interview from vox online:

VOX: Where did the band name come from?

Andy Cyrulnik: Actually, it doesn't have any significant or deep meaning. Before I was in the band, the other guys were playing and looking for a name, and one day Nate walked in wearing a work-type shirt with "Factory 81" on it, on a patch. It was that simple.

VOX: No big mystery or agenda?

AC: Nope, just a patch on a shirt. It sounded good.

VOX: How did you guys hook up?

AC: I was the last one in Bill and Kevin have been playing together for like, seven years or so, with a bunch of different line-ups. Nate joined later, and I joined, like, three years ago. We've been solid ever since.

VOX: How would you define the Factory 81 sound?

AC: I think, as aggressive as we are, there's enough melody, melodic parts that we don't end up at the extreme. We have, we like to combine dynamics and heavy, aggressive tribal rhythms with hip-hop beats and good melodies.

VOX: Who do you guys look at as influences?

AC: For me, lots of jazz, fusion, world music Tool - there's definitely a lot of Tool influence. We've been told many times that Nate's voice resembles Maynard's. I mean, we don't intend to sound like anyone, but obviously, the bands you like are going to be the biggest influences.

VOX: There seems to be a theme behind mankind.

AC: Actually, Nate is really the guy to elaborate on that kind of stuff. I will say that the name of the album is a mistake. It was supposed to be "Manking." A local Detroit webzine screwed up on an advertisement for the record, but it was before the initial pressing, and when we saw it, we kind of liked the name and decided to go with it. We hadn't gone ahead and done any printing or anything, so it was easy for us to change.

VOX: What made you decide to sign to Mojo?

AC: Signing with Mojo was, I think, good because we wanted to go with a smaller label where we wouldn't fall between the cracks. They aren't known for the heavy stuff, they're more of a ska label, so we knew that we wouldn't get lumped in with a big group of heavy bands, and Mojo had the power of Universal distribution, which is huge. Mojo and Universal split, and we're now on Universal.

VOX: What was the last day job you had?

AC: Working for my dad's company, which is an engineering firm

VOX: Doing actual engineering?

AC: God no! I'm not that smart. More answering phones, paperwork, whatever I can. Anything to pay the bills. It's better than delivering pizzas.

VOX: What do you think you would be doing if you weren't in a band?

AC: Probably delivering pizzas. I'm sure that I would be trying to work in music either way. Maybe I would be playing jazz or something like that, but even when the band is done I want to stay in the music business. I was going to college for marketing, so I would like to end up doing A&R or something like that.

VOX: Are you into the Internet - do you see it as an important medium for the band?

AC: Yeah, big time. It's been a huge factor in getting the name out there. Most of our attention has been because of the web and Napster. That's why I'm ok with Napster in general. We have to be, being a new band. You just want to be heard, and you can't play in every city every week, so Napster allows us to reach much further that we would be able to. Like I said, we aren't going to get lots of radio play, so the web is our way of reaching out.

VOX: What can we expect from Factory 81 live?

AC: We really work hard and pride ourselves on the live show. It's 100% crazy, whether there's 5 people or 500. With heavy rock, if you can't back it up live, then forget it. We love playing live, and Nate is awesome on stage. Be prepared.