Evan's Interviews

Fractured interview

2011-07-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

Interview with Nick Gorman of Fractured
2011
by Evan South

1.) Nick, starting out on a serious note... What's in the water in
Canada?!?! Your country has spawned not just quality artists but some
of the biggest names and innovators in electro/industrial such as
Skinny Puppy, FLA, Numb, and of course the greatest of them all...
Bryan Adams!!
What's going on up there, and how do you feel about Fractured being
mentioned alongside some of those legends?

Hah, that's the first time I've heard Fractured and Bryan Adams
mentioned in the same sentence. It's pretty awesome to come up in that
list as well as be compared to these bands. I can respect any musician
who does what they want and has their own sound, which all of the
above have managed to accomplish. On the flip side I just write what
comes out and really don't pay attention to what's going on in the
scene around me.

2.) Reflecting back on Contami-Nation after all this time, what are
your thoughts on it? Have you ever considered re-working/re-releasing
any of your older tracks?

When we play live I sometimes bust out a few tracks from
Contami-Nation that I've reworked and juiced up a bit to have better
production. I really doubt that I'd ever go back to work on those
songs again as they're almost 10 years old now but it's pretty awesome
to see how much things have changed since then. I think Fractured has
always maintained a certain cadence and feel to the music that has not
really changed too much, but we've just got a little better at song
writing and production. It's pretty cool to look back at 3 albums
worth of music. I think it was good for what it was, but I'm glad
things have evolved.

3.) It was a good 5-6 years between Only Human Remains and Beneath
The Ashes. What was going on in this time and how did that large gap
play into the development of Beneath The Ashes?

I think my problem is that I'm so all over the map when it comes to
writing music that unless I completely focus on writing a specific
style song to song the styles change drastically. I have to basically
tell myself that I'm going to work on a 'Fractured' album with certain
constraints ( as hard as that might be to believe ). I worked on a lot
of different things over the years and got into recording a bigger
variety of sounds which I think really helped in producing BTA. During
that time I lived with Matt from Encephalon and we wrote a bunch of
tracks together one of which made it onto the album ( Anesthetic ).
That song was probably written 2-3 years ago at least now. A big
problem at the time was that we didn't have a label and were not
really interested in pursuing a deal with anyone else. It was much
easier this time releasing the album than OHR, as I felt a lot more
experienced in the process. I was able to sit in with the mastering
engineer and really spend time to bring the concept I had in my head
out with the artwork and the music.

4.) Only Human Remains was very well received and critically acclaimed.
Did this create any pressure for you in creating Beneath The Ashes?

I think it really made me want to top the success of it, but looking
back 'success' can mean a lot of things.. I think what I wanted was to
create something I was proud to release that contained elements of
things I considered to be the best of the styles of music I listened
to. It was actually a combination of things that led to us deciding to
write another Fractured album, the fact that Dependent was opening up
again, Encephalon were working on their album and DYM was also busy at
work.

5.) While Fractured is for the most part a solo project, you've had a
revolving door of collaborators. How has this factored into the
development of Fractured over time?

While I've worked with quite a few musicians in Fractured the music
writing has 90% always been something I personally take control over.
I'm a bit of a control freak when it comes to mixing and what sounds
to choose and eq'ing but once in a while I find someone I trust to
take the reins of a certain aspect, this time around it was awesome to
have Arc helping out on keys as well as co-writer for lyrics on the
album. Chances are if there is another Fractured album you'll see his
name on it again.

6.) You've done a lot of remix work for projects such as Wumpscut,
Regenerator, Solitary Experiments, etc. Do you like to do remixes as
a challenge, or maybe to keep your skills sharp? What do you think
you bring to the table as a remixer?

I used to really enjoy doing remixes. Lately I totally hate it haha. I
always used remixes as a way to experiment and try new ideas
production-wise. The problem I think is that I spend so much time on a
track these days as where I used to write a song in a weekend I'm
finding myself working on songs for 2-3 months refining everything and
tweaking everything until I think it's perfect. This is really hard to
do when a remixer asks you for something and it's usually got a 2 week
deadline and I have so many other things to work on with my day job I
would just rather work on my own stuff. I do still do remixes every
once in a while but I really have to be digging the vocals and general
flow of the song. If I'm going to spend 2-3 months on a remix it's got
to have had the same love recording the original. There are too many
bands who remix 500 songs and get 500 remixes of themselves done that
have no unique sound to begin with, what's the point?

7.) As a companion to the release of Beneath The Ashes you are still
generously giving away 5 free MP3's of tracks you consider B-sides.
Why weren't these tracks ever "completed" or why did you think they were
not good enough to maybe release as an EP or at a later date?

There are still so many more tracks buried away in the Fractured
vaults that will probably never see the light of day or get a release
so I don't mind giving away a few b-sides to promote the album. I hate
releasing old tracks and would much rather release something new so
the idea of selling something I don't consider my best is basically
out of the question.

8.) Your heavy metal side project Shallow Seasons has been floating
around for some time. Do you see yourself expanding this project, or
do you like to keep it as a guilty pleasure while you concentrate on
Fractured? On the same note, how has each project influenced the
other, as I've heard electronics in Shallow Seasons and heavy guitar
in Fractured?

I plan to write some more Shallow Seasons over the next year or two, I
most likely will not try to release it as a 'real' album but just give
it away online as an EP or something. Every once in a while I get this
itch to write a metal track so I can get it out of my system and work
on other things.. The problem lately is that there are so many
different choices of musical styles I want to work on that I need to
keep myself a little more centered and focused and hopefully get the
inspiration for another Fractured album and not wait another 5 years
haha.

9.) How has Fractured developed as a live project? Did you intially
think you would be able to translate Fractured from a studio project to
the live stage?

I come from a punk / metal background so performing was always part of
it. The first Fractured show I played I believe was in 2003 with
another now defunct Toronto band 're_agent'. It was pretty bad but
things have always been changing up for us live. Right now we're
working on finding a drummer again and usually have Arc on synths,
myself playing guitar and singing and sometimes Matt from Encephalon
on keys. It's always a blast to play your tunes on a huge system
really loud for a bunch of your friends, we hope to play some more
shows in the future but at the moment aren't actively looking for
them.

10.) What's next for you? More Fractured, Shallow Seasons, remix
work, etc.? I know you also have been planning to extensively tour
North America later this year?

We'd love to tour but it seems the logistics of getting out to do it
aren't as good as we hoped. We'll hopefully just start work on another
Fractured album and see where the wind takes us! Probably the best
place to keep an eye on us is Facebook, I'm always posting remixes and
things I'm working on at the time Shallow Seasons included.. These
days my regular job has been getting really busy so I work on things
when I have the time and inspiration, but there is always something on
the go.

11.) Final thoughts/comments?

Thanks very much for your support and the interview, thanks to all the
readers for making it all the way to the end! we're very proud of the
new album Beneath The Ashes and if you feel like helping us out you
can order a t-shirt from our website (www.faithisfractured.com) or
grab our CD's off iTunes, or order a physical copy from Dependent in
Europe or Metropolis Records in the USA. As another one of our
Canadian artists Neil Young says, "Keep on rockin' in the free world!"

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fractured/7193773473
http://www.faithisfractured.com/
http://www.dependent.de/
http://www.metropolis-records.com/

Eric Pele interview

2010-10-10T09:35:00.000-07:00

Interview with Eric "Big E" Pele
2010
by Evan South

Me: I know you quietly retired, it’s been almost two and a half years since your
last fight. When did you officially retire and how did you come to that decision?

Eric: I think after that Chase Gormley fight, it was hard for me because I broke
my hand for the fourth time in my career. I was reaching 40. I just felt at that
time I had a pretty good run, my priorities were changing. I think that’s what it
came down to, it was really hard. The hand break, actually, took a lot of time
because I broke my left hand, and the tip of my finger on my right side was
cracked, so I could not get back to work for almost 3 months. It really hurt us in
the pocketbook. I think all those factors kinda ended up there. I always had
issues with my weight and a lot of people didn’t think I was serious, even though
I was. I just had a lot of distractions. I gave it a good run, and when I fought
Chase with the injuries I thought maybe this time go ahead and step out.

Me: You figured you were pretty satisfied because you had retired on your own terms?

Eric: Sure, I would have loved to have been on the Ultimate Fighter show, that happened a little bit after, but at that time mentally, I think I did great. You know what’s a trip, people give me a lot of props from my King of the Cage days, those are really wild. I think it’s great. I just thought that was probably the end of the road for me.

Me: Your last two fights were only decision losses, and you seemed to be in the best shape of your life with the dramatic weight loss, but like you pointed out, injuries were piling up. 40 these days, is ALMOST young...

Eric: Yeah, but in sports it’s rough. There are only special cases like Randy (Couture) and maybe other guys. I haven’t even been fighting that many fights as the other guys. For me, I think it just took a toll on me. To be honest with you, my issue was always mental, my mental capacity. I always look back at my career, and I always thought, I didn’t have that mental capacity. Just that grit... Don’t get me wrong, I fought through some adversities and they’re good fights...when I say that (about the mental capacity) I think of people like Josh Barnett. That dude is just mentally nasty, and on top of that, a really great athlete. But I just don’t think... if you don’t have the mentality, you’re really cutting yourself short, you really are. I think in my career that played a big part. That’s what I come to think about...That’s what it came down to, just really analyzing everything that I had going on. But I’ll tell you what, my first decision loss, when I was in great shape, I thought I was robbed in Russia, after the Emelianenko fight.

Me: Against Ahkmed Sultanov...

Eric: I thought maybe I did enough damage. He got off on me a little bit. I was tearing his legs up. I don’t know if you’ve seen that fight, but like I said, like most of my fights, mentally, I never had that “go get ‘em”, I don’t know what I’m trying to say (laughs). I just thought I might have edged him out on that fight. Didn’t you see that fight? What did you think, your honest opinion?

Me: It’s tough, but I would probably, and you said honestly, I’d maybe say 2 rounds to 1, Sultanov.

Eric: Oh, OK. I haven’t seen it (the fight) afterwards, but I thought I was coming on strong.

Me: That’s probably why I lean towards the third round for you, but still maybe the first couple rounds for him (Sultanov).

Eric: Right, and like I said, mentality wise, I was letting him get off on me. In my clinches, there were perfect opportunities to go for take downs, I never did. Like my Chase Gormley fight, there were perfect judo throws, but like I said I didn’t go for it. I’m just one of those cats I guess I was just too conservative and I never really went for it. It just happens that way..don’t mean to ramble about that (laughs).

Me: No, I understand completely, it makes sense, and that’s how some fighters are.

Eric: Recognizing it is the best thing that made me give myself closure to my game. I definitely think I had the talent to compete, but I just don’t think I had the mentality to compete, if that makes sense. I had just enough mentality to get me in there and do my thing, but not enough to be as nasty as the upper tier. I’m good with that, because I could admit that. I can’t sit there and say “Oh well, fuckin’ this and that, and anybody else...” it’s all me. It was always me and I always knew that. As much as I love the sport, that’s why I pushed on. I love the sport so much, that’s why I put myself in those kind of positions where mentally I wasn’t the strongest person competing but I still went through with it.

(At this point I let Eric know of a site that has the Sultanov fight, the site of a promotion that used to co-promote with Bodog)

Eric: Like I said, I appreciate the honesty, because you don’t know when you’re fighting, and I never got to see it, and I just felt like...what I remember when I was in the fight. But like I said, I just let him get off too much.

Me: Again, I had to watch the fight multiple times, and it’s tough to score, it was pretty close... It was an enjoyable fight too, both you guys were swinging for the fences.

Eric: You know what’s funny, and I forgot the promoter for Bodog, the Russian cat, I forget his name, but he’s like (Eric does his best Russian accent) “C’mon Eric, just hurry up, let’s go home.” (Laughs) Like there’s not enough pressure, but they’re expecting me to win already. So I’m like “great”.

Me: And that was the Russian promoter for Bodogfight?

Eric: I think Vadim...or something like that.

Me: So he’s telling you that during the fight or before...?

Eric: Yeah, in the beginning of the fight he’s like “Oh, c’mon Eric, just hurry...”

Me: (Laughs)

Eric: And a couple of the Russian guys, and this is the funniest shit ever, in the back, like I said my nerves get kind of crazy...In the back this Russian guy, I think it was Amar Suloev. I’m not sure it was him, but one of the guys walked up and goes “He’s just a farmer from the country” (Sultanov), you know? (Laughs) “Don’t worry, he’s just a farmer from the country, what kind of training can they have out there?” I was like “OK, whatever”. And when I got in there I was like, whatever. But I just thought some funny shit like that was...

Me: That does sound funny, because you were probably talking to the Red Devil fight team and Sultanov was with Legion fight team and they might not have gotten along...

Eric: Right, right. I don’t know man, those Russian cats... I’ll tell you one thing about my fight there, it was so fun to travel. It was really nice to take me places. And I travel a lot for tattooing now, but fighting took me around. That was great, I loved it. It introduced me to Canada. Now I go back there and I tattoo all the time there. But I wouldn’t have if I didn’t fight there.

Me: Which leads me into the next subject, which was Bodogfight in general. How did you get recruited from Bodogfight? Your last fight before Bodog was X-1, and I wondered if they recruited you from there, or if they knew you from your King of the Cage days?

Eric: It’s funny, because I remember what they were doing. Antonio (Silva) was ripping through everybody. They just needed somebody (to fight Silva). I had been out of the game for a little bit, but I was still training, and my weight was getting down. We’d been hearing rumors about them interested in me fighting Antonio. I fought X-1, it was a HORRIBLE fight with Vince Lucero. I could not pull the trigger on that guy! I just could not pull the trigger, for whatever reason. And the saddest thing to boot , they were only 3x3 minute rounds, and I was fucking tired! And then the call comes (from Bodog), and Skip...man I’ll tell you what. To be honest, I was like “Fuck that! That dude is murdering people!” After what he did to Tom Erikson... And I was like, I don’t know about that. And so we were watching his tapes, and Skip (Eric’s trainer)...I swear to God, a lot of people think (I took the fight) because they offered me nice money. But I’ll tell this right here and now, and I stand by it, Skip was like “Eric, you’re a southpaw, there’s a hole in his game where we can put him down.” So after a little bit of coercion, we talked about it, watched the fights and Skip’s like “I think a southpaw would give him fits.” And I just finally said “fuck it”. And to be honest with you, that solidified my decision, but it did help that was the first time I ever made a good amount of money. But the main factor was Skip really believing in me. He said “You have everything to gain and nothing to lose, just imagine if you upset him.”

Me: So again it’s one of those situations of being in the right place at the right time...

Eric: Right, and having somebody...truly...you have to have everybody believe in you, but he (Skip) was like “I think as a southpaw you can give him fits, we don’t have to worry about his jits or rolling” because I’ve rolled with lots of guys, so that was never the issue. I’d just seen how he was just murdering people (laughs), and I was like “I don’t know if I want any of that.”

Me: On that note, Eric, and this is not an insult to you, were they (Bodog) reaching out to you because they probably had a lot of people decline fighting Antonio Silva?

Eric: I think so. He (Silva) pretty much took out Tom Erikson, right? That really bumped him up and he’s way up there. To be honest with you, I think I was a stepping stone for him to go to Aleksander (Emelianenko). And then I changed that. When you see that fight (with Silva), I was fighting scared. Which is good, everybody should fight scared. I was just, like, on my pedals. But, I shit you not, when he was tagging me, every time we would fight and hit each other, I was like “whoa, he’s not hitting me hard,” It didn’t feel as hard as I thought it would. So my confidence kind of got a little bit better and better. And after he started tagging me, I was like OK, he’s not the juggernaut everyone says he is. A lot of people say it was a lucky punch (the one that put Silva down), but I say it was where it was supposed to be at that time. (Laughs)

Me: (Laughs) Exactly!

Eric: I don’t think Antonio’s stock fell at all, because that dude is living a dream right now, he’s at the top of his game, fighting the studs of the world. Everybody has a setback, and that setback was my glory. It was fun, a night to remember.

Me: How did that feel going from King of the Cage and X-1 and all of a sudden you’re featured with Antonio Silva in a superfight on Bodogfight’s first big pay-per-view?

Eric: It was great! Like I said my nerves were off the hook, and I was like “Aaaaah!” I really trained hard, like nobody’s business, on that fight. I tell you what, I really trained hard, and it just happened to go my way. For the rest of my life, that’s the kind of feeling that... I’ll never have the feeling to win a UFC title, that fight right there I think was my UFC title, that was my glory. It felt great, it felt awesome.

Me: I remember at the end of the Silva fight, and they announce the winner, they gave you this really beautiful ring...

Eric: Yeah...I ended up pawning it because of the economy...

Me: (Awkward silence)

Eric: (Laughs) No, I’m just kidding. I have it put up in my little case. I love it, that’s one thing that every time my nephews and nieces come, and they always ask me about it. I get a little giggly and tell them about it.

Me: Because I saw that and thought ‘I bet that’s really cool, I’ve got to ask him about that’...

Eric: Yeah, it’s awesome. I wanted to wear it when I went to Russia, to fight Aleksander, but I didn’t wear it for whatever reason. I think I just wanted to keep it in a safe place, I didn’t want to lose it. But after Aleksander beat me, he was wearing his (ring), and I was like “Man, I should have worn mine...” (Laughs) Not that it made any difference, I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking...but it was really great, that organization treated me great. And sure, they were over budget, they were over spending, but they asked me, I didn’t ask them.

Me: Tell me about your thoughts and experiences with the Aleksander Emelianenko fight...

Eric: I tell you what, and I’d tell anybody this, I think I had the tools to beat him, but mentally I wasn’t there. I watched him, and it was so easy to clinch him up and trip him. I had so many...I don’t know, and he got off on me, and like I said, mentally at that time, you have to be... that’s what I mean about upper tier mentality, either you’re on that level or you’re not there, and it was obvious I wasn’t there. I was in great shape, my cardio was awesome, I just felt like I gave it to him. I wanted to hit him so he’d stop hitting me, but I never wanted to hit him to fucking really win. It’s hard for me to say that, because who doesn’t want to win? And I put in all that time and effort to win. But when it came down to it, I kinda came short.

Me: Well, it was one of two trips to Russia for you, so that’s always good.

Eric: Yeah, and you know what, my picture was on a big ass billboard, it was pretty cool. Yeah, around town, and the guys from the states were like “oh, Mr. bigtime guy...” (Laughs) and I was like “Yeah, you know..”, and everybody knew I was going to get my ass kicked, so they were giving me shit. (Laughs)

Me: How do you look at your entire Bodogfight experience?

Eric: It was great. And you know the owner (Calvin Ayre), this is the first time I ever talked to a fucking billionaire. And that dude was so approachable and so nice, a sweetheart of a guy. Always saying “Hey man, you guys are doing great”. And after my Aleksander fight he walked up to me, and kind of put his arm around me and goes “Man, I was rooting for you.” He was just a really nice guy, that’s my impression. He didn’t pull any punches on treating us good. Definitely it was a great, great experience.

Me: With the Emelianenko fight, you also fought in front of diplomats like Vladimir Putin, Berlusconi from Italy, and possibly the most powerful man in the world, Jean Claude Van Damme!

Eric: You know what’s the truth man, we were there, and I got a little anxiety the night before so I want to watch movies, and all they had were Jean Claude Van Damme movies to order! And I’m like “What?!” (Laughs) I guess he’s the shit out there. Oh, this is a funny story.So we go to the embassy to have dinner with Putin, right? Which is awesome, this is a trip, they gave us a Russian plate, a big ass book about Russia, just pretty amazing stuff. And I’m just taking it all in, so I’m sitting and there’s Van Damme...and it’s kind of awkward because we’re all in one room with Aleksander, we’re all there, and there’s of course a language barrier. And what happened, happened, I’m just having fun. And Van Damme, he was leaning into me pretty hard and he’s like “So how’s it feel to come all this way to get beat like that?” And I’m like, ‘I’ll beat the fucking...’ you know I’m thinking in my head ‘you motherfucker, what an asshole.’ Maybe that’s a European thing. But he was like “How’s it feel to train like that and come here and lose like that?” And I was like “It doesn’t feel too good” but in the back of my mind ‘I might not have beat Aleksander but I’ll beat your ass.’ (Laughs)

Me: Maybe that’s the European sense of humor.

Eric: Yeah, they’re pretty direct. It stung, but if you put yourself out there you got to be willing to take what’s coming. And I’m sure he meant it in a nice way, he wasn’t saying it sarcastically, but the way he asked... And my feelings are hurt anyways...

Me: You met a billionaire in Calvin, you hung out with Putin and Van Damme. You got diplomats, billionaires, and movie stars all in one place.

Eric: Yeah, and afterwards we had this INSANE party on this freaking pirate boat-looking thing. Insane. I don’t want to get myself in trouble, but I’m telling you, there were some things going on in there...pretty off the hook. Let’s say with naked chicks and other stuff. It was pretty wild.

Me: Kind of like what happens in Russia stays in Russia?

Eric: Yeah, pretty wild. And then when Aleksander and Fedor showed up, it was just unbelievable, the crowd went crazy. It was awesome. Everybody was around me, like Peter Aerts, and a lot of other fighters that were there. And they were all fucked up, everybody was torn up. It was pretty wild.

Me: What do you think was one of the most important or pivotal moments in your fight career?

Eric: To be honest with you, my fight with Bobby Hoffman, the second time, always stands out to me, because that’s one of the few fights...inside my head..and a lot of people don’t know this, this is funny, you know I always have issues with nerves. I was walking by and Quinton “Rampage” gets up and he whispers in my ear “Go out there and do your thing, fuck it.”
Just like that... and I swear to God I was like, I don’t know why he said that, I just went in there, and my head was so on for that fight, my physicalness probably wasn’t, but my head, mentally, was on. And I think I persevered through that fight. If I had to pick one fight I would say I had to push through and grow from, I would say that second fight with Bobby Hoffman.

Me: That was pretty pivotal, because after that win, you just had that fight in X-1 and then you were in Bodogfight. So if you hadn’t won that second fight with Hoffman, Bodogfight may never have happened.

Eric: Right, I think it all links up. Plus, it was pretty cool too with the dramatics because that was the one on the Inked (tv) series. And it was so funny, Terry Trebilcock comes in to the store, and we’re about to film, and he goes “Oh, you know ‘Big E’ Pele?” to the producers, and they’re saying “Maybe we can get him to fight!” I didn’t want to fight at all, and they’re like they’ll put it on tv. They kind of talked me into it for the tv show. And then they told me it was Bobby Hoffman, and I was like “I don’t know about that, I’m not in shape.” It was pretty wild.

Me: Didn’t they call you into work the day after the fight?

Eric: Oh yeah, that was one of the reasons why I ended up getting fired, because I threw a bitch about that. I was like, I’m with my family and friends, I get out and I had a concussion. I’m with my son and my wife, and just trying to take it slow, and they pull a bitch move on me like that. And I don’t want to lose my job...And a lot of the arguments that happened, they edited them all out. I came in there and was like “Fuck this and that”, and the manager at the time, even Carey (Hart), they were just really insensitive to what went down, and I represented their shop. I just felt like...what they showed was nothing compared to what really went down. I was pissed! I was like “There’s no reason I should be tattooing on anybody.” I had it covered, but the person that covered didn’t...All these things. And I just spoke my mind on that particular thing, it was one part of many parts that ended up with my demise because I spoke up on it. A lot of people don’t realize what really went down. I would never work on anybody in that kind of condition.

Me: What was the shop at the time?

Eric: Hart & Huntington. It’s just Huntington Ink now. Carey went somewhere else.

Me: Same place, different ownership.

Eric: Half of the owner, the original owner Huntington. He couldn’t use the name Hart, but he could use his own name of Huntington.

(At this point, Kurt Angle walks by the shop, Eric and crew get distracted.)

Eric: Kurt Angle just walked by. Oh that’s pretty cool. Sorry about that...

Me: I’d stop for him too.

Eric: He looks like he’s kinda on the good stuff, a little loopy. But any ways... From all his injuries, I’m sure looking at him, he’s all fucked up right now. Anyway, yeah, he (Huntington) can’t use the Hart & Huntington banner, but he can use Huntington.

Me: So you work for them and yourself at the same time?

Eric: Yup. I travel a lot. I have a personal studio too, that I work out of a couple of times a week. Those guys are really cool, where I work at, and they’re for the bigger pieces, bigger projects, and here is for the novelty tattoos, which is cool, I still do a lot of cool pieces.

Me: People who had seen you at King of the Cage and then seen you at Bodogfight, because of your dramatic weight loss, would almost think you were two different people. At what point did the surgery and weight loss occur?

Eric: It occurred a year before the second fight with Bobby Hoffman. One of the reasons why I ended up getting lap band surgery, it had nothing to do with fighting...to be honest with you I kind of let myself go. Back in the day I used to power lift. After I stopped power lifting, I always had that extreme appetite, I just loved to eat. When I first started fighting, that was a good way to help me keep my weight down. After a while, I just kept ballooning. I was never a consistent fighter. As I was fighting, I’d fight here and there, but man, I would eat like crazy, and I started ballooning up really bad. When I had my son Eric, it was more of an epiphany, where I wanted to be around my son and enjoy being a father. I don’t want to check out too soon just because I can’t control my eating. And it’s a battle with a lot of Samoans, that’s our battle. If you look up obesity rates in races, Samoans are #1. It’s a bad affliction we have to deal with. I’m glad I live in a time and day where I can deal with it and I can do something about it.

Me: So you said you’re about 255 lbs. now?

Eric: Yeah, I’m about 255, walking around.

Me: Is that about your lightest weight ever?

Eric: Yeah, since I was a teenager, I guess. (laughs) Let me reiterate, in my 20's I stayed around 255, in my late 20's, by 30 was the first time I hit 300, and it went all downhill from there.

Me: You’re still semi-regularly working out?

Eric: I’m a PX90 guy, but I ended up fucking that off, but I try. I’m not as committed as I used to be. I like to go by the gym, but when I do go by the gym it’s mostly just to talk to the guys (laughs). I wish I could sit here and say that...I would say honestly about one day a week, I give a good...do a little kettle bells and some rubber band work, and I have a nice treadmill at home.
But other than that, if I ever do anything out of the gym, I just go to talk to the boys and watch them spar, that’s about it.

Me: So when you retired you didn’t have any interest in continuing any type of training, or even grappling?

Eric: Yeah, I kind of left it all for art. I figured art would be my name and pay. That’s what pays me, that’s what always pays me. I think as I was getting older, I need to really focus on that and put all my time and effort in to that. And that’s where I am... I love the fights, I love watching it, to make a real living I just stayed with the tattoing and all the art stuff I do.

Me: What were your overall impressions and experiences with the older fight organizations like King of the Cage and RINGS USA?

Eric: I’ll tell you what, I started on the low totem pole, and it progressed and it never went back. I got to a show that was a little better than the last show, better than the last show, and then ultimately got to the big show. And then I went to Maximum fighting (MFC), and it was a good show too. I never got up to a high place and then started way back down to like Gladiator Challenge, you know what I mean? I started low and ended on a high...

Me: How was your experience in the original RINGS USA, and most notably that first fight with Bobby Hoffman?

Eric: My (first)fight with Bobby Hoffman, I think was one of the defining moments of my fighting career. The young, fresh, crazy, just stud that Hoffman was on our first fight when he was coming up. We got the call to fight Hoffman. We fly down there...it’s a trip, that dude’s a stud. I was kind of amazed, he just fought Maurice Smith for 15 minutes, and Maurice split his tongue. This dude was battle worn. So I go in there, we start the fight, and he clips me in the first 30 seconds! He clips me really hard, I just see white and I’m just dizzy as fuck. The round ends, and I come over...and I think this is the pinnacle part of my career where I wanted to quit. And John Lewis, God bless him, tells me “You’re not quitting.” I told John “I’m done”.
And John goes “You know what, if you’re done, you say you’re done, you quit, I’m not going to quit for you.” And all this time...we’re not arguing, he’s just telling me “You can’t quit...”
And just before I’m debating on it, the bell rings! (Laughs) So I turn around, and take a deep breath, and I’m just like “fuck it!” And I tell people, that moment right there was really a defining moment, because John was like “If you quit, you will never forgive yourself. I’d rather have you go out there and get submitted, get knocked out, go out on your honor, than quit!”
The saying is everybody is great when they’re winning, but when they’re losing, that’s when their true heart comes out. So I just sucked it up. So I took the second round, we had to go to the third round, so we go in there and we’re battling it out. In RINGS it’s kind of funky, because when you do a takedown, you can only punch the body, can’t punch the head. So I took him down a couple times, and he didn’t even care...he got taken down so he could rest. One time when we were really neck and neck on points, I took his ass down. And I know Monte Cox will deny this forever, but I have a tape of Monte Cox looking at the ref, and when I got him (Hoffman) down, the ref kind of looked at Monte, and Monte gave him the thumbs up, like stand them up...
So if Monte ever reads this...I still remember!!! (laughs) So afterwards, when we’re done, we’re dog tired, we went at it. I think that pep talk gave me a second wind, and I gave him everything I had. I remember going down to the hallway, so we split up, so he goes one direction, I go the next direction, to go to our lockers...so we come around, I see him (Hoffman) he’s sitting there, the ice pack comes out, he’s throwing up blood. I think before we started he had 15 stitches in his tongue, because his tongue got ripped from Maurice’s fight. He looks at me and he’s like “Good fight, Pele.” And I’m thinking to myself, this mother fucker just threw down with Maurice Smith the week before. I was just so impressed by that. Unfortunately, his career kind of went downhill.
There was a time when Bobby Hoffman was pretty nasty. He was kind of one-dimensional, but by no means no one could ever take him for granted. And I think that fight was a really defining moment for me, because like I said, John Lewis... if anybody else was in there, it would have been like “OK, whatever”. John was like “You’ll never forgive yourself”. And I always, always remembered that when I fought. And it turns on even outside of the ring. It’s really a telling moment when you tell a person that when they’re at their weakest state. I’ve never been clipped like that before, that was like my first time in competition where I was full-on blasted, but I stayed up. You know how a boxer holds on to somebody when they get hit? Honestly I don’t remember the rest of the round, second round I came back strong, third round, I think they...I had the takedown.

Me: Lastly, how did you make your way from where you grew up in San Francisco to having Las Vegas as your home?

Eric: I came out here for work. To be honest with you I was in a bad relationship and a job opportunity came up. I was like ‘I gotta get the fuck outta here, this chick is driving me crazy’. And when I hit Vegas, I hit Vegas running hard. That was right in the beginning of the boom, and I ended up making it my home. Even now, even though Vegas is hurting bad, Vegas has been good to me. It’s really provided me with a good life here, so I always end up staying here.

Eric: I just want to touch on one more thing. I really don’t talk about my fighting too much in the shop, because I don’t want to be that guy like ‘oh, I used to fight’. If someone knows that I fight that’s cool, but I would never bring it up. But the thing that’s really cool, I think that is awesome, I’m working and I’ll see one of the fighters! Because even though I’m not fighting, but I stayed at a gym... For example, one of the guys never knew I fought, but Forrest Griffin walks by and says “What’s up, Big E?” and shook my hand, and we laugh for a little bit. But a lot of the fighters that I used to see a lot, a lot of people don’t think I know, but I see them all the time in the gym anyway. I really get a kick when the fighters come by to say hi to me, and the people who don’t know I used to fight say “Wow, how do you know them?” So it’s pretty cool. A lot of guys think that they’re just on tv and they’re so far away, but I used to see them
all the time when they were coming up...

www.myspace.com/tdrake6812

http://www.facebook.com/ericbigepele

huntingtonink.com

Ron Waterman interview

2010-04-16T21:45:00.000-07:00

Interview with Ron Waterman
2007/2008, 2010
by Evan South

Part 1 2007/2008

Me: Ron, lets’s start with your last fight at Art of War against Mario
Rinaldi. I just wanted to get your thoughts on that fight...

Ron: I was actually very impressed with Mario’s wrestling ability, I don’t get taken down very often in a fight. He came out and took me down right away, and pretty much controlled me for about 3 minutes, and I was in guard the whole time. He didn’t do a lot of damage from the top position. He’s a strong guy and has really good balance and I had a hard time improving my position, and then finally after about 3 and a half minutes I was able to get back up to my feet and had a couple of good strikes and just started to build more and more confidence on my feet as I was landing about everything I was throwing on him, and I think he was gassing at that point. I felt pretty good and just finished the fight. I think someone said I ended up hitting him 21 times before he finally went down, though.

Me: Luckily I saw the fight online, I wanted to go back with what you originally started with. Were you pretty surprised that he went for that takedown right off the bat?

Ron: I watched his previous tapes, and he always does the same thing, he rushes in and gets underneath the guy, and picks him up, and most of the guys he’s had some pretty good slams on.
He was able to get underneath me and pick me up a couple times, and then the third time he picked me up he actually took me down to the mat. So yeah, I was shocked.

Me: (laughs) Because usually it’s the other way around...

Ron: Yeah, exactly, that’s my game plan!

*Me: Going into your fight with Rinaldi, you had back to back losses for the first time in your career. Did this add any more pressure than usual, seeing how 3 losses in a row could adversely effect a career?

*Ron: Yes, I did have a bit of added pressure to win this fight. 3 losses in a row is not good on anyone's record and losing to a fighter that really had not defeated any big name fighters would have been a definite hit to my career. I did feel very confident going into this fight, much more so than the last two! The last year was a difficult one for me personally going through a divorce after 20 years of marriage so it was hard to get my mind where it needed to be. Not to use that as an excuse for my losses but it definitely took a toll on my ability to perform as I needed to.

Me: I had seen the post-fight press conference interview with you, and you had made a note how well Art of War treated it’s fighters. Now, you’ve been all over around the world, every organization from the old-school UFC to Pride, to IFC, WEC, etc. What is it you notice in one organization, as in the treatment of fighters, versus other organizations? What makes one organization stand out?

Ron: I’m one of those people that likes to know what’s going on when I get into town. From start to finish, they had someone that was waiting for us at the airport, they gave us an itinerary,
they gave us our meal money right up front. You’re not left guessing about what’s going to happen next and what’s coming up. It reminded me somewhat of Japan, because Japan is very well organized like that. When you fight for Pride or Pancrase they are just so efficient, and Art of War was like that. They brought me to the headquarters, and everyone there knew me by name, and they just treat you first class. It’s not like that all the time. It was very professional, they put you up in a nice place, we were paid very well for the fight. Everything was just very top notch.

Me: I usually save this for the end, as far as what’s coming up, but is your next fight with Art of War, or what’s on the horizon?

Ron: I’m certainly hoping to fight for Art of War again, I don’t have anything on the books with them right now. I do have another fight with Bodog coming up, so that’s going to be either end of the year or beginning of next year with them.

Me: Ron, I’m going to skip back a little bit. You’ve had 2 fights with Ricco Rodriguez. First time you met you beat him in a decision in WEC. Second time he beat you in WFA. I know you guys at one point were set up for a rubber match. How do you feel about those 2 fights you’ve had with Ricco and are you still looking for the rubber match? Do you think there’s still some unfinished business?

Ron: I would certainly welcome a third match with him, definitely. My first fight with him was how I picture myself fighting him all the time, and that’s just taking him down and controlling the fight from start to finish. The second time I fought him, for some reason I thought I was going to be comfortable staying on my feet with him, and it didn’t work out so good. After you get clocked a couple times your game plan changes drastically. He hit me once so hard that it completely closed my eye up, and it pretty much put a stop to the fight. I didn’t get to fight my game plan on that one, but you know, that happens.

Me: Was it a little disappointing not getting that rubber match that was set up?

Ron: Yeah, it’s frustrating when you have a month or two to train for a fight and you’re ready to go and then the day before the fight, I’m still waiting for my airline ticket. And that’s what I was talking about with the professionalism of the organizations. I was left hanging until the last 6 hours before I was supposed to fight, and they still say “Hey, you might be able to still fight”.
I’m like, give me something here, I don’t know what’s going on.

Me: That’s got to be so painfully frustrating...

Ron: Right, when you train like that, and then your efforts totally gone to waste because you’re not reimbursed for the fight, I wasn’t getting anything for it, so I pretty much trained for him for 2 months for nothing.

Me: I want to get into Bodog. You fought on their first PPV as one of the featured super fights.
Tell me your thoughts on Bodog in general, and your thoughts on your first fight with them against Roger Gracie...

Ron: Bodog was another very well run organization, especially for just getting kicked off here, like Art of War was. Very professional, they treated the fighters incredibly well. Everything was first class.
As far as my fight went, I was a little disappointed with myself. I’ve never been submitted in my life, so that was kind of an odd thing for me to expect that I was going to be submitted by Roger, although that is his strength, I still had 45 pounds of muscle on the guy. My cardio was in very good shape at the time, so I just don’t have any excuses as to why that happened.

Me: In watching that fight, you really powered out of that first armbar attempt. Roger is such a good grappler, does he almost lull you into a false sense of security?

Ron: Yeah, and like I said, I’ve been in that situation so many times before, if someone puts an armbar on me, I catch it and either muscle out or pick them up and slam them. He was very slick, I give him all the credit in that he was able to get my arm out to the side fast enough in that armbar that there was no way I could get out there to defend it. I got caught hands down so there was nothing I could do about it. But I thought I would fare much better on the ground with him.

Me: What do you know about the upcoming fight with Bodog? Have they mentioned any names for opponents, anything unofficial?

Ron: No, I haven’t heard anything as far as an opponent goes at this point.

Me: You had 3 fights for PrideFC. You were 2-1. What were your thoughts overall in fighting for Pride and your Pride experience?

Ron: I really enjoyed fighting for Pride. They’re top notch. It’s always a good experience to get to fly over there and fight for them. For me that was one of my first really big, besides the UFC,
spectacles. When I fought against Kevin Randleman there were 50000 people up there in the stands, it was pretty overwhelming. It’s a pretty neat experience, and I’ve fared pretty well for the most part for them.

Me: Again you were 2-1 in Pride. Is there a reason they didn’t have another fight for you after the Kevin Randleman fight?

Ron: No, I just wasn’t booked for a while after that and my agent, who is Phyllis Lee, was very close with the Japanese promoters, but nothing came up in the last few years with them.

Me: Is it tough getting booked as a super heavyweight?

Ron: I think your options are cut down drastically. There are some great super heavyweights out there, but certainly not as many as if you were fighting in the heavyweight category. I’m kind of on the border right now, where I could get down and fight as a heavyweight. I would have to lose 15 or 20 pounds, but that’s really not that big of a deal for me to get down to 265. I could certainly do that. I don’t have as many offers as one would think.

Me: I saw you weigh in light at Art of War at something like 275...

Ron: When you’re training like I am, I walk around at about 285, and when you put that much time into training for a fight there is just no way you can keep the weight on, especially when you are carrying around that much weight. I usually fight right around that weight of 275. And another 10 pounds, I could drop that fairly easy.

Me: Is that something you are considering (dropping to heavyweight)?

Ron: Certainly. If I had the opportunity to fight a top heavyweight contender I would drop to 265, or the opportunity to fight again in the UFC I would certainly think about getting down to 265 as well.

Me: You had fought in the UFC back when the events were still numbered in the low 20's. What were your thoughts on fighting in the old UFC and your experiences back then?

Ron: It was so overwhelming back then. My fourth fight of my career was in the UFC. At the Bas Rutten Invitational, John Perretti, who was the matchmaker (of the UFC) at the time, was there officiating that tournament. I just walked through it (the tournament). He invites me to the next UFC. So here I am at UFC 20, on the card, and I only had 3 professional fights in my whole career. I didn’t even know how to spell jiu-jitsu, and I’m fighting in the UFC! It was pretty awesome.

Me: It was kind of baptism by fire, you were in UFC 20, 21, and 22, all three events only a couple months apart...

Ron: Yeah, they were pretty close together...

Me: From there you went to Pancrase, Pride, etc...

Ron: I went into the WWE for a span of about 3 years, and when you’re in the WWE obviously they don’t let you do anything else but wrestle, so there was a short time there I was away (from fighting). Once that ended, then I went right back in(to fighting) and that’s when I started going overseas to Japan and competing over there.

Me: Was there any attempt after you were let go from your developmental contract with WWE to
get back into wrestling or had the business changed too much, or do you feel there was possibly no future with the pro wrestling?

Ron: Well, I went over and wrestled for New Japan in Japan for about a year, off and on, doing some different tours with them, and then I did some smaller promotions here and there. As far as going back to the WWE, at the time I had 2 young boys at home, it was just crazy on my home life. There was no way I could go back into that lifestyle. It would have been really difficult for me to take that on.

Me: As opposed to fighting, where you can pick and choose where you go...

Ron: Right, you fight 4 or 5 times a year, you can train at home, and you’re not away from your family. It was very difficult for me to even go to Kentucky, and train with OVW for a year and a half. It was a tremendous strain on my family.

Me: I want to ask about your training. You have always been working, whether as a teacher or something else. Have you ever been able to train full-time and not do anything else?

Ron: I’m closest to that now more than I’ve ever been to being able to do that, because I own my own real estate company now. I’m basically my own boss. And no, there’s never a time when I don’t do anything else but just train. Like for my last fight with Mario, I was able to go out to Las Vegas and train with Randy Couture at Xtreme Couture for a week, and I was able to devote a lot of time to just preparing for this fight. Whereas before, I was a school teacher for 10 years so my time to train was very limited. And then I traveled with Team Impact ministries for 5 years, so I’d find myself training on the road, and just pulling guys out of the woodwork to train with wherever I could find them. That was also very difficult to get into the kind of shape I needed to. It’s been a struggle for me because I’ve always had to hold down another job at the same time.

Me: So you think right now you’re probably in the best situation?

Ron: Yeah, definitely. Now when I have a fight coming up I can delegate my time and devote as much time as needed to get in the kind of shape I need to be in. That’s definitely better for me, especially being 41 years old. I have to put in the time to get myself there. But I’ve always been one of those people who trains year round, and I train every day, I do cardio every single day, so when I have a fight come up it’s not like I’m starting from scratch, I’m already in pretty good condition year round, and I just have to get myself fine tuned.

Me: Because you do go to different places to train, what are your pros and cons when you are going all over training with different camps?

Ron: The pros, I get lots of different looks, I get different training styles, I get to see all kinds of new bodies all the time. I’m always a student of the game, I’m trying to learn as much as I can from everyone. Especially with me, I’m just a wrestler at heart, it’s all I’ve ever known, it’s all I’ve ever done. So for me to get in with a group of guys who primarily focus on standup and muay thai, the boxing part of it is great for me to be a sponge and soak up as much of that as I can. The downfall of that is you never really connect to a group, that you can really feel like this is my team, these are the guys I train with every day. You don’t really feel like you’re a solid part of a group. So that’s probably the biggest drawback.

Me: You are actually going to be turning 42 next month, correct?

Ron: Correct! (Laughs)

Me: I never say years old, I always say years young (laughs). 42 is like the new 32...

Ron: That’s right...(laughs)

Me: Now clearly, unlike many others, you can probably attribute some of your longevity to the fact that you probably didn’t abuse your body when you were younger, due to drugs, alcohol ,etc.

Ron: And I still don’t...

Me: Are you looking at your age at all? Do you see a number, a condition, is it anything that effects you mentally, or do you say “ Hey, I’m still in great shape, I’ll keep fighting until I’m a certain age or for a ceratin number of years”? How do you view that?

Ron: I’m not one of those people that views it as “Gosh, I’m going to be 42, it’s time for me to call it quits.”   I take it, pretty much at this point, fight by fight. If I think that I can compete at the level that I need to, then I’m going to continue. I feel great, and when I train I feel like I’m in as good a shape before a fight as I was when I was 25 years old! That really has no bearing on me sticking with this or not. I have to work probably a little bit harder than most people do, being 41 years old. But like I said, it’s part of my life now anyway, I train every single day, I train extremely hard, I’m always in decent cardio shape, and I spend about 2 hours in the weight room everyday, it’s just part of my regimen. I’ve stayed healthy for the most part, and injury free, so I just take it a fight at a time.

Me: Ron, as you’re almost entering the “twilight” of your career, do you have a particular goal at this point? Anything you want to accomplish, because you have fought all over the world. Are you looking for anything in particular?

Ron: It’s been a long time since I’ve had an opportunity to fight in the UFC., and I think it would be a fun challenge for me to get into that heavyweight class. I was hoping for a long time the UFC would start a super heavyweight division, get super heavyweights into the UFC so I could start to compete. That would be a great experience for me. Now as much as MMA has grown in the USA primarily due to the UFC, I think it would be fun to get back in there and give that another shot.

Me: The HW division for the UFC is a little thin right now, so it would be a good opportunity for you to slip in there...

Ron: Most of the guys that have competed in that HW category, I’ve at least worked out with a lot of those guys, and I know my abilities, so I know I could be a strong competitor in that division.

Me: When you look back, all the way from the Bas Rutten Invitational to now, how do you view your fight career?

Ron: I’m very blessed by what’s happened to me and where it’s gone. I was extremely blessed to get to the UFC after 3 fights, where you see guys now that have trained their whole life to get a shot, and the highlight of their career is getting into the UFC, and here I got it after 3 fights, I was in there fighting. I got to travel all over the world and compete against some of the top fighters out there, and it’s been a great experience for me, but I still think that I have more to offer this sport, hopefully I’ll get that opportunity.

Me: You’re one of the more outspoken Christian fighters. How do you see that role in fighting?

Ron: I think it’s very important. I think the stereotype of most fighters out there, it’s not as bad as it used to be, but they think “Oh gosh, here’s a bunch of bar room brawlers, bad boys that are out there just trying to prove how tough they are, it’s all about male testosterone, etc.” I think the more people you get that come from professional careers, that have college degrees... I have a Masters degree, I’m an ordained minister. It gives a little more prestige to the sport. There are people out there that take this sport seriously, it’s not just a bunch of bar room brawlers, it’s guys that have trained their whole life. It’s just another sport, no different from football or anything else. The fact that I’m coming in as a Christian, I think it shows people that you can be a good person at heart and still be competitive in this sport. It’s not about me when I go out there and fight. It’s just another sport to me, and I’ve trained hard for it and I’m competitive and I want to win just like everybody else. But being a Christian certainly gives me a sense of calmness, to know that I’m in here for a bigger purpose, it’s not just about me, it’s not about the paycheck that I get from this, it’s not about the recognition I’m getting from this. It’s just about me going out there and doing something that I enjoy and showing people that I can do this and still be a Christian and still be tough at the same time.

Me: Do you think since you were one of the first, and again so vocal, that it maybe opened the door to allow others to not be so afraid to profess their faith in this sport?

Ron: Yeah, you see it more and more, and that’s really exciting for me. I like nothing more than to see those guys in the middle of the ring after the fight, and they give credit to the Lord for their victory, and they look up, and maybe some of them fold their hands and say a prayer. That’s awesome, instead of hearing guys grab the mic and all they can talk about is the after party, and throwing out f-bombs every other word. It’s just a great feeling to show that those guys have got some class and it’s not all about them.

Me: You’re also one of the very well educated fighters, with your Masters degree. That’s also one of those misconceptions about fighters...

Ron: I think that’s going to help the sport grow, more than anything else. There are a lot of people out there that want to see what this sport is like. They hear these fighters get on there after the fight and they’re cussing, and talking about nothing else but themselves and parties, it just puts that stereotype out there. When you can have someone stand up and they tell the story before the fight, of who that person really is, and where they’ve come from, and maybe it’s their faith, maybe it’s their family orientation, it just adds credibility to the sport.

Me: How has it been for you as a fighter to see everything change, back from 1999, to all this massive exposure now? Do you wish your career had started now as opposed to back then?

Ron: I wish this was the start of my career, obviously, because now is when the good money is really going to start to come. These fighters that are up and comers now, getting into this when it’s exploding, salaries are going to overtake boxing salaries very shortly, I can just see that. It’s one of those things, even when I started in this career I just saw this sport exploding, I knew it would go through some tough times, but I just saw this overtaking boxing and being a mainstream sport like it’s becoming today. I think we’re on the tip of the iceberg, I think it’s going to continue to grow and get more popular.

Me: When you look back, do you have regrets on any particular losses, or are you the kind who doesn’t really care and moves on?

Ron: I think I try to move on, but like everyone else you always remember those losses more than you remember the wins. You always think back to what you should have done differently, what you could have done differently. I’m certainly no different than anyone else as I think back to all my losses, and think “Well, if I would have just done this, or if I would have just done that”. I’m one of those people that’s tried to learn from my mistakes and tried to improve those for the next time and just become better and better and become a student of the game. Even the best fighters out there are going to lose, it’s going to happen. You just have to learn from it and hope that it doesn’t happen again.

Me: Have you thought of any particular fighters you have wanted to face?

Ron: I’ve really never been one of those people that says “Wow, I want to go fight this guy or I want go fight that guy.” I’m always open to whoever they bring to the table, I’ve never turned down a fight. It really doesn’t matter to me, like I said, I’m not in this about me, and proving myself against this person or that person.   When I’m given the opportunity, if things work out, then I prepare for it as hard as I can, and perform as well as I can.

Me: Are you happy being a hired gun for different organizations, or would you like to do something like UFC where you work towards a title?

Ron: It’s worked really well for me, the schedule that I’ve had with the super fights, because I’m not locked into contracts and I can fight for different organizations, and when things come up I don’t have to turn those down because I’m locked into this contract or that contract. Unfortunately that’s one of the hard things about the UFC, once you sign with them you pretty much belong to them for a certain period of time, where you don’t have all that freedom. For me, it’s worked out very well that I can fight for all these different organizations. And that’s part of my contract usually, always is that if I take this fight that I’m still open to fighting for other organizations. In then past that’s worked out.

Me: Again, it gives you the flexibility to fight all over and fight the best in different organizations...

Ron: Yeah, that’s certainly been a benefit to me, and obviously if the contract is good enough you can do something like, get locked down for a while. For me it’s worked out much better for me to take super fights here and there. As far as financially as well it’s been more beneficial to me to be able to do that.

Me: Again Ron, your next fight is definitely with Bodog? Or does that depend on their schedule, or if they can find you an opponent, how flexible are they?

Ron: I think it kind of depends on all of those things. I talked to them just last week and they said that they’re looking at either the end of this year or very beginning of next year. And with Art of War I’m kind of in the same boat, they’ve told me I will fight for them again, but I don’t have a date or a time.

Me: Do you have another (contracted) fight with Art of War or was it just a one fight deal?

Ron: I have one more fight with Art of War and Bodog.

Me: So one more fight with Art of War, one more fight with Bodog...

Ron: Yeah.

Me: How difficult is it for you at this point in your career and at your age to develop new skills?
Like you said, once a wrestler always a wrestler, that’s your base and what you always fall back on. Your last fight showed you using your hands a bit more.

Ron: I try as hard as I can to get more comfortable on my feet, to build up that confidence in other areas, but I think as most fighters probably do, once you’re in that situation in a fight, you’ll refer back to what you know the best. You go back to your strengths, and I find myself doing that quite often. Just like this last fight, that was very out of character for me to stay on my feet, but I just felt something telling me you need to unleash here and battle on your feet. I had been training quite a bit on my feet and felt comfortable there, so I took advantage of it. But yeah, it’s definitely harder as you get older and you’re comfortable with one style to want to refer back to that. Oftentimes that’s the smart thing to do. I don’t want to stand up with somebody when I’m much better on the ground. But you have to adapt to everyone, so everything’s different.

Me: I know you’ve toured extensively with Team Impact, as everyone knows. Are you still doing that, or taking time off, is it difficult to schedule?

Ron: I’m no longer full-time with that ministry as I was for the last 5 years. I’m hoping to do things with them on just a real limited basis, a couple times, maybe just once a month. At this point I’ve taken some time off for the last 9 months now.

Me: I know also when I was talking to you a while ago you mentioned one week you were going to Mr. Olympia.

Ron: That’s right, I just got back from Mr. Olympia, it was awesome.

Me: Tell me about that. Is that a hobby, do you follow bodybuilding?

Ron: I competed in bodybuilding, it’s been a while since I competed last, I was Mr. Colorado back in 1994. I placed third in Mr. USA, natural USA contest. Bodybuilding and training has always been a part of my life. I will never be a competitive bodybuilder because I don’t take the “supplements” necessary to get to that point, you know what I mean? But I enjoy it, I have lots of friends that are competitors, and it’s just a lot of fun for me to go out there and just see people excel at that level. It’s like anything else, any other sport, to get to see the top ones out there in the profession is pretty awesome.

Me: Along the same lines, I want to ask since you have one of the standout physiques of the sport, how does that effect your fighting with so much muscle mass? Things like speed, flexibility, cardio?

Ron: I think it has its’ pros and cons. There’s not many fighters that I’ve fought out there that have the kind of strength that I do, so that’s definitely a positive. But like you said, when you’ve got 285 pounds of muscle out there, it takes a lot of oxygen to fuel those muscles, especially for 15 minutes. So it’s very demanding for me to get into that kind of shape. It’s a totally different game then when you see these guys out there that weight 140 to 150 pounds that are going like gang busters for the entire 15 minutes. It’s just totally different when you’ve got someone that weighs 280 pounds. I can do the same things that they’re doing, train just as hard, it’s just going to be totally different when I get out there in the cage for 15 minutes, because you just go into oxygen deadlock faster.

Me: Is that a situation you looked at over the years, whether to become a little more lean, or did you think that’s where you should be at?

Ron: You have to look at your opponent and you have to lay it out and say “Well, if I go in there and I’m a little bit stronger with this guy I think that I’ve got a great chance to finish him in the first round, I’ll be fine”. Or this guys going to be hard to submit so I need to go in a little bit leaner and make sure I can fight for a hard 15 minutes. It’s one of those things that goes opponent by opponent.

Me: Are you looking to do anything in particular as far as a post-fight career?

Ron: I’ve thought a lot about opening a school and a training facility, especially as much as this sports growing and in the area that I live out here in Colorado there’s really not any big name fighters that have a school. It’s certainly been a thought of mine, but that’s as far as it’s gone really, is just put some thought into it.

Me: Would it allow you to go back and do something like Team impact full time, or continue with ministries in some other fashion?

Ron: That would certainly be an option for me, open up a lot of things. Right now with me just starting a real estate business and career, I’ve got a lot on the table right now. One of my downfalls is that I tend to get myself over extended, so I have to be careful (laughs).

Me: (laughs) It’s a really tricky time to enter the real estate market...

Ron: Yes, especially out here in Colorado, we’ve got so many foreclosures it’s just a nightmare to try to sell a house, but a great time to buy if you’re an investor. It’s a hard time to break into this business, that’s for sure.

Me: Ron, were there any funny fighting memories for you? Anything pre or post fight that comes to mind?

Ron: You know, nothing really comes to mind when you asked me that (laughs).

Me: (laughs) Never had anything like shorts come down?

Ron: No, never had that...

Me: Do you have a favorite fight, whether it was a win or a loss?

Ron: I think one of the big highlights for me was the Kevin Randleman fight, because it was such a big venue, and there were so many people there. It was a real rewarding win especially after being down on the bottom for almost 8 minutes and then coming back and submitting Kevin. That was a big win for me and I remember that one more than most.

Me: Kevin at one point was a friend and teammate, how difficult is it to set that aside and concentrate on business?

Ron: It’s weird to even take that fight. When I was offered that fight, it was like “Gosh, Kevin is a friend of mine, we have totally similar styles”, it was really strange. Sometimes you just have to say “You know what, this is just another competition, we’re not fighting because we dislike each other, it’s just a competition”. Definitely a little bit different though when you’re fighting someone out there that you consider a pretty good friend.

Me: Kevin, a lot smaller even than Mario Rinaldi, came out and hoists you up like you were nothing and takes you down...

Ron (laughs) Picks me up off the ground...

Me: That was frightening..

Ron: Yeah, and I just towered over Kevin...gosh.

Me: Your fight with Crocop, you were smart, you got that takedown early, you were really putting your weight on him and working him on top...

Ron: Yeah, when I went down (after the big head kick) I should have just rolled back into guard, instead I just kind of covered up, anticipating that big kick coming... (laughs) Hindsight again...

Me: Your first Pride fight with Valentijn Overeem, that was just you overpowering him, and he had nowhere to go in the corner, and you slapped on the keylock and that was it.

Ron: Yeah, I’ve had a lot of luck with my keylock (laughs).

Me: And that’s another misconception, most people think you’re ground and pound, but you have a lot of submissions.

Ron: That’s what I would prefer, is to submit someone any day over ground and pound.

Me: Ron, do you get as much press coverage as you think you should, being a veteran and “name” in the sport?

Ron: I get quite a few interviews, actually. I get people all the time calling and asking for interviews and stories, so I do quite a few of them, as many as I think I need to. Again, I’m not out there trying to promote myself in that way, but I appreciate people who write articles and get my name out there at the same time.

* This was a follow up question submitted by e-mail. The rest of the interview was conducted over telephone.

                   Part 2 2010

1.) You fought Analu Brash in X-1 for their heavyweight belt. At the time Brash was an undefeated up and comer. What were your thoughts on that fight and your experience with X-1?

I watched Brash's former fights so had a lot of confidence I could win! X1 was a great company to fight for and I hope to defend my belt this year for them.

2.) You were chosen as an alternate for the Yamma Pit Fighting show. You were ultimately not needed to fight, but how was it to serve as an alternate, having to be ready at all times to face an unknown opponent?

It was different, especially with the 2 week notice I was given, but again I felt very confident I could have beaten any of the opponents on the card, so felt at ease. It was good to see some of the guys in that show, it had been years since I had spent any time with Oleg, Pat Smith, Mark Kerr, John Peretti. It was fun even though I didn't get to compete.

3.) Your next fight was the high profile EliteXC organization. Again you had a young undefeated up and comer in Dave Herman, which turned out to be a tough fight. Take me through that bout and your experience with EliteXC.

Another great organization that treated me very well. I trained very hard for the Herman fight and felt very prepared. Herman surprised me a little with his stand up and ability to scramble on the ground. Not sure where he has been lately I thought I would see him getting a shot in the UFC? He is a tough kid with a lot of potential if used right.

4.) Your most recent bout at the end of 2008 was a win against Mark "The Bear" Smith. In another interview you had said you had trouble with this promotion, an issue of non-payment. Did things ever get resolved?

Very frustrating as the promoter was a "friend" of mine. I was promised a two fight contract which was signed for a good amount of money. Again I trained very hard and won the main event fight with an Arm triangle early in the 2nd round. Well the check which was issued to me by the Colorado Boxing commission bounced. I was given the run around for a couple months and finally issued a law suit. To this day I haven't been given a dime for the fight. First time for everything, hope it doesn't happen again to me or anyone. God is faithful and will always provide, I'm not the one who has to have that on my shoulders every day.

5.) You had gotten busy and taken some time off from Team Impact. You are currently back with them and touring again?

I am traveling with TI about once a month now. I just got back from India where I spent 8 days. It was an amazing week. Everyone needs to spend time in a 3rd world country to appreciate all we have her at home. It's humbling and eye opening! We had 25 thousand people walk to our program the last night and we saw over 7,000 give there lives to the Lord. Praise God

6.) A fight with Bobby Lashley had been in the works in a couple different promotions but never materialized. Has anything popped up again as far as an opportunity to finally face him? I know Strikeforce has him lined up for a fight soon, have you been considered?

I know my name has been in the mix, I'm really not sure what's going on with him. I was offered the fight in Denver with him last December and accepted it. Trained for it but he never signed? It was then moved to Strikeforce but I didn't get notification until 7 days before the fight was supposed to take place. Frustrating. I have heard through the grapevine I will be considered for his next fight but hope I'm given more than a week notice this time. I have several jobs and need time to prepare correctly for big fights.

7.) How has it been watching long time friend/training partner Shane Carwin advance in the UFC, especially with his 1st round win over Frank Mir this past weekend?

It's been Great Shane has worked hard his whole life to get were he is. He works a full time job has a wife and family and still trains 7 days a week and hour away from home. I don't know how he does it. I am proud of him and wish him all the success in the world. He is a great person and good things happen to good people. His MMA game has improved so much sense we first started training in Greeley West's Wrestling room. He is a well rounded fighter now and doesn't have many weaknesses!

8.) Any other fights brewing for you? Anything else new or interesting going on or on the horizon?

I don't currently have any fights booked. At 44 years old I can't take fights like I used to for little paydays. It takes a lot of time training and preparing so I have to make it worth my while. I'm still in great shape and feel confident I can compete with anyone, I never take time off from training. I teach cardio classes and spend a minimum of 2 hours in the gym every day. Age is just a number for me not a deterrent. My Real Estate Company is doing very well and my time with my boys in invaluable. God is so good!

9.) Final thoughts/comments?

I am engaged to be married, probably this summer sometime so I am excited about that and ready to start a new life with a wonderful woman. My boys are growing up fast and it's so neat to see them develop into great young men.
I have been managed by Phyllis Lee since I began this sport 12 years ago and she continues to do a great job for me. Not too many giving and caring people like her in this business, I owe her so much for doing so much over the years. The great times, travel and experiences we have had are life memories one just doesn't forget! Thanks Evan, Blessings to you my friend!

ronwaterman.com

Wynardtage interview

2010-03-31T13:55:00.000-07:00

Interview with Kai A. of Wynardtage
2010
by Evan South

1.) Kai, can you give us some basic background on yourself,
and how you came to start Wynardtage?

I started already in 1997 to create my songs and sounds.
In spring 2002 I decided to found Wynardtage and went more
into dark-music. Later I added some well versed musicians
in his network as there are Rico S.(echorausch), Mario F.
and Gunnar B. (both from former davaNtage). i worked for
other bands like Acylum or La Magra as well. In 2008 I
could engage Mel G. of Future Trail as an ambitioned
guest singer for my Grey Line-release to give the title
more emotional depth with her charismatic voice.From the
musical side Wynardtage is situated in the dark-electro area
of course and has developed constantly. Today the press
characterises the style as an independent mixture of
melancholie and dancecore beat. From the beginning to
this day Wynardtage could gain the national black
dance-clubs in storm and became one of the most famous
electro-acts in the scene. All Wynardtage-releases since
2006 could reach the German alternative charts (DAC) and
Native 25 DJ-charts. Because of private reasons I decided
to set a spell in summer 2009. After months of rumors and
speculations we finally announced to continue with the
Wynardtage-project.

2.) Why did you choose dark-electro as your musical outlet
as opposed to making Wynardtage, for example, a rock band?

Because i was influenced with dance-floor music as teenager.
I worked a lot of years as a dj in the underground techno-scene,
before i started with dark music.

3.) Did the fact that there were aready so many other bands
making this type of music intimidate you? What did you think
you would be able to bring to the scene/genre that would be
different?

Hard to say. I mean as I started there was no real concept.
I'm a natural depressive guy, because I loved the way to show
that the world with my music. When I started, bands like
wumpscut and hocico was on the top. I liked it, it influenced
me the first years. With the 2nd cd "Evil Mind" I left all the
influences behind me, to find my own way. For me it's cool,
to hear that I influenced other new fresh bands today. I'm not
sure about what Wynardtage means for the scene, I'm nothing
special. The music discribe themes of daily life with all the
hypocritical up's and even more depressive down's. the
people loved my unselfish way of life. I'm no afraid asshole
who wants to keep on top by using all weapons. I think there
are so many talented fresh bands outside which should
become a chance to show what they can.

4.) Kai, you use tv/movie samples quite extensively in your
music. Also they are not your typical science fiction/horror
samples. How do samples fit into your music and why are
they used?

It's not a must have, but sometimes a sample make a song
more charismatic. i mean take for example my evergreen
"Sterbehilfe". The song starts with a very unique sample. When
djs are starting do play this song the growd explode by hearing
the sample start;-)

5.) You also use remixes extensively on your cd's, and all your
albums have 2 cd sets. Why do you like to have so many
remixes of your music?

I think for a dj is it good to have some different versions of
some songs. I know that some people who listen my music
more at home are not so hot for a lot of remix-works, but
other people like to hear how other famous bands construe
my songs. Its interesting for me as well. For my upcoming
cd (will released in winter 2010/2011) are no remixes planned.
Instead of remixes i will give my fans the very first official
wynardtage (video) clip on the disc.

6.) Speaking of remixes, you recently made available 70 free
mp3's, almost all remixes. This is 4 or 5 albums worth of
material. Why did you decide to give these away for free?

It's a pleasure to give my loyal fans which made Wynardtage
to one of the top electro acts in Germany something back. The
other thing is, its just a real good promotion, when every dj
around the world can upload some free stuff.

7.) You have remixed many artists yourself. How do you
approach remixing other people's music?

Good question. I mean as I started with Wynardtage I
made probably tooooo much remixes. Later I chose
the songs with more accuracy. I mean its no question
about money or whats the bands status - its only a
question of my motivation and if I like the original song.
If I started to make one I try now to make something
different to the original.

8.) Your latest release, Walk With The Shadows,
contains 3 covers of bands like The Cure, U2, and
Calva Y Nada. How did you come to choose these
particular songs by these artists?

Very simple - because I like these songs.

9.) You also like to use female vocals in your music.
What do you think this adds to your music?

It was always my wish to complement some songs with
female vocals. First Caro and later Melanie gave me the
chance to make this wish come true. I was a huge
davaNtage-fan in the late nineties and Melanie was the
singer there. In 2006 we decided to try out some things.
2 years later Melanie gave her debut with Wynardtage on
The Grey Line. The rest is history.

10.) Are there upcoming live shows for Wynardtage?
Do you wish Wynardtage played live more often, or are
you satisfied being a primarily studio artist?

We wil try, but I'm very busy now. I mean I have a full time
job and I'm a family man too. If we find the time we will
try out different things to make a live-gig possible, but
for now are dj-gigs the only alternative.

11.) Final thoughts/comments?

Yes, maybe some people are sad about hearing no
news about live-gigs, but a other reason because there
are no news about is - WE HAD FINISHED A NEW
RECORD DURING THE LAST MONTHS. I know that
is really a surprise for some people, but the reason
because we worked so quick on a new cd after
releasing Walk with the Shadow was some critical
comments by the press. they said its not good to say
goodbye with a remixing overdosed-EP. Ok, that was
motivation enough for me and my bandmembers to
produce another fulltime-record. The results can be
listened in late 2010 or 2011. Thank you.

myspace.com/wynardtage

www.wynardtage.de

Din_fiv interview

2010-01-12T11:05:00.000-08:00

Interview with Da5id Din of Din_fiv/Informatik
previously unpublished
2000
by Evan South

1.) How would you describe Escape to Reality
compared to your first solo effort Infinity?

Purely on a technical level, it is much more polished
than Infinity. Musically, it shows a lot of growth and
maturity. Thematically, it represents a shift from the
political to the spiritual.

2.) What have been the events in the last 4 years since
Infinity that led to the new album?

First off, a lot of new and exciting bands have come to
light such as Pulse Legion, Imperative Reaction, and
Gridlock. These have been a great influence on me.
Secondly, I think I've gone through a lot of personal
development in that time. I recently moved 3000 miles
from Boston to San Francisco which has had a
overwhelming impact on me.

3.) What is the status of Informatik? Will you
continue solo?

Both projects are alive and well. You'll find a new
Informatik remix on the upcoming Electropolis II
compilation from Metropolis although nothing else
is currently in the works.

4.) The lyrics on ETR seem much more personal,
emotional, and inspirational. Comments?

ETR discards all notions of a universal truth in favor
of personal truth. To provide the audience with a
spiritual center does them a much greater service than
spewing some political philosophy that may have no
relevance to them. Then and only then, with this
foundation of self-realization can one hope to
recognize the complex simplicity of truth's nature.

I've tried to achieve this in a couple of ways. In
"Through the Looking Glass" I juxtapose the external
with the internal. Turning the world inside out gives
one a new perspective and shakes up ones
preconceived notions about the nature of reality. In
"We Are", my most evocative song to date, I assail
the listener with seemingly opposite terms until the
lines of meaning are blurred. One becomes two as
two becomes one as the circle of constructed meaning
is shattered. Many people have contacted me with
having very strong emotional reactions to this track.

Infinity made attempts to do the same but the effort
was not as cohesive and as well thought out. What
can I say, I am older and wiser now.

5.) There is a remix of Terminal Condition from the
first album. Why was this included with the new
material? Was it remixed around the time of the first
album? Comments on the Battery remix of We Are?

The Terminal Condition remix is brand new. I thought
it was important to give one of my seminal works a
coat of fresh paint. I think A.E.C. did a very good job
of distilling the songs essence and pouring it into
something new and relevant. Battery's remix of "We
Are" is extremely original in its approach and is vast in
its scope staying true to the Battery sound.

6.) Can you tell us about Corrosive Studios? I notice
you did the mastering for the most recent Battery
album.

Corrosive Audio is where I work and live. I do all my
compositions and recording there as well as mastering
work for numerous bands and labels. You can find me
on the web at http://www.corrosive-audio.com/.

7.) Have you ever performed live as Din_fiv or any
plans to do so, or do you consider Din_fiv as a studio
only project?

Not yet although I have some dates coming up. As for
a full on tour, nothing has been booked as of yet
although I would love to tour if the right opportunity
presented itself.

8.) What is the future of Din_fiv? Are you working on
more material or remixes as we speak? Possible
collaborations with any other artists or more studio
work?

The next two Din_fiv releases are already in the
planning stages. I have a couple remixes of both my
own work and others in the works as well as a German
lyric version of the track "Cataclysm". As for
collaboration, I'm rather spread thin at the moment but
be prepared for several surprises coming next year.

9.) Final thoughts/comments?

Constantly re-evaluate everything.

http://www.nymphomatik.com/
myspace.com/informatik
informatikmusic.blogspot.com

Front Line Assembly interview

2009-12-06T08:45:00.000-08:00

Interview with Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber of FLA
Originally published in Side-Line magazine
2003
by Evan South

I caught up with Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber after their
live concert of Delerium featuring Conjure One. After
a few questions concerning Delerium live and in the
studio we jumped into the subject of the new Front
Line Assembly...

Part 1 with Rhys Fulber

Rhys, you've had a long break between FLA albums...

RF- It was better that way, because if I had made a
record earlier, I wouldn't have been in to it, that genre
of music left me sort of... I just wasn't that interested.
It would be cool to make something more on the edge.
Bill talked to me about it, and we just started kicking
around some stuff. The first stuff we wrote was a lot
more trance progressive house, but we just found our
way. The record is very modern but at the same time
it's got all the classic Front Line elements...
It's not even so much as a stright up industrial record
because it sounds so modern and it has a lot of
melodies and Bill's best vocals, I think ever, are on the
record. So for me it is a very satisfying record because
it is modern sounding with new things, but at the
same time it has classic bits and pieces that people will
recognize as Front Line. The single is the club songs,
and not really representative of the album. The album
has a lot more variation on it and a lot more slower
songs.

So obviously taking all that time off helped...

RF- I felt way more inspired and had a lot of fresh
ideas. There are no samples that are recognizable,
none of those sort of things. None of the dialogue is
from films, it's all random recorded material. It's a
whole different flavor of record for Front Line
Assembly.

Do you think the new FLA material would translate
well in a live setting?

RF-Some of it, for sure, but that's a whole other
mountain to climb later, we're just trying to get through
this tour, and we'll see what happens. But I think it's
one of our strongest albums we've made as Front Line
Assembly.

Do you look at the Delerium tour as a way to see if you
like being back on the road again?

RF- I like being on the road, I think it's fine, I was
looking forward to coming out and playing these
shows. Compared to the studio schedule I was
keeping the months before this is pretty chill, so I like
it. It's nice to go out and travel and play music, and of
course I'm excited about my Conjure One project, it's
a chance to be out there.

Any plans for another single or EP off the new FLA
album?

RF- I don't know. We haven't thought about it. We
just put the first single out "Maniacal" because it's the
"club" record. The album is more slow and mid-tempo
material. So we just put out the fastest song as the
single. I like the single, but I really dig the depth of the
album and I get more out of the deeper and more
melodic tracks that are on it.

Part 2 with Bill Leeb

Give me your take on the new Front Line...

BL- I think it's really depressing, myself. I just find life
and music depressing a lot of times. I'm just in a weird
state of mind. I find the lyrics, to me personally, are
really depressing. I'm in a strange state of my life, with
my age and everything...I'm not sure I know what being
happy is right now.

Did the new material feel fresh to you, or did you feel
you rehashed some of the same old stuff?
Did working with Rhys again give you a different
outlook?

BL- I just think life is different and we're both so
different than when we were 15 years ago. It's
impossible to be a rehash since we don't even have
the same gear we had back then, everybody's in a
different mindset. 15 years is a long time in a persons
life, the way you look at things and feel about things.
It's just really a different kind of record to me.
To me I don't really care if we sell 200 copies. I guess
we felt like we started the project, it was a good vibe,
and we might as well end it together. Close the chapter
on it... I really don't give a shit if 3 people buy it. It's
something we had to do, I had to do, and we did it.

Did you have to do it for any sort of contractual
obligations?

BL- No, nothing like that. I only do one-offs on
albums. I only do it if I want to do it. That's why I
don't have a manager, that's why I don't sign to majors.
I'm always fiercely independent. We've never done
demo's, I don't want anybody telling me what kind of
song to write, or what I should say or feel or think, so
that gives us the ultimate creative freedom.

What are the chances of Front Line touring again?

BL- I couldn't give you an answer. It's too big of an
"if" of everything...if this, if that...

Is the Delerium tour a good way of finding out if you
like being on the road again and performing live?

BL- It's kind of weird doing Delerium because I'm
used to being up front with the mic. With the mic you
have a lot of power and you really control the crowd.
You live and die with every show. Being in the back,
you feel kind of insignificant even though it's your
music and you're watching people perform it. I'm still
not sure that I'm used to that concept, everybody's
playing your melodies, your basslines...

So would that influence you to get back out as the
front man in FLA?

BL- No, I don't think so. I just think Front Line is kind
of done. What can we do to make it worth while to go
out?

Do you feel you've gone as far as you can go or the
sound is not going to evolve anymore?

BL- It's not that, I just think that kind of music has a
limited audience, and all the people that like what
we've done have seen it, so why do it again, and have
the same people come out and tell you the same thing?

What's the outlook for any future Front Line beyond
the new release?

BL- I can't give you an answer on any of that...it's too
definite. I could decide just to never do music again,
that's the kind of person I am. Rhys likes to be in the
industry and he's evolved with the whole L.A. thing,
but I'm kind of an outsider and loner now. I might
disappear for 10 years and come back with an organ
project, that's the way I am.

Would you do anything else in the music business,
possibly production work for others?

BL- I don't want to work on other peoples music, I
have no interest in that at all. I've seen it, I've been
around it, it's no fun. If that's how you want to make a
living, great, but I have no interest in doing that kind of
work at all.

Looking back on the last 20 years, is there a high point
/low point in your career?

BL- The only thing I could really say is having 50
copies of a cassette that you sell locally, and 15 years
later evolving into this, enough said. Anybody can do
it if they want to...

Final thoughts/comments?

BL- Let's just get through today and tomorrow. I'm
the eternal optimist as you can tell...

mindphaser.com
http://www.side-line.com/

KMFDM interview

2009-12-02T14:04:00.000-08:00

Interview with Sascha K. of KMFDM
Originally published in Side-Line magazine
2003
by Evan South

After almost 20 years KMFDM is still doin' it again.
After last years ATTAK they present us with their
latest assault on our senses, WWIII. We sat down
with the mastermind and corruptor of youth Sascha
Konietzko during the big WWIII tour...

Let's start with the development of the new album
WWIII...

WWIII marks a whole new line-up for KMFDM, and
also marks a transition from years and years of a
revolving door project to a fixed band lineup. The
addition of a live drummer (Andy Selway) has had its'
impact on WWIII. The way we produced the album
was in reversion of all the other albums. We started
this time not with the machine bits, but with the
organic stuff, where as in the past the human element
was more or less the last step in the production. So
this record was more organically grown.

How do you see the new album as far as the lyrics,
with the political overtones?

There are a couple of songs that are very out there,
everything else totally falls in line with KMFDM.
Pity for the Pious, in light of following a song like
WWIII, could be seen as a political song, though I
don't think it was intended as one. The music was
done by Selway, Hodgson, and myself, the lyrics were
written by myself, Lucia, and Raymond, and that's
how it all worked out. In comparison to Attak,
which more like a patchwork of a song here and a
track there, some Skold tracks, all kinds of stuff
flowing into the return of KMFDM, WWIII is like a
steamroller non-stop. It's one forged piece of metal.

How is the tour going, and how do you determine
which tracks you will play live?

The tour is well. We've done about 27 shows so far,
the whole thing is 36 dates in 40 days, like the usual
KMFDM grindcore type of excursion. As far as the
playlist, we have to play most of the new album for
sure, and we went through all the songs and figured
out which ones work best in a live scenario. And of
course there is a certain amount of classics we have to
play. There are a bunch of tracks on the backburner
that we will prepare for the next tour, and bring out a
few more of the old ones, maybe rearrange some of it
and come up with a new exciting setlist for the next
time.

WWIII and ATTAK were released fairly close
together, about 1 and 1/2 years apart. Did you start
writing WWIII imediately after ATTAK?

We started writing right after the return from last years
Sturm Und Drang tour. We just went straight into the
studio and did it. It took 10 months, and we never
stopped or looked up to take a breath, we just did it,
bang! We didn't have any material sketched out
beforehand, we did it all from scratch.

Are you still doing production work for PIG?

No, it was planned, but it never happened. We laid it
out last July, a gameplan for the next year, and nothing
that we predicted happened, everything went a
completely different way. So I did not produce any
PIG or end up playing bass on any of it. I was
completely enamored in making WWIII at the time.
Raymond didn't participate in WWIII until the last
stage. We mixed the whole album in June and it was
not until late May that Raymond came out and made
his contributions to the album, and that's because he
was really busy doing new material for himself, which,
by the way, will be coming out under WATTS.
So PIG is basically dead, or suspended at this point,
due to all kinds of changes. Jules and Andy relocated
from London last fall and moved to Seattle, and that
basically took the band away from Raymond, and he
formed a new team of people that he worked with
under the name WATTS.

Any return to the old side-project of Excessive Force?

There was something that was floating around last year
but I shot it down because of a number of reasons.
One is the little bits of material that was written for X-F
flowed into the WWIII production, and also I found
out that apparently there is a Canadian white
supremacist band that has a similar sounding name, so
spare us the confusion. There's no point in relaunching
X-F at this point, it was a little dance side-project.
There wasn't that much written, it was two tracks. One
of them became "From here on out" and the other one
became "Jihad".

Lucia also has a solo project out?

Yes, it's available now as a self-release. She was signed
to Universal and they had a lot of difficulties and
dropped a lot of their artists and she got her rights back
and released it herself. Lucia and I began writing on her
solo album in late 1999, and proceeded throughout the
year 2000 with a bunch of material. She got her deal
with Universal in early 2001 and it was planned that her
album would be going in more of a soft direction than
the stuff we had worked on. So the harder stuff flowed
into the ATTAK album and some of it flowed into the
SCHWEIN project that Raymond, Lucia, myself and
the members of Buck-Tick did that year. So a lot of
the material got shifted around over time , but it's fair
to say WWIII, with the exception of the couple of
tracks planned for X-F, was completely given birth
right then and there instantaneously.

How have you been dealing with changing labels in the
last few years?

What we're seeing since the end of the relationship
between KMFDM and Wax Trax is a general trend of
the music industry falling into this big black hole.
Unfortunately for us we're not in a situation where we
can finance 10 months of production time ourselves.
We don't have any financial reserves. If we did we
would for a long time now have our own label. The
problem is we always need a constant stream of
income in order to sustain ourselves. Once we can
break that vicious cycle we will definitely be putting
the stuff out ourselves. Label hopping is the most
unsatisfying thing at this point. It is totally frustrating.
You have to break in new people every time and
explain it (the concept) all over again. But we're
making it, we're surviving.

Any comment on relations with former band members
(En Esch and Gunter)? Any attempts to come back
together?

I wish I could comment. I have no idea what they are
doing or where they are. The last I heard they made it
way down to the bottom of the barrel and apparently
have joined Pigface, but that's all I know. I talked to
them in early 2001when it became hands on that
KMFDM was reforming, and they indignantly refused
to be a part of it. Then they turned around and started
telling all this weird shit, basically badmouthing their
own former bandmates. It was kind of sad, but that's
the way people are.

What are some of the other members up to? Will Tim
Skold make a return?

Cheryl Wilson (guest vocalist on various KMFDM
recordings) is one of the most sought after voice-over
people in the Chicago area and Bill Rieflin (KMFDM,
Ministry) is now drumming for REM. Skold (now with
Marilyn Manson) has sort of discovered himself as a
rock star, I guess. I hear stories from fans that
approach him that he's not really approachable
anymore. We don't need people with big egos in this
band. We are a D.I.Y. punk rock outfit and that's what
we do best. We don't need any snooties or
megalomaniacs of that sort.

What are the future plans for KMFDM?

There's going to be a little bit of a hiatus in the months
of December and January. We're going to be finishing
up a project we've been working on for a while, the
Spider-Man 2 video game soundtrack. We will also be
working with a local Seattle band on production for
their album, a band called Charlie Drown. This current
tour is definitely going to go on, we're working right
now on setting up gigs in Australia, Japan, and Europe.
There is also talk of returning to the USA in April or
May and doing another leg of the tour here. There will
also be a DVD released from this tour which will
probably come out in March or April, just right around
the time that we go back out on tour again.

kmfdm.com
http://www.side-line.com/

Hocico interview

2009-11-20T12:58:00.000-08:00

Interview with Hocico
Originally published in Side-Line magazine
2003
by Evan South

1.) Let's begin with the new 4-cd box set celebrating 10
years of Hocico. Tell us all about its contents and what
we can expect to see and hear...

Three of the Cd's contain each one of the three Hocico
demo tapes in their original versions, including the very
first demo "Misuse, Abuse and Accident" that was
never released before plus a bunch of old tracks never
heard before as a special bonus. You´ll hear the real
start of the band, which is what we want to share now
to celebrate. The other CD contains remixes from:
Suicide Commando, Terminal Choice Combichrist,
Kiew, Soman, Aslan Faction, God Module, Solitary
Experiments, Obedience, Haujobb, Dyoxide and two
multimedia live shots.

2.) How would you compare your older material to
what you are doing currently? Any worries that your
re-releases are going to sound too "dated"?

The quality of these old recordings can´t be compared
to our new stuff, but all of them, old and new songs,
keep the same spirit, so in this aspect the old songs
aren´t too dated, they are still full of energy and most
of them can still be played to satisfy the current club
standards.

3.) Your fourth disc of newer, remixed material has
quite a lineup of talent doing the remixing. How do you
feel doing remixes, and also having your material
remixed? Any particular favorite remixes from the cd?

Our favorite remixes are from Combi Christ, Suicide
Commando, Terminal Choice. Musically we prefer to
work with new stuff, rather than remixing someone
else´s music, though it is fun sometimes. Having our
material remixed has been sometimes a very pleasant,
but also a very disgusting experience. This is the first
remix CD we realse and most of the bands included on
it are friends of us.

4.) You have toured extensively in the past (especially
Europe) and have another tour lined up for Nov. 2003.
What are some of your thoughts and expereinces
touring (first USA tour included)?

It´s been very good years, we have known the
underground scenes of many places of the world in a
short period of time and we have been enjoying this to
the maximum. Touring is something very important for
us as a band, It gives us energies to keep on doing
what we do, it is important to get personally the
feedback from the audience. Touring can be hard
sometimes because it could become a routinary
activity in which you lose emotions during it, but we
always try to get the best from the people on every
show and that gives us the life. The USA tour was a
great experience, we hope to get back there to play
live again.

5.) How do you translate the anger and aggression
from your cd's onto the live stage? I have also noticed
on your live recordings you have all new music/intros
as part of the live set...

Recording at studio is a different experience than
playing live, so that´s why the songs meant to play live
need a different treatment, at studio we make
something like dummies that need a special
arrangement to be on stage to please us and get this
special “live“ touch. Recording the live versions of the
songs is like recording another CD, we add new
sounds and atmospheres to them. We need this to play
live otherwise it would be something boring for us.
Compared to the CD recordings anger and agression
take a new face on stage, We have no compassion for
the keys and the mic, so the energy flows without
limits all over the show. The rest is done by the
audience.

6.) How is the electro/indutrial scene in Mexico
currently? Besides yourself, Cenobita is one of the only
other notable projects coming out of Mexico. It
seemed there were more bands earlier (like Deus Ex
Machina, etc) when "La Corporacion" was around.
Your thoughts on this?

There has always been bands, year by year the scene in
Mexico has been growing. At the moment many young
bands are coming out, some of them are: Amduscia,
Acid Trauma, Data, Disfuncion Organica, Epidemia.
And there were many others that deceased. There have
always been people in Mexico doing hard electronic
music, not only for the “corporacion”.

7.) The Dulce Liquido project is doing quite well for
Racso, and the latest cd "Shock Therapy" is much
more song/vocal oriented than the first release. How is
it written and kept a seperate project from Hocico?

Racso has kept doing DL for the same period of time
than Hocico, but he just released an official CD until
2000. DL it is his personal way to make music and and
it isn´t hard to keep this separate project, because he
don´t put limits by being the Racso of Hocico. At the
beginning DL was more electro/vocal orientated and
Hocico was more like electronic punk and black metal
orientated, but as the time passed things changed and
Hocico has become more a band experimenting with
different trends, we call it music recycling, and DL has
become a more extreme thing.

8.) You've come a long way in the last ten years. Early
on you were compared to the likes of Wumpscut and
Yelworc before establishing your own identity. Also,
you signed to a bigger label in Europe and in the last
year finally licensed in the USA through Metropolis.
Do you feel you've accomplished everything you set
out to do, or is there more work to be done?

Definitely there´s still a lot of work to do, this is just
the beginning. So far we are happy with everything we
have acomplished, but it is still too early to say that we
have acomplished everything we wanted. There´s still
many songs in our minds waiting to be released.

9.) Are you already working on new material, and what
else is in the future of Hocico and Dulce Liquido,
releases, tours, etc?

We just finished the small tour over Europe celebrating
our tenth anniversary. We´ll get back home to work on
the new Hocico album, with which we plan to do our
most extensive world tour ever and Dulce Liquido will
play one exclusive show in Mexico city in february.

10.) Final thoughts/comments?

Los hijos del Infierno say: fuck the US government!

hocico.com
myspace.com/hocicoh
http://www.side-line.com/

Absurd Minds interview

2009-11-18T19:42:00.000-08:00

Interview with Absurd Minds
Originally published in Side-Line magazine
2003
by Evan South

How would you compare your new album "The
Focus" to your 2 previous albums?

AM- With our third album we want to show that we
have musically moved on, without losing our identity.
"The Focus" will be a close follow-up to our lst album
"Damn the Lie". It's important to us that our songs are
easy to recognize, yet not sounding the same and
without getting bored.

Your material is very theme oriented. Does this
continue with the "The Focus", and do you feel music
needs to say something?

AM- There will be this so call "red line" throughout the
whole album, even more than at our last records. At
"The Focus" we will be constantly questioning the
"human perception". In this context the album title
describes the point where the human perception of
things is concentrated...focused. But before you can
focus on something, you have to be open and able to
perceive. The things someone perceives are an
apparition in the mind and in that they are totally
depending on the person itself-like a dream. "The
Focus" is all about those dreams/perceptions and their
sources. The question, if meaningful words ALWAYS
have to be a part of our songs to give them the right of
existence, we can answer with: "NO!". Music also
works without words-it actually SHOULD work that
way too. The music itself should be able to move
people and bring up emotions, which paint pictures in
their heads. But without words you cannot "transport"
complex thoughts or ideas- even if that might probably
not be the first intention of instrumental music.

Do you still find yourselves compared to a certain
band that shall remain nameless, or do you feel you've
established your own identity?

AM- As long as those comparisons don't want to deny
that we actually HAVE our own identity, we have no
problem to be compared with other bands. There's no
way to escape from influences of all kinds. A vacuum
would definitely be the wrong place, if you want to be
creative. As we said before: We think, we have again
moved on with the upcoming album- concerning this
certain theme as well!

The majority of your songs are in English, do you do
this to appeal to an international audience, or do you
feel it best reflects what you are trying to say?

AM- The main reason why we use English as the main
language in our songs is the fact that the English
language is much more melodious. It just sounds better
than German. Besides that in German you have to
squeeze longer and polysyllabic words into verses and
refrains, which makes songwriting much harder. But
the internationality of the English language is, of
course, a reason as well.

Your singles and EP's have featured many diverse
remixers. What do you think of people remixing your
songs, and is it different when you remix someone
else?

AM- Remixes are an exciting thing to us. It is and has
always been very interesting and revealing to us, how
other artists are making their own thing out of our
songs. In a remix you can "see" your own song from a
totally different direction and sometimes you even ask
yourself: "Why didn't YOU have that idea...?!" If we
remix other bands it is the same thing the other way
around. It is fun to interpret a song in your very own
kind of view.

How does your material come across in a live setting?
Do you try anything different for live shows, i.e. play
remixed versions of songs?

AM- Onstage we are 3 people. Stefan sings, Timo is
behind the E-drums, sings backing vocals and plays
bass guitar for 3 or 4 songs. Tilo plays the synthesizer.
The songs sound pretty much the same as on CD. For
the live sets we usually just arrange a shades, like
changing some sounds and modifying the beginning
of some songs.

You will be playing more festivals through the end of
the year. Do you prefer playing in a large live setting,
or the smaller more intimate clubs?

AM- To us it doesn't matter that much if we play in a
big arena or in a small club, as long as the fans and the
band are having a good time together. At big festivals it
is sometime hard, because everything is very hectic.
But as compensation you get the chance to show your
music to a quite bigger audience. In smaller clubs it
usually is more cosy, things are more laid back and
personal and you get a closer connection to the
audience.

"The Focus" will be released as a single disc and a
special 2cd set. Do you plan any other singles or EP's
to be released from this album, since you previously
released "Masterbuilder"?

AM- There will be another single-CD released from
"The Focus" called "Herzlos" (eng. Heartless). This
one is our very first song that is completely in German.
The song is very powerful and has the potential to be
played in the clubs quite a lot.

Do you know if Scanner has plans to license you to
other labels, so you can be released domestically in
other countries, such as USA?

AM- Unfortunately we have no answer to that question
at this time. We just know that our CD's are available in
the USA and some other countries (if not at the record
stores than at least through mailorder).

Final thoughts/comments?

AM- We hope that the people out there will take and
understand our new album as what it is in our opinion:
A seriously meant piece of long, hard work on musical
and lyrical development and progress. "The Focus"
represents us and it is us- 100%!!!

absurdminds.de
myspace.com/absurdminds
http://www.side-line.com/

KIFOTH interview 2001

2009-11-11T17:50:00.000-08:00

Interview with KIFOTH
Originally published by the now defunct newempire.com
2001
by Evan South

1. How would you compare your new album
“Fundamentum Divisionis” to your last album
“Spectaclebreakers”?

mir Colon: I feel the “Fundamentum Divisionis” deeper
than the one before. It’s deeper because of the themes
are expressed deeply and going downward to the core.
I tried to take the faces of all of the betrayal, disgrace,
jealousy up to my face to make myself full of these
feelings. You know, to get me on the edge to show
the ooze pushing the men doing the obscure deeds.

K-head: “Fundamentum Divisionis” is more transparent
as any previous releases of KIFOTH. We have used
only sampling in past. It means samples of noises and
sounds. But now we mainly use synthetisers and
sampling of voices, noises and drums only. These
things make the sound lighter like the
Spectaclebreakers, but more compact too. The
atmosphere, we have achieved with dark distorted
vocals.

mir Colon: Of coarse that the musical performing is
well done caused mainly of the new technology getting
us closer to the top of the electronic scene. We are
more open than ever before. So there is a lot of
opportunities to enclose any elements being outside of
KIFOTH-existence like the female backing vocals.

2. There are many samples from “The Matrix” on this
album. What is the special meaning the movie holds
that you include so many samples?

K-head: “The Matrix” speaks about a false reality. I
think it’s truthful image of our current being. Now, in
the time of corruption and globalization, we see in
medias only the reality projection. The faithful reality
is hidden in the background of politics, leaders and
big corporations.

Everybody says that everything is much clear like
before, each one has full mouth of a better world, but
where is the waste? Where is the dustheap of all the
wrong things?

mir Colon: I take the movie like a very progressive and
cyberpunk set. There is a big message growing up to
you from many sights. The original message, the core,
is still performing the information. The data is a living
very little organism, the cell changing self figure all the
time you are trying to decode it. And I see the
“Fundamentum Divisionis” very similar. So
complicated structure being in the tracks scheme full
of little tempers supporting the base, the speech about
human villainy, the unlimited ugliness.

3. The new album maintains the slow pace that you had
on “Spectaclebreakers”, with only one fast song “The
Query”. Why does KIFOTH prefer slower songs?

mir Colon: That’s the way to force the listeners feel the
power of the sounds, not just to be pressed by the
rhythm. To affect their minds with the messages we
written down.

The reason that KIFOTH does exist is to perform our
thoughts, present the opinions turned to sensations.
We do not understand us as musicians doing just
songs for radios but are a kind of sounds performing
artists having any visions.

K-head: Each track represents my feeling. I’m looking
round myself taking an inspiration. My tracks are a
mirror of the world behind my eyes. I have a feeling,
a story and you can listen the projection of the world
through the filter in my inside. I don’t care about the
tempo. I start composing the song and everything
comes by self, melodies, rhythms, samples, tempo.

4. You sent me advanced artwork of the back of the
new album including an equipment list, but the new cd
does not have any of this. Was the artwork and layout
changed?

mir Colon: Please, understand, we have signed a
contract with Out Of Line Records. We are the music
performers and they do business. The artwork I have
sent to you was constructed by my own design studio,
the “mirCo Laboratory” which represents a graphic
proposal of the group following our agreement with the
Out Of Line. Their graphics studio had have to do the
same and after we both had prepared the artwork the
label have been decided to use one of them.

K-head: This event is in accordance with the agreement.

5. How is it being on the German label Out of line w/
other bands like Hocico and Terminal Choice? Do you
have a good relationship with your label and other bands?

K-head: Out Of Line is the biggest electro label in
Germany of these days. It has many advantages, but
also some disadvantages. We have to live with them.

mir Colon: But however, any good business might be
based on the good relationship between all sides of
the contract and we do it this way too. We want have
very good relationship with each one cooperating with
us. We have very good friendship with all people
supporting us within the Tierra Electrica tour in 1999,
especially the groups members.

KIFOTH: Best regards to you, Erk, Rasco, Frank,
Jashua and Salva. Hope to meet anyone of you soon.
We’re looking forward to the date.

mir Colon: As far as I know the Culture Cultur will also
play on the Wave-Gothic Treffen in Liepzig, so will to
talk to them for sure.

6. Will you be touring this year for your new album or
playing any large festivals?

K-head: The tour is expensive case. Everything
depends on the Out Of Line. If the new CD will have a
good sale and fans will want the concerts, it might be
possible to tour some land.

mir Colon: For now, only the following dates: the
beginning of June, the Wave-Gothic fest, concerts in
Slovakia (we guess to make a video-recording for our
fans haven’t any possibilities go into the concerts),
hope to visit Prague again, other Czech places too.

7. Will any of the original material from your “Ebola”
release ever see the light of day? It has been a very
long time now...

mir Colon: You are right, it is a quite long time. But it
is not just a question of time, also quality of that
production. In point of a retrospect is a good idea to
release the album. We are still in contact with VUZ
Records regarding the CD release, but no concrete
date fixed yet. I think it will be released once (during
two years ...) but it must be taken as the retrospect,
the flashback to the birth of the KIFOTH.

8. What is next for KIFOTH? Are you working on new
material, remixes, etc?

mir Colon: Right now is the time for live performance
preparing. We mix tracks to the live versions, want use
tracks from both CD albums, maybe from the Ebola
too. It is quite hard job because we have to get
together with some our cooperators from the past era
of Spectaclebreakers, The Ebola epoch too, to switch
on all of the equipment together.

K-head: We try to make one body from the music and
the stage image. I join for it cause I think it will be one
of the best KIFOTH performances.

Mir Colon: In point of the KIFOTH’s future steps, we
are testing another software now.

9. Final thoughts/comments?

mir Colon: Please, support us, we have to convince
the world that is profitable to let us presenting our
thoughts. We could have different visions but
necessary point is the positive progress for complex
future.

kifoth.de

Mentallo & The Fixer interview

2009-11-11T11:04:00.000-08:00

Interview with Gary Dassing of Mentallo & the Fixer
Originally published by the now defunct newempire.com
1999
by Evan South

Q: Please describe your new album Algorythum
compared to your previous efforts...

A: Well, it is definitely different from past albums in
that this was going back to basics to some extent. I
was trying to reach for a new sound, altogether
sonically speaking. I think every Mentallo album has
different characteristics from one another and that was
my initial intention with Mentallo, to explore other
avenues, yet still retain the dynamic of what Mentallo is
all about, being creative. I’m not here to follow anyone
else’s lead, I just do what comes natural. The whole
point is not to lose focus on why you initially start
creating music, and the answer to that is simply for the
love of it. I want to work with other instruments such
as live drums and percussion, acoustic and electric
guitar/bass, just to get different timbers of sound. It’s
definitely used in an artistic way. I wasn’t going for the
cliche’ power chord heavy metal crunch riff, that isn’t
there, it’s more along the guitar lines of something like
Slowdive/My Bloody Valentine, just sonic tones and
frequencies. But anyway, about the music, it shouldn’t
have to be about business, although it is, and when it
comes to the point to where you’re doing music mainly
to satisfy other people, then that is the point to where
you are giving in, and I don’t give in when it comes to
my creativity, because when you do, you are usually
just following a fading trend or a dying cause. Things
have become so conformist within this genre of music,
it’s not what it use to be all about. I just think certain
technology has made people lazy or less creative to an
extent.

Q: The Systematik Ruin EP was almost as long as the
album. Was this chosen as the single because it was
one of the only songs with vocals on it? Any more
singles/EP’s from Algorythum or only new material?

A: Well, out of the 13 tracks on Algorythum 9 have
vocals, they may not all be up front but like I
mentioned before, everything was about a sonic
element. I didn’t want the vocals to necessarily
become the song, as with some past material, but I
wanted them to be there to complement the song,
being used more like an instrument, blending with the
music. I just didn’t want to resort to the same old
effects processing and distortion, I’ve already
mastered that. It was time to try something different
for a change. As for the EP being as long as the
album, I simply like to give the buyer their moneys
worth, plus there are exclusive songs and remixes on
the EP. I do have enough material for another EP from
the Algorythum sessions already recorded. Remixes of
Resonant Echo, Stumbled, and Inner Peace, one with
the Dabbler from Fektion Fekler vocaling (using his
own lyrics). We titled that version Mr. Sorrow. There
are a few other exclusive pieces that were recorded
during the sessions, but it’s hard to say whether it will
get released. I am presently working on a new CD, and
it is very near completion and should be released
by late summer 1999.

Q: The EP and album have both been out for a few
months now, what have you received as far as the
general reaction, positives and negatives?

A: Actually, I no longer pay attention to reviews, it’s
unnecessary. I’m pleased with the product and I had a
fun time doing it and that’s all that matters. I know only
what people tell me or e-mail me, and for the most
part the people that write like the album. Some say it
took a few listens to get used to it. I like to surprise
people. I think they are surprised in some respect from
every release. I think it’s an initial shocker though, this
album is very different, but don’t expect me to repeat
it. For the same reason I won’t do another Where
Angels Fear To Tread. That was another time and
place in my life. True music is usually used as the
soundtrack to our lives, why would I want to play a
broken record? I like the material, I do, but it is hard
to re-live some of those experiences over and over,
why would I want to do that? But what is certain is that
other people have different given experiences to my
material and they can look back or reflect on a given
period or moment of time in their individual lives.

Q: Any sort of tour on the horizon, or any one-off
shows?

A: Yes. I just got through playing the Gothic
Convergence Festival at the House of Bluesin New
Orleans. That went great, it was a sold out show. Also,
we have a show slated for May 21st in Dallas. Also, I
plan to do a couple of shows in California, namely Los
Angeles and San Francisco. I’d also like to do some
shows in Florida by the end of the year.

Q: Will any of your old side-projects re-emerge
(Benestrophe, Mainesthai)? Or are you only
concentrating on Mentallo at this point?

A: At this point in my life it is strictly Mentallo. But
Mentallo can turn out to be anything. You never know
who’s going to show up playing or guest vocaling
material, past, present, or future. There is really no
need for other projects. I can just have Rich or Mike
guest vocal on a track with me if I want them to. They
are cool with that, because they have other aspiration
in life other than music, and with me, music is my
priority.

Q: What does the future of Mentallo hold?

A: I am presently working on a new album right now.
Like I said previously, don’t expect another
Algorythum or Angels, this is something completely
different. Yes, it sounds like Mentallo, best way to
describe it is there aren’t any slow songs, it’s all
comprised of in your face beats, heavy percussion,
lots of computer generated noise, freaky stuff. Really
intense and flat out noise, a lot of sample generated
sounds. It gets pretty damn fast in some areas,
something I’ve never really touched on before. The
title is Love Is The Law. Let’s just say the title is a bit
deceiving. This album is sort of what industrial may
have become, I don’t know, maybe that’s just static.

Q: What are your views on the upcoming Millennium?
Some say the true millennium isn’t until 2001,
depending on the calendar.

A: Yes, the actual millennium is 2001, they didn’t
count the year 0 initially. My views? Well, I don’t think
the end of the world will happen in 2001, that is for
sure. My personal perspective is that the earth will be
here until time indefinite, and our creator isn’t going
to give us an exact date when the shit is going to hit
the fan. Even if we did have a date do you really think
that would cause people to change? The whole point is
to catch us off guard when we thin we have all our crap
together. Hell, we could solve many problems of the
world right now, such as world hunger, but is it being
solved? No. Is that logical? No! Are we a logical race?
That is questionable. I do believe there is a higher
purpose, though. To me that is evident, and I also
believe there is going to come a time in the very near
future, when the world change. Everyone is involved in
this.

Q: Is there anything you have seen or heard lately
(book, movie, music) that has sparked your interest?

A: Well, I’m looking forward to The Phantom Menace,
and the Bible is a pretty interesting and intense read.

Q: Final comments?

A: Algorythum = Love Is The Law

mentallo.net

KIFOTH interview 2000

2009-11-10T18:20:00.000-08:00

Interview with KIFOTH
Originally published by the now defunct newempire.com
2000
by Evan South

1. Can you give us a little background on KIFOTH,
its beginnings and its members?

mir Colon > The KIFOTH was born in spring of 1993
as a thought of two persons: mir Colon and K-head.
The persons which have sole responsibilities within all
KIFOTH existence. The first KIFOTH’s gig was
executed in summer 1994. It was a part of some two
days summer festival. We done a record of one of that
live performances and covered it with name of our
unofficial demo tape “First Time Public”. No archived
copy owned by myself. But what I remember, there
were some good stuffs, “Mad Dog” of K-head and my
“Jesus Christ” which is recorded twice on our first
official demo material “Civilizative Collapse”
(beginning of 1995). All the KIFOTH’s early songs, a
period until the second half of 1995, are sung by
Slovak tongue. By the end of 1995 KIFOTH recorded
the second demo tape called “Ebola”. And finally the
year 1999, the year of editing our first CD album,
“Spectaclebreakers”, on Slovak FRONT CD label and
later on under licence of Out Of Line for world wide.
As I already told, during all the time KIFOTH consists
of two mentioned brains, which they have performed
themselves to this time to a function as programmer,
sound performer, sampling and mixing master (K-head)
also as philosophy performer, sampling and
arrangement master (mir Colon).

2. How does Spectaclebreakers compare to your earlier
material, circa the Ebola era?

K-head > Spectaclebreakers is an older brother of
Ebola, he is much sophisticated as the brother, is
complicated and more compact like a final matter.
Ebola is divided to two parts by the atmosphere,
lyrics and structure of songs. There the first part is
faster and more conventional like groups from old EBM
school, but the second one is much deeper in sound
and sense of atmosphere. I think the startpoint of the
Spectaclebreakers is where the Ebola finished. He is full
length atmospheric and rolling like a mass from first
track to the last. It‘s a long wall full of graffity where
you can‘t find a space in between them.

mir Colon > The album Spectaclebreakers is the
best shot we have ever done. There is more adventure
in the album. The sound itself is talking story.
Somebody said that the tempers keep the songs alive
listen after listen. Also the themes and the performance
of them are more deep and more particular then the
Ebola themes.

3. Speaking of Ebola, what happened to all the original
demo material that was to be released on VUZ Records?
Will it ever see the light of day or be re-released on
Out Of Line?

mir Colon > I do not think that Out Of Line wants to
deal with the Ebola. But fact is that we prepared a
remastered version of the Ebola album with two
additions: “Release” and treboR’s mix of “Possessed
By The Right To Modify (Disastrous Desire)”. The last
discussion between us and VUZ says that the CD could
be released on spring 2000. For details, keep visiting
KIFOTH homepage.

4. How was the Tierra Electrica 99 tour experience?
How do you approach the live setting? Can you tell us
about the live cd recording of that tour w/ Hocico and
Culture Kultur?

mir Colon > Definitely great. It was our first tour at all
and after that I hope not the last one. We had the
chance to meet any different people, also visit a lot of
beautiful places where the visitors talked to us about
or music. And theirs expressions to our live
performance where sublime. Some people compared us
to our minions. Just amazing experiences that will keep
in us forever. Many thanks to all the people which took
care of us during the tour.

To compare with the Slovak live setting, in the point of
technics they are better definitely. A powerful audio
systems and especially excellent interior of the rooms.
For example, we played in old workshop of squeezing
machines, or a club which seems to me like an interior
of the tower from movie “Name Of Rose”. I can not
forget the boat, a trawler one. Within weekend we
played on festival stages in big halls which was very
interesting in point of visitors image mainly. Some
stirring creatures over there.

There is the live CD TIERRA ELECTRICA already
pushed up to daylight. It includes 4 tracks of each
group, Hocico, Culture Kulture and KIFOTH. And a
bonus of Hocico as an intro. I am talking about 1000
copies limited DIGIPAK edition. The KIFOTH’s
tracks, which you can find there, are Crucified Thief,
Painspeech, Reconciliation and Gripped Illusion
(Reflected version). We had support on stage, a
drummer. So, especially the first two track sounds very
powerful.

5. How do you see the current state of the electro-
industrial scene today? What would you change and/or
improve?

K-head > I am curious what will come, because I
heard everything of all kinds of music and it looks the
same like with technology. 90‘s were improvements of
invents form the 80‘s. We came to the new era of 21st
century, so we have to be ready for new things and I
think that somebody have to invent something new in
electro-industrial music, but it is not so easy. To invent
means lot of experiments and some people have not
sense for experiments.

6. Will all your songs continue to be in English, or will
you revert back to your mother tongue, like you did
while under the original band name of Kneel In Front
Of The Hangman?

mir Colon > We keep the English language. At the
beginning, the English using was a way how to cover
myself, but at present, it is the way how to
communicate. Because of KIFOTH wants give any
messages, I need to adopt that tongue that I can speak
to anybody on this earth. There is still anything to say.

7. What is next for KIFOTH? Are you working on new
material, re-working old material, remixes, etc? Will
you continue to play live?

K-head > New KIFOTH must smell of development.
Also I want to add some faster songs for a new
material. It will be not so easy because I want conserve
the KIFOTH’s face on the forthcoming CD. The
album has to be compact and all songs must sink
together like a puzzle. It will be hard work.

mir Colon > Our intention is to finalize the album till
this autumn. Finally we have the software that we can
re-mix our early stuff. What else? Who knows?

8. Final thoughts/comments?

mir Colon & K-head > We would like to thank you,
Evan, also all of you, the electro fans that you interest
to our production so much that this interview might be
executed. Thank you very much and stay with us.

kifoth.de
myspace.com/kifoth

Croc Shop interview

2009-11-10T07:46:00.000-08:00

Interview with Croc Shop
Originally published on the now defunct newempire.com
2000/2001
by Evan South

CROC SHOP:
vM: v Markus
mH: Mick Hale
L9: Len 9

-----------------------

1.) "Order+Joy" gives us a more back-to-basics
approach with your sound. Comments?

vM: As industrial music has progressed to the point
of encompassing everything from guitars and metal
elements, to dance/techno, and the recent trend for
synth-pop stylings, we thought it was time to
rediscover the sounds which defined this genre near
the beginning - the basic 4-on-the-floor beats and solid
bass lines that hooked many of us in the first place. It's
a tribute to our roots.

mH: Most of what I wrote on "Order+Joy" was more
of a reaction to the dozens of clubs that we hit on our
1999 US tour. I have to say, I was a bit conflicted
about the music the djs played [at each & every club,
it was all the same material!] On one hand, most of the
"new" music they played I disliked, while there was a
certain "quality" in the older tracks that I wanted to try
to both update & pay a tribute to. There is alot of
better new music out there than Covenant, VNV, &
A Pop !

2.) The early material of "Celebrate..." and "Crush..."
and the first Metro release "Beneath" seemed
straightforward EBM - with "Pain" and "Everything..."
a bit more experimental, and again "O+J" stripped
down. How would you describe the overall evolution
of your sound over the years? Where do you see it
going?

vM: We don't consciously create music that's in tune
with what's "in", and we don't really think consciously
about how we are going to progress with our sound
from one album to the next. It's usually us writing music
that we feel sounds good. Sometimes this is influenced
by what we are listening to at the time - and very often
that is not current music! Our sound has progressed in
many ways by increased technology in music. Very
early CrocShop used no computers, then for some time
in the middle we almost only used them. Now, we have
returned to a middle ground, where a lot of the music is
composed using synths, and treated in the computer. In
the future, I see us using an increased combination of
old-style and digital equipment to create more variety
in the sound we can generate. Modern synths are very
much like the old knob-synths of yesterday - the
combinations are endless, and this opens the door to
many great new sounds.

3.) The live show has always been an integral part of
Croc Shop. You've performed fairly regularly over the
years and opened up for a lot of big acts as well. How
has this influenced you or your music? Are different
versions of the songs played live? Will there be any
touring for O+J, and when will we see you in the
West?

vM: I know playing live influences me to think of the
music as interacting with the audience. The music has
to stir something in the listener - whether at home or
at a show - and get them to at least mentally react - if
not physically by dancing - with what we are playing.

mH: We'd like to gig a lot more in 2001, we'll see what
happens. I'd like to work on some new material as well.
Right now I am feeling very put off with where the
"Industrial Scene" seems to be headed, tho - I must
admit.

4.) Being one of the "staple" American all-electro
bands, how do you perceive the scene in the USA, and
how have you seen it change over the years? What
would you change and/or do differently?

vM: I think the scene is alive and well - although
increasingly split between the old school, which is
underground, and the new school, who seem to think
Marylin Manson and NIN are connected with Industrial.
Places you never expect a big scene are some of the
most active and vibrant, like Salt Lake City, Utah, while
some other, large metropolitan areas where you would
expect huge crowds have surprisingly low turnout, or
the people have stopped caring about anything except
the really big names... It is very strange. I'd like to see
American industrial fans to get up and dance more!
This is heavy, rhythmic music, meant to move your
body... I've seen too many people who seem to not
be interested in physical movement... that's kind of
sad. We could learn something from ravers - and I
don't mean the crazy hats and pacifiers... Clubs and
musicare about dancing, not sitting around looking
dark and sad.

mH: Again, I have to say it: the "current crop" of
what's getting club play right now is nowhere near the
QUALITY of the past! I hate to say it, but I'd rather
hear the old stuff [242, Ebb, RevCo, Puppy, ] than sit
thru this bad House/Techno "Synth Pop" [albeit
without screaming Divas] - and I even like [real] house
& techno or drumNbass, but I hate these looping
'vampy' keyboards, a 4 beat 'preset sounding' 909 kick
with a bad & slightly off key male "synth Pop-ish"
vocal just dumped flat on top. . . & THAT is somehow
being classified "Industrial"? I can't think of a time this
genre has hit such a musical slump as it is in now - not
since the Major labels were trying to cram Stabbing
Westward down our throats, anyway!

5.) When was the last time CS was in Europe? Are there
any plans to return or do another tour overseas? At one
point, CS did have an overseas label? Does Metropolis
handle all worldwide distro now?

vM: CS was in Europe in May of 1997, playing
primarily in the former East Germany. It was fantastic,
with some of the best shows. The fans were great and
very enthusiastic and hungry for new music. I would
love to get back to Europe and play more shows - but
all over the place, this time, from Italy all the way to
Finland. I also hope that one day we can play in the
Baltics and Russia - places that American bands
usually don't go.

mH: A small label from Germany [OutLine] licensed 2
of our albums from Metropolis. We were never signed
to them directly, & they started to lie to us about sales
figures & royalties, so Metropolis stopped working
with them. I haven't heard anything good about that
label since [as far as their business practices with other
labels & bands I know]. Now we have a much bigger
distributor [EFA] handling the direct distribution in
Europe from Metro. We can only hope to get back
over someday...

6.) So far there has been a release of the single "Wrong"
w/ remixes of that track and "Order+Joy" plus "New
Ideal". However, this has been an Internet only release.
Any plans for commercial release or release of another
single or EP?

mH: Not as of yet. We wanted to do something to "fill
the gap" of having no live tour in 2000, so we did the
"Wrong" promo/internet cd to get the name out there in
clubs & help push the "Order + Joy" album - which
seems to have helped, as planned.

7.) What are you all working on right now? New
material, remixes, or production for other bands?

vM: I'm working on videos for the band, finishing one
up for the track "Wrong." I'd like to release a video
mix, with visuals going along with some of Croc
Shop's best tracks - but that is still in the planning
stages so fans will have to wait. We are also beginning
the preliminary song writing and studio work on our
next album, to which we don't have a title yet.

8.) A bit off topic. I remember long ago stories of
when you were first looking to be signed you
mentioned the most hilarious and ridiculous offers
and contracts. Do you remember any of the particulars,
especially from the now defunct labels such as
Machinery or Fifth Column?

mH: Machinery wanted to take out Life Insurance
Policies on the 3 band members! That & the fact that
we had to get "permission" from the "Parent Company"
of Machinery [Modern Music, gmbh] to even USE our
own name or logo in anything we did here in the US
was a bit over the top... Fifth Colvmn's "Contract" had
it's own cans of worms, too - 10 years before we could
release "Live" versions of any of the tracks kind of
stuff... not quite as out there as the Germans! COP Int'l.
went as far as sending us a practical "love letter" from
one office & then saying we "sounded too 8t's to sign"
from the other - It was kinda funny to see our name in
their Adverts until the left hand figured out what the
right hand was doing! Let's just put it this way - we're
VERY happy we finally landed on Metro!

9.) Final thoughts/comments?

vM: Miyamoto Musashi writes: "Teach your body
strategy... When you have mastered the Way of
strategy you can suddenly make your body like a
rock, and ten thousand things cannot touch you."

mH: There he goes again, singin Moby songs. ! Body
Rawk Y'all.... WHAT ever happened to HIM ! ? ! . . .
Bahh!

crocshop.com

Xorcist interview

2009-11-09T15:08:00.000-08:00

Xorcist interview with Peter Stone
Originally published by the now defunct newempire.com
1999
by Evan South

Q: Please describe your progression as an artist from
the “early” years of Damned Souls through your new
album Nomad...

A: Well, it’s been almost 10 years since Damned Souls
and naturally a lot has happened. I’ve become a bit
more exposed to various elements of life as is the case
with anyone. I, however, have been more and more
disgusted with the way not so much as our world and
the people in it are shaping up to be, but more how the
world and the people are being controlled , deceived,
and lied to by others. Be it some greedy/prejudice
asshole who robs you or lies to you, or a local
government or government agency yet again pulling the
wool over people’s eyes.

Q: any possibility of another Phantoms-type album,
including some of your older/unreleased
material, possibly re-worked/re-mixed or updated?

A: Probably not-there are a couple of little things here
or there, but these would probably end up as MP3's
on the website.

Q: You have been around the music scene well over a
decade now, yet there has always been a lack of
coverage regarding Xorcist. Do you think this is
because you do not write material geared toward a
club setting?

A: Xorcist at first was just another EBM type album I
believe, yet it may have possessed (no pun intended)
a bit more of a melodic structure to it then other music
of its type-perhaps not so aggressive in places where
as a lot of other releases of the time were very “in your
face”. Over time, Xorcist really was beginning to
develop more of a soundtrack vibe and I think the
“scene” (industrial/gothic) is not really where Xorcist
should have planted its roots. Granted, I was part of
that scene, ran clubs, etc...but more over, Xorcist was
most likely not marketed correctly due to its sound
being honed and defined more within that soundtrack/
atmosphere sound with the next several releases after
Damned Souls. 21st Circuitry is a great label and all,
but at times, the stuff I was doing belonged in ads
targeting a much wider audience. I must have heard
1000 times how someone got turned onto Xorcist by
accident. That they were not even into the gothic/
industrial thing but they heard it from “somewhere”...
I think the next Xorcist release may be the last in the
“genre” per se.

Q: Any old piece of gear you regret not having any
longer or getting rid of?

A: Sure, the PPG 2.3, EVU, and Waveterm A.
But I was broke at the time. I hope one day to pick up
another combination like that but times were real hard
back then. They still are.

Q: Was there any particular movie, piece of music, or
episode in your life that set you on the path you’re on
now as an artist?

A: Growing up, I had two sisters who listened to guitar
based bands. Synthesizers were brought to my
attention via my love for computers. I still remember
placing an AM radio next to a Radio Shack TRS-80
just to hear the interference. There was, however,
one record my parents had that I used to listen to while
growing up which scared the living shit out of me. It
wascalled Music from Mathematics and it was musical
pieces (if you could call them that) done by an IBM
computer whose size took up a room. The sounds
generated by this thing were not of this earth, and me
being how old...3? 5? I was still pretty much one of
those kids young enough to be completely programmed
and consequently fucked up more than usual by what
was either heard or seen. That record set thing into
motion no doubt. Later on during life while into the
whole Heavy Metal thing, I realized I was more into
New Wave as I got into the keyboard elements much
more than banging my head and trying to bang some
chick (this is the Heavy Metal mentality). Synth bands
could create so much more in atmosphere than any
guitar band ever could. Eventually, I became enthralled
with films and realized that musical scores when done
right could have a dramatic effect on one’s mind.
Films such as Cat People, Scarface(Georgio Moroder),
and of course, The Keep (Tangerine Dream) are a few
that come to mind as scores that will forever be burned
into my mind.

Q: Is it possible to bring Nomad to a live setting? How
would you go about this?

A: I would love to put together a NOMAD tour, but it
would require quite a bit of money, something I don’t
think Pendragon really has. Any touring act with a large
show usually is on a large label that can front royalties
based on sales in the 10,000's if not the 100,000's.
Pendragon is a great label, but they’re just not that big.

Q: Please talk about your current club effort “The
Black Lodge” compared to your previous club “House
of Usher”...

A: The Black Lodge is a club my fiancé and I wanted
to open that concentrated more on the darker side
ambient dancy side of the gothic and industrial scene.
While I was running House of Usher, I would spin
stuff no other strictly “goth/industrial” club would
spin like Future Sound of London, Autechre, Locust,
Scala, SOMA, Uziq, Aphex Twin, etc. The Black
Lodge is a marriage of that scene along with the
electronic side of the gothic/industrial scene.
We hope it exposes both scenes to each others music.

Q: I read in another interview you were working on an
Xorcist video or videos?

A: Well, it’s another one of those time things. I have a
camera, I have a digital video card, I have ideas. Now I
need time and, well, a 15 gig hard drive would help as
well.

Q: Please tell us what is coming up for Xorcist...

A: There are some remixes being done of tracks off
NOMAD by Xorcist. Some music is being used in an
upcoming documentary on Charles Gatewood which
will eventually be on either HBO or Showtime, but I
hope the future holds more music, perhaps film scoring,
perhaps something new altogether. I don’t have any set
plans, it just flows.

Q: With your music much more soundtrack oriented,
have you ever submitted any pieces to a major or
independent movie studio for consideration? Have any
“major” music artists ever heard your work and sent
you comments?

A: Again, it is almost impossible to do such a thing.
You have to know someone in the biz.
It’s very, very nepotistic. I’m trying to find a publisher
or agent who may be able to help me, but so far I
haven’t found anyone worthwhile. As to if any “major”
artists have heard Xorcist? Not to my knowledge.

Q: Final thoughts/comments?

A: The hippies were right about some things... they just
smelled funny.

cyberden.com

Fiction 8 interview

2009-11-09T10:52:00.000-08:00

Interview with Fiction 8
Originally published by the now defunct newempire.com
2000
by Evan South

1.) Mike, can you explain the evolution of Fiction 8 as
a solo project with "DI" to more of a band with
"Chaotica"?

Mike - It wasn't really so much a solo project back
then. It was more that the other two band members at
the time didn't really give a shit about Fiction 8. The
keyboardist was busy going certifiably insane, and the
guitarist was more caught up in his own band. It felt
like a really dysfunctional family where I played
mommy most of the time and just stayed in the kitchen,
cleaning up the vomit (laughs). I always wanted to be
part of a band, rather than go it solo. Even though Mark
Mothersbaugh or Gerald Casale generally wrote most
of the stuff for Devo, their music was much more
interesting because everybody in the band put their
own take on the individual parts. Their albums always
had a wonderful energy because they didn’t sound like
some homogenized crap churned out of someone’s
sequencer. I think the reason I’m most happy with
“Chaotica” is because it really was a band effort. Mardi
and Steve brought a lot to the album and have brought
a lot to the shows and have generally made it a lot of
fun to do music again.

Steve – You know, the best part about being in this
band is the fact that, even if we weren’t in a band
together, I would still spend a lot of time with Mardi
and Mike. They are friends, not just band members.
That makes the band environment something very
enjoyable.

Paisli- Yeah.. what they said! I was actually friends with
Mike when Dissonance was released and met Steve not
long after. I was eventually brought on to help out with
promotion. The transition to playing with Fiction8 was
pretty easy, they needed a third member and I could
play instruments, so that was that. It’s just so much fun
to work with these two. No matter how difficult things
are, or how crazy we all get, we still manage to really
enjoy being around one another. We spend a lot of time
together outside of music too and I think it really makes
a difference now and will help us stick together for a
long time.

2.) Not only is this the third album but also the third
record label for you. Will this release be licensed
overseas to Matrix Cube, your last label?

Mike - No, I don’t think so. We were originally slated
torelease two more discs on Matrix Cube but I think it
was a mutual decision to split. Matrix’s parent company
(Trisol) was hoping we’d continue heading in more of a
goth direction, but Spirits was pretty much ‘it’ for us.
The tone of that disc was really set by our former
guitarist and after he got the boot, we really didn’t feel
like continuing in that direction. We told our
management and the label that we’d be heading back
into the electronic territory. And I think after we
submitted the demos for “Chaotica”, it became pretty
obvious to them that they’d either have to completely
change their marketing strategy or give us our walking
papers. Thankfully, they were pretty understanding
about the whole thing and let us sign with Nilaihah
without too much of a fuss. It was definitely a good
move for us and has given us a chance to release a disc
in the U.S.

3.) How would you compare "Chaotica" with your two
previous efforts "DI" and "Spirits"?

Mike – It’s a bit different than both I think. It probably
has more in common with “DI” just because it is a lot
more EBM and dance-oriented than “Spirits” was. But
I think the songwriting on “Chaotica” is a lot more
evolved than anything we’ve done before. A lot of
people have been saying that this new one is our best,
and I think I’d have to agree with that assessment. With
this new band line-up (Steve joined the band after the
release of “DI” and Mardi after “Spirits”), things have
clicked a lot better in the studio than they ever did in
the past.

4.) How do you translate the studio material into a live
setting? I notice you are much more active live now...

Mike - It’s really not that hard. Particularly with this
new disc, a lot of the material was written while we
were playing out all the time. So I think when you’re in
that “live” frame of mind, you just sort of gravitate
towards writing that way. It’s not even really a
conscious thing. For the most part we don’t have much
trouble picking what to play live.

Steve – Actually it’s very easy to do live shows. The
only thing is difficult is the equipment that we bring to
the shows. The list of equipment that we need to do a
particular song keeps growing. Pretty soon you will
only see Mike and Mardi, and there might or might not
be someone behind those keyboards. (laughs) That
however, only makes live shows more fun for me. The
more things I have to coordinate and control at the
same time to pull off the song in a live setting, just
makes the shows more fun. Is that masochistic?

Mardi – I think the reason we’ve been more active live
lately is not that it’s easier, but that we finally have
options for locations to play. We’ve met a lot of people
that have been willing to help us a lot and work on
booking shows, so that obviously makes it easier. It’s
never been very difficult to pull off a live setting, even
though there are a lot of things we’d like to add or
improve.

5.) As one of the few popular American electro
projects, how do view the US "scene"? What would
you change or improve?

Mike - Hmmm … that’s a tough one. You know, I
don’t know if I’d change a thing. There are a few
bands out there that are just rehashing old Skinny
Puppy discs. But for every one of those deadbeats,
there are a lot of bands that are starting to do some
really interesting stuff. I don’t know if I would have
been so optimistic a couple years ago, but now things
are looking really exciting again. In particular, there are
a lot of interesting bands from Colorado right now.
We’ve got links to a lot of them on our website
(www.fiction8.com).

Steve – One thing that I really dislike about some bands
that tout themselves as industrial is the monotony of
the music. One measure of a bass line, some drums
thrown on top of it, and some samples thrown on top
of that does not make a song. Mike mentioned bands
rehashing old Skinny Puppy material. To me, that is
even worse. It’s usually a poor copy without the feel
of the original. There are some very good industrial
bands out there though, and when I hear something
good, something that very obviously had a lot of effort
put into it, I will listen to the same songs for a really
long time.

Mardi – I don’t think there’s much we could change
or improve really! One of the biggest problems out here
is the audience. There just isn’t the type of audience
out here for the electro music that there is in Europe. I
see that changing a bit though, there seems to be a lot
more outlets, and venues and such for us to get our
music heard, but it’s nothing like the European market.
There are actually a lot of really great bands out here,
but they just don’t get heard! I would love to see the
big electro festivals that they have in Europe start here!

6.) Do you still have the same day job of scoring music
for video games, and does that influence your music, or
the other way around?

Mike – Yeah, I’m still working for VR-1 (http://www.vr1.com/).
I think the influence goes both ways. I think the biggest
thing is that when you’re doing music for hire 40 hours
a week, it really forces you to clean up your songwriting
chops. Sloppiness that I might have tolerated 5 years
ago doesn’t even enter into the picture anymore. If I
need some interesting chord to transition from one part
of a song to the next, I don’t just gloss over it with a
drum fill or sound effect anymore. I sit down and bang
it out until I have something interesting. So, in that
sense the games industry has really influenced the way
I write for F8. On the other hand, whenever I’m asked
to write something particularly dark and sinister for a
game, obviously some F8 influence is going to bleed
into the game … even if it’s an orchestral piece. So,
generally, I’d say it goes both ways.

7.) Speaking of influences, what have you been listening
to lately? Anything that you are looking forward to, such
as movies, music, etc?

Mike - I don’t get a lot of time to watch movies. I
caught David Cronenberg’s Crash a few months ago.
That was really good. But generally I don’t like
American movies because they tend to gorge
themselves on CGI special effects. Len from Implant
and I have had a running argument going for a while.
He says that American movies are better on the whole
than European ones because, at least if an American film
sucks it still has good special effects, while the
European one has nothing going for it if it sucks. But I
disagree. At least the European film still has its quirks
and personality, but the American film is so polished
with effects that it has absolutely nothing interesting to
latch on to. They say you can’t polish a turd, but
Hollywood still tries anyway. But as for music, yeah,
there’s a lot of great stuff out there. I find myself
listening to a lot of ambientstuff anymore. Particularly
bands on mp3.com like the Falling You and Numina …
a lot of Hidden Sanctuary
(http://stations.mp3s.com/stations/2/hidden_sanctuary.
html) type stuff. I think it’s one of those things where,
when you spend all day doing techno-industrial stuff
for games and then write music for F8, the last thing
you want to do is listen to more of the same.

Steve – Movies? I can’t even remember the last time I
went to a movie. I don’t even know what is out or
what is coming out. I don’t even have an antenna for
getting regular television. Music though, I have been
listening to a weird assortment of things lately. I rather
like the new U2 release. I literally just bought the new
Orgy CD, which I am listening to right at the moment.
It’s pretty okay. Other than that, I have been sticking
with some older favorites lately: Sister Machine Gun,
Project Pitchfork, and Die Warzau to name a few.

Mardi – Wheeeee!!! Music and movies are the best! I
recently saw “Best in Show” and loved it! I don’t tend
to ‘go’ to the movies that often, but I rent and buy a
lot. I just bought “Run Lola Run” on DVD. I think that
is my new favorite movie, it’s awesome! Music is so
sporadic to me! I get a lot of discs sent to me to write
reviews and I sometimes have a hard time keeping up.
I really love the new Collide CD and am looking
forward to the new Pitchfork. I’m a sucker for electro
synthpop lately, lots of Fictional, VNV Nation,
Covenant, that sort of stuff.

8.) What is next for Fiction 8? More music, live shows,
etc?

Mike – Yeah, things are definitely busy for us right now.
Since we finished “Chaotica” I’ve been doing remixes
for other artists. I finished up ones for Implant and
Aiboforcen recently and am currently working on one
for the Azoic (label mates on Nilaihah Records). We’ve
got a “Chaotica” release party in Denver in December
and obviously there’s a lot of planning and footwork we
have to do for that. After that, we’ll probably start
writing material for the next disc. We’re planning a
U.S. tour with the Azoic in the spring. That’s probably
going to happen around May. After that, I expect we’ll
wander back into the studio and record the next disc.
It’s one of those things where, we’re really hitting our
stride now and picking up a lot of momentum and
generally having a lot of fun doing it so I think we want
to keep going as hard as we can right now.

Mardi – Ouch! Too much to think of right now. I think
our main focus right now is to promote, promote,
promote, then tour. I really want everyone to hear this
disc and love it, then we can move on!

9.) Final thoughts/comments?

Mike – Nilaihah rocks! (laughs) We’ve been really
happy with the new label. It’s one of those rare
situations where we finally get the chance to be on a
label that really believes in what we’re doing and
totally supports us. With this album, we didn’t have
to worry about what the marketing guy thought of
our image or what the president thought should be
the single. We justmade the best album we could,
mailed it to the label, and a month later it was in
stores. The whole experience has been really
unbelievable.

fiction8.com
myspace.com/fiction8

Snog interview

2009-11-07T13:54:00.000-08:00

Interview with David Thrussell of Snog
Originally published by the now defunct newempire.com
2000
by Evan South

Q: A lot of your work has been released lately. Your last
album Third Mall from the Sun,a re-release of Lies Inc.
and DVC, and the current remix album Relax into the
Abyss. A comment on the abundance of old and new
material?

A: It seems to make sense to re-release Lies Inc.
and DVC as they are pretty much unavailable
in the USA and it was cool to be able to do some new
artwork. The album Third Mall from the Sun was a big
undertaking for us, a quasi conceptual electro
juggernaut careening wildly on and off the rails pushing
the envelope and dunking the witch. It has been a time
consuming exercise with the album being banned in
Australia due to the artwork and other associated
dramas. Relax into the Abyss is essentially two or three
theoretical singles off Third Mall from the Sun
combined as one album. There are various reasons for
doing this-singles are a pain in the ass and difficult for
the music lovers to find-I feel that an album of remixes
is more permanent and is more conducive to a
convincing structure.

Q: Relax into the Abyss contains 11 remixes from Third
Mall and 4 all new tracks. What is your take on other
artists’ take on YOUR material?

A: Well, gladly I like all the remixes of the album and
we spent some considerable amount of time pondering
the track order and flow. For me perhaps one of the
most noticeable differences between our original
material and the remixes is that the remixes are more
beat oriented and instrumental. It’s good sometimes I
think for the music to get a chance to reveal itself and
breathe a little without my grumbly groany voice
smothering everything. There’s a nice amount of scope
there from the glitch fever of Xingu Hill to the
electro-psyche rock of Shaolin Wood Men.

Q: Do you commission who does your remixes, and do
you have final say of what remixes will see the light of
day?

A: Yes. Yes. We maintain complete artistic control at all
times. It just couldn’t be any other way. I am a control
freak.

Q: Do you have any personal remixes from Relax...or
any of the older singles, such as Human Germ, Hooray,
etc.?

A: Well, it might sound a bit fluffy but I like everything
we release otherwise it wouldn’t see the light of day.

Q: Comments on the four new tracks? Especially “Oil”,
in the wake of the current world fuel crisis?

A: Generally speaking, the new tracks have a sound
scapey vibe. We thought that this provided
a nice respite from the more beat laden material. “Oil”
is our quasi esoteric view on the hypocrisy of
petroleum consumption and the deep dank mysteries
that lie far beneath desert sands and ocean floors.

Q: The artwork on Relax... is again like Third Mall, with
a message perhaps of we are what we eat, or we are
what we buy. Comments?

A: Yes, of course we are, and also I liked the subtle
connection between the suedo zen satire of the artwork
and the albums title.

Q: What is next for Snog? More remixes, new material,
etc.?

A: In about a years time there will be a new Snog
album. It will be quite different and I could tell you
more but that would spoil it.

Q: What is the status of other projects, such as Black
Lung or Soma?

A: New records from all projects will be forthcoming,
also keep an eye out for the Black Lung conceptual /
documentary album “Three weeks in a vegan nudist
colony”.

Q: On a non-musical note, how were the Olympics for
you and Australia?

A: Where do I begin? Whenever anyone says the word
Olympics my nostrils pick up the faint scent of gun
powder. Out here at the compound we erected
jamming stations to stop any Olympic propaganda from
penetrating our wholesome minds. Instead of allowing
ourselves to be bludgeoned by these oafish nationalistic
and corporate propaganda broadcasts we engaged in
our own game of organic mango body painting
competitions and awarding of gold medals for most
carousing sunburnt sexual gymnastics.

Q: Final thoughts/comments?

A: Party hard earthling. May the fruit of your loin be a
graceful offspring and may your harvest be always
bountiful.

myspace.com/snogtheband

System der Dinge interview

2009-11-07T09:48:00.000-08:00

Interview with Oliver Jaggi of System der Dinge
Originally published by the now defunct newempire.com
1999
by Evan South

Q: Please give a little background of the band
and its members.

A: SdD was founded some 14 billion years ago by
someone called “god”. We started making sound at
the beginning of the 90's. At that time we were 4
people, heavily influenced by Depeche Mode,
Front 242, Nitzer Ebb. Leaether Strip, etc. Now we’re
just 2, Oliver, (29, working as a chemist) and
Ken (27, working as a programmer).

Q: Tell us about your new, and first, CD release
“Fear Forms Function”.

A: After the release of our second demo tape 5 years
ago, we went through some troubled time, musically
speaking. Another member left the band which was
very stressful. We missed the chance to release our first
cd when we were offered a deal.Then, when we
decided to release a cd, our label at that
time went bankrupt. Besides that, there was a growing
conflict between this dark aggressive stereotype like
EBM sound and our psychological development. We
couldn’t identify ourselves with that sound anymore and
lost quite a bit of our self-confidence. We didn’t know
anymore what our music should sound like. So “Fear
Forms Function” can be regarded as a recapitulation of
this difficult period. But now we are very satisfied with
the result.

Q: Any type of “scene” in Switzerland? Do you have
any connection with other Swiss bands such as ECM,
Skalpell, Sleepwalk, etc?

A: Yes, we have good connections to other swiss bands
because many of the people we know are doing music
themselves. Like Henry and Harry of the great ECM/
Skalpell. But there are other superb bands here like der
Eremit (www.dereremit.com) and SyntheticCyclone.
Der Eremit has already released some cd’s so please
have a listen to it if you like dark, intense, and
experimental music. We’re sure that Synthetic Cyclone
will release their debut cd in the near future and it will
be the bomb, that’s for sure. So watch for this
very talented band if you like a mixture of dark EBM
and goa. We also used to know Sleepwalk but we
haven’t seen them for some time, but we heard that
they have released their new cd recently.

Q: I know you have played live in the past. Any current
plans to do so, or future live plans?

A: Of course, we plan to do some live shows to
celebratethe release of our first cd. For the future we
would also like to play some completely different stuff.
We already have an idea how this will sound like. And
we’re doing it live in the sense that we don’t use some
kind of audio playback device but sequencers and synths.

Q: Most Euro bands are on Euro labels, and in fact many
North American bands also sign overseas, but you have
done the complete opposite by signing with the
American label DSBP. Tell us how this came about.

A: We had some contacts with European labels that
were interested in us, but none of them were really
excited about us. Than Oliver heard Tommy T on
Cyberage Radio and sent him a demo. He was so
enthusiastic about it we didn’t know if he was joking or
not. We had the feeling that they believed in our sound.

Q: Is SdD working on any new material, remixes, etc?
What can we expect in the future from SdD?

A: Right now we’re preparing the cd tracks for playing
live. For live shows we just use a part of our equipment,
a hardware sequencer, a few synths, a sampler, and
effects. That’s why we have to change quite a lot.
With “Fear Forms Function” we concluded a phase
of SdD, we would really like to do some new stuff now.

Q: What kind of music have you been listening to lately?

A: We listen to quite a broad range of musical styles.
Latest record was “Legend II” of Saviour Machine.
Very impressive. And of course the new Flatline sampler
on which there is a remix of one of our songs done by
Henry of ECM/Skalpell.

dsbp.cx

Aghast View interview

2009-11-07T09:22:00.000-08:00

Interview with Fabricio Viscardi of Aghast View
Originally published by the now defunct newempire.com
2000/2001
by Evan South

1.) Phaseknox seems to be a complete 180 from your
previous effort Carcinopest. More polished, smoothe,
less harsh, etc. Comments?

Well, basically you´ve said it all... It is really a
more polished release in which we spent more time in
the production... Denis spent a lot of time trimming
the vocal effects and the arrangementes as well, we
began working with Pro computer editing, but we still
need to develop our skills on that...There are many
thing to explore in post production and a lot to learn
from mistakes and experiments... The album is
comprised of 11 tracks that reflect our current sound
and ideas.
We´ve gathered influences from many electronic roots
as trance , industrial , tekno and of course we kept
the main EBM sound, which is whtt we stand for. I
think Phaseknox is an album that can be apprecciated
by a wider variety of electronic music fans, not only the
harsh rivetheadz.

2.) Another difference is Phaseknox contains more
instrumentals. It is almost a 50/50 split between the
songs with words and instrumentals.
Was this planned, or did words just not fit in with
some songs?

Nah...We did it like that...Some of the tracks were
written to be solely instrumental pieces, such as the
anthemic "glass waves" or the ambient like "slider".
These tracks are complete without need of vocals.
They just flow like that.

3.) People may not know that there was almost a
3-4 year gap between the writing of the last two
albums. Although Carcinopest came out in 1998, the
material had been around since 1996. By the time it
came out, did you worry that it may have sounded
dated, and people may think the new material is
similar?

Well, we had a certain worry that it should sound a
little bit dated, yeah, but it came out as a really
well accepted album and it built a strong reputation
for us, though some people thought we are too harsh
EBM by only listening to carcinopest and not the other
works we´ve done... The new material is there to
prove we are not an overly biased band on the aggro
side.

4.) When you look back over the years at your
original material off of Nitrovisceral, Vapor Eyes,
etc., how do you feel you've changed and
developed as artists? Would you ever re-record and
modernize any of the older material for re-release?

In the beggining we were much more of a group of
"revolted" young guys wanting to make some real pissed
off elctronic music with pissed off lyrics...we had
only harsh indystrial/EBM influences and we didn´t
have that much on equipment, we had a lot of effort
and rage. As time passed we evolved as people and as
musicians, we´ve worked with a lot of bands, remixing
many stuff and we learned to like other types of music
and not only the hardestcore of industrial music.

5.) Are there plans yet for Phaseknox to be
licensed in Europe, like Carcinopest was on Zoth?

Yes, there are, but we prefer not to speculate on
that at this moment.

6.) Will there be remixes off of Phaseknox, like
the Truthhead remix cd, or another limited box set?

Box, nah...people don´t seem to want this kind of
release anymore. We are already working on new tracks
and there will be some remixes too, done either by
us and other great bands out there.

7.) What is next for Aghast View? Remixes, more
original material, compilation appearances, remixes
for other artists?

A little bit of everything I think...We´ve just done
a remix for the new Lights Of Euphoria single "fortune
teller" and we will soon remix the new material from
Diverje, which kixx ass. We are as I said before
writing new stuff as well as we plan on releasing
a EP later this year.

8.) Will we see another Biopsy release in the near
future?

I would prefer to say in the future, not so near. We
really don´t know when we will begin writing the new
Biopsy album, we need to check that out...But we do
have solid plans on continuing with Biopsy!

9.) Final thoughts/comments?

Thanx for the questions and all the best for you and
all people who took the time to read this out...

dsbp.cx

Jared Hamman interview

2009-11-06T20:08:00.000-08:00

Jared Hamman: Making a Name the Hard Way

By Evan South
Originally published by Full Contact Fighter
2007
fcfighter.com

There are many ways to make a name for yourself in the sport of MMA. One is to fight in an old school tournament where you fight more than once the same night. The other is to face a big name, preferably a UFC or Pride veteran. Jared Hamman did both in the same event. Recently, the International Fighting Championship held a 4-man Cruiserweight (between light-heavy and heavy) tournament. Hamman made it past his first fight to defeat UFC and Pride veteran Travis Wiuff in the finals.

Even more surprising for this relatively unknown fighter would be his background. “I only did 1 year of wrestling in high school and then played football at University of Redlands” said Hamman. “I’ll have only been training and fighting for 2 years this coming November”.

Hamman recalls his introduction to MMA, “I was coaching football at University of Redlands and I had always joked about fighting. I wanted to do something, so I went to the local gym and started training and I was hooked. I had my first smoker amateur fight 3 months after starting training. I won 5 of those in a row. I had my first pro fight after about 4 months of training.”

Hamman’s pro win streak landed him as an alternate for the International Fight League’s Tokyo Sabres. As the light-heavyweight alternate this gave him the fortuitous opportunity to train with Vladimir Matyushenko.

“We trained together all the time” recalls Hamman. “We became friends and training partners.” In replying to what it is like to train with Matyushenko, Jared responded, “His grappling is unbelievable. I’ve seen him mop up so many people. It’s kind of disheartening to train with him sometimes because he is that good.”

Vladimir was also the one who first told Jared about the IFC tournament. “Vladimir asked me how much I weigh and I told him I walk around about 215lbs. He tells me the IFC has this new weight class of 205-230lbs, and I’m thinking here we go! I knew I would still be underweight and I weighed in at 222lbs with my shorts on and a full belly of food.”

Hamman’s opponents were both bigger fighters who were more than likely cutting to make the 230lb limit. Fighting in a tournament style format is difficult due to not knowing who you may face if you get past the first fight, so developing a game plan can be tough. Hamman explains, “My gameplan for the whole tournament, I predicted I was fighting a bunch of ground guys. I knew my first opponent, Rogent Lloret, had won multiple Abu Dhabi trials, so I knew he was really good on the ground. So I trained the whole time to defend take downs, get off my back, and avoid submissions.”

Jared’s first fight with Lloret, however, didn’t go as planned. “When Rogent came out and he was straight kickboxing, it blew me away,” said Hamman. “We went to the ground one time and just ended right back up. His kickboxing was awesome. He was actually the hardest fight because he was so big. I’m usually taller than most guys I’ve fought, and he was taller than me. His reach was really long, really stiff jab, really good movement. It kind of threw me off because I was expecting a submission expert!”

Complicating matters was the fact Hamman was knocked down in the first round.

“From what I remember, I went down to a knee, but I definitely got knocked down, that’s for sure,” Hamman says. “The ref told me later that it was close, but I got right back up and kept on fighting, that’s why he didn’t stop it. I knew at some point, my head was spinning.”

Surviving the first round, things were not better for Hamman going into the second. “I inside leg kicked him in the first round and broke my foot. It forced me to calm down. In between rounds my corner (Matyushenko and coach Brian Warren) told me to relax and use my footwork. And this with a broken foot” laughed Hamman. “First round was a street brawl. Second round I slowed down, I was setting up my punches more, using my head movement because I knew I couldn’t kick him anymore, my foot was done for! I had been working on my inside left and right hooks with my boxing coach, he told me I had a pretty strong right hook, and that’s what I ended up catching Rogent with.”

With Travis having fought right before, Hamman knew who he would be facing in the finals. As Hamman tells it, “I was waiting in the wings to fight Rogent during Travis’ fight, and he beat his guy in less than 2 minutes. I saw that and thought this is going to be interesting,”

Hamman had a decision to make in between fights as to whether or not to continue due to his broken foot. In addition, both eyes were really swollen. As Hamman tells it, “I told my corner my foot was broken and I don’t know if I can walk on it. Once that adrenaline goes away...I decided to put it on ice and see what happens, because there were several more fights in between. However, I decided I didn’t come out here to quit, I didn’t come out to fight one fight, I came out to do the whole thing.”

With the first fight jitters out of the way, Hamman could now concentrate on his final opponent.

“I had just been in a war with Rogent, so when I went out there and looked across and saw Travis, I was thinking I was not scared of anything now,” Hamman tells FCF. “If I had fought Travis first, I may have been more nervous. But now I was ready to fight and bang.”

Hamman was also surprised that Travis chose to stand and bang with him. “I think he got a takedown in the first round, but we just stood through blows. I don’t know if it was my takedown defense, but we just went toe to toe. In the second round, he got another takedown, I reversed position and we stood up. I did kind of a judo throw, threw him against the fence, pushed my weight against his body to smash him up against the cage. I started pounding away with my right hand; he couldn’t defend because I had one of his arms trapped. After about 7 or 8 unanswered punches the ref stopped the fight.”

One would think the sky would be the limit for the 25 year old undefeated fighter, but as Hamman explains; “Now that I won this belt, I need to learn how to actually fight! I haven’t even been doing this for 2 years. People are telling me I need to go to the UFC. I’ll go to the UFC and get smashed.”

http://www.myspace.com/87681500

Rex Richards Interview

2009-11-06T19:59:00.000-08:00

Rex Richards: Next Victim of the Tom Erikson Syndrome?

By Evan South
2007
originally published by full contact fighter
fcfighter.com

Tom Erikson syndrome- Defined as a syndrome where a fighter is consistently ducked or avoided and has trouble finding opponents. The next fighter who may suffer from this could be Rex Richards, a young super-heavyweight who is undefeated and incredibly dangerous.

How dangerous? His last fight at Strikeforce this past June lasted only 34 seconds.

“I sensed that I hurt him (opponent Ray Seraille) early on and that’s why I went straight for the attack” said Rex about the quick bout. “I threw a quick combo and a leg kick and I could see that it hurt him, I got him against the cage, the ref broke us up and I could see that I could maybe charge him with a couple punches and get him down and ended up knocking him out.”

Rex’s previous fight at Strikeforce last December also went quickly. Rex reflected on his last bout stating “I didn’t even throw a standing punch. I took the guy down, did a little ground and pound and went for the submission.” So far Rex’s 4 pro fights have lasted a total of approximately 5 and a half minutes. Does he worry these quick fights are not preparing him for a long drawn out war?

“That’s yet to be seen” replied Rex. “I train like I’m doing 12 rounds so I think I go into every fight prepared as far as cardio, technique, everything for the 5 minute rounds. That’s something we’re going to find out down the road, how I can continue and react to going the full rounds. I’m sure we’ll see that in the future. I think as hard as I train there will be no problem with that.”

Rex is already used to opponents changing regularly and this last fight was no exception. Concerning that situation Rex said “That’s part of the reason I went into that fight a little more pissed off than normal. I’m a creature of habit, I played football a long time, I watch film, I study. I didn’t have much detail on the previous guy I was going to fight, however I was training for a particular style and body type and it changed and that’s kind of the reason I went in there, took care of business, took a shower and went home.”

Rex mentioned playing football and is best known to some as a former lineman for the San Jose Sabercats. What would make someone go from a promising football career to the uncertain world of MMA? Rex answers “My football career was going very well, I was with a team I really enjoyed, but I decided MMA is going to be a bigger thing in my life. I’ve always enjoyed fighting more than football. This last football season I signed a Strikeforce contract and decided to do MMA full time. I see a lot of opportunity in MMA and just want to be involved in it. There is something in me that I always wanted and needed this as a career. If there was a big UFC on and the Superbowl, I would be in the other room watching UFC.”

Regarding the aforementioned Tom Erikson syndrome Rex had the following thoughts: “I think I’m in a really weird place right now, I think I’m in a place where I need to make a big jump up in the fights. I’m also still in a bad position that I don’t know if any of these big name guys want to go out and risk a loss. I’m hungry, I consider myself a very athletic fighter. I think I have a lot to offer the super heavyweight category and maybe down the road the heavyweight division.”

Rex is 6' 5" and walks around 305lbs. Would he be willing and able to cut to heavyweight?

“If I could do it” answers Rex. “I don’t know if my frame will allow it. I haven’t been under 270 lbs since I was a junior in high school. I would make the cut if I knew something in particular was going to happen (as in a specific match up) and I could stop everything I was doing and concentrate on training to get prepared for that. I know I would be very explosive and very strong at heavyweight. That’s something I would like to consider down the road but right now it’s tough. I’ve got a really big, thick frame. It would be a battle to get to heavyweight but I think I could do it and I could be really strong at heavyweight.”

Currently surveying the super heavyweight field, Rex did mention a few names of who he would like to face. “I’d like to fight Brock Lesnar. I know not a whole lot of people want to get on him right now. Ron Waterman has been mentioned as a future fight maybe with another promotion I’m going to do some work with too.”

In relation to pay as part of stepping up in competition Rex had the following to say: “I’m not going to turn down a fight with any of those guys, but I’m not going to fight the #1 guy in the world for what a prelim guy is making. I’ve got to make a smart career choice.”

So what is next for Rex Richards? “Strikeforce will probably be my next fight but I have an open (non-exclusive) contract with them, so I can go fight for other companies as long as they can match what Strikeforce is paying me. I have 4 more fights left with Strikforce. Strikeforce was cool to offer that kind of contract to me. I’m just looking for big fights that will boost the career. I’m thinking about doing the Mundials in August in Los Angeles as a brown belt. I would like to win the brown belt division. I definitely want to get my next fight in by September.”

Rex closed by talking about the type of fighter he wants to be. “I like to finish my fights. I want to be exciting. I want to be that fighter the fans say they want to see again.”

With the birth of his first child (daughter Riley) this past April Rex summarized everything best by saying: “A lot of good things happening right now”. As long as that Erickson syndrome will stay at bay...

myspace.com/rexafl

Jon Murphy interview

2009-11-06T19:58:00.000-08:00

Jon Murphy- One Step at a Time

By Evan South
Originally published by Full Contact Fighter
2007
fcfighter.com

It starts out as every fighter’s dream. You are 3-0 as a pro with your 3rd win over a UFC veteran and well on your way up the ladder. Next thing you know you drop your next 2 fights in less than a month and your dream quickly turns into a nightmare, 1 loss away from becoming a .500 fighter. This is the experience of up-and-coming heavyweight Jon Murphy.

8 days after defeating UFC veteran Sherman Pendergarst, Murphy took a chance to fight in an Extreme Challenge tournament that could have big show implications. Unfortunately, Murphy ran into a relatively unknown Houston Alexander. “I didn’t know who he was, nobody knew who he was. I really learned from that situation, I was too hesitant” said Murphy about his loss to now UFC star Alexander.

Looking to rebound, Murphy then fought Chase Gormley in King of the Cage. “He’s a monster” said Murphy of Gormley. “He was a heck of a good wrestler, college all-American from what I understand. He’s a big strong guy.” Murphy lost by decision in the 2 round affair.

Murphy had some thoughts on his losses. “One thing I was doing was I thought I needed more cardio. My natural weight is 250. When I fought Pendergarst I was about 230. I was kicking butt as far as cardio but it was sapping me of one of my biggest assets which is my strength and my power. I got back into a good strength and conditioning program and am back up to 255.”

Murphy had been as heavy as 285 back when he played college football. The fighter’s athletic background was a real mixed bag. He started college football in Syracuse, tried out with pro teams and played arena football as well. He also did amateur boxing and has a pro boxing license as well but has yet to box as a pro. So why would one give up a promising football career for MMA?

Murphy answers, “I loved the competition of football, the physicality and aggressiveness of it, but I didn’t actually love the game. Equating that with MMA, I love the game of MMA and everything that goes with it. I love being there (at the gym), I love learning, it’s my passion. Football wasn’t my passion. I think that’s why I didn’t excel past a certain point in football, I really didn’t grasp it as a love, it was more like something to do.”

Soon after his foray into football, Jon began his much discussed descent into alcoholism and addiction. Jon explains, “That’s really when the alcoholism came into play. I was starting to go out more and drink more. I was dealing with a lot of anxiety issues and anxiety is what really probably pushed me to drink. I was just afraid of a lot of things. Now I can look back and wonder what was there to be afraid of, it was nothing. So I had about a year where I didn’t know what I wanted to do, bouncing around, working different jobs.”

At the end of 2003 Jon got with his trainer Jeff Walcott and started competing in his first amateur MMA and boxing bouts, leading to his pro MMA career. Even with the 2 quick pro losses, Murphy was still promising enough to get noticed by ProElite’s new ShoXC program run on Showtime, and was signed to a 3-fight deal. Murphy made his debut a successful one by defeating Dave Huckaba this past August by KO in the second round. Huckaba was a last minute replacement for Murphy’s original scheduled opponent, Tony Bonello.

In describing the fight against Huckaba, Murphy explains about the now infamous “phantom” armbar that occurred in the first round, “He was on top of me, I swept him into mount and started throwing some elbows and fists and that’s when I went for the armbar. Technically it was a sound Japanese armbar, but without the arm. It looked like I was doing acrobatics.”

Continuing into the second round Murphy furthers, “The first round, the adrenaline of a big fight, the crowd, the fact that it was on TV played into my fatigue, but after the minute rest I was ready to go. I came out, backed him up with a couple jabs, went to the body, clipped him with a right hand and knocked him out cold with another big right.”

In his down time Murphy stays busy as a full-time student, working a 15 credit hour semester, as well as attending 12-step meetings as often as possible. Murphy had entered rehab last year and looks to stay on course. He is even growing out his hair simply so he can shave it off and donate it to the “Locks of Love” charity. What is next for the 30 year old heavyweight?

Murphy explains, “I would like to fight about every 6 weeks, that is ideal for me. I have a fight October 6 in Combat in the Cage against Wade Hamilton, who has had some tough fights against guys like Justin Eilers and Travis Wiuff.”

Unofficially Murphy may also be fighting on the next ShoXC card October 26th. ShoXC has a show set for that date but the full fight card has yet to be announced. Either way Murphy is making his climb to the top one step at a time.

http://www.myspace.com/aejm4ever

Biopsy interview

2009-11-06T16:32:00.000-08:00

Biopsy interview with Fabricio Viscardi
Originally published by the now defunct newempire.com
1999
by Evan South

Q: How would you describe Third Stroke compared to
Nervate and Cervix State Sequences?

A: Third Stroke is more club oriented. It has different
bass structures for the songs, as it is not so focused
on electric-guitar layers.

Q: One thing missing from Third Stroke was any
“ambient” song like Lumen Obscura from CX State
Sequences or Utopic Tranquility from Nervate. Was
this intentional?

A: It was definitely not intentional, it just did not
happen this time. The re-issue of Nervate will have
a new ambient track like those aforementioned as
one of the bonuses.

Q: The vocal style seems to be more subdued on
Third Stroke. Are you still doing the majority of the
vocals, or changing singing styles?

A: In fact I do all the vocals and lyrics on Biopsy.
I try to experiment with vocal tones and phrases often.

Q: How do you determine what will be a Biopsy or
Aghast View song? Do you write for a particular project
at one time?

A: No...we know what we are writing. Or we write to
Aghast View or to Biopsy specifically.

Q: Third Stroke, like the two albums before it, is
incredibly diverse in sound. Is there any common
theme linking the songs together?

A: Not really. The themes are very subliminal and
imaginative.

Q: I understand the first Biopsy album, Nervate,
will be re-released early next year! What can we
expect from the re-release? New tracks and/or remixes?

A: It will have new tracks as bonuses, and new cover
artwork as well.

Q: Where are you looking for the sound of Biopsy to
go next?

A: Hmmm...we don’t know yet. It is a matter of
momentum.

Q: What are you working on as we speak? What does
the future hold for all your projects, esp. Aghast View
with the current “upheaval” at Zoth Ommog?

A: We are working with new Biopsy tracks(some for
the re-issue), and soon we plan onstarting a new Aghast
View album. We are not sure what happened with
Zoth, but we know it is still an existing label and we
are still licensed to them for future releases.

Q: Final thoughts/comments?

A: Thank you very much for this opportunity and all
the best to all our fans and supporters!

dsbp.cx

Skylash Interview

2009-11-05T12:36:00.000-08:00

A glimpse into the past of Eric Chamberlain, this is a quick interview I did with him back in 1999 for his side-project Skylash for the now defunct newempire.com:

Skylash interview with Eric Chamberlain
by
Evan South
1999

Q: How did the Skylash project develop? Did you already have an idea in mind, or did you have some tracks you didn’t think would fit as Index so you decided to create an offshoot project?

A:This project was always something I wanted to do. None of the tracks here are leftovers from Index.

Q: Is there a common theme to Empyreal Day Dreams?

A: I wanted to compose something that, overall, was very melodic and pretty, through
dark and light moments. As far as topical subject matter, only the listener can draw their
own conclusions.

Q: Was this intended to be instrumental, or did you write the music with possible vocals in mind? The insert states you are looking for a female or male vocalist for Skylash. Did you not want to sing yourself?

A: As above, I wanted people to come up with their own mental/visual interpretation,
rather than having trite lyrics telling people what to think. This was intended to be
instrumental about 90% of the way, but I would like to get some nice vocals on 2-3
tracks for the next album. I prefer not to sing myself here.

Q: What do you want to accomplish with Skylash that you think you might not be able to do with Index? Are you trying to focus in on one sound with Index and let loose with
Skylash?

A: Actually, I’d say it was the other way around, as the next album for Index will be
somewhat different. It’s more about creating an aural landscape on a lot of the new
Index, whereas for Skylash I wanted a project that still focused on melody and feeling.

Q: What other plans do you have for Skylash? Are you already working on new material for that project?

A: I’m really busy now, but I plan to work on it as soon as possible. I’m very motivated for it, and it has gotten a good response, so I want to keep it going.

Q: The Skylash insert also states the new Index album, Ultra Hard Shadow, is upcoming! Is the new album complete? Will it be released before 2000, and what can we expect from the new Index?

A: It’s not quite complete, but very close. It will be mostly instrumental, with a different
sound to it. I feel that I can create something more than the typical electro/industrial
thing, so some of it sounds very different. It’s also the reason why it’s taken so long
to complete, because I keep scrapping songs in favor of new ideas.

Q: Does living in a place like New Mexico help or hinder your musical processes, since
you are isolated from any type of “scene” or undue influnces?

A: You could look at it either way. On the one hand, I could say it’s bad because I can’t keep up with what’s going on, but on the other hand, with what seems popular in the scene these days I’m not sure I want to be exposed to it all. As far as location it hinders me because I have goals, music-wise, and I simply live in the wrong place for what I want.

Q: Do you still work for UPS?

A: No, I don’t work for UPS. I’m in school right now.

Q: Finally Eric, from the song “The Dove” from Black Light Twilight. One thing that
has been bothering me for years... what the hell is a “Drillion”???

A: It’s just a word I made up for the song. Basically I took it to mean a negative motion
to whatever is above us. You can take that however you want.

Q: Final thoughts/comments?

A: Thanks for the interview. The new Index might be out this year, but probably early 2000.

myspace.com/indexai
elcmedia.com

IndexAI interview

2009-11-04T18:48:00.000-08:00

Index AI interview with Eric Chamberlain
by
Evan South
2009
　
　
Can you give us some basic background on yourself and the transition from Index to IndexAI?

Index started around 1993. I had been producing some electro before that, but it was more influenced by the west coast hip hop scene than anything that you might call industrial or anything related to it. But I was listening to a mixture of things and I wanted to mix the tech nature of something like Kraftwerk with the feeling of the west coast music that was popular at the time. Add to that the atmospheric and emotional quality of early OMD and other things like Vangelis, and that's sort of what inspired my early work. By the time I met Kurt Luette and Cody Cast, I was listening to 242, Skinny Puppy. I still like all of that, especially stuff like the older Front Line Assembly. So, that's where it started. Kurt was on one EP, and Cody was on one full length. I kept the name going but it always sort of nagged me, that it was the same even though it was just me. But everybody identifies what I do by that name, so I had to find a way to keep it yet make it evolve, thus Index AI came about. Musically, the same dream and desire for this electronic music is there, but the name is really my own as Index AI. Ironically, I may work again with Cody for the second part of Topiary En Hades, but that's just one of those funny things in life.

Your music is known for being very complex and multi-layered. How did you come to compose music this way, as opposed to your standard bass and synth line with a beat?

I, as a kid, always admired Vangelis for his ability to create ambience. But when I discovered electro, way back in 1983, I found a rhythm. I imagined mixing it together. I started with just a drum machine and some turntables. As the years went by I learned to find my own voice, and one thing I discovered about myself was that every time I listened to electronic music, it was creating a landscape in my mind, as if the very sounds themselves had a physical representation, and that I could see it. So inspiring. So when I really started to write for myself, with the first Index, I wanted to try for myself to recreate that idea, that sounds could inspire a visual representation. So a string sound would represent the sky above the land, which was represented by the rhythm, and all the little electronic sounds represented the curious life-forms that inhabit that landscape. So in my earlier work I just packed it all in with that desire to create a picture with music. Recently I have tried to tighten the songs up, without losing the ambience, and try to get that landscape mentality across more efficiently. You'll notice in my newer music, going back to World Blade Center, I started using fewer obvious samples. I just wanted the texture of it. But I sample everything you could imagine. Sometimes I leave the sample relatively clean, like the sample of Ronald Reagan on Crayon Sky, but most of the time I twist those samples around, and it just sort of contributes to the Index sound. Like it was meant to be. I sample people, media, wildlife, strange instruments like the waterphone, I scraped the inside of a piano and recorded it. The very last song on the new Index, it's called Verdigris Empire, that has a sample of an electrical transformer changing positions and creating an arc of energy, when I saw that I was inspired with awe and I knew I had to put that in the very last track, because it represents the emotional quality of the whole record, right in one sound. So I take all these sounds and try to figure out how I can put them together in a coherent fashion, that fits with my sound as Index or whatever, and create that sonic landscape.

Ultra Hard Shadow was released in late 2000 and it took 5 years for World Blade Center to come out. What was happening in that span of time?

Basically I was pursuing another career and trying to figure out my musical situation and direction. I had become disillusioned with some things, and I was trying to adapt. Trying to figure myself out. I sort of wish I had never stopped, but I needed the time to reflect or else become burned out. People reacted, WTF? Where did he go? But it was necessary. I had really reached a low place in life, without understanding it immediately. So I had to figure that out, figure out how to be happy, it was like starting over. That took a long time, a really long time. Not a few months, almost a decade in total. It's hard to describe, but I am doing the same thing I wanted to, as before, but now it's like my foot is down in the right place and things work.
　
On the same subject, it has been a much shorter span between WBC and Topiary in Hades, yet you are releasing 3-4 times as much material. What was the inspiration or catharsis for this?

Going back to the previous question, I was able to more or less figure out how to be content, and I was able to make things happen. So there was a lot of personal stuff that was going on, a lot of it unpleasant, frankly, but there was also the process of doing it, the process itself. I got really bored with how I was doing the music I had been doing. I felt I had pulled everything out that I could, how I was writing it, and I really needed another approach. Getting into software-based music, mixing that with some of what I had before, has really opened the door for me to explore in a way that wasn't possible before. I feel like things are now really easy for me in a way that I don't have to think about that process, I can just instantly write what's in my head. So that ideal situation has led to me writing much more. If you mix those two ideas, one, improving my perspective, and two, a brand new way of producing, it really made a lot more possible and I am running with it.

How was it changing from a long time label relationship to being self-released?

Well, I'm really grateful for the opportunity to work with COP Intl, that's how people came to know me. I'm very ambitious and I wanted to release more material, different projects with different tones and style, but, looking at it from a business perspective, a label can't easily deal with that when they are also trying to promote other projects at the same time. And you know, the music that these bands produce is important to them, and the label wants to help them, so, for COP to concentrate on what I wanted to do would be unfair, in a way, to the others. But it's different for each label, we all have our priorities. The upside is I make exactly what I want. It's beautiful. The more difficult side is, you have to do everything yourself. It's a challenge. As it is right now, I love producing all this different music on my own, but I would definitely be interested in having some kind of working relationship with a label. Aside from what's practical, it's also enjoyable to work with people who enjoy the same music.

You've been very prolific as of late. Is this all new material in conjunction with releasing older material that's been building up? Also can you give us a breakdown of the projects?

A couple of the tracks here and there are older, unreleased tracks, but like on the Index and the Telepheriq Chamberlain, that's all new. One track on the latter, it's an older one from a project that never was released properly. And then I have the other electro project, which is new but has a couple of electro tracks that were going to be on a Skylash release. But even those tracks are new, only a few months old. The breakdown is like this. Index AI, Topiary En Hades (part 1), this is a full length in the traditional Index form that is familiar to people. The song structures are a little more tight than before, but it's dark-ish electro. I'm very pleased with it. It has it's aggressive moments, but it also has ethereal, introspective moments, and I feel that it ranks up at the top compared with any other Index or Index AI release. I've also got one called Telepheriq Chamberlain, which is an instrumental full length of ambient, glitchy electro. I hate trying to categorize this one because it's really just music without any attempt to belong to any genre. I really love it. That CD is called Eric Chamberlain Music, which I hope reflects the lack of genre. I was really inspired for the work on this one and I did it while also working on Topiary En Hades. I have yet another release coming, a full length of electro that goes back to my origins mentioned earlier with some of the west coast inspiration. This is called Coconaut: Evenings In Eternity, and it mixes together everything I have ever loved about electro. I'm really excited about it.

Give us some more detail and insight into the Coconaut project...

Again, I am very excited about Coconaut. It's basically an electro/dance project. I wanted a name that was very open and fun, so I mixed Coconut and Astronaut and came up with Coconaut. It's just really upbeat electronic instrumental music. Imagine being on a beach in the tropics, with palm trees around, at dusk, and you are listening to groovy electronic music that is inspired by the 80s West Coast electronic scene. Pure bliss, just music to make you feel good. This could have very well been the next Skylash CD, but it has a more obvious electro feel and I always wanted to use the name Coconaut, so that's what it is, Coconaut, Evenings In Eternity. Imagine your greatest memories as a kid, your first love, the things that warm your heart, that childlike innocence. That is what Coconaut is all about. Some of my finest electro ever is on this CD, and it has been one of my dreams to release this music. Prepare to be on cloud 9 when you listen. Electro heaven.

You also plan to re-release another side project of yours, Nom Silencieux. Tell us about this project and the decision to put it out again.

This is an instrumental ambient project I did a while back. I am tweaking it a slight bit and re-releasing it. The music for NS was something I had always wanted to. I have always loved ambient music, it's sort of my secret favorite thing, the thing that people maybe would never guess about me. While NS (The title is Eyes Are Clocks) has the occasional slight rhythmic element, it really is the result of my love of ambient music and my desire to do my own take on it. It's very surreal, often spacious and based on my perpetual notion that sound can create something visual in your mind, it can create a place, and I love that. Nom Silencieux is like music from a dream. It was never properly released, only a few copies on a CDR, so this will be a proper release, I'm excited about it. But I want to make it a little more current with how I can create textures and ambience. I really hope people check it out because it's an important part of the whole musical vision.

When you originally did Skylash you had plans to add male or female vocals to the instrumentals. Have you thought again of writing music with other vocalists or collaborators in mind?

Absolutely! I always dream that I can find a vocalist who can inject a brilliant, soul-stirring voice. Something that is passionate. Somebody whose voice will bring tears to your eyes. If that's you, then contact me, we'll do a record. Don't be shy, believe in yourself!

Over the years with all these projects you have created a large body of music. What is your goal, or what are ultimately trying to accomplish with your work?

I want to make a difference in my own small way. I want people to be inspired, to see beyond their daily routine. If only one person listens to my music and decides that they should make a positive difference in the world, then I have succeeded. Everything I do, whether it is Index or Skylash, Coconaut or anything else, it is meant to be a light. Especially with Index, the best way to describe it is, it's a lone, singular light in a dark wilderness. And I want everyone to know that you can lift yourselves up and serve humanity, and all creatures, for that matter. If my music in some small way can inspire that glint, that spark, then I have done my job. When I die, I want people to think that I left a positive mark on the world. Since I communicate through music, I figure that's my best shot. The way that I have been inspired, by Front 242, Kraftwerk, Vangelis, Davol, Egyptian Lover, too many others to mention, I humbly hope that in my own small way that I can create that feeling of warmth and energy for others. I would really like to do music for film. Hell, I want to make my own film, but composing like that, contributing to another's vision, I think I could do that really well and I hope one day that I can accomplish that. I produce a lot of different music, not just these CDs but for TV and other projects. I really love music as a whole, seeing people express themselves inspires me no matter what type of music it is, and I hope I can always find a way to mix that passion into my own music. I produce electro, hip hop, trip hop, dance, trance, neoclassical...I mix it all together.

The new album will be split into 2 parts rather than a double cd release. Tell us about the new album and the choice to release the discs separately.

I had the material for a double CD ready, but the problem was that it just sounded like two typical Index CDs stuck in one package. What I really wanted to do was have the first one be like a typical Index release, and the second darker and more aggressive, more atmospheric, and I know I made the right choice, because it means more, artistically, as a set of CDs that way. So you've got the first one, which represents the "Topiary", and the second, which is "Hades", while both at once hold the concept of beauty within darkness. It's just real. And as weird as some who know me think I am, this IS who I am, and every time I do one of these CDs it feels great because I am expressing what's inside, and everybody needs a way to do that. This is my way. Darkness and light, twisted together. There are some dark themes on this record, but never without the possibility of something positive, and that will be found in the words. On the surface it may seem dark, but if you really grasp it, people will actually see that it's positive. Also, a friend of mine urged me to make it two releases simply for economic reasons. So, I figured, I will release the first one now, that way people won't have to wait any longer for some music, and at the same time I can work the second part in the darker way I described. So I'm very pleased about that.

Can you go into more detail about the new album, such as themes and ideas?

Well, aside from what I mentioned about being inspired again because of writing in a different way, and also using different technology, there was a very personal reason behind it all. I felt likeI had time to reflect on life. That takes time, and then that comes back around to the songs.Topiary En Hades is very spiritual for me, for this moment in life. I really express myself in away that I have not before. So when you compare that idea to my lyrics, you might really see that I am talking about something at least semi-spiritual in every song, but the reason the songs are sometimes dark is because I am reflecting the often sad, or unpleasant human condition.On this record, you will see a new optimism in darkness. It's my life. I have been through hell, Imiraculously survived in spite of my own shortcomings, and now I am turning the corner and,hopefully, starting to shine as a human being for the first time in my life. I just have to say this, Ifound God to some extent. But I can't write lyrics about everything being positive without reflecting on the negative things I have been through. It fits perfectly with the Index tradition of mixing darkness and the light, which has always been the case. Only now, it means more to me as a person than ever.

Crayon Sky is perhaps your most personal song to date. Tell us about this track off of TEH1...

I think it's the most directly personal song, for sure. This song is basically about finding who I am. To use a metaphor, I was wandering in the desert my whole life without even realizing it. I've always thought I was a pretty good guy, but still lost, and I thought that maybe nobody knows me like that, knows who I really am. It feels that way. So the combination of not feeling lost anymore, in a spiritual sense, finding myself, but at the same as it's good, it's humbling because you suddenly look at your past and all you see is a life in ruin. It's like starting over. Maybe everybody does that in their own way, this was my particular path. Index has always been a bit more shadowy with the lyrics, but for this one I wanted to be a bit more direct about it. In another way, one might imagine it is about Satan. He got lost, he fell hard. At the end I say that only God knows my name. That's because I was arrogant and I thought I didn't need God, as Satan did. I learned the hardest way that I am actually mortal, so the song is my attempt to humbly fix my arrogance.

Recently you have spoken of your health issues and subsequent spiritual experience. Can you tell us about this and how it has impacted your life and your music?

Well, I'm pretty healthy now. But a while back, I wasn't. I was into a bad way of life. I was quite arrogant, you know, and a lot of negative things were defining my path and, unfortunately, I really didn't grasp the severity of it. There's a funny saying, something about how some people don't see God until they are flat on their backs. Well, that's sort of how it was for me, although I actually went through a rather long-term spiritual transformation. I reached a point where I figured out that I was on the wrong path, and, to put it simply, I went for a walk and asked God for help. It's actually funny to think about now, because it was very awkward for me, being the atheist I was. So it makes me laugh now, but I was in dire straights at the time so I figured I would try reaching out. Nobody could be more surprised than I that I received a response in the form of a brief mental vision of the entire universe. It's difficult to convey this moment, but I personally knew this was a response, it was very clear to me. My life feels different now. I feel like the same person, in that I have everything that was good about me, but different in that all the bad stuff has been replaced by new improvements and additions. It's an amazing thing, it really is. It makes me feel humble and great at the same moment. I really do not know how this has changed the music, other than what I am feeling when I write. Even though what I write now sounds like other stuff that I do, the energy that drives it is now positive where before it was negative. Being OK now, some time later, after lying in a hospital bed in the ER, not knowing if I would leave that place alive, it really makes you pause for a moment. I think it's something that effects all aspects of my life, sometimes indirectly, like with music, sometimes directly, like how I view others. It makes me feel bad that I had such a bad attitude about God for so long, only to find out the hard way that others were right and were only trying to help, be kind, etc. Better late than never, I suppose.

15 years ago you were the up-and comer and now you are the established veteran (akin to being "that old guy" at the club). How has that transition been and what advice would you give to the new up-and-comers based on your own experiences?

It's strange to be the old guy at the club. I used to see older people at the club and think, hey, that's funny. Now that's me. So, my friends and I laugh about it. But things are more open now than before, nobody cares now, it's all just mixed together. I don't go out to clubs that much, anyway, but it's humorous to consider. Our lives are not defined by just one thing, just music, or just design, but by everything, and sometimes people only know us for one thing, so it's not a complete picture. I've written a children's book, worked on advertising and design, animation and motion graphics, I'm into a lot of military and foreign policy stuff, but people reading this only know me as the Index guy. But even within music, I also write straight electro, house, trance, glitchy, ambient. So much of who we are is unknown to others. My advice would be, just be nice to everybody. Don't make any assumptions about how good you are, don't believe your own press. Just be humble and happy with the fact that you are doing what you want, and try your best at it. Everything passes in this world, so just enjoy it in the moment and be humble about it. Things may not be perfect, but think about how many others would love to do something like this but can't. Be grateful. Know yourself, know what you can do best, and then do it as best you can while you grow. Don't envy. My father was in the 82nd Airborne, the Special Forces, he fought in wars, lost a brother in Vietnam, he was awarded a Purple Heart and the Silver Cross and he retired a colonel. In fact I believe if it wasn't for politics he would have received the Congressional Medal of Honor. He never complains about that. I wish I could be as great as he is, but I'm not. Do the best you can with what you have, and be thankful that you can do it.

You have been making music for well over 15 years now, and you've never felt any sort of attachment to any label, genre , or "scene". Why is that and has that helped or hurt you, especially never being a "club" band?

I'm so inspired by so many types of music, art, architecture, and other things that I was always about using the best of those influences, and that being good enough, rather than trying to fit neatly into one scene and saying that I belong. Honestly, I do feel a strong connection to post industrial and dark electro, but I don't like so much labeling what I do as such because it belies the other influences. I think, commercially speaking, it has both helped and hurt. For those who are brand and genre oriented, Index was either too industrial for the techno people, too techno for the hip hop people, and too hip hop for the industrial people. Imagine a record label trying to market that. So it was a challenge that way, while at the same time we're in an era when more and more people expect music to just be mixed up, music for the sake of music, not pandering to a genre so a label can sell records. In that regard, Index has succeeded, and that's anadvantage that I look for. I do like club music, but that's not what was inspiring me at the start, so when I started writing my own stuff, I wasn't thinking about it working in a club environment.

You have been influenced by many artists and now you are being listed as an influence by many current artists. How do you react to that?

I really was influenced by many. In the beginning, stuff like early OMD, early 242, early electro stuff, it really made me think, I want to do this! And I still have that drive today. It's flattering to have people say that I have influenced their music. That's something I never saw coming so that's really nice. I appreciate that. I went through a period where I didn't know if what I wrote was worth anything, so gradually finding out, having people tell me that I influenced their music, that's a pretty big deal. That makes it all worth it, really, in its own unexpected way.

No one has seen what you look like until now. Do you think it is important to put a face to the music?

It probably is! It usually is for the sake of promotion I always felt silly doing the rock star thing, that didn't go over well for me. So not having tons of photos was part of that. On the other hand, I think by now people should be able to see how I am. I'm OK with that. You always see these photos of bands, look how wonderful we are. But on the other hand, fans like to see what you look like.

You have played live as Index a handful of times but not since the mid-nineties. Did you always envision Index as a live project and how would you imagine playing live in the future?

We saw it as something that should have a serious visual element, mostly in the form of video and motion graphics as a backdrop. We tried to meet that objective, but really it was never at the level we wanted because we simply couldn't afford it. The only way Index can be done live properly is for that visual element to exist. It would also require some extra hands, as I am only one guy and me standing in front of a computer, I'm not sure if that would cut it with the fans. On the other hand, for other music, such as the more dance/electro material that I am doing, I think that approach would be more plausible and appropriate, kind of a mixture of a DJ and live setting. I could see that happening for some of my other material, and also because I wouldn't have the issue of vocals to deal with. I can't do the vocals and deal with the instrumentation/laptop side at the same time. I have seen some other acts, doing similar music live with such a setup, but I never really saw Index being done that way. I always saw Index live as more of a band environment but maybe that needs to change.

You have a knack for word play when it comes to your lyrics, song and album titles. How does this tie in to the music?

I've played with words like that my whole life. Spoken as well as written. I don't think it's anything intentional, but I like how the mixing of words ties in with the idea of mixing tones in my music, like mixing dark with light. That goes back to my personality, I think. It 's funny how certain people think alike, in really unexpected, creative ways. I used to write everything backwards, as a kid. And I found one of my early influential artists, Egyptian Lover, doing backwords words in his music and on his 12" labels. So, not only did the music really connect with me and inspire me, but even little details like playing with words were the same. Lots of people are like that, we just have to find one another.

You do graphic design and multimedia work. Most of your cd's had artwork and design from others. Will you be taking over the look of your albums now?

I've always wanted to contribute to the look of the older releases. Sometimes the ideas got through, sometimes not. One of the good things about that was allowing another artist to add a personal interpretation. Overall, though, I prefer to just do it myself now, unless somebody offers a great idea, in which case I might be flattered and compelled to let them do it. But I really like the idea that, I wrote the music, and the lyrics, executed that, so it makes sense that I would complete the vision by also doing the visual work for it. If anybody wanted to contribute video work then I would be a lot more open minded, just for the fact that I don't have time to do everything at that level.

Up through your Black Light Twilight album your setup had been just 2 analogue synths and a sampler. Have you kept it pretty much the same over the years or have you experimented with digital or software based tools?

I felt really limited by the hardware. I was using an ASR-10, a Jupiter 6, and a Nord lead. And I'll tell you, I enjoyed that set up, but I got bored with it, and I felt like there were some things I could do more with soft tools. So I gravitated to soft synths, sequencers, etc and it really opened up a whole new world. I work more efficiently now, and it opens doors because I am afforded more time to play with different ideas. A lot of serendipitous things happen that way, so it's good. What I produce now is a mixture of soft stuff with samples. Whatever sound source I can get my hands on, I will use it.

Final thoughts/comments?

Just that I had a great time writing this CD. I had such a great time writing this, it's been a while since I enjoyed writing this much. I thank everybody for their support, and I hope you like it and my other work as well.

http://myspace.com/indexai

http://elcmedia.com/