the record's received. I can't predict what the media will say. germany: are you gonna do another tour through germany this year?it would be cool cause now we know the new songs better than last time! Burton Bell: Probably not until the end of the year, but yes. Bridgeport,CT: Fr:Chris Ciccone Hey B.I have been a fan of FF since 1992 and have watched you guys evolve into a solid band.Growing up,were you a sci-fi junkie, based on the concept of your last 2 albums? Keep up the good work & I will see you on tour. Burton Bell: I've been a sci-fi junkie since 6th grade, watching Star Trek, Space 1999, etc. It's kind of cool I can use that in my music. Oklahoma City ,Oklahoma: In some songs,the lyrics allude to religous subjects,for example pisschrist and ressurection...do these songs reflect your own religous opinion..if so what is it ? Burton Bell: Definitely. It's my look on organized religion and how I think it's corrupt. I present questions that people think about. There is a spirituality, but organized religion is a big scam. james photek from st louis missouri: in the song crash test, you're saying how some people feel animals have no feelings, and that they can run deadly tests and disect animals without feeling bad or thinking about what they're actually doing. i was wondering if you guys are vegetarians, or if you aren't vegetarians but still greatlly believe in animal rights? Burton Bell: We're not vegetarians, but we feel strongly about animal rights. I remember when the first record came out PETA mentioned it in one of their newsletters. I fell off the vegetarian wagon a few years ago. Panama: What are your plans for your new website? Burton Bell: It's in the works right now. We've just changed designers, and it's in the process of being set up. Be patient,it's almost done. Dallas, Tx: Burton, how do you get those great effects on your voice. I have my own band, and Im the vocalist and I look up to you and your style has inspired me a lot. I was wanting to get that haunting edge to my voice, and I was wondering if thats just you or do you add various effects to give it that edge? I appreciate it Burton, and come through to Dallas soon! We dont get to see enough of you and Ill be there for sure along with everyone else who loves ya Burton Bell: It's me, but it's effected a bit with delay. On this record, we use Antare's Auto Tune. YOu've got to work hard to make it sound natural, and then tweak. I double everything, which makes it sound smoother and fuller. st louis missouri: the song a therapy for pain says how the character meets death, but won't accept death just yet. was a near death experience related to this song? Burton Bell: No, it was a dream I had. But it could be based on a near death experience. Lindenhurst, IL: I saw you guys on 4/30 in Chicago; the best show I've EVER been to. Please come back to Chicago soon. Okay, question time. During the Digimortal recording sessions, the fearfactory.com site listed between 15 and 21 tracks being worked on (obviously, some were not named). The DigiPak has 15, with 'Full Metal Contact' being taken from the Demolition Racer soundtrack. To make a long question short (too late), how many new tracks were completed and where will we be seeing the ones that didn't make it onto the new album? -Austin Miller Burton Bell: All the tracks we did were on the DigiPack. If you saw more, we changed titles on some of the songs, which may be part of the confusion. Burlingame, CA: Who/what inspired the groups direction in the early days? There is nothing even close to as hard, maybe danzig/samhain.. FYI, the fusion between metal and techno is the future. Look at the mutiple genres of Electronica, house/trance/drum and bass/gabber/etc. fusion=future Elroy923 Burton Bell: Every influence we had was an inspiration, but the inspiration to do something original was the main drive. New York, NY: Metal has certainly made a commercial resurgence in the past few years, with many bands such as Iron Maiden, and now Megadeth, returning to top form. Where do you see metal heading in the next few years? Do you expect to see more trendy rap-metal? Or a resurgance of a more traditional metal sound, such as power metal and thrash? Burton Bell: Something new will come across, not the power metal. That phase is over. It doesn't present anything new. There'll always be that rap metal because people like it. Music will take a different turn. I can't predict what that is, but it'll be new and fresh. Moscow, Russia: What you think of coming to Moscow and make our dreams come true? Burton Bell: Hopefully sometime this year, but there're no plans right now. You need to get a promoter interested in us. Lindenhurst, IL: Saw you guys in Chicago last month; please come back soon. How much material is left over from the Digimortal sessions and will we hear any of it? Also, what's the word on the DVD? Burton Bell: No material left from the Digimortal sessions. We're hoping to have a DVD out for Christmas. morristown tn: what ws it like to collaborat with johnny from spineshank in their first cd Burton Bell: It was cool. Denver, CO: Have you talked to your management about being on the A.I. soundtrack yet? You guys would be perfect for that movie. Burton Bell: Yes we have. We're always trying to get on some sci-fi type soundtrack. Allentown, PA: What's the deal with the remix album you mentioned? Burton Bell: Plans for it are being discussed right now. Comment from Burton Bell: We're on the road for the next year, and if you have a chance please come see us! If you have any questions about tour dates or releases you can always check our Web site.