interview from blistering.com:

Factory 81’s debut “Mankind” for Mojo Records is nothing short of awesome. These guys are here to cave in some eardrums with nothing more than pure aggression. Upon first listen most of you will obviously get the Deftones and Tool influences right off the bat as they surface in Factory 81’s sound. Where Factory 81’s strength lies is within their vocalist Nate Wallace, as he belts out some pure hatred with his machine gun vocals. I haven’t seen vocals that captured my attention like this since Vision Of Disorder first burst onto the scene on Roadrunner Records about 4-5 years ago. Their album was recorded for a mere $3,000 independently in the band’s hometown of Detroit, Mi which makes Factory 81’s “Mankind” is definitely a gem you don’t want to pass up.

First off can you kind of explain the idea or concept behind the record?

Bill: Well the name of the record is “Mankind” and the cover looks like a concept record with the idea of the zodiac with the chaos symbol in the middle but that’s just part of it. This record really deals with a lot of issues like a lot of social and political issues but it wasn’t actually a concept.

How much of the record has been inspired by friendships gone badly and the trials and tribulations of high school years?

Bill: Well I can’t speak for myself and musically it’s just saying what felt good to us. A lot of the lyrics Nathan writes are just based on what goes on and his life experiences. We all write our parts in the band and but we go with what feels write and what we think is cool.

This album was recorded independently for about $3,000, correct?

Bill: Well it was recorded for a small independent label that was in the Detroit area for $2,500.

Wow! A lot of bands don’t have this good of an album and they spent hundreds of thousands.

Bill: Yea’ I know what you mean. I think we just got really lucky with this one! (Laughs)

Have you even thought about a second record yet?

Bill: Well we have 4 songs done and a bunch more we’re working on but it all comes down to touring. If we get some pretty good tours and things keep on going then we’ll have to stay on the road otherwise we’ll go record another album. We start with Slaves On Dope next week and I think that lasts for like 5 weeks. After that I have no idea yet but we are looking into things as we speak.

Is “Peace Officer” sort of your response to the way Detroit police operate?

Bill: Actually that was a song written by Nathan and he didn’t write it necessarily as a response to police but a response to people in power who abuse it. The album was actually inspired by an accident with Roseville Police Dept., which is a suburb just outside Detroit. The song is kinda based on Police brutality but is also pointed at people in power who abuse it; sort of like a teacher or a cop.

How did the re-mix of that song being on the album come about?

Bill: When we decided to re-release the album on another label, other than our indy one, we we’re going to do another song or something but we wanted to wait till our next album So we said to the label “How about a re-mix?” and they were cool with the idea and we went with it. I was pretty happy with the way it came out myself.

How did you guy come to do a cover of Cypress Hill’s “Insane In The Brain”?

Bill: That came about when we started touring for the record we got a call from the record company saying that we were asked to take part in “Take a Bite Outta Rhyme” and our drummer Andy was a big Cypress Hill fan so it made sense. We had a couple other ideas but they were turned down but we had like 1 week to write this song and record it. It would have been nice to have more time to record it but it was just an opportunity to do something we couldn’t pass up.

On your website a girl wrote in saying that your music saved her from committing suicide and has affected her life. What was your initial reaction when you read that letter?

Bill: That was something that just makes you feel good you can inspire somebody like that and help them in a positive aspect. I never knew we had that kind of impact on people until I read that. I think it’s a goal to touch someone in somehow with your music and we want our music to be heard rather than something being used as background music. We want our music to mean something and if possible maybe in someway help someone whichever way possible.

For anyone out there reading this who hasn’t heard Factory 81 yet, how would you describe yourself?

Bill: I’d say heavy alternative with hardcore and melody involved. There is a lot of screaming but there is also a lot of melody. For us it’s about the live show so if we’re down around your town come on out. It’s not one of these deals where you get the album and the band sounds nothing like that live because it is definitely one of those live kinda experiences with a lot of energy when we’re performing.

A lot of people make comparisons to early Deftones and Tool. Does that bother you?

Bill: That doesn’t really bother me cause those are two of my favorite bands right there and that’s something deliberate on our part. There used to be a lot more Tool in our music but we just strove to create something a bit more our own. Your always going to hear influences and there is a lot of bands out there that you can hear their influences but they just happen to be older bands. I wouldn’t like it if it was two bands that sucked but they are comparing us to two great bands!

I hear a lot of Vision Of Disorder in the vocals from Nate.

Bill: Really? Weird. I’m not sure if he’s ever even heard them to be honest with you! (Laughs) Nate listens to Bjork and Tori Amos and a lot of female oriented stuff.

That’s crazy because you wouldn’t get that idea from the record.

Bill: Exactly.

What’s next for Factory 81?

Bill: Basically it’s going to be us out there on the road getting the record to the people. Tour, tour, tour, tour. It’s like we’d rather have ourselves build a fan-base that way rather than just have ourselves forced down people’s throats. We’re going to tour as long as we can then go in and make another record. We hopefully should have another record out by early 2002 so keep your fingers crossed.

Well thanks for doing this interview today Bill and have fun on tour bro’!

Bill: Thank-you and take care.

-James Wright

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