article from metal edge:

How can anyone not give points to a band with a song called "Cheese Wheel?"
This kind ofe seemingly nonsensical jargon tagging powerfully frenetic tunes is fairly indicative of what listeners will find upon the first spin of Factory 81's debut disk Mankind
There's a definite innocently-unfocused naivete to song titles like "Nanu," "Sludge," and "Rotten Strawberries" that belie a group of young kids barely out the garage who have little clue of the true import of their own songs.
One the knife is put into the wedge, however, Factory 81 is a smorgasbord of appealing contradictions. Facus and abandon. maturity and youth. Intelligence and silliness. There is a palpable vibe that these Warren, MI kids are a textbook example of the face of today's youthful heavy audience. They reach out using diversity, in hopes of clutching a definition for the powerful emotions that shred an uncertian view of their future.
"One of the things I've always prided myself on, at least as a listener, is diversity." says lead singer Nate Wallace. "I like lots of different types of music. I'm always willing to listen to something. I give everything a chance. It's almost like you're damning yourself if not. There's so much music out there and it can broaden your horizons and make you a better musician just by opening your mind and accepting different styles and different techniques. I don't listen to a lot of music that would be considered in the same genre."
Wallace's love of musicians like Bjork, Tori Amos, Tool, Lauryn Hill, Faith No More, Red Hot Chili Peppers and jazzgreats Charlie Parker and Miles Davis meshes strangely with drummer's Andy Cyrulniks's similar loves, the classic rock influence of guitarist Bill Schultz and purely heavy strains from Kevin Lewis. The result is a slingshot spider web of musical strands spun directly from their own CD collections for listeners to slide into any direction.
"For us personally, and I know this isn't the case for everybody, I know that we've drawn in fans that wouldn't noramlly listen to our music. I've talked to people who've said,'I'm not really into all the heavy music, but I really like some of the vocals that you do.' It's really melodic and soft and the get really powerful."
This type of crossover surge potential is typical of bands in the latest heavy wave like Factory 81, Taproot, Pitchshifter, Glassjaw and Incubus, to name a few. The incorporation of many differnet elements into a heavy foundation draws fans from other relms into the heavy fold and is the primary reason for the current health of aggresive music. It certainly isn't due the a major shift from the metal fanbase outward.
According to Wallace, when the fans and bands start buying into the 'who's better' mode, everyone loses. "If it's a competition then your playing a game," he says,"and I wouldn't want to compete. I think that everybody's art is to special and there are people that appreciate some people's art more than others and that's fine. That's the beauty of it. There's something out there for everybody."
"I want to compete with my own self and keep growing. My success is becoming a better musician."
Copped from a Dickie's workshirt meant for Chrysler factory in Michigan that Wallace purchased in 1996, the name Factory 81 really doesn't have any meaning. It was just something that stuck as the band was slogging around Michigan passing out flyers and trying to develop an identity.
Before we became Factory 81," Wallace says,"we were doing something that was a little bit more alternative, it wasn't as heavy as this. It was a lot of melodic vocals, and sounded much more like Tool. I'm not ashamed at that now. I've always looked up to Maynard [Keenan, Tool frontman] as a singer and a songwriter. We all took some influences from Tool."
After finally garnering some attention in 1999, along with good friends from down the road of Taproot, Factory 81 drew the eyes of the press and some major labels. Their independently released self-produced Mankind was picked up by Mojo Records.
Four years of hard work and heavy listening show as the disk presents all of Factory 81's elements in stronger or weaker stages, depending on the song, in a strangely cohesive light. "A lot of it is an accumulation of music we've had for like the last four year and we took the best of what we had, older and newer," Wallace says. "We couldn't ask for anything better to show where we've come from."
And if where they are going just happens to be the bigtime, Factory 81 isn't about to fall into the ego trap. "We all kind of agree that we want to reach as many people with our music as possible," he says. "At least for me, I don't really care about being rich and famous, I make art and when people apprechiate it, I'm humbled by that. Where I'm at now, I'm happy and if I go further that's cool, I won' be dissapointed. I don't have any real expectations. I believe in myself and my music. A year from now I could end in the gutter holding a crack pipe. you never know. Hopefuly, I'm smarter than that. One little slip up and you can fall hard."

-Mark Kohler