interview from nosebleed:

Raychul: Hmmm, okay how and when did you guys get together and form Factory81?
Factory81 (Bill) : The band form approximately three years ago. Originally, me and Kevin the bassist had been playing together for a long time in different bands together and we were without a singer for a while. When we were looking for a new singer we found Nathan from the ad we put out, and he joined the band with us and that's when the basic band formed. Then we went through a few drummer change ups till we got the line up we have now, which has been together for about two years now. This is pretty much the finally line up because everyone in the band now is very dedicated.

Raychul: Did you guys have any specific goal when you first formed or was it just to get together and have fun?
Factory81 : Well, we all really wanted to have fun playing much, but we all also wanted to make it our career. It wasn't just like a part time hobby, it was all something that everyone was very serious about.

Raychul: What about the name, where did that originate?
Factory81 : Umm, the name came from when Nathan was shopping at a re-sale shop, and he saw one of those work shirts that had the name Dick on it, and he ended up buying it because he thought it was kind of fitting for himself. It was for a Chystler factory around here and it said "Factory81" on it, and so it was just something that we all thought was cool and everyone thought it fit.

Raychul: That's cool. You are re-releasing your CD "Mankind" soon, how do you think that is going to go over with everyone out there?
Factory81 : Actually, I'm hoping that we can translate nationwide what we have already done here in Detroit. Ya know, Detroit has always been very open and receptive to everything that's been going on, and we are kind of getting a taste of how everything is going across the country since we are touring right now. We've been all over the mid-west recently and we are starting to head over to the east now. So, I think it's going to do pretty good, it's just pure, raw music, with a lot of emotion. There isn't a lot of market hype, it's just all down to the roots of what it needs to be.

Raychul: Yeah, everyone who I have let hear the CD just LOVES it, so, in my opinion I think it will end up going over very well... not that it really means anything, but just to put my two cents in.
Factory81 : Well thanks, we are crossing our fingers, I hope so.

Raychul: Well who are you on tour with now?
Factory81 : Right now we are out with Mudvayne, Relative Ash, and One Minute Silence.

Raychul: Pretty good line up, do you have anything planned for after that?
Factory81 : Yeah we are going to be going out with GlassJAw a little while after that.

Raychul: Oh wow. I just saw them play the other night and it was pretty good.
Factory81 : Oh, was it a good show? I've never actually seen them live.

Raychul: Yeah, well I've seen them twice now, the first time wasn't really that great, I wasn't too impressed, but just a few days ago, the show was amazing. It was at a smaller club and everything, more energy too it seemed like.
Factory81 : That's cool.

Raychul: So is there a particular concept behind your songs at all?
Factory81 : Uhmmm, all our songs deal with issues that are political and social and emotional. A lot of it is just from Nathan, he writes all the lyrics in all the songs, so everything is basically derived from different situations or circumstances that he has been through or seen in his life. We don't go too far though and make it like this intense political thing, everything is laid out in terms that normal people can understand, just a normal point of view.

Raychul: Do you have any idea of what your first single will be?
Factory81 : Uhmmm, it's looking like "Nanu" is going to be the first single. But right now, we really aren't focusing heavily on marketing through commercial radio, we are concentrating on touring extensively and get things out to the fans first hand. We would rather gain fans by being there and playing it right in front of them instead of them having to hear it on the radio or MTV or something like that.

Raychul: Did you have any releases before the first release of Mankind?
Factory81 : Nope, actually Mankind is really the only thing we've ever done. I mean we've had a couple of demo tapes that we have done locally here and Detroit, but they were just little tapes that we did independently and stuff like that but nothing really like a release. Mankind was the first that went out to the public.

Raychul: Hmmm, okay, well what would you say some of your biggest influences as a guitarist are?
Factory81 : Oh as far as guitars I guess like Slash from Guns 'n Roses was always a big influence when I was growing up. I like a lot of stuff Stephen Carpenter is doing and Wes Borland, Adam Jones from Tool is a huge influence, I think that guy is a phenominal guitar player. Uhhhh, hmmmm, Jack Wild was a huge influence growing up, haha I'm naming all these 80s rock guys but that's what I was listening too. It's just a lot of stuff like that ya know, I was never really big into metal when I was growing up, it was more like rock n roll stuff, I used to love KISS when I was real little because all my cousins were into that, so I got into it. I went through that whole stage of being into Joe Satriani and Steve Vai and all that stuff, but it's all kinda behind me now.

Raychul: Hahah okay, well do you have a favorite Factory81 song to play live?
Factory81 : Uhhhh, hmmmm, I'd say probably 14 Left is a big favorite, we always usually end our shows with that, ya know it's a high intensity song. But every song we play live is a song we enjoy, it's kinda hard to say now because your first album is kinda like your greatest hits album because it's the best things that you can come up with and all your favorite songs up to that point. I guess when the next album comes out it would be a more valid question to ask because on the album right now it's songs that we like so much playing live and that we have written, which is why we decided to put them on the album. So really, I like them all live.

Raychul: So how has the crowd reacted so far to places around the country?
Factory81 : Oh it's been really good. Ya know the thing that's really been cool about it is that we are going to the states that we've never been to and there are kids showing up at every single show that are sitting there right up at the front of the stage singing everything word for word, I mean they know these songs. That's the coolest thing, that these kids have dedication, like they've gotten our CD through Napster or digital cable radio has been playing our songs. It's just cool that we go to these towns and people know who we are already, it's been really open and welcoming to us, so it's very good.

Raychul: Are there any bands in Detroit or underground anywhere that you think people ought to know about and check out?
Factory81 : Yeah there are a lot of good bands in Detroit, Arizing is very good band, Sics is one of the bands that we are putting on the show with us at our CD release party. Pooch is another really good band, uh, there are a couple other bands that every else knows about now too like Taproot is one of my favorite bands, Workhorse Movement was a really good band but they are making it now too, uhm, I've been out of the local scene for a while now because we've been out doing our own thing lately but... Medea records was the label that we used to be on, and they have a lot of good bands on there that we used to do shows with all the time that are really good friends of ours and also play good music. Like Pooch and Arizing and Too Many Gods and stuff like that.

Raychul: Yeah Justin in Too Many Gods, I talk to him all the time, good friend.
Factory81 : Yeah they are all really nice guys, that's cool.

Raychul: Is there anything about your band that you think sets you apart from other bands out there and makes you unique?
Factory81 : Hmmmmmm, well, I just think that the main thing with us is that we are not really trying to be anybody. I mean I know you can hear influences in our music and all but our main thing is that we are just playing music that makes us feel good and if we can get into it and move it's going to translate into the crowd and it's REAL. We are just being ourselves.

Raychul: Okay well thanks for the interview.
Factory81 : Thank you very much.

Raychul: Good luck with your tour and the album, I hope you guys do well.
Factory81 : Thanks, alright, I'll talk to you later.

Raychul: Okay, bye.
Factory81 : Bye.

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