ARKAEA Frontman Says WOLBERS, HERRERA 'Never Left FEAR FACTORY'

The Spine Language blog recently conducted an interview with vocalist Jon Howard of Canadian metallers THREAT SIGNAL and ARKAEA, the new band featuring FEAR FACTORY members Christian Olde Wolbers (guitar) and Raymond Herrera (drums). An excerpt from the question-and-answer session follows below.

Spine Language: Jon, you and Pat [Kavanaugh; THREAT SIGNAL bassist] are in another band right now with Christian [Olde Wolbers] and fellow FEAR FACTORY vet Raymond Herrera called ARKAEA. The debut album is set for a July release this year; apparently half of the songs were supposed to be on the new FF album before Christian and Raymond left. You're in a unique situation where two musicians who are relatively new to the game are playing alongside seasoned veterans bearing the burden of once being part of a hugely popular band like FEAR FACTORY on their shoulders. What are you learning from them about music and the business now that you're playing on their level? What about ARKAEA's sound can shake the chains of FEAR FACTORY off the debate every time someone mentions the music? Is that even possible?

Jon: First thing I'd like to point out is that Ray and Chris NEVER left FEAR FACTORY. This new FF band came as a surprise to them. Hopefully that gets sorted out soon. Maybe a third of the riffs on the ARKAEA album were intended for the new FEAR FACTORY. However, once I stepped into the mix, songs changed, riffs got moved and re-writen and we molded into something new. After writing together for a year, we progressed into something different. Obviously you're going to hear FF-style rhythms, which are badass, but you'll hear something more as well. The only difference playing in this new band ARKAEA is they have TONS of gear. Raymond owns his own studio, and they both have been collecting gear for years. So we have a lot at our disposal. Unlike THREAT SIGNAL, if we break our amp, we are shit out of luck, haha. Other than that, Chris and Ray are really humble and we spend a lot of time playing video games and eating burgers.

Spine Language: The video for "A New Beginning" placed you guys in a run-down transfer station in Ontario that reeked of shit. You couldn't tell from the video itself, but in the behind-the-scenes clip the smell is said to be "overwhelming." Maybe it's just me, but I get the feeling that all metal bands end up shooting videos in places that smell like shit simply because of the "dark" nature of the music; if you did one in a field of flowers, I can only imagine what kind of feedback you'd get. Do you feel like music videos are worth all the…well…shit you have to go through? Do you get out of them what you have to put into them?

Jon: I think music videos are a major part of being in a band. Videos sell the band. People want to see what the band looks like, and how they would look playing live. A lot of hours go into making music videos and by the end your sore and want to sleep for a week, but its totally worth it. "A New Beginning" has over a half million plays on YouTube, so the numbers tell me its worth it!

Spine Language: There's no question that bands are having to adapt to a changing landscape in the music business these days. Studio album sales have dropped substantially because of illegal downloading, so many artists are starting to include more memorabilia and fan-worthy material into their physical releases, such as documentary DVD's, signed guitar picks, stickers, etc. Is THREAT SIGNAL going to start doing things like this to stay financially viable, or do you think the band can survive without it?

Jon: We have never made money from album sales… We rely on touring and merch. We jumped into the business when kids were already downloading and giving up on CDs. Since the beginning I always wanted to include a DVD with our album. A whole making of the album. We finally picked up an HD camera so hopefully we'll include that in the third album release. As long as the record label can keep track of sales weather it be online, or disk we'll be able to keep making albums. If the record label doesnt see us selling, then we are dropped. Thats the nature of the business.

Spine Language: You've been on tour since the beginning of the month playing in Ontario and will move on to shows in the U.S. in June. One of the recent blog updates said that you'd be playing half of the new album live. Is that true? If so, how have the crowds been reacting? One of those unwritten music industry "laws" is to not play unreleased material unless you want your audience to be standing and listening instead of getting into the music. Are you successfully breaking that law, so to speak?

Jon: We feel that we've been playing the same show for too long. We've been playing songs from "Under Reprisal" for almost five years! The reactions have been amazing so far. Sometimes it feels as if they know the songs already! So with that said we have totally broken the rule. We are playing five songs from the new album "Vigilance", and six from "Under Reprisal". So you get a good blend of new and old. I think people are craving new shit, so even if they do stand and nod their head, I don't care, I know they are just taking it all in!!

Read the entire interview from Spine Language.