Fear of a Flat Planet

by Elizabeth Beeson

Fear Factory's self-described "extreme alternative" sound has been amazing fans and fellow musicians since their debut album, Soul of a New Machine. The band's music bridges gaps between metal, industrial, dance and techno, creating new musical expressions which are edgy, powerful and beautiful all at the same time. Now, with the release of their latest album, Digimortal, its sound has evolved to the next level.

I talked to Fear Factory's groundbreaking guitarist, Dino Cazares, about the release of Digimortal and the Sno-Core tour they are headlining along with Kittie, Union Underground, Slaves on Dope and Boy Hits Car.

Cazares talks with a low voice (both in tone and volume) that gives him a cool, laid-back demeanor. He comes off as being a pretty nice guy who is definitely excited about what he is doing. Why wouldn't he be? Fear Factory has been both financially and critically successful and they're continuing that success with the release of the new album.

"Did you know that we play more shows in Denver than anywhere else?" he started off saying. "Even more than L. A."

That makes sense with the huge fan base that the Los Angeles-based band has established here. Just this month, on January 24, the band will be playing at the Fillmore as part of the Sno-Core tour. Digimortal isn't scheduled to be released until April 24, but the band will be debuting many songs off of the record on the tour.

"We've been off the road for a year now and I can't wait to go out and play the new songs on tour," Cazares said. "The songwriting is just so much better. Some people think that when you mature, you become mellower. We matured, but we became wiser, you know, better. We got better at what we do now. We got better at our craft. Sometimes it just really takes practice and practice and practice. Practice can be years."

Cazares should know about years of practice, as he's been playing guitar since 1985.

Aside from Cazares, Fear Factory is made up of vocalist Burton C. Bell, bassist Christian Olde-Wolbers and drummer Raymond Herrera. Put together, they are far from the average band. They constantly push provocative and creative concepts with each new album. They have broken through the boundaries of a normal band and have redrawn those boundaries to create something more. Fear Factory works with concrete ideas to create records that reflect sociological themes.

"We've always done that on our records," Cazares said. "They're all basic little concepts of each other. We've always been like organic and digital or organic versus digital and now on this record that's basically the concept -- how man and technology have kind of become one. They can't live without the other. The last record was about how technology had taken over and basically wiped out humans -- which is a very possible future. Maybe it may not happen in our future but it's very possible. Then Digimortal comes into where these machines can't operate without someone. They need man. The man is the linchpin to the machine. Man and technology have learned to live with each other and the man has learned how to preserve his life in the matrix. Basically what he's figured out is how to store his memory and his experiences, his life and basically his soul on a computer chip. So you can basically download a man. You can download a human being and if you want to, you can install his memories into something else -- and you know once that manipulation starts, you are able to download this chip into a clone and that clone would be just like you and have all your experiences. That's kind of what the concept of digital mortality is all about. We're about 25 percent away from cloning man. What do you do when that happens? That's where it gets pretty scary and we're not really sure what that outcome would be. We could accomplish both a positive and a negative."

Fear Factory has always put a lot of thought into the concept it expresses as a band. Even the group's name has a lot of meaning behind it.

"The name Fear Factory alone is a concept," Cazares said. "What Fear Factory has always meant was individualism. Sometimes, living in a conformist world, individualism can actually cause fear."

The band hasn't only made waves for its strong conceptual ideas though. Cazares himself has made a huge impact on the music world as a guitarist with his unique playing style and his custom-made equipment.

"A couple of years ago our equipment got stolen," he said, "so everything had to be replaced. So I shopped around for different equipment and stuff and I discovered this amplifier called Line 6 that allows you to do a lot of cool effects. In fact, you can go directly from clean tones to distorted and combine it all together. So since I've discovered this amplifier, it has really opened new doors for me. The contrast between clean and heavy distortion works really well. The Line 6 helps me out a lot. I also use Ibanez guitars, but mine are custommade seven string. It's not the kind you can find in the store. I have an extra fret on the top that gives me room to play lower, more in the range of G and A."

The low key of Fear Factory songs adds to the oddly apocalyptic feel to its music. The mix they develop between electric and organic evokes the sound of a robotic flower rising out of the ashes of nuclear holocaust. It is delicate and tragic, but encircled in chaos. This eclectic sound gives Fear Factory a wide and varied audience.

"We almost have two different crowds. The first crowd likes more metal and then there are the people who like the electronic part." Even the band members themselves have widely varying tastes. I asked Cazares how this affects the group's song writing process.

"Of course there is some arguing that goes on because everyone wants their part to stand out, because there are several parts," he said, "but somehow we work together. Somehow we get there without too much arguing."

You can hear how the different influences in the band add to the unique mix on their albums. Fear Factory goes beyond the release of its main albums though. They also experiment with digital manipulation on remix albums as well.

"We know our limitations when we make a record," Cazares said. "Then, when we make a remix album, we go nuts on them because it gives you more room to experiment with almost anything. You can completely take a song apart and start over. But on the records, we try to keep it to a minimum. We try to keep it to what Fear Factory is all about and we try to minimize as much as possible. To a certain degree, people can get carried away with it [digital manipulation] because it's like this whole new thing and for some songs, it's all they're about, but we leave all that extra stuff for the remix album. On our remix album, we make all that shit digital."

Since Fear Factory has such an interest in technology, I thought it would be interesting to ask Cazares what he thought about Napster.

"Whether it's an MP3, whether someone's burning a disc, whether it's tape trading, it's all fine," he said.

He did have a few thoughts about the battle many artists waged against the Internet site though.

"I think where [Metallica] fucked up is when they made it public. Like when Lars Ulrich went out and started talking about all this shit. If he would have just let the lawyers handle it, nothing would have happened. It really made them look bad. I kind of see their point. Basically anybody can download their product. I don't care if my stuff's on Napster, but at least let me make the money first. Let me make a profit, because if you can download the whole record for free three months before it comes out, that kind of sucks for me."

Nothing seems to suck for Fear Factory right now-- not Napster, not anything. They are a group that is doing well and is still on the up and up. Cazares only had positive things to say about everything that was

happening with the band. It is really great to hear that someone is happy doing what they love, but I wanted to know what his favorite part of the band life is.

"There are two different Fear Factory parts," he told me. "One, when you hear a song you just recorded for the first time, you get really excited. And then on the road: talking to our fans, seeing what they like, getting some interaction. All the stuff we put into our music they can actually see live. I like both parts. If I had to stay at home and write records for the rest of my life just at home, I'd definitely be pretty bored."

Cazares will have plenty of chances to get out of the house. After the Sno-Core tour, Fear Factory has a busy summer ahead of them. I ask him if we will see them this summer at Ozzfest or Tattoo the Earth.

"It's all possible," he said. "It's very very possible. We've already [been] approached for some of them, but we're holding out just in case. You've got to weigh all your options."

Right now, the guys have a lot of options coming their way. For the moment though, they are enjoying one of their favorite parts of band life: touring and meeting fans. So many of the band's fans really identify with the style and message that the Fear Factory music conveys. I asked Cazares what affect he thought his music had on the crowd.

"I think music can evoke a feeling in someone and open their eyes to a lot of stuff," he said. "One of the main things we really promote is individualism. Question everything."

Perhaps that's the same kind of philosophy that has gotten Cazares and the other members of the band to where they are now. They are here to stay and have created quite a fan base, which includes fellow musicians like Max Cavalera of Sepultera and Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys. They are a band that has grown both artistically and commercially.

I finished up my interview with Cazares. His voice seemed a little hoarse. Of course he had been doing interviews since early that morning and it was already 5 pm. The next day, he would leave for the Sno-Core tour. I thought of Cazares as a decent, nice guy who loves his work. It just so happens that millions of people love to watch him work as well. --Elizabeth Beeson

"Linchpin," Fear Factory's newest single, will hit radio waves March 17, five weeks before Digimortal is released. Sno-Core comes to the Fillmore Wednesday, January 24.